Shawn and Laura actually got married out in Cleveland at the Rock & Roll Hall or Fame in 2018. They are long time friends of mine so I was a guest at that wedding, and I have a strict “leave my camera at home” policy when attending events. I did not photograph their wedding but their pictures were really great, the Hall of Fame made for a very unique backdrop, in a way I was a little jealous that I wasn’t working that night. I did have fun however, as did the rest of our group of friends, we’re a big bunch of nerdy weirdos and we know how to party.
A year later for their anniversary, I had the pleasure of photographing Shawn and Laura in their wedding attire back in our home state of New Jersey. They left all the details of the wedding photography to me, so picking the location was easy: Liberty State Park. The location offers a nice variety of architecture, history, and of course the view of Manhattan.
I work at Liberty State Park a lot, having done countless engagement sessions there, the location also has two catering halls within it: The Liberty House and Maritime Park. I have worked at both of these venues and I always look forward to it because their locations offer views that you just can’t get anywhere else. I especially photograph Liberty House weddings quite often, it’s an excellent venue along with their sister properties: The Stone House in Warren, The Ryland Inn in Whitehouse Station and The Hudson House in Jersey City just to name a few.
Shawn and Laura rock, there’s no other way for me to say it, they gave me all the time I needed to capture photos all over Liberty State Park. Their style is formal with a vintage twist, perfect for their rock hall romance wedding. Laura did bring along the leather jacket just because it was a cool October evening, but I immediately suggested we incorporate into a few photos, and the results were just cool. I think their style blended perfectly with the historic train station architecture at Liberty State Park.
We couldn’t have asked for a better day, everything just lined up perfectly. Starting with the gorgeous late-day light as we photographed around the park. Then we were presented with spectacular skies at sunset, the dramatic clouds and vibrant colors were there for the taking. With the help of my lovely lighting assistant (my wife), I was able to capture some truly epic sunset photos of the bride and groom.
Finally, we had reached my favorite part of any wedding or engagement photo session, night time. Darkness offers some of my favorite opportunities for creative lighting. The first photo below is fairly straightforward, the couple stands in front of the gorgeous New York City skyline, lit once again my my excellent lighting assistant. There simply is no substitute for the view of Manhattan at night. Our last photo of the evening is a long exposure light painting using a two Godox AD200 flash setup and a Fotorgear Magilight (basically a programmable LED wand). I set a 10 second exposure and I ran through the frame with the Magilight after my flash fired. The resulting image is one of my favorites ever produced with this method.
When we were finished, we all went over to The Liberty House for an amazing meal. As I write this we are still deep into the “great pandemic” and dining out just isn’t a thing right now. I still think back to that evening, looking forward to when nights like those will return. I am fortunate to have amazing friends who put their trust in me to capture their special moments. These Liberty State Park wedding photos are amongst some of my most favorite in my portfolio, I always recommend this location to my clients for their wedding day or for Liberty State Park engagement photos.