We are always on the hunt for great places to hold small weddings and elopements, so when we were invited to check out the space that a local restaurant had recently renovated our eyes lit up. Nestled in between the cemeteries right at the foot of Canal Street in New Orleans is this spectacular little block called Bottinelli Place that looks like it stepped right out of an Italian villa. With its old-world architecture, lush courtyard, and timeless charm, every few steps had us saying the same thing: “I wonder what a bride would look like there?”
Our collective minds kept churning and we decided to create a styled shoot. We put out a call to some of our favorite vendors, and the response was phenomenal. Every single vendor was generous, and sent us their best to help us put together a dream elopement shoot that showcased just how magical a small wedding in New Orleans can be.
Our incredible models were actually employees of the restaurant. The “groom” was none other than the restaurant’s barkeeper, and the “bride” was his actual fiancée. They were real troopers because we had to schedule this shoot during slow season, which in New Orleans is during the brutally hot dog days of summer. But they showed up without complaint.
They also welcomed us into their home while they got ready, and then we moved over to the venue. We shot in all of the picturesque nooks and crannies of the venue; we climbed up top and overlooked the surrounding cemeteries and I thought we had utilized every inch of the place when Steve looked over at the gorgeous vintage bar and said, “Wouldn’t it be cool if we put the bride on the bar?”
I’ll admit it—I wasn’t exactly enthusiastic. I was hot, tired, and mentally finished for the day. Every part of me wanted to say, “Let’s call it.” But after all these years of working together, I’ve learned that our team works best with one us coming up with an idea, and then the other stepping in to build on it. That’s how our teamwork magic rolls …. so, I toughed it out for one more.
Our bride climbed carefully onto the bar, gathered her dress around her, and suddenly everything came together. The mood, the old-world character of the room, the confidence in her pose. It felt cinematic, almost like a still from a classic film. The light was mostly natural, but was enhanced by one off-camera speed light with a shoot-through umbrella placed camera left. The placement of the light was extremely tricky because of the large mirror behind the bar. I shot this with a Nikon Z8, and NIKKOR Z 24 – 120mm f/4 lens at 52 mm, 1/100 sec at f/4.0. ISO was set a 640.
Straight out of camera, the image was far more exposed than I would have liked it, but we had no grids or other modifiers with us. We shot it with what was in our current possession at the time and then I brought out the magic in post!
I remember being quite annoyed with myself that I was so hot and tired at the time that I didn’t pay enough attention to the bottom of the dress, and therefore spent a significant amount of time cleaning it up, by hand, in Photoshop (this was done pre-AI, or at least before I was using it). Nonetheless, all of the trouble was worth it! That final frame became one of our favorite photographs from the entire day!
It’s a reminder that inspiration sometimes waits until you’re ready to quit, and that the last photograph of the day can end up being the one you’ll remember the most. I always joke that the “next” photo I take is going to be the perfect one, but in this case, it really was.
We have a blogpost that we wrote about the shoot, so if you would like to see more images, you can find them here.
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