A.E.LANDES PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG.

The contemporary space at American University’s Katzen Arts Center for Kendra and Mike’s Wedding was a fantastic backdrop, with strong architectural lines and a wide staircase for nice photographic compositions. With the weather cooperating and a large circular skylight over the ceremony and reception, the light overhead was glowing and softened a lot of the shadows – so the post-shoot editing I had to do was not as intensive. I just had to bring out the right colors and get the cropping just right. The paper lanterns and coffee-bean wedding cake (YUM!) were nice touches to this artistically-inspired wedding, and Kendra and Mike’s fun attitudes towards their wedding definitely comes through in the photos.

Here is a link to Kendra and Mike’s Wedding Gallery.

And for the friends and family, here is Kendra and Mike’s Complete Gallery and Print Ordering Site.

Before I sent Joe an email asking if he had a photographer for his wedding, I said to myself, “This will probably be the craziest wedding ever.” And believe me, it was.

Ann and Joe are an amazing couple with a pretty amazing outdoor skillset – and we used just about every one of them in the week of climbing and camping leading up to their wedding in South Dakota. A week of death-defying adventure was planned out, as a pre-wedding party for the crew. First was a fifteen hour, through-the-dark-night rock-climbing epic in Boulder, CO, which is not too unusual for a Joe Baker led climb. Second was camping and climbing out in Vedauwoo, WY, with stellar campfire images and giant boulder formations, and the third episode had us climbing through the foggy Needles in the Custer State Park, SD.

Did I mention their wedding was on a mountain-top lake? Check out the Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park in South Dakota… Breath-taking beauty with lots of great backgrounds, bright clean light, and lots of rock formations for the wedding party to climb up on. The wedding ceremony and reception was rightly Ann and Joe – a lakeside ceremony, break-dancing gorilla, Destroy Nate Allen DJing/performing, and a presentation of an antique WWII rifle to Joe from his groomsmen. Joe and Ann’s wedding was a photographer’s dream – so many opportunities for capturing this wild bunch doing what they do best out in the wild.

Here is a link to the complete collection of Ann and Joe’s Adventure Wedding.

With the rain and sunshine taking turns all day, Kelly and Justin had a wonderful setup at the Mendenhall Inn – saturated colors outside, old train tracks, big windows, and a very elegant dance hall all created plenty of photographic opportunities and backgrounds. Kelly handled all the pre-wedding stress amazingly well, and Justin and the guys were a lot of fun to be around photographing the group shots. One of my favorite images is of Kelly’s dad with his ‘Father of the Bride’ hat, with Kelly in background, looking like she is being sassy. The reception had it’s ‘funny’ moments as well, (just remember to keep the cake out of Kelly’s hair – yikes!), and the group dances with Kelly’s Brittney Spears solo was amazing.

Here is Kelly and Justin’s Wedding Gallery.

And for the friends and family, here is Kelly and Justin’s Complete Collection and Print Order Site.

One thing is for sure – there was no lack of party-people at Kate and David’s wedding! The whole wedding party was so much fun to be around… and golf carts, sparklers, darts, a crystal pimp cup, and a Super Mario Brothers cake didn’t help the sanity. With cool weather and an early sunset, we needed to get the shots we wanted outside right away, and then get the group formals inside the Old York Road Country Club by the fireplace. The ceremony had jokes a-plenty, and the reception had a cake-smash and an energetic band (I hope you are catching the good-time theme here)… I know this fantastic couple will be a lot of fun to be around for the years to come. Best wishes to Kate and Dave!

Here is a link to Kate and Dave’s Wedding Gallery.

And for the family and friends, here is a link to Kate and Dave’s Complete Wedding Gallery and Print Order site.

You just can’t go wrong with a fall wedding in State College… Susie and Brad had glorious sunshine all day long for their wedding, and we had a lot of fun getting those formal pictures at Spring Creek Park with Susie’s veil and the wind playing nicely. The formal shots inside the church were also a lot of fun with the big families, and watching Susie’s Marshmallow Bunny impression at the reception was hilarious. And I really enjoyed the wonderful moments when Susie and Brad were dancing towards the end of the night… Best wishes to the couple!

Here is a link to Susie and Brad’s Wedding Gallery.

And for the friends and family, here is Susie and Brad’s Complete Gallery and Print Order Site.

The bright autumn sun was out and shining all over Emily and Jeff’s wedding – it led to some truly magical lighting for the formal and ceremony pictures. The setting did not hurt either, as we did most of the formal shots along a terraced and tiered waterfall, and the ceremony and reception was in an elegant building similar to a vintage embassy. As the hired-help, I love being able to really connect with the wedding party and guests, and they really made me feel a part of the day (and I think the pictures reflect that!). The personal favorites for me was photographing them in the park, the amazingly packed and lit ceremony space, and of course, the reception dance floor. Best wishes to Emily and Jeff!

Here is a link to the highlights of Emily and Jeff’s Wedding Gallery.

And for the family and friends, Emily and Jeff’s Complete Gallery and Print Order Site.

When Jan Thiessen asked me to be his second photographer for Monica and Karthik’s wedding, I was super-excited to learn about the scope of their wedding: two days, three events, dancing, Indian food, lots of guests, and a helicopter. A helicopter. Not to mention Monica and Karthik are a fantastic couple to photograph, and the guests at the parties laid-it-down-hard when it came to dancing. I always have a lot of fun working with Jan, and check out his gallery and photos here: Photos By Jan.

Here is my take on Monica and Karthik’s Wedding Gallery. Enjoy!

Here is the much anticipated Rachael and Andy’s Wedding! Can I just say that I love photographing the wonderful people of the Orthodox Church in State College? It is great to see so many familiar faces, and meet some new ones from across the Atlantic (Andrew’s family from England). We had a lot of fun from beginning to end – personal photo highlights being the tradition-rich ceremony, the infamous jumping shot, the shots of Rachael and Andy in the PSU Arboretum Gardens, and Andy’s reaction to his best mate’s speech. I think the guests got an idea of who Andy really is – and what a beautiful couple Rachael and Andy make.

Here is a link to Rachael and Andy’s Wedding Gallery.

And click here for Rachael and Andy’s Complete Collection and Print Order Website.

Roxanne and Matt’s wedding was a party for party-people! And it was a bit of a collision of my worlds – I knew Matt through the PSU Cycling Club, and Roxanne through a few mutual friends (and I was lucky enough to photograph their engagement!). It was so amazing to play a part of their wedding, and the antics that happened during the posed photos was pretty memorable (human pyramids, jumping shots, and a pit-stop for the guys in view of the reception). There was so much dancing, cigars, and fun to be had – and it really was a celebration of love among friends and family.

Here is a link to Roxanne and Matt’s Wedding Gallery.

And for friends and family wanting to see the whole collection, here is Roxanne and Matt’s Print and Order Gallery.

I love coming back to photographs from a wedding and remembering how things transpired – Karen and Alex’s wedding at the Crossing’s Vineyards was a simply beautiful occasion. The amazing setting with filtered sunlight through the trees meant that we had to really think about where to photograph, but some of my favorite formal images of this summer happened with Karen and Alex in the vineyard – the spark between them made photographing them so easy. The energetic wedding party made things great for the reception, and I need to especially thank Karen’s mother, who brought me back to the room where Karen was getting ready – I was floored when I saw those posed shots of Karen in the mirror. Best wishes to this very happy couple!

Check out the public gallery of Karen and Alex’s Wedding here.

And for the family and friends, here is the Complete Collection from Karen and Alex’s Wedding.