Wes Anderson is known for his signature symmetrical compositions and square camera angles, his stoic characters, and his use of a restrained colour palette and warm light. His is a style that I’ve long admired. It would be an understatement to say that I was excited to photograph Emma and Alex’s Wes Anderson inspired wedding.
Needless to say, harnessing the Anderson aesthetic took a lot more preparation than weddings with my typical true-to-life editing approach. With the help of a carefully curated Pinterest board, Emma and I discussed and articulated the visual style we were targeting. I put in some hours watching Moonrise Kingdom, Hotel Budapest, and Darjeeling Limited, keeping a careful eye on colour palate, camera angles, and the vibe of the characters. Knowing that we only had a short time for the photo session, Emma and I worked out a careful shot list in advance. Some detailed location scouting ahead of the wedding meant that I knew exactly where I wanted to capture each shot and at what time of day.
The short shooting window meant that our photo session was focused. A solid brick building with a strip of teal on top provided a balanced backdrop for sober portraits. Using the front porch of a quaint cabin to set a scene of blue symmetry, I evenly arranged the wedding party on each side of the front ramp. A massive deciduous tree produced the perfect scenery for a wide group photo, each person facing square to the camera with impartial expressions.
A great cast of characters, the wedding party dove right into the world of Wes Anderson. With impeccable attention to detail, Emma sourced the perfect combinations of wardrobes and accessories. Donning a rainbow of pastels and decorated with elegant furs, the bride’s side harnessed the aloof and melancholic vibe with their cool gazes. Without hesitation, Alex embodied a Wes Anderson groom in a white suit, his best lady and gents sporting indomitable expressions with casual poses. Using my strengths as a portrait photographer, I elicited strong eyes and equipoise in each of my subjects.
Realizing Wes Anderson’s use of warm light and harmonized colour palette required work both while shooting and in post-production. I selected a narrow shady path with robust foliage for a series of portraits, placing the subjects in the perfect position for warm light to spill through the trees and onto their shoulders. In post-production I pushed my personal editing limits with a warm white balance and high level of contrast.
The end result is wedding photos that I am really quite pleased with. I greatly enjoyed the creative challenge of applying a specific visual aesthetic to a wedding project. Have a particular vibe you want to evoke? Pitch your idea to me. Star Trek themed wedding? I do that too.
Here you can see more photos from Emma and Alex's Toronto Island wedding. This post about wedding photography was written and photographed by Montreal photographer Selena Phillips-Boyle. Selena often travels to Toronto for photographic projects and accepts commissions worldwide. Here you can see this intimate Toronto wedding or this big Toronto Italian wedding. Video footage for this wedding was captured by Toronto videographer Josh Ocampo. The video was edited by Toronto motion graphic designer and editor Emma Corby.
Cet article de blogue sur la photographie de mariage Life by Selena était produit par Selena Phillips-Boyle, photographe montréalaise. Selena voyage souvent à Toronto pour des projets photographiques et elle accepte des contrats dans le monde entier.
