Of all of the venues I’ve worked in throughout my long career, I’ve probably shot more weddings at the Rittenhouse Hotel in Philadelphia than any single venue, anywhere.
I truly love Rittenhouse Hotel Weddings, and I feel like part of the family when I have the privilege of working there. The staff is the pinnacle of professionalism, and the food is exquisite. Wedding photos in Rittenhouse Square are also one of the benefits of having weddings at the Rittenhouse.
This image, taken during the bridal preparation portion of the day, has become one of my signature images over the course of my wedding photography career. I really love the use of depth of field in this photo. I used my old Nikon D200 and my Nikkor 85mm 1.4D lens wide open at 1.4 to utilize such a shallow depth of field. I bumped up the contrast and then converted the photograph to black and white.
This photograph was taken several years ago, and I still recall shooting it. I was concerned about a rather busy background, so I had my assistant drape the bedspread behind the bride, and the shallow depth of field from the wide-open aperture softened the background to the point where it just created a beautiful bokeh. This is a technique I love to use at most of my weddings, not just Rittenhouse Hotel weddings.
This portrait has been printed quite large and sits in my Haddonfield studio. There is a bit of mystery to it since I’ve only included half of the bride’s face within the image.
This image won an award at WPPI's annual print competition and scored an 83.
Location: 210 W Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
1/200; f/1.4; ISO 125; 85.0 mm.