I’ve had the pleasure of shooting Weddings at the Westin Philadelphia somewhere around 60 times in my career. One of the questions regarding the flow of Westin weddings is where will we do portraits of the bride and groom. The Westin is located in Liberty Place, on 17th street in Philadelphia, and to do a beautiful first look between the bride and groom outdoors generally means we need to go somewhere.
This image was taken during the couple's first look in Washington Square Park within Independence National Historical Park. I love the light in this park, and I get excited each time I shoot there because I’m able to use so many different parts of Washington Square Park in various lighting conditions throughout the entire year.
It’s a home away from home for me because I often shoot there for my Lighting and Skillset Bootcamp workshops. I’m very familiar with all parts of that park, and I tend to take my brides and grooms there during their Philadelphia weddings.
I especially love the emotion of this bride just before her groom greets her. Her expression is priceless, and the moment was captured with my trusty Nikon D4S and my favorite portrait lens, the AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8 VRIIG.
Location: 99 S. 17th St, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
1/1000; f/4.0; ISO 400; 185.0 mm.