Glacier Bride & Groom
To see the online gallery:
http://brendansmithphotography.pixieset.com/sutton_wedding_2016/
Tyler and Nicole meet Matanuska Glacier. Matanuska Glacier, meet Tyler and Nicole.
Several months before their wedding, Tyler, Nicole, and I started planning their on-location wedding photos over coffee at Kaladi Bros. After two minutes of sitting down with them, I knew that they were a photographer's dream couple to photograph. Organized...check. Outgoing...check. Adventurous...check. Gorgeous...check. Wants wedding photos on Matanuska Glacier...che...wait a minute.
Did I hear that correctly? Photos on the glacier? Were they serious? That's one giant C-H-E-C-K!
Sipping coffee on a cold Sunday in March, the concept of wedding photos on a glacier seemed almost phantasmagorical. Yet, all three of us mulled the idea over, and the resounding consensus was that the only difficulty would be timing. There was no worry about the wedding dress, footwear, how to get there, what type of equipment I was going to bring. The concept was bigger than the logistics that would be required to accomplish this. Perhaps because the wedding was not for several months that the details did not bog us down. I sincerely think, however, that all three of us saw the potential of how magical of an experience this would be, and no matter how logistically fubarred it could get, we were going to make it happen.
Now typically in moments like these, I often wear my emotions on my sleeve. I would have probably put my coffee down on the table, stood up way too enthusiastically, and performed some sort of a weird attempt at an Irish jig upon hearing Tyler and Nicole's shot list. Thankfully, that did not happen, and for the best, as I probably would not be allowed to frequent that particular Kaladi Bros. for quite some time. Rather, I took to Tyler and Nicole's cool, confident, nonchalant demeanor. They showed no second thought to our little plan. They were 100% committed as long as the timing worked.
Two minutes into our conversation I was in, but after an hour with Nicole and Tyler, I knew that this wedding was going to be special—not only for them, but for me too.
Tyler, Nicole, and I met one last time before the wedding. The only time feasible to photograph them on the glacier would be after their wedding ceremony at 10:30pm or 11:00pm. Because the wedding was in June...and in Alaska, this was perfect timing for the light. The light would be on my back illuminating the glacier the entire time we photographed. And with a tinge of cloud cover and evening glow, I could picture how beautiful these two would look on the glacier with the main fascia in the background. And Tyler and Nicole were completely down with the idea even though it meant scrimping a bit on their wedding reception. A couple phone calls later, and I had secured a photo session after hours when the glacier access point typically closes! An exclusive photo session with just Tyler, Nicole, me, and well some much needed extra help.
Seeing that this was going to be an epic wedding, my wife kindly volunteered to be my lighting assistant during the wedding. Throughout the day, she was fighting a huge Elinchrom octobox in the wind and harsh Alaskan sun with a Phottix Indra 500 w/s strobe. But boy did she nail it.
I have long admired the work of Joey L. and his ability to create such shallow depth of field in his portrait work. To accomplish this in Alaska, it is very difficult, especially when shooting in the middle of the afternoon during summer solstice. Yet the Phottix Indra is capable of high-speed syncing with my camera and getting pretty darn close to Joey L.'s amazing style. This enabled me to shoot at wider apertures but still take advantage of the light that my wife was so dutifully holding the entire afternoon—the only reprieve was for about an hour when cloud cover rolled in during some candid shots with Tyler, Nicole, and the wedding party.
As 10:30pm approached, I was getting more and more excited about our jaunt to the glacier. The car was all packed with photo gear, although a little more worse for the wear as we hit a moose on the way to the wedding. Typically, at weddings things can get off schedule easily. However, Tyler and Nicole were ready to go. The lighting was spectacular!
The glacier was easily 10 degrees cooler than the Majestic Valley Lodge only 10 miles away. But after 5 miles of dirt road, Tyler and I parked our cars, and out came the bride, groom, bride's father, photographer, and amazing photographer's wife. In front of us, a glacier that sprawled across an entire valley floor and a series of orange traffic cones highlighting the proper trail to get to the glacier terminus. It was quiet, yet the glacier commanded such a presence that I don't even think a college marching band could quell the silent boom of what laid before us.
With xtra tuffs, and Nicole's dress bungeed at the knees, several extra layers of clothing, we set out on a short 20 minute hike to our location. We started shooting at about 11:15pm, and finished up around 11:45pm. A half-hour of pure bliss for everyone. A beautiful bride and groom dancing ever so carefully on the ice juxtaposed with the stark, raw visceral force of nature behind them proved to be something magnificent. We were all cold; my butt was soaking wet because I kept laying down on the ice. But no one was complaining. We were all absorbed in the moment of appreciating Tyler and Nicole on the ice. It truly was their moment to enjoy. Congratulations, Tyler and Nicole—you one upped even one of Alaska's true beauties.
