Fall Color Light Painted Wedding Photograph
Joannie and are very happy to share Brandon and Amy’s pretty fall color light painted wedding photograph with you and some of the story behind it. This was not exactly a “normal” light painted wedding photograph, at least from a location standpoint.
It was created in a parking lot, of all places, about one block from their Grand Plaza Banquet Hall wedding reception in Stillwater, MN! The overhead parking lot lighting makes it look pretty gross (see below). I guess you could say that I can find something pretty to photograph just about anywhere.
The non-windy corner of the parking lot where we would light paint.
Cold and Windy
As we’ve mentioned in our other posts about their fantastic wedding, Brandon and Amy’s wedding day wasn’t the best from a weather standpoint. In fact, if you think about it, we had a lousy fall this year. It started to get cold in mid-September and it has pretty much stayed that way. Then on their October 20th wedding day, it was snowy winter weather in the late morning and early afternoon, with high winds all day and evening.
At Guardian Angels Church, we stayed indoors and out of the wind and snow squalls to keep everyone looking great with their hair in place before the wedding ceremony. That was a pretty easy call.
We did manage to capture this pretty fall color photograph from inside the church.
A pretty “indoor” fall color photo of Amy and Brandon.
After the ceremony, it was time to celebrate at their awesome Grand Plaza Banquet Hall reception. Now the weather wasn’t going to stop any of us from going outdoors to get great wedding photos in downtown Stillwater that afternoon! Yes, it was cold (just ask the girls), but the company and the locations made it seem warmer and less windy than it really was.
Brandon, Amy, and their wedding party at Teddy Bear Park.
Location, Location, Location
During dinner, I asked Brandon and Amy if doing an outdoor light painted wedding photo was still a go for them and they both said yes. Then I asked them what they would like to have featured in their light painting; buildings or fall colors. Amy said that she preferred fall colors.
So during the buffet line, I walked around the area to try to find a good location to light paint that still had some leaves after all of the gusty wind that day. The spot that I found for their fall color light painted wedding photo was indeed in the aforementioned parking lot.
The parking lot had several things going for it. It was very close to the reception, so they wouldn’t have to be gone for very long. And because of the steep hill behind it, it was well protected from the wind on this chilly evening. It also had a fair amount of really pretty fall colors.
This is the set-up shot with Brandon and Amy.
While I set up the shot, Joannie went and got our Honda Odessey, The Enterprise, and parked it right there. That protected the tripod from any traffic coming close to it and Joannie could sit in the warm car and fire the camera from the driver’s seat. The added bonus was that we could just put all of our equipment right in the van when we finished instead of having to carry it all back to the reception.
Pretty, and Pretty Cool Too
So, there you have it, fall color light painted wedding photography in a parking lot. Old dog, new (pretty) tricks!
“Beauty In The Parking Lot.”
Below is a link to a short behind-the-scenes YouTube video about their fall color light painted wedding photograph. Please check it out when you have a minute and feel free to subscribe to our channel. Thank you and have a Happy and safe Thanksgiving! – M&J