jay_philbrick

This was taken on her wedding day. She hiked up there in her dress (her choice).  I never asked her to take one step back! It is Mt. Willard. She and her husband are ultra marathoners running 100 mile races so this was nothing for them. Some of the many quests struggled a bit.

Thanks, everyone!

Esteve, Thanks a lot. Jill, I used to be a climbing guide before becoming a full time photographer. This session was a lot of fun!

Anne, thanks for looking. This is what's called a day-after session. It actually took place a couple weeks after I photographed their wedding. It's a chance to get photos you might not be able to get on the day of the wedding. The couple is 400 feet above the ground on a small ledge. I'm hanging from ropes above them. They are both tied in and the ropes are hidden. I hole was cut in the dress to make it all work. It was quite a lot of work!

Thanks, Bob!

Thanks for looking. It is true, not photoshopped. Ropes were used but hidden, holes cut in the dress, etc.

Thanks again for the kind words. Glad you liked it.

Thank you for the comments!

Thanks for looking.

Fantastic work!

Incredible idea, effort, and execution. Brilliant!

Beautiful portrait and superb black and white. Great, soft lighting. I love everything about it. Great work!

Thank you, everyone, for the continued comments and kind words.

Thanks, all, for the additional comments. Good point, Les. I'll have to consider that.

Rueda and Drew thanks for the comments. This was a day after session, a chance to get photos you wouldn't normally be able to get on the day of the wedding due to lack of time and fear of getting the dress dirty, etc. Steffanie and Joe are both avid rock climbers and I used to be a rock climbing guide. I hired another guide to be responsible for lowering the couple into place and for getting them back up to the top of the cliff.

 

An anchor was pre-rigged at the ledge and the bride and groom were lowered with harnesses hidden under their outfits. Getting the bride into a harness with a dress on in such a way that it wouldn't show and that would allow her to still clip in safely to the anchor wasn't easy. Both were always either clipped into the anchor or tied into a rope for the lower or raise.

 

My wife was anchored into another part of the cliff for some of the shots and I moved around on the top. For the other image from this series that I've posted, I rappelled down to where I could hang over the overhanging wall they were anchored to take the shot. The exposure there was incredible as it was a freefall of hundreds of feet to the rocks below.

 

It was a very complex procedure that began in the dark well before sunrise. Unfortunately we got rain and fog instead of a sunrise but we got some great and different wedding photos which were all the more dramatic due to the weather conditions. The couple did a great job dealing with the obvious stress of the situation. And, most importantly, we didn't trash the dress!

Thank you, both, for the comments. No, unfortunately no tunnel nearby.

Another from a difficult to set up session with last week's bride and

groom. Thanks for taking a look.

Day after session with this weekend's bride & groom. Wish we had

better weather but the fog adds to the drama. Getting them on and off

the ledge (safely) was the hard part.

Thanks a lot for the comment. I don't think to many photographers realize how difficult it is to get something like this at a wedding. After all, it's not like a studio or model shoot where you're in control. Getting all the lights and everything in the right place at the right time to catch something like this will never be easy, at least not for me. Thanks again for taking the time to comment.

Thanks for looking.

Taken in Tuscany during a recent trip. This is one of the classic

images from the area. Thanks for looking.

Thank you for the comment. Glad you liked it.

Thank you for the comments. David, I wondered about the foreground as well and in the end went with this.

Thank you for looking. A beautiful villa and vineyard near Bossi.

Thank you for any comments or critiques.