Orthodox Bridal Party Sunset Beach Shoot at Sea Gate, Brooklyn
Normally these monthly roundups feature my five favorite shoots from that month, however I'm taking a break from shooting to recover from surgery for about 2 months, so I figured this time would be the perfect excuse to dig back through the archives from this year, and finally share some assignments that deserved a post at the time but never got one. And also maybe injecting an editorial opinion or two since I’m more or less stuck in bed for the time being. All that being said…here is the next one :)
Getting to this beach photoshoot was an adventure in itself. The seven girls were part of a very Orthodox Jewish bridal party and wanted photos on the beach at sunset, with matching outfits (including socks in the sand, which I have to admit was a new one for me!), floating props, and plenty of running around in the surf. They were staying in a private gated community, and since I don't drive, I had to get myself and all of my equipment through security. That turned out to be considerably more complicated than expected, and between the security requirements and some confusion about getting me an invitation code (coupled with the religious restrictions on the women being allowed to use smartphones), it took about an hour before I was finally allowed in.
Once we actually got to the beach, the girls were a lot of fun to work with, and we spent the evening getting group shots, individual portraits, and lots of photos of them running around with the various props. I was having a particularly difficult day physically with my worsening condition, and the combination of carrying equipment through sand and trying to direct seven people at once was not exactly easy, but the girls were very nice and enthusiastic throughout the shoot and were thrilled with the photos. Sometimes getting to the actual photoshoot is half the battle, and this was definitely one of those days.
Here are some of my favorite images from this shoot (click/tap to view full size and un-cropped):
To see more examples of this style of photography, visit my travel and tourist gallery >>
All images in this blog post were shot on a Nikon D850 using a 24-85mm zoom lens, and all individually post-processed in Adobe Lightroom using custom-built presets.
Jinnifer Douglass is a full-time freelance photographer based in NYC, shooting for both individuals and brands such as Google, Sotheby’s, Uber, Make Up For Ever, Squarespace, and more! Specializing in portraits, food, and special events, she works to make every piece of your social and website content ‘Insta-worthy’ with high resolution, full-frame DSLR photography and expert Lightroom editing. Interested in chatting? Leave a comment below, or send an email to hello@jinyc-photo.com!