Wedding Photographer Interview

enLuce possibly takes some of the most unusual wedding photographs

Full Name: Dana Hargitay and Bryan Randall

Company Name: enLuce photography

Position: Owners and principal photographers

What are some of the most unusual wedding photographs you have taken?

We shot a couple in Costa Rica repelling a 200 foot waterfall in Costa Rica and they were in their wedding gown and tuxedo! This shot was taken the day after the wedding and we all hiked down a river for about an hour to get to the waterfall! I had to rappel it first so I could get down and shoot up at them. Bryan shot it from the side and then joined us at the bottom after they were down. The bride and groom were super adventurous and wanted to get some unusual shots so she just bucked up and went for it and now they are so grateful as they LOVE this shot!

 

We shot a traditional African Massai Wedding in Kenya. She wore her tribal ceremonial dress and jewelry but then we coaxed her to don a white wedding gown with her Massai beaded jewelry! She isn't accustomed to wearing western clothing so she ended up wearing it backwards over her Massai blankets but it worked so we just went with it. Massai couples don't have sex for pleasure so they don't kiss during the ceremony. Also, the men are polygamists so it was completely unlike any ceremony we have shot. The ceremony consists of the father giving a dowry which is usually cows to the man for marrying his daughter. Then, the bride comes out of her hut and walks slowly across the village to women whom are singing and taking her under their care. Then the rest of the tribe performs a traditional wedding dance and sings. The bride then walks into her new hut where she is responsible for the upkeep including building a new one when they move on as they are still nomadic. This was a totally educational and surreal experience! We also captured it on Super 8 film so check out our website under films to watch it all live!

We took wedding photographs of a couple in Florence, Italy and they rode a carriage into the Piazza in front of the Duomo! It was Easter week so it was packed and the entire piazza of people were chanting, "Boccio, Boccio! --which in Italian means Kiss! They stood up in the middle of their carriage and started kissing and then the groom put his hands in the air as if in triumpth! The Italians love a wedding so everywhere we were shooting, they would clap and demonstratively show their congratulations. After the ceremony, the guests threw rice which was fun as most couples don't do that anymore due to the mess and believe me there was. The groom was picking rice out of his hair for twenty minutes! We had a great time trying to think out of the box as Florence has so many amazing locations so we persuaded the couple to hop on a carousel and ride around with their wedding party. Bryan wanted the detail shot of the ring to reflect Italy so he stuck them into a gelato ice cream cone and then had the couple lick it at the same time so we really got some amazing and fun photographs from this wedding!

We shot a couple in Death Valley running down the largest sand dunes in the world at 6am as they had just eloped in Vegas and wanted some unusually edgy wedding portraits! It was freezing cold and the bride was wearing a huge parka and then would take it off to get the shots. There was this caravan of four wheelers camping and they offered to drive them to the top of the dunes time and time again. Then they invited us back to their site and made us coffee and the children there posed as flower girls and ring bearers. Then, we drove to find some other unique locations and came across a general store that was neon pink so we stopped there for some shots. The owner came out and exclaimed he whipped up a meal for the newly married couple which was soggy nachos and insisted we come in and eat. The couple graciously ate this scary guacamole and we had a laugh shooting them!

Where do you get your inspiration?

We get a lot of our inspiration from the location but we also tend to look at art books & magazines and go to museums a lot! Mostly, though --it's the couple's personality that really gets our juices flowing as their interests and passion tends to gravitate us towards ideas for locations and compositions!

What wedding photograph would you really like to take?

We have been so excited to do a couple in a hot air balloon! We'd love to have the opportunity to shoot them in incredible light with her veil blowing off her head into the air!

Why do you like to push the boundaries of traditional wedding photography?

The biggest reason we push the boundaries of traditional wedding photography is because we LOVE being creative and it keeps us inspired. It's so fun and rewarding to give the couples their photographs and have them ooh and awe at all the shots! We really think the photographs should reflect the couples passions and their personalities as those are the ones they end up loving the most! Then, they don't have the same old and tired wedding photographs everyone else does. It makes their commitment to each other feel unique and special and that in turn makes Bryan and I feel like we accomplished our goal!

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