So I already shared all of my favorite candid wedding moments. Today I have for your viewing pleasure all of my best bride and groom portraits. Most of these are Portland area weddings, but a few are in Washington and one is even in Idaho. Does that mean I get to call myself a destination photographer now? Just kidding.

Anyway, a lot of couples ask questions like, “What is your photography style?”  or “We don’t want any posed shots, you won’t make us pose, right?” or my favorite “Will you tell us what to do on the wedding day? We’re horrible in front of the camera!”  And to all of these concerns, I give you this blog post! (But seriously, I have yet to get a couple who is actually HORRIBLE in front of the camera) Today’s post is full of all of my favorite 2014 portraits with the bride and groom on their wedding day.

These photos are why I ask for a whole hour to just hang out with the couple. Shots like this don’t happen without a little bit of planning. But I hope they don’t look too posed or fake to you. Very rarely do I ask the bride and groom to actually look at the camera or do something like tilt their head a specific way. I’m much more interested in capturing each couple’s unique relationship and all of their emotions on their beautiful wedding day. Anyone can get dressed up all pretty and smile into a camera. That’s cool, let’s get a few of those shots for the parents. But more importantly, I want each bride and groom to look back at their wedding photos and remember how they felt about each other.

In virtually all of these shots I’m guiding the bride and groom to be in a place that I want them to be. I’m looking for the gorgeous light and backdrops. That’s what makes most of these shots not truly candid photos. (Although a few of them are totally candid) Most of the time I tell couples, “Ok, go over there and be your cutie selves together.” Since we’ve already done this in the engagement session, they’ve got a pretty good idea about what’s going on. I also like to back up and use a longer lens so I’m not right up in their face. This kind of gives them a little bit more privacy and it becomes just more about the two of them enjoying each other and their wedding day instead of the three of us doing an obligatory photoshoot.

Thanks for checking them out, enjoy!