Brooklyn Estate Wedding Shoot, Berlin, MD | Ocean City Maryland Wedding Photographer, Dana Marie Photography

Venue:

The Brooklyn Estate

thebrooklynestate.com

Photographer: 

Dana Marie Photography

@danamariephotographyoc

danamariephotography.com

Coordinator & Decor Rentals:

Alison to the Altar

@alisontothealtar

alisontothealtaroc.com

Florals & Decor Rentals:

Little Miss Lovely Floral Design

@littlemisslovely

youresolovely.com

Hair & Makeup:

Andrea Bounds Hair & Makeup

@andreabounds

aboundsmakeup.com

Cake:

Sugar Rush by Theresa
https://www.facebook.com/sugarrushbytheresa/?fref=ts

Bridal Gown:

ASOS

@asos

asos.com

Bridesmaid Dresses:

Urban Outfitters / ASOS

@urbanoutfitters / @asos

urbanoutfitters.com / asos.com

Wedding Rings:

OC Jewelers 

http://www.thesolderspot.com

Jewelry:

JCrew / Ish Boutique / Earthly by Whitney

@jcrew / @ishboutique / @ohshitwhit

jcrew.com / ishshop.com / etsy.com/shop/EarthlybyWhitney

Na-Mer-Ste Tanks: 

Smells Like Home

@smellslikehomeshop

smellslikehomeshop.com

Invitation Suites:

Zazzle

@zazzle

zazzle.com

Favors:

Hoopers Crab House

@hooperscrabhouse

hooperscrabhouse.com

Beverages:

Fin City Brewing Co.

@fincitybrews

fincitybrewing.com/

Models:

Bride - Chelsea West

Groom - Jake McAteer

Bridesmaids - Lizzie King, Leslie Wells

We wanted this shoot to tell a story and that it did!  The venue is gorgeous and perfect to host a wedding just minutes outside of the hustle and bustle of Ocean City, MD and accommodations on site for many to stay.  When I arrived I was overwhelmed with the amount of landscape offered for portraits, so many crevices and photo ops, it was impossible to get to them all!  There is a lot of shade and architectural overhang too which would be idea for outside photos midday or even in somewhat inclement weather to still get outdoor natural lit portraits.  Alison with Alison to the Altar did an amazing job coorindating vendors and setting up the ceremony site and design.  Working well with Ami of Little Miss Lovely they turned the long seated tables into a country chic feel while staying close to the eastern shore of Maryland roots of crabs and beer.  There are several spots to potentially set up for a ceremony but I loved the way you could see part of the ceremony set up through the open air bar out back.  Speaking of that bar, the house offers a covered area perfect for a cocktail party with built in fireplace, bar, seating and places for appetizers to be passed with the view and flexibility of seating more around the pool!  It was a breathtaking sight in person and offered such a beautiful backdrop for a party.  Andrea Bounds did a top notch job on make up and hair, the ladies were getting done up when I arrived and I photographed things as I would if there was a real wedding taking place.  The master suite offered a lot of room and light to take photos of details as well as those getting ready photos with the make up artist and lots of room to move around (so important!).

Moving to the reception area of the property there is a newly concreted pad out back just waiting to be danced around or eaten on.  I envisioned where the DJ would go and where guests would sit and eat and dance, it is the perfect place for an all in one place ceremony and reception and just minutes away from the beach to snag some waterfront portraits between the ceremony and reception or at the end of the night.

I was incredibly excited to be a part of this project.  Being a newer venue it was like a blank canvas for us vendors to show off how we would do things here.  For my part and portraits, the house is just incredible!  For a couple looking for a beautiful place to get ready with lots of light and places to take photos, this is it!  There were so many spots we didn't have time to explore that I would love to focus on with a couple getting married, from the game room upstairs, the groomsmen playing a round of pool to encouraging the couple to hop in the pool at the end of the night (even if they change into a different dress/suit first), the photos would be unforgettable and have friends and family remembering them for years to come.

There were several vendors and models involved in this shoot, please take the time to check out some of their websites and the services they offer.

Damien & Sara are Married | Cambridge MD Wedding Photographer | Dana Marie Photography

 

Wedding Photography:  Dana Marie PhotographyCeremony & Reception Venue:  Swan Cove ManorDJ: Purple Suit ColinPaper Flowers:  Accent and PetalsReception Decor: Natalie Rose CreationsCustom Cake Topper:  Fairytales HandmadePhotography Assistance:  Dona Jung

What an incredible special wedding.  The couple and I planned for months to utilize every part of this amazing property they leased out for several friends and family to stay right on location and some for several days.  We planned lots of outdoor games like corn hole and playing on the kayaks even.  Mother nature had other plans and it rained the entire day long.  From start to finish buckets or rain but that doesn't stop them and their guests from having the time of their lives!

We started the day with a ceremony under umbrellas by the water.  Damien and Sara said their vows amongst their friends and family in an intimate gathering by the dock.  During cocktail hour we moved to the porch of one of the buildings for portraits with family and then with the bridal party.  Their friend Colin kept the party going with music all day long and guests were entertained at their tables with games and cocktails.  After dinner the music was turned up and friends came together and kicked off their shoes to dance in what was now a muddy floor under the tent cover.  We snuck away for evening portraits in the rain ended the night with sparklers in the rain.  This is one wedding I will never forget and I am so happy the couple didn't let the rain spoil their day or even damper the idea of outdoor portraits.  While the weather wasn't ideal we sure made the most of the situation and used those pesky raindrops to our advantage.  Congratulations Damien and Sara, I wish you a lifetime of happiness together.

Canon 1DXMarkII Review by a Portrait & Wedding Photographer | Ocean City Photographer, Dana Marie Photography

It's been nearly two weeks now since the Canon 1DXMarkII came out and I ordered one for my camera bag.  It really was love at first sight with this incredible machine.  The box screams sexy when it came in the mail.  I unwrapped the camera body strapped in the battery and fired it up.  Having been very comfortable with Canon Camera bodies I was able to easily get my bearrings and set up a few test shots.  Naturally the first thing I did was up the ISO to over 51,000 but only because I could and take a test shot.  I was impressed with the amount of detail still in the photo with an ISO that high but wouldn't recommend shooting at that for portrait work and didn't expect to be able to I just wanted to see if it was really true.

I was able to play around past 10,000 ISO with not enough noise on the screen to concern me so this excites me for future shoots.  I shot a few portrait sessions with the camera last week and over the weekend shot my first wedding with it and it did not disappoint.  The biggest difference to note is within post processing, the resulting images feel closer to film images than any other Canon camera bodies I have worked with.  Shooting with a pair of 5D3s until now this camera had big shoes to fill and it has exceeded my expectations.

While I didn't expect to have any sort of video edge with this camera nor was I looking for it being a still image photographer, this camera is incredibly intuitive when it comes to shooting video.  The screen becomes a touch screen and will keep in focus what you want utilizing the square space outlined (that you can actually change with your finger!?!), how cool is that?

The downsides....I have been completely spoiled by reading my exposure meter from the top of the camera and this is a feature that as of yet has not been made available on this camera body as well as a handful of other recent Canon bodies.  To me saving the few seconds to bring the camera up to eye level adds up and keeps from having to lift the camera as often but alas that is not an option at this time.  I am used to the weight having gripped camera bodies so the new weight didn't bother me but not being able to take any kind of ballpark reading from the top is taking some getting used to.  This feature does work when not shooting in Manual Mode but I shoot 100% Manual Mode.  Speaking of Modes, there is no auto!  I have a love/hate relationship with Auto and I love that this camera doesn't have it but would have been nice in a pinch to have in place if I ever had to hand the camera off to someone to take a shot with that didn't understand camera settings... There is Program Mode so that would suffice in a pinch.  The biggest problem is the battery!  I went through almost an entire battery during my wedding last Saturday.  While I did purchase a second battery with the camera and had it ready to go, I was not expecting the battery life to die so quickly on this camera.  It is possible there is a setting turned on or I have something running besides standby but I was not impressed with the battery life span on this and equally not as thrilled that it takes 14 hours to charge the batter to full from dead.

Needless to say I am a smitten kitten with this machine of a camera and look forward to all it has to offer during future work.  Here are a handful of images taken over the past week with it.