Terrence Takeover | The Line Between Guest and Vendor
Apollo Fields | Best Wedding Photos | Long Island Wedding Photography | Catskill Mountain Wedding Photographer | Upstate New York WEdding PHotographer | Writer | TErrence Huie
A bunch of acquaintances sit and stand around a large table, some blinds drawn and a faint waft of hair spray comes floating into the room. The nervous tension is palpable as conversation stalls in the dense air. There are a handful of half-eaten sandwiches and macaroni salads on paper plates strewn across the room complete with crumpled napkins and half-drunk mimosas. These are the last remnants before a wedding finally kicks off.
I’m standing on a beautiful wrap-around porch on an overcast day in the Catskill Mountains in my royal blue suit. It’s the same suit I wear when I work weddings when one of the guys asks, “is it easy for you to turn it off? Like today, will your mind be cranking?” As I begin to say that I was just scouting the first look location and going into details of what I’ve already helped with I stop–”no, it’s not. I’m more of a lifestyle guy. I’m interested in making sure that everyone is having a good time.” It didn’t occur to me until now that I was lying–well sort of half-lying–I was making sure that everyone was having a good time; but I also wasn’t turning it off,
making sure that everyone was having a good time—was actually me working.
I didn’t realize I was fully put into the guest zone until I was walking on the catwalk of the beautiful barn at Windham Manor when someone yelled below, “hey, you’re not supposed to be up there!” I’ve gotten so used to the wedding vendor all access pass that I didn’t know I was trespassing.
For the last five plus years I’ve been going into rooms like the one I described and facilitating conversations with people who may or may not know each other, and definitely don’t know me. I haven’t been afraid of entering crowded rooms since I learned to bartend ten years ago. Actually, I thrive on finding the common ground between myself and others. That’s because the more I learn about others, the more I learn about myself. So when I see a room full of people wiggling in their seats, avoiding eye contact, looking for what to say–I don’t move towards the walls, I move towards the center.
I move towards getting people talking. I notice the ones that don’t want to or can’t find the right words. I don’t press them. I laugh at the loud, lewd jokes. I keep walking along, wagging my tail, as Heather constantly refers to me as a golden retriever. It’s actually a quality that’s plagued me because I find it really hard to quantify. Even speaking about it makes me nauseous with self-importance.
I love to be around other people. That’s it. I’m a chronically addicted extrovert.
So when I attended the wedding of one of the last remaining bachelors of my grade school friends, I talked to a lot of people. I didn’t take many pictures, and I didn’t dance much either. I bounced around from cocktail tables to people seated on stairs, to people on couches at the after party. The entire wedding is a blur of laughter and conversations. I wasn’t working but looking back at it I kind of was. My personal life has blended so much with my professional life that it’s hard to discern where the good times end and work begins. I think it’s a good problem–and one that I will inevitably bring up while wagging my tail at one of our couple’s cocktail hours.
Rocky Mountain National Park Wedding
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Kelly + Evan
Coasting down that final stretch of road into Estes Park, the sun poured through the clouds onto the mountaintops like spotlights on a stage. Mountain weather tends to have a flair for the dramatic: passing storms, ominous thunder and lightning in the distance, plummeting temperature once the sun falls below the earth’s natural curtain. Such are the concerns for couples who choose to stage the ceremony of their love in the heart of nature’s beauty.
Rocky Mountain National Park Wedding
Kelly and Evan are east coasters like us, hailing from Connecticut and most recently Maryland. But having just moved to the Mile High City a month ago, they decided to host their ceremony in Rocky Mountain National Park, one of the (many) natural Crown Jewels of the beautiful state of Colorado. Inviting some of their closest friends and family, we gathered at a trail head, a party of around 20, to listen to their vows with green meadows, chirping birds, and jaw-dropping views all around.
One Couple, Two Locations
A growing trend for our couples is to host an engagement shoot or ceremony in one adventurous destination, and a more accessible reception in another. This allows them to travel to a place they’ve always wanted to visit, or commemorate a certain chapter of their relationship, while also providing a celebration for the larger group of loved ones in their lives. WE ARE ALL ABOUT IT. Truth be told, Heather and I wanted to elope on a mountaintop when we lived in Colorado, but opted to have our wedding on her aunt and uncle’s beautiful farm in northern New Jersey.
Destination Wedding Photographers Based in New York
I’m sure many could see multiple locations for a wedding celebration as too much hassle for Heather, Capa, and I (even if we weren’t expecting!), but that’s not how we see it. We see it as an opportunity to travel to amazing places, document authentic parts of our couple’s relationships, and have fun while doing it. Admittedly, I may get a bit neurotic when packing for the airport and boarding the plane, but once we hop in a rental car, we crank the tunes and we’re on our way!
Connecticut Wedding Photographers
Part two of Kelly and Evan’s wedding celebration will be at Shuttle Meadow Country Club in Kensington, Connecticut. The venue is only 30 minutes from where Heather and Kelly went to high school together at the Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, CT. It’s funny how consistent the overlap of values that Heather has with her former classmates over the years. It seems that everyone we meet or every couple’s wedding we photograph, we unearth a little bit of that bond that they all forged together. Not to mention all of the amazing partners they’ve chosen to marry; Evan being no exception.
National Park Wedding Photographer
So when I closed my eyes and heard Kelly and Evan speak their vows to each other in one of the most serene places I’ve ever been to, I couldn’t help but feel a little bit of something akin to imposter syndrome. Something about all of these beautiful couples in all of these stunning locations makes me question why I deserve it. I’m so lucky to be part of this business, with a partner who could make both a board room and modeling runway bend to her will without saying a word. When speaking to Mercie and Danika—a magical couple whose wedding we photographed last year and coincidentally were in Estes Park and made themselves available to us to take care of Capa while we worked—I said that my heart is so full that I almost need to invent something to reach for. It’s not complacency; it’s marrying ambition with fulfillment and remembering that I deserve it—just like every other human being on this planet.
The Maker Hotel Wedding Photography and Proposal
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Ricardo’s Proposal and Wedding at The Maker Hotel in Hudson, NY
After wrapping a wedding reception in Port Jefferson on Long Island, Capa and I made our way back home to Northport on a humid sunny afternoon. Heather, however, pressed on past our exit off the LIE en route to a surprise proposal at The Maker Hotel in Hudson, NY. I’m not sure if she listened to DMX, DMB, or podcasts but I’m sure that she was feeling a mixture of fatigue and excitement on the three-hour drive. That’s because The Maker Hotel isn’t just any hotel; and Ricardo and Michael aren’t just any couple.
The Maker Hotel was co-founded by Lev Glazman and Alina Roytberg, the creative minds behind the global beauty brand, Fresh, and nearby cafe and bakery, Bartlett House in Ghent, NY. A personalized aesthetic can be traced through all of their brands and nowhere is it more tangible than in the unique and authentic decor between the cozy walls of The Maker. Glazman and Roytberg’s hospitality expert, Damien Janowicz, was pivotal in the execution of the old-world-meets-new-world-vibe, providing both comfort and intrigue to restaurant diners and hotel guests alike.
Ricardo and Michael’s proposal and wedding seamlessly transitioned from a dimly-lit intimate dinner party to a beautifully sexy burlesque on Broadway show between toasts of champagne. Ricardo has a gentle, caring tone that makes him a warm and generous host. You could tell by the look on Michael’s face when Ricardo spoke just how deep their connection ran. By choosing The Maker Ricardo and Michael were able to share their story with their guests in a space that felt like home with a splash of the old world and a dash of bright lights.
Heather and I got to talking and realized that Apollo Fields is based on a lot of the same principles as The Maker and Ricardo and Michael’s relationship. At one point we even said that our motto should be “an old way to look at the new world” in regards to the artistic style we implement when we document weddings. Heather and I have an adoration for history and want to lift the best parts of it into the 21st century. We aim to build a future that celebrates humans in all of their many beautiful forms, and are always on the lookout for honest artistic expression. We appreciate style but don’t want to sacrifice comfort; we want to travel the world without leaving home.
A great relationship is like a great hotel, you feel comfortable anywhere you are. You want for nothing, you’re in great company, and all of your needs are met. You sink into the couch a little bit deeper, sip that hot coffee a little longer, and maybe even drift off into a daydream. You look over at your partner and lock eyes--oh how love can be so light in those beautiful moments. That is what we are all after--what a great partner, hotel, or brand can bring--those moments of deep love that somehow come so easy.
Vendors:
Venue: The Maker Hotel | Hudson NY
Photography: Apollo Fields
Hudson Valley Engagement Photographers
apollo fields | engagement photos in beacon, ny | outdoor engagement | upstate new york weddings
Escaping to the mountains in Colorado was easy. 30 minutes in a car and the Rockies swallowed us up. The distance to nature from New York City isn’t that much further but it feels like a lot longer. That’s because when you live in NYC -- any trip that requires a subway (or god forbid a bus) transfer -- is like flying to Texas and having a layover in Atlanta. The luxury of the travel service is shrouded by our entitlement and the relative way in which the culture of a city interprets time. I realize that the second part of that sentence sounds like something out of a sociologist textbook but just hear me out.
Heather and I drove up to Beacon, NY, for an engagement session with one of our August 2020 couples, Rachel and Billy. They went to school in upstate NY, currently live up there, and could never see themselves in a metropolis like NYC. When I asked Billy why -- he barely had to answer -- as his eyes stayed fixed upon the rolling topography of Beacon Mountain, studying the horizon like it contained a secret of an ancient text. For Rachel and Billy, proximity to nature is a priority and they couldn’t imagine not having a treeline to watch the sun set over. They thrive on taking the time to slow down and stare out into the woods. That’s the main difference between Rachel and Billy and people who live in NYC.
People who live in NYC never slow down -- and the only things they stare at -- are the things that are in fact slowing them down. Because we move so fast, when things are moving slowly, they feel like they’re going really slow. Einstein theorized that time is relative but living in New York is the proof. Traveling from the city to upstate feels like a journey across several states when in reality it’s as easy as two trains and one transfer. By comparison, traveling to the mountains from Denver feels like a quick trip up the road because the pace of the city is slower. For people in Denver, like Rachel and Billy, involving nature in their lives is a lifestyle priority, not a logistical stressor. Lucky for Heather and I, we have an occupation that makes trekking into the woods an enjoyable business trip.
Driving up to Beacon, NY, for Rachel and Billy’s outdoor engagement photos illuminated just one of the many accessible towns from NYC along the Hudson River Valley. Just as the boundaries of where young people find affordable housing in Brooklyn, Harlem, and Queens are constantly expanding, so are the cultural development of towns running north along the Metro-North train lines. If you’re like Heather and I (or Emily and Augie), and enjoy the hustle of the city complemented by the solitude of nature, press through the stress of traveling and get up and get out. You might just meet another literally down-to-earth couple like Rachel and Billy -- and if you don’t -- just take a deep breath and study the horizon.
Enjoy Rachel & Billy’s Engagement Photos:
AS SEEN IN THE POPPED! MAGAZINE
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as seen on the popped! blog
We’re All a Little Bit Crazy
From our animals to ourselves, we’re all a little bit crazy. Anyone who doesn’t admit that they’re at least a little crazy is definitely crazy. Heather and I love each other for all of our quirks and would love to get to know yours! Whether you’re looking for a photographer or a friend, drop us a line by clicking below!