Planting Fields Arboretum Wedding - Oyster Bay, NY - Christina & Frank
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Chrstina & Frank Wedding
wedding day
Christina and Frank’s wedding day was gorgeously intimate and filled with heart-warming moments that we won’t soon forget. When we found out that Christina and Frank were planning an intimate elopement style New York wedding we were absolutely honored to capture their memories! From their laid back personalities to their playfulness in front of the lens, we were enthralled to take part in their wedding day.
ceremony
One thing that we absolutely adore about intimate weddings is just that, the intimate moments that a large wedding ceremony misses out on. From the quiet whispers of love to the laid back nature of it all, an elopement is always a great choice! Just make sure to still bring us along…someone’s got to take the photos! We headed into the park for Christina and Frank to exchange their vows. Christina’s dress was the epitome of city elopement with elegant lines and design. After the “I do’s” we headed to the Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay, NY for an epic photo session.
photo session
The Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay, NY was the perfect place for epic photo opportunities! We were so happy that Christina and Frank were up for multiple locations on the property! We headed into the greenhouse where these loves strolled hand in hand taking in the beautiful greenery, plants, and fountains and escaping the cold outside for a little while. The history of the buildings provided the perfect backdrop for their wedding photos and captured the essence of their love story perfectly.
conclusion
We wish Christina and Frank the absolute best as they begin their new journey as husband and wife! Cheers!
If you’re newly engaged and looking for your NY wedding photographer we’d love to chat with you!
Beach Engagement Photo Session
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Connie & eric
“Golden hour, magic hour, l’heure bleue. Evenings when the beauty of the changing sky made us both go still and dreamy. Sunlight falling at an angle across the lawn so that it touched our elevated feet, then moved up our bodies like a long slow blessing.” — Sigrid Nunez
Golden hour with a beachfront lighthouse landscape could not create a dreamier engagement photo session location! I had such fun with Connie and Eric as you could feel their sheer excitement to begin preparation for the journey towards their wedding day.
The sunset gods were in our favor as we played in the stunning golden hour magic amongst the lighthouse and the ocean views. Connie and Eric’s laid back fun nature made for beautiful photos full of love and smiles that I hope they cherish forever! They brought multiple outfit options to switch up their photos and were enthusiastic with every pose and idea presented to them!
I love when couples choose a location for your engagement session that offers multiple photo backdrops to ensure that we capture the essence of you and your love story and create perfect options for your new favorite photos. From the boardwalk wood patios to the lighthouse and ocean it gave a similar theme to their photos but gave us options for color, warmth and allowing the sun to speak.
Popping the champagne and toasting to their new life ahead they strolled through the wooden walkways pausing for sweet moments along the way. We look forward to their wedding day and cannot wait to celebrate their next chapter of their love story with them soon. If you are recently engaged and starting the process of looking for your wedding photographer we would LOVE to chat with you! Contact us today here!
Wedding Photos in Grand Teton National Park & Yellowstone
Apollo Fields | Grand Teton Wedding Photographer | Yellowstone Wedding Photographer | National Park Weddings | Mountain Wedding photographer | Jackson wedding Photography | Jackson Wedding Photographers
“I’ll never forget this moment,” Heather said during our two-year wedding anniversary picnic at Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park. A beautiful orange fox had just scampered by as the mountain water moved with a predictable calmness. It’s hard to believe that just a couple of months ago we weren’t sure if we were going to be shooting any weddings this season—yet there we were—taking the time to find the balance on a work trip in one of the most beautiful places on the planet. We have Sam and Conor to thank for that.
Sam and Conor originally planned to have their wedding at Grand Lake in the Rockies in Colorado, but wound up pivoting to an elopement in Grand Teton/Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. As soon as Heather and I deduced that we could come, they sent us one of their favorite books, American Wolf, to get us pumped up about the trip. The book is a beautiful narrative about finding the balance between society and the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park in 1995. I can’t stop talking about it.
We began Sam and Conor’s photos at Schwabacher Landing at sunrise as Sam and Conor braved the morning chill for a few unforgettable photo opportunities. We hit Mormon Row next, and circled around to Jenny Lake to round out the Grand Teton experience. The entire shoot took several hours between the driving and stopping and I couldn’t think of a better argument/analogy for the phrase “life is about the journey, not the destination,” than driving through Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.
The next day we grabbed breakfast and trekked up to Yellowstone, stopping at Ol’ Faithful, Grand Prismatic, and a few other spots to watch for moose, bears, bison, and wolves. Conor and I split off on a couple of the short walks and we talked about his love for fly fishing. I had no idea how much science and geographic knowledge went into the sport, nor did I know that the flys that they use as bait are actually fake (I always wondered how you put the hook throw a dead fly’s brittle wing or body). It was clear that Sam and Conor loved to get lost in the calm of a stream or creek, entirely content to disconnect and focus on the task at hand.
A couple years back, Sam and Conor decided to take an indefinite recess from social media. They found that their habits were throwing them off balance. At red lights they’d find themselves reaching for their phones even though there was nothing they needed to follow up on. As I get older the the phrase “finding a balance” seems to ring more and more true. I’ve found my personal attachment to my phone increase during quarantine and was happy to hear Sam and Conor speak about their intentional disconnection from the common and troublesome habit.
Whether it is reintroducing wolves in Yellowstone, throwing on some waders and wading into a stream, managing our relationship to social media, or remembering to have a picnic on a work trip—it is hard to deny the importance of balance in our lives. Heather and I are lucky to have a business that brings us to places that remind us of that, and thanks to couples like Sam and Conor, we will continue to create and capture moments that we will never forget.
Enjoy these photos from Conor & Sam’s Grand Teton & Yellowstone adventure:
Equestrian Photoshoot Ideas for Senior Photos
Horse Photography | Equine Portraits | Senior Photos | Capricorn Farm, Golden Colorado | Warmblood Horses | Apollo Fields Wedding Photographers
Aralimbo’s last home, Capricorn Farm in Jefferson County, Colorado, is a peaceful oasis that is permanently painted into my mind. Seated right in front of North Table Mountain in Golden, CO, every sunset sunk behind the Rocky Mountains too quickly, splashing palates of pink, yellow, and blue into the open sky like a landscape portrait by your favorite impressionist painter. The kicker of Capricorn Farm, though, was the owner, Katie, and her daughter, Jenna, who rode and worked that idyllic farm property as naturally as North Table Mountain emerged from the soil of the front range.
Farm life isn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination, but those who dive head first into the hay do so because they love animals more than they love themselves. Katie, like most barn owners we’ve met, evoked a stern, take-no-shit attitude when we first talked shop with her. Then, when we saw her walk through the stable, strutting in her element, shaking the dust from the field from her jacket, we noticed the heart behind the hard work. The way she reached out to touch her equine friends was as gentle as a gardener’s whisper; the way she looked into their eyes as sensitive as a mother’s gaze. It’s only in the rare few that these two seemingly opposite character traits – toughness and tenderness – materialize into the calloused hands of the seasoned farmer.
The last month we were in Colorado, Heather secretly did a photo session with Jenna and her horse, Justice, as a thank you gift for Katie’s loving care of Aralimbo. There’s a certain bond between a horse and the rider, Heather keeps telling me, and it first became evident in those photographs. Jenna was heading off to college and was heartbroken leaving Justice in Colorado, but such is the price you pay when you love something so much. Yet that day at Capricorn, Heather immortalized Jenna and Justice’s bond in photographs that will also reinforce Jenna’s relationship with Katie. It reminded me that distance between loved ones can always change with time, but remembering the moments that shaped our lives never will.
There’s something about the love of animals that makes having weddings at barns or farms more appropriate than banquet halls. Perhaps it’s the unconditional love that’s exchanged between eyes, the reward of hard work, or the many loves that the old wooden walls must’ve seen over time. All I know is that Heather and I are going to find a farm wedding venue that captures whatever it is.
Whether a trend or if farm weddings are here to stay, having the privilege to meet people like Katie and Jenna is why we are in the industry that we are in. Nothing means more to us than providing meaningful pathways for families, couples, or relatives to connect to one another. It just so happens that many of the people in our lives have an overwhelming amount of love for the other creatures we share this earth with. If it’s anything we can learn from them is that although their hands are calloused, it doesn’t prevent them from also being gentle.
Jenna & Justice
Horse Photography: Apollo Fields
Venue: Capricorn Farm
Jamaica Honeymoon - Day 3
Apollo Fields Destination Wedding Photographers | Negril, Jamaica | Honeymoon Adventures
Jamaica – Day 3
Sunday, November 4th, 2018 ~7:35 am, local time
Another morning waking to the ebbs and flows of the Caribbean Sea. There’s something about the sound of waves crashing that lures your mind into the rhythm of nature, reminding you that everything that comes will also go. The whitewater that sprays into the air, jettisoning from the sharp rock face, shows no concern for my presence, or for any of the other creatures that cling to their cratered homes on this violently-formed beautiful façade. Yet it’s these wall-dwelling sea creatures — these Jamaican mussels and crabs — that taught me that we need to carve a small niche for ourselves, where we can brave the onslaught of life’s elements, if we want to survive in this otherwise unforgiving world.
We took a right out of Sundown Villa this morning for the first time on our Vespa, passing Rick’s Café among the other horribly named Americanized resorts like ‘The Palms’ and ‘Lover’s Paradise” as the wind whipped around our bodies on our way to a place called “Barney’s Hummingbird and Flower Sanctuary.” Heather clung to my back like a baby koala as we veered off the pavement onto a dirt road, her lips stammering through the worried words of her mind like mental pot holes. We passed a man walking down the road, sharpening a machete and were reminded of our cab driver who told us that all the goats that roam the island are owned by someone — and if you were to say, pick one up — you will find yourself on the wrong end of one of those blades. We swerved around the man and slowed as we approached two large, faded green doors that hung on rusted hinges.
“Hello!” Said a thin pale-skinned old man donning a worn trousers-and-suspenders outfit as he swung the gates open. “Welcome to my hummingbird and flower sanctuary. I am Barney, the proud German-Jamaican-English owner of this place,” he added. As he led us through the narrow walkways of his garden, the flutter of hummingbirds moved all around us, kind of like the sound of tiny handheld toy fans. Palms and large leaves hung down as geckos and other insects fed from the vibrant pink, red, and yellow flowers that boomed in contrast to the blue sky. Barney gave us all tiny bottles with punctured red caps that dripped with sugar water to lure the hummingbirds in. We held our outstretched arms in the air, mimicking the branches that reached over the garden’s pathways, hoping that the birds would come feed from our “flowers.” Patiently walking around, the birds began to trust us one at a time, holding fast in midair right in front of our faces, mother nature’s natural helicopters, hovering in place, wings effortlessly flapping seventy times a second. Barney grinned a grin that only a hummingbird expert could grin, or maybe it was because of the six-pack of Red Stripe.
Eager for local cuisine we stopped just up the road at a place called Just Natural Veggies. Simple enough, I thought. From there we ordered rum punch, a vegetable plate, lobster salad, sweet potato and plantain, and a bean and rice burrito. As we walked to the side of the restaurant we followed a path into the jungle, tables and chairs scattered about like a diner inside the woods. There were checker board tables that used plastic bottle caps and Red Stripe caps as checkers and each table had an orange bottle of locally made hot habanero hot sauce. We ate our freshly made dishes in the middle of the jungle, no one around but the smiling faces of the restaurant, who laughed and joked as they set down our plates. They could’ve been feeding us fried gecko for all we knew as we sat mesmerized in this restaurant that made rustic concepts back home look like four-star hotels. In the jungle and of the jungle, we walked out of there happy and full.
There are niches to be carved, if only we are wise enough to see them. These experiences will stick to my heart like the geckos on the flowers and the mussels on the rock wall. As the trip continues, I can only hope to unearth more things that I can learn from and grow closer to carving out my own crater I can call home.
