NYC City Hall Elopement Photographer

Nikolaos and Maria's NYC City Hall Elopement | DUMBO Brooklyn Eloping Portraits | Apollo Fields Wedding Photographers

Like many creatives, I have to get into a certain zone to make art. Shooting weddings for me is my livelihood but it’s not my work. Replying to emails is work. Scanning receipts is work. Being in the nucleus of a crowded dance floor full is strangers with a camera is art.

I’m usually up before my alarm on wedding mornings. I’m jittery, my mind is swirling with visuals of what I want to uncover for the day. Sometimes I want to go wider, get more environment. Sometimes I want to get close, close, closer to my subject. It’s light and its energy and I’m such a visual person that if I don’t manifest it beforehand then I struggle.

I get a little freaky about my batteries, shot lists, leaving early, and every other Type A habit comes to the surface (shoutout to Terrence for keeping my head glued on because I know I’m not cute or fun on my wedding mornings).

I used to try to control this and I thought that the more I shot, the more this would go away. I’ve shot well over 100 weddings now and it’s the same story. But I’ve come to peace with this because it’s my creative muse. It means I care and I’m actually scared for the day I wake up and don’t feel this.

So I triple check my equipment and get on the road. My guilty pleasure is listening to @kendricklamar’s DAMN cover-to-cover as loud as my car can handle it (I could talk about this album for days if anyone wants to poke the bear) and then the minute I’m on location and begin shooting, it all dissipates. It’s gone- the anxiety, the jitters, the build up, the whole thing just lifts and I sink into my creative space.

So maybe this sounds a little insane and maybe it is, but it’s a little insight into my behind the scenes reality. Fellow creatives, who can relate?

Photography: Apollo Fields
Venue: City Clerk NYC
Portrait Location: DUMBO Brooklyn