New York, United States
Proposal photography in New York
The only city where the building behind you is doing half the work.
New York gives a proposal something no other city does: you can be entirely alone in the middle of eight million people. Nobody here stops. A couple standing still on a corner while one of them kneels is not an event to anyone walking past, which means the privacy you want is available in the most public place imaginable — and it means a long lens from sixty feet away is completely unremarkable.
The planning is about light rather than seclusion. Manhattan’s streets run at an angle that puts hard direct sun down the cross streets for a short window on either side of noon and leaves the avenues in shade for most of the day, so the difference between a proposal at four o’clock on one corner and the same corner an hour later is total. We choose the position from where the sun actually is on your date, agree a signal, and take a second location for the twenty minutes of portraits afterwards.
The light
Choosing a month in New York.
March to May
The best light of the year and the least reliable weather. Long low afternoons down the cross streets, bare trees in the parks until late April, and a real chance of a cold grey Saturday.
June to August
Harsh overhead sun and humidity that shows in every photograph of a linen jacket. Early evening is the only comfortable outdoor hour; the rooms are where the work is.
September to November
The season everyone wants, correctly. Clear air, long amber light down the cross streets, and the Hudson Valley an hour away turning over. Book eighteen months out.
December to February
Short days and a portrait window that closes by half past four, which makes an early ceremony essential. In exchange the interiors are at their best and the city is at its least crowded.
What has to be planned for
- Photography for personal use in the public parks is generally unrestricted; tripods, lighting and anything that looks like a production are not. We work handheld here for that reason.
- A wedding party moving between three addresses in Manhattan on a Saturday is a transport problem before it is a photographic one. We build the portrait window around the traffic, not the other way round.
- City Hall ceremonies run to their own queue and their own clock, and the photographs that matter happen on the steps afterwards.
- Most venues here have a hard end time set by the building rather than by you, and a freight elevator schedule that decides when anything can be moved in or out.
- The Hudson Valley is an hour north without traffic and two with it. A five o’clock ceremony up there means leaving the city before two.
The commission
- Coverage
- One photographer, ninety minutes, from a distance and then not.
- From
- $1,800
Frames
From New York.
Questions
How much does a wedding photographer cost in New York?
Our commissions here begin at $14,000 for a full day with two photographers, and most New York weddings land between that and $22,000 depending on the length of the day and whether there is a welcome dinner or a brunch on either side of it. There is no album tier held back and no charge to receive your own photographs at full resolution.
Can you photograph in Central Park?
Yes, and we do, handheld and without lighting. Anything involving a tripod, a light stand or a crew is a different category in the eyes of the Parks Department and needs a permit — we will tell you which one your plan falls into before you assume it.
Is a city wedding shorter than a country one?
Almost always, and it changes the commission. Guests leave earlier because they are going home rather than upstairs, and the whole day is often eight hours rather than twelve. We would rather photograph the right eight than pad it out to look like better value.
How far ahead should we book?
Twelve to eighteen months for a Saturday in September or October, which are the two months everyone wants and the two that go first. A winter date is often available inside six months, and December in this city photographs better than its reputation suggests.
Do you travel to the Hudson Valley and Long Island?
Regularly, and there is no travel charge within two hours of the city — the Hudson Valley, Long Island and the Connecticut shoreline are all inside that. Beyond it, travel is quoted at cost and itemised before it is booked.
What happens if it rains?
We photograph in it, and an overcast day is the most flattering light there is for a face. What rain removes in this city is the long view down a street, not the portrait — and every venue here has an interior worth using, which is more than most destinations can say.
Proposal in New York?
Tell us the date and what you are planning. We reply personally, usually within two business days.