AE WEDDINGS

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Welcome to our new Blog. We are so excited to have also launched the new website at www.aeweddings.com. Moving here from England last February was a big step and we have had such a wonderful response to Anthony's work on all fronts, Weddings, Fashion and Celebrity Portraits. The weather here is incredible for shooting weddings and the season can last so much longer than the UK, where the chance of rain spoiling your day is always a possibility!!

We have spent the year meeting planners, viewing the wonderful locations from Santa Barbara to San Diego and the choice is truly staggering!! We have also been meeting some wonderful couples and shooting some beautiful weddings which we will be sharing with you on our blog. We hope you enjoy seeing the images of our happy couples, we feel very honored to share their day and capture every moment and every detail for them to enjoy for years to come.

HAPPY 2010 to everyone.

Annie and Anthony Elgort

ANTHONY'S BIO

For Decades, the Elgort name has been synonymous with beautiful fashion photography. Since my uncle Arthur first photographed for British Vogue in 1971, and American Vogue in 1974, he has been forging ahead with producing an amazing body of work—from the Rolling Stones, to a trip to China with the Kissengers, incredible pictures with Christie Turlington (who he called “the model of our time”), Kate, Cindy, Linda, Claudia and 50 pages every year in Vogue. The Vogue book of photography calls his work “seemingly casual and spontaneous” and fairly credits him with the invention of “street style” and lifestyle photography. Alexander Lieberman said, “What I have always admired in Elgort is his ability to catch a revealing moment in a woman’s everyday life.”

I grew up under the strong influence of uncle Arthur. He gave me a Polaroid camera when I was eight, and since I used it all the time, an Olympus 35mm at age ten. Then a Rolleiflex at twelve, and always took time to encourage and teach me. I painted his enormous studio white again and again one summer as a young teen, and carried cameras on a big shoot with Christie, Uma Thurman, Iman, Oscar de le renta, Paulina Porizkova and a busload of supermodels that same summer.

Older, I worked hard for other top people in the business, Annie Leibovitz, Richard Avedon, Patrick Demarchelier, and many more. Campaigns for Clinique, Calvin Klein, Guess—fashion work for Harpers Bazaar, and celebrity portraits for Vanity Fair. I did my apprenticeships, learned their lighting, and their secrets.

Since then I have expanded my own body of work, exploring through photography. I have been many places with my cameras—from the snowy mountains of Bulgaria in a cold cold winter, to finding a sculptural nude beneath the calm waters of a cape cod swimming pool, or the graceful fleeting form of a polo pony. Portraits of strong people, famous people., cowboys, painters, actors, an inspiring woman who works as a nurse for Doctors without borders, . And of course Fashion—many great magazines and terrific people-- I find such a new excitement and joy in creating fresh and beautiful fashion images.

Through the past years, I have always chosen a few special weddings to photograph, and enjoyed using my gifts to make unforgettable images--images that show the beauty not just of a top model or a movie star, but the timeless beauty of a bride on her wedding day.

And yet, through this whole photographic experience, I find I have come full circle. As a result of all the travels and all the pictures, I find that when I look at my work now---the strongest influence may silently be my charming Uncle Arthur. Without any intention, and on my own quest, I realize that I have come back to seeking out a spontaneous and real moment, something intimate, real and…most surprisingly to me, I am an Elgort after all.

BRIDAL RETOUCHING!!

Retouching is one of our specialities - it is something we are very skilled at due to our fashion work having to be at magazine standard. Unfortunately the retouching world seems to have gone a bit mad and you can end up looking more Avatar han Human.

My policy is that 'the bride gets what she wants' and I make sure she knows what her options are - the difference in before and after retouched images is so incredible that it makes no sense to not use it. As the camera also adds pounds and with High Resolution capabilities it shows much more on close ups than you would normally see, I see no point in not using modern technology to its full advantage - removing those pounds and skin blemishes -yet still not overdoing it!!

This is going to be a wonderful year!!

Its only the 7th Jan and already, in just the first week, you can tell it is going to be a wonderful year. The economy is recovering (my new positive outlook is helping this!) - the weather is incredible, nearly 70 degrees most days! To top it all we are having some lovely meetings with our 2010 couples who are getting into wedding mode now that it has finally arrived.

It is so exciting to share their hopes and dreams of their beautiful day, we love hearing all the details of the venue, the dress, the ceremony order - no two weddings are the same - each takes on its own spirit....

I know we have the best job in the world when we present our albums - the response says it all.. at a meeting this week a bride to be was almost in tears from the excitement of planning it all - ME TOO!!!!