“When I started doing weddings, it was a field day for me,” says New York–based Ryan Brenizer. He had been...
By Aimee Baldridge | Published Mar 5, 2013 12:29 AM EST
Photo: Ryan Brenizer
Photo: Ryan Brenizer
“When I started doing weddings, it was a field day for me,” says New York–based Ryan Brenizer. He had been working as a photographer for Columbia University, shooting academic events that were usually less than exciting. At a wedding, he says, “I was walking into a scenario where there were emotions and there was beauty, and I could just build on that.”
Brenizer certainly had the tools for the job, with a knack for the technical and a background in journalism. “I do tend to approach weddings as assignments,” he says. “Whoever the people are, I want to tell their story. I want to show the things that are different and unique about them, what makes it their wedding.”
Recognized for his own unique approach, Brenizer uses such techniques as composite lighting, free-lensing, and light painting, and he has even come up with a way to capture panoramic portraits with shallow depth of field that’s become known by photographers as the Brenizer Method. Nevertheless, he insists, “the technical stuff is just a means to an end. What’s important are the moments between people.”
See the rest of our Best Wedding Photographers of 2013 list here.