brian dorsey studios – new york wedding photographer – top 10 in the world – destination weddings

A foot and a half of water.

That’s what we were driving through to get to Lauren and Chris’ wedding out in the Hamptons. Cars were stalling left and right, swamped by the torrential rains. But it just goes to show you that a bride creates her own sunshine on her wedding day.

And as we were taking pictures just before the ceremony took place, the clouds broke and we got a brief (and very windy) sunset.

This is the new Guestbook Album that we’ve been making for our clients. We take their engagement images and make it into a book that guests can sign at the wedding. It’s been a HUGE hit and almost everyone we’ve shown it to wants one. They look so cool once everyone’s written in them too. What a great way to take home well wishes from your guests.

Chris had a surprise for everyone too. He pulled together a band of his own that played a few numbers to the thrilled crowd. They totally rocked and practically brought the house down with their last number.

Guests were flipping.

But probably the MOST HIIILARIOUS thing was watching some of the groomsmen do Invisible Double Dutch. Who says white men can’t jump.

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks but I swore to a friend that I’d try to catch up on my blog so here it goes.

A couple of month’s ago we were doing out Still Live Exhibition at one of the weddings we were shooting (showing the images that we had taken of the day at the reception) and this woman Susan comes running up to me saying, “Oh my God, these pictures are AMAZING. Listen, I’m getting married in a couple of months at the Delamar in Greenwich and I already have a photographer but I have to have you and I’m going to forfeit my deposit and hire you if you’re available. Please tell me you have my date available!”

Well, it just so happened that we did.

And so she did… walking away from her $3000 deposit with the other photographer to hire us.
I felt badly of course, but hey, the other guy got $3000 for doing nothing so it’s not that bad.

Susan had this amazing gown that she had custom designed and fitted by this Israeli designer (as in she went to Israel for the fitting).

Her bridal party was an absolute laugh riot. They kept making fun of one of the groomsman’s shoes – so right in the midst of taking pictures in the park – he took his shoes off and tossed them in the lake.

Amy + Scott just got this awesome place in the heart of SoHo that they’re redoing from top to bottom so we thought we’d go there to do their e-session.

The view from the roof.

And out front…

And across the street at Louis Vuitton SoHo…

Amy has this smile that can pierce the darkness.

Next time – it’ll be their wedding at the St. Regis….

We’ve received AWESOME feedback on our bridal registry concept since we officially started it last month. Everyone is telling us that it makes SO much sense and that getting an album or a bigger album really does beat getting another vase.

We wanted to let you know what the actual gift certificate looked like – so here it is…

All you need to do is put our name on your registry. Your guests can then simply email us or call us and we’ll take it from there – it’s that easy. And of course we take credit cards…

Cara and Mike are avid Manhattan sailors and have spent some of their favorite moments drinking in the view, sounds and smells (and beers) at the South Street Seaport. So when I asked them where they wanted to do their engagement session there wasn’t much hesitation.

The Pier 17 Cruise Deck…

Something more conservative for the record books. Not bad for direct sun, right Mike?

Funny thing, we met another young couple there who spent a lot of time at the seaport and they reluctantly agreed to join Cara and Mike for a photo.

If my last engagement session was with Sarah Jessica Parker of Sex in the City fame then this time I got to shoot Evangeline Lilly of Lost.

And my personal fave…

They’re such good people. I can’t wait to work with them again at their wedding at The Chart House next year.

My session with Robin and Jerry was one of the most hysterical ever.

We’re wandering around Tribeca doing our thing and people keep stopping and looking at us. I mean, people are always watching me work with my clients since we’re out having too much fun making pictures, but this was different. People were staring. Staring and taking pictures. Taking pictures of us taking pictures. Like, throughout the entire session. Different people. It was kinda weird. But we kept doing our thing…

Finally someone comes closer and asks in a vaguely British accent, “Excuse me, are you famous?”

THAT’S what it was. This didn’t look like an engagement session to them. It looked like a discreet shoot of some huge star by some big photographer. Robin totally has a rock star presence. And Jerry has that look that he could be anything – actor, musician, whatever. And I, well, I had expensive cameras and big lenses.

“I HIGHLY doubt you’ve heard of us,” I replied.

Robin says she gets it all the time.

When we were done, Robin put on her sunglasses. And there it was – she WAS Sarah Jessica Parker!

Alas, I put on my sunglasses and I still wasn’t anybody.

I love working with kids. It’s a whole ‘nother world – especially when you’re in the studio. It’s one thing to get nice shots of kids playing at home or in the park. It’s another to bring them into a foreign environment filled with strange equipment and wires. But it gives you a certain look that you can’t get anywhere else.

I had shot Conor awhile ago and since then his sister Emma has joined the family. How cute are these 2 kids?

The challenge with shooting most kids this age is that no matter what you do or how you do it, they’re going to do what you want them to do for about 15 seconds total during the entire shoot. And the 15 seconds aren’t consecutive, but come in 1/8th second increments (a.k.a. moments) throughout the session. The rest of the time, you’re working off their plan. What you hope is that at least 2 of Emma’s moments will overlap 2 of Conor’s moments.

Here’s a couple of Emma’s moments.

But moments that don’t overlap are all good too. The key is to have fun!

After the session, Emma sat down on the couch and started combing her hair. Ready for her next appointment.

I just know when my mother see’s Emma she’s going to push for Celeste and I to have a 3rd child. Thanks Emma.

Cindy and Eric met me in SoHo for their engagement session last week. As the days get shorter we obviously have to do our outdoor shoots earlier and earlier in the day. Around this time of year we’re out so early that it feels like I’m in high school again playing hookey and just wandering around town with some friends.

Some say that one of the keys to successful photography is being able to selectively eliminate the undesirable elements that don’t contribute to the story you want to tell.

Here’s the story of Cindy and Eric – a loving engaged couple.

Here’s the reality from which we distill our subject to our basic elements.

American Hardcore.

And of course we need to be sure that we pick appropriate backgrounds for the subject matter.

I loved this place we found and was about to set up some urban romantic shot until I saw that the baby had self-amputed his leg with a saw. Ok, you have to draw the line somewhere. But I thought it would be cool for Eric.

So we went here for the urban romantic shot. My personal fave from the session.

The shot below was with my old friend the Canon TS-45mm L tilt-shift lens. Who knew precision optical glass could be so much fun. You’re “supposed” to use it to extend the depth of field even at wide apertures by tilting the focal plane. I use it to do the exact opposite – to tilt the focal plane to minimize the depth of field and narrow it to just those elements that I want to be in focus. It blows everything else dreamily out of focus. That’s not photoshop, folks. Of course, this lens is heavy, expensive, and a total bear to use – with all these little twisty knobs and things to adjust and stuff; and totally manual focus too, but still so much fun. Ok, maybe it only seems fun to me. But it takes cool pictures, right?

brooke and gregg made special arrangements to have us join them at brooke’s parents’ house in Mt. Kisco this week – just in time to catch some of the fall color this year. the property is a photographer’s paradise – with waterfalls, ponds, bridges and trails. they wanted their images to just reflect them being themselves in their environment, doing what they do.

this is what they do. i’d do it too.

See Rocco. See Rocco’s Run. Run Rocco Run. Wait Rocco, stop, come back Rocco? Rocco? Rocco come! Rocco, want a piece of Turkey? Come back, Rocco!



brooke took us down some trails (or perhaps rocco took us down the trails) to this bridge where she and gregg and rocco like to hang.

we’ll be joining them when brooke and gregg get married at the wonderful one and only ocean club on paradise island in the bahamas this winter. i’m really looking forward to working with them there (and perhaps staying an extra day afterward to replenish my vitamin e reserves!)

emily and aasem live in the village and wanted their images to have that “in our hood” look. and while it was getting c..c…c..cold outside, emily was a real sport and kept it from showing.

aasem may not really be a model wannabe, but he loved “working it” for the camera. here’s his best zoolander impression -



and emily joined in for our own little “project runway” show. when it was over, the judges awarded aasem a full fashion spread in elle magazine, a trip to next year’s olympus fashion week and a lifetime supply of tresemee hair product.



we’re really looking forward to working with emily and aasem at their wedding this march at the Ritz-Carlton in Palm Beach, too.