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

Stephen proposed to Rumi at The Cloisters so it only seemed appropriate to venture up north for their e-session.

A few photographs from Claudia and Ryan’s wedding…

Their reception was at the oldest church in Manhattan, Trinity Church and they had their reception under the city’s oldest bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge, at a lovely place called The River Cafe.

Claudia’s dad kept her dog entertained at the Ritz-Carlton while Claudia got ready.

On the way downtown to Trinity Church.

The bridesmaids/stylists discuss proper train formation.

Bustling these amazing dresses requires entire teams of assistants.

This morning as I was pouring my cup of coffee I heard the bells.

It’s a nasty gray day here in lower Manhattan – seems apropos, really. The normally vibrant section of Tribeca is somber and quiet and the occasional sound of the tolling of the bells at ground zero seems to linger in today’s heavy air matching the heavy hearts wandering the neighborhood.

On 9/4/2001, a week to the day before the towers came down, I took this picture of my son, Miles. It was part of a series that my wife and I were doing entitled, “Miles above New York.” We took him, then about 5 months old, around to various landmarks and photographed him held up in the air. He always beamed when we did that. The series was supposed to be a reflection of the amazement and unbridled joy of living in this city.

A week later we watched as those towers came down.

It wasn’t until I came across this image a few days later that I realized how well it actually succeeded in doing what we had intended. Of all of the thousands of images that I’ve seen of the towers since that day, I don’t think I’ve ever come across one that is as foreboding and yet that clearly conveys a sense of wonder, awe and joy as this one does. Given our retrospective abilities I think it speaks of hope now as well.

I keep this image up in the studio – not as a reminder of the towers, but as a personal reminder of the power of photographs and what I do for a living. While we can’t stop the inevitable passing of time, we can preserve moments of joy that can be relived. I think that’s what my work is really about.

I suppose in a way I’m stockpiling joy for my clients.

I hope that those actually watching the bell toll today have ample stockpiles as well.

This time I did something different. I went to BROOKLYN for an engagement session!

Tey and her partner Alice hired me to shoot their commitment ceremony so when I asked where we should do their e session they said that wanted to do something that reflected their own neighborhood and so off we went.

Here’s the family in their backyard.

In front of their really sweet brownstone.

They wanted to do something kind of gritty so when we passed this former stationery shop that was in the process of being, um, either closed or deconstructed by time. I walked right in and asked the 90 year old owner if we could take a few pictures – he was totally cool with it. I think he was trying to tell us that his store had been there for more than 40 years and that Charles DeGaulle had shopped there or something – but I’m not really sure what he was saying,,,but he was really nice to us. I told Tey and Alice that it was so unusual nowadays for people to invite you in to take pictures (especially when a location is – closed?) since even in the most mundane of environments people have been getting bent out of shape lately.

Of course the entire time I was waiting for either the floor to open up and swallow us or for the ceiling to come crashing down upon us but it was a playful place.

So as we left, I was explaining to them that lately people have been really getting wiggy about having pictures of their things or themselves taken. I related a story about how just the other day I sent one of my couples into that terribly over-rated cupcake store in the Village hoping to get some fun shots through the window as they picked out their cupcakes together. In seconds a guy was blocking my view of them by holding a pastry box in front of the window and started yelling at me. Apparently, you can’t take pictures of store windows anymore. Who knew? Anyway, this has become pretty typical. If you show up with a point and shoot, hey have at it. But show up with a professional camera then you’re persona non grata. Even when I explain that it’s for an engagement session and not for commercial use people still get all bent.

Then we passed this place. Well we had to grab a shot in front of Flirt.

So anyway, Tey and Alice and I took pictures on the benches out in front of Flirt for about 60 seconds and then we start to walk away and someone comes out of the store and says, “Hey, you can’t take pictures here. What’s this for?”

Now, while I’m tempted to say something like, “Oh this is just B-roll for John Stossel’s “Shame on You” report, I tell them honestly it’s “just pictures for the two of them.”

“But what are they FOR?”, she insists.
“Just portraits, for the two of them, really, ” I reply.
“But what are they going to be USED FOR?”, she presses.
“Um, well, pictures. For them. Like portraits”, I say, “you know, portraits like you hang on the wall?”
She still didn’t get it, “Wait a sec, I have to get the manager, ” she says.
Now remember, we were already walking away at this point. This is what it has become like for me. Totally out of hand.
Finally Alice says to me, “Watch, I’ll take care of it,”
She says to this woman, “We’re having a commitment ceremony and these are pictures for us.”
And Alice was right. That shut her right up. According to Alice, no one wants to risk being un-PC and appearing potentially biased so if you drop the words, “commitment ceremony”, everyone invites you in and pours you tea and says shoot away. Sweet.

And it worked like a charm for the rest of our shoot.
And in front of their favorite coffee shop.

Below, a special request for a romantic “checks cashed” picture.

Everyone should be in a relationship as fun, loving and caring as the one these two women have. I can’t wait until their wedding (ne commitment) day. The photographic world will be OURS! AH HA ha ha ha ha ha.

When you begin an engagement session, there really isn’t much of a plan – it’s more like an exploration – looking for places to play and just seeing what comes of it. Since Michelle and David are going to be getting married at The Rainbow Room so they wanted to go to Rockefeller Center for their session. These guys are a lot of fun – I picked out some locations as we went and Michelle just ran with it…

Now I don’t know what Atlas thought, but I don’t believe that David felt that was carrying a burden on his back.

This next shot is actually within the fountain at RC.

Below, using my beloved Tilt-Shift lens we could focus on this moment and still get Prometheus as well.

And one for David…

I’ve been doing portraits and engagement sessions almost every weekday of the summer. Here’s a few…

Eileen and Anthony in Times Square…

Where Eileen ditched Anthony for a shot with NYC’s Bravest.

9/10/07 update: Ok, apparently I need to give a little visual guidance on the above photograph since my brother called me today asking what the deal was with that Armageddon-esque shot of Eileen and Anthony. Confused, I asked him what Armegeddon shot we was referring to. He said, “You know, the one after the fire truck where it looks like the end of the world and the city is on fire and it’s billowing smoke and it’s raining ash and debris and there’s this couple kissing amidst it all as the city comes crashing down around them…”
(I think the fact that today is September 10th has everyone a bit on edge)

Here’s the deal – Look closely at the bottom edge of the image. Those are Eileen and Anthony’s feet.
Upside down, yes.
The shot is their reflection in a puddle in Times Square (just a few feet from where the picture above it was taken. In fact, if you look closely you can still see the fire truck reflected behind them.)
In fact, risking who know’s what kind of disease and pestilance, I had just reached into the puddle to pull out some nasty street detritus that otherwise would have ruined the effect (anything for my clients).
The “smoke and fire” above the buildings is simply the light being refracted by an oil slick on the surface of the water and the “raining debris” is just the rest of the litter in the gutter as well as the larger rocks in the macadam.

Here’s the image flipped around.

And while I don’t put my clients in the kind of peril my brother suspected, I do look for those oh so common moments when a young couple decides to sit on the ledge of a “jersey barrier” on the broadway island in Times Square to share a romantic moment while risking having their legs sheared off by a careening taxi. (Hey, they owed me that for plucking that nasty and virulent wet rag thingy out of the puddle.)

Patricia + Chris at The Victorian Gardens in Central Park

Joanne + Anthony on The Brooklyn Bridge

Sayuri + Jeff where he proposed to her…

And with the kids we adopted at the park that day.

Claudia + Ryan looking for something that showed off urban nyc….

sure that doorway smelled faintly of ammonia…. but we were having fun!

Alana + Andrew wanted to do their session in midtown (but I dragged them to the park a bit for some romantic stuff too).

Only in this town can you be so surrounded by so many people each of whom are in their own world…

And Kim + Rahul in the Central Park Conservancy Gardens.

…that we have been insanely busy.

I was doing a shoot the other day with one of my clients who said to me, “It must be nice to get a chance to take a breather and relax a bit during the summer.”

“A breather! I wish!” , I responded.

“Yeah, I keep checking the blog and there’s been nothing new lately so I figured things must really slow down in the summer for you.”

Well, I’m delighted to report that I have not had a single moment to relax this summer. In fact, we’ve been so busy shooting almost every single day that our dear blog has been a bit neglected. My apologies to the avid blog readers who tell me that they check all the time to see the latest and greatest and I’ve left them reading the same entries over and over. There have been some awesome events that we’ve done over the last summer – ranging from some of the sweetest little intimate city weddings to private extravaganzas in the Hamptons where “the band” was Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers.

So in an effort to play catch-up – I’m going to put together a few quick blog entries/recaps of some of work we’ve done this summer.

A fantastic rehearsal dinner in Southampton at the Parrish Art Museum….

and before the wedding the next day…

the barefoot reception on the beach

Here’s Lauren and Emil taking a moment to grab a few garden pictures…

At the same location I shot the ceremony of a couple who had come over from the UK so that they could get married in Central Park.

Here’s a couple from Eileen and Anthony’s wedding day.

And Farrah and George down on the coast.

and in the playground.

And then there was Lindsay and Eric.
Somedays I feel I’m just completely irrelevant to the whole wedding photographic process.

Much more to come…