Vacation Destination: St. Maarten/St. Martin

Today’s destination (and beautiful photos) come to you from Teri of tPoz Photography. Teri and her husband honeymooned at this stunning location and have been back every year to celebrate their wedding anniversary!

Vacation Destination: St. Maarten by tPoz Photography

If you’re thinking about vacationing or honeymooning in St. Maarten/St. Martin, here are some recommendations from Teri:

  • Watch the planes land from the Sunset Bar & Grill. The planes pretty much almost land on top of you & the airport is dubbed one of the scariest airport runways.
  • Eat at the Lolo’s for lunch (LOcally owned, LOcally operated). They freshly grill ribs, shrimp, freshly caught fish, and more for a very reasonable price.
  • Happy Hour at the Dinghy Dock: $2 Pour-Your-Own’s! They hand you the bottle and the mixer – and you make it as strong or weak as you’d like!
  • Create your own perfume at Tijon Parfumerie.
  • Eat at an amazing restaurant in Grand Case! Teri’s current favorite is the Piazza Pascal, an Italian restaurant on the French side.
  • Complete the Ti-Tarzan (ziplines and ropes course) at Loterie Farm.

Vacation Destination: St. Maarten by tPoz Photography Vacation Destination: St. Maarten by tPoz Photography

Some quick facts about St. Maarten/St. Martin from Teri:

  • The small island is home to 2 countries: French & Dutch (Netherlands Antilles) sides. There is no passport control between the two countries, but even though you could live a block away, you’d be dialing long distance!
  • On the French side, plugs & voltage are all European, while on the Dutch side, they use the American version of plugs & voltage.
  • St. Maarten/St. Martin is known as the “Culinary Capital of the Caribbean” and has amazing food! While there is great food food all over the island, of special note is the village of Grand Case, which is home to “Restaurant Row” – a strip of about 30 outstanding restaurants to choose from.
  • St. Maarten/St. Martin is close enough for a quick day trip to Anguilla & St. Barts.
  • Nightlife is more lively on the Dutch side, while the French side is a little quieter and more relaxed. The French side is known for its clothing optional beaches. Gambling is legal on island and Casinos can be found mostly on the Dutch side.

Vacation Destination: St. Maarten by tPoz Photography Vacation Destination: St. Maarten by tPoz Photography

Have you been to St. Maarten and have other suggestions to add? Or do you have another location to suggest to be spotlighted in our destination series? Let us know in the comments!

Woodlawn Manor Engagement by Julie Lim Photography

We simply love a sweet and snuggly engagement session like this one. Krystle and Blake are a long-distance couple and flew in from out-of-state that day for their engagement session. They spent some time wandering the beautiful grounds of Woodlawn Manor in historic Sandy Spring, Maryland. Thanks to Julie Lim Photography for capturing their love for one another and to Sarah Park Events for styling their lovely picnic basket!

Woodlawn Manor Engagement by Julie Lim Photography Woodlawn Manor Engagement by Julie Lim Photography Woodlawn Manor Engagement by Julie Lim Photography Woodlawn Manor Engagement by Julie Lim Photography Woodlawn Manor Engagement by Julie Lim Photography Woodlawn Manor Engagement by Julie Lim Photography Woodlawn Manor Engagement by Julie Lim Photography Woodlawn Manor Engagement by Julie Lim Photography Woodlawn Manor Engagement by Julie Lim Photography Woodlawn Manor Engagement by Julie Lim Photography

Location: Woodlawn Manor
Photography: Julie Lim Photography
Styling: Sarah Park Events

Antrim 1844 Wedding by Jackson Photography

Bright blues, reds, and greens start the vibrant color palette in today’s real wedding at the Antrim 1844 Country House Hotel! We were absolutely taken with the overall look of this couple’s gorgeous big day and couldn’t wait to share it. From the photographer, Jackson Photography: “It’s summer weddings like these that make the rising summer temperatures bearable. The Antrim has so much to offer: sculpted gardens, well preserved architecture, and a four star restaurant. We finished the evening off with a visually striking session beside the still reflecting pool while the sun set off in the distance.” Congrats to the lovely couple!

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Photographer: Jackson Photography
Venue: Antrim 1844 Country House Hotel
Florals: The Flower Shop
DJ: Absolute Entertainment

How to Plan for Lighting on Your Wedding Day

Truth be told, lighting is king in photography. I’m a natural lighting photographer with a background in fine art. I live for gorgeous natural light, incorporating flash only during the reception, after the sun’s gone down. I don’t want to recreate the lighting on the wedding day; the goal is to capture a wedding’s warmth; how it felt. There are a few times where a little preparation can make for more flattering photos. Since lighting is too often overlooked on the wedding day, I wanted to bring this topic into the limelight (haaaaa… I’ll stop). As a wedding photographer, I never want to dictate the timeline of the wedding day, but I’d love to share a few tips to help you plan for lighting at different times during your wedding day that will make your photos extra gorgeous.

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Just a note: don’t feel like you have to incorporate all or any of these tips into your wedding day to get great photos. Weddings are about love, family, and emotion. Great photojournalism is about capturing moments and encapsulating the mood of the day and there are too many variables for this to be the end-all guide in lighting. It’s in no way a rulebook and great photographers will be able to take on tricky lighting with ease and will often come up with really interesting compositions when faced with harsh light. However, any consideration for lighting will usually be more beneficial than not.

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nessak getting ready

Getting ready:

Getting ready images are a perfect way to start the narrative of your wedding day. So many really great moments are happening and good lighting can help capture them in a more elegant way. The best conditions for lighting would be a room with large windows and enough light coming in through the windows to light the room evenly with the lights off. An ideal getting ready area would be an interestingly decorated space with windows and light walls for lots of reflective light.

nessak getting ready 2

Lighting to avoid is anything with mixed light (example: a little bit of daylight + orange tungsten bulbs, tungsten + fluorescents, daylight + florescent light, etc). It’s hard to see with the naked eye, but in photos, it can lead to odd skin colors. Churches often provide rooms to get ready in, but it’s generally a good idea to look at the space before deciding to get ready there. Often, the bride’s chambers end up being classrooms with bright colored walls and florescent lighting. If you take anything away from this, just know that florescent lighting is not the most flattering in general (it’s a bit blue-green), so if there are other options that are just as easy, they might be worth a second thought.

nessak firstlook

The First Look:

An honest majority of the weddings I photograph include a first look and I love them. First looks are a break from tradition (Charm City Wed recently posted this article from a groom’s perspective on first looks, so I won’t touch too much on why they rock), but even if you want to set one up, it might not be the ideal scenario to plan to do all the bride and groom portraits at this time if the first look will happen too early in the day. Lighting between 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. is pretty harsh sunlight, so in that case, you’d want to look for an interested backdrop that can be used to shade yourselves and family/friends in group photos, or plan to do these photos at a later time of day.

nessak ceremony 2

Ceremony:

Outdoor ceremonies are my favorite, but if you’re going to be in direct sunlight, try to avoid the hours between 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. It’s not only the hottest time of the day, but it can also leave harsh shadows under eyes and noses. It also makes for more interesting landscape photos of the ceremony site if it’s a bit later in the day and the sun is a little lower, but not necessarily at sunset. In summer months, the ideal time would be about 2 hours before sunset.

nessak ceremony

Portraits:

If you want glowy dusk photos or portraits in a field or other open area, you’ll need to make time for portraits at sunset. If you’ve allowed yourself some time for portraits during the first look earlier in the day and sunset isn’t until 7:30,  consider taking 20 minutes out of the reception to go out and take some beautiful portraits during the golden hour (the last hour and a half or so before the sun goes down).

nessak sunset

Reception:

There are so many variables here and lighting varies stylistically from person to person and venue to venue, but my vote is always natural looking, warm light. Italian string lights are a beautiful way to add pretty bokeh (the out of focus orbs in the background of photos) to dancing backdrops. If you’re having a ballroom wedding, it’s best to avoid overly warm colors (red and orange) if you’re choosing to do uplighting for your reception space. DJ lights can lead to colored splotches on you and your guests, so use caution when discussing lights with your DJ.

nessak reception

Try to plan for harsh light  but if you’re worried about it being overcast on your wedding day, don’t! It’s just like a giant soft box in the sky. Overcast light is light that you don’t have to worry about at all, it makes everyone look great and timing for portraits doesn’t have to be as crucial because it will be consistent for most of the day.

nessak overcast

Annnd I’ve written a tiny novel on basic lighting for couples planning for their wedding day!

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