Leigh Barry:
Bridal Portrait at Felicity Church in New Orleans
Felicity Church, a wedding and event venue located in Uptown New Orleans, is a great location for a bridal portrait session. Although the obvious benefits are that there are no worries about rain or uncomfortable temperatures, it’s also a beautiful location that photographs exceptionally well, with lots of uniquely gritty yet elegant character.
The daytime lighting in this building is about as good as it gets for portraits. Most of the windows are frosted, which allows glorious diffused light to stream in from all directions, while also largely eliminating the visual distraction of being able to see neighboring buildings, cars, utility poles, etc. I still bring my own lighting equipment to these sessions, as it’s still useful for certain things, but I use it very minimally, instead largely relying on the gorgeous natural light.
The above dramatic black and white image was captured after I asked the bride to move up the stairway a bit in preparation for a particular shot I wanted to do, and I liked the way it looked as she was making her way up the stairs. So I asked her to repeat that a few times as I shot a series of photographs. This kind of purposeful expression of movement presents a nice contrast to the more typical stationary posed bridal portrait. I love the sense of grace this image conveys.
About Felicity Church
The building dates back to 1888, and served as a Methodist church for area residents for many years. It was heavily damaged in Hurricane Katrina, and sat neglected until the current owners purchased it in 2011 and beautifully restored it for use as a unique wedding and event venue. It takes a bold vision to take a hopelessly dilapidated old structure and turn it back into a useful space! Since then, several other similar projects have been undertaken by others, such as Livaudais Hall in the Uptown area, and, on an even grander scale, Hotel Peter & Paul in the Faubourg Marigny.
The wedding took place a month later at Latrobe’s on Royal, and and here’s what the bride had to say afterward:
We used Michael for our full day wedding ceremony and reception photography, as well as for my individual bridal portraits. He was so professional and made us feel comfortable throughout what can be a very nerve-racking day! The pictures turned out so beautifully, and he was responsive and extremely helpful through the whole planning process. We got our edited photos back quickly and we would recommend Michael for anyone’s photography needs in the New Orleans area!
