Ryan Brenizer | CodEasily.com

About Ryan Brenizer

I have been blessed by photography. It has filled me with purpose and joy, and taken me places I never thought I'd go. I have covered three U.S. presidents, been blessed by the Pope, and been stared down by Muhammad Ali. I've shared a laugh with Smokey Robinson, and had a picture I took of him used when he received a lifetime achievement award. I've photographed a 110-year-old woman as she told me what it was like to climb onto the torch of the Statue of Liberty. I was chosen as the only independent photographer allowed near Obama and McCain in their last meeting before the 2008 election. I'm the only photographer in the world to have been officially represented by the three largest photographic retailers in the Western hemipshere. Heck, I've even had a photographic technique named after me (which is crazy).
But I have never felt so blessed by photography as when I am photographing a wedding. At weddings, we are most visibly ourselves -- the walls we walk around with come tumbling down under the forces of joy, anxiety (and sometimes a bit of alcohol). To document that experience, the relationship of friends, families, and a couple launching a new stage in their life, is an incredible feeling. When a client says "This is the first picture I've seen of my parents that actually looks like them!" I feel like I've done something with lasting value. And to do that with so many wonderful couples, from down the Manhattan street to as far away as Singapore, makes it all the better.

Entries by Ryan Brenizer

Pure Celebration (Ritz Carlton, Naples)

A moment from Joanna and Tony’s beachside wedding.

Categories: Wedding

Tags: #sunset #night #woman #bride

The Most Coney Island Wedding Photo Ever

Even if nothing else comes of it, I am so glad we’ve been working like crazy this week to film an educational video about flash composites just so I could take this picture.

Categories: Wedding

Tags: #night #woman #bride

This one goes to 50,000

I’ve mentioned before that the Brenizer Method — like any large panorama technique — will compress noise away at a given print or display size, similarly to how a something shot at ASA 800 on large format will print with less grain than a 35mm shot.
And I wasn’t kidding. The sun goes down FAST over the mountains in Chile, and so just a few minutes after sunset is was already incredibly dark, and even at f/1.4 I had to shoot this at ISO 51,200! One part D4 magic, five parts panorama compression.
(Of course you can learn more about this with nearly three hours worth of instructional video here: http://brenizermethod.vhx.tv/ )

Categories: Wedding

Tags: #sunset #woman #wedding #bride

Quick Hit from this weekend

Be sure to watch me in the only double-length session of CreativeLIVE Photo Week on Thursday at 10:45!

Categories: Wedding

Tags: #woman #fresh #bride

Nicole and Kyle by night

Veeeeeeery low light

Categories: Wedding

Tags: #night #woman #bride #love

The Green and the Gray

One of the hidden benefits of using so many advanced panorama and compositing techniques to quickly do the otherwise impractical or impossible is that it takes you back to the film days where you can be pleasantly surprised by a photo much later. The result of this tilt-shift pano of Central Park’s urban/pastoral view is exactly what I had in my mind, but it was great to see it take shape.

Categories: Wedding

Tags: #woman #bride #New York #central park

Come With Me

I’m in Europe, where I’ve just got done teaching two London workshops and am currently taking two days in Paris. It was an absolute blast with fantastic attendees, and a fair share of beer and foosball (or “table football,” as it is called here.) But some of the things I stressed were pushing yourself into places you don’t usually go, and working with clients for creative results, so I thought “well, let’s actually practice what I’m preaching.”
As part of the trip, I was reunited with Claudia, a great model who moved off to Germany after getting married, but in the process she never had any wedding photos of her own! So we arranged a bridal session. The problem before me was this: I knew we could get gorgeous photos. She’s gorgeous. I could put her in decent window light and take a snap with my iPhone and it would be gorgeous. And if I’d been doing a couples’s shoot I knew I could find the uniqueness in their relationship. But her husband couldn’t make it from Germany, so how do you shoot a bridal model’s bridal photos without it looking like just another bridal modeling session she’s done? We’re celebrating the real thing here.
I reached back to an idea I’ve had for many years, and I realized this would be the perfect time to put it in practice. And, more importantly, it was fun. Belt Craft Studios was a perfect place for this, with all sorts of props that we re-appropriated, but also a bunch of stuff that we simply stole from our apartment. This was one of the tableaus we created. Thanks to Tatiana Breslow for assisting, and to Claudia for being an amazing bride, and really working her core strength for these.

Categories: Wedding

Tags: #woman #bride