Landscape-Forward Photos
As a wedding photographer based in the stunning region of Upstate NY, it’s no surprise that I’m extremely inspired by nature and especially drawn to landscape-forward photos.
From its sparkling, green-blue finger lakes to its rolling hills that rise and fall like gentle brushstrokes, the natural environment I’m immersed in is an oasis of lush scenery, exquisite greenery, and miles upon miles of lavish countryside. It is a constant source of inspiration for this nature lover (hi, name is Emilee, and yes — I’ve cried at a sunrise before) and without fail, it always points me heavenward to the goodness of the true Creator, God himself. For both its aesthetics and its meaning, I’m intentional about including landscape-forward photos in my approach to wedding and engagement photography!
There are a million ways a photographer can spotlight nature in their photographs, but of course my bread and butter is wedding photography.
How does a wedding photographer prioritize nature within their imagery, you ask? Well— wink, wink— you’ve come to the right place! There are five ways that this wedding photographer actively makes a point to highlight landscape-forward photos in her galleries, all through a very unique, Emilee-flavored approach to storytelling:
Location Selection
Wide Frame, Tiny Humans
Silhouettes and Skylines
Blurred Foreground
GIFs
Hi, I’m Emilee!
If you’re looking for joyful, emotion-rich imagery, then I maaaay be your gal!
I’m an Upstate NY Wedding Photographer who specializes in a laid-back photography approach, and I’d love to help tell your love story!
As a baseline, I’m always making thoughtful and intentional decisions about where to take my photos (read: location selection).
Before I ever pick up my camera to photograph my couples, you can bet ‘yer bottom dollar I’ve done my due diligence in advance of our session by location scouting!
Whether for a wedding or an engagement shoot, I do my homework upfront by assessing surrounding areas, highlighting my top recommendations to my couples, and together, selecting the area that we feel best suits them as a couple, not to mention will photograph well! This allows me to photograph my couple in an aesthetically pleasing way, and also highlight the natural beauty around me in a complementary way!
For a wedding, we’re usually shooting at one location (their pre-selected wedding venue and its surrounding landscape, which is often times a mix of stone patios, lush gardens, and outdoor spaces) so my prep work includes researching the venue in advance (if I’ve never shot there before!), contacting the on-site coordinator for recommended photo op spots, and arriving early to check out the property in-person.
I take time to study the venue and identify its most “photogenic” locations in advance, so that I can most effectively capture my couples and their environment in a warm and inviting way.
For example, consider the following photographs I’ve taken at the same wedding venue of different couples, all in different on-site locations! From individual bride/groom portraits, to family portraits, to bridal party portraits, and to those mantel-hanging wedding photos, I’m always trying to think outside the box as to how I can photograph my couples and their surroundings in a unique, personal, landscape-forward way.
For engagement shoots, my approach to location selection is slightly different. I always ask my couples if they have a specific location where they want to do their engagement photos.
Sometimes they do (such was the case with Hannah and Milad’s Fall Engagement Photos at Watkins Glen State Park in Upstate New York!) but more often than not, we decide together! Hurray! We brainstorm locations that match their vision, style, favorite pastimes, personalities, etc. and then cross-compare them with locations that are organically beautiful.
Of course settings like this abound in Upstate NY, being such a gorgeous patchwork of dense forests, glittering lakes, and endlessly rolling hills, so we almost always end up landing on a naturally rich, vividly stunning slice of scenery that feels like it was made just for them— a location that feels tailor-made to their love story and one that effortlessly highlights the majesty of nature!
Psst… in case you haven’t noticed, awkward photos aren’t really my vibe.
My goal is to get you feeling comfortable and yourself, so you can enjoy personality-driven imagery for years to come!
If you’re looking at this gallery, thinking, “YASSSSS!”, then we need to talk… like yesterday!
Keep scrolling to see more landscape-forward photos! ↓
The second way I prioritize landscape-forward photos in my approach to storytelling is through what I like to call— Wide Frame, Tiny Humans. Ironically enough, this has actually become a signature style of mine and a staple that I’m known for.
It’s something I regularly see mentioned on couples' inquiry forms, not to mention the kind of feedback that makes me do a little happy dance behind my Macbook. Positioning my subjects in such a way where they are the focal point, yet a smaller part of the larger environment, gives so much context and a little extra dash of magic to their photoshoot. (One of my all-time favorite images where I’ve leveraged this strategy was in Maren and Jonas’s Modern City Hall Elopement in New York City, which is arguably iconic. Tell me I’m wrong.)
Embracing a wide composition has become one of my favorite ways to prioritize landscape-forward photos.
It’s something that has become second-nature when I pick up my camera! It’s a nontraditional approach to storytelling, allowing me to showcase the enormity and beauty of nature (like in Jordan and Casey’s epic Taughannock Falls engagement shoot!), while still prioritizing my couple’s love story and their intimate connection. When I frame my couples amidst a vast landscape— cradled by canyons, dwarfed by cityscapes, or silhouetted beneath an endless sky— it invites the image to breathe with context. The landscape doesn’t steal attention, but rather, harmonizes the larger narrative being told. By framing my couples within their environment, I’m able to more effectively tell their love story and honor their legacy.
In addition to the use of this wide frame approach, I also love leaning into silhouettes and skylines for my photography.
There is something breathtaking about the setting of a sun, with a couple held by the horizon and the world slowly unfolding behind them. In Upstate NY, the open, rural spaces are endless, the skies roll out like a scroll, and your average sunset is a watercolor of cotton candy pink, fiery tangerine, and velvety purple, all of which spill across the vibrant sky like broad brushstrokes. (But it’s not exclusively Upstate NY! See this gorgeous Coastal New England Engagement Shoot in York, Maine where the skylines were sun-drenched and sea-swept— chef’s kiss!) To see such a scene is to love such a scene— and for me, it also translates to a deep ache to bottle it up through my lens! Hence, silhouettes and skylines!
I prioritize landscape-forward photos like these in both my wedding and engagement images, but admittedly it can be a little easier to capture when shooting engagement sessions.
(Think: no wedding timeline constraints, unhurried access to gorgeous sunsets, and best of all, limitless flexibility with locations, angles, and vantage points!) In either scenario though, I photograph my couples in a way that augments their silhouettes, beautifies the skyline, and enhances their overarching wedding gallery with a hint of the extraordinary.
Approaching landscape-forward photos through an entirely unique approach, I also celebrate the beauty of nature by embracing a blurred foreground.
This is a fun twist on storytelling that is quiet, yet powerful, and it lets the setting do some flaunting of its own. Typically I’m only snapping a handful of these types of photos at any given wedding or engagement shoot, but these few seem to do the trick. They weave just enough context into my wedding and engagement photos that they pepper up my couples’ entire galleries. Consider, for example, Maggie and Hade’s Adventurous Wedding Portraits in Upstate NY, where the use of blurred foreground brought intentional focus to the mosaic of fall foliage— a stunning tapestry of reds, molten oranges, and warm, luxurious yellows.
Intentional blur is a special niche of storytelling that plays with space and scale, and without a doubt, it adds a sense of magic, mystery, and mood that traditional images alone can sometimes miss.
By softening the couple and sharpening the landscape, skyline, or waterfall behind them, I invite my couples to re-live the awe of their wedding (not excluding their surrounding environment!), and they can re-live their special memories and revel in their one-of-a-kind, artful love story long beyond their actual photoshoot.
Last, but certainly not least, is my use of GIFs in landscape-forward photos, and oooooh— just how much I could say about them!
When speaking about context, GIFs take the cake. They are short animations that loop continuously, and they do something extraordinary for storytelling— they provide interaction, emotion, and a rich layer of soul to wedding photography! Of course GIFs highlight the natural chemistry of my couples, fuel joyful, playful, and personality-based imagery, and are an invaluable way of reliving fleeting moments from ones’ wedding day (peep these incredibly fun GIFs from Ana and Will’s casual engagement shoot in Historic Market St.) — but in view of landscape-forward photos? They capture nature and augment the beauty of the natural world in an especially unique way.
GIFs provide storytelling in motion.
A breeze catching a veil, a quiet sway of a dress, a gentle laugh between a couple— all of it adds a layer of emotion, atmosphere, and rhythm that static images elude to, but don’t fully encompass. However, when nature is the backdrop, GIFs let scenery breathe— The waterfall doesn’t just sit still, it roars. Leaves don’t just rustle, but light shifts and moments feel alive. GIFs are the perfect way to deepen my couples’ sensory experiences to their galleries, giving almost a reimagined, movie-like experience of their wedding day.
As a storyteller, GIFs are one of the most powerful ways to capture movement, playful interactions, and nature, and I love embracing them for all-things landscape-forward photos.
Not only do they allow me to prioritize key memories and moments from ones’ wedding day— consider a first look, first kiss, or recessional (I especially love the GIFs we were able to create at Madi and Eric’s romantic Catskills wedding!) — but in nature, they allow me to bottle up the essence of a scene, an organically beautiful environment, and paint a picture of what a particular wedding or photoshoot looked like, felt like, and breathed like in real time— brimming with life, color, and movement that was soul-stirring!
All in all, landscape-forward photos are something I absolutely adore and prioritize at every wedding and in every photoshoot!
Being located in Upstate NY and surrounded by such lush, vivid scenery is a gift, and I am so thankful to use my artwork in a way where I can create meaningful photographs, celebrate beautiful love stories, and revel in the glory of nature— all to the glory of God! If you’re about this, too, follow along for more inspiration— or reach out, say hi, and get more information about creating landscape-forward photos for your special day!