Christina & her bridesmaids - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/8 ISO 400 1/160th strobist: SB-600 off camera to leftFor years when I first crossed the inter-coastal waterway bridge and arrived on Treasure Island on my way to Sunset Beach, the Bilmar Hotel would be the first thing I saw. Next to it the Thunderbird Hotel. Over the years I built up in my imagination what they must be like inside and created a history for them. I always thought one day I would go inside one of those hotels, but never did, not until I photographed Christina and Sean's wedding last month.
Walking down the aisle, Florida beach wedding style.
What I was immediately reminded of upon entering the Bilmar Hotel were my own childhood memories of my family's first visits to Florida and the hotels we stayed at in the 80s. I have not taken a true vacation in the U.S. in over 11 years so I do not often see the insides of hotels of any kind. I really like checking out travel related places like hotels and airports. They are good places to imagine where the people you see came from, why did they take vacation on non-descript week in May, etc.
A sunset wedding kiss - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/8 ISO 200 1/100th strobist: SB-600 off camera above to the rightThe sunset light was nice and soft as usual, so there were no particular technical challenges in photographing this wedding. The beach for a change was largely free of looky-loos giving me clean backgrounds when shooting just the bride and groom. It was a cloudless sunset allowing the sun to be seen all the way until it slips behind the horizon beyond the sea.