Karen has received a WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Award for 2016! Recipients represent the top five percent of wedding professionals, within the WeddingWire Network, who demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism. This is the sixth WeddingWire award granted to Karen Wise Photography!
Thank you to my amazing clients for writing me such laudatory reviews!
Karen Wise Photography Receives WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Award for 2016
I am so happy to have worked on my 4th cookbook, Tiki with a Twist, published by Sterling Publishing this summer! As the name suggests, this cookbook documents tropical tiki style drinks. The recipes were created by Lynn Calvo, of Lynn’s Hula Hut in Montauk, on the eastern most point of Long Island’s south fork.
Lynn’s cool Polynesian style Tiki bar sits on a peaceful boat-lined marina, and is often packed full of locals and visitors in the hot summer months. We photographed for 3 days this past August, in Montauk with the author, Lynn Calvo, co-author/creator James Fraioli and a team of editors and art directors from Sterling Publishing.
Torrential downpours and gusty winds did not stop us on the first day of the shoot. We found a lovely local restaurant (Swallow East) that took us under wing and let us spend the day using their window light, to which we are so grateful. The next two days were sunny and calm, and thankfully we resumed the shoot at Lynn’s outdoor bar as planned!
Tiki with a Twist cookbook will be on bookshelves in May 2016. A few examples of what you will see when you open it up:
Autumn is my favorite season. I love to bundle up in warm woolen clothes and stroll through Prospect Park until my nose is red and cheeks are chilled. I love to take soak up the view of burnt siennas, crimsons and golden leaves as the crisp wind blows them all around. A wedding in the fall is so romantic. Please feel free to take a look at my clients Hanna and Jimm‘s stunning and chilly fall wedding at the Kaaterskill Farm Inn. Check out some photos from this hip couple’s wedding in a Martha Stewart Weddings Feature as it was published online this week in Martha Stewart Weddings!
“Hanna and Jimm loved the idea of getting married at The Kaaterskill because they travel to the property, owned by Jimm’s cousins, for family holidays and other escapes throughout the year. An inn, pond, 15 acres of wooded land, horse pastures, and an array of animals comprise the estate. What’s more? Although dozens of weddings are held there annually, Hanna and Jimm were the first in the family to book the property for their big day…”
“Hanna envisioned herself in a colored gown before her first shopping trip. “Since it was likely to be the most extravagant dress I’d ever buy, I wasn’t going to limit myself to only white,” says the bride. She admits this gold satin dress that she snagged at a Kleinfeld sample sale was a tad dramatic for her “farm wedding,” but she says, “it made me smile.”
Hanna went traditional with her custom veil—a single layer, off-white, cathedral-length beauty.” – A quote from the bride, via Martha Stewart Weddings.
To see the the whole Martha Stewart Weddings Feature please click HERE!
Marissa Mayer Headshot
It is so awesome to see the portrait I made for my client, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer on Bloomberg.com today.
I love it with the vibrant Yahoo purple backdrop which replaced our green screen!
Marissa Mayer Headshot
Marissa’s portrait was made in a daylight photo studio in Tribeca, New York City right before a Charlie Rose interview. We were ready with our green screen set up just in time for her arrival. I’m super impressed with how much Marissa got done in just 36 hours. She flew to NY overnight, presented at AdWeek in midtown, had her portraits taken downtown, then was interviewed by Charlie Rose all in the same day, flying back that night.
Can you say Super Woman?
I also had the pleasure of photographing Marissa Mayer’s wedding, in December 2009, in San Francisco. You may see one of her wedding portraits published in the San Francisco Chronicle here.
My photos and my interview are featured in the November issue of Vogue India!
I’m so thrilled, because the article is well-written, and the layout and cover are really pretty too! It features one of my favorite photos from Priti and Jaouad’s wedding in India: Priti’s slip on “slippers” on her feet. It also featured a black and white portrait I made of my gorgeous client, Neha, at her NJ wedding last year.
The article describes my style of shooting, and my experience as a destination and local wedding photographer. It also features my tips on what to ask your photographer during the selection process, and how to store your prints and negs.
Vogue’s got to be one of my favorite fashion magazines, EVER! I have yet to receive my physical copy of the issue, but Paulomi Patel, the writer of the feature was nice enough to scan her copy and send it to me via email from Mumbai.
The international newspaper shops in NY say they will have copies of in December.
Update: my lovely client Angeli was so sweet to bring me back a copy of the issue, she happened to be in Mumbai when it came out and her lovely portrait is in the mag too.
I’m excited to share this beautiful summer Rhode Island wedding on Carats and Cake today! Lauren and Benoit were married on Block Island, Rhode Island in June on her family’s seaside property.
It had been about 15 years since I visited, while I was a photography student at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). It was really nice to be back amongst Block Island’s laid back culture, rolling landscapes, lighthouses, and the cool ocean breeze.
Event production by Bash, Please / Floral Design by Peartree Flowers.
More images can be found from this Rhode Island wedding on Carats and Cake HERE, as well as in the gallery section of my Website.
I had the pleasure of photographing Abby and Jon’s exquisite summer wedding which took place at a private residence in the Hamptons. Abby and Jon exchanged vows in the gardens, framed by lush greenery, reflection pools, a fruiting peach orchard, and a mesmerizing garden labyrinth. I am thankful for all of the talented artists (the planners, the designers, the caterers, the musicians, etc) and to the couple’s wonderful families who came together to make this stunning event come together!
Abby + Jon’s Elegant Garden Inspired Hamptons Wedding was also featured in Style Me Pretty! See the entire post HERE.
“Inspired by the natural beauty of the surrounding gardens, this summer celebration in the Hamptons created an absolutely magical wedding wonderland. To top it all off, the blushing Bride wore an amazing Amsale gown, that couldn’t have fit this occasion any better, from the detailed, delicate bodice to the full skirt. Karen Wise captured every inch of pretty….” – Style Me Pretty
Abby and Jon were married late last summer in a gorgeous Hamptons garden setting. The couple focused their garden inspired Hamptons wedding around the natural beauty of the private residence’s gardens and Tuscan accents. They were surrounded by an intimate group of their closest family and friends. The bride and groom cared deeply about serving everyone the tastiest local fare (including some of the bride’s childhood favorites) and dancing late into the night to a band playing their favorite music. It was a perfect summer party filled with love, laughter, singing, eating and dancing under a beautiful airy sailcloth tent and the stars.
“Inspired by the natural beauty of the surrounding gardens, this summer celebration in the Hamptons created an absolutely magical wedding wonderland. To top it all off, the blushing Bride wore an amazing Amsale gown, that couldn’t have fit this occasion any better, from the detailed, delicate bodice to the full skirt. Karen Wise captured every inch of pretty….” – Style Me Pretty
Abby and Jon were married late last summer in a gorgeous Hamptons garden setting. The couple focused their garden inspired Hamptons wedding around the natural beauty of the private residence’s gardens and Tuscan accents. They were surrounded by an intimate group of their closest family and friends. The bride and groom cared deeply about serving everyone the tastiest local fare (including some of the bride’s childhood favorites) and dancing late into the night to a band playing their favorite music. It was a perfect summer party filled with love, laughter, singing, eating and dancing under a beautiful airy sailcloth tent and the stars.
Check out my Block Island Wedding on Style Me Pretty today!
A few images from this elegant seaside Rhode Island wedding are also featured below, and on my website here.
Lauren and Benoit were married on Block Island, Rhode Island, last summer, on Lauren’s family’s seaside property.
It had been about 15 years since I was last on the island. I visited while I was a photography student at RISD. It was especially nice to be back amongst Block Island’s laid back culture and cool ocean breeze.
Lauren and Benoit enjoyed a quiet moment before their rehearsal dinner, taking a stroll by the Southeast Lighthouse as the sun was setting. It’s these magical moments when the light is just right and the bride and groom are relaxing with each other that inspire me. I always recommend my couples take a moment for themselves, before or even while the party is going on, to catch their breath and soak it all in before going back to enjoy more of the celebration.
Event production by Bash, Please / Floral Design by Peartree Flowers
More images can be found from this Block Island wedding on Block Island Wedding by Karen Wise – Style Me Pretty.
This month I was named one of American PHOTO’s top ten wedding photographers for 2008!
What an honor this is! Thank you Lindsay Sakraida, writer for American PHOTO Magazine, for the interview and write up. My interview was inspired by the destination Indian weddings that I shoot.
Excerpt: For Karen Wise, there was little possibility of falling victim to wedding photography convention; before her career informally began with a friend’s wedding, she had only been to one small one in her entire life. “At the time, I really had no idea about the traditional wedding rituals,” she says of her first assignment. “The first dance, the cake cutting, and all that. I think not knowing the conventions helped me to take interesting photos. It made my shooting very photojournalistic since I was discovering a lot of wedding traditions as I shot.”
She was armed, however, with a fine-art degree and extensive experience photographing food and still life, which came in handy in her matrimonial endeavors. “I found I had to take all of these skills and speed them up in order to capture everything I wanted to get,” she says. “I found that to be exhilarating.” Her colorful, detail-oriented style has attracted numerous clients in the New York area, where she is based; but she has shot weddings as far away as India, including one in which a baby elephant was given as a wedding gift, popular musician Abida Parveen performed in the garden from Monsoon Wedding, decor was coordinated with guests’ outfits, and famed shoe-designer Christian Louboutin hand-delivered the footwear. “A photographer couldn’t ask for a more inspiring setting [Udaipur’s palaces] in which to create beautiful photographs,” Wise says. “Everywhere you looked was beautiful and photogenic.” But she once again had to learn on her feet about traditions she was unfamiliar with: those of a full-blown Indian nuptial extravaganza. – Lindsey Sakraida