Taking Photos on the Beach
Story by Julia Rappaport
Photo by Kristen Leigh Conklin
Kristen Leigh Conklin of Joe Mikos Photographers has photographed brides and grooms in churches and in fields, on Martha’s Vineyard and off. But her favorite place to get a memorable shot of the happy couple is on the sand.
“There is something about the ocean that allows people to really lose their inhibitions,” she says.
When choosing the Vineyard as the site for a wedding, most couples plan to take beach photos at some point during their wedding weekend. Sometimes a couple will decide to have an outdoor ceremony overlooking the water. Occasionally the ceremony will be right on the beach.
This was the route Leticia Munraba and Chris Emme took last summer. After a small ceremony on South Beach in June, Kristen stole the bride and groom away from the forty-eight guests who had shunned high heels and loafers for flip-flops.
She directed the pair to run down the beach, and as they did, Chris stopped and pulled his new bride in for a kiss. “They were totally lost within themselves,” Kristen says. “The sand in your feet, the smell of the ocean – it allows couples to really let their passion come out.” (It was this kind of emotion that prompted the magazine to select one of Kristen’s photos of Leticia and Chris for the cover.)
When Kristen first meets with a couple, she suggests a round of photographs on the beach. The perfect time, she says, is at sunset. For couples not tying the knot on the sand, Kristen will sneak the bride and groom to the water for a few shots following the ceremony.
“If you want to do something on the beach, you have to be the kind of couple who will be okay if it doesn’t go off without a hitch,” she says. Before heading to the sand, Kristen scouts the area for poison ivy, and she’s pulled more than one tick off of a wedding gown. Another tip: Use sunscreen the week before the wedding to avoid burns and tan lines, but on the big day, simply use a moisturizer with SPF.
Always, Kristen recommends having an alternative plan in case the clouds roll in – or else, bring umbrellas. “If it rains on your wedding day, it’s good luck,” she says, “and rainbows are a beautiful thing.”
