washington

Vanessa And Alex's Timeless Outdoor Seattle Wedding At Dunn Gardens / September 8, 2022 by Bradley Hanson

I just photographed this wedding at Dunn Gardens in north Seattle a few weeks ago. This was the last frame, just after the sparklers burned out. The teal blue vintage Citroen DS originally belonged to AC/DC singer, Brian Johnson.

From the bride: “Alex and I met in August of 2019, from breweries, concerts, and camping we quickly realized there was something special there. The second week into dating I asked Alex if he would meet me at Pike Place Market to see Head and the Heart perform- not knowing that at the time, he left a wedding in Spokane (on the opposite end of Washington State), drove through the mountain pass and waded through the thick crowd to find me. The best concert with my favorite person.”

If you want to follow me on Instagram, I have two accounts: @bradleyhanson is my personal one, all square images from my iPhone since 2008. @bradleyhansonphotography is my professional portfolio, a mix of weddings, family and portraits, as well as black and white and color landscape images. If you are still reading this far, you’ve already figured out how to find my website…

I am a Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota based wedding photographer, specializing in documentary style weddings and Indian/Hindu weddings all over the world. To see more of my wedding work, click the wedding galleries under the portfolio heading. To inquire about my rates and availability, call me at 206-393-8292, email me at bradley@bradleyhanson.com or fill out the contact form (click the “contact” link on the top right above this paragraph).

Wedding Contest Winning Image For World's Best Wedding Photos Silhouette Contest / March 27, 2022 by Bradley Hanson

minneapolis saint paul minnesota wedding photography photographer worlds best wedding photo silhouette contest — Guests during the wedding reception toast at a winery in Napa, CA

A favorite photo of mine was just selected as a winning photo by World's Best Wedding Photos and Rangefinder out of over 1500 worldwide entries for this contest on wedding silhouettes. It was taken with the Fujifilm X-Pro1 and the 14mm lens.

More images from the contest here:

https://www.worldsbestweddingphotos.com/photography-contests/30-best-wedding-silhouettes

iPhone Image Gallery And Photography Updates / June 7, 2020 by Bradley Hanson

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, most of my scheduled 2020 weddings have rescheduled until later in the year or next year. We just moved from the Lake Hiawatha area in south Minneapolis to the Highland Park neighborhood in St. Paul, MN. There is seemingly no shortage of time, and are working on making it home with minor cosmetic updates, painting and fixture replacement.

We’ve had a LOT of time to reflect on what’s important to us. A lot of time to read books that have been sitting in my queue waiting for this moment. A lot of time to think about what we can do to make the world a better place for everyone.

As an avid bicyclist, I’ve been trying to recover from a leg injury while I explore our new city. Saint Paul has a lovely trail system that runs on the upper and lower levels of the Mississippi River, though it is definitely not as extensive or as connected as Minneapolis is. It feels great to be outside again and taking in nature helps clear the mind and get some endorphins.

I’ve been photographing weddings for 21 years (since 1999) and I’ve been increasingly using my iPhone as my personal camera. I started with the iPhone 3 in 2008 and now have the iPhone 11. The quality of the camera has gotten exponentially better, and it now rivals portable cameras and comes with editing tools that could only be imagined years ago or that would have required an expensive application like Photoshop or Lightroom.

The images above are some of my favorites from recent weeks, as well as a few favorite photographs from the archives. You can see them at full size simply by clicking on any image, which also allows you to scroll through them at the larger size. To see a gallery of my iPhone images at a large size, click here

Indian Wedding Gallery / March 9, 2019 by Bradley Hanson

indian wedding photographer minneapolis minnesota hindu weddings

Since 1999, I’ve been photographing weddings all over the world in a candid, non-posed style. This allows my clients to focus on enjoying their wedding day rather than being directed by the photographer. I’ve found people are infinitely more interested in seeing what really happened rather than the photographer running them through a standard template of photographs that can be seen at any wedding. To me, the best photographs are ones that are moments that are just happening and that cannot be recreated or posed. For Indian and Hindu weddings, which typically occur over a 3 day period, there is a theoretically infinite number of moments to observe and photograph. Things usually begin with the Mehndi, which includes hennas, then the dinner called the Sangeet. The Baraat is the processional with the groom and his family walking and dancing (originally with a white horse, which still happens if the space allows for it) to meet the bride and the bride’s family. The ceremony includes the Saptapadi, which is when the bride and groom walk around the seven stations of fire. The reception has a number of events, including the Bhangra, a Punjab folk dance.

In 2001, I photographed my first travel wedding in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, entirely on film. I had already photographed many Indian and Hindu weddings in Seattle when I was commissioned to photographs weddings in Rajasthan, India and Bangkok, Thailand for the same couple in 2005. Since then, I’ve photographed over 20 Indian weddings, mostly in Seattle and Minneapolis. Clients can see how much I love black and white photographs in my portfolios, so I figured it was time to give these vibrant, colorful weddings their own portfolio as they tend to be significantly more colorful than my usual work.

This link will take you directly to the gallery. Like the rest of my portfolios, click the “+” in the upper right of the first image to scroll through them at full size.

WPJA Wedding Photojournalist Association Contest Winning Images / February 19, 2019 by Bradley Hanson

These were four recent winning images in the WPJA (Wedding Photojournalist Association) wedding contest. It is open to photographers from all over the world, not just wedding photographers from Minneapolis.

There is some continuity between thematic elements in the photographs in that two of the three are backlit and all three contain scenes that were photographed entirely as found, rather than directing the action, which is my preferred method of working. The color scene was the bride and groom’s first dance, in the unusual twist of being outside at one of my favorite wedding venues near Minneapolis, the Camrose Hill Flower Farm in Stillwater, MN.

You can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, VSCO, Pinterest, Instagram, and LinkedIn through the links on the upper right.

To see more Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN portraits, wedding photography and weddings all over the world, visit my main portfolio on bradleyhanson.com or email me at info@bradleyhanson.com or call me at 206-393-8292 and we can discuss your wedding plans in detail. My speciality is shooting family portraits in an unposed, natural style and wedding photojournalism. I photograph weddings as they happen rather than direct the action, which is often referred to as documentary style wedding photography. I’ve photographed weddings in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Seattle and many countries around the world.

New Work From July 2018 / July 30, 2018 by Bradley Hanson

July has been a busy month, including a 4100 mile drive to and from a wedding in Washington State at Lake Quinault on the Olympic Peninsula. My son Miles assisted me at the wedding, and it was a great road trip with some fascinating audiobooks, sightseeing and restaurants. While I'm sorting out what's going in the portfolio and what's going to be featured on the blog and what's going to be submitted to magazines, here is an assortment of 23 random highlights from the month of July.

Clicking any image below will open it up at a larger size.

Columbia River Gorge in George, Washington

You can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, VSCO, Pinterest, Instagram, and LinkedIn through the links on the upper right.

To listen to the bi-weekly photography podcast I do with UK photographer Ian Weldon, visit https://www.outerfocuspodcast.com or search for Outerfocus on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts.

3 Winning Images In The Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA) Photo Contest / May 8, 2018 by Bradley Hanson

The Wedding Photojournalist Association, created by David Roberts, a newspaper photojournalist, was started to give photojournalists who photographed weddings a forum and to give brides and grooms a resource to find photographers shooting in this reality based unposed style. I first became a member of the WPJA in 2002.

I hadn't entered a contest since 2009, and since I had an unusually busy winter, decided to enter. I was honored to have these three images recognized in the last contest, bringing my total to 22 WPJA awarded images over the years.

You can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, VSCO, Pinterest, Instagram, and LinkedIn through the links on the upper right.

To listen to the bi-weekly photography podcast I do with UK photographer Ian Weldon, visit https://www.outerfocuspodcast.com or search for Outerfocus on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts.

New Images Added In All Galleries! / November 30, 2017 by Bradley Hanson

It's been one the busiest seasons of all time. I'm still digging through November weddings and family portrait sessions, but I've added new images in all galleries and will be working on a redesign of the website in the coming months, adding even more weddings, personal work, family portraits and landscape images from my travels.

You can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, VSCO, Pinterest, Instagram, and LinkedIn through the links on the upper right.

To listen to the bi-weekly photography podcast I do with UK photographer Ian Weldon, visit https://www.outerfocuspodcast.com or search for Outerfocus on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts.

Jessica And Matt's Rainy Seattle Wedding On Lake Union's Skansonia Ferry / October 5, 2017 by Bradley Hanson

Although the rain moved Jessica and Matt's wedding ceremony from the deck of the Skansonia ferry on Lake Union inside to the back of the boat, it was one of the happiest, most celebratory weddings I've ever been to in my 18 years of photographing weddings. I don't know if I've ever had this much fun at a wedding, or had the pleasure of being surrounded by people so vibrant and alive. Many thanks to the kind referral of my friend Lance Mercer for introducing the couple to me.

You can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, VSCO, Pinterest, Instagram, and LinkedIn through the links on the upper right.

To listen to the bi-weekly photography podcast I do with UK photographer Ian Weldon, visit https://www.outerfocuspodcast.com or search for Outerfocus on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts.

Documentary Style Family Portrait In Seattle / June 9, 2017 by Bradley Hanson

I have photographed these two sisters every year since 2008, since they were babies. They are now 9 and 11, and they are extremely active and energetic. With the same approach I take to weddings, I let them be themselves and do exactly what they want, and I look for key moments of interaction that reveal their strong connection and their individual personalities.

You can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, VSCO, Pinterest, Instagram, and LinkedIn through the links on the upper right.

To listen to the bi-weekly photography podcast I do with UK photographer Ian Weldon, visit https://www.outerfocuspodcast.com or search for Outerfocus on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts.