wedding

Christina And Trevor's Elegant Summer Wedding At The Van Dusen Mansion In Minneapolis MN / October 9, 2023 by Bradley Hanson

After photographing Christina and Trevor’s engagement photographs at Cedar Lake a few months prior, I felt very much at ease with them and the feeling seemed to be mutual as I quickly evaporated into the background while beginning with photographing them getting ready on the morning of their wedding. The entire day unfolded in one location, the timelessly elegant Van Dusen Mansion in south Minneapolis, just outside of Loring Park neighborhood.

Just after the outdoor ceremony, the couple had their first dance outside in the courtyard, which was a romantic introduction to the reception.

Despite monsoon level rains moments after the wedding ceremony outside, all of my memories of the day are of Christina and Trevor laughing and having a good time, and the photographs from the day reflect that joy. This was one of those weddings that left me feeling optimistic about the world. It was also one of those events were everywhere I pointed my camera, a photograph revealed itself.

“Bradley was the absolute GREATEST. He completely understood our vision for our engagement and wedding pictures and they turned out better than we could have ever imagined. He is a pure joy to work with and made every step so much fun. he captured our day perfectly and we are so thankful that he was part of it. Thank you, Bradley, a million times over!!!”

-Christina Bartingale and Trevor Becker

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).

Clara And Pete's Downtown Minneapolis Summer Elopement / September 15, 2023 by Bradley Hanson

I was hired to photograph Clara and Peter’s elopement, consisting of a few portraits near the Hewing Hotel, their civil ceremony at the Minneapolis Government Center, and an informal dinner at North Loop classic restaurant, Spoon and Stable. Rather than me carrying on with the usual superlatives, I’ll let the bride provide some insight. The wedding was a blast and I felt like I got a lot of great photographs in a short period (3 hours).

“Pete and I met in 2015 while both playing soccer at Macalester College in St. Paul! We had been dating for around 7 years before getting engaged.

Before even getting engaged, we discussed our ideal wedding scenario - great food, great (but small and intimate) company, and a quick and easy ceremony without any fluff.

The day was a perfect combination of putting energy into what was really valuable to us and then finding ways to let go of the relevant details. Who would have thought that things work out exactly how they are meant to :) “ - Clara Webby

Click any image to enlarge

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“Bradley was awesome! He made our more low-key courthouse elopement into a special day, and now we have incredible photos to look back on.” - Clara Webby

I am a Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota based wedding photographer, specializing in documentary style weddings, elopements, 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).

New Senior Portraits Of Eva In Minneapolis, Minnesota / June 5, 2022 by Bradley Hanson

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minneapolis saint paul minnesota wedding portrait photographer candid timeless photojournalism documentary style

minneapolis saint paul minnesota twin cities wedding portrait photographer photography senior photo documentary style minnehaha falls

When I’m not photographing weddings, I’m either on my bike or shooting portraits. I’m moving more toward portraits, which is filling up all of my time this summer. Well, I guess it’s technically still spring for a couple more weeks, but you know what I mean. I photograph family portraits, senior portraits, corporate events and even headshots for companies and Linked In profile photos, etc. Contact me at info@bradleyhanson.com or through the contact link of my website above to get a quote.

Another One Of My Wedding Photographs From Film Was Just Featured On The World's Best Wedding Photos / March 31, 2021 by Bradley Hanson

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One of my images, taken when I was still shooting all film and focusing manually, was featured by the website World’s Best Wedding Photos, along with other wedding images that are classic wedding/bridal portraits. You can see the entire article by clicking here.

One Of My Film Images Featured By World's Best Wedding Photos / January 29, 2021 by Bradley Hanson

One of my images, taken when I was still shooting all film and focusing manually, was featured by the website World’s Best Wedding Photos, along with other wedding images that are on, in, or near cars. You can see the entire article by clicking here.

Intimate Winter Elopement At The St. Regis Hotel In Downtown Atlanta Georgia / December 2, 2019 by Bradley Hanson

I got a call out of the blue to photograph this private elopement in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The bride was born in Turkey and the groom is from my neck of the woods (Minneapolis, MN). The couple now live in Los Angeles, but got married in Atlanta because the bride’s family is still there. Like the Hitchcock movie “Rope,” most of the wedding took place in one room. In this case, the lovely and regal St. Regis Hotel in Atlanta. There were only 9 family members lucky enough to be there. I was only there for 2.5 hours, but we packed it in. There was a 5 minutes ceremony and a small dinner, with toasts and even a little dancing. We enjoyed some time at sunset on the rooftop deck of Restoration Hardware, which had a uniquely beautiful view of downtown Atlanta. Never one to hesitate to leave snowy Minneapolis in the winter, it felt good to enjoy 73 degree sunny days, if only for 48 hours…

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Downtown Minneapolis Snowy Wedding In The Historic Lumber Exchange Building / March 17, 2019 by Bradley Hanson

Illyas walks out on the roof of the Lumber Exchange Building as the snowstorm begins on March 9, 2019.

I’ve been photographing weddings for 20 years now. I’ve personally been to 600 of them. Yeah, I know. It’s gone by quickly since April 1999. Anyway, 13 years of that was in Seattle, the last 7 here in Minneapolis. As someone who grew up in Minneapolis, the feeling is often that there is snow on the ground 6 months of the year. It can start as early as October and it can happen as late is May. We don’t get the kind of heavy snow we used to get all winter when I was a kid, but we are getting wild extremes. This year, we had a bone dry December, then February was 40 inches of snow rather than the average of 7.

Snow gets old when you grow up with it, but it still has a magical quality to me, particularly the first snow of the year. There is a quiet and peacefulness that happens both from the visual minimalism and the sound deadening of the snow itself. It literally absorbs sound and the combination enhances the beauty.

When Anna and Illyas hired me to photograph portraits for them, it was a relatively humid day. They had just gotten a sweet little dog named Louie who didn’t want to be away from them during our time together.

Fast forward to a week ago. The wedding day, March 9th, came quickly and meteorologists forecasted a late winter storm of 8-10” in the Twin Cities. I was excited because I could finally take photographs of a bride and groom in the snow. Well, the serious part of the storm ended up hitting the part of the state south of Minneapolis and while we ended up with more like 5 inches of snow, it was beautiful: large, heavy and dense snow that fell slowly and accumulated quickly.

In a brief moment after the wedding ceremony, Anna, Illyas and I went to the roof of the historic Lumber Exchange Building to take a few photographs it was the opportunity I’ve been waiting for. I rarely use flash, but with snow it highlights every flake on its way to the ground.

I’ll be adding images to this blog post in a few weeks.

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.

WPJA Wedding Photography Contest Winning Image / October 25, 2018 by Bradley Hanson

Although I am buried in the tail end of peak wedding season tasks (shooting, editing, uploading/downloading, backing up files, responding to client calls and emails, meeting potential clients, etc), I decided to enter the WPJA international wedding photography contest because I made my favorite photograph in a long time while at a wedding last month. The WPJA contest judges have worked as staff picture desk editors at major news publications or are working photojournalists having won the highest news industry awards.

As members, we are allowed to enter 10 per contest, but I decided to only enter one because I believed in it. It is good to know I am able to trust my gut…

WPJA contest winning image taken at St. Wencelaus Catholic church in New Prague, MN moments before the wedding ceremony. The church was built in 1907.

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.

Outerfocus Photography Podcast With Martin Parr Of Magnum / August 8, 2018 by Bradley Hanson

With great pleasure, our current episode of the Outerfocus podcast features Magnum's legendary British documentary photographer Martin Parr.

Ian Weldon and I dive straight in and find out what Martin has been working on, and hear about the former Magnum President's new venture, The Martin Parr Foundation in Bristol. We discover how the foundation was born, what it is, and its vision for the future. Martin tells us how he first got introduced to photography by his grandfather at the age of 13 and about his career so far, including how he became a member of Magnum, and didn’t, and then did again, and his slight run in with Henri Cartier-Bresson......

History of photography this week focuses on Walker Evans. Born in 1903, Evans was an American photojournalist known for his work documenting the effects of the Great Depression, and bodies of work such as American Photographs. We look at his early life, his work and the impact his photography has had on others.

You can listen via the link below or by finding Outerfocus on iTunes podcasts app on your phone or tablet.

https://www.outerfocuspodcast.com/podcast/2018/8/7/outerfocus-23-walker-evans-martin-parr

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.