Best Rainy Day Photoshoot Locations in Connecticut

Your photoshoot is scheduled. You are ready. You have everything you need. And then, you check the forecast, and it starts to show signs of rain on the way. You hope. You pray.

What should you do?

Ideally, when you schedule your photography session with us, we will also have a backup date and/or back up location, in case of inclement weather. If it is drizzling, we can still go ahead with the shoot, if you are comfortable with it (as we have some protective gear for our equipment). If it is downpouring, then, that is a different story. We can either reschedule if we have the time and available - or we can move our photoshoot to some awesome indoor locations. The following list of ideas comes found after doing some research and interviewing experienced photographers.

So, you might be asking yourself: What are the best rainy day photoshoot locations in Connecticut? Here are some of the best suggestions for locations for your photography session for an unexpected Rainy Day photoshoot- both indoor and covered outdoor locations in Connecticut:

1. Hotel lobby: Try finding one with a fireplace or some interesting artwork and décor. Just call ahead and tell them what you are looking for.

2. Favorite Restaurant, coffee shop or Bakery: Try finding one with a covered garden café area, like Victory Sweet Shop in Queens, New York, or elegant staircase like The Library Wine Bar and Bistro in Wallingford, CT (which, by the way, is where we hosted our first styled bridal photoshoot!). You may also want to consider your favorite restaurant, or where you had your first date!

   • Our personal favorite for an indoor photoshoot would be a coffee shop you love, with good lighting, some amazing coffee, tea, and pastry treats. Some we love are:

     • Ashlawn Farm Coffee, Old Saybrook, CT

     • Dom’s Coffee, Avon, CT

     • Qawa, Middletown, CT

     • Cafe Atlantique, Milford, CT

     • Cedarhurst Cafe, New Haven, CT

     • Book Trader Cafe, New Haven, CT

3. Libraries : There are few people who don’t enjoy the smell of a good book, both new and old. With that, a library is a cozy and meaningful place for a photoshoot, especially the Romance section, or for new parents, the parenting section!

4. Greenhouses: A perfect location to keep the moodiness of the rain and greenery. There is a small greenhouse in Elizabeth park, Hartford, CT near their outdoor rose garde. Also, both Logee’s Greenhouses in Danielson, CT, and Edgerton park’s Community greenhouse, in New Haven, CT, come highly recommended by our photography friends.

5. Covered bridges: This provides shelter from the rain and offers a wonderful location. Just be mindful of lighting, so either bring your own, or find a bridge that lets some light in. Check out this article for some images of possible places all over the state.

6. The church you will get married in: This would be our first go-to indoor location for rainy days. This is super meaningful to your love and would capture your holy union to come in a profoundly beautiful way. We photographed K+A in their church and the grounds of the church also offered many beautiful locations.

7. The Carousel, Light House point park, New Haven: This location might only be available during the Summer - but worth it if you want something more fun and colorful! Visit here for more information, including who you might need to contact, and be sure to visit ahead of time as you plan.

8. Art museum: If you and your loved one are fans of museums and art work, Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London, CT also comes highly recommended from our photographer community. The architecture is beautiful and the art is worthy - be sure to call ahead of time!

9. Ender’s Island, Mystic, CT: This is our new favorite photography location in Connecticut - particularly because it is beautiful and holy. This is a retreat center, and open to the public. It was our first time visiting just recently for J+J’s engagement session. We called ahead of time to make sure we understood the expectations and that we followed the center’s protocols with flash photography. Also, to make sure there was no retreat going on and that we could travel the grounds for the engagement session. It was a beautiful rainy day and still beautiful experience for the couple we were honored to work with. (Stay tuned to our blog and Instagram for upcoming photographs from this session)

We hope you found this list very helpful. We made this list because of our latest session for J+J, where we had rescheduled due to inclement weather two times already, and could not reschedule again as their wedding is soon! We quickly got some great feedback and suggestions from our community of pro-photographers and wanted to have a place on the internet that we could easily reference in case we need a back up photoshoot location in case of rain or inclement weather, and all for locations in Connecticut. Please leave us some comments if you found this helpful, or have other places to add to this list!

#withscenescerity,

Tim+Steph

Styled Bridal Portraits | The Library, Wallingford, Connecticut

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We recently had the crazy wonderful idea to put together a styled bridal shoot. We were partly influenced by our own amazing wedding photographer and partly influenced by the fact that we are getting closer every day to the start of our lifelong marriage! Perhaps in a later post we will write about 'How to plan a styled shoot,' but for now, we have some words of appreciation for the fantastic vendors we collaborated with.

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We have been immensely blessed by such an amazing and intentional team. We want to personally thank each of them for their willingness to work with us, to trust us to deliver images that matter, and for their time and talents. 

Thank you to Melissa from The Library Wine Bar and Bistro in Wallingford, Connecticut. This venue was the perfect place for our styled bridal shoot, offering gorgeous lighting and many wonderful locations for each of our brides. The private event space was particularly welcoming. The staff throughout the day were so helpful and we have immense gratitude for partaking in this shoot with such a high calibur venue and location. We recommended working with The Library's dedicated staff for your Wedding Day! 

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Thank you to Tammy Rose from The Wallingford Flower Shoppe, for the gorgeous bouquets and boutonniere, customized for our models. These flowers were beyond what we could have imagined. Tammy is incredibly talented at creating and tailoring the bouquets that are beyond your expectations, and Wallingford Flower Shoppe is a team of trusted and dedicated florists and artists. The wedding day bouquet is an opportunity to express so much in such a delicate way. Flowers as art, and they embodied just that. We are grateful.

Thank you to Bliss Bridal Connecticut, the unmatched bridal boutique in Cheshire, Connecticut. Jess and her team from Bliss Bridal was so great to work with, offering us stunning wedding gowns from such a great selection of wedding dresses. They ensured that we'd have the best gowns to choose from to make our dream bridal shoot a reality. Any bride would be so blessed to find her dream wedding dress here!

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Thank you to Averi, our amazing hair and make-up artist. She is incredible to work with, she brought our bridal beauty vision to life in each of our already stunning models. We are happy to hear, too, that she travels, so hopefully she will join us for our own wedding day next year (shameless plug haha).

And last but absolutely not least, to our wonderful models: Katelyn, Lauren, and Tristan. They were each a pleasure to work with, bringing their talents to shine forth in each image. They are also some of the nicest people we have met. We recommend working with them for your next photoshoot as well, and we look forward to working with them again if they will have us! 

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In all honesty, we could not have been more blessed with the fantastic team we were able to collaborate with. Thank you to all of you for saying "Yes," to being a part of this styled bridal photoshoot, a dream for us now a reality--and all thanks to you. (To see more images from this styled shoot, be sure to check out our portrait and couples gallery).

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Personal reflection: As you can tell, we have been overwhelmed in gratitude, for the opportunities that have come our way, as we continue to venture together.

We are #buildingwithgrace after all (referring to God's Grace, and Mercy of course). With that said, we are grateful to continue growing in our craft and in our relationship.

Please continue to pray for us during these trying times, that we (and you) can be encouraged in this way: whether through the fires or the storms, we know that God is good, and always with us. We believe that All things are possible through Christ, and we will continue to "pray, hope, and don't worry," trusting in the One who Loves us beyond all measure.  We are confident that the darkness will not overcome, and that Love will lead us through to the end. 

with scenescerity,

Tim+Steph

Purpose and Photography (Hello 2018!) | Portraits in Hubbard Park!

2018 came with a purpose.

If you are reading this, it is to be reminded that this year, this day, this moment is given to you--as a gift. What will you do with it?

There are many moments that come and go... if we let them. The beauty of photography is to capture the essence of our every day. Truly, the infinite that can come wrapped in the smiles of our loved ones. It is a beauty that we must never be easy to let go of. 

Whether it's just for you, or to share in the moments with those you love, the moments are precious and all the ones we have should be cherished. With that, something we want to focus on more this year is documentary+lifestyle photography, including Motherhood and Newborn Photography. We are really excited to announce that we have scheduled our first Motherhood (Maternity photography) Session, and we are so honored to provide this gift to a beautiful young mother and her now-growing family. These are God's gifts and we need to treat them as such--with preservation and again, purpose.

Please stay tuned to see those images. In the meantime, we want to highlight some of our favorite photos from a shoot with a young woman who paid a beautiful tribute to her Native American Heritage. These were for her, for her portfolio ,but in capturing these, she shares such a beautiful part of herself with our audience. Take it in, and think about what it speaks to you. Think about how you can, too, gift yourself with special images that mean something more.

We look forward to the purpose that awaits. Let the adventure begin (for every moment is a new start)! #believeit #receiveit 

With #scenescerity, Steph+Tim