My Styled Shoot at Wrexham Hall
Whether you’re a beginner or a more experienced photographer, styled shoots are a fantastic way to level up your skills and add to your portfolio. When we are working with clients, we don’t always have full creative freedom or control over the experience. Styled shoots can give you the opportunity to create exactly what you want down to the environment and smallest details, which will help you add work to your portfolio that will attract your dream clients.
Over the last several months, I’ve come across several styled shoots hosted by some of my favorite photographers; some close to home, and some in completely different countries. I knew it would be an absolute dream to learn from them, but it just wasn’t something I could do financially. I casually brought up these shoots to my good friend, Alina, one day while we were thrifting, and we came up with the idea to do one of our own!
Alina has been the most supportive friend throughout my photography journey and was even the first person I took portraits of! She’s always up for helping me bring my ideas to life, so it was no surprise that she and her husband, Joey, volunteered to get their wedding attire out for a styled shoot. It was also an added bonus that she’s one of several wedding planners with Wedding Company of Williamsburg, so she guided me through the shoot similarly to how she would’ve at one of her weddings.
The venue we chose was Wrexham Hall, a historic home in Chesterfield, VA where Alina and I both have worked at an event. Since we were already familiar with the house and it had the vibe we were looking for, we thought it would be a great choice!
After arriving at Wrexham Hall and taking a quick walk around the house to get our wheels turning, we got right into it. I took dress and detail shots in the bedroom before Alina and Joey got ready. Alina brought some of their actual wedding stationery (she really thought of everything!), which I wanted to capture in candlelight alongside some of her jewelry.
Then it was time for the couple to get dressed! I absolutely loved Alina’s dress; it was slightly blush toned and had just the right amount of sparkle. We didn’t go too crazy with the hair or accessories because I wanted them to look effortlessly beautiful and ethereal (which they did).
If you’ve read my blog posts before or are familiar with my work, you know that sun spots and I are besties. I’m always looking for sun spots to play around with, and that includes indoors! We began working inside of Wrexham Hall during the perfect time when the sunlight was pouring into one of the rooms, so I took that as my queue to shoot there first. Similarly to sunlight that shines through the trees, the light that shines through windows can have some interesting shadows from the window grids. They can be really cool looking, but also a pain to work with because they may not fall where I want them to. So, throughout this part of the shoot, there was a lot of moving around (and a bit of squatting, haha) to get the shadows to look the way I wanted them to. It was all worth it, though, because these ended up being some of my favorite photos I’ve ever taken!
The rest of the shoot inside the house was more or less the same deal; I followed the sun as we moved from room to room and up the stairs. The rays we captured through the windows were super gorgeous and dreamy against the antique backdrop. We really couldn’t have asked for a better day!
Before wrapping up, we went outside to get a few shots in front of the house and among the autumn leaves. The fall colors were still so beautiful at this time, and that coupled with the late afternoon sun was perfection. Beside the entrance to the house, they also have an antique carriage that we thought would be a neat photo op, so we made sure to get a few shots there as well.
As always, my shoot with Alina (and Joey) was a complete success! Alina’s expertise and Joey’s jokes made for a super fun and smooth experience. I’m also super grateful for our friends at Wrexham Hall for being such great hosts throughout the day. Yay team!
About Me
I’m Ashton—a photographer dedicated to capturing the magic and beauty of love through photographs reminiscent of stills from a film.
Ready to tell your story?