Engagement Film
An Autumn Afternoon at Stan Hywet
Marise and Philo, filmed on the Great Meadow and under the birches, with the leaves just past their peak.
Akron, Ohio · Fall 2024
Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens is at its best in the fall. The estate manages to be grand and calm at once, and on a crisp afternoon with the leaves just past their peak, the golden light comes through the trees and the air carries enough of a chill to keep two people standing close together.
The film
Watch the engagement film
Marise and Philo · Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens
The work
Very little direction
We gave almost none and let them be themselves. What is in the film is the small things they did without thinking about them: Philo wrapping Marise up in his arms, the two of them laughing at something I did not hear, a walk down a path with stone archways and ivy behind them.
Filming works differently from photographing in this respect. A still frame can survive a held pose. Thirty seconds of footage cannot, so the only way to get it is to stop asking for anything.
No posed moments, and nothing rehearsed.
The grounds
The Great Meadow and the Birch Tree Allée
The estate hands you scene after scene. The Great Meadow, open and filled with low golden light, is the right place to film movement and the distance between two people closing. The Birch Tree Allée gives you the opposite: a narrow, quiet corridor for a slow walk.
As the sun dropped, the leaves scattered across the ground did the rest. The mix of architecture and gardens is what makes this one of the better places in Ohio to film an engagement.
Their wedding is coming, and I expect it will carry the same warmth as this afternoon did.
Credits
Location
Cleveland Wedding Photography + Cinema
Service Information
Human Artist Photography + Cinema provides wedding photography services in Cleveland area as well as all Northeast Ohio and beyond. If you are looking for a wedding photographer in your area, get in touch to learn about our services. Be sure to consider us for your professional headshots, portrait photography and family photography in Cleveland, Akron, Columbus and beyond.
