RF Wedding of the Week: African Bush Wedding by Feather and Stone

January 22, 2014

By Laura Brauer

Talk about far-flung weddings: Samantha and Adam’s elopement ceremony took place at Ulusaba, Richard Branson’s private game reserve in South Africa, and was lovingly documented by fine art film photography husband-and-wife team, Feather and Stone.

Feather and Stone-126 Feather and Stone-121 Feather and Stone-117 Feather and Stone-124Feather and Stone-114Photographers Seth and Tenielle have a fascinating story: he’s from Florida, she’s an Aussie and they spent the past eight years based in Australia. Currently, the couple is living an adventure in Botswana, Africa, plus traveling wherever a destination wedding or workshop takes them. They’re serious about film—”For weddings we shoot around 90% film and for most portrait sessions we shoot 100% film,” the team writes on their website.

Feather and Stone-144 Feather and Stone-141 Feather and Stone-140 Feather and Stone-133 Feather and Stone-137This particular wedding was no different; it was captured using a Canon 1V and Canon 50mm 1.2L lens, plus a Mamiya 645AF and 80mm 1.9 N, with film including: Fuji Pro400h, Kodak Tri-X BW Film, Kodak Portra 400. Film development and scanning was done by Richards Photo Lab.

Feather and Stone-156 Feather and Stone-151 Feather and Stone-149But this ceremony came with the added challenge of wild animals.

Feather and Stone-161Feather and Stone-160 Feather and Stone-162“Tenielle and I normally take a very ‘walk and talk’ approach to our portrait sessions,” Seth says. “This allows our couples to relax, focus on each other and not on us. Not so in the African bush. Shooting in an African game reserve meant that we needed a guide with us at all times to walk to each portrait location and ensure the safety of our couple and us as photographers. At first we thought this was going to be a chemistry killer—never allowing our couple to lose themselves in —but rather we all embraced the excitement of being able to photograph such an intimate affair in such an exotic location.

“Our hearts raced as we walked through long grass knowing that only a day before a pride of lions had been spotted moving through that very area. It was a romantic adventure of a lifetime and I feel that came through in our portraits.”

Feather and Stone-164Feather and Stone-179 Feather and Stone-176 Feather and Stone-169 Feather and Stone-168

For more of Feather and Stone’s work, visit their gorgeous website.

Click here for more Weddings of the Week. Or Email Jessica to submit one of your own.