Anatomy of an image: Destination wedding in Greece

Photographer: Jeff Cooke

Date: May 31, 2019

Location: Monemvasia, Greece

Subject: Darcy and Justin Gregoire

Circumstances: Wedding day

Equipment: Nikon Z6 camera with Nikon AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G lens; minor edits using DVLOP preset Passages in Adobe Lightroom.

Jeff Cooke’s comments: “Monemvasia is located on a small island on the coast of the Peloponnese. During the days leading up to the wedding, we visited this town several times and one time hiked to the top of the island. Along the way we passed several ruins with incredible views of the village below. Because Darcy and Justin spent a lot of time with their friends and family in Monemvasia, I thought it would be amazing to capture an image of them here on their wedding day—if I could work it out logistically.

“The day before, I hiked to this location and found the stone outshoot overlooking the town below. I asked another couple to pose so I could test a composition, then used the app Sunseeker to determine the location of the light at sunrise and how I’d pose the couple to frame them above the town. I asked Darcy and Justin, ‘How do you guys feel about coming back here for sunrise in your wedding gear?’ The next morning, we hiked up, I placed them in the spot, framed my image, and the rest was all them. It’s special because the view here has a connection to their destination wedding story. They were married nearby, hiked this mountain, had their rehearsal dinner in the town, and shopped here.

“I first met Darcy and Justin at another wedding several years earlier. They were the kind of couple you just can’t help noticing on a wedding day: close, happy, totally in love. We got to know each other during that wedding, stayed in touch, and when they announced an engagement, I was one of the first people they contacted.”

Eric Minton is a writer and editor in Washington, D.C.