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Rangefinder
Magazine Joe Photo: A Dream Wedding by Linda L. May
In September 2003, Joe Paulicivic, known in the industry as Joe Photo, of San Juan Capistrano, CA, had the rare privilege of photographing such an unusual wedding event, that lasted 10 fun-filled days. Because he specializes in wedding photojournalism, this type of shooting suited him perfectly. Making it even more enjoyable, Joe’s wife, Ingrid, accompanied him on this European trip, working as his assistant, back-up photographer and the bride’s hairdresser. Last May, Joe was hired
to photograph this couple’s engagement
party at the beautiful Montage Resort in Laguna Beach, CA. Lilian and
David Yeh, the bride and groom, were so happy with those images that
they hired Joe again for their European wedding adventure. In fact, Joe
Photo was not just the wedding This whirlwind trip began on Sunday, September 15, when he and Ingrid left California and jetted to France. After a connecting flight in Paris, they arrived Monday evening at the Chateau de Mirambeau, in Mirambeau, France, where the wedding ceremony was to be held the following afternoon. The bride hired a wedding planner in France to handle all the details, including flowers and a horse and carriage ride. She flew in a hair and make-up expert from Taiwan, insuring she’d look her very best on her wedding day. (Both bride and groom are originally from Taiwan.) She brought five different wedding gowns and some traditional Chinese costumes for photographs; however, she wore a gorgeous Badgley Mischka creation for the actual ceremony. The groom carried along two tuxedos, dress shirts and suits.
On Wednesday afternoon, September 17, the wedding foursome drove to the Bordeaux airport for a flight to Venice, Italy, where the next phase of the journey began—a five-day European cruise. However, before leaving the chateau that day, Lilian wore an Oscar de la Renta gown for additional bridal portraits. Upon arriving in Venice, the group boarded
the cruise ship and spent the night. Thursday morning, they hurried into
town where Lilian and
David had reserved a hotel room. The hair and make-up artist was waiting
to prepare Lilian for even more photographs, in another Oscar de la Renta
wedding gown and two of the traditional dresses from Taiwan. After the
shoot, they rushed back to the ship, which sailed for Dubrobnik, Croatia,
at 4 p.m. that On Saturday, September 20, the boat docked in Ephesus, Turkey, for a few hours. Ephesus is one of the best preserved of all the historic cities, according to Joe, so he was anxious to photograph the bride and groom at this biblical site. “ At least 1000 people were in the streets of Ephesus while we were there. Big church groups and tour buses descended on the historical ruins, which presented quite a photography challenge. But I used low camera angles and a lot of patience to hide the crowds. I photographed Lilian sitting on a camel in the parking lot, wearing a Vera Wang wedding gown, surrounded by buses and unwanted background elements. To hide the clutter, I got down and shot up at her on the camel. The images turned out really cool,” Joe says.
By this point in the trip, these beautiful, expensive wedding gowns were getting dirty from the strolling through dusty streets. For liability reasons, the ship was unable to clean her designer gowns, so they had to live with the soils and stains on the garments, and keep shooting. While at sea, Ingrid styled the bride’s hair, and Lilian did her own make-up for the pictures. Athens, Greece, was the final destination of the cruise and supposed to be the highlight. However, it turned out to be the low point, according to Joe, because they were not allowed to photograph inside the Acropolis. The officials there said he had to obtain special permits to photograph at the site, and turned them away. Lilian went to the Acropolis wearing the Ulla-Maija gown, with an elaborate headpiece, for the pictures. But when they were turned away, she changed into a black evening dress. Joe Photo was still able to grab some shots of Lilian outside the Acropolis, but that was it.
“ The Acropolis was under renovation at the time, and surrounded by scaffolding, so it wasn’t as great a location as it would have been under normal conditions. But that was still the low point of the trip for me. None of the other places or historical sites in the other cities gave us problems about the photography,” Joe Photo explains. On Thursday, September 25, they flew from Athens to Paris and spent the night in a hotel. The next morning, they arose early, packed their bags, and prepared to leave. On their way to the airport, they stopped at the Eiffel Tower to do one more photo session of Lilian in an Oscar de la Renta gown, before their wedding adventure was to end. Before they left the city, Joe photographed the happy couple eating baguettes and drinking coffee in a Paris street café and buying pastries in a small French bakery—just for the memories. During this whirlwind trip, Joe photographed an average of three hours a day except on the wedding day, which took seven hours to cover. Using two Nikon D1X digital cameras, he shot over 5000 exposures of this event. He downloaded the images to a Titanium G4 laptop and edited them daily. Joe also brought 8GB worth of memory cards and a 60GB external hard drive for backup. In the end, he presented Lilian and David with 1600 previews in tastefully designed boxes, which they loved!
Joe admits this wedding trip was exhausting because of the fast pace. He dragged a Tamrac rolling bag filled with equipment everywhere they walked, through cobblestone streets and along dirt roads, so comfortable shoes and good physical condition were crucial. But, he says, it was also thrilling because of the challenges, and rewarding because of the outstanding images he captured, which he can use for samples and numerous promotions. “ There wasn’t a lot of down time on this trip, but we’re happy we could experience it as a couple. We saw many wonderful places, ate delicious food, stayed in elegant lodgings, and the cruise was a wonderful experience overall. Before we left California, I researched each of the cities, so I knew where to take them to get the best lighting and best backgrounds at every destination. As it turned out, I never used my flash once, but shot everything by available light,” Joe tells Rangefinder magazine.
“ This type of wedding is not for every couple, nor for every photographer. Most couples are not this devoted to photography; however, Lilian just loves being in front of the camera. When she hears the camera shutter click, she automatically starts moving and changing her expressions. Rarely did I have to pose her. Occasionally, I had to tell her to tip her head or move her body one way or the other, but she was easy to photograph. Photographing the same subjects over and over was also challenging. I had to make sure the images were creative and different. Lilian offered her ideas and we worked together.” Joe says everybody he’s shown these images to is “freaked-out” because it’s such an unusual approach to a wedding. He’s gaining much publicity and exposure from this dream assignment. Grace Ormonde, publisher of Wedding Style magazine, is featuring Joe Photo’s images in a six to eight-page spread in the January, 2004 issue. Saks Fifth Avenue, where all the lovely wedding gowns were purchased, also requested a Leather Craftsmen album to show its clients.
As for the future, Lilian and David are already making plans to hire Joe and Ingrid for another photography trip in March 2004 to Bali, Thailand and Japan. Joe Photo also hopes to book other clients who will embrace this unique approach to wedding photography, so he can capture more of these weddings to remember. Readers may contact Joe Photo at: joephoto@integrity.com
or view his web site at: www.joephoto.com. |
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Imagine photographing a bridal couple among lush grapevines
in Bordeaux, France. Imagine then, grabbing shots of the bride, wearing
a Vera Wang gown, riding a camel in Ephesus, Turkey. Imagine, after that,
capturing a bride frolicking with pelicans on the beach off the Greek
Island of Mykonos. Now, imagine it’s the same bride and groom in
all these exotic locations, and you’re the fortunate photographer
who landed this dream wedding assignment. 
photographer, but he was also active in
planning this excursion. Lilian and David wanted the best photography
possible, in the best locations available around the world. This type
of wedding assignment does not come along every day. To date, this has
been a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Joe and Ingrid.
Early Tuesday morning, Joe shot portraits of the happy
couple in the vineyards around Bordeaux, then motored back to the chateau
for
the vows.
The entire wedding party consisted of four: Joe, Ingrid, Lilian and David.
Neither friends nor family were present. After the wedding, Lilian wore
a traditional Chinese red dress for portraits around the Chateau de Mirambeau
grounds. 
afternoon. This particular port held great meaning for
Joe because his family roots are in Croatia. The ship docked there for
half a day, so they explored the city and shot pictures of the bride
wearing an Ulla-Maija gown. The following day, September 19, the ship
was out to sea, so everybody took a break and rested.
The following day, Sunday, the ship docked in Rhodes,
one of the Greek islands. There, Joe captured portraits of Lilian dressed
in the
Badgley
gown. From Rhodes, they sailed to Mykonos, another Greek isle, where
he photographed the bride wearing a Vera Wang creation, standing waist-deep
in the ocean. Lilian also wore one of the Oscar de la Renta gowns for
other portraits in Mykonos. 
