Night Magic at Casani Estates

Photographer: William Arthur Photography

Hair and Makeup: Kiana Bonneau of Ladi Bonneau Bride Venue: Casani Estates

Planner: Seas Your Day Events

The night of October 16, 2022 was a clear and balmy evening with a sky full of stars which was fortunate because the stars were what we were there for! A small but mighty crew of 5 vendors and 4 models gathered at the beautiful Casani Estates . On the vendor side we had Kiana Bonneau of Ladi Bonneau Bride, a multi talented custom dress and shoe designer and hair and makeup artist (I hear she also does a killer pedicure!) and the magical Brad from William Arthur Photography . Our hostess, the lovely Carmen from Casani Estates made us all dinner in her rice cooker - delicious! There was excitement in the air. Everyone had this great attitude to help and do whatever they could to help. Brad said he felt like everyone wasn’t hopeful that it would turn out well but knew it would be different

Fun fact, we coordinated models’ Taylor and Clark’s wedding at the Reunion Golf and Country Club earlier this year. Brad shot that wedding too. Taylor wore her original wedding dress and Clark brought a plethora of bow ties and neckties to go with his suit for the shoot.

The evening started out with some not so typical sunset shots of Taylor and Clark, showcasing the beautiful sunsets of Casani Estates. Casani overlooks a serene private lake with a pavilion and multiple ceremony locations ranging in size for all types of guest groups. In the pavilion there are romantic swings, perfect for photos.

Next we did some shots with long exposure to showcase how beautiful the Estate is at night. Brad captured some amazing moments of Christina and Orlando in the gazebo. This gazebo is the perfect spot for a small elopement!

Then we got funky.

The next event is shared with caution. Caution to you, the reader. Do not attempt to do this on your own. Brad is slightly on the crazy side which allows him to do this without fear of setting himself on fire. First he tied a chain to a metal whisk then stuffed the whisk with steel wool….THEN LIT IT ON FIRE. I clicked the button on the already set up camera and tripod and Brad started SPINNING. And it created this:

For our final trick we got a little wet. We gathered all of the stools from the property and Brad started sticking them into the mud, making a trail to the middle of the water. Then Clark, being the braver one, stepped on each stool cementing them deeper into the mud, paving the way for Taylor. Taylor, in her full on wedding dress then got on the stools. Standing on the stools they were able to create the illusion that they were floating on the water’s surface. Then Brad did his thing.

Brad really wanted to let “Casani shine with the stars”. He says, “Here is how I would describe my representation of the walking on water shot - I try to put symbolism in a lot of my shots. This shot really symbolizes how difficult that this world is. This isn’t a photo about a bride walking on water. This is a photo of a bride and groom doing the impossible because they are doing it together. Without each other they would disappear into the dark waters of the night.”

For all you photographers out there, here’s how Brad did it:

“Okay here is a quick breakdown of how to do a non photoshop night time photo: You start framing up your photo exactly how you want it - a tripod is a must. Take a test shot and only worry about how the background looks, dial that in first. Get the perfect exposure for the background and worry about the rest later. Get this part perfect before moving on. Otherwise you will be trying to fix it afterwards in photoshop.

Next you have to add light onto your subject. Keep all your settings the same and simply add in the light on your subject only adjusting the power of your strobes and nothing else. If you are playing around with your settings your background will either go too dark or too light in a heartbeat.

Once you have the light on the subject dialed in you should be good.

The rest is trial and error fine tuning that you learn with experience. Here is the key one camera adjustment per test shot. Don’t change the power of the strobe, your shutter speed and your iso all at the same time because when it goes off the deep end you really don’t know which one really messed you up.”

We asked Brad what his biggest takeaway was of the night. He said “people are willing to do something cool as long as you ask. Who would ask one of their previous brides to do something crazy like walk on water and potentially get completely soaked in your wedding gown?? “This guy would”. When you have a vision in your head you always have it laid out perfectly of how you would like it. When you put it into motion 9 times out of 10 there is something that didn’t quite fit your vision and you have to work around it or change your expectations. After getting Taylor and Clark out in the middle of the lake and taking that first test shot I realized it was better than I envisioned it.”

Thanks for letting us be a part of such a magical night! We had a blast and these photos are out of this world!