“New York City experienced incredible rain and flooding the day before,” says Autumn Jordan, one of Rangefinder’s 30 Rising Star of 2024. That fated day, she was documenting Cat and Joe Cohen’s wedding at the iconic River Cafe in Brooklyn. Fortunately, the weather broke, travel was not impeded, the waterfront looked divine, and the wedding party was treated to a gorgeous sunset over Manhattan. So as not to disturb its romantic, candlelit atmosphere, Autumn chose to lean into natural light wedding photography, using minimal flash.

Documentary and Dreamy 

Autumn’s favorite image from the day (above) was taken on 35mm with a Contax G2 and was developed and scanned at Indie Film Lab in Birmingham, Alabama. Autumn says it is “equal parts love letter to the life [the couple has] built together and their home in NYC.” Taken from the patio of the River Cafe, which is tucked beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, it features the stunning Manhattan skyline and the close embrace of the newlywed Cohens.  

Autumn, who has BA in film photography and shoots almost exclusively on film, considers her natural light wedding photography style to be both documentary and dreamy. She is thoughtful and deliberate about her shots, wanting her images to both look and feel like her client’s wedding day, reflecting the colors, the emotions, and the weather.  For Autumn, being documentary means “letting the day unfold naturally with low to no intervention.” She comes prepared with as much information about the day as possible, and then leaves “space to notice – to be delighted, to be in awe, to connect, and to capture those moments on camera authentically as they play out.” 

Tender and Technical Tips 

From a technical point of view, Autumn was tasked with documenting this wedding day at the River Cafe on film. Because of its dim, candlelit atmosphere, she knew that if she was not going to distract the wedding party from enjoying its low-light ambiance, she would need to lean into higher ISO films. She used Portra 800, Cinestill 800T, and Delta 3200. 

To prepare for situations like this, Autumn offers the following tips: 

1. Get comfortable pushing your cameras to their boundaries and then continue to push those boundaries. 

2. Learn to photograph in dark spaces – both with and without additional lighting. 

3. Learn what it means to shoot and edit at a higher ISO. Push your film and communicate this to your lab. 

The other side of shooting weddings involves more “tender tips.” Autumn offers this advice for getting into the right emotional space to beautifully capture documentary wedding photography: 

1. Stay present. Do whatever you need to do to clear your head before a wedding day or session. 

2. Create space for your couple to be present. Advocate for them. 

3. Spend time connecting with guests. 

4. Create room to go off script/off list throughout the day. 

5. Make anyone in front of your lens feel good.  

6. Be kind. Always offer to jump in to give a zhuzh to hair or wardrobe if you notice something! 

Love, Place, and History 

For Autumn, each wedding day is primarily about the couple she is photographing – celebrating their love and this moment of central importance in their lives. At the same time, she says, “I am highly aware of how large of a role both place and history play. I always look for subtle and not-so-subtle ways to weave this into my work. . . While the skyline will inevitably shift, my couples will age, and new generations will be born, I hope that this quiet moment frozen in time is able to bring people back to this day and all that comes from it and was part of it, myself included.” 

Follow Autumn Jordan’s work on Instagram. View the full 30 Rising Star Winners Gallery for 2024 here.