Photographer Jay Philbrick takes his subjects where most photographers wouldn’t dare to go themselves: onto the face of a cliff, 350 feet above the ground. He offers couples a truly unique wedding album by encouraging them to put their lives in each other’s hands and suspend from a sheer drop. In some jaw-dropping images, bride and groom Christie Sulkoski and Kevin Coleman can be seen hanging off the cliff in their full wedding outfits.
Philbrick’s style is seen as “distinctive, dramatic, perfect.†Looking at these dramatic photos of a bride and groom on the 700-foot Cathedral Ledge in New Hampshire’s Echo Lake State Park, we couldn’t agree more.
Philbrick “carefully lowers his subjects onto a small outcropping on the face of the cliff, about 350 feet up,†according to PetaPixel.
It all makes sense when you learn that Philbrick started his career as a professional mountain guide before starting a photography business.
And while it looks like the subjects are in grave danger, they’re actually safely secured to the cliff with ropes that are hidden behind them.
He claims not to go ‘looking for trouble’ but sets up shoots in the most weird and wonderful locations, including ice cliffs, steep snow slopes and even underwater.
“We don’t go looking for trouble. I was a climbing guide for a long time and have had extensive training in risk management, client care, rope work, avalanche hazards, and so on.”
“So, these are all environments we have a lot of experience in. Once the couple is in place, I direct them into different poses and shoot from different locations and angles with different lenses to get a variety of looks.”
“For most of the images we try to use posing and camera angle to hide the ropes and anchors, there is no Photoshop whenever possible.”
They did their first extreme shoot in 2008, after a couple getting married asked them to do the photography before letting slip that they were also mountain climbers.
“We are sort of known for this kind of photography, so many come to us looking for something different.”
For each 90-minute shoot, which take place in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, Jay works with his wife Vicki and they occasionally take a third mountain guide to help with lighting.
