Vineyards, wineries and villas
Every area has its own habits, even for a photographer. In Franciacorta, wedding after wedding, I’ve noticed that some things come up almost every time, and that one way or another nearly all of them have to do with wine.
When you get married in summer, the sun goes down more or less while your guests are between the aperitivo and the buffet, and that’s usually when we take twenty minutes or so together with the two of you for a walk among the vines. I don’t pose you: you walk, you tell each other how the ceremony went, and I stay a few steps behind.
The light at that hour is soft, and the most intimate photos of the day are often taken right there. Then you’re back with your guests, just in time for dinner.
Many venues in Franciacorta are real wineries, where wine is made all year round, and whenever it’s possible I like to go inside. At Bersi Serlini, which is a beautiful building in its own right, the bottle is sabered down in the cellar; at Due Colombe you can go down to the barrel room or take a few photos among the machinery.
At Contadi Castaldi, the moment you walk in, the smell of the yeasts hits you. These are places that actually work, and you can feel it in the photographs.
Then there are the historic villas, like Villa Fassati Barba in Passirano or Villa Calini in Coccaglio, three or four centuries old and with nothing but vineyards around them. Sometimes the two things go together, as at Villa Monte Rossa in Bornato, which is a villa and a winery at the same time.
One thing people who aren’t from here often don’t expect: in the evening a cool breeze comes down from the hills, even after a properly hot day. At a wedding at Villa Calini, after an afternoon when everyone was melting, at some point I had to put on a sweater, so a shawl in your guests’ bags is never wasted.
Where good wine is made, the food is usually good too, and here that’s often the case. During dinner, though, we step aside, because photographing someone with a fork in their hand is rude, and your guests have every right to eat in peace.
You can tell it was a good dinner afterwards, when people reach the cake cutting and the dancing happy and with no intention of going home.
How we work
In Franciacorta we work the way we always do: we tell the story of the day as it is, without directing it, and almost always there are two of us, Ilaria and me.
Galleries
If this way of living the day feels like yours, get in touch: a coffee, an aperitivo or a video call.
Get in touch
