It is time to play a little Battleship! I have known Denise for a number of years after photographing a family member’s wedding. We wanted to do something different for their GTKY session and since Tom was in the Navy what better location than an actual battleship. The session was amazing and we had free reign of the entire ship. Not only could we go wherever we wanted on the ship but we also had live music playing in the background. There was a Kid Rock concert directly behind the ship and that gave the entire session an even better vibe. I look forward to seeing them again at their wedding in the fall…
A little background on this location, because it deserves it. The USS New Jersey is the most decorated battleship in US Navy history, with service stretching from World War II through Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf. She is longer than three football fields and now sits as a museum ship on the Camden waterfront, right on the Delaware River with the Philadelphia skyline directly across the water. Fun fact, she was built right here in the region at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and launched on December 7, 1942, exactly one year after Pearl Harbor. For a groom who served in the Navy, there was no better backdrop in the area.
Photographing on the ship gave us options most engagement sessions never get. The teak deck runs forever, the massive 16 inch guns make everything around them feel cinematic, and the rails along the river side frame the water and the skyline behind the couple. Denise and Tom were up for all of it, climbing ladders and wandering from the bow to the stern while the concert crowd warmed up behind us. Sessions like this are exactly why I love a get to know you shoot. By the time the wedding day arrives, being in front of the camera together already feels normal.
If you are thinking about your own session on the Camden waterfront, go in the evening. The sun drops behind the Philadelphia skyline and throws warm light across the river and straight down the deck, and the steel of the ship picks up all of it. Wear shoes you can actually climb in, because the best spots on board involve a ladder or two, and build in time to simply wander. Some of my favorite photographs from this session happened between the planned stops, when Denise and Tom forgot the camera was there and just explored the ship together.
If you are planning a wedding in the area and still hunting for a venue, my guide to the best Philadelphia wedding venues covers my favorite spots on both sides of the river.
