Lately, my time with AI has felt less like editing at a desk and more like walking into a room I've only ever seen in dreams.
The further I go into prompting, the more it feels like directing a film that exists somewhere between memory and imagination. It's thrilling. It's a little strange. And it's one of the most powerful creative tools I've ever held.
What surprises me most is how much it still feels like real photography. The camera I choose matters. The lens matters. Light still falls the way light falls, and emotion still decides where the eye goes. After more than 13 years behind the camera in New York and around the world, those instincts don't switch off just because the canvas is digital.
It feels like drawing from a shared well of images: every wedding I've photographed, every film still I've loved, every city corner that stopped me in my tracks, and shaping it with the same eye I bring to every real love story.
The Collection: Dreaming in Light
I call this body of work Dreaming in Light, because that's exactly how it feels to make it.
The light is warmer than memory.
The shadows are deeper than they should be.
The couples feel suspended between a real moment and a remembered one.
Honestly, it feels like stepping into a painting that's still drying, where every texture is heightened: the lace, the veil, the way light wraps around a cheek, the second before a kiss. Surreal, cinematic, and full of feeling.
These images aren't here to replace photography.
They're here to stretch what's possible.
Each one lives somewhere between lived experience and imagined worlds, guided by the same taste, intention and visual language I've built over years of photographing real weddings, real people and real moments.
Chapter I
Editorial Light
Couture gowns, sculpted shadows and museum stillness. I wanted these to feel like the opening pages of a fashion story, quiet, confident and a little otherworldly.
Light still falls the way light falls. Emotion still decides where the eye goes.
Chapter II
City Romance
New York has always been my favorite co-star. Brownstone sidewalks, rainy landmarks and sweeping staircases become stages where the city hums and the couple is the only thing in focus.
The city hums. The couple is the only thing in focus.
Chapter III
Wild & Golden
Wind, water and late-day sun. Out here the dream layer is atmosphere: haze that glows, skies that feel painted and waves that pull two people closer together.
Haze that glows, skies that feel painted, and waves that pull two people closer.
Chapter IV
Timeless Monochrome
When color falls away, what's left is gesture, texture and light. These black-and-white studies are my love letter to classic film, tender, graphic and a little bit cinematic.
When color falls away, what's left is gesture, texture and light.
Chapter V
Joy, Unscripted
Grand entrances, confetti and dance-floor chaos. The best moments move fast, and here the dream layer is energy: warm light, motion and the feeling of a night you never want to end.
The Guide
Create Your Own Dreaming in Light Prompt
Think of this as a recipe card, not a rulebook. Mix the ingredients, swap them out, break the rules and follow whatever makes your heart beat a little faster.
Camera Technique
How the image feels
- long exposure
- shallow depth of field
- handheld cinematic movement
- soft editorial studio lighting
Lens Type & Focal Length
How space and emotion compress
- 35mm documentary
- 50mm natural portrait
- 85mm cinematic compression
- anamorphic widescreen
Your Subjects
Who the story is about
- a bride in a cathedral-length lace veil
- a couple touching foreheads
- newlyweds laughing mid-step
- a groom holding his bride from behind
Visual / Experimental Style
The dream layer
- golden light leaks
- glowing haze
- painterly motion blur
- film grain and halation
Backdrop / Environment
Where the dream exists
- a New York brownstone street at dusk
- a museum gallery after hours
- windswept ocean dunes
- a candlelit grand staircase
Mood & Emotion
What it should feel like
- tender and quiet
- euphoric and electric
- nostalgic, like a half-remembered dream
- timeless and romantic
Putting it all together
“Shallow depth of field, 85mm cinematic compression, cinematography of a bride in a cathedral-length lace veil and her groom touching foreheads, golden light leaks and glowing haze, against a museum gallery after hours, tender and timeless.”
Where Real Love Stories Begin
Every prompt I write is shaped by the real weddings I've photographed: the nervous laughter before a first look, the way a veil catches the wind, the hush in a room right before vows. That's the part AI can't invent. It can only echo it.
If you're dreaming of portraits that feel like a film still from your own love story, real, AI-enhanced or a little of both, I'd love to create them with you in New York City, New Jersey or wherever your heart takes you.
Written by
Andrea Scrivanich
New York City wedding and portrait photographer with 13+ years behind the camera, capturing modern love stories from city rooftops to Paris, Milan, Istanbul and Dubai.