Lauren contacted me several weeks ago wanting to know if I’d work with her and Tim to take some photos of them around New York in a few of their favorite places.  They had three in mind:  Central Park (that doesn’t narrow it down too much), The Gael Pub, and the rooftop of Lauren’s apartment building.  I was immediately excited about the Gael Pub and shooting 30 floors up overlooking all of New York City.  Central Park is fun, too, but there are so many options, and we had to pick just a few as our time was limited.

While we were at the Conservatory Water area of Central Park (the pond with the sailboats), a gentleman sitting on a bench nearby asked, “Are these your engagement photos?”  Tim & Lauren looked at each other, and almost in sync said, “Not exactly…”  The gentleman knew he was in for an explanation and left it at that, “I won’t ask” and laughed heartily as we walked away.

I wish Tim & Laruen the best of luck as they start a new chapter of their lives in Atlanta.

I’ve already said in an earlier blog post that Matt & Di were a great couple to work with, and that I had a blast shooting their wedding.  What’s been even more fun for me for the past several days is going through the photos from their wedding, and seeing how happy they and their guests were.  Looking through photos after an event is my favorite part of this job.  I go out and use the experience I’ve gained in the past, and apply it to the shoot and hand, mix it with some new ideas, and work my butt off in the process.  As soon as I’m back in the office I download the photos and start looking through them with the same zeal I had years ago when I got my 4×6 prints back from the local Costco.  Back then, I couldn’t even make it out of the store before I was looking at prints.  Now, of course, I can chimp the back of the camera to see how things are going.  Nothing compares, however, to seeing the images on a full screen.

Working through these photos, I tried to select the ones I thought best told the story of Matt & Di’s wedding.  It’s tough, telling a story in a few images, but I think this is a pretty good selection of photos that tell the story, and are also pleasing to view.  I hope you enjoy them!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of working with Matt & Di at 620 Loft & Garden in midtown Manhattan.  Matt and Di, and all of their guests, were great to work with.  The love these two share was almost palpable, and so was the love their family and friends share for the two of them.  I am so glad I was able to be a present for their wedding to capture the wedding day of a great couple, and look forward to sharing the moments I captured with them and their family.

“Sportraits” aren’t something I shoot much these days, but back when I did, i enjoyed it.  Each session presented its own challenge, especially when dealing with revenue sports.  A revenue coach’s time is managed about like the President’s time, varsity athletes usually come with handlers to make sure they don’t say something that shouldn’t be made public, facilities are always a commodity, and no matter when you schedule the shoot, you better be ready to start early, but plan to stay late.  Non-revenue sports are so much easier.  The athletes are giddy to be given attention, and everyone else is more laid back.

Of course, the shot above brings in two revenue sports at NC State, men’s & women’s basketball.  I arrived early for the shoot, worked with my assistant to get the lights set up and props in place, then waited… and waited… and waited…  Finally, about 25-30 minutes after the scheduled time, the athletes and their Media Relations handlers walked in.  Ilian was shocked I had gone through so much effort to get a good photo, and their handlers (one for each of them) were just ready to leave.  “You’re not going to ask them any questions they might give stupid answers to, are you?” one of the handlers asked.  “Nope.  Don’t know what to ask, don’t care what they say, I’m here to make a photo and leave.”  I guess that was good enough, we were left alone, the four of us in Reynold’s Coliseum to finish the shoot.

Once we were left alone, everything was much more relaxed.  Ilian laughed that he couldn’t palm a men’s basketball, so we used women’s basketballs to get the effect.  My assistant, Rob, adjusted lights to make sure everything was aligned right because I forgot to set the height to be taller than Rob… he’s about 5’9… not quite up to Ilian’s height.

In the end, I was happy with the photo, as was everyone else, but I would have moved the light behind Ilian higher to get more definition on his hair so he doesn’t fade to black.  I’d have also spent more time making sure the center-court line was running directly through the middle of the photo.    I won’t mention my other nit-picks, I think two is enough.

I worked with Erin on his senior portrait, and I dare say we are both happy with how the photo turned out.  Working in the snow, while we had basically the whole mountain to ourselves, was a great change and allowed us to take some unique photos.

One of the fun things about living in Spokane, WA for a couple years was the way seasons can be “extended” simply by driving a few minutes.  Take for example the photo of Erin above.  When I left downtown Spokane on the day this photo was taken, I was wearing jeans, and a polo shirt.  I then met Erin, who was wearing shorts, a tee-shirt, and flip-flops.  45 minutes later, as we parked by the Mt. Spokane ski lodge, I was looking at a ski slope with several feet of snow still remaining while snowmobiles made the background music of the shoot.  Temperatures at the top were about 10-15 degrees cooler than downtown.  Even stranger was the winter of 2009 when temps downtown were in the mid-20s, yet the mountains saw an inversion of temperatures and people were leaving the cold city to go to the “beach” on the mountains. Literally, people escaped the cold of downtown Spokane by going to the mountains, and in many cases spent warm afternoons on the ski lodge decks.

This photo is from a wedding in North Carolina that really was fun to shoot. Josh (left) and Monica (not pictured) were fun from the start, and helped me out quite a bit by running interference not only with their parents, but also the wedding coordinators at the church who were… uhm… very serious about their job.

Josh, Carrie, Kristen, and Adam are four college friends who’ve termed themselves “The Fab Four,” perhaps to Monica’s dismay.  As I shoot group photos, I start with the largest group and slowly work my way down to just the bride & groom.  This photo was one of the last group photos I shot, and the group was getting a little restless.  Monica, on the other hand, was not just restless but quite ready to move out and get to the reception.  She was patient with us while we got the four of them on the canon, and even humored us later by posing behind the canon pretending to shoot Josh.  Only Monica knows if she was pretending, or fantasizing.

Anyone who has read this blog when I post portraits, or has spoken with me about covering their wedding, knows that I really don’t like to pose photos.  Even when it comes to posing groups, I prefer to let the dynamic of the group, and quite often the loudest person, do the organizing.

Depending on the group, I try to get some fun shots in.  Some people trudge through the “serious” photos living only for the fun shots at the end.  Some folks dread the fun shots because they’re afraid to let go, or just don’t believe wedding group photos should be fun.

The group above definitely wanted to have fun, and didn’t really enjoy any of the serious photos.  As we were finishing up with the full group, one of the bridesmaids said to me “I want a photo that shows we’re happy for them!”  To accomplish this, I dialed the light on the group down a bit, pulled the bride & groom out front away from the crowd, and asked the group to “be happy!” on the count of three… and here we are.  I think they look like a happy group of people.

I had the pleasure of working with David & Tab on their engagement portraits.  We wandered around for a while that day, and got some fun looks along the path we took as well.  We had several locations pre-arranged for the day, but this was one that wasn’t pre-arranged and turned out to be my favorite for the day.  When I shoot weddings, I rarely pose photos other than the group shots.  I like for the couple I’m working with to be themselves, because after all that’s the only real way to capture their essence in a photo.

Portraits are largely the same for me.  Bad memories of the school photographer pushing us kids into an awkward “chin-up, more left, shoulders back and high, back straight…” pose made their mark: you can’t look natural when you’re over-posed.  When it comes time for portraits, I sit back and let people do their thing; though I do make minor tweaks or ask for a repeat performance when it seems necessary.  I’ve found success in this, even though I know at first it’s odd for the folks I work with to get very little guidance.  Eventually, they relax and fall in step with me, forget I’m there, and start being themselves.

As it is in the photo above, this was one of those moments.  We were walking to a new location, when David reached over gently and grabbed Tab’s hand.  They walked like this to the end of the block, never knowing I was behind them framing and shooting the whole time.  I did ask them at the end of their walk to do a “re-walk” but the photos from that weren’t good: they were posing for me, and even though all you can see in the photos is their hands, you can see a connection in this photo that you don’t see in the posed version.

I worked with Kevin (above) and Clarissa (clearly not pictured) for their senior portrait session and I must say I had a blast working with them.  Kevin plays football, wants nothing to do with flowers, and hates smiling.  Clarissa does not play football, loves flowers, and smiles constantly.  The two of them together was a treat, neither really wanting to do what the other wanted.  Instead, I worked with them together first, then worked with them separately to get the photos they wanted, and the photos Clarissa’s mom wanted.  In the end, the photos they used for their yearbook were chosen by Clarissa’s mom.  Kevin was standing next to a wall, lit my sunset light, and uncharacteristically laughing.  Clarissa is lounging in a bed of roses, her favorite flower.

Somewhat surprisingly, the photo above was everyone’s favorite photo, but all agreed (except me!) that the more traditional photos should be used.  O’well.

“Into the Sunset” is not only a horribly cheesy title, it’s also technically wrong.  The sun was setting behind us, but who wants to call a photo “Away from the Sunset.”  Yes, it’s technically correct – which pleases my overly analytical brain – but not only a corny title, but also a title that has more negative implications than I care to deal with.

This was one of those fun moments I get as a photographer when Matt & Lisa were out of their wedding garb, and just being themselves while entertaining guests at the post-wedding-post-brunch-reception beach party and bonfire.