laura + ken: the engagement session

laura and ken are getting married this saturday!! as much as i tend to avoid wintry climes, i am actually looking forward to taking my team out to the cold long island coast for my first wedding of 2012!

a few weeks ago, these guys made the trek to brooklyn to spend some time hanging out and shooting. i think my new favorite idea is starting at a picturesque bar for a quick drink - great pictures and everyone loosens up a bit!







we were headed to greenpoint and HAD to stop when we saw this awesome brick wall by the brooklyn naval yards.







we stumbled upon some awesome graffiti that matched perfectly laura and ken's black and white theme for the day.



and then something a little more colorful - one of my favorites!





laura LOVES the water. so much so that we braved the biting winds and made the short trip out to the greenpoint ferry terminal. these images were totally worth the resulting numb fingers!











and what better way to end the day than to warm up with a drink at broweirj lane?! laura and ken are so much fun - i love the dynamic between the two of them. i know the wedding day is going to be full of laughs!



and i must send thanks out to carolyn who assisted and even brought pocket hand warmers! love you :)

video!!

so my newest camera body, the 5d mark ii, has video capabilities and i've really enjoyed playing around with it lately. here's my latest, which was featured on the drew university athletics site:

2011 NCAA Fencing Regional Tournament

carolyn + max: the wedding

venue: loch nairn country club
flowers: theresa floral design

i just finished and delivered carolyn and max's wedding album. we were all so thrilled with the pictures. you can't even tell how crazy hot it was outside!

a few of my favorites...

carolyn + max: the unveiling

there's one question every couple i work with comes up against: do we break with tradition and see each other before the ceremony?

ok, bear with me... you've probably imagined it. that moment you first see each other across the aisle:

he waits anxiously as she rounds the corner, walking toward him.

but wait, she's 30 yards away. i can't see her face. is she nervous? excited? hungry? ... is he crying or laughing? i can't tell.

instead, imagine a different moment:

he's standing alone with his back to you. there are a couple photographers, maybe some friends and family, but they're far enough away that you can forget about them for the next five minutes.

you know she's behind you and you wait, anxious for the moment you can turn around and see how beautiful she looks.

you tap him on the shoulder and there he is, with tears in his eyes and the goofiest grin on his face.

it's a moment you can savor. not just for those five minutes you have alone on your wedding day, but for the rest of your life.

as added bonuses:
*it's early in the day so you're fresh and you look your best.
*your bridal party and family pictures can be knocked out before the ceremony when friends and family have nowhere else to be and there's no open bar distracting them from the memories we're creating together.
*you don't have to worry about shooting in the dark, after sunset.
*plus, you won't miss cocktail hour, so you'll get to celebrate and socialize at said open bar.

cheesy, for sure. but it's good food for thought.

and if you STILL don't believe me, these images of carolyn and max seeing each other for the first time on their wedding day should definitely convince you...

carolyn + max: london friends' meeting house

venue: london grove friends' meeting house

carolyn and max were married at london grove friends' meeting house in kennett square, pennsylvania. what an awesome venue! an old quaker meeting house built in 1818 - it has so much character.

standing proud in the lawn next to the main building is a large white oak tree - 21 feet in circumference! a rusted plaque affixed to the tree boasts that it was alive when william penn - the founder of pennsylvania and an influential figure in the quaker momvent - landed in america.



the meeting house itself was a veritable cornucopia of charming details.






more images from the wedding to come shortly!

photography: a record of light

from merriam-webster's online dictionary:
photography: n. \fə-ˈtä-grə-fē\; the process of recording images on sensitized material by the action of light

and from the online etymology dictionary:
photo- from the Greek meaning "light"; and -graphy from the Greek meaning “process of writing or recording” or “a writing, recording, or description,” “to draw, write,” originally "to scratch"

food for thought. i love learning the origins of words, discovering the meanings at their roots. if you really spend some time thinking about light, you realize its immeasurable value to our every day experiences. on a bright sunny summer's day in the park, we remember the sun's yawning golden rays warm on our skin. on a rainy fall afternoon sitting in a coffee shop, we remember the gray sky enveloping the world outside in a cool blue light. the ambiance of a romantic restaurant, the dark energy pumping through a dance club, the stark florescence of a classroom, a New York night's skyline dotted with color from tall office buildings and elegant bridges stretching across the river - our memories are a record of light.

isn't it, then, a wondrous thing that we can preserve those moments with the click of a shutter? and print them on paper?

laura + andy: the photo booth

as an added bonus, we had a great time with our photo booth at laura and andy's wedding. laura had requested a few props but she didn't have specific requests, so dan and i racked our brains to come up with some good ideas. we really fell in love with a few of them: chalkboards, hand-made mustaches and bubbles!











hilarious!