Guitar Hero w/ Tom & Jamie! :)

One of the weddings we look forward to the most this year, is that of good friends, Tom & Jamie. They are probably two of the most down to earth, fun & crazy couples you will meet, and through the course of doing business, weekly emails, and a couple portrait sessions, have become such great friends. I almost wish they didn't hire me as their photographer so we could come party with them on their wedding day. Don't worry, guys - we'll be there! :)

Last night, Tom and Jamie came up from Staten Island to hang out, have dinner and take a few more photos for some of their "save the date" magnets. As I mentioned awhile back, Tonya and I recently got the Nintendo Wii, so when we found out that Tom and Jamie had one too (and were just as much into it), we knew it was going to be a fun night! We picked up a few extra games, while out earlier that day, and one of them was Guitar Hero, which I had heard so much about, but had never seen or played...... Tom & Jamie were kind enough to show us how to rock out, which was a blast! (I'm now completely addicted, and my fingers are sore from playing guitar all morning - lol!) By the way, it was a blast playing Wii with 4 people on the Mario game.... insane!

It's so awesome when clients transition into being such good friends, and I hope to build a few more relationships like that of the one we now have with T&J if possible...... they are truly awesome people, and so meant for each other. Thanks for coming up last night guys, and Tonya and I appreciate you whooping our asses at pretty much every game we tried. Below are a few shots from our session until the rest are done (I'm a little busy with rock shows downstairs if ya know what I mean!)

For anyone interested, here's the setup you get with Guitar Hereo for the Wii...... I didnt' think I would like a game like this as it seems a bit childish, but it ended up being a blast. Those of you that have the Wii should definitely check it out! For those that have absolutely no idea what I'm even talking about, I put a little video below that explains it a bit better and shows you a demo.

Need Help Finding the Right Candidate?

I've never been much into politics, however as I continue to get older (and the world continues to get worse in some areas), I have started to take more of a notice with things such as the upcoming election. For those of you that are as torn as I am about who may or may not be the right candidtate to choose, there is a cool website link that someone sent me that will help you to determine the best decision based on your personal thoughts and beliefs. I won't share who the candidate is that was selected for me, but I'm sure some of you will enjoy checking this out and it may help you to make the best decision for yourself.

Click the photo below and answer the few simple questions, and see who your top 3 picks would be based on your answers!

Little Corina (with Lime)......

About a year and a half ago, when we bought our new house, the current owners (Dave & Danielle) were some of the nicest people we could have possibly met. They are such great people, and are the type that will do anything for anyone. I can remember when the movers had just packed up our entire house the night before we were supposed to move into the new house (Dave & Danielle's at the time), only to find out that the closing was being pushed back by about a week as the truck drove away with pretty much everything we had. (including all our clothes, etc) It was probably one of the most stressful things we ever had to go through, and weren't quite sure how to handle it. Dave and Danielle (Del), were so amazingly kind and let us move our entire house into theirs along with all of their things, which was crazy, until we could finalize the closings. We couldn't believe someone would allow us to do such a thing on a house that was not even yet ours..... we knew from that point forward we would end up being great friends with them even after the house situation got worked out.

We laugh about this story in hindsight together, and it's great to hang out with Dave & Del when we can.... although, I'm sure it's weird for them to hang out in their old house with us! One day while out having dinner together, there was a moment of silence..... without any transition whatsoever, Dave says, "So...... we're having a baby." That dinner out seems like yesterday (along with the house situation), and tonight we got to meet 10 day old, little Corina for the first time!

Corina's extremely young to be doing photos already, however we wanted to get a few shots to help document this early stage in her life. She's so tiny and hasn't even gained the ability to focus her eyes yet, which made for some good laughs as she looks at you cross-eyed sometimes :) Anyway, we fooled around with some photos in the studio while they were here, and thought I would share some shots. Congrats on the new addition to your family guys, and thanks for being such great friends - we hope to give Corina a little Ramos friend to play with sometime :)

Dave & Lydia Album Completed!

Without a doubt, one of the most challenging (yet rewarding) weddings of 2007 was that of good friends, Dave & Lydia. It was probably 100 degrees that day, and aside from being in New Jersey, where I had never worked before, we got to the portrait location only to find 3 other weddings going on a the same time, with other professional photographers everywhere! There was no greater pressure than what I felt that day, but in hindsight it was such an honor to be able to document the wedding of such special people as Dave & Lydia!

Now that the holidays are over, many are starting to buckle down on getting their wedding album(s) done, and after hours of work we have completed Dave & Lydia's initial album design. (Whooo Hoooo!) I'm sure some edits will be made, but these are going to be absolutely amazing albums as they are having them done with an Italian Graphi-Studio line (some of our best albums!)

For those interested, you can check out the album presentation show by clicking the link below!

P.S. Lydia is without a doubt the most "bubbly" person you will ever meet (trust me!)...... I immediately knew what song to load into their album slideshow :) Make sure you turn up those speakers!

www.ramosdesigns.com/clay

How Cute is This!?

Today's been a busy day with client meetings of those planning their upcominng weddings, however this afternoon we had the opportunity to photograph the cutest little girl in the world, Reagan! As I've mentioned before, photographing infants is always a mixed bag as it can be extremely challenging if they are not in the right mood to participate (or hungry, tired, etc). Lucily, Reagan was on her A game today and came ready to model for us. We got some amazing shots from our sesson, and wanted to just share a few that I really liked - whatdya think? :)

Headshots with Jim!

Jamaica (my right hand man) and I had the opportunity to work with Jim Papaliosas today for some updated headshots to be used with his new brochures, business cards, and website. Jim is local realtor in the Capital District with RE/MAX Premier & fantastic guy all around.... he was certainly a lot of fun to hang out with. Here's a couple shots I liked from our session. I mean, who wouldn't want to buy a house from this guy!? For those interested, you can check out Jim's website at:

http://jamespapaliosas.mypremierrealtor.com/home/default.aspx

Thanks for a fun shoot today, Jim, and wish you all the best in 2008!

P.S. By the way, we are running a pretty good headshot special through March, so if you or someone you know needs some, now's the time to do it! :)

Thought About That Album Yet?

After a rough week of not feeling so hot, I'm finally "back in the saddle" as they say! Now that the holidays are over, more and more people are starting to think about their wedding, and how quickly it's approaching for those getting married in 2008. We've received multiple calls and emails over the past few days for those interested in discussing their 2009 wedding (and a few last minute 2008 weddings).... each year I stress out about making sure we book enough weddings for the year, but I can tell the 2009 slots are going to go just as fast as the 2008 did last year! By the way, we keep our event calendar updated in real time on the website for anyone needing to check dates or make sure we didn't forget about you :)

Before things get too crazy and the new season starts in a few months, I wanted to just post a friendly reminder to those that haven't ordered or thought about their album yet, to let them know this is the perfect time to get things going. With not as many shoots taking place this time of year, we are hoping to crank out as many album orders as possible - for those that want to take a look again at some of the options, you are welcome to set up an appointment to come by and look & discuss your album anytime. We're ready to start designing that album for you whenever you say go... we have quite a few different options this year as well as some new cover options to choose from - please let us know how we can help or if you have any questions!

Still No Voice :(

Due to the fact I still have Laryngitis and no voice, I'm sort of stuck in the house today, feeling not quite well enough to do anything, yet bored out of my mind at the same time. Worse than that, the phone will ring with someone wanting to discuss their wedding (even leaving messagas while I sit there and listen to them), and yet cannot answer the phone, which is driving me absolutely insane! I'm certainly not making fun of the hearing impared, but when I try to talk I sound a lot like a deaf person when they speak.... not exactly the first impression I want to make on the phone with someone.

You know I'm bored when I start aimlessly walking around the house looking for things to take photos of. I attempted to say Dexter's name while aiming the camera at him, and he just looked at me like I had 3 heads.... here, you can see for yourself, lol.

Ugh...

With nothing more than whispering capability, I'm starting out the new year with a severe case of Strep Throat, and have been pretty sick for the past 4-5 days now. (By the way, if you get this, don't be stubborn like me and wait to see a Dr. for an antibiotic!) Hopefully, everyone's had a much better week than me.... stay warm and healthy!

*****Update: back from the Dr's office and am told I have a severe case of Laringitis, not Strep. There's never been a better time to attempt an argument with me I suppose. I don't know much about it, but am told not to talk at all and only rest and fluids can help. I was not prescribed an antibiotic as I had hoped, so am forced to stick out the excruciating pain on my own I guess.... I'm drugging myself beyond believe with whatever painkillers I can find (only kidding). If anyone else has tips for this or has had it before, I welcome your input. I'm going back to bed :(

P.S. I have a new toy to tell you about when I'm feeling better and figure out how to use!