Today was a beautiful day, and I put it to good use by haning out with Kristen & Rob up in Saratoga this afternoon to hang out and shoot some engagement photos as well as a few with their pride and joy, Melkie (I hope I spelled that right?) This is another really fun couple that I look forward to working with on the big day!
Thanks for a fun session today guys, and will talk to you soon when the images are ready - Here's a few shots I liked and thought I'd post from the day.
Lately, I've been trying to learn a bit more about HDR (high dynamic range) photography as I think it's so cool with some of the amazing things you can do, which would otherwise be virtually impossible to acheive. HDR photography involves using 3 images (one normally exposed, one under exposed, and one over exposed), and then embedding them all together to create a high definition and HDR range of highlights, midtones, and darks. This was my first attempt trying something like this, but am looking forward to doing a lot more of it to see what I can come up with. We have some upcoming corporate projects that I think this will be really useful for.
Here's the original 3 images I used right out of the camera, and then the final version below as a composit of all 3 images..... pretty cool, don't you think? More to come as I get the time! :)
Wow - where did this long streak of beautiful weather come from in NY!? I finally raked up all the leaves :)
It's amazing for me to look back over these past few years and see how far things have come. What was once a hobby and way of getting out to just have fun, has become a crazy-busy and fun business, and I'm thankful each and everyday for the opportunities and people I get to meet and work with! As our business has grown, I've done my very best to continue to push the envelope in everything I do, learn from my mistakes, offer better services, better products, only the best equipment money can buy, and continuing to try and learn new things from seminars, etc around the country. Why? Because despite the stress I sometimes put myself through, I've never been more passionate about anything in my life - and enjoy sharing this passion with others.
With saying that, we are continuing to grow, and wanted to share the following few things that we are pretty excited about....
1) Our website (while highly complimented often) is reaching its expiration date. We have an all new insane website & blog coming soon .... we are going all out on this one, with many new cool features, etc. so stay tuned for details - whooo hoooo!
2) As our photography and album design company are growing at an unbelieveable rate, we have wanted to make things easier (and more affordable for folks that are not local). We now have an all new toll free number available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (we paid to have a professional voice person do a custom setup, so I keep calling it over and over and I find it more andd more humorous everytime I think - lol).
3) We will soon be adding another photographer/assistant to our team..... stay tuned for details on that one too.
4) This one's going to maybe hurt a bit as we have some great relationships with various wedding planners in the area (and hope they won't be mad at me), but........ We are now proud co-owners of http://www.detailsweddingplanning.com/ with April Rounds (one of the top planners in the Capital Region), and are very excited about this new adventure (on top of our new album design company - http://www.ramosdesigns.com/). I invite anyone interested to check out the sites if they are needing services :)
5) We will soon be offering beginner photography/SLR learning classes for those that are new to SLR photography and want to learn how to use their new camera to the best of their ability.... anyone that may be interested in this may feel free to contact my right hand man, Jamaica, at: john@mattramosphotography.com for details!
So, there it is! Just a few things I'm excited about and wanted to share (since my blog readers are like family). As we have now entered our busy season, we are hoping to spice things up with lots of new posts, samples, etc...... thanks to all those that frequently visit the blog as well as all the new friends and clients we've been able to make this year!
P.S..... I'll post it up on the website(s) later, but here is our new toll free number (local folks can still contact us on the regular line, please :)
We got 3 batches of albums in this week, and am really excited to present them to the brides and grooms they belong to. One of our more popular albums as of late is the 9 1/2 x 13 Graphi-Studio "Big-Boy" with the transparent fiberglass cover, which is amazing! These photos don't really do justice to how they look in person, but thought I would post a couple shots anyway!
Come and get em while they're hot! :)
You couldln't have asked for a more beautiful day today, and we used the opportunity to cover a mid-morning & half day wedding with Nicole & Safaraz. After a beautiful ceremony at their church, we headed over to the Glen Sanders Mansion for their reception. Below are a few quick samples from the day, and we look forward to sharing the hundreds of images with all in a couple weeks. For those that attended this wedding, you may click the link below to pre-register your email to receive automatic notification of when images to live.
http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=47689
A huge congratulations to Nicole & Safaraz, and wish you all the best in your new marriage together!
P.S. Time to pack up the gear for tomorrow's bridal show & intimate gathering at the Crooked Lake House..... I'll have a slideshow on a 40" plasma and a petting zoo of albums for anyone that feels like coming by to say hello! :)
I'm not really a huge fan of bridal shows (nor do we do them) as I feel often times the brides (& grooms) that go to these types of events don't get the proper one one one attention from vendors that they deserve....... With saying that and breaking away from the norm, we will be making a rare appearance this Sunday, April 20th at the Crooked Lake House bridal event/intimate gathering in Averil Park. If anyone is interested in coming by to help me keep my sanity while I'm there, looking through some of the albums we offer, viewing the slideshow we'll have up of recent work, or just coming by to say hello..... I'd love to chat and/or meet you!
The door opens at 12pm and goes til about 2pm. There will be various vendors there to check out, and there is no cost to get in (so you have nothing to lose) - you can learn more about this event at http://www.detailsweddingplanning.com/. I'm sure I can find some cool discounts or perks for those that come say hello!
After a fun night with Shannan & Ricardo (and about 4 hours sleep), Jamaica and I drove to Cooperstown, NY (home of the baseball hall of fame) first thing in the morning, to shoot the wedding of good friends, Aaron & Jenelle. The wedding was held at the Otesaga Hotel, which is in a world of it's own, and an absolutely amazing place, located right on the water. The hotel is currently closed for the season, however was opened just for Aaron & Jenelle's wedding, which I thought was pretty cool. For those of you that grew up watching "The Shining," you'd swear this is the place the movie was shot. The hotel was quiet and for the most part, unoccupied...... I kept thinking I was going to walk around the corner and see the two twin sisters of the shining or a little boy on his hotwheel yelling "red rum, redrum!"
On a serious note, we had a blast and considering I've known Aaron for years, it was great to see him marry such a great girl that I know will make him very happy (and vice versa). I'm completely worn out after this weekend, but wanted to post a few photos from the day, while we continue to go through the other hundreds of images. For those that attended this wedding, you are welcome to click the link below to pre-register your email to receive automatic notification of when images go live. The password for the event is the grooms last name (and now brides) in lowercase letters.
http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=47369
A big thank you and congratulatins to Aaron, Jenelle, and their families - we wish you all the best in your new marriage!
3:30am is always my favorite time to update the blog (it's about my only free time these days :)
We celebrated our 2nd wedding of the season with Ricardo & Shannan, who came all the way from Atlanta with many of their family and friends to wed at the beautiful, Hall of Springs in Saratoga. Against all odds on a day that was certain for rain, the skies miraculously opened up and turned into an incredible day with great light and sun (wow)!
We had only first met the day before the wedding for the first time, however, by the end of the day, felt as if we had known this couple for years.... it was a blast an honor to be able to capture such a beautiful event, and we have some AMAZING photos from the day that I can't wait to share with everyone!
For those that attended this wedding and would like to pre-register their email to receive automatic notification of when images go live, we've set up a link for you below to do so. The password is the last name of the groom (and now bride) in all lowercase. Please let us know if any problems, and congrats again to Shannan & Ricardo!
http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=47368
P.S. This weekend we shot back to back weddings, and we'll have samples from Sunday's wedding in a day or so!
A quick sample from tonight session with Jeremy, Alisha, and their little man, Kaleb (I hope I spelled that right). Still looking through images, but just had to post this one! :)
