Matt Ramos Photography - Blog

Time for a Change!

2008-07-07T23:40:00.005-04:00

No, I'm not talking about Obama's latest presidential speech...... I've been promising a new blog for the past couple of weeks, and the time has come! We've had thousands of visitors over the past couple of days, and am hoping you'll all safely find your way over to our new blog and community (lots of big improvements as you will soon see with lots more coming!)

Ok - Ready to come to the darkside? Click the link below and be sure to add it to your favorites as all future posts will be added here instead..... this blog is officially toast! See you there!

http://www.mattramosblog.com/

My Latest Wedding HDR.....

2008-07-06T17:31:00.002-04:00

Between client meetings and trying to watch 7 hours of the most amazing Wimbeldon final I have ever seen, it's been a busy day (and supposed to be my day off!) - I've been dying to play around with this image in HDR style - here's the latest.... this is going to make an amazing front cover for the wedding album, I'm thinking!

Congratulations, Jessica & Jason!

2008-07-06T12:20:00.003-04:00

2 back to back amazing weddings this weekend...... we celebrated our second wedding with Jason & Jessica at a beautiful church in Saratoga Springs, followed by the reception at the Canfield Casino! I'm going to be up front that this blog entry is going to be a bit biased since Jason and I have known each other and been great friends (even roomates at one point), for over ten years - get ready for a lot of photos (hopefully, they will be worth the load time).

When I first moved to NY from England in 1997, Jason was one of the first people I befriended and we have had a long lasting friendship that I'm thankful to have..... I've seen Jason come a long way in life (as he has me I suppose), and I was truly honored to be asked to shoot his wedding for him last year..... I suppose it's second best since I wasn't able to make the cut to be a groomsman (only kidding). I'm happy to see Jay marry such an amazing woman.... probably the only girl that can keep the kid in line!

On a serious note, it was a blast to shoot this wedding, and I can't even begin to tell you how many amazing image we have from the day - for those that attended this wedding, you can pre-register your email below to receive notification of when images go live:

http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=57759

Of course, I leave you with a little more than a few samples from the day - I'm officially in need of a few days off and may go into hibernation after this weekend.....

Congratulations, Kimberly & John!

2008-07-06T08:47:00.003-04:00

Wow - what an incredible day the 4th of July was! Yes, I could have been barbequing like 99% of the rest, however still had a blast photographing the wedding of a truly great couple, John & Kimberly. Other than an amazing church in Troy, the event took place at the beautiful Glen Sanders Mansion, with entertainment by non other than Cap Capello, who always makes the party interesting to say the least.

Kim & John have been so great to work with, and we definitely hit it off since day one - not many realize just how stressful it can be to shoot a wedding, and having a couple that is so easy going and carefree was definitely a treat - we got some great images from the day, and look forward to sharing them with all in a few weeks. For those that attending this wedding, you can click the link below to pre-register your email and receive notification of when images go live:

http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=57758

A huge congrats and thanks to Kimberly & John as well as their families for allowing us to be a part of such a special day.... as strange as I originally thought having a wedding on the 4th of July might be, I now realize how smart they were..... who could resist having fireworks year after year on their anniversary day to celebrate with!? I leave you with a few samples from our day together below!

P.S. Stay tuned for samples of the Jason & Jessica wedding in just a bit!

Jessica & Jason Wedding - Another Quick Teaser....

2008-07-06T01:05:00.003-04:00

Sorry to sound like a broken record..... another exhausting, yet fun day in the field shooting the wedding of good friends, Jason & Jessica! It's now after 1am and after two long back to back weddings this 4th of July weekend, I'm absolutely spent. I am going to do my very best to get full blog entries up from both weddings this weekend by tomorrow or Monday at the very latest, so be sure to check back for lots of cool wedding samples! I leave you with a quick teaser image from today's wedding while the rest are loading.......

Kimberly & John Wedding - Quick Teaser....

2008-07-05T00:17:00.003-04:00

First and foremost... Happy 4th of July! After 10 hours of shooting today, I'm spent so will keep this short (plus we are shooting another big one tomorrow with Jason & Jessica so need to get to bed). Anyway, we had an awesome wedding today with Kimberly & John, and wanted to post a quick teaser before I hit the sack..... check back Sunday for a full blog entry with lots of samples from this wedding and a link to the online gallery!

P.S. We'll also have samples from the Jessica & Jason wedding we are shooting tomorrow, so be sure to check back for that as well - lot of good stuff coming your way, and a brand new blog we'll be unvailing this week (hopefully) to top things off - whoo hooo! G'night!

Another of Janelle & Kevin

2008-06-30T23:18:00.003-04:00

As I was going back through some images today, I found this one and for some reason didn't include it in my earlier post - definitely one of my fav's so though I would throw it up!

And a Quick HDR-Style I liked

Engagements w/ Kevin & Janelle.......

2008-06-29T22:39:00.003-04:00

I'm going to have to start holding photos for ransom in exchange for blog comments a little more often I think - who knew that would work!

After all my whining about the heat and rain the day before, I decided to go back out in it today..... but for a good cause! We'll be shooting the wedding of Janelle & Kevin this August, and today was a great opportunity for us to get a little practice by shooting some engagement photos. It seems like everything I've done lately has been at the same park in Schenectady (not that it's not a nice place to shoot), but we decided to try a brand new place to shoot today (which I was a bit nervous about since I didn't have my normal "no-brainer" shots lined up), but am so glad we did..... I now have a new sweet spot and Kevin & Janelle got to be the pioneers of the new location :)

As photogenic as this couple is, it's pretty difficult to take a bad photo of them..... if they look this good in the park, I can only imagine how nice they'll clean up on their wedding day! Here are a few samples from our session together..... careful, one or two of them might be rated R.

P.S. Stay tuned for the all-new blog which I'm pretty excited to release hopefully this week!

Kevin & Janelle E-Session Teaser - Wow!

2008-06-29T18:35:00.003-04:00

A quick teaser from our session with Janelle & Kevin today at our new top secret shooting location! Maybe if someone leaves a comment below, I'll post some more samples? :)

P.S. Is this shot ridiculous or what - wow!

Congratulations, Nicole & Damian!!

2008-06-29T10:07:00.002-04:00

Whether it was a limo showing up an hour late, dirt on the dress, a delayed ceremony, pouring rain, blistering heat, or whatever else could possibly been thrown their way..... nothing could stop Nicole & Damian from an amazing wedding that they've waited so long to have! I often find it intersting how different people handle different situations, challenges and stress if different ways..... I was absolutely amazed at how calm and collective Nicole & Damian were able to remain on a day that definitely brought some challenges our way - a true testament to what great and special kind of people they are.

It was an honor for Jamaica and I to photograph this wedding, and despite a bit of a crazy day, had an absolute blast. When we left the church, it was raining out, but we decided to go for it, by going to our outdoor shooting location anyway. As we got there, the rain stopped (only for 20 minutes, which is probably the fastest I have ever shot with an entire bridal party and the bride and groom themselves). As we finished and got back into the car to head to the reception, it downpoured as if we were in a hurricane...... talk about amazing luck and timing!

A huge thanks to Nicole, Damian, and their family and friends for allowing us to hang out and document their special day. We have hundreds of amazing photos that I can't wait to share. For those interested, you may pre-register your email at the link below to receive automatic notification of when images go live (usually 3-4 weeks). I leave you with a few samples from the day below:

http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=57043

Nicole & Damian Teaser....

2008-06-28T21:50:00.004-04:00

Wow - what a sticky, hot & overall exhausting day - I feel like I just got hit by a train! I'm off to bed, but wanted to post a quick "teaser" image from today's wedding with Nicole & Damian. Check back tomorrow for a full blog entry with more samples and a link to the online event!

Albany Troy Cataract & Lazer Associates Shoot.....

2008-06-24T22:57:00.004-04:00

This morning, we headed over to the Albany Troy Cataract & Laser Associates building to do some shooting for their new website and marketing brochures. As I've said before, I don't get to break away from the wedding scene enough (especially during the busy season), so it's always a treat to get to shoot something a bit out of the norm.

On a side note, I find the whole idea of eye surgery fascinating (and a bit scary) and am glad that even in my thirties, I still have better than 20/20 vision - I can't imagine doing what I do without use of my eyes or great vision without glasses (not that there is anything wrong with glasses, it would just be a bit more challening for me to work that way I think). Tonya had some of the worst vision out there and had PRK eye surgery last year - she can now see perfectly, and no longer wears glasses or contacts for anything - it's truly amazing to think that technology has given dr's the ability to perform such a miracle on a person's vision like that - very cool stuff.

Anyway, here are a few quick samples from the day that will be going into the brochures and website. I'm sort of on vacation this week as I have family in town, but will have samples from this weekends' upcoming wedding probably on Sunday - be sure to check back for details!

A quick shot showing a couple of the dr's having fun at work!

New Regal Cinemas Ad Completed - Woot!

2008-06-24T08:42:00.003-04:00

For the past month or so, we've been working on a few new ads that will begin airing on July 11th in the new Colonie Regal Cinemas as well as the Saratoga Wilton Mall Regal Cinemas, which I'm very excited about. The ad itself is animated ad has a professional voiceover, however here is a quick sample of basically what it will look like on the big screen (looks a lot like our blog header, I know :)

There will be multiple upcoming vendors in the spotlite with us over the next year (we have a few different ads that will show), however we are currently featuring Details Wedding Planning and Kimberly's A Day Spa for the first round - I may just have to go see a movie now in July!

P.S. Congrats to those couple that will have their wedding images shown off to thousands of people - you"ve just earned some bragging rights I think!

E-Session w/ Heather & John.....

2008-06-22T22:33:00.002-04:00

After a fun night out with Victoria & Blake, we headed back out in the field with Heather & John at one of our favorite local parks! John loves having his photo taken, and wanted to shoot all day if we could (only kidding, but he did a grea job! :) On a serious note, Heather & John are a great couple and we really look forward to documenting their wedding this October at the beautiful River Stone Manor in Scotia - today was a fun chance to get out with them and hang out before the big day - here are a couple of quick samples for ya!

Congratulations, Victoria & Blake!!

2008-06-22T12:20:00.002-04:00

Yesterday we had the opportunity to celebrate and document the amazing wedding of Victoria and Blake! The wedding was held at the beautiful Albany Country Club, and you couldn't have asked for a nicer day or better clouds to work with, I might add. We had so much fun shooting engagements with the bride and groom just a few months ago, so it was great to be able to work with them again (plus they are both so ridiculously photogenic, I could make them look amazing with a disposable camera :)

We are excited to share the images from the day, and for those interested, you can pre-register your email at the link below to receive automatic notification of when images go live!

http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=56039

Again, a huge congrats to Victoria & Blake - have a blast on your honeymoon! I leave you with a few quick samples from their big day.....

Quick Teaser - Victoria & Blake Wedding (Albany Country Club)...

2008-06-22T01:28:00.001-04:00

We just got home from the Victoria & Blake wedding, and thought I would post a quick "teaser" image from tonight's wedding before bed. Check back tomorrow for a full blog entry with more samples and a link to the online event! Is this sky insane or what!?

Joseph Carr Wine...

2008-06-16T11:24:00.007-04:00

As I've mentioned before, it's sometimes fun to break away from the wedding scene to work on other photography projects (not to mention that are lower stressed :) This week we are working on a project with Alex from Mehigan, Bellone & Associates, Inc. for Joseph Carr, who is one of the top wine producers from the Napa Valley. We'll be shooting some of their latest wines (that are not even released yet) for upcoming marketing and website material. Alex & his team are completely redesigning Mr. Carr's website, so anything you see will be soon replaced with the new improved design! Here are a couple quick samples below we shot for their portfolio (top shot is from their old website). There is a possibility that I will be flying out to Napa Valley in the Fall for a few days to shoot with Mr. Carr at his vinyard, which would certainly be a very exciting project to be a part of - I'll keep ya posted! Next time you are in the wine store, see if you can find a bottle and try it out :)

Hmmm..... I'm suddenly in the mood to drink!

Engagements w/ Matt & Lauren......

2008-06-15T18:12:00.004-04:00

Only 1 wedding this weekend, but quickly headed back out in the field for a fun e-session with Matt & Lauren today, who were in town from Boston for the weekend! We'll be shooting Lauren & Matt's wedding in August, so today was fun getting to hang out and get to know them both a bit more before the wedding - definitely a great couple and really look forward to this wedding with them. We were shooting in some challening lighting conditions today, but still think we got some great shots - here are a few I thought I would share!

P.S. Thanks for a fun shoot guys - have a safe trip back home and good luck to your Celtics tonight (not that I thinkt they need it!)

Haha - this one's priceless - Matt's definitely a character and makes some pretty funny expressions when he's playing around! Shots like this foreshadow to a fun wedding!

Congratulations, Ashley & Adam!!

2008-06-15T09:59:00.006-04:00

Whoofta! Another hot day, yet another ridiculously amazing wedding that I am very excited to share! Jamaica, Jessica & I had a blast yesterday spending the day with good friends, Adam & Ashley to document one of the most amazing days of their lives. Despite the hot weather, pouring rain later in the day (where the power went out 3 times during the reception), we all made the very best of it, and walked away with some incredible images that will certainly tell the story of two incredible people.

Adam & Ashley currently live in Philladelphia, but came back to lovely Saratoga Springs to wed with their closest of friends and family. After a beautiful ceremony at St. Mary's in Ballston Spa, we headed back to the famous, Gideon Putnam hotel for the reception. We also had the opportunity to work with one of our favorite DJ's - Vinny from Cool Cat Entertainment, who did a flawless job of making the party - I highly recommend checking them out at http://www.coolcatdj.com/ if you are in need.

I'd like to sincerely thank Adam & Ashley, as well as their friends and family for allowing us to take part in such a special event, and are excited to share all the photos from the day in just a few weeks. For those interested, you can pre-register your email at the link below to receive automatic notification of when images go live for online viewing & ordering:

http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=55169

It will take some time to go through the thousands of images we took, but here are a few of my favorite samples so far that caught my eye. Congrats again Adam & Ashley, and enjoy the honeymoon! :)

Check out this ridiculous shot Jamaica got while the bride was being walked down the aisle - I love the look of the peoples faces as she makes her entrance - Wow!

Here's another one of my favorite shots while Adam & Ashley were on the carosel in Congress Park - I'm dizzy just looking at this thing, but love the shot!

Adam admiring his big catch - who can blame him! :)

Another Quick Teaser.....

2008-06-14T22:39:00.004-04:00

I just got in from the Ashley & Adam tonight (amazing, amazing, amazing!) and thought I'd post a quick "teaser" until I can do my full blog entry tomorrow or the next day. This wedding was just incredible, and can't wait to post some more shots when I get the chance to do so. Here's a quick shot of Ashley so you can see how breathtaking she was on her wedding day. Ashley is one of the sweetest people you will ever meet - I asked her to give me more of a serious look for this particular shot to go against her normal, outgoing, bubbly personality.

Check back later for lots more samples! I'm exhausted from the day and need some sleep badly - g'night!

More HDR Stuff to Keep You Occupied :)

2008-06-13T01:36:00.000-04:00

Not a lot going on this week in terms of shoots to report on (sorry) - it's been an insane week of trying to keep up with all the workflow of recent weddings, shoots, and album orders, which we seem to be doing okay with (I couldn't do it without Jamaica & Jessica, so give them full credit!)

We'll be shooting the wedding of Ashley & Adam this Saturday, so be sure to check back for samples and details of that probably on Sunday. I can't sleep and I'm still on my HDR kick for some reason (when I get hooked on something I overdo the hell out of it and then don't touch it again for months) - here are a few more quick hdr-style images from last year's weddings!

P.S. I've yet to come across a group of guys yet that can top this jump shot by the guys at the bottom..... I hope someone will see this and go for the gold this year - isn't there anyone out there that can top this!? Adam? Ashley? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

P.S.S. Begining in July, you will begin to see Matt Ramos Photography full screen advertisements at various Regal Cinema movie theaters throughout the Capital Region (we are in the final stages of the design process & voiceover, etc) - our new blog banner will be somewhat similar to what shows on the big screen!

Today's Wedding HDR :)

2008-06-11T12:02:00.002-04:00

Ever since I posted some of the HDR wedding stuff, the requests started pouring in - haha. Here's today's sample from the Shannan & Ricardo wedding that we are thinking of incorporating into their album this week - love the way this one came out !

More Wedding HDR Stuff.....

2008-06-10T16:30:00.005-04:00

Since Mallory was kind enough to leave a comment on the last blog entry, I decided to surprise her and do up one of her wedding images - this one's for you, Mal!

By the way, these photos were taken last year for Don & Mallory's wedding (obviously). Let me know if you want to see more from other weddings!

I couldn't resist.... I did 2 of them for you :)

Wedding Photography as HDR - My New Favorite Thing!

2008-06-09T22:40:00.007-04:00

So... many of you that follow the blog know that I've been toying around with some HDR stuff lately for fun, which usually works best on landscape photography. Tonight, I decided to play around a bit more to see what I could do with a wedding photo, and wasn't sure if I would like the results or not. Here is a quick shot of Cate, who was married just a few weeks ago to a very lucky guy named Zach (their wedding images have not even bee posted yet, nor has she even seen this photo yet :) I absolutely LOVE the way this came out applying some HDR-like techniques..... I hope someone will eventually have this on their wall. Whatdya think?

And one more quick one I did of them at the Canfield Casion in Saratoga Springs..... I have a feeling I'm going to be playing around with quite a few like this now that I figured it out - have an image you'd like to see turned to painting.... let me know! :)

Congratulations, Veronica & Matt!

2008-06-08T07:32:00.004-04:00

Boy, I'll tell ya...... I've shot weddings in hot weather before, but yesterday was unbelieveable - I'm sure I could have won somekind of award for most sweat, and took me hours to cool down after shooting in the hot sun and humidy - yuck!

Despite the uncomfortable weather, Tonya, Jessica and I had the extreme pleasure to shoot and document the amazing wedding of Veronica & Matt. Another fantastic couple, and after seeing how hard Veronica worked to pull this wedding together on her own (as well as the stress she put herself through), it was so great to see it all come together so well and see her rid the weight of the world by the end of the evening! It was definitely a crazy day due to the heat and we had to work very quickly to keep people in the A/C as much as possible - I probably drank a gallon of water or more to keep myself hydrated. The ceremony and reception were held at the beautiful River Stone Manor in Scotia, with DJ services by the queen dj herself, Pam Pardee (who both did a great job!)

Due to the on and off pouring rain, we werent able to set up our normal reception slideshow in the tent, however am excited to share all the great images from the day with the friends, family and guests that attended this wedding. For those interested, you can click the link below to pre-register your email and receive automatic notification of when images go live (usually about 3-4 weeks):

http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=54182

I'm only shooting 1 wedding this weekend (thank God due to the heat), and looking forward to relaxing today and keeping cool. I leave you with a few quick samples from our day with Matt & Veronica below! :)

Headshots w/ Corey....

2008-06-05T21:25:00.006-04:00

Now that we are in the middle of the wedding season, I don't get many opportunities to shoot in the studio anymore.... in fact, I almost forgot how to turn on the strobes (just kidding). Tonight, we did a quick headshot session for Corey, who is getting involved in some acting and needed a few shots for his portfolio. Remember the face, you may one day see it in a movie! Here's a quick sample from our session......

P.S. We'll be shooting the wedding of Veronica & Matt this weekend (only 1 this weekend for a change)..... it's supposed to be 92 and muggy as well as an outdoor wedding - ugh! If I don't melt to death, we'll have samples up probably on Sunday..... check back soon for details :)

Latest Album Design....

2008-06-05T16:17:00.002-04:00

One of the best weddings of the 2008 season so far has been that of Shannan & Ricardo, who were married at the Hall of Springs in Saratoga this April..... would you believe that was only two months ago, and we are ordering the album already? Click the link below to check it out if interested - be sure to turn up those speakers.....

www.ramosdesigns.com/spicerfinal2

Pruyn House HDR....

2008-06-05T13:46:00.003-04:00

We are working on some new photos for the Pruyn House and upcoming movie theater & bridal show advertisements (which I will fill you in more in a later post). This morning I was at the Pruyn House, and decided to do a little playing around along with my normal shots..... here's a quick HDR, and you can see the composite that was made from the first 3 shots. I went for a bit of a surreal look on this, so this was just for my own fun, nothing that will be used for advertising or anything :)

Here's a few more shots from the same location...... we are putting on a HUGE bridal gathering at this location with some big names like the Knot.com, which I will update folks on a bit later on :)

Congratulations, Mike & Lindsey!!

2008-06-02T15:21:00.003-04:00

After our fun night with Kristina & Alex, I came home, recharged everything, loaded and backed up images & grabbed a few hours of sleep, before hopping back on the road the following morning out to Owego, NY for another wedding with Mike & Lindsey! (how's that for a run-on sentence?) Mike & Lindsey currently live in Delaware (and are moving to North Carolina next week), however came back to their hometown to get married with their closest family and friends.

Never in my life have I had so many weddings where it was raining as we've had this year, yet it always seems to work out somehow. During the ceremony it started to downpour, and then we were all sorta stuck in the church for a bit, which was interesting..... luckily, it wasn't long before the skies opened back up and we were able to carry on. Mike & Lindsey are a really great couple, and we had a lot of fun being a part of their day and documenting it all. We are excited to share the photos from their day, and for those that are interested, you may click the link below to pre-register your email and receive notification of when images go live!

http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=52554

Thanks again to Mike & Lindsey - we wish you all the best in your new marriage together! I leave you with a few quick samples from the day.....

Congratulations, Kristina & Alex!! (1 of 2)

2008-06-01T13:52:00.006-04:00

Friday night, we had the extreme pleasure of witnessing & photographing the wedding of good friends, Kristina & Alex..... since Jessica is still in training with us, we took 3 photographers (Jamaica, Jessica & myself) to cover the event, which was definitely a lot of fun and helped to get some really cool angles we could not have pulled off otherwise :) This was definitely a unique wedding for me, and one that I was really glad to be apart of (not that I'm not the rest!) Since day one, Alex and I clicked really well and have become such good friends (and a friendship I can see becoming even stronger after we are done doing business).... he's such a good guy, definitely a class clown, and I've received about 3-5 emails a week from him with jokes, videos, you name it ever since they hired us to shoot their wedding.....Kristina is also another amazing person, and I know that Alex & her are absolutely perfect for each other as they compliment each other so well. I know I probably say this a lot, but definitley one of our favorite & easiest couples to work with :)

Kristina & Alex had a beautiful wedding at the 1st Reformed Church in Scotia, followed by an incredible reception at Mallozzi's where the fun continued all night long with the help of Paul Malo, who knows how to get any dance floor popping. Overall, a fantastic wedding, and a lot of fun to be at (we are shooting 3 weddings from this same family, so the pressure was definitely 3X on me to not disappoint - gulp!) We look forward to sharing all the photos from the day in about 2-3 weeks and will have them available for online viewing & ordering. Please feel free to click the link below to pre-register your email and receive automatic notification of when images go live!

http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=52553

A huge thanks to Alex & Kristina as well as their families for allowing us to hang out with them and document such a special event.... have a blast on your honeymoon and look forward to hearing all about it when you get back. Here are a few quick samples from the day!

Here's a shot Jamaica got from the back while walking down the aisle - love this one!

And a quick sample taken by our new photographer Jessica from the balcony - I want to point out this is only her 2nd wedding and she's already pulling off shots like this believe it or not with the the help of he amazing trainer (who could that be?)...... do I know how to hire em' or what!?

Another one of Jessica's shots!

Just Checking In....

2008-05-30T23:37:00.003-04:00

Just got home from the Alex & Kristina wedding (which was awesome by the way!) I'm up again tomorrow bright and early for a wedding out in Owego, NY with Mike & Lindsey, however will have a full blog entry on both weddings up by Sunday or Monday.

One of the first things we got asked at today's wedding is if Jamaica was going to do another lighting test..... We aim to please.... another successful testing! :)

Insane Dance Skills...

2008-05-29T20:47:00.002-04:00

2 more fun weddings lined up for this weekend, starting tomorrow - be sure to check back for samples from both on Sunday or Monday. I leave you with an insane video that I just had to post...... this guy's amazing!! Anyone watch this show?

Congratulations, Cate & Zach! (3 of 3)

2008-05-26T16:31:00.004-04:00

After two fun days and celebrations with Joe & Monica, and Debby & Dave, we headed into our final day of the 3-in-a-row wedding marathon with Cate & Zach! I'm gonna be honest..... by the time I got to this point, I was just creatively, mentally & physically exhausted - I did my best to hide my exhaustion, and think we got some killer shots from this wedding despite how tired I was! Cate & Zach are another incredible couple that are very much in love and a lot of fun to hang out with - Cate's father is the nicest guy in the world (and a master gardener I might add), but looks just like the actor, John Voight (Angelina Jolie's father), which is a bit intimidating - I made sure to stay on his good side :)

Cate & Zach had a beautiful church full mass ceremony at St. Clements in Saratoga, followed by an incredible reception at the amazing Canfield Casino in Congress Park (I posted a an earlier shot of the reception hall 4 blog entrees down if you wish to see it). We were also pleased to work with the New York Players again, who rocked the house and showed everyone how to party. A huge thanks to Cate & Zach as well as their familes for allowing us to spend the day with them and document such a special day. For those that are interested, we'll have all the images available for online viewing & ordering within a few weeks - you can pre-register your email by clicking the link below to receive automatic notification:

http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=52081

Here are a few samples below from the day I thought I would share - after 3 exhausting days, I'm looking forward to not going anywhere near my camera. Stay tuned and check back for updates..... we have two upcoming weddings this weekend with two more of my favorite couples - check back for lots of samples and updates!

Congratulations, Debby & David! (2 of 3)

2008-05-26T09:56:00.003-04:00

Round two from this weekend was held at the beautiful Glen Sanders Mansion, with newlyweds, Debby & Dave. It was great to finally see the sun come out, which made for a very nice outdoor ceremony right on the water! I was sort of getting used to thinking up umbrella and rain shots - but I'll take it..... there's nothing like shooting an outdoor ceremony when you can.

Deb & Dave are a great couple and we had a lot of fun haning out with them and their bridal party - I'm keeping my mouth shut, but there were definitely a few good laughs from the day that we'll always remember (the guys know what I'm talking about, lol). We'd like to thank Debby & David as well as their familes for allowing us to take part in documenting their big day. For those that are interested, you can pre-register your email to receive automatic notification of when images go live... simply click the link below to do so. I leave you with a few quick samples from the day below........

http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=52080

Congratulations, Joe & Monica! (1 of 3)

2008-05-26T03:28:00.012-04:00

Another 3:30am session for me as I can't sleep (oh, the joys of being ADHD)..... I figured it's as good a time as ever to bang out on of my 3 blog entrees I need to do from this weekends weddings! Believe it or not, we had a Thursday wedding this week (don't see them too often) with Joe & Monica, who were married in their St. Rose Chapel, followed by a beautiful reception at the Franklin Plaza. Joe and Monica are high school sweethearts, who have been together for a long time, so this wedding was very special as they finally tied the knot together :)

For those that attended this wedding, we'll have all the images from the day/night online for viewing & ordering within about 3 weeks, and you may pre-register your email by simply clicking the link below - you will receive an automatic notification once images go live!

http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=52079

A big thanks to Monica & Joe and their families for allowing us to take part in this event - enjoy the honeymoon, guys! Here are a few quick samples from their day below......

P.S. Who do you think won the cake slam contest? (I think I'm going with Monica on this one) Stay tuned for 2 more entrees tomorrow from the Debby & Dave and Cate & Zach weddings - off to bed!

Oh, and here's a quick shot of Jamaica helping me to do a few light tests before our formal portraits.... this kid really has the technique down pat - I mean, who needs a light meter when you've got a Jamaica with you?

Just so you don't think I'm kidding - here's another recent light test he did for me at a shoot at the Capital Building a couple weeks ago - I have no idea what I'd do without this kid to properly meter the light for me. If you see someone doing cartwheels at your wedding, we are just testing the lighting, haha! (and for the record, he's not the headless horseman) Ok, now I'm really going to bed before I say or do something even more stupid.

Whew - I made it!

2008-05-24T22:51:00.005-04:00

Wow.... what an insane weekend! We just finished shooting the wedding of Cate & Zach, and I'm so exhausted I can't even think straight right now - shooting 3 full day weddings in a row is defintely an easy way to kill myself, but somehow I made it! It feels so good to be home and have a couple days to do absolutely nothing (well sorta). As I mentioned in my previous posts, I will be doing complete blog entrees for all 3 weddings from this weekend as soon as I get the energy to do so (probably a day or two on all 3) - Tonight, I had the pleasure of working at one of my favorite places - the beautiful, Canfield Casino in Saratoga Springs..... I'm off to get some sleep, but here's a quick shot from tonight's wedding....... is this reception room ridiculous or what!? How long do you think it took them to build this ceiling?

Check back later for updates and lots of photos! :)

Quick Teaser - Debby & Dave Wedding

2008-05-24T09:21:00.002-04:00

Ok..... 2 down, 1 to go to complete my 3 wedding marathon! Again, I'm on a crazy schedule, but wanted to post one quick shot from last nights wedding with Debby & Dave - recognize these doors?

I'm off to Saratoga to shoot with Cate & Zach today - check back later for more samples and complete blog entrees of all 3 weddings :)

Quick Teaser - Joe & Monica Wedding

2008-05-23T11:27:00.003-04:00

I'm on an extremely tight schedule this weekend as we are in the middle of a 3 in a row wedding marathon (which may just kill me :), but wanted to just post a quick photo from last night's wedding with Joe & Monica - There will be a full blog entry after the weekend from all weddings with appropriate links, etc to their events.

I'm off to do another one - will catch up with you soon!

There's Light at the end of the Tunnel......

2008-05-20T23:19:00.004-04:00

Tonight I was playing around with one of my favorite images from the Jen & Scott wedding..... this is the type of stuff that happens when I get bored sometimes (not that I have a lot of time for boredome these days) - I did this quickly so it's not perfect, but still love the surreal look of it anyway... I may go back and make it perfect next time I can't sleep! Whatdya think?

Congratulations, Jennifer & Scott! (2 of 2)

2008-05-19T00:14:00.008-04:00

Wow - what a weekend...... Two days of rainy, yet back to back amazing weddings! After a fun and late night with Kevin & Sarah, we somehow drug ourselves out of bed to do it all over again with Scott & Jennifer. Considering the weather we were up against this weekend, I'd say we pretty much got away with murder (on both days) as far as what were were able to capture around the wet weather.

Today's wedding was held at the beautiful, Glen Sanders Mansion (one of our favorite stomping grounds), where we also had the opportunity to work with the amazing Al Woodard, and the NY Players - an all around incredible wedding (again). I constantly talk to my close friends about the kind of pressure I put on myself at each wedding to do my best to make it better than the wedding before (obviously, this is not always possible), but I sure put the weight of the world on my shoulders trying each and every wedding..... I'm very pleased at some of the shots we were able to capture today (and yesterday!), and am excited to share them with all. For those that attending this wedding, you may pre-register your email to receive automatic notificaiton when images go live by simply clicking the link below.

http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=51464

I'm officially "spent" and looking forward to a day off tomorrow.... I'll be surprised if I even break out of my pajamas to tell you the truth! On a serious note, we'd like to thank Jennifer & Scott for allowing us to spend such a special day with them, and look forward to building you a beautufil wedding album! Here are a few quick sneak-peek shots to show you what their day looked like!

P.S. Our new photographer (Jessica) had her very first wedding tonight and did an amazing job..... with a little training, she may just end up being a better photographer than me - who knows!

P.S.S. I'll be shooting 3 in a row (thurs/fri/sat), so be sure to stick around for lots of updates and photos as we go!!

Congratulations, Kevin & Sarah!! (1 of 2)

2008-05-18T09:36:00.006-04:00

We dove right back into the wedding season yesterday by celebrating and shooting the wedding of Kevin & Sarah! Despite it pouring rain during the outdoor ceremony (they had a tent), the skies managed to break here or there for us so we could get some good shots. The bride and groom were daring enough to race out onto the golf course with us using some golf carts to get some shots, knowing it was about to pour within a matter of minutes - risks like that get the shots - I love it!

The wedding and ceremony were held at the beautiful Saratoga National (one of the top golf courses in the country I might add), where they did an amazing job, had great food, and allowed Kevin and Sarah to have a beautiful wedding all around. Even though they are "clients," I've quickly come to realize and think of Kevin & Sarah as good friends as well..... it was a huge honor to be able to capture and spend the day with them.

For those that attended this event (or should have, etc), you may click the link below to pre-register your email to receive automatic notification of when images go live (usually in about 2-3 weeks) - the password will be the grooms last name in lowercase if you need help. Congratulations again to Kevin and Sarah - here are a few quick samples from the day so you can see what an amazing day they had!

http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=51463

Ok..... I'm off to do it all over again with today's wedding - see ya!

Opening Ceremony at Regal - Last One, I Promise!

2008-05-16T22:26:00.003-04:00

Ok, Ok - I promise this is the last post you will see from me about Regal Cinemas new Theater..... but just wanted to share a few more quick shots from the opening night ceremony where they officially opened to the public. Instead of cutting a ribbon, the managers tore huge movie tickets, which was kind of cool, and a few big names like Mayor Jennings, showed up to speak and check it out - about 350 people got free admission the other night to see Iron Man and a few of the other new movies out...... talk about being in the right place at the right time!

We'll be shooting 2 back to back weddings starting tomorrow, so you won't have to worry about me blogging about the movies anymore - be sure to check back for samples of the weddings!

P.S. The hottest new blogging thing is apparently twitter, which is basically blogging in between blogging (if that makes any sense) - you can see my little tweets off to the right and I plan to post updates of what we are working on so people can keep up to date on when their photos will be ready, etc - feel free to check it out if you get REALLY bored and want to see what I'm up to.

Regal Cinemas - Colonie Mall Pt. II.......

2008-05-13T23:20:00.007-04:00

It's extremely challenging to get an outdoor night shot of a business (especially a Mall location) when you have dozens of people constantly going in and out, and a full parking lot of vehicles...... Regardless, I needed to get my outdoor night shot for Regal that I promised, so did the best I could (still not the shot I wanted, but I'll take it for now).

Sorry to all the people that thought I was breaking into their car while trying to set up my equipment in between all the cars in the parking lot - I promise I was after the shot, not your new stereo system, haha! :)

P.S. I'm fully aware of how bad my humor is.

The New Regal Cinemas - Colonie Mall Center!

2008-05-11T19:36:00.005-04:00

Every now and then it's nice to take a break from shooting high stress events such as weddings to shoot some different scenery, architecture, etc. The theater has not yet opened to the public just yet, however, we were selected by the Regal Cinemas corporate office to shoot their new Colonie Mall Theater for some marketing material as well as the grand opening, which is taking place later this week. I have to admit I'm not huge on going out to the movies anymore when I can sit at home and watch my 61" in the privacy of my own home, but I definitely look forward to seeing some of the new movies coming out after seeing how amazing this new cinema is!

We tried to do some cool outdoor shots, however the sky was very grey with cars everywhere, so will going back one night this week to get the killer shot I'm seeing in my head of the nighttime lights and atmosphere I'm looking for. Here's a sneakpeek preview of the inside until you all get the chance to check it out for yourelf next week.... popcorn, anyone?

E-Session w/ Matt & Kristin!

2008-05-10T19:21:00.007-04:00

So, we learned the hard way today what happens when you try and schedule an engagement session on the opening day of the Tulip Fest! After sitting in traffic for over 30 minutes and not being able to park anywhere near, we eventually gave up and decided to move our shoot near the Capital Building, instead. (which I have to admit wasn't half bad to shoot at)

Matt & Kristin are an awesome couple, who are a lot of fun to hang out with, and I definitely look forward to photographing their wedding this coming August (we definitely have some fun couples this year, which I'm pretty excited to work with!) Anyway, today was somewhat of a test shoot to see how we work and to grab a few engagement shots for our good looking couple here. Thanks to Matt & Kristin for a fun shoot and for putting up with the crazy traffic and location change - here's a few quick samples from the day!

P.S. Notice the perfect color matching of the shirt color to the opposites shoes - very nice! :)

Another HDR Attempt......

2008-05-09T17:43:00.004-04:00

A few posts back I talked about playing around with HDR photography and a little bit about what is is for those of you that have not heard the term. We were up on Sacandaga Lake yesterday, and on the way back decided to try another quick one since it seemed like a cool scene. The top 3 shots are the 3 shots I used straight out of the camera (not that pretty, eh?), and then the bottom shot is the HDR (high dynamic range) image I was able to creat using all 3 files...... it's amazing what you can do with a fairly simple process!

Random Wednesday Stuff........

2008-05-07T10:04:00.004-04:00

Just a few wacky Wednesday updates and random updates that we are excited about (it doesn't take much to please me)..........

___________________________________________________________________

- After numerous conversations and thought after being contacted by dozens of photographers over the past year or so, we'd like to congratulate, announce & introduce Jessica Bruce, who will be joining our team this week as a full-time Assistant Photographer! Jessica has amazing talent, an incredible personality and work ethic and I am very excited to have her on our team (she bugged me over and over for a year on this, and I finally gave in - just kidding :) On a serious note, if anyone is interested in having a 3rd photographer (absolutely free) for their upcoming 2008 wedding, shoot me a note (I need to get her some experience in the field)!

- This week we purhcased a few top of the line SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition 8GB flash cards, which are supposed to be the best and fastest compact flash cards you can buy, with read/write speeds nearly double the speed of other compact flash cards - The extra speed will definitely come in handy this year for us, and what's nice is they all come with Rescue Pro software (not that I need it) that will automatically recover any lost image files - even months after the images have been deleted from the cards..... you can never go wrong with additional protection! (get your mind out of the gutter).

- While we have an insane lineup of top of the line professional lenses, my current favorite lens is without a doubt the Canon L 85mm f/1.2, which goes for close to $2K and gives you the ability to shoot insane images in extreme low light conditions and with superb quality and depth of field. I've heard great things about the sister lens, which is the 50mm version (still in a f/1.2), so placed an order for one today.... I have a feeling this will become my new favorite and can't wait to try it out on some shots this weekend!

- We are still accepting names/emails of anyone interested in doing a beginner SLR training class. This first session is more of a private (or small group) setting where we will be teaching many of the basics of how to use your new camera, what everything does, and explaning things in detail such as ISO, shutter speed, aperture, composition, tricks to using flash, etc..... we'll probably do a more advanced session down the road and possibly even a Photoshop session for those that need help learning the power of this amazing program. This is a great way to learn how to use your new camera and what you can do with it. If interested, please email John at john@mattramosphotography.com!

Congratulations, Stephen & Kristin! (2 of 2)

2008-05-04T18:13:00.008-04:00

After getting about 4½ hours sleep from the wedding the night before, we sucked it up and drive 2.5 hours down to the amazing Tarrytown house (obviously, in Tarrytown, NY), to shoot the incredible wedding of Kristin & Stephen. If I've ever had a day I was dragging it was definitely yesterday, however did my very best to fake it and capture some amazing images from the day. We shot for a total of nearly 11 hours with this couple, and ended up with close to 3,000 images which will be a fun chore to go through next week!

Every now and then, we have the opportunty to work at incredible venus that are just absolutely breathtaking in terms of scenery...... we were somewhat limited to what we could do due to the cold and light rain here and there, however the Tarrytown House is without a doubt a photographers dream venue! Kristin & Stephen are such good friends, and it was very special to be able to spend the day with them and shoot what I think are some pretty incredible images throughout the day. A huge thanks to the two of them as well as their friends, family and bridal party letting us spend the day with them and tough it out in the cold (awesome job, girls!)

I look forward to sharing all the images from this wedding with those that attended, and for those interested, you can pre-register your email below to receive notification of when images go live. I'm absolutely exhausted and plan to hibernate for a couple days if possible (so don't call or email me - just kidding)..... it's time for my nap - I leave you with a few samples from the day!

http://www.mattramosphotography.com/events.html

Congratulations, Leigh & Chris! (1 of 2)

2008-05-04T14:23:00.005-04:00

You'd think shooting a wedding on a day of on and off rain could turn out to be a disaster, yet we managed to beat the odds and made the very best of it! Chris & Leigh are such a great couple to work with, and Jamaica and I had a lot of fun spending the day with them to capture one of the most important days of their lives. You wouldn't believe me if I told you how dark everything was to shoot with, but luckily I had my magic lens, which allows you to get away with murder in extreme low light conditions :)

So that I can give a few props, we had the opportunity to work with Amy Smith, who did an amazing job on makeup, one of my all-time favorite DJ's, Jeff Richards of Piano Man, and had the opportunity to shoot at Rafael's, Mohawk River Country Club, which is always a treat to work at. We'd like to thank Leigh & Chris as well as their family for allowing us to take part in such a special event, and are very excited to share the hundreds of amazing images captured at this event. For those interested, you may pre-register you email at the link below to recieve automatic notification of when images go live (usually 2-3 weeks). I leave you with a few quick samples from the day!

http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=49746

P.S. Stay tuned for samples from the Kristin & Stephen wedding coming up next!

E-Session with Kristen & Rob.....

2008-04-27T22:13:00.002-04:00

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.

Fun with HDR Photography...

2008-04-27T20:36:00.003-04:00

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! :)

Perfect Weather!

2008-04-24T19:15:00.002-04:00

Wow - where did this long streak of beautiful weather come from in NY!? I finally raked up all the leaves :)

Matt Ramos Photography, LLC - 1-800-318-7285

2008-04-21T18:33:00.004-04:00

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 :)

Today's Shipment of Albums.....

2008-04-21T18:14:00.002-04:00

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! :)

Congratulations, Nicole & Safaraz!

2008-04-19T20:37:00.004-04:00

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! :)

Come See Us At The Crooked Lake House......

2008-04-17T20:07:00.006-04:00

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!

Congratulations, Aaron & Jenelle!!

2008-04-14T16:10:00.004-04:00

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!

Congratulations, Shannan & Ricardo!

2008-04-14T03:15:00.004-04:00

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!

Another.... "How Cute is This?" Post.....

2008-04-07T22:39:00.001-04:00

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! :)

Maternity Session w/ Jill & Will....

2008-04-06T13:46:00.002-04:00

As you can see, it's been a busy weekend of shooting for me (and about to get crazy very soon with double or triple weddings every weekend for about 6-7 months straight). Today we got to hang out with Will & Jill, who are soon expecting a little girl, and wanted to document this stage in their lives before giving birth. Here's a few quick samples!

Thanks for a fun shoot today guys, and hope to see you back sometime with little Zoey!

Alex & Kristina (and the Police) Engagements!

2008-04-05T20:59:00.002-04:00

One of our favorite new couples for 2008 is Alex and Kristina, who are getting married at the end of next month. Alex is quite the jokester, and finds the time to send me about 10 jokes or YouTube videos a week, which is always an interesting and fun to "break up the day" with. These two will be an absolutely blast to work with on their wedding day, I'm sure :)

We had the opportunity to hang out with them today for a bit, and decided to head to a local park to do a few engagement shots before the big day. It was mid-day, and pretty bright out, but think we managed to get a few great shots - here are a few I liked and thought I'd share....

P.S. We would have had more time to shoot, but Alex was too busy getting pulled over by the Police - haha!

Congratulations, Keith & Lisa!

2008-04-05T08:45:00.008-04:00

So......we officially kicked off the first wedding of the 2008 season last night at the beautiful Franklin Plaza with Keith & Lisa! The first wedding of the season is always a bit like the first day back to school after a summer vacation when you're a kid..... it's exciting, yet your can't help being a little nervous as well. It was nice to get back into the grove a bit, and despite a rainy/gloomy day, it didn't stop Keith & Lisa from having a beautiful wedding and a lot of fun!

This year, we are trying some new things and lighting techniques from past seminars such as the Dennis Reggie Conclave we went to in Atlanta, as well as the recent strobist seminar in Pheonix. I can tell already the difference it's going to make in this year's weddings, and had a ton of fun playing around with some of the new lighting tricks we're using (it'll get better as we go too :)

I also wanted to also give a quick plug to TS Ensemble, who was absolutely incredible to work with, not to mention sounded phenomenal (some very talented singers!) For those looking for an amazing band for their wedding, I highly recommend checking them out, and hope to have the opportunity to work with these guys again!

A big congratulations to Keith & Lisa, who are heading out on their honeymoon today by the way! We have hundreds of photos that we'll be uploading for online viewing & ordering. For those that attended this wedding and would like to pre-register their email to receive notification of when images go live, you can do so by clicking the link below. The password for this event is the couples last name (all lowercase). If any problems let us know!

http://mattramosphotography.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=46665

Samples from Tonight's Session.....

2008-04-01T21:17:00.003-04:00

When I was asked to help good friend (and past bride), Maegen, with her photography project for school - I was of course, happy to try and help out. Maegen is working on a book about relationships, family & marriage, and needed to get an assortment of different images to use to use for her project.... luckily we had Calvin, Kristi & their two beautiful girls, Arianna and Olivia to work with! I thought I'd post a few samples.... how cute is this first one of Arianna - wow!

3 New Album Designs Completed - Yeah!

2008-03-31T21:34:00.004-04:00

A fun and busy week for us, and we've been hammering away to get as many album designs done before we starting shooting again (first wedding is this weekend!) I thought about doing 3 separate blog entrees, but figured I would just post all 3 for those that are interested in checking them out. For anyone not familar or just checking things out, we offer professional album design for anyone anywhere in the world using their digital images and even allow you to see and make edits to the album before it goes to print. You can check out the website if you like at http://www.ramosdesigns.com/. (these may get a few tweaks before going to print by the way).

We've managed to bang out the following albums, and welcome you to click the links above each photo to see the slideshow of the full album! :)

P.S. These were some pretty incredible weddings - seeing the albums just brings it all to life!

Patrick & Jennifer - Click here to view the album slideshow!

Justin & Jennifer - Click here to view the album slideshow!

Logan & Jacquie - Click here to view the album slideshow!

Maternity Session w/ Denise & Blake!

2008-03-30T07:47:00.002-04:00

I hope everyone had a good week and is enjoying the weekend. I'm a little behind on my blog entrees (they will pick up up big time in a couple weeks, once we start the wedding season), but wanted to quickly check in and post some photos of our maternity session from yesterday!

It seems like ages, but was only a few years ago we had the opportunity to shoot the wedding of Denise & Blake. It was very exciting to hear from them again, and especially learn that they were expecting a new baby boy (Apollo) on the way! We played around in the studio a bit to try and document this special time in their lives (and for the little guy to see later when he's grown up) - here's a few samples from the day.

Denise & Blake - it was great to see you guys again, and had a lot of fun hanging out yesterday, thanks! :)

Engagements w/ Victoria & Blake!

2008-03-22T20:23:00.004-04:00

With the 2008 wedding season, now just under 2 weeks away for us, I'm doing my best to get back in the mindset of thinking about weddings and dusting off that creativity for what's to come (we have about 40 weddings this year, which is a little scary to think about at the moment - yikes!). No matter how many weddings you shoot, the first wedding of each new season is always a little nerve-racking for some reason - either way, I am pretty excited about it.

With nicer weather just around the corner, more and more couples are starting to think about that engagement session. Victoria & Blake are getting married in June, and we had the opportunity to hang out with them today for their e-session. Normally, we would shoot in the studio or in a local park, but instead we met over at her parents house to do something a little different - which was a lot of fun by the way, and worked out great!

As you can see, this couple is top of the charts when it comes to the photogenic department, and I can only imagine how incredible they are going to look when all decked out and dressed up on their wedding day - here are a few of my favorite photos from the day I thought I'd share. A huge thanks to Victoria & Blake for allowing us to hang out with them today - Tonya and I look forward to the upcoming big day!

P.S. In case I don't post til after the holiday, I hope everyone has a Happy Easter - time to go hide some eggs!

Back in the Saddle!

2008-03-19T15:46:00.002-04:00

It's nice to be home - I'm spending the day in my pajamas and catching up on emails and phone calls from being out for a week (they stack up quickly). While I love being home, I already miss the smell of the fresh air and beautiful skies Arizona had to offer.... here's one more quick shot I thought I'd share!

Last Day in the Southwest!

2008-03-17T22:41:00.002-04:00

We left a cold and believe it or not, snowy Sedona this morning, and headed south to beautiful Scottsdale, Arizona for our last day, before heading back to NY tomorrow. I'm amazed at what a difference in weather and temperature a 2 hour drive can make! Scottsdale is an amazing city from what I can see, and definitely a playground for the rich - it would be amazing to come back and retire here someday!

As much as we've enjoyed our time away, I have to admit being excited about getting back home tomorrow.... cold or not, there's no place like home I suppose (plus we miss the dogs). Here's a few last shots from our last day here, starting with a shot I took in Sedona this morning on our way out, and then our new fancy schmancy room here, in Scottsdale - the room is a bit to Richard Branson for me, but the balcony overlooking the pool is definitely pretty cool. We're off in the morning and look forward to catching up with everyone when I get back.... I have about 30 emails to respond to, so please give me a day or two to catch up!

Some Photos From The Road.....

2008-03-16T16:21:00.005-04:00

We're still enjoying our time in Arizona (although it just went from 75 degrees to snowing, which is a bit strange?), and thought I would check in since the weather isn't working in our favor at the moment. We spent a full day at the Grand Canyon, which is without a doubt, one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my entire life (and I've seen a lot!) I can't even describe to you what it feels like to stand near the edge of a cliff that drops anywhere from 500 to over 1000 feet straight down.... it's seriously so insane and scares the hell out of you when you image the imaginable for even a split second. We found this book in a gift shop that talks about all the encounters/deaths of people falling at the Grand Canyon over the years, and if I knew the other day, what I know now from that book, I probably would have stayed much farther away from the edge!

While standing atop a 500ft cliff, I ended up talking to another gentleman with a camera, and when asked where he was from, he said "from a small town in Upstate, NY." We both almost fell off the cliff when we learned he's from about 15 minutes from me back home (bad joke, but you can imagine the coincidence of all places).

Yesterday, we spent the day down in Phoenix, which is about a 2 hour drive south to attend a Strobist lighting seminar, which was very exciting. It was awesome to meet so many other photographers from this side of the country as well as some cool new lighting techniques that I look forward to implementing in some of our shoots and weddings this year. This seminar was the entire reason for making the trip at all, and a good excuse to take a little vacation for Tonya and I.

So...... we are back up in Sedona at the moment, and then head back down to Phoenix tomorrow, to spend our last night before heading back to NY. The weather went from beautiful sunshine to hailing this very strange, confetti-ish white stuff, that I guess is supposed to be snow? (it's much different than anything I've seen before - it smells like fresh rain, and seriously almost doesn't even qualify to be snow). Anyway.... just checking in - I don't have my normal programs and stuff at my fingertips since I'm on a laptop, but here's a few shots I thought I would share of our trip thus far...... you may want to wear your sunglasses for this one, sorry! More later - I hope all is well, and look forward to getting back to NY in a few days.

See ya soon! (hopefully)

Sunny Arizona - We Made it!

2008-03-13T19:00:00.009-04:00

It's been a long day of traveling, but we made it safely to Arizona today (our flight was rescheduled from yesterday). Since we will be doing a lot of driving while here, and our hotel was 2 hours from the airport (fun after a long day already in the sky), we treated ourselves to an Infinity M5 for the week (we may just need to pick one of these puppies up when we get back to Albany :)

Anyway, we haven't seen much yet or had the chance to get out, but here's a quick shot from our drive to the hotel - the weather is amazing here (75 and sunny), and I'm really excited about the upcoming week and all the things we are planning on doing. I am attending the Strobist lighting seminar in Phoenix on Saturday and then the rest of time will be "play time" which will be nice before the insanity of the 2008 wedding season begins. I'll be taking tons of photos while here this week, and can't wait to share them throughout the week or when I get back. (Lots of stuff of the Grand Canyon probably and whatever else we do). Ok.... we're off to grab some dinner and book some stuff for the week!

P.S. We've been here 3 hours and I'm already ready to move here..... the 75 mpg speed limit doesn't bother me much either! :)

And a quick shot of where we are staying for the next few nights before we move onto the next hotel.

Another Round of Fun Family Photos!

2008-03-11T21:07:00.002-04:00

Working with families (and kids) is always a little unpredictable, yet always fun at the same time. I enjoy watching and photographing all the fun and cute little mannerisms and expressions a child can make - despite the cliche.... it's priceless stuff in my opinion.

I had the opportunity to work with the Raymond family a few years ago, so it was a pleasure to be able to work with them again, and meet the new edition to their family, Emma (she's adorable as you can see)! Here are a few quick samples from our session today that I liked and thought I would share. Thanks for coming guys, and for a fun shoot!

P.S. We are off to Arizona tomorrow for an exciting strobist (photography) seminar in Phoenix that I'm dying to go to, and then a little R&R in Sedona and the Grand Canyon, etc. which I never never seen. I'm not sure if I'll post while I'm away or not, but I can assure you, I will have some amazing photos (hopefully) to share with everyone when we get back - check back for details!! :)

Headshots with Alexandra!

2008-03-08T20:41:00.002-05:00

It's been another busy weekend, and am still playing catch-up from all the shoots last week (I don't always post stuff on the blog depending on what it is)..... I did, however want to post a few shots of Alexandra here and some samples of her new headshots we did earlier today. Alexandra is trying out for some new musical theater things (and apparently is a great singer & dancer!) For a 14 year old girl, I'd say she already has a lot going her way.... thanks for a fun shoot today and best of luck with yoru audition!! :)

Awesome Letter - Wow!

2008-03-07T14:37:00.003-05:00

I don't usually post emails I receive, but I got this today and it totally made my day - I just had to share! :)

Let me tell you - there is no greater feeling than knowing all the hard work, time and dedication of the end product is so much appreciated and that the bride & groom (or whoever for that matter) is happy. Thanks again, Lydia (and David) for allowing us to be a part of this and for being so incredible to work with - this will have me a in a good mood for days! :)

Smoke

2008-03-05T23:10:00.005-05:00

I don't know why, but I've been dying to shoot some smoke pattern photos in the studio and just haven't had time. I decided to play around a bit tonight with some incense sticks to see what I could get. Here's a few samples.... whatdya think?

CHW - Albany Law Firm Project...

2008-03-04T18:53:00.007-05:00

We wrapped up the 2nd leg of our intense, 4 day project with Cannon, Heymann & Weiss, LLP this week in what was probably one of the largest projects I've done in awhile! I think I ended up shooting close to 35 headshots for this and hundreds of environmental shots of people in action (photojournalistic stuff in the office if you will). Since my wife works at the firm in Albany, it was slightly weird to see her in action, but all went very well. More and more, we are starting to get involved with more corporate/commerical projects like this and do really enjoy them - it's definitely not the same stress as shooting a wedding, that's for sure! :)

Between the 2 offices in Buffalo and Albany we have hundreds of shots, and it will be interesting to see which images get used and which not for the all new website, which is in it's final steps of design (they're just waiting on the photos now). Here's a few shots from the Albany office......

P.S. We have a very exciting new business partnership announcement that we'll be making soon, but for now my lips are sealed - exciting stuff, so stay tuned for the big announcement! :)

By the way..... a huge thanks and props to Genn Shaughnessy of Dark Shadows Media, who did an amazing job with hair & makeup for our headshots..... for those that ever have the need, this girl does amazing work! I coulnd't resist helping her to update her headshot..... for those interested, you can check out her website at: http://www.darkshadowsmedia.com/.

Trippy Illusions to Brighten Your Day......

2008-02-27T17:22:00.004-05:00

Someone sent this to me in an email and thought it was pretty cool. The first one is pretty much self-explanatory in that your eyes play tricks on your to think things are moving (which is crazy), and the 2nd one is absolutely insane - I have never seen anything like it before so thought it was extra trippy.

When you get the second one, the trick is to stare at the 4 small dots in the center of the image for about 30-40 seconds (don't cheat and do it for a shorter period or it won't work!) - then look at a wall or up at the ceiling and close your eyes, and then slowly blink them...... who do you see when you close your eyes? If you haven't seen it before, it's insane - how to people figure this stuff out!?

The Value of Customer Service

2008-02-27T11:45:00.010-05:00

In my opinion, businesses with amazing or exceptional customer service are not always easy to find. While there are some fantastic companies (large & small) out there, many think that doing business is just about the "transaction" rather than the "interaction," which I completely disagree with. As a full-time business owner, I constantly pay attention to how places treat their customers, and sometimes wonder how people stay in business. On a positive note, I've also been blown away withe the amazing service I've received at other places, and will continue to give them 100% of my business (and tell everyone I know about them).

I think my bank (which I'm not going to name right now) is a perfect example of a place giving poor service. Despite the fact that I hold 4 accounts with them and am there 2-3 times per week, I'm lucky to get any sort of a hello when I walk in the door, and often have to initiate the conversation myself to break the silence & dead air (which I hate by the way). I'm not asking for people to jump through hoops of fire when I walk in the door, but wouldn't it be nice to at least give a basic "hello" and greet a person that is choosing to do business with you? If I opted not to open my mouth, I'm pretty sure I could walk in and make a deposit without a single word being spoken to me (I actually may try this tomorrow and report back to you, haha).

While it may not be possible to 100% please every single person you come into contact or do business with, I do feel that the service we try to provide for our clients is equal if not better to the photography work that we do. I get more calls from future clients telling us they heard about what great service we provide, than calls from people that want to do business only because of the work we do. I've heard so many stories from folks we've met with complaining about other photographers that either have no personality whatsoever, or were extremely rude and treated them poorly. I'm probably sharing more than I should for the local photographers that read this blog, but I think the #1 reason people fail in business is not because they aren't good at what they do, but because they don't know how to run a business and provide the best service possible for their customers - I suppose this is not that big of a secret, right?

You're probably asking yourself where I'm going with all this (I'm beginning to ask myself, actually). Aside from already doing all we can to provide the best photography service in the Capital Region, we are also doing some extra things this year such as signing up for a Linkedin account, which will allow others to recommend our services and/or leave feedback. This morning, we also received our offical accreditation into the Better Business Bureau (not just given out to anyone these days, and expensive to be a part of), which I'm pretty excited about. Once the paperwork is finalized, we'll be displaying their official seal on our website, which is just one more symbol of our dedication to providing ethical & exceptional service.

Aside from our testimonial page on the website, you can access our new Linkedin account to link yourself and/or recommend us if interested. We should have our BBB listing up sometime next week, so save your complaints until then - haha! :)

http://www.linkedin.com/in/mattramosphotography

Albums, Albums, Albums & More Albums.......

2008-02-26T22:24:00.003-05:00

It's been a crazy couple of days for us, and we've had album orders come in faster than we can keep up with. I've been working around the clock to try and crank as many out as possible. We have done 3 in the last 24-48 hours, and wanted to quickly share one from good friends, Kevin & Rebekah's recent wedding!

Of all the weddings we did last year, I'd say these guys may have taken the cake for being the rowdy bunch. Kevin & Rebekah are so much fun to be around, and to be honest are as goofy as they'll ever get (I mean that in a good way). It was like shooting the wedding of two comedians, and you'll see from some of the photos/pages in their album, I'm not lying. They have not yet seen the album yet, but I'm posting it here for all to see anyway (hopefully, I won't get into too much trouble for doing so). I've posted a few of my favorite page layouts below, and for those interested, you can view the entire album slideshow by clicking the link below:

Make sure you turn up those speakers first to get the full effect! :)

www.ramosdesigns.com/demassio

Our Latest Batch of Albums - Wow!

2008-02-23T20:23:00.005-05:00

It seems everyone is all the sudden interested in getting their albums from last years wedding (which is a good thing before we get too crazy for the 2008 season) I've never seen so many album orders in such a short amount of time! There are so many albums I love, and I'm trying not to go broke by ordering samples of each one since I hate not having one for myself. If I wasn't holding myself back, I'd probably have orderd about 30 albums just for myself from our 2007 wedding season.

Anyway, I came home to these in the mail, and thought they just looked incredible. This is the set of good friends, David & Lydia's albums - 1 Master 9 1/2 x 13 and 3 duplicate 8x12 parent albums from Graphi-Studio. These puppies are AMAZING - I can't wait to ship them out this week and am sure they will go nuts when they see them!

Keep those orders comin' and we'll keep crankin' em out! Still procrastinating to order that wedding album? Now is the perfect time to place your orders!

Back From the Big City...

2008-02-23T19:15:00.003-05:00

Tonya and I don't travel to the city much, but we had a blast this weekend as a part of her company retreat in Manhattan, in what may now become more of a regular occurance (if we have the time anyway). It had been years since I had been on a train, and I was amazed how easy (and surprisingly comfortable) it was to take a train down, and it sure beats the stress of driving & parking once you get there.

I can't admit to being a big fan (sorry), but we also had the opportunity to attend the Knicks game, which was a lot of fun (I can't believe they won by the way!) - there's nothing like seeing an event like that in Madison Square Garden! I lived in Japan (just outside of Tokyo) for about 2 years when I was in High School/College, however still can't say I could ever live in a city environment like that again. Despite my personal preferences, the City is truly a fascinating place on earth that's amazing to visit every now and then... overall, an awesome weekend!

I've forgotten how many emails my inbox generates after a day or two of being away from my computer..... looks like I'd better get to work! :)

P.S. Sorry for the boring & low quality photos - I had a cheap little point & shoot camera with me, and didn't have much time to snap anything good - maybe the next time.

Total Lunar Eclipse 2008........

2008-02-20T20:02:00.013-05:00

For those that aren't aware, tonight will mark the last Lunar Eclipse until 2010. Here is my first shot of the moon from about 15 minutes ago. I'm going to attempt to create a lunar eclipse trail as it reaches the different stages and crosses the sky..... check back later to check it out (hopefully anyway :)

P.S. It's gonna be a cold night!

1 Hour later...... I don't think I can stand out in the cold anymore, but here is my compilation of the various stages of the lunar eclipse. This was my first time photographing something like this (it's not like you get a lot of opportunities to practice your lunar eclipse shooting), so I'm fairly pleased with how it came out. I obviously stiched these together a bit so you can see it's trail of transition lasting over about an hour's time or so. I'm sure I could have made this even cooler looking if I'd stuck it out a bit longer, but I'ts f-f-f-freeeeeeeeeeeezing!!

P.S. I shot with a 400mm lens with a 2X extender giving me 800mm and then cropped. Originals were shot at 21 Megapixels. Whatdya think??

Another Graphi-Studio Album.......

2008-02-20T11:45:00.003-05:00

While it's a little nerve-racking sometimes, I love it when new albums come in. (Nerve-Racking because you want them to be perfect). There's an unbelieveable amount of blood, sweat, tears & stress I suppose that go into a wedding (from both sides), and there's nothing better than an amazing wedding album to showcase and remember the day with. Bob & Jen had to have the best (of course), and ordered a beautiful 9 ½ x 13 & 2 duplicate parent albums all in leather from our Graphi-Studio line...... I loved the album so much, I had to order one for myself to add to our show album collection. There are so many options we can do for covers on these, but really like the way this came out and how the names are debossed into the leather. For a luxury album, they are actually quite affordable, AND...... we are offering some pretty fantastic discounts on them right now for those who haven't yet ordered their album(s).

Here's a photo of my copy. I've got mine...... don't you want your own now?

P.S. We specialize in album design (whether we shot your wedding or not), and we offer these to anyone. Please feel free to contact us for details or check out our new site at http://www.ramosdesigns.com/ :)

CHW Project - Buffalo

2008-02-16T21:43:00.005-05:00

As I mentioned the other day, I've had the opportunity to travel to Buffalo this week to work on a pretty big project for Cannon Heyman & Weiss, in which the images will be used to design their new website with. With two offices (Buffalo & Albany), dozens of employees, and a high level designer working ont he project with us, it's been a lot of fun to be a part of. Aside from shooting new, professional headshots of all employees for the firm, we are shooting quite a few environmental images showing their employees in action (meetings, conference calls, employee interactions, and some photo-journalistic stuff, etc) to give a feel of what CHW is all about.

We start leg two of the project, here in Albany, in 2 weeks, however have now completed the Buffalo portion of the shoot - there are hundreds of images to go through, but here are a quick few from the week. The new site is going to be amazing, and I can't wait to see the final product once all the images and designing are completed!

P.S. I'll post a link to their new website as a later follow up once the final leg of the project is complete.

This Morning's Session w/ Kennedy & Co.

2008-02-16T18:14:00.003-05:00

After returning from Buffalo last night, we didn't waste any time setting the studio back up for use! This morning we had the opportunity to hang out with John, Dania, and their 6 month old daughter, Kennedy (In addition to being an adorable little girl, she has a really cool name, doesn't she?) I'm not sure Kennedy liked me too much as she wouldn't stop sticking her tongue out at me while trying to get her photo, but we managed to get some great shots of her anyway! :)

Thanks for a fun shoot today, guys - we had a lot of fun and think there are some really great shots from the session! I am still going through photos, but here's a few that caught my eye I thought I'd share.

Cool Sunset

2008-02-15T23:04:00.003-05:00

A shot from the road..... some of the coolest sunsets are when you are driving and can't do much about getting a photo - luckily my camera was riding shotgun with me like always :)

It's good to be home... samples from the Buffalo shoot tomorrow!

All Packed & Ready to Go!

2008-02-13T09:23:00.004-05:00

One of the least fun things to do (well for me) is pack everything before a big shoot or wedding. It's not the packing that's the issue, but more so the fear of forgetting something important and having to go over your item list over and over and over. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but it can be stressful, trust me. There are some fantastic photo equipment bags (even with wheels & a slot for your laptop like I have) that help to keep things organized when you need to, which is a big help..... as you can see, mine is overflowing a bit and I have to double stack things sometimes.

We are headed to Buffalo for a couple days to work with Cannon, Heyman & Weiss, who is having their website completed redone for both, their Buffalo & Albany offices. Since we are looking at 2 full days of shooting, headshots & environmental work, it's quite a process to prepare for.... my bag is maybe a 1/4 of the equipment we are bringing for the trip along with all of the lighting/studio background & computer equipment. (And boy do I love loading my truck & driving 5 hours in the snow, sleet & freezing rain!) All joking aside, I'm really looking forward to the project and think it will be a lot of fun. We've purchased a lot of new cool equipment this year to prepare for the wedding season, so I'm also excited to try some of it out. I'll try to post some samples over the weekend after we return!

Need to Know the Sunset Time on Your Wedding Day?

2008-02-06T23:39:00.000-05:00

I have a group of roughly 8-10 blogs that I read every day - in fact half of them are pretty stupid (sorta like the one you're on right now), but I can't seem to pull myself away from them for whatever reason. I usually, start in the morning by checking email, going to CNN to find out when the world will most likely end, and then onto my systematic blog readings for the day. I'm sure you're all so happy to understand my morning web workflow, considering it's extreme level of importance in your life :)

Anyway, I found this great site from one of the blogs I frequently visit that is pretty cool and will end up being a big help this year in terms of knowing when it's going to get dark (this is pretty important stuff in terms of photography when you're photographing a wedding). This may or may not be useful to those planning your upcoming weddings, but I thought it was pretty cool - I'm going to try and find a way to embed it into our main website as a helfpul reference I think.

Simply type in your wedding date (or any day for that matter), your city and state, and presto! - it tells you all the info you need in regards to when the sun comes up, goes down, etc. Click the image below to check it out!

Scott & Stefanie Album Completed.....

2008-02-06T02:15:00.000-05:00

It's going on 2:15am, and I'm suffering from another case of insomnia apparently. I decided to use my boredom wisely and threw together (I say that loosly!) the album for Scott & Stefanie. I love it when couples want to get the album(s) done not long after the wedding, because it allows us to crank through the orders we have quickly (hint, hint!)

Scott & Stefanie are a sweet couple, and we had a lot of fun at their wedding last year..... I'll never forget it, since I shattered my $1500 lens and a flash unit as well... grrrr. Anyway, they have selected one of our 20 page, luxury Graphi-Studio albums, and I think this is going to make a really nice album! For those new to the blog, we allow our couples to select the photos themselves that they'd like for the album, and then we design it from there based on their image selections. (And then they get edit sessions to have us tweak things if necessary :)

For anyone interested, you can click the link or the photo below to check out their album. Make sure you turn those speakers up!

www.ramosdesigns.com/wiley

On a completely separate note......

Please keep in mind, it's 2am right now and what I think is funny is magnified by about 12 when I'm tired, but I saw this, and laughed so hard I was crying (and almost fell out of my chair I might add) - I hope I don't offend anyone with this, but here's your laugh for the day - LOL! (literally)

Unbelieveable

2008-02-03T22:40:00.000-05:00

Wow.... there are no words.... what an amazing upset & year in sports!

L O S T

2008-02-01T00:19:00.000-05:00

After months of anticipation, it was awesome to finally have LOST come back for the new season tonight. It's seriously one of the most amazing shows I have ever seen, and it's stressful (in a good way) yet so much fun to try and piece it all together of what you think is happening or might be going to happen. Just when you think you've got things figured out, they throw a whole new twist at you that completely puts you back to square one again.

Tonya and I will now be glued to the TV each week to watch our favorite show. For those of you that don't watch the show, or think they are too "lost" to get into the show, I think now is a great time to jump in.

Any other Lost fans out there?

P.S. It's been a horrible couple of days for me.... I have a swolen uvula (that pendulum thing in the back of your throat), which has caused it to severely extend in length and now sits in my throat, causing a choking-like sensation. It's like having something stuck in the back of your throat, but no matter how many times you cough or clear your throat it just won't go away. It's by far the worst thing I've ever experienced, and pretty scary I might add. I spent the day at the dr's today getting x-rays, etc and am on strong meds to hopefully bring things back to normal. I hope no one ever has to get this - grrr!!!

Guitar Hero w/ Tom & Jamie! :)

2008-01-27T16:46:00.000-05:00

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?

2008-01-24T08:47:00.000-05:00

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)......

2008-01-19T21:52:00.000-05:00

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!

2008-01-17T15:50:00.000-05:00

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!?

2008-01-12T17:41:00.000-05:00

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!

2008-01-11T14:42:00.000-05:00

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?

2008-01-09T23:03:00.000-05:00

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 :(

2008-01-07T11:13:00.000-05:00

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...

2008-01-04T09:28:00.000-05:00

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!

Merry Christmas! :)

2007-12-24T20:49:00.000-05:00

Christmas (and the holidays) are always such a special time, and no matter how old you get, Christmas Eve seems to make you feel a bit like a kid all over again in some ways. I'm a bit behind on my blog updates as of late, but wanted to drop a quick line to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas this year. Spending your first holiday season with your new spouse is a really cool feeling, and I hope all the newly married couples of 2007 enjoy it..... these are the memories you'll cherrish most in 20-30 years from now :)

P.S. I'll keep ya posted on whether or not I get that Red Rider BB gun I've been wanting.... I leave you with a few shots of our tree this year!