Engagements w/ Victoria & Blake!

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!

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!

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.....

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!

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!

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!

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!

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

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...

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/.