While most people may not consider Lake George New York a destination wedding location, I certainly do!
I just recently returned from a weekend trip to The Inn at Erlowest in Lake George NY. Two full days of photographic coverage with an amazing couple, great family and some awesome vendors.
The threat of rain came just as we were wrapping up photos by the lake..
Finishing the night off with some fireworks!
Some more images can be found on my facebook page, or more will be coming to my personal blog soon!
…in this whole wide world when you’re in love with a “Jersey Girl”.
It’s not often that one hears Tom Waits music being played at weddings however, ever since I heard it as a couple took to the floor for their first dance many years ago, it’s had a special place in my heart, even more so since my wife, Carol, took a temporary job in NJ. – eleven years ago!
My “Jersey Girl”
and I’m glad she’s wearing my ring.
“Don’t you know that all my dreams come true when I’m walking down the street with you?”.
Happy Anniversary.
…and all our best wishes to all the “Jersey Girls” getting married on the 20th.
David’s earlier post about “how come you don’t call yourself a photojournalist” is great! I am similar in I don’t consider myself a pure photojournalist photographer, but I find it amusing that some photographers I have met over time DO call them photojournalists yet they do more posing then me. So getting ready, ceremony and reception – I have a Photojournalist attitude.. shooting as it happens
However I love playing with light.. capturing moments and having a good time at weddings. Is that so wrong?
“Wedding Photojournalist – what does that really mean?” asked one of my clients during a recent consultation “I see that on many wedding photographers’ websites but not on yours, why?”. I answered “because I am not a PURE photojournalist. My style has a few different elements in it, I wouldn’t be very accurate if I said I am strictly a wedding photojournalist”. “Well…” said the bride “I don’t really care what it’s called, I love your photos but when browsing other photographers I noticed that I am drawn very much to all the websites that said the photographer IS a wedding photojournalist, so…what does it mean?”. It means that you are not altering anything at all during a wedding shoot. It means that you are trying to be as invisible as you possibly can while shooting so that no one really pays attention to you (because you want your subjects to be camera unaware). It means that creating your photographs involves anticipating the moment, knowing your equipment and its limitations inside out, relying on your instincts to be at the right spot at the right time. It means keeping your eyes and ears open and your reflexes fast. It means capturing things as they happen, freezing real moments in time, without re-enactment, repetition and second chances. If you fail for any reason – the moment is gone. There will be a hundred more, true – but the one you lost is probably not coming back. It’s hard work when you take into consideration everything that you have to pay attention to at any given second (let’s see how many I can come up with, somewhat in order of importance: am I shooting in good light (if not what light modifiers should/can I be using right now to make it better), do I have the right lens for the shot, are my settings correct (ISO/aperture/shutter speed), should I turn around and change my position, maybe the scene will look better from a different angle, am I in the correct focusing mode, is there enough space left on the card to fire off a fast sequence and another one right after that, am I in somebody’s way, the batteries are still good right? haven’t changed them in a while…
…so…yes, the satisfaction is huge when you get it right! It’s a feeling uncomparable to anything else. When you know you got THE shot you are the king of the hill, the master of the universe, the winner of the race, the monkey with the biggest banana in the cage!
“Could you show me a few that you think are your best photojournalistic shots ever?” asked the bride again. “Here’s a few I really like…” I replied.
Here is a glimpse of how much fun it is to work with a couple during their engagement photo session. Linda and Gary’s wedding is coming up later this year, and I met up with them this weekend in Manhattan and we roamed the Meat-packing District and Times Square for some vibrant portraits.
A slightly surreal image from a recent engagement photo session - the couple, Shannon and Peter, played with the idea of not just walking across the reflecting pool at Skylands Manor (Ringwood, NJ), but levitating across ..
.. and this gave me the idea for a theme for this post – jumping shots. Bridal parties and couples who jump. Some may think it cliched, but I love it when a bridal party has energy and is excited and willing to play around. Anything to break it up from that ‘usual suspects’ kind of line-up. Exuberance and excitement goes a long way to making the photography on a wedding day interesting.
I have always loved movies! And ever since I have been a professional photographer, I look at them differently. I notice angles, composition and lighting. So it comes as no surprise that I always wanted to learn video and even possibly make a movie someday.
We all know that you just cannot take a giant leap forward. But by taking some smaller steps, you will learn the craft and make the final result better. So I decided to try my hand at some stop motion or time lapse photography instead of just jumping in with a video camera.
Now I needed to prepare. I had to fiqure out the intervalometer (or Intvl Timer Shooting) on my D200. After a short test or two, I was set to really test it out on a final subject. I had to now figure out what to shoot, how much to shoot and then how to make the video. Figuring out what to shoot was pretty easy for me as I had some ideas. The sky is an easy subject by just putting the camera on a tripod and getting it set. How much was not too hard to figure out using some basic math. But I did not know how many frames per second to make it which would help me determine how much to shoot and how long the final project would be. This was something I now know by making 2 movies. Finally, what was I to do with the captured photographs and how to make it into a movie. Luckily, through the internet and friends, I learned of a very simple, easy and cheap solution…Quicktime Pro. If you are interested in making movies like this, I highly recommend purchasing this. A quick google search will give you all the information you need to use this program for this type of photography.
So I gave it a shot. My first effort turned out ‘ok’. Only problem was that I should have had a full battery or battery grip on my camera as the battery died. Rookie mistake!
I wanted the next effort to have a final product that was much longer. Luckily, the sky and wind again worked in my favor. Charged batteries and then some final post-processing (B&W and a vignette) added to the final video.
Now to move forward with this technique using story boards, multiple scenes in one movie and maybe even selective focus. All this while working toward a final goal of working with video!
We have touched the subject of engagement sessions a few times on this blog. As wedding photographers we often encourage our couples to work with us before their wedding and get together for a few hours of fun photography. We happen to live in a very random and rich in dramatically different lications area. When it comes to one of the basic question of “where to shoot?” – we are always happy to consult and advise. Urban, beach, woods, rural, day or night, big city or countryside – you can find it all in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Yes, you can surely just go to a nearby park and shoot a few traditional poses with a long lens and beatifully blurred background…but hasn’t this been done millions of times over decades? Whenever you get to work with an unusual couple like Jenn and Tim, a door of opportunities opens. It was them who came up with all the locations for their engagement session, including the supermarket (yes, we got chased out of one by security guards but it dodn’t stop us from finishing the shoot at another one just down the road!). All of the below, very different imho images were captured during a few hours I spent with Jennifer and Tim a few weeks ago:
I feel so fortunate to be a part of Group of 10 for many reasons, one of them being that I feel I am amongst some of the most talented, skilled and experienced professional wedding photographers in New Jersey and New York. When possible, we work with eachother and provide our brides and grooms with unparalled coverage and creativity! I was fortunate to have the talented photographer David Mialcarek at one of my recent weddings at the beautiful Pleasantdale Chateau. At different times we captured the feel of the preparations in progress, and then in tandem were instinctively capturing reactions and reactions.
While I was spending time with Suzi and capturing a few details in the morning:
early morning at the Pleasantdale Chateau
… David was capturing other preparations and spending time with Kevin:
There are also the times when two different views are equally as beautiful, as are the reactions to the main subject:
I’m very pleased to show some of my favorite photos from Jodi and Eric’s wedding:
A kiss at the hotel.
The ceremony was in the garden at Barolo.
Photographed at the 60 Thompson Hotel and nearby Barolo Restaurant in Manhattan. The 60 Thompson is a small luxury hotel, opened in 2001, in the heart of Manahattan’s SoHo district. The nearby Barolo Restaurant and Garden, at 398 West Broadway, offers flavors of the beautiful wine region of Barolo in northern Italy.
