This week’s entry for picture of the week comes from Corry and Greg’s wedding in January.  The picture below was taken during the ceremony as Corry was putting on Greg’s wedding ring.  She was repeating after the gentleman in the back when she forgot what she had to say!  The look on his face is priceless, while she is looking away in embarrassment, and Greg is looking back at everyone with the biggest smile ever.  I guess one of the reasons I love this image so much is because of how much it shows Greg’s personality in the image.  He has a great sense of humor and I could tell he loved to give Corry a hard time (in a totally good way of course) and got a kick out of it.  Much like I would be doing…. he’s milking her cute mistake :)  Even looking at that picture now, 1000 times later, it still makes me smile when I see it.  Sometimes I am able to capture an image that just shows the person how I see them, and this is a prime example. 

The photographer info for this shot was very simple…. I wanted to use available light for the ceremony like I almost always do, but this was literally a candle light ceremony, so that made it tough.  I had to drag the shutter all the way down to about 1/20th to get the ambient light in most of the shots, but I used some fill flash in case there was motion.  The fill flash was dialed down to -1 and 2/3rds exposure compensation though because I just wanted the flash to pop a small amount of light and stop whatever motion there was. 

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I know many of you rely on me for recommendations for the upper class services and products offered in NY for weddings, so I am going to continue to try and add posts and links to those companies that I believe are the best of the best.  I have mentioned before how strongly I believe in the Julie A. Stone Salon in the Ithaca area, and I know at least 2 of my brides are using her just next month, but those brides getting married a distance from Ithaca also need recommendations (since I have strong markets in Saratoga, Westchester, and Rochester as well).  For those brides I always recommend DeVenir Bridal.  The owner and lead person behind the business is Gillian Moritz, a good friend of mine that I met when I was trying to get my start in fashion.  Gillian is the most talented make up artist I have ever been around, bar none.  Her make up is flawless every time, even for the over-the-top fashion shoots we were doing in our pre-wedding days.  They are located in the NJ/NY area, but travel anywhere for weddings.  I will be working with Gillian for Megan Fredericks’ wedding on August 19th for those of you who want to check out their work. 

On a side note, most of the fashion images on Gillian’s person site were done by the two of us several years ago.  Most of the stuff on my personal fashion site was done by the two of us as well.  Neither site has been updated in a long time, but it was fun to take a look back :)

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I’m going to be shooting with our blog goddess Alisha from Lily Photography this weekend, and it’s a really busy week on top of that so I’ll be away from the internet for a couple days (yes I can indeed do this, I’m confident).  Before I get back to work though I wanted to poke a little fun at myself, so I’m going to post some goofy and funny stuff from the past 2 weeks.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am a complete goof, I love to laugh and play jokes on people more than most little kids.  However as much as I love to laugh at other people (my family and people like Frank and Alisha can attest), nobody is more fun to laugh at than myself.  I have unlimited material to laugh at once I learned to laugh at myself… it’s why I love t-shirts that say things like "I’m kind of a big deal."  Enjoy and I’ll be posting up some stuff from this weekend as soon as I can!

*image 2 I am using the fan to "air out" before the guests come in the reception.
*image 4 is my between the legs chimp shot…. I have been caught doing this by many other photographers. 
*image 5 shows my really geeky flash pack that I’ve started using this thing.  It really is the bomb digity in terms of usage, but boy do I look like a nerd wearing it.  I need a matching pocket protector or something…. geeks unite!
*image 6 makes me laugh the most because…. its actually me shooting myself!! LOL yes i did actually take a shot of myself in that mirror during getting ready shots.  well if i thought the battery pack made me look geeky this takes me to a whole different level.

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I want to let everyone know that I will be starting a new weekly post every Wednesday (starting on the 28th) that is a "picture of the week" entry.  I will feature any image that I feel like describing and tell a little story about that image.  A behind the scenes take, set the scene a little, or even just describe my thought process. 

I think this will help couples to really understand how I work.  Also since I know there are a good many photographers who visit my blog, I think this is a very cool way to see the way I work, the thoughts that go into shots, and just the way I approach things. 

I’m looking forward to getting this started :)

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I had the chance to spend my Sunday with Sara and John here in Ithaca, and it was a truly beautiful (and hot) wedding.  Sara and I stayed in pretty good contact throughout the entire process so I knew ahead of time they were going to do things right, but it was still great to see the entire day work out perfectly for everyone.  I mean they came to the studio on Friday and brought me a case of Jones Soda as a present, that tells you all you need to know!  Thanks again, I needed it after Sunday ;)

Sara and John’s honeymoon is going to be a long one, and they won’t be back until around the end of July so they won’t see their proofs for a while… so I’ve decided to make this an extented blog entry so they can have a little extra attention before they take off.  I’d say where they were going, but I can’t remember all the places…. it pretty much sounded like she named off the globe?  LOL have fun you two and get a hold of me as soon as you get back!!

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Sara had Nicky Wood as her DJ this weekend, and I just wanted to give a blog shout out to my main man.  Anytime the bride requests a shot of the DJ you know he’s good.  Looking forward to it again soon Nicky!

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My good friend Frank DiMeo invited me to come and shoot with him at his wedding on Saturday, and since my wedding this weekend came on Sunday I was more than happy to help.  Frank has come along to several of my weddings (which you’ve seen on the blog) and been a tremendous help so I was honored to be able to give back a little on Saturday.  Plus shooting along side Frank is always a pleasure, the two of us love what we do and certainly keep each other entertained!

Below is a couple pictures from Tai and Heath’s wedding in Ithaca.  I’m only putting up a few right now since I have several of my own weddings to work on, plus another on Sunday.  Sara and John’s images on Monday!

PS – The bottom image is keeping with my kids theme of my last post :)

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I was finishing up the proofs from the wedding of the Charlton twins on May 20th last night, and I came across several kid shots that either I liked or gave me a chuckle.  I decided this morning to grab several of my favorite recent kid shots and make a blog post with them.  Anything that will make you laugh, smile, or say awwwww qualified :)

PS – Megan took the shot of the girl with the blue dress and the flower.  And yes, the kid in the bottom picture is doing "the sprinkler."  You know that made you laugh!

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Julie Stone, who owns and operates the Salon on the floor below me, has finally launched her website!  I know it’s been a little bit of a project so a big time congratulations to Julie and her web guy. 

For those brides getting married in the Ithaca area I’d recommend checking Julie out.  I’m doing at least one wedding this year where the hair and make up is being done at her Salon first, and I know I’ve sent her several more brides for later this year and early next.  It’s nice to be able to roll out of bed, walk down the stairs, and start shooting! :)

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I had a brunch in Skaneateles on Sunday with some great photographers, and even better friends…. Jason Groupp and his wife Liz, Frank DiMeo and his wife Heather, and Robert Kaussner.  We ate over at the Blue Water Grill in downtown, right next to the lake.  We talked shop a little, talked about this weekend’s weddings, laughed a whole lot, and had some good food.  Looking forward to doing it again soon!

PS – it’s cool that so many of you get to see the work of these guys since they do make guest appearances at my weddings from time to time.  Hopefully we’ll be seeing more of these guys in the near future ;)

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