On Tuesday I went down to the city to do an engagement shoot with Nicole and Scott, who are getting married at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino next May.  I hate to say this for the sake of sounding cheesy, but I had been looking forward to this shoot for a little while now.  When the 3 of us had lunch in Ithaca several months ago I immediately fell in love with these two.  Scott has just about the greatest sense of humor a person can have, and Nicole is a genuine sweetheart (not to mention about as beautiful as they come).  I usually only post a 4 or 5 image sampling from an e-shoot, but it was hard to even get it down to 9 for the blog so I’m just rolling with it :)

Big time thanks to Jason Groupp for coming out for the day!!  Check his blog for some shots of his own. 

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This past weekend I had my good friend Nathan Holritz stay with me for several days, and as always it was a blast!!  Nathan shot Emily’s wedding with me on Saturday, and then him and I went to Frank DiMeo’s wedding at the Turning Stone on Sunday to shoot Hanny’s wedding.  It was a real pleasure having such a good friend stay with me, and while Nathan and I were good friends already I think this weekend brought us even closer.  It’s always a pleasure spending time with such an amazingly talented photographer, and talking business, but it was the long drive conversations about life, relationships, and family that I most enjoyed. 

Thank you Nathan for coming out, and for your friendship!

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Saturday’s wedding between Emily and Mike took place at the Skaneateles Country Club, and Nathan and I had the chance to photograph yet another truly beautiful wedding.  It started Friday night with some fun night portraits and didn’t end until Saturday night, and Emily and Mike were into each other the entire time.  Every couple I work with is different, and each requires a different amount of direction, but Emily and Mike were one of those couples that seemed to work so well when they were worried about nothing and had the chance to just enjoy each other. 

Thank you both for allowing us to document your wedding!  A couple of the images below are by the awesome Nathan Holritz (I was once again honored to be side-by-side with such a highly respected and talented professional), so please feel free to visit his blog if you want more :)

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This weekend I have the one and only Nathan Holritz staying with me, and I am soo amped to have him here.  Nathan is a good friend and amazing photographer, and we’ve had a great time devouring good food, catching up, and laughing more than grown men should. 

I wanted to share a quick little funny story, at lunch today we ended up sharing some "war stories" and we got on the topic of when we started out.  I was telling Nathan that I shot my very first wedding for $250!!!  Nathan of course was much higher priced than I…. coming in at a pricey $300.  Cha-freakin-ching ladies and gentlemen!  We both of course lost money on those weddings, probably a bunch of money, but it was just so funny talking about when we started out and the equipment we were using, etc etc. 

Anyway, tonight we had the honor of photographing Emily and Mike’s rehearsal dinner.  I don’t usually post rehearsal dinner shots but Nathan and I got them to sneak outside for a couple fun portraits that I wanted to share.  See you all on Monday for the blog post of their wedding :) 
PS – check Nathan’s blog for some of his awesome work, the guy is truly talented. 

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Since Alisha Clark was up visiting again for Dennis and Maria’s wedding, we decided to take a little mini vacation to treat ourselves afterwards.  2006 really has been an amazing year for me and for the business, and to be honest I’ve been working my butt off this year, so a little in-season vacation was just what the doctor ordered.  I wanted to go someplace close and fun, and really could only get away for a couple days since it is in-season.  Niagara Falls fit the description perfectly, so we went up for Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.  We really tried to do it up right with the King Jacuzzi Suite, Maid of the Mist boat ride, helicopter ride, casino at night, etc etc.  I can honestly say this trip was one of the best I’ve ever had, the weather was perfect and everything we did ended up being way cooler than I had anticipated.  I had never been to Niagara Falls so I thought it would be fun, but not this much fun.  A couple notes…

-For anyone who is thinking about going to Niagara Falls…. definitely take the Maid of the Mist.  It was awesome!  You get pretty darn wet, but the sheer power and energy of being almost underneath Niagara Falls is incredible.  Like Alisha said after we ditched our blue garbage bags…. "I need a nap now!"
-The mist that comes off Horseshoe Falls is something I can’t describe.  I knew there would be a lot of mist, but damn I wasn’t expecting it to be as crazy as it is.  You can be blocks and blocks away from the Falls, and still just feel the mist out of the blue.  It’s nuts.  Seeing Horseshoe falls from the sky is really the only way to see it, because even on the Maid of the Mist all you can see is mist… and that’s if you can even keep your eyes open.  You can see mist in the upper left corner of the first image.
-Living in the Finger Lakes I have seen my fair share of waterfalls, so I wasn’t sure this would wow me as much as it did.  But the power, that is the draw to me.  You can feel it.  I believe they said the falls have the equivalent power of 16 million horses. 

Anyway, I had an amazing time and wanted to share some pics!  The last one is the only one not from Niagara Falls… that shot was taken through my windshield as I dropped Ali off at the airport.  She comes in with a beautiful sunrise and leaves with that awesome sunset… with nothing but great weather the whole trip.  Someone was looking out for her!

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I had the honor of photographing Dennis and Maria’s wedding this weekend with Alisha Clark once again, and we had an amazing time.  Maria and Dennis were one of those couples that I kept in pretty good contact with throughout the process, so I knew this was going to be a great weekend.  From Maria’s bitchin blue shoes to watching all the guests pick up Maria and Dennis on the dance floor and carry them around during New York, New York (and no they were not sitting in any chairs)… the night went off beautifully and everyone had a great time.  Thank you so much you two!

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This week’s entry is inspired by Sarah and Ian’s wedding in the 1,000 Islands a couple weeks ago.  The definition of weird?  Last year on Labor Day weekend I found myself in the 1,000 Islands for the very first time photographing a wedding, and we went from the ceremony to the reception in an old antique boat.  I absolutely loved it and told myself that I would be looking forward to the next time I was able to shoot there. 

I booked Sarah and Ian’s wedding earlier this year, and never really gave much thought to the date…. in fact the date never hit me until we were on the same antique boat in the same water, during the same weekend…. what the hell!?  Crazy!

Anyway, this image from Noelle and Christian’s wedding last year always struck me as an image I love.  I thought it just represented their wedding so well, a beautiful sunset with them, the water, and and a storm on it’s way out.  It rained on and off again the entire day, but when the rain went away it was like paradise swept in.  A little bit of everything captured in this image.  Plus they were so casual and such chill people that the "pose" works so well for them too.  Everything about the image just stuck out to me as a summary of the day. 

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I had the pleasure of photographing Jean and Dan’s wedding this past Saturday in Fairport, NY.  I knew it was going to be a great affair when I received an email from Jean earlier in the week that mentioned a 1950 Rolls Royce, a wedding at the family house, and a vineyard on the property.  I haven’t had the chance to shoot in as many vineyards as I’d like considering I am based in Upstate NY, but I knew we were going to have some fun when I heard there was a vineyard on the property :)  Plus any wedding that is thrown on a private residence always seems to be a great wedding, I know many people up here who love to hear from couples having weddings on their property. 

Congratulations Jean and Dan, and update me on the road trip when you get the chance!

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I had the opportunity on Sunday to work with my main NYC man, Jason Groupp.  Jason and I have been good friends for a number of years now, and I have second shot for him plenty of times over those years and every time I walk away very impressed with both his talent, and also with the weddings he photographs.  Sunday did not let me down.  Once again we were at a beautiful wedding, this time at Rockefeller Center, for Jamie and Jeffrey’s wedding. 

Thank you Jason for having me, I look forward to our continued adventures together… and congratulations on a beautiful wedding Jamie and Jeff :)

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Ok ok, I realize after 2 posts with no photos that I’ve kind of built this post up a little… so I am making up for that by making an extended post.  It truly was an honor photographing Sarah and Ian’s wedding up in the 1,000 Islands on Saturday and we had a blast all weekend.  I can sincerely say I had the hardest time leaving this wedding on Saturday night because it was just such an awesome crowd and everyone was having so much fun.  Thank you Sarah, Ian, and everyone else who helped make this such an incredible event!!

PS – check Jason’s blog to see some of his work…. and yes a couple of the images below are stolen from him!!!  The man is too talented for his own good.

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