Femi and Mark- NYC

Femi and Mark were my first NYC city wedding. It was an incredibly beautiful day in August and all their details and planning made the day like a modern fairy tale. For me, it was a nice extra challenge to include parts of the city to capture not only the bride and the groom but to also showcase their setting.






Trying to get a cab...





Femi and Mark got married at one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen in my life- The famous St. John's the Divine on 111th and Amsterdam. Photography during the ceremony was frowned upon as the church finds it to be distracting- I don't disagree. But located outside of this church was a gem of a garden that we used to take some pictures. I love this shot of them in this secret little church garden.






After the ceremony Mark carried Femi across the street to their favorite weekend coffee shop.



The two of them hammed it up and role played their regular weekend activities of reading the paper with some coffee...funny how Femi turned right to the wedding announcement page!





Femi and Mark had their reception at a wonderful Italian restaurant on the upper west side called Nonna. The light in there was beautiful. The sweetest part of the wedding for me was when Femi and Mark played together. It was an incredible wedding moment. Congratulations to the two of you!

A summer business

This summer I was able to go home to Buffalo and hang out with the family. This included my sister and her two kids that live in Georgia. By the time I arrived from New York they had a full on business going! My brother Simon had taken them golf ball hunting in the pond off the golf course, and come morning they were clean and ready to be sold to the terrible golfers on my Mom's neighboring golf course!




A successful sale!

Uncle Simon teaches about the different brands of golf balls.



And then there were some not so nice golfers...

Catherine and Tom-

Catherine and Tom was my first real rainy day weather wedding. I had a great run for awhile, but still it mattered very little. Even though plan B may not have been as visually beautiful as plan A for portraits- their wedding day still contained all the elements that should be involved on a wedding day. Those being an abundance of love, joy, and happiness.

Julie and Matt

Julie and Matt are newly engaged and very in love! We did a photo shoot on a beautiful summer day in Central Park. Using a long lens we did a mix of candid shots and some portraits. It was great to let them go off and be in love as I captured them from far away- as to not to interrupt their hugs and kisses!









Thank you Julie and Matt for being so creative and flexible! Also an extra thank you to Matt who was tracking down the last rays of sunlight so we could get all these different location shots!
Congratulations and cheers to your love and happiness!

Julia

Julia was a photographer's dream of a client! She was enthusiastic, cooperative, clever and full of different emotions that came across in the images. Never mind that hair! Amazing hair!

Julia also had a camera, yet when she took a picture her camera spoke about Fairies...Nikon eat your heart out!





When I asked Julia if she would like to sit on a rock and take some portraits she replied yes, not my usual answer! Like a true professional she turned toward the camera, tilted her head and offered me her sweet playful smile. Behind me I heard the laugh of a shocked mother, saying-"this can't be my child"







I love when kids offer their serious side. I feel we live in a society where we are always trying to get people to smile in photographs. Interestingly in Kenya, they refuse to smile in portraits, the exact opposite! I guess I like it because it shows another dimension of kids. Kids do have serious sides, they are thinkers and as parents out there know for sure, they are complex.





These ducks at 103rd on the west side of Central Park are amazing! For many photo shoots now they show up right on time and always add fun for the kids. I am very grateful ducks, keep up the great work!



I had to add this shot because it just cracks me up, and shows another side of Julia! This is the kind of image you can look at when you are having one of those adult bad days and just start laughing..and then get over it!

Thanks Julia!!

Nicole and Craig

Nicole takes a peek out the window to see if Craig was at their meeting place!



Nicole has some of the most beautiful and arresting eyes you have ever seen! Lucky Craig!





These two are so in love and full of fun. I love this shot because it really captures them laughing and enjoying each other.









I really thought I was going to get my first opportunity to photograph cake in the face, but they played nice!



Nicole and Craig's wedding was FULL of beautiful and creative details, such as above. The wedding was really so well thought out and unique.



I have to thank these two, two buddies of mine. Gina and Nicole are childhood buddies and Gina sent her my way. Thank you Gina and Ben!! Also the reason why these two are sitting is because only days later they had their first baby, Anna Rose! Congratulations!!



Nicole and Craig thank you so much for putting your trust in us! Cheers to your love and happiness!!

Baby Jack!

Recently I have been extra lucky because so many of my friends are giving me such great subject matter; babies!!! This is Jack, Jessica and Rob's baby! He is such a good baby and was a wonderful model during his photo shoot!








This shot of Jessica's Dad really touches me. I feel like I was able to capture one of thousands of hearts to hearts these two are going to have!

Fire Island Ice Cream!

Fire Island is in full swing! Last weekend when I got off the ferry I saw this scene. All I could do was laugh at these adorable little kids all lined up completely immersed in their ice cream. Such a Fire Island moment.

I decided to use this image to play around with some filters. I have always been such a straight shooter, trying to capture life and then represent it just how it is and or was. Recently I have had more thoughts about this idea from having some conversations with other photographers who do like to manipulate. Its fun to play around with the tools of the digital age. The problem I have is that my mind wants to see the photograph how my mind remembers the moment. When it comes to other people's images I tend to love the manipulation, but of course my mind has nothing to compare the image to.

The top image was cross processed to create some funky colors and the bottom image was a combination of black and white filters.

Outside of the box Mother's Day Picnic!

A few days before Christmas, during a time when everyone is running around frantic getting last minute gifts, I received an email with the subject : Mothers Day 2008. Huh? Yes it's true, there was a man out there thinking about his wife and how to surprise her on Mothers Day! How many husbands do you know who think like this? When the day finally arrived it was so exciting for me because it was my first "secret" photo shoot. The husband felt that the ultimate surprise would be to come home that day after the Mother's Day picnic and show his wife pictures on the computer, pictures she had no idea were being taken! Cheers to caring husbands who take the time and energy to think outside of the box!