I was recently asked to contribute some thoughts to the photo industry blog on the Photoshelter website here. Photoshelter is a back end service that photographers, like myself, use to interact with clients. They work with all types of photographers. In this case, I was asked to provide some thoughts for other photographers and what they should ask their prospective couples before taking them on as clients. It’s always an honor when I’m asked to help or work with other photographers, especially via an industry leader like Photoshelter. I pride myself in business on being as much of an open book as I can, no secrets around here. It’s also an honor to be electronically sitting on a panel with my friend Missy McLamb who taught me all about how to be a wedding photographer when I was working at the newspaper in Raleigh.
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connie + carter | St. Peter’s episcopal church + rittenhouse square + franklin institute
It’s funny, and actually rather freeing, when you find out you’ve been sized up by a potential client without even realizing it. Connie and Carter were guests at Anna and Sean’s wedding last May. Soon after I posted the pictures from that wedding, I met with Connie and Carter who were in the planning stages of their own wedding. It’s the best way to build a relationship not just when a client can recommend my services to a friend or colleague but when the couple gets the chance to view me working without me knowing I’m being studied. It’s sort of like a mystery shopper or like hiding behind a mirror. I’m just me, doing my thing, and they’re carefully observing and deciding if I’m the kind of guy they want for their wedding. From a business point of view, it’s awesome because if they’re contacting me it’s really just about details at that point. The conversations are always great because it’s like we already know each other.
And so here we are, Center City all the way. From big ol’ Ben Franklin at the Franklin Institute to Rittenhouse Square to the Phanatic. I have to say that Carter sets the bar high for all grooms. This guy was not just enthusiastic about getting married to Connie, as you can see Carter has plenty of reason to be happy cause Connie’s not just gorgeous with style for days but she’s so easy going and fun to be around. But Carter is all class, calm in the face of chaos (he ran back to their home in the middle of the reception to get the sparklers they’d planned on using for their exit but to no avail, missing sparklers) gracious and not shy about showing appreciation. Yes, he says Thank You and you know he means it whether it’s in numerous emails to me before the wedding or getting on the mic at the end of the evening and publicly thanking the band for making their evening fun and special. These two define class and I’m honored to have been a part of their day.
Now, to add a rather personal element of kismet here’s some common details between my wedding to my wonderful wife Caroline in 2006. Our anniversary is June 4 and this wedding was May 29, within a week. My wife’s dress was by Amsale, Connie too. My wife’s bouquet, pink peonies, guess what… My wife, gorgeous and stylish, and Connie, well see above and below. Ok, so we didn’t go to France and Italy for our honeymoon, we went to Turkey, but still.
Time to get outta the way and let the pictures do the talking.
Both Connie and I are shouting ‘Yaaaaaaaayyyyy’ because we’re so excited to see them. You do an incredible job and these pictures are just evidence of that. Thank you again – truly!
– CARTER
This pair below is actually two images paired together. Normally I’d put a space in between, like the pair several images down, but I really liked the trick of perspective that happens when they are blended together like this.
So my Photojournalism past would say that this next sequence needs to be edited tightly but my wedding brain says they’re all different and deserve a place in their own right. The first is the classic picture on Broad Street that is pretty ubiquitous and not quite a must-have but if you’re doing the deed in Center City it ends up high on the list for many people. The next two pics are more of my sweet spot. They’re spontaneous moments, beautiful in their composition and energy, in this case two very different energies. The third is just fun, a spontaneous moment on the street from a passerby who must’ve been from out of town because if he’d stood there a few more minutes he probably would’ve run into another couple on the street.
Decisions. Decisions….. I love ‘em both for such different reasons.
GETTING READY: FOUR SEASONS PHILADELPHIA
CEREMONY: ST. PETER’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
RECEPTION: FRANKLIN INSTITUTE
HAIR AND MAKEUP: RITZ CARLTON RICHEL D’AMBRA SALON
VIDEOGRAPHY: WELL SPUN WEDDINGS
BRIDE’S DRESS: AMSALE
BRIDESMAIDS: VINEYARD BY PRISCILLA OF BOSTON
FLOWERS: BEAUTIFUL BLOOMS
BAND: CTO GRAND CENTRAL
HONEYMOON: FRANCE & ITALY
INVITATIONS/PROGRAM/OTHER PAPER: PAPER ON PINE
SURPRISE GUEST: PHILLIES PHANATIC
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Neena + Sam | brooklyn engagement shoot
When talking over ideas about their engagment shoot, Neena was both clear and not too particular about what she and Sam hoped to get out of the experience. They wanted something comfortable and relaxed that was really them. She wasn’t a fan of the trend of highly stylized images including props and costumes. So the shoot was scheduled for a beautiful summer evening in their Brooklyn Heights neighborhood. We started on the balcony of their new apartment overlooking both the street activity below and the first apartment they lived in. The relaxed nature of the shoot made for an great evening of strolling the promenade overlooking lower Manhattan, some skateboarding and a walk through the Cadman Plaza.
I loved the pics! We captured some really fun ones.
NEENA
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image of the week | breaking tradition on broad street
Ok, Image of the Week is back, baby! I’ve been deep in album production for clients from the past two years and was reminded of this image, one of my favorites from last year. I work for you, my client. To not just fulfill your expectations and satisfy preconceived ideas about your wedding photography and what you expect to see but I also work for me, always working for something more. Getting beyond the known or expected is one of the truly satisfying parts of being a professional artist. If you’re a wedding photographer in Philly, even for just a minute, you’ll likely take the classic picture of a couple on Broad Street in from of City Hall. It can be a fun and Phillycentric way to celebrate your wedding. Passing motorists honk, this past Sat. a pedestrian, looking like he just left the gym, had to snap the couple with his iPhone. On this particular June evening, it was raining softly. Just enough to get the streets a bit wet but not enough to ruin the evening. So Kathy, John and I ran out to get our requisite images of them on the median. Then while running back in as the rain picked up, I kept shooting, as one must always do, and grabbed this impressionistic take on the scene. It’s one of the wondrous surprises that gets discovered after the shoot, sitting at the editing station. I love the blur, the colors, the contrast of Kathy’s dress against the street, the oncoming bus. If you love it too, let me know. Call me and I’ll break the mold for your wedding!
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MELANIE + CHRIS | PHILADELPHIA WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY – Glasbern inn
Melanie and Chris had a laid back afternoon at the lovely Glasbern Inn up in Fogelsville. The Inn is a quaint venue, they’re an all organic farm as well as being host to the best light in a bridal suite anywhere in the U.S. The light in their Garden Cottage is amazing, I’ve been here for three weddings and had the pleasure of working in the Garden Cottage twice and if I could I’d only ever work with this kind of light which can be seen in pictures three and four below. Melanie and Chris did away with many of the wedding traditions we’re used to seeing – no cake cutting, no first dance. Like I tell all who ask, a wedding should really reflect you and your personality so that your guests walk away feeling like they were at an event that really spoke to you as a couple. This event was more like a backyard picnic in all the ways that we all love them. It was comfortable, relaxed, friendly and warm, just like spending time with old friends and family.
Melanie and Chris are still on their honeymoon in Italy through this weekend so I hope they are stuffed full of pasta and Barolo by now!
FULL SLIDESHOW HERE
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The Cherub Next Door
This is Emma. She lives across the street. She has two brothers, William and Jack, and they’re leaving us next week.
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Blog Feature | PHOTOGRAPHUY.COM
I’m happy to share that another of my images has been featured on the wedding photography blog, PHOTOGRAPHUY. The site is a wedding photographer curated website. The site gives a photographer’s take on other photographer’s work. The picture that Karen Evans chose was taken in the Fall of 2008. It’s interesting to see what others will respond to in my work. I’m always flattered and a bit surprised. It’s good to be surprised when people chose images of yours that you may have overlooked or not thought was that special. Heather is such a distinctive woman that other clients of mine who’ve seen the pictures, commented how they’d see her and sometimes her and Ben around their neighborhood of Old City when they lived here in Philly. I’m looking forward to photographing Heather’s sister’s wedding next Feb. in New York City. 
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JESSE + CHRIS | WATERWORKS
Cool Cool Cool. That’s about how I’d sum up these two Center City Cats. Jesse and Chris had a small backyard wedding a year or so ago at Jesse’s parent’s house in the DC area. I wasn’t a part of that celebration but when they wanted to mark their marriage with a celebration here in Philly, I got the chance to join them and their family and the always refined Waterworks. Even though it was just a group of family and friends for brunch on a Sunday afternoon, they still wanted to mark the day with a set of killer pictures capturing all the fun. Jesse did all the details herself and with some help from her sister.
“aah!! These look great!!!”
– JESSE
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KIM + LARRY | REDUX PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER WEDDINGS
Kim and Larry grace the pages of the Philadelphia Inquirer today. Theirs is a great story, nothing too sappy or fussy, just good old romance.
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Wall Street Journal Assignment
Here’s a few images I liked from a recent shoot from an assignment with The Wall Street Journal. It was more of a day of collecting pictures than taking them but I was able to come away with a few that I liked. The story was about the current state of casinos in Atlantic City, which included a look at the former site where the legendary Sands Casino once stood. An assignment like this can easily been seen as simple mug shots of buildings and I do make sure to get that for my client but I also like to take it one step further and get a bit more creative or find a moment or juxtaposition to make it more than just a building picture. Even if it doesn’t fit the needs of that particular assignment it gives me a chance to show that extra bit of creative spark and hard work, even in a crazy day of shooting and transmitting on deadline.
This first one is such a bizarre contrast of so many things. It’s so extreme that it looks created or something unreal. I mean what’s this little house doing in the middle of this empty street next to this massive glass structure. It’s so weird.
If you read this blog semi-regularly you know I’m not a fan of gimmicks or tricks used to create an impression of a feeling when it’s not there. On the other hand, I also believe in pulling out any and all tools to get a point across. One thing about boardwalks to me is that they’re just weird places to go, especially when the weather isn’t nice. This happened to be a nice day in the Spring but was still well out of season for the boardwalk. I like the impact of the extremely shallow depth of field that creates a dreamy feel to the scene.
Take a picture of a thing that’s not there. The Sands Casino was torn down so there was nothing to take a picture of but the empty space. One device photographers hope for in a situation like this is something that gives a sense of scale that we can bring in to contrast against. I got lucky in this woman being late for her shift at a nearby Casino. Several other people walked by but there was no tension or urgency or nice shape to them. This woman creates a nice, vibrant triangle as she runs across the space, her feet at perfectly opposed directions and in a nice and perfect outfit to pop against the dirt.
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dig it.