Destination-Vegas!

Shooting a destination wedding in Vegas was a dream come true for me. Samantha and Nathan are such a great, fun loving couple. Since they are also wedding photographers, they totally understand the value of freeing themselves in order to get fantastic imagery. As photographers they know that it's not always easy to be "the subject", but if you can get past that, and free yourself to live the fantasy, the results are usually spectacular. My motto is, "If you can envision it, you can live it". I try to utilize this rule in every area of my life, especially when I'm faced with a challenge. I would encourage all couples to really think through what they want from their wedding photographs. If all you need are straight forward group shots of your bridal party, then you have to know that your "Uncle Bob" can and will get those shots. If however, you are a willing party to some creative thinking, and able to give your photographer just a bit more time (or a day after shoot), your wedding collection will truly be an art piece. After all, it's your wedding day. You've never looked better, or had such a gorgeous location to have a party with all your loved ones present. So my suggestion? Go for it people! If you can envision it, you can live it! Samantha and Nathan did!

Still Recovering from WPPI

Vegas was amazing and a bit overwhelming as I knew it would be. It's such a great place to network and see the newest in products that are available. I also attended the "Vegas Love Story" workshop given by Bob & Dawn Davis. What a great team these two are. I learned so much, and since we shot an actual wedding, I have tons of images to edit before Monday to take advantage of Graphi Studio's generous album offer to us. There were more photographers (40 of us) than guests at this wedding. I met some super talented people that I know I will keep in touch with. This was my first year going to WPPI, so I was very taken with all the sights. So much fun, I'll definitely be going back next year. I still have a lot of images to process but I wanted to post some of the experience while it is still fresh.

I finally got to meet Jules Bianchi and her sister Joy for a sandwich shot. Check out Jules' new site Jules Cafe. I love Jules' work and was so happy to meet her after stalking her blog for a year.

The Blu Domain Soiree was one crazy party. I hear that there were about 500 guests.
We had to do the photo booth thing, several times I might add.
This is Samantha Lerner (our gorgeous bride from the "Vegas Love Story" workshop), Kenny Kim who was a huge help in putting this workshop together and a very talented photographer. (Kenny gets around, I've seen him at two workshops and a seminar, all within 9 months). Sarah Skow who I roomed with in Vegas. She won the free workshop attendance in Blu Domains contest and was so fun to hang out with. Check out her work here. Sarah is young, ambitious and talented. So cool to see someone her age with such a passion and drive.

I couldn't have been more thrilled when David Beckstead showed up as our celebrity guest photographer at the Neon Graveyard. I shot in a junkyard at his workshop in Idaho. Somehow we meet in all the classiest places. Oh but such eye candy. We even had a lime green Lamborghini against the backdrop of all these retired neon signs. Too cool!

Dawn Davis being the rock star that she is!

This is Nathan Boisclair, our groom. More to come about Samantha and Nathan!

Our brides for this workshop and day after shoot all wore
Stephanie James Couture. These are gorgeous gowns designed by Stephanie Kennedy. The dresses are all inspired by vintage gowns and are classic and fun at the same time.

It's crazy, but I got so few pictures of Bob and Dawn. This is just a point and shoot image. Bob and Dawn worked their little butts off to ensure that this was a successful workshop. Through real life trials, (it was an actual wedding) they handled it all with such grace and ease. I can't thank both of them enough for making the entire Vegas experience one that I will always cherish. Whew, lots to blab about! Wedding photos to follow soon.

"Patches the Coolest Horse"

A friend of mine sent me the link to this "You Tube" short.

I find it so hysterical because my best friends husband has a habit of going to the store for milk and coming home with new critters. First it was chickens, then a Japanese fighting fish, then a tortoise (I think they live about 50 years), then it was a greyhound rescue. Add in their four cats and you've got many mouths to feed. She has an incredibly full life before attending to all of her farm animals and, by the way, she doesn't live on a farm. Oh for the love of animals! So this video is dedicated to Carrie and Karl,(and everybody else who truly loves animals).

Check it out! "Patches" even fetches a beer for his owner.

Vegas here we come!

It's a done deal, I'm going to Vegas, whoohoo!!! I am so excited to attend this workshop, Vegas Love Story given by Bob & Dawn Davis. We are going to be shooting at the
famed Bellagio hotel, and then off to Red Rock Canyon for portraits of the bride and groom before their ceremony. On day two, we will head to the boneyard of the Neon Museum to photograph several brides in one of a kind gowns by Stephanie James Couture. In fact, I think that all of the details of this wedding are going to be amazing. The bride, Samantha Lerner, works for Blu Domain, my web host, plus she is a wedding photographer herself. She has chosen some amazing details for
her theme wedding. It almost makes me want to get married all over again. Luckily, I'll get to photograph her stylish event along with a group of other photographers that I can't wait to meet. I'm posting some of her details to inspire other brides. I grabbed these images off of her Vegas Love Story Blog (hope that you don't mind Samantha), because there are links to some fabulous vendors. From cakes to invites, it's worth checking out if you are planning your wedding.

Cathryn & Anthony Slideshow

My friends Cathryn & Anthony are back in South Africa now working on wedding plans. I'm sure that they are happy to be together again with so much excitement about their up coming wedding but, we miss them! Hope that you guys are basking in the sun because we finally got our typical foot of snow here in the Northeast. It was such a blast working with you both on this. I hope that you like the slideshow!

Chilly shoot!

We finally got some snow this winter. When I went out to shovel a path for my little photo project, I'd say that we already had 9" and it was still coming down.

So today's project (I don't know what possessed me) was to shoot a self portrait, in your favorite wedding attire while holding a single flower and (how goofy is this), you had to have a red heart on your cheek. Not my own brainstorm, but a photo contest being held by BluDomain, my web host. They are giving away a seat to a fabulous workshop called The Vegas Love Story lead by celebrity photographer Bob Davis. This is going to be a blast. It is actually the wedding of Samantha & Nathan. Samantha works at BluDomain and is also a photographer (who else could think up such a great scenario for their wedding day besides a wedding photographer). The details will be amazing, and the day after we are going to the boneyard at the Neon Graveyard to shoot several models against this surreal backdrop. This is the kind of workshop that I dream of. I only hope that it doesn't sell out before I can get a seat, contest or not.

So here's me freezing my butt off for arts sake.

Master Your Craft Seminar

I'm so excited to be attending The "Master Your Craft" seminar, given by Bob Davis and Mike Colon this coming Wednesday in Hartford. I've met both Mike and Bob at a Pictage conference where I had the opportunity to hear them both speak. It's amazing how much you can learn from seminars when the speakers share their knowledge and insights about our business, especially when they're industry giants like these guys. I always leave inspired and ready to tackle a new project. I'm thrilled that they made it to a city near me. If you're a photographer looking for ways to better your business, I highly recommend attending one of their seminars.