Dennis Pike Photography

New Blog Home

2011-05-10T10:26:00.000-04:00

Yes, new blog. you may be looking at this thinking, it looks the same... well because Dennis Pike Photography blog can now be found here. So don't come around this place anymore. Things are way better at the new home. Point your browser over to http://www.dennispikephotoblog.com/. and enjoy.

New Announcement 1 of 2

2011-04-19T10:29:00.000-04:00

I have been talking about things in the works for a while, and now it's time to deliver... half of it anyway. If you look up at the top, you may noticethe logo is a little different. But there's a lot more than that. Please, go check out the new and vastly improved Dennis Pike Photography I have been working on the new website for a while, longer than I initially intended, but that's how things go. New website, new logo, LOTS of new images to check out. So please, go check it out. http://www.dennispikephoto.com/

Part 2 of 2 is coming soon. and it's going to the blog...

Italy on film

2011-03-30T10:41:00.000-04:00

My life has been insane as of late. As you may, or may not know. My wife and I recently took a trip to Italy and Spain. And it was beyond amazing. While there, aside from the hundreds, possibly thousands of digital images. I shot a roll of B&W film. It was all shot on a Pentax K1000 with a 50mm f/2 lens. This was the camera I first started playing with as a child, trying to figure out what all the numbers dials and buttons did.

Anyway, I decided to post some scans of the film. As with my current editing schedule, I will not have to opportunity to get to the digital photos for god knows how long. These are straight scans, no Photoshop or Lightroom adjustments. Enjoy, and keep your eyes peeled for a new announcement, that I'm really hoping to not push off much longer.

I should note... these were all shot in Rome. I ran out of film by the time we got to Barcelona. Rome was better anyway.

Big Things in the Works

2011-02-17T15:43:00.000-05:00

I have been a little M.I.A. recently, I know. There is a very good reason for this. A few, actually. First off, winter is a bit of a slow time for wedding photography in the North East. I don't know why, the weather has been nothing but wonderful the the North Jersey area. Who wouldn't want to get married in 2 feet of snow with the wind blowing 40 mph and a wind chill of 10? That being said, things kick into high gear in about two weeks and don't really stop for quite a while. This is going to be an awesome year.

Second. I have been working on some new things, they are not quite ready to be revealed as of yet, but suffice to say, Dennis Pike PHotography is going to look a whole lot different (and a whole lot better) very soon. There will be a large unveil soon. Don't have an exact date as of yet, but I'm hoping to have everything live before I leave for Italy and Spain (mid march) Stay tuned... I promise, it'll be worth it.

Union County Musicfest 2010

2011-01-06T11:46:00.000-05:00

So fitting that I'm posting photographs from Musicfest 2010 in 2011. Similar to last year, I was lucky enough to get my hands on a press pass for the Union County Musicfest. I gotta say, I was most excited to see Soul Asylum this year, my sister had an unhealthy teenage obsession with Soul Asylum in the early to mid 90's... so needless to say I heard a lot of Soul Asylum when I was like 12. You're also going to see some images of The Bravery, OK GO, and Train. OK GO was awesome and let the photographers shoot for their entire set, rather than the standard 3 songs and get the hell out. So a big thank you to them. Anyway, enough of my ramblings... here are some of my images from the day. enjoy.

on a side note... the guitarist for Train (the guy in the last photo) looks exactly like Howie Mandell

Khadija & Ike: Brooklyn Botanical Gardens Engagement

2010-12-06T12:14:00.001-05:00

The day I shot Khadija and Ike's Engagement session was an odd one. First off, it was 60 degrees and sunny in November... awesome. Next, I generally avoid driving in NYC like it's the plague, so I strapped about 60 pounds worth of gear to my back and decided to rely on public transportation, which failed me at every turn. Then, a little frustrated, I met up with Khadija and Ike, and all my frustration melted away. They are two of the nicest, most genuine people you could ever want to meet, and on top of that, complete naturals in front of the camera. They also have a great story about how they met, and Ike had one of the smoothest proposal stories I've ever heard. "... the only thing he would change about her is her last name." We had a great time walking around The Botanical Gardens and then the quick walk over to Grand Army Plaza. I ended the day with a sore back, feet on fire, and a big smile on my face. I love my job.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T10:46:00.000-05:00

Just a quick Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. That is all. And what is a photographer's blog post without a photo?

Here's a photo that has NOTHING to do with thanksgiving, but I've been wanting to share it. It's from Union County Music Fest 2010, and is the singer for the band "OK GO" you know, the guys with the awesome tread mill video.

Sean & Sara. Connecticut Wedding

2010-10-18T13:09:00.000-04:00

It's weddings like this that make me love my job. Sean and Sarah are good friends of mine, and two of the most fun people you would ever want to meet. Their wedding was insane. Great location on Candlewood Lake, Connecticut, beautiful ceremony on the water, followed by possibly the craziest reception I've ever seen. Not one time was the dance floor empty. I'll put it this way, you know it's a good party when 50 people put on Togas and dance to "You Make Me Want To Shout" So please, enjoy the epicness that is Sean and Sarah's wedding.

"I don't know what to do"

2010-10-12T13:20:00.000-04:00

Whenever I get bored and feel like shooting some photos (this happens ALL the time) I request that my beautiful wife, Meg, be a model for me and let me shoot some photos. Now, Meg is not a huge fan of having her photo taken, and she always tells me "I don't know what to do." Which I find very humorous, since she always poses so well, and looks so beautiful in photos.

Anyway, here are some photos of Meg, "not knowing what to do"

Best of the last few months

2010-09-08T12:18:00.000-04:00

Greetings. Seeing as how I have been just awful about blogging for the last few months, I have decided to do a catch up post. These are some of my favorite images from the last few months of weddings. If I were to blog each one individually I would be behind on blogging for the next 6 years. I would like to catch up. So folks, enjoy. I would like to thank Brad Ross, and The Bleu Studio, as well as all the couples for having some amazing weddings and letting me go to some incredible parties. Enjoy folks.

Balloon Fest

2010-08-11T16:06:00.000-04:00

I have had a fairly crazy month or two. I have a ton of wedding images that I will be posting soon. Unfortunately, when you are a little swamped, the blog tends to be the thing that gets put on the back burner. For now though, I'm going to post some images I took at a hot air balloon festival that my wife and I went to a couple weeks ago. Meg had never seen a hot air balloon in person, and I knew it would be something she would love. I was lucky enough to go on a hot air balloon ride when I was about 13 with my father, and if you ever get the opportunity to take one, I highly recommend it. Anyway, I digress, here are a few of my favorites from that day. Enjoy.

My Honeymoon, Trinidad & Tobago.

2010-07-04T10:26:00.000-04:00

As you may or may not know, I got married on April 30th! The wedding was amazing, such a good time, Meg looked stunning, and I could not be happier. We spent a week in Trinidad and Tobago for our honeymoon and it was incredible. This is going to be a long post, about 60 photos, out of the 1500 I shot, and 600 I edited. Hard to describe the entire week, so I will let the photos speak for themselves. Hope you enjoy looking at these as much as I enjoyed taking them. (there will be some captions for further explanation)

The Caribbean from the plane

sunset from the plane

Mangrove tree roots

our tour guide through the Origani Swamp

Scarlett Ibis. These birds are huge

Every red spot you see, is a Scarlett Ibis

From the front door of our cabin at Grande Rivier

A rare photo of yours truly

Stray dogs were everywhere on the beach

Grande Riviere

Sunset over Grande Riviere

Meg and a Leatherback Turtle on the beach... they weigh about 1000 LBS. One of the reasons we went to Trinidad is because more Leatherback turtles nest on the beaches of Trinidad than anywhere else in the world. Seeing them was probably one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

Me and one of the turtles. There were about 35 on the beach for the half hour we were allowed there. You can only get this close and touch them when they are actually laying the eggs because they go into a kind of trance. Otherwise you will scare them and they will retreat into the sea and not lay their eggs.

An empty egg shell at about 5 am the following morning

We were lucky enough to see some hatchlings early the next morning

Meg an a hatchling

Me and a hatchling. Meg helped these little guys to the water to avoid the birds and the dogs. They are endangered and need all the help they can get

The turtles lay eggs throughout the night, and will lay a few batches of eggs throughout nesting season. They always return to the same beach they were hatched on.

So amazing

Some detail of the shell

After we left Grande Riviere and the turtles we went back to the Hyatt in the capital Port of Spain. This is from the pool deck.

The pool deck at the Hyatt. The bar is out of frame to the right!

This is from Tobago, we spent one day there... not long enough

A beach in Tobago

you see so many photos that I take of other people kissing, now you have to deal with one of me kissing my beautiful wife

My first time to the Caribbean... I am a fan

Meg in the water, we were about a mile off shore and the water was about 3 feet deep. It was great, and I got horribly sun burned

This was taken from our hotel room. We had a giant window overlooking the water

Also from the hotel room

Such and amazing time. If you ever get the chance to go to Trinidad and Tobago, DO NOT pass it up

Sean and Sarah New York City Engagement

2010-06-30T16:37:00.000-04:00

Sean and I go way back, you may remember him from the reunion post earlier this year. He an Sarah are getting married in Connecticut in September, and I am lucky enough to get to shoot that wedding. You could not ask for a more fun couple than Sean and Sarah... two of the funniest people I know. During the couple hours that we walked around NYC, it was so hard to stop laughing. Can't wait to shoot their wedding... you guys are a blast! Also... Sarah is terrified of pigeons.

I suck at updating my blog!

2010-06-30T12:05:00.000-04:00

So it has been a while, and that is most definitely my fault. I have been a very busy guy. Wedding season is officially in full swing. I just got married, and went on a honeymoon (will have some photos of that up very soon as well) I have been shooting like a mad man, so I have all sorts of cool stuff to be shown. Anyway, to start off the re-invigorated blog posting, here are some photos I shot on my birthday and the day before. Enjoy. And expect some more cool stuff VERY soon.

T-minus 5 days

2010-04-25T08:32:00.000-04:00

As I recently mentioned my own wedding is rapidly approaching, my entire life has pretty much been consumed with planning, and taking care of details, figuring out the hotel, swiping my debit card so much I think it may light on fire. It's strange, Meg and I have been engaged for over two years now, and the wedding always seemed so far away, so abstract. Well, two years engagement, five years of being together, 3 of them living 383 miles apart, countless road trips, flights, phone calls, letters, planning, and effort are finally coming to fruition at the end of this week. Now if you know me, then you know I have a hard time putting my camera down. I thought I would give you a little insight into how our last couple weeks have been like.

I snapped this candid of Meg as she was going over the guest list, trying to figure out some seating arrangements

This was taken a couple hours later after running a million errands and us finally trying to relax, sitting on the couch, watching some TV

I've got some more photos I've taken recently of some of our process that I will be putting up in the near future, most likely before the wedding. But to all my past and future clients, I think I understand you a little better now than I ever have.

Been a while

2010-04-21T10:11:00.000-04:00

Greetings. I know it has been quite a while since I posted anything. My apologies, but I have been a little busy and preoccupied... I am, after all, getting married in 9 days. But I decided to post some randomness that I thought you might enjoy. Some stuff from the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ. Here's some hippos and an octopus. I mean, who doesn't love hippos and octopi? They are awesome.

Monika and Stephen

2010-02-25T11:48:00.001-05:00

First wedding of the new year... 'bout damn time, I had to wait nearly an entire month into 2010 to shoot this. As you might be able to tell, I don't like going to long without shooting. Anyway, onto the wedding. Brian and I started out with Monika at her parent's house in Montville, NJ. Now, I pride myself on being able to make something out of nothing, and work very well in situations with bad light and bad backgrounds. So, when I am given great light, and great locations, I am a very happy camper. I was a very happy camper all day. Not to mention we ended up at the Seasons in Washington Township, where I love to shoot. They always do a great job there and the food is always excellent. Ok, I will now shut up and you can look at the photos from that day.

Some shooting info for those interested. The portriats were lit with a video light. Everything else was either bounced flash or natural light. The Rim light for the dancing shots was a spotlight the venue used, I just kept the couple between me and the light source giving nice background separation.

Snowbound

2010-02-11T11:38:00.000-05:00

We had a crazy snowstorm in Jersey yesterday IT WAS "SNOWMAGEDDEN!" or so the news said. I'm from Central NY and grew up with Lake Effect snow, so the 8 or so inches North Jersey got can be classified as a dusting... we wouldn't have even had a delay of school back home. Still, a good snow storm can definitely be beautiful, so I went out and shot some photos. Then after Meg got home from a hard day of manual labor, I dragged her out into the snow and made her model for me. I had to buy her dinner and a beer in return. Fair trade in my book. Enjoy.

Nick and Doris

2010-02-03T14:12:00.000-05:00

If you read my blog with any kind of frequency, you know I'm friends with fellow shooters Brian and Charlie with The Bleu Studio. They called me up to see if I wanted to come shoot with them on Saturday, November 28th. I only mention the date because it was the day after I shot Jen and Luis's wedding. I was looking at a 14 hour day, immediately after working... a 14 hour day. I agreed because I have some sort of mental disorder. Truth be told, though, when you truly love your job, it doesn't matter, you jump at any opportunity to work. Anyway, it was totally worth it. Here are a few of my favorites from Nick and Doris's wedding.

Some Christmas stuff

2010-01-31T10:20:00.000-05:00

Did some of the standard christmas stuff this year. Drove to my parent's house in Central NY on the 23rd for my sister's birthday, spent christmas eve and christmas morning there, then drove the 5 hours back to Jersey to catch Meg's family's Christmas celebration and make sure we were there for Sambuka Clause. There's also some pre-christmas cookie baking photos thrown in for good measure.

The Cobleskill Reunion

2010-01-18T11:24:00.000-05:00

I spent my first year of college at SUNY Cobleskill... a miserable little college about half an hour outside of Albany, NY. The only good thing about that place was the people that lived on the 3rd floor of my dorm, Fake Hall (yes, it was actually called "Fake Hall") Right after the new year, Sean organized a mini Reunion of some of the better people from that particularly awesome floor. Sean and his fiance Sarah (whose wedding I'm shooting this year, stoked) G was in from California, and Meg and I. We went to a bar called the houndstooth in Manhattan, and it was planned on being a very civil sit down over a drink, maybe two, possibly discussing political science, maybe the works of Jane Austin. As you are about to see, it went EXACTLY as planned.

This is what we call a "Stuntman Slammer" You snort a line a salt, take a shot of tequila, then someone squeezes the lime into your eye.

Meg talked G into doing a Stuntman Slammer. Sarah doing the honors with the lime

As you can see... very civilized

Jen & Luis

2010-01-11T14:08:00.001-05:00

One of the great things about my jobs is that sometimes you get to shoot the weddings of friends. Jen and Meg (my beautiful fiance) have been friends for somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 years. The day after Jen and Luis got engaged they came to me and said "Dennis, we want you to shoot our wedding." Awesome. They got married the day after Thanksgiving in Ridgewood and had their reception at the Tides Estate in North Haledon, NJ. Everything was great, the food, the ambiance, and to top it all off there were a ton of our friends there. People finally got to see some of my god awful dance moves! Anyway, on to the photos. I did my best to widdle this down so it wouldn't be a ridiculously long post, but this was the best I could do. Congrats you two.

Some important pricing info

2010-01-10T10:55:00.000-05:00

My prices for weddings have recently changed for the new year. I hope that doesn't catch anyone off guard, but in order to make things easier, I will be honoring the 2009 prices through the end of January. If you book before January 31st, you can still get the 2009 prices. Thanks... more to come

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T07:23:00.001-05:00

So, I've been seeing a lot of stuff around the photography world lately of people looking back on 2009. People posting their favorite images, talking about their favorite this and their favorite that. I'm not going to do that. Instead, I'm going to look ahead. Not to diminish what 2009 was, it was a great year. But lets look ahead... "To the Future, Conan?!"

What does 2010 hold for me?

Thousands upon thousands of great photos to take. Tons of new people to meet, weddings to shoot, adventures to go on, trips to take, music to listen to, movies to see, insights to discover. Putting some good stuff out into the universe (more on that when it is appropriate, but it's really good stuff) and let's see here, I feel like I'm forgetting something... oh yeah, the biggest thing of all.

I'm getting married this year! HOLY SHIT!

Here's to a good year to come folks.

... and now for something completely different

2009-12-16T15:00:00.000-05:00

Well, if you're familiar with my work, you know that, for the most part, I shoot weddings, environmental portraits, and random "artsy" stuff. But, guess what, I can get down in the studio. I would like to thank Meg for playing along and looking so damn good in the corset.

Some more babysitting portraits

2009-12-06T09:21:00.000-05:00

So, after quite a while, Meg and I had a day off in common again, which doesn't happen nearly as often as we would like. So I spent the day with her babysitting her and my soon to be nephew Matty, who is about a year and a half old and one of the cutest, kids you will ever meet. Here are some photos from the day.

Home for the holidays... sort of

2009-11-24T10:42:00.000-05:00

So, I've been a bit absent from posting for a couple weeks. I appologize I have been fairly busy, ut I do have some cool stuff lined up. Based on my shooting schedule, it became impossible to make it to my parent's house for Thanksgiving this year, which sucks, so I decided to head up there two weeks early. After all, who says you HAVE to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving. As always, when in upstat NY, I drvie around and shoot photos, so here are a few from my trip up there. Expect another new post very shortly.

Infrared

2009-11-02T11:26:00.001-05:00

I recently got my hands on an infrared digital camera... only for a couple days, but still, all sorts of fun. Back in college I shot a few rolls of infrared film, but this was my first time using a digital infrared. Now keep in mind, there is no photoshop trickery here, this is is a standard Nikon D70 with the sensor converted to infrared. I have the camera till Thursday, so expect to see a few more of these.

PDN Photo Plus Expo 2009

2009-10-22T17:34:00.000-04:00

Ok, so this is going to be a little nerdy for most of you, but screw it, I'm a nerd. So the PDN Photo Plus Expo is a huge deal in the photography world, one of the biggest photography trade shows on the planet. Lucky for me, they hold in NYC, so this morning I jumped on the bus and headed in. I was overwhelmed by all the toys, new gear, and great speakers, not to mention about 8,000 other photographers. I got to check out some new products in the wedding photography world (albums and the like) some of which I was really impressed with.

Aside from that coolness I was able to meet a couple of my heroes in the photography world. People whome you may not be familiar with, but I was a little giddy to meet. Zack Arias, Joe McNally, Scott Kelby, and Ryan Brenizer. I was good though, I managed to keep my cool and not freak out like a 13 yr old girl at a Jonas Brothers concert. I'm also happy to report that all these guys were really nice, and seemed genuinly happy to meet a fan. Anyway, that'll do it for this post. Have a wedding tomorrow, so check back soon for some images from that.

Kara + Cory

2009-10-21T11:49:00.007-04:00

Being a wedding photographer... I read a ton of other wedding photographer's blogs. There is one thing I hate on them. There seems to be some sort of a blog post template that way too many use.

"I shot _______ + ______'s wedding. It was an amazing day with an amazing couple at an amazing location and everyone and everything was just amazing!"

That gets old very quickly. So, onto Kara and Cory's wedding.

They got hitched at the Skylands Manor in Ringwood, NJ. It seems that everytime I shoot there it rains and is unseasonably cold. But Kara and Cory are no wusses, they sucked it up and still had there ceremony outside... to hell with the guests if there uncomfortable. Aside from that they tolerated the weather outside for us to shoot for a lot longer than they had to.

As I've mentioned before I want my wedding images to be epic and dramatic, these definitely are. Thanks for kicking ass Kara and Cory

This is my favorite image from the day. Nothing like old school dramatic stair spiral stair cases with great light

Marrisa and Anthony

2009-10-13T07:29:00.004-04:00

I always enjoy getting a call from Brian at the Bleu Studio, asking if I want to help out and 2nd shoot a wedding for them. 2nd shooting is great because you can play around a little more and there is less responsibility.

Anyway, onto the wedding. Anthony and Marissa were married on Long Island, which is geographically close to me... but in terms of driving it's a hike, having to deal with things like the G.W. Bridge, The Bronx, and the Long Island Expressway, that being said, it was totally worth it. After the ceremony at a gorgeous old Catholic Church, we headed to The Vanderbilt Mansion (if you watch Crocodile Dundee 2, it's the crazy huge house he breaks into) for photos, then onto The Hamlet Country Club for the reception. Long day, but a good one.

Something I have been trying to do with my photography is make it Epic... make it insane... make each wedding I shoot better than the last, I think I'm getting there. Here's some of the Epicness from Marissa and Anthony's wedding.

Legend's

2009-10-13T07:24:00.002-04:00

So, Legend's Steakhouse in Midland Park NJ, does a cool thing with the art work on their walls. They feature a different artist every month, almost like a solo show. As of yesterday (10/12/09) that featured artist is yours truly... for the 2nd time I might add. Everything that is up there is new stuff, all taken since February, shots taken everywhere from Costa Rica to VA Beach, to Fulton, NY. A lot of it has been posted here, so I'm not going to post it all again. But, if you happen to be in the North Jersey area in the next month or so, I highly recommend stopping by and checking it out. (the food there is excellent as well)

oh, and as a quick post script... everything is available for sale

VA take 2

2009-10-05T09:59:00.003-04:00

So I recently got back from my 2nd trip down to Virginia Beach in a week and a half. 1600 miles and 24 hours spent in a car since last thursday... nice. Anyway, this time, Meg came with me. My sister's new house is rad, but aside from that, it has some insanely good locations to shoot. Meg was nice enough to let me shoot a few frames of her in a couple of the spots. I am definitely not done with shooting there. Anyway, here are some of the impromptu photos I shot. Also, as a quick side note to any photo nerds that may read this, I am a large proponent of using flashes, and mono light... lighting the crap out of things... these are all natural light. Sometimes you have to know when to shut the flash off.

Ok, so this is a random wall in VA Beach, but the rest are all inside Linnea's house

Some Radness

2009-09-29T18:33:00.003-04:00

So last weekend I took a quick trip down to VA Beach to visit my sister, brother in law, and their dog Nestor. (ok it was mostly to visit Nestor) Just thought I would throw up some images I took in the two days I was down there. Enjoy

This is on the MD, VA state line.

It's safe to take photos while doing 65 mph on a two lane, 23 mile long bridge over the Chesapeake Bay right?

This pier always reminds me of the Bouncing Souls song "Quick Check Girl" go listen to it now if you aren't familiar

Same pier... different view... miserable day. Almost lost my flash transmitter in the Atlantic Ocean when I was shooting these

Somewhere on the Eastern Shore of VA

A Little Something Different...

2009-09-15T15:08:00.007-04:00

Familiar with the old adage "It's not what you know, it's who you know."? Well, Saturday, I knew the right people. I was given a press pass to the Union County Music Fest, in Clark, NJ. This pass granted me access to the photo pit (the spot between the barriers and the stage) to shoot such acts as Kenny Wayne Sheppard, who is an insanely talented blues guitarist. Uncle Kracker, who was very impressive live, (gained a lot more respect for him, also a really nice guy) and Third Eye Blind. There were thousands of people there, and I had the best seat in the house. Special Thank you goes out to Nicole and Matt.

Kenny Wayne Sheppard

Meg absolutely thrilled that I am taking her photo

Bassist for Uncle Kracker

Uncle Kracker

Uncle Kracker's guitarist

Third Eye Blind

Upstate

2009-09-10T13:15:00.005-04:00

So I had a couple free days this week and decided to head upstate to see my parents, I don't see them nearly as much as I would like to. While up there I got to shoot some personal work. I have been buried in weddings for the last month or so (not that I'm complaining) but it was nice to shoot for no one but myself. I shot all these images on Wednesday in such exciting areas as Oswego, Red Creek, Fair Haven and Sterling. Glad I don't live there anymore, but I do enjoy just driving/walking around and shooting photos.

Go Team Mills!

2009-09-03T08:49:00.008-04:00

I swear, these couples are trying to outdo each other with amazing locations and kick ass weddings. Jade and Jeff (Team Mills) got married at Six Mile Creek Vineyard in Ithaca, they had a sick location and a beautiful day, beautiful but hot. Couples have been making me travel out f Jersey a lot lately, but I am not complaining. With weddings as rad as these, I am perfectly willing to drive a few hours. Everyone at the wedding had a great time, and Jade + Jeff are such a great couple, things like that make my job easy. So check out Team Mills, they definitely had a win that day.

Dennis Pike Photography

Jade

2009-08-30T07:35:00.002-04:00

So, got to shoot Jade + Jeff's wedding recently, it was definitely a rad time. I think couples that hire me are trying to one up each other with their kick ass locations. Jade + Jeff got married at a vineyard in Ithaca. Not ready to post the whole shebang yet, but I will give you an image of Jade rocking out in a field before the ceremony.

Help Portrait

2009-08-26T08:28:00.002-04:00

So being the photography nerd that I am, I read about a million different blogs on a daily basis, some dealing with photographic technique, some with lighting, some with photoshop, and some of good photography hat I just dig looking at.

So, this morning I was perusing my blog list as I normally do, and came across a post from Scott Kelby (photoshop guru) He does what's called "Guest Blog Wednesday" where he hand picks someone awesome from the industry to talk about whatever the hell they want. There have been some awesome posts in this section talking about all sorts of cool things.

I was particularly struck with today's. This is something I will be participating in. I will probably do another post about it when it gets closer to date. Anyway, the way I am going to be doing this is I want to hear from you. Do you have a story that makes you deserving? Do you know someone deserving? Send me some stories, some names, I will pick. This is rad.

Once again, go there, and watch the short video. Click here.

Katrina + Derek

2009-08-20T15:07:00.010-04:00

Let me ask you folks a question... when was the last time you had your face rocked off? If you were at Katrina and Derek's wedding, the answer is August 8th. Katrina and I have known each other for somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 years, which is impressive considering I still have a ways to go before I hit 30. So I was definitely stoked when she contacted me to shoot her wedding. Katrina and Derek were married at the Burren, a rad pub in Boston. They had hands down the most unique wedding I have ever seen. From the cyclops cake topper, to the flowers cut out from beer cans, to the venue itself, and definitely the ceremony. Thanks for having me guys, I had a rad time.

Just in case you were not there, this is still part of the ceremony folks... rad

Stuart + Becca

2009-08-19T10:20:00.009-04:00

So, it had occurred to me that I never posted Stuart + Becca's wedding. Shocking. WAAAAY back in June I took a trip down to Virginia Beach to shoot the wedding of my friend Stuart (aka S2, aka Zorro) and his bride Becca (aka Becca). I've known Stuart for a few years now, we used to work at a camera shop together when we were both in college. It's always cool to be a part of a wedding when you know the couple beforehand. The ceremony was good, even though it rained ALL morning and through the church section, it cleared up for the reception at the Suffolk Hilton... such a rad venue. The reception quickly turned in "Club Baiza" everyone danced ate and drank and had a killer time. Thanks S2. Sorry for the delay on the wedding post.

Katrina and Derek Sneak Preview

2009-08-12T14:17:00.003-04:00

Just one quick shot of Katrina and Derek's awesome, unique, crazy wedding in Boston... more to come.

Street Photography

2009-08-10T11:41:00.003-04:00

Hello Everyone, made it back from Boston unscathed. Went up for the weekend to shoot the wedding of Derek and Katrina. More on that later. While I was taking Katrina and Derek to do some portraits, a random guy stopped me and asked me to take his picture. I love street photography so I obliged and snapped off a couple frames of him in a boxing pose. Cool, guy... a little crazy, but fun. Enjoy.

Comments

2009-08-06T08:08:00.002-04:00

So, it has recently been brought to my attention that the comments section of my blog is not working. Thank you to those who alerted me to this... I will be addressing that problem today and trying to get it sorted out... if there's one thing I hate it's technical difficulties.

UPDATE: I have fixed the issue... comment away

Yiefi & Thomas in NYC

2009-08-02T08:59:00.002-04:00

Friday I got to shoot the wedding of Thomas and Yeifi. They got married and had their reception at the Harvard Club in Manhatten (44th &6th) This was an amazing venue, old building with lots of history and hundreds of old paintings, photographs and letters all over the walls. There was even a framed letter from JFK on the wall outside the reception room. The other crazy awesome part about this day was that we were 2 blocks from Times Square, so we made the walk through the rain to get a couple shots there. Although the weather didn't cooperate, it was still a rad experience. Here's some of the results.

Engaged...?

2009-08-01T08:45:00.002-04:00

Engaged? Thinking about your wedding's photographic options? Read This

Wedding Awesomeness

2009-07-28T16:46:00.004-04:00

So, I recently shot a wedding with Brad Ross, it was a good time. 2nd shooting is nice sometimes, less stressful and gives you some room to experiment, some room to mess up with out completely screwing over a couple that paid you a lot of hard earned money. At this wedding I shot one of my favorite images I have ever shot at a wedding. This is the bride and her father, moments before she walked down the isle. Not posed, natural light... as photojournalistic as it gets. Hope you dig it as much as I do.

click on it to see it larger... it's worth it

Home

2009-07-23T08:08:00.003-04:00

This past weekend, I set off on the nearly 5 hour drive up to my parent's house in Sterling, NY. My fiance Meg, and her two friend's Cathy and Irene were along as well. Their intention for this trip was to check out the Sterling Renaissance Fair. I was less enthused about the Ren Fair, seeing as how I spent two summers in high school working there. But still, it was fun, especially since now I was allowed to drink! Meg and her friends took off Sunday morning, I stuck around till tuesday to hang out with my parents and play some golf with my dad. Here is what I would call part 1 of my photos from the trip. A bunch of these were taken at Scott's Bluffs in Sterling, right on Lake Ontario. Such a cool location to take photos.

West Point

2009-07-16T15:32:00.007-04:00

I shot a wedding with the Bleu Studio on Friday at West Point. The couple was awesome, the venue was amazing, you know it's a rad place to shoot a wedding when you have to go through not 1, but 2 security check points. Very cool. Here's a few of my favorites from the wedding. Also, if you're feeling bad about anything... feel better, because as you read this the groom, James, was deployed to Iraq, 3 days after the wedding, for 13 months.

2009-07-07T11:51:00.003-04:00

Hello Folks, trying to not slack on blogging so much. Don't have too much to post right now, dealing with a bit of a crisis, my external hard drive had a bit of an injury and is now going through some surgery at a data recovery place. Fingers crossed on not losing any photos.

On a better note however, it was recently my birthday! woohoo ripe old age of 26. It was a great birthday, got some cool toys, my sister came from Virginia to visit. Meg organized a bit of a party for me at a pub in Teaneck. Here are some photos from the day. (none were taken by me, and all on a point and shoot) Not knocking it, but I hold my photography up to a certin standard and I don't want you to think I'm slacking. Enjoy.

Linnea (my sister) and me at "On the Border" for some "Mexican Food" killer Carne Asada Tacos

My beautiful fiance, Meg, and me

Yes, ladies and gentlemen... this is indeed how I roll

Me and my friend of 20+ years, Owen. As a side note, Owen does some of the coolest and most unique sculptures ever.

Meg... Cheers!

Owen and Linnea

Me, Owen, and his girlfriend, Caroline

Meg and Linnea

Me and my sister... neither of us remember this photo being taken... Good birthday

I got shot!!!!

2009-07-02T19:45:00.002-04:00

A photo of me doin what I do. Shooting a Engagement session of Stuart and Becca. Photo by Nathan Novak

More new toys

2009-07-01T12:34:00.003-04:00

So my birthday was last Thursday, I turned the ripe old age of 26... thinking of filing for social security. Anyway, my parents sent me some cash, so of course, I got some new photo gear, thanks mom and dad. I went straight to Unique Photo in Fairfield and picked up the Canon ST-E2 wireless TTL flash transmitter. For those of you who don't understand the last part of that last sentence... I can use my flashes off camera and control the power output from my camera... sweet. Of course I forgot to buy the battery which from what I found out in the following days is near impossible to find.

Anyway, Meg agreed to let me play with my new toy and use her as a model. So we went into the basement of our apartment building, which is a great location. Here are the results.

Cannot Believe I forgot this

2009-06-29T16:39:00.003-04:00

So, I can't believe I forgot this. Not long ago, my good friend Nathan, who happens to be an extremely talented photographer, started what can only be described as a photographic collective. Basically what it is, is a place for photographers, from all over the country and yes, the world to post images, and talk about them. Basically a joint effort blog, invite only.

There are some incredibly talented shooters on there, and some very interesting and diverse work. I'm lucky enough to be friends with the founder, so I got an invite. I post there from time to time. There is usually at least one new post every day. It is so worth checking out. I will warn you though, it is not exactly family friendly all the time. That being said, go look at it, follow it, love it, stalk it.

The Obscura

also, if you want awesome free buttons or stickers, let me know and I will get you some

Costa Rica, Day 4

2009-06-29T08:01:00.006-04:00

I cannot believe how badly I have been slacking on posting images from Costa Rica. Posting anything that is. It has been a VERY busy month for me. Shooting LOTS of photos and drowning in processing, but I promise, I will get back to a more regular schedule of blogging, especially since I have a lot of very cool things to share soon!

Anyway, onto Day 4 of our Costa Rican vacation. Our Hosts Andrea and David were busy with Phd studies, and work respectively, so Andrea's parents were kind enough to take the four of us out for the day. We went to Arenal Volcano, which is an active volcano, and one of the most impressive things I have ever seen. You really have to see it in person to appreciate it's size. We also saw some aazing hot springs, and some great scenery on the 3 hour trip each way. We spent countless hours in the car on this vacation, but it was more than worth it. Enjoy the photos.

Costa Rica, Day 3

2009-06-07T11:29:00.003-04:00

So I have been slacking on posting some of my Costa Rica images. The 3rd day was a bit of a relaxing one. We took ATV's down to the river to have a barbeque. it was fun, the food was good, the scenery was amazing. After we had eaten and relaxed for a while, the skies opened up and the worst thunderstorm I have ever experienced caught us off guard. I need to write a thank you letter to Lowepro for keeping my gear dry as a bone. We rode to ATV's back in this torrential down pour, and at the time I was freaking out about my camera, but in retrospect, it was a very cool experience.

Costa Rica, Day 2

2009-06-04T08:02:00.005-04:00

Day 2 in Costa Rica... We started out with some breakfast in Esparza, then headed to Jaco Beach, stopping on the way to check out some crocodiles in a river. Once at Jaco we just hung out, went swimming, and enjoyed some cervesas on the beach. After the beach we headed back to Esparza for the Riverview Restaurant's 2nd anniversary party. They had a live Salsa band that was AMAZING, and all the guests were incredible dancers. If I didn't know any better I would have said they were all professional dancers.

Costa Rica, Day 1

2009-06-02T16:16:00.005-04:00

I've been having blog issues... GPS issues and phone issues since I returned from Costa Rica, tech problems aside, I needed to get some photos up from Costa Rica. Here are photos from day 1. We were staying in Esparza, and went to Monte Verde, where we had a tour of a cloud forest, then went ziplining through said forest. AMAZING! no photos of the zip lines.. I did not want to risk dropping my camera 400 ft to the forest floor. Enjoy.

Sea Side and Atlantic City

2009-05-19T10:25:00.004-04:00

The other day both Meg and I had a day off that fell on the same day (rare occurrence) so we jumped in the car and headed down the Jersey shore. I had never been to Sea Side, so this was a bit of an adventure for me. We walked the boardwalk, played some games, had some pizza and beer. While we were sitting in a bar, we got a call from Meg's good friend Ashton, Ashton was on her way from DC to Atlantic City for a bachelorette party and invited us down for the night, since we were only an hour away, we again jumped in the car and headed further south. We had dinner, a couple drinks and gambled a bit... something I had never done before. I ended up leaving AC with more money than I started with so it was a good time.

If you look closely at the last photo, you will notice a $25 gaming voucher... I'm what most would call a "high roller"

Melinda

2009-05-18T11:23:00.001-04:00

Costa Rica

2009-05-14T14:45:00.001-04:00

Just an update... 7 days till our trip to Costa Rica. Cannot wait!

SFNJ opening day

2009-05-10T15:50:00.002-04:00

In Midland Park, NJ, there's this thing on Saturdays in the summer called SFNJ. stands for Solid Foundation New Jersey, basically there is a skatepark set up in a parking lot for about 6 hours. The park, even though it is temporary, and movable, is better than a lot of permanent ones, because this one was actually built by skaters. So, when I'm not off shooting a wedding (Saturdays during the summer tend to be kind of busy for that kind of thing) I head over there and skate and shoot photos. Yesterday the park opened for the season, I was there. Everyone was younger than me, hard to come to terms with being the "old guy" but it was a good time, here are some of the highlight photos

Photo walk

2009-05-03T15:10:00.002-04:00

The other day I was bored... what to do when you're bored? Grab your camera, your ipod, take a walk and shoot some photos. No agenda, no expectations, just walk around and shoot. See what may spark the creative juices, see what's out there. Next time, photo drive.