Tis the Season :-)

At the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. They have a yearly display of gingerbread houses and Christmas trees. The winner this year was a replica of St. Ignatious High School -- which was simply amazing.

Equinox Hair and Nails Salon - North Olmsted, OH

I'm currently working on pulling together a website for Equinox Hair and Nails Salon, located in North Olmsted, Ohio. I spent one Saturday taking photos of the salon itself, and another Saturday taking photos of the staff. My next shoot will be of them in action doing their thing. This place has the coolest decor and is definitely not your grandmother's salon. Dave Maldonado, the owner, designed the interior himself. It's edgy and chic, decorated with granite and chains and with one-of-a-kind mirrors designed by Dave himself. The colors in the salon are as cutting edge as the decor, in purple, black and gold. I had a field day in there - a photographer's dream of geometric shapes. Rather than post all the pictures in this blog, you'll get a teaser montage. If you want to see the rest, go to my Flickr account.

My job now is to use these photos to create the website -- with a goal of having it be informative and interactive. I'm looking forward to this project!

That's Amore - Angela and Ben

Angela and Ben are a gorgeous, beautiful couple, inside and out. This was Angela's fairytale wedding, I sensed. She planned it so well, taking care of all the little details - and did it with such earnest charm. There was something about her that was so endearing - I can't quite describe it. All I know is that I really wanted to give her the images that captured the emotion I felt in her.

I think the most fun I had was trying to capture their "almost kiss." I love the almost kiss because I think it conveys the most emotion. As I described this to Ben and Angela, I saw Ben smirking a little -- that smirk turned into laughter each time they got close. These outtakes would make for a great collage because you could see how much fun they were having trying *not* to kiss :-)

In fact, the whole bridal party was a great group to work with! They had a great sense of humor and were very obviously great friends. We even had a nice day to make it even better (for me) was that she allotted enough time between wedding and reception for us to get some great shots at the Olmsted Falls Quarry by Grand Pacific Junction.

Some pics ...

And one word about the flower girl -- She is a beauty-cutie and had a ton of personality. I don't often "treat" pictures unless I feel one might emote the right kind of mood. The picture below was one of those moments. She had such a serene gaze in this one, I treated in the edit process to enhance this mood.

A Love Story - Edna and Senise

The love that Edna and Senise feel for each other was evident from the first moment I met them. Senise contacted me to take pictures of their commitment ceremony. They had a large wedding party and lots of family and friends that were so obviously supportive and loving.

I was so glad that I went to the rehearsal the day before because it was then that I realized that lighting would be a challenge. Usually the issue is compensating for not enough light. In this case, there was a whole lot of it! Their ceremony was at 4:30 p.m. -- right at the time when the sun would be streaming full boar into the large windows at the back of the church.

This is when it's critical to understand how to manipulate the settings on your camera. Had I used the "auto" settings (as many novice photographers might), I would have had silhouettes walking up the aisle. I compensated for the extra light by manually setting my camera to over expose by two stops. If you're a bride and looking for a photographer -- don't hesitate to ask your photographer if he or she is familiar with the manual settings on their camera.

Now for the pictures...

I'm Wedding in the Rain

The forecast said 100 percent rain, and for once the weathermen were right on target. I woke up to gloomy skies and steady rain. I wasn’t worried, but this was a gazebo wedding, after all.

The day was to begin with me going to the beauty salon to take pictures of Anne and her bridal party getting their hair/nails done. After that, I would go to the Anne's sister’s house to shoot them getting dressed. Then the wedding and following that, the reception. A full day, to be sure, but I was psyched and looking forward to it.

At the Salon:

Getting Dressed. I arrived with camera and lights in tow to the steady patter of unending rain. This was the kind of rain that you could tell wasn't going to let up for a long time, if at all. While Anne and her bridal party were grabbing a bite to eat, I decided to take some detail shots of the ring, shoes, garter, etc. Can I tell you how much in love I am with my 85mm lens? I would marry it if I could. Sweet sweet creamy bokeh.

I went upstairs and happened upon the RED Room. My breath literally got caught in my throat. It was a gorgeous red room with a window that outlooked a wooded area of the yard. Can you imagine this white dress in this red room. I envisioned pensive…and asked Anne to pose for me.

Just as we were ready to leave the heavens decided to open up and bring the heavy rain. I tried to lighten Anne's spirit by telling her what someone told me on my rainy wedding day. “It’s God’s way of telling you that these are the tears you will not shed during your marriage.” LAME-O. Thing is, Anne was the epitomy of calm. I'm sure she would have preferred a sunny day, but she didn't let the rain dampen her spirits. No kidding, she smiled the entire day!

AT THE WEDDING: They moved the chairs under the gazebo. I positioned myself and took some test shots to make sure my settings were correct. I decided to go with shutter priority settings on my camera. I didn't want to go under 100 or risk motion blur. As the ceremony progressed, I changed up my settings a bit so that I could add atmosphere to some shots. .

After the wedding the rain dwindled to a drizzle. I have to say that Anne and Si were so wonderful, gracious and kind. They laughed and were genuinely happy – they didn’t care that it was raining. Anne didn’t care that the bottom of her dress was getting dirty. She went barefoot as we took our pictures. She laughed with her umbrella. She allowed me to take a “singing in the rain” picture that I love. It was pure joy to photograph this couple.

The Reception:

Anne and Si are a lovely couple with a wonderful, close knit group of friends and family. A little about Si -- he was such a gentleman! Soft spoken, friendly and kind and he treats everyone as if they matter very much to him -- because he really does care! Anyway, the music started playing and they loosened up and really had fun. :-)

Nicole and Alex's Wedding Album

I've been working on Nicole and Alex's album this week. It's funny, as I work on each album, I get to know each couple so well through the editing process. ShoreShot Photography took the pictures at this wedding and I'm so excited because Gary, the lead photographer, grabbed some great emotion. I feel as if I attended, perhaps just a fly on the wall, but the story is unfolding. What a beautiful couple! Here's a sneak peek at some of the pages:

My Philosophy

I thought I'd write a little bit about my philosophy of how I do business. First and foremost, I love the whole process of editing pictures, from minor corrections to saving what was thought could never be saved. To me, the process is a form of art. When I see a photo, I don't see a snapshot -- I see compositions. Is it perfect the way it is? Is there something I can do through crop or edit to enhance the emotion of the photo? Imagine the old time photographer who extends his arms and shapes his fingers into a frame and you see me. I cock my head, I study, zoom, move a picture and put myself into the mindset of the person who will cherish this photo.


I also believe very strongly in good, old fashioned service and all that entails. I consider myself a "Bravo" to all the "Alphas" out there. Simply explained, the Alpha is my client, whether it be a photographer, one of his customers, or a bride that found me through referral or fortune :-) The Alpha is "top dog." My job as your Bravo is to ensure that you get exactly what you want, to work with a dedication to perfection, to provide exceptional service with a smile and to make it affordable for you.


I think one of the things I'd like to focus on, in addition to my photography and editing services is to pay it forward to other photographers, designers and creative types by posting various PhotoShop tips and tricks that I use to achieve certain effects.


Finally, I want to express my sincerest gratitude and appreciation to Gary Latimer of ShoreShot Photography, located in Toms River, NJ. When I started out in this business, he was my mentor and my guide. I've come to appreciate his style of photography (it screams emotion ranging from a subtle walk through the path of love to the wild ride of outrageous fun). It is with his permission that I share some of the images that I've edited for him over the past couple years. I'm grateful for his friendship - he's a fantastic Alpha!


Pictured below is an image that I edited. Although I'm not a huge fan of selective color (although I do it when requested, of course!), this one just seemed to beg for a "creative" selective color. I faded out the background image to add pop to the flowers: