Scooter Rally

Don and I just got settled in from our trip back from Connecticut. We were up in New Haven this weekend for the Annual Elm City Scooter Rally, this years theme "Your scooter still sucks". We love those Elm City kids, they are always super hospitable and just a all round good group of people. Here are a couple of the shots I grabbed.

This happens to be an abstract detail of an old beat up seat. I forget whose bike this was but this was obviously the original seat.

On the ride, there were a ton of scooters this year, you can see them still coming up from over the horizon.

A few of our crew, Rabble Rousers.

On the way to breakfast this morning.

Jess's bike

mmmmm Scooter cupcakes, compliments of Melinda.

ummm.... you come up with a caption for this one.

At rallies we do a lot of riding, hanging out, eating, more hanging out and riding.

I was very excited that my new friends Justin Marantz and Mary Bess came out to have brunch with us. They had never seen this many scooters at one time. Justin took quite possibly the best shot of me on a scooter, check out their blog. Don got this one of us.

We had a very fun and exhausting weekend. I am glad we decided to come back early instead of going on the ride today. We hit so much traffic approaching and through NYC. I feel bad for anyone who was going north on 95 or the New Jersey Turnpike today, it was literally backed up from New Haven to New Jersey. I am glad we weren't going north.

If you are curious and want to see some more photos check em out here. Everyone who attended the rally and took any photos will post them there.

I can't wait to sleep in my own bed tonight.

California Vacation wrap-up

I wasn't fooling when I said I had a lot to share. So I am finally getting around to the vacation part of my California trip. Don's brothers John and Mark live in San Diego so we spent most of our time with them, but we also got to visit our friends Dave and Miranda who now live in San Diego. We don't get to see them nearly as much as we would like so this was a real treat.

Here is Dave watering. He made an awesome fountain out of metal buckets for their little back patio and they had a total of three grapefruit trees! I was so bummed that they were not ripe while we were there, but Dave has promised to ship me some when the are ready.

This is Ernie. Ernie is really Miranda's sisters dog but I think he has developed a special bond with Dave and Miranda since they have been watching him. He is an adorable little guy and he literally eats out of Miranda's hands.

I just thought this was funny catching him in mid air.

We were all set to go on a scooter ride one morning but sadly the Lambretta would not start.

I was dying to get outside and see some "California" so Don's brother Mark and his wife Grace took us out to Mission Beach. It was great to just be outside and walk along the beach.

Mark braved my camera and snagged a couple shots of me and Don. Not bad!

One of the most random and exciting parts of the trip. As we were leaving Mission beach there was some sort of EA games going on, I can't remember exactly, but we just saw this motocross guy soar through the air! It was awesome. I headed up to the front and caught some awesome shots. Watch the slideshow to see more of them in action. It is really cool.

AMAZING

Me and Don at Sunset Beach

On our last day we went out to Temecula with some other couples for wine tasting. It was the perfect way to end our trip. We had a blast and I splurged buying a case of wine, all different kinds.

Dave and Miranda

Don got this fun shot of me and Miranda. I love that California light!

So check out the slideshow. It may stall a little in the middle because I have the motocross guys going so quickly but hopefully it doesn't hang up too much depending on how fast your internet access is. You can always go directly to the gallery view if you don't like sitting through the whole show.
We had a wonderful time and it was so good to see everyone.

Happy Birthday Geoff!

Today is my brother Geoff's birthday. He thinks he is getting old so I will not divulge the number to you. I think he looks pretty good and his list of achievements far exceeds anyone else I know his age. He lives in Italy so it is pretty hard to celebrate his birthday correctly and I can't actually remember when either of us were together on our birthdays. We will need to remedy that soon.

Geoff has to be one of the smartest, most determined people I know.

Here to the best big brother a girl could have. Happy Birthday, I love you!
How could you not love a face like that?

Isn't he handsome? Ladies he's available!

In Venice

up to no good

Ringing in 2007

He played Santa at Christmas this year. If you are a fan of a Christmas Story you know what I mean.

I had to post some photos, I wish I had some older ones on my computer. I have to scan stuff in one of these days. All in good fun.

Oh and you should check out his blog! He also mixes some mean Drum and Base.

Jane and Brian's Wedding

Without further ado I give you images from Jane and Brian's wedding on September 8th. They were such a fun couple and their wedding party had an awesome personality as well. This was the first time in a long time that I shot solo and it could not have gone any better. Jane and Brian made sure there was enough time for me to cover each of them getting ready before the ceremony. One of the groomsman and his wife drove with me to the Valley Green Inn in which was great since I know I would have gotten lost otherwise! The wedding was an early one, the ceremony started at 11:30 and it could not have been a more beautiful day.

Jane before the ceremony beautiful and ready to get the show on the road.

Brian looking mighty cool himself before the ceremony.

Jane had a great time posing for these photos, I love when my brides just decide to have a little fun with out me having to instruct.

Since the wedding was such an early one the bridal party was not about to shut down the party at 4:00, so they rented a big yellow school bus to take them into Manayunk where they could do some bar hopping all dressed up. I can't wait to hear the stories from that part of the day. I thought it was a mighty cool idea though so nobody had to be responsible to drive. Thank you for having me there to document your day.
Here is your slideshow.

Baby Ellena's 1st Brithday

Yesterday I went over to my good friend Melissa's to celebrate her daughter Ellena's 1st Birthday. You may remember Ellena's photo shoot a couple months earlier. Ellena didn't need much instruction on how to do things, she tore open presents and tore into her cake too! I love watching what kids do when you put a piece of cake in front of them. Mike and Melissa threw a very sweet party for their little girl and it was so nice to see so many familiar faces.

Happy Birthday Ellena!

I had a fun afternoon hanging out, I am so happy I was able to make it. Here is a quick little video of Ellena and her cake.

partner con slideshow

So I have finally downloaded my photos from Partner Con, long after everyone else I am sure so hopefully you will still find enjoyment from them. These photos are pretty much only from the KISS and ShowitWeb party.

KISS is a wedding album company and ShowitWeb is the company I use to make all my slideshows. DJ and Kevin Swan put together and this awesome night out for everyone, they provided limos for us to the club, hula dancers and of course the photo booth.

I also want to say that is was such a pleasure to meet and hang out with the following people, Julie(I forget your site Julie!), Paige Elizabeth, Justin and Mary, Corey McNabb, Amber and Nathan Holritz, Millie Holloman, Davina Fear, Regina Holder, and my hometown friends Laura Eaton and Heather Fowler. I met so many more people forgive me if I am not mentioning you!
I have really enjoyed going to these photographer intensive events. It is such a breath of fresh air to be around so many talented people and share and learn from them. I saw Robert Evans speak, which I believe he said it was his first speaking engagement, and I think that really stood out to me. He photographs a lot of celebrity weddings, Katie Holmes & Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, but he seemed like a total down to earth guy. He gave out a ton of information about how he interviews his clients and helps in planning their day.

I think I would have loved one more day to make some more connections but there is always next year!

Getting back on track

Oh man it has been a tough week! Luckily I got my most important info back from data recovery. whew. Total relief.
I also added a new member to my electronic gadget family. This new iMac is sweet! I can not even begin to explain how fast it loads all my images in Bridge, I am seriously in heaven. It could not have come at a better time. The laptop is running again, but I just don't trust it anymore, so sad. I plan to use it for traveling and sideshows at weddings. The iMac is going to be my new work horse. Also see that fun little gadget in the left hand corner, uh huh iPhone. No more depending on my email for all my clients contact information. Plus its just and awesome piece of electronic equipment. I have not even taken it out of the box though. Hopefully I will set it up this weekend, I have to go through the nightmare, well hopefully not, of changing carriers.

You know what I will be doing this weekend, besides going to my very good friend Melissa's daughter Ellena's first birthday party, I have lots to catch up on. Jane and Brian's wedding from the 8th, oh man I finally got to look through them all tonight and the colors are so vibrant right out of the camera it is awesome. I also have to load all my photos from California. I have a ton to share so be sure to check back.

Some fun stuff from the Pictage Partner Conference

I am still awaiting my laptop HD to come back from the data recovery doctors so I am still not quite set up to do serious blogging of photos and its seriously killing me! Also all my phone numbers are on my laptop, so if you have not received a call from me its most likely because I have your number in my address book on my laptop. I have learned a lot of lessons with this little predicament. I do usually back everything up regularly and I don't keep any images on my laptop, I just get a little lazy with backing up email data. Lesson learned.

I thought I would link to some stuff that some other awesome photographers I am happy to know have posted.
This is the slideshow from Justin Marantz and Mary Bass
You can check out more of their work here
They are an awesome awesome couple from Connecticut that I hope to see in a couple of weeks actually. I met Mary a while ago at a big women photographers luncheon so it was great to see a familiar face in L.A. They are so adorable.

Here is a slideshow of all the photos taken in the Kiss and SHOWit photo booth. Much much fun was had in there. I can not wait to post my stuff, did I mention this is killing me! I have some fun photos as I was playing paparazzi while other people were in the photo booth. I also have some little videos to share. See how much fun photographers have when they get together!

Fun in Cali and dead computers

I have just had such a great couple days in L.A. at the Pictage partner conference. It was so awesome to meet so many people I know online face to face. My head is full of so much new and inspiring information. I can not wait to share more about all of it and post some awesome well I should say funny photos. I will have a slideshow at some point.
The bummer is that my computer has died while out here. boo hooo. So I can't post any photos from Jane and Brian's wedding that I shot on Saturday before we flew out and I can't post any photos from the last couple of days either. It feels so strange. But don't worry I have everything backed up.
I will be back on Tuesday but it could be a couple of more days until I have my computer problems figured out and fixed up. I the mean time I will have even more limited access to email, I will try my hardest to keep up but if you don't hear back from me right away don't panic.

Like the new look of the blog?

Off to California

Don and I are off to California early early in the morning, but at least when we get there it will still be early and we will have not lost the whole day. We will be there for business and pleasure and I will be checking email periodically through out the trip. If I don't get back to you right away don't panic, I will get back to you.

Have a great week everyone.

October Specials and Celebration

October is going to be a month of specials and celebration!

First is the Celebration.
I am venturing out into the world of being a full time professional photographer! Yep that's right, bye bye day job. This means I will have the much needed time to devote to my business and my clients. Very exciting! I have worked long and hard for this day to come and you, my fantastic clients, have allowed me to get where I am today.

The Specials!
I am a member of the Professional Photographers of America and every October they host Family Portrait Month. Studios that participate in Family Portrait month commit to donating a percentage from each sitting to Operation Smile, which treats children around the world who suffer with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities. I can not think of a better chance to raise money for such a worthy cause. I plan on donating 10% of my total portrait sessions and weddings booked in October to Operation Smile.

Portrait Sittings
In addition to me donating a percentage from each portrait session to Operation Smile you will have your choice of one of the following products that I will include in your package at no charge to you.

1 set of 24 5x7 Holiday Cards, perfect timing for the upcoming holiday season! 85.00 value
or
1 12x18 print matted to 16x20, ready to be framed. 85.00 value
or
1 soft bound book filled with all the images from your session. 85.00 value

October is a great time to get the family together, the holiday season is right around the corner, so there’s no better time for a family portrait, which is always appreciated as gifts for family and friends and to send along with holiday greeting cards.

Weddings
In the month of October ONLY I am offering 10% off all 2008 wedding photography packages! I will also be donating a percentage from your wedding package to operation smile. The fine print? You must book your wedding, have the signed contract and retainer to me by October 31st. This is an amazing deal and could yield up to 700.00 off your wedding package.

Please feel free to contact me and set up your appointment

Puli National Specialty

Saturday I went to my first dog show. Puli's have been a part of Don's family since he was a baby. Don's dog Alma was the first Puli I ever met and I instantly fell in love. Last summer we went down to visit Don's parents in Florida and I met Duffy their two year old Puli. They have been hard at work training him and taking him to competitions. It was awesome to see him in action.

Here is Don's dad, Don Sr., with Duffy.

The proud parents

Duffy is such a funny dog and really scared when the flash goes off on the camera. He was a little worried about what I was doing since I had my little camera out earlier with a flash, he didn't like that. So once the big camera was out and I didn't need a flash he was worried, but all was ok.

You can kind of see his eyes here.

Look at all the Puli's! It was such a sight to see all these little black puff balls running all over the place. If you blurred your eyes it was really weird to see the black fur hovering the floor.

Puli's are such beautiful dogs.

This is Jean, she was Duffy's handler on Saturday. I forget this dogs name, he is more of a gray Puli, more gray hair than the others, he is three years old too.

The typical Puli look, just mouth in a sea of black.

This is Dutch, Jeans puppy, he is a Belgian Tervuren.

He was very excited to be out of his crate. We got to play with him for a while.

Finally here is Duffy at the end of the day, all tuckered out. He won first place in the reserve category he also won a second place ribbon but I forget what that was for. I will have to find out and let you know. It's hard to tell which end is which isn't it?
If you would like to know more about Puli's go here to the Puli Club of America's website.

Jackie's Bridal Shower

Last weekend I had the pleasure of documenting Jackie's bridal shower. Jackie is getting married in October and Sofia Negron is photographing the wedding, check out their engagement slideshow on Sofia's blog.
The shower was held at Fork and it was such a relaxed happy group of people. Jackies friends took care of the party favors and center pieces, instead of having flowers they decided to have lemons and limes. It was really a great idea and guests got to take them home, I was even sent home with one! If you ever dine at Fork, take notice that all silverware is mismatched, and no fork is alike.

The favors were very sweet, literally. They continued the theme of lemons and limes and included lemon drops and homemade lemon tarts. Yum.
Of course they adorned Jackie with a tiara made from all the bows and ribbon off her presents. And they made her wear the Crate and Barrel sash.
Jackie is so beautiful and has such an awesome personality. Here she is waiting for Ron to load up the car with gifts.

The happy couple.

Good friends.

Here are two recent photos of Sofia I took, I thought Jackie and Ron might like to see their photographer in front of the camera! I hope you guys have a wonderful wedding day and you are in great hands with Sofia.