Photo of the Week 12/27/10

I just acquired a Nikkor 135 f/2.0 DC lens. This is considered by many to be Nikon's best portrait lens. As I did not have a human subject handy I went outside to take some test shots of backyard wildlife. I caught this nice image of a squirrel that shows the sharpness of this lens on the subject and the soft background. I captured this image at an aperture of f/3.2 and exposure of 1/250th of a second at ISO400.

Photo of the Week 12/6/10

A while back, I photographed the wedding of Tara and Russ. The reception was at Liberty House in New Jersey so we took some formals on the water in front of the New York City Skyline. Our timing really worked out well as we caught the last of the day's light as the lights from the city started to appear. I made this image using my Nikor 50mm f/1.4 lens at an aperture of f/2.0 and exposure of 1/100 of a second at ISO 800.

Photo of the Week 11/29/10

With the cold weather upon us, I was already thinking of spring when I came across some pictures I took last spring of some rain drenched flowers. I used the CS5 painting tools again on this one and liked the way it turned out. This image was made using my Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens at an aperture of f/4.8 and 1/125th of a second exposure at ISO 400. Click on the image to see the painting detail at larger scale.

Photo of the Week 11/22/10

This past weekend I traveled to Delaware for a shoot and then visited my friends Scott and Evelyn and their dog, Marleau (pronounced just like Marlow), in Catonsville, MD. On Sunday morning, I helped my friends rake leaves and took some pictures of Marleau playing with tennis balls, eating sticks, and jumping in the leaf piles. The image above was captured during a rare moment of rest for this puppy. This image was made using my Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens at an aperture of 2.8, shutter speed of 1/1600th of a second, and ISO 125.

Photo of the Week 11/15/10

I was out in Park Slope, Brooklyn on this past Friday, November 12th and came across this a fire that had started in a supermarket and consumed the two floors of apartments about the store. Thankfully no one at the supermarket or in the apartments above was injured. Here firefighters work to douse the fire several hours after it started. This image was made using my Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 lens at a focal length of 102mm, aperture of f/3.2, exposure of 1/8000th of second, and ISO 100.

Photo of the Week 11/8/10

A few days ago on the way out of the city, I stopped to take a few quick pictures of the Verrazano Bridge at sunset. This image was made using my Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 lens at a focal length of 22mm, an aperture of f/8.0, exposure of 1/30th of a second, and ISO 100.

Photo of the Week 11/1/10

I have been experimenting with some of the new painting tools in Photoshop CS5 and thought I'd feature this painted image as my photo of the week. I'm not completely sure what to think of this sort of treatment yet but I do like the way this photo, if you can still call it that, turned out.

Photo of the Week 10/25/10

I often drive across several bridges that offer a great view of New York City, particularly in the evening. This week I was crossing the Throgs Neck Bridge with this beautiful sunset off to my left. I happened to have my camera with me and snapped a quick picture. I used my Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens since that was what was on my camera, an aperture of f/2.2, and a shutter speed of 1/1600th of a second at ISO 400.

Photo of the Week 10/18/10

This past weekend, I travelled to Albany, NY to see my Alma Mater, St. Lawrence University, play their rival Union College on Union's home field on homecoming weekend. It had been 14 years since SLU last beat Union in 1995 in my Junior year and first as a starting player for the Saints. It was a great game and thrilling to see the Saints prevail 23-14 as they scored 16 unanswered points to rally from a 7 point deficit at halftime. This photo was taken right after SLU used the wildcat formation on 3rd and goal to set up the final score of the day, a touchdown pass from wide receiver, Ethan Sutton, to wide reciever, Demetrios Haseotes, number 19 in this photo. This was the first score of Haseotes career and the first touchdown pass for Sutton. This image was captured with my Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 lens at a focal length of 200mm at an aperture of f/5.6 and exposure of 1/2000th of a second at ISO 400.

Photo of the Week 10/11/10

This week's photo of the week comes from an engagement session I did for Alison and Joe. They are a fun couple who even brought coffee for me to our session at the Bayard-Cutting Arboretum on Long Island. This image was made with my Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 lens at a focal length of 200mm and an aperture of f/4.5 and 1/800th of a second at ISO 400.

Photo of the Week 10/4/10

One of things I love about photographing children is that with them almost all photography is candid. Unlike adults, they quickly disregard the camera and go back to their exploration of their world. This week's photo comes from a recent portrait session with the one year old daughter of my friends Luis and Diana at Georgetown Waterfront Park in Washington, DC. Shortly after sunset, I was shooting with a fill flash when my subject discovered the light in the sidewalk. I quickly turned off the flash and adjusted all of my settings to accommodate the unique light this scene provided. This image was captured using my Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens at an aperture of 2.8 and shutter speed of 1/2000th of a second at ISO 1600.

Photo of the Week 9/27/10

This week's photo of the week comes from the wedding of Jean and Mandy in Front Royal, Virginia. Shortly after the ceremony, Jean surprised Mandy by playing a video made by friends in Ireland who were unable to attend the wedding. This image shows Mandy's reaction to the video. This photo was made using my Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens at an aperture of f/3.2 and shutter speed of 1/500th of a second at ISO200.

Photo of the Week 9/20/10

In the midst of wedding editing, I came across this image from Kathleen and Matt's recent wedding. Kathleen's uncle is a collector of classic cars so it was only natural to use this Chevy Corvair and a couple others cars for transportation from the church to the reception. This image was made using my Nikon D300 and Nikkor 10.5mm DX Fisheye Lens. The camera was mounted to the car using a rig I created using two Fat Gecko Mounts and a Superclamp and Magic Arm. The camera was triggered using pocket wizards and only ambient light was used. The rest of the details I'll keep to myself on this one.

Photo of the Week 9/13/10

This past weekend I photographed two weddings. Both were great events so choosing a single image wasn't easy. I selected this image of three girls playing during the reception for my Saturday wedding at the New York Institute of Technology's de Seversky Center because I love the expressions and backlighting in this image. This shot was not staged and the girls never noticed me so I caught them really being themselves. I used my Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens at a focal length of 200mm for this image, which was made with a 1/1000th of a second exposure at an aperture of f/2.8 and ISO of 400.

Flashes of Hope

Last month I joined other photographers from the ASMP (American Society of Media Professionals) in a volunteer project for Flashes of Hope. From their website, "Flashes of Hope is a nonprofit organization that changes the way children with cancer and other life threatening illnesses see themselves through the gift of photography and raises money for pediatric cancer research." The photos we took were at Camp Sunrise in Wheatley Heights, NY on Long Island. This summer day camp is dedicated to children with cancer and their siblings.


Understandably, it is hard for parents to send their kids away to a camp when then are sick or recovering. We were told that one of the things our photos do is convey how much fun the kids have at the camp, which is of great comfort to the parents. Some of my favorite images from the day that I think convey this well are below. 

Photo of the Week 9/6/10

On Labor Day Weekend, I travelled to Cape Cod, Massachusetts for the wedding of Meredith and Matt. I captured this image of the some of the flower girls leaving the bed and breakfast to get in the limo to the ceremony, the highlight of their day. I made this image using my Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens at an aperture of f/5.6 and exposure of 1/640th of a second at ISO100.

Photo of the Week 8/30/10

This week's photo of the week comes from the wedding of Kathleen and Matt in Freeport, NY on Long Island. To get this image while I was photographing the bride from the front of the church, I mounted my second camera on a tripod in the balcony and triggered it remotely using Pocket Wizards. This image was made by my Nikon D300 with my Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens using only ambient light. The exposure was made at an aperture of f2.8 and 1/13th of a second at an ISO of 400.

Photo of the Week 8/23/10

I captured this image at the August 21st wedding of Christina and Nick as they emerged from the church into bubbles blown by the friends and family that witnessed the wedding. As with many of my other images of the couple, the excitement and happiness of the day was readily evident in their expressions. For this image, I used my Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens at an aperture of f/5.0 and exposure of 1/250th of a second at ISO of 100.

Photo of the Week 8/16/10

I recently photographed the wedding of a wonderful couple, Justin and Beth. I always enjoy finding candid moments at weddings and at this one there were plenty. This shot was taken at the start of the reception held at a family farm in Millerton, NY. This image was made with my Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 lens at a focal length of 170mm and aperture of f/2.8 and shutter speed of 1/320th of a second at ISO of 100.

Photo of the Week 8/9/10

Some of my favorite photos are the spontaneous ones of everyday events. This image of my nephew at the celebration of his second birthday falls in that category. This image was captured with my Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens at an aperture of f/3.5 and exposure of 1/80th of a second at ISO of 800.

Photo of the Week 8/2/10

I recently got away for a short vacation on Brantingham Lake in upstate New York and was fortunate enough to wake up early enough to capture this sunrise at exactly 6:00am, while I was there. For anyone who might be interested in a low key outdoor-oriented vacation, you can visit www.grantisland.com for information on lakeside and island rentals on the lake operated by my friend John Paul. This image is an HDR photo made at an aperture of f/8.0 and ISO of 100 using my versatile Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens.

My Photos Featured on the Popular Wedding Blog Merci New York

Some photos of mine from the May 8th wedding of Ryan and Suzanne were featured on the popular New York City wedding blog Merci New York along with additional information on the wedding and commentary from the bride. This follows on TLC's featuring this wedding on a recent episode of their reality program DC Cupcakes.

Here is the link to the piece:
http://mercinewyork.blogspot.com/2010/08/real-city-wedding-suzanne-ryan.html

One of my weddings featured on TLC tonight

The wedding I photographed along with my friend and colleague, Piper Watson (www.piperwatson.com), on May 8th of this year is featured tonight at 10pm EST on TLC's new reality show DC Cupcakes. This series follows the two sisters (in the pink aprons in the photo above) who run Georgetown Cupcakes. TLC picked certain projects to feature and this wedding was one of the ones the they choose. This was also a special wedding for me since the bride and groom, Suzanne and Ryan, are friends and classmates of mine from my MBA class at Georgetown University. It was a great wedding and the cupcakes were excellent as well. The TLC crew (in the photo above) were really great to work with as well.

Photo of the Week 7/26/10

This past Friday I shot the wedding of Meghan and Scott at the Vanderbilt Mansion at Dowling College in Oaklawn, NY. This was a very fun and elegant wedding which ended dramatically with the whole bridal party (including the bride) taking a jump in the fountain. I took this shot with my Nikon D700 and 14-24mm Nikkor lens early into the festivities.

Website Updates

I just uploaded some new wedding images to my website. Lots more to come as I have a bunch of weddings coming up later this summer!

Photo of the Week 7/4/10

This year for the 4th of July I was in the town of King Ferry, in Upstate New York on the Cayuga Lake. On the morning of the 4th, I woke up particularly early and went out to see what the morning light offered. I found this fog covered field nearby and took HDR image a little after 6am. For this image, I used my Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 lens at a focal length of 14mm. The seven exposures were made at an aperture of f/8.0 and ISO of 100.

Photo of the Week 6/28/10

I photographed the wedding of Stacey and Joe with my friend and talented photographer, Ian Johnson, this past weekend at the Tappan Hill Mansion in Tarrytown, NY. I got a lot of images I really liked and the one above is one of my favorites from the day. I captured this image with my Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 lens at a focal length of 82mm. This exposure was for 1/250th of a second at an aperture of f/2.8 and ISO of 500.

Photo of the Week 6/21/10

Since I got so many nice pictures on my trip to Maine, I felt compelled to select another image from this set for this week's photo of the week. I took this picture with my Nikkor 14-24mm lens at a focal length of 14mm. This image was made at an exposure of 1/500th of a second and an aperture of f/6.3 at an ISO of 100.

Photo of the Week 6/14/10

This week's photo of the week is another from my Maine trip. I took this photo on Long Cove in Harpswell, Maine. This image is a 9-shot HDR photo made with my Nikkor 14-24mm lens at a focal length of 14mm, aperture of f8.0, and ISO of 100.

Photo of the Week 6/7/10

On a trip to Maine last week, I ran into the one animal that moves fast enough to require me to crank my shutter speed up to the maximum of 1/8000th of a second. Even at this speed you can see the slight blur at the end of the hummingbird's incredibly fast moving wings. You can also see the bird's tongue sticking out just a bit as it looks for food. I captured this image using my Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 at a focal length of 125mm, shutter speed of 1/8000th of a second, aperture of f2.8, and ISO of 1000.

Photo of the Week 5/31/10

The year I found myself in Syracuse, NY for Memorial Day Weekend and not surprisingly at a BBQ with some friends. I took a few pictures and particularly liked this one of the host couple's almost 2 year old son on the swing set. I like photographing children because of the emotion they readily display as they go about their lives. Here you can clearly see the excitement and happiness in this child's face at the simple act of swinging. This image was captured at 1/400th of a second at an aperture of f2.5 and ISO of 400 using my 50mm f1.4 Nikkor lens.

Photo of the Week 5/26/10

This week's photo of the week features Christina H from APM Model Management. This shot was taken in the studio with a Phase One P 45+ camera and 50mm lens at 1/90th os a second exposure, aperture of f8.0, and ISO of 50.

Photo of the Week 5/17/10

This week's photo of the week features CommenceQuest model Mark under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. This surreal treatment was inspired by the photography of Dave Hill. I will skip the technical details on this one as there are so many and they are proprietary in nature.

Photo of the Week 5/10/10

After a long winter, I am finally back into wedding season. This past weekend I photographed the wedding of Ryan and Suzanne at the Dahlgren Chapel at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. The couple met at Georgetown's McDonough School of Business so the location had extra significance for the special day. I caught this image shortly after the ceremony just outside the chapel. I used my Nikon D700 with my Nikkor 14-24mm lens at a focal length of 21mm at an aperture of f3.2, shutter speed of 1/250th of a second, and ISO of 200.

Photo of the Week 5/3/10

I had the opportunity to shoot at a really great studio in New York City this past week. The location, Dream Studios NYC (http://www.dreamstudiosnyc.com/), has a great setup of ProPhoto lights and all manner of softboxes and other light modifiers. I enjoy taking an occasional behind the scenes shot and particularly liked the way this one of Gwen, a professional dance, turned out. This image was captured at an exposure of 1/125th of a second at an aperture of f11 at ISO100 using my Nikor 14-24mm lens at a focal length of 14mm.

Photo of the Week 4/26/10

I took this picture for my mother who knitted the sweaters that these two daughters of a family friend are wearing. It is actually a small world story as the grandmother of these two girls was my parents realtor when they moved to Lake Forest, IL in the mid-90s then I later went to college with the mother of the girls in the picture. Finally, my parents ended up moving to the same street on Long Island as the mother her husband and the two girls did within a couple months of each other. Anyway, I liked the picture enough to make it my choice for my Photo of the Week. This image was captured using my Nikor 50mm f1.4 lens at an exposure of 1/60th of a second, aperture of 3.2, and ISO 400.

Photo of the Week 4/19/10

After a bit of a break, I am resuming posting my photo of the week. I captured this image of my young friend Grant blowing out the candles on his third birthday a little over a week ago. This image was captured using my Nikon D700 and my 50mm f1.4 lens and using only the light from the candles at an aperture of f5.6 and shutter speed of 1/100th of a second at an ISO of 2000. Given the high ISO I also utilized noise reduction software in the post-processing of the image.

Pink Fashion Rocks! Show in Washington, DC

My friend Christa Floresca contacted me last summer to take some promotional pictures for a fundraising concert she was organizing to fight breast cancer. With the Pink Jams! concert a great success, Christa launched her new fundraising effort, a fashion show held at the Long View Gallery on this past February 24, 2010 in Washington, DC.


Pink Jams! in partnership with the Greater Washington Fashion Chamber of Commerce presented headliner Betsey Johnson and 14 of the hottest Washington, DC designers in an one of a kind pink fashion show. The over $20,000 in proceeds benefited Pink Jams!, Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, and the DC Fashion Foundation.


Celebrity models included Miss DC 2009 and 2008, Jen Corey and Kate Marie Grinold, and Kate Michael, Miss DC 2006, aka K Street Kate, was in also attendance. Musical accompaniment was provided by the Charm City Devils. Here are some of my images from the event.