Anna & Jeff – Mendon New York Wedding Photography
I would be hard-pressed if I had to choose just one word to describe Anna and Jeff’s wedding at Westminster Chapel in Mendon, NY. Family. Love. Happiness. Each word could equally stand on its own; however, combined they equate more than they would otherwise individually. And, actually that is very much a testament to the bride and groom.
Weddings inherently involve the merging of families – some big, some small, but altogether two families ultimately come together to form a family anew. Anna and Jeff’s wedding was no exception and their families were a pleasure and joy to work with a be a part of while photographing Anna and Jeff’s wedding.
What would any wedding be without love, right? Anna and Jeff’s wedding had love abound; it was evident from the night of the rehearsal just how much these two loved each other, and there was no shortage on the day of the wedding either! Even after subjecting Anna and Jeff to a lengthy formal wedding photography session – thank you both for you patience – these two newlyweds were so enamored with one another they did not seem to mind one bit!
Finally, Anna and Jeff’s happiness is evidenced throughout their wedding photographs. From their first kiss during the ceremony, to the formal wedding photography session immediately following, and throughout the entire wedding reception, Anna and Jeff are one happy couple!
Anna and Jeff, congratulations to you both and thank you for the opportunity to be a part of your special day in what is sure to be a long, happy, and prosperous marriage. I thoroughly enjoyed photographing your wedding and capturing the myriad of special moments on your wedding day. Here are just a few of my favorite wedding photographs from Anna and Jeff’s wedding at Westminster Chapel.
Leslie & Brandon – Rochester Wedding Engagement Photography
This past weekend I photographed an engagement session for Leslie & Brandon, two Fairport natives whose wedding I’ll be photographing in a few weeks! For this engagement session, I traveled to Erie and spent the afternoon talking with them about how they met, various stories growing up, oh and taking some photographs along the way too. :)
Engagement photos are a great precursor to wedding photographs – Leslie and Brandon were able to get a feel for how I will photograph their wedding, and I can get a good idea of how they react to the camera. During the photography for their Rochester wedding, I’ll be able to draw on the engagement session to achieve more fluid and less invasive wedding day photography. As a Rochester wedding photographer, I’m committed to delivering the very best wedding photographs – engagement photos are one way that I differentiate myself and offer truly exceptional wedding photography.
Here are a few of my favorite photographs from Leslie & Brandon’s engagement session. Enjoy!
Sarah & Brian – Belhurst Castle Wedding Photography – Geneva, NY
In May I’ll be photographing the wedding of Sarah & Brian at the Belhurst Castle in Geneva, NY. Today was the first time I had an opportunity to met with them (they currently reside out of state), and I’m even more excited to be a part of their wedding day! I spent the afternoon touring the grounds with them in preparation of their wedding photography – discovering areas to shoot their formal wedding photographs and to get an overall feeling for the schedule of their wedding day.
The events coordinator, Carmen, has been a part of Belhurst for over 20 years and she was extremely helpful at answering Sarah and Brian’s wedding-day questions and putting them both at ease. Part of the stress of planning a wedding is answering the question, “Who’s going to do what – when?”. Belhurst’s attention to detail and customer-oriented approach is exceptional, putting any wedding-day jitters to rest and reassuring the wedding couple that every detail is masterfully and thoughtfully taken care of.
The possibilities for wedding photography on the grounds of the Belhurst Castle are more or less limitless; it really depends what style of wedding photography the bride and groom gravitate toward. For Sarah and Brian, I’m going to concentrate on edgy, sexy, fashion-inspired wedding photography with a look similar to that in a high-end magazine spread. We even discussed some ways of shooting the formal and bridal party wedding photographs in unique and different ways to really punctuate the desire for artistic and truly original photographs.
I brought my camera along and took a dozen or so photos while walking around the Belhurst grounds, talking about the wedding day in general and specifically the wedding photography. I’ve included a few of my favorite photographs below (I really like the photograph of Brian looking out at Geneva Lake and the photograph of Sarah silhouetted while standing next to the wrought-iron door inside the Belhurst Castle).
Caitlin & Erich – Rochester Wedding Photography
Spring is almost here and that means we’re inching closer to the beginning of another fantastic summer wedding photography season in Rochester, NY! I’m especially anxious to get back outside and start photographing what are sure to be some truly amazing weddings this year. So far, I’m scheduled to photograph weddings in a variety of unique locations from Sonnenberg Gardens in Canandaigua, NY to Gathering’s at the Senator’s Mansion in Churchville, NY.
In August, I’m photographing Caitlin and Erich’s wedding in Scottsville. This is a couple who is very on top of things – finding time to assemble a wedding web site blog with details on places to visit and things to do for guests visiting from out of town. Creating a wedding web site is a fantastic idea as it allows easy dissemination of information to a large group of people quickly and effortlessly – the blog format increases readability and maintenance too. Blogger.com is a free service from Google that allows you to setup a wedding web site blog effortlessly – try it now and spread the news that you’re getting married (and that you’ve found that perfect wedding photographer)!
As an aside from wedding photography, I was downstate last week and took a few photos of the Lain family farm in Westtown, NY. Here are a few of my favorite pics, and one additional photograph of my cousin Michelle during my trip down to Florida over Christmas. Enjoy!
Drops of Jupiter.
Well, I missed the Perseids meteor shower which was apparently Tuesday morning at 2am.
But, I did happen to take a couple photographs of Jupiter and the Moon. In the picture below, Jupiter can be seen as the brightest object, other than the Moon itself, in the top-left corner of the photo.
It’s hard to tell, but the planet had an orange-ish glow. It appears more white in the picture though. :)
A Fantastic Family Portrait Session!
I had both the honour and priviledge of photographing the Buttarazzi family’s portraits today in Webster. The two hour photo session went by really fast, and all the children were execptionally well-behaved! (The adults were pretty attentive as well. :))
It was great to spend part of my afternoon with such a great group of individuals and a very loving family. Mr. and Mrs. Buttarazzi were so friendly and a real pleasure to work with and photograph.
I’m anxious to start post-producing the photographs! We ended up shooting photos at a few different locations on the grounds of the Webster Arboretum in Webster, NY.
Thanks to John, Katie, Mr. and Mrs. Buttarazzi and the entire Buttarazzi family for a great family portrait session today! ;)
Some New Friends and Some New Gear.
I met with my latest wedding couple, Kevin and Brittany, today at Starbucks to meet Brittany for the first time and to go over some great ideas that they both had for their wedding in June of 2009.
I can tell already their wedding will be fantastic, and I’m really looking forward to photographing their wedding next year!
Earlier today, I took delivery of some new photography gear that I will use immediately this upcoming weekend for my family portrait photography shoot in Webster. I purchased a new polarizing filter, UV filter, and some nifty cinch straps that will allow me to attach my tripod to my gear bag. I also picked up a new petal-style lens hood for my 17-85mm lens.
The lens filters were made by an Italian company, Hoya, and they are all multi-coated to reduce reflection, light scatter, and flare. :) The only downside is they’re about twice as expense as non-multi-coated photographic lens filters. :(
But, you can’t compensate for a fine piece of glass. ;)
I took a few snapshots of before and after pictures with the polarizer, the difference is remarkable!
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Occupation: Learner.
I worked mainly on preparing my NY sales tax return for the 1Q08 today.
Random thought, but if it’s one thing I’ve learned about me, it’s that when I get bored, I check out mentally. I need intellectual stimulation to survive. Not so much stuff to do, but I need stuff to learn. I crave knowledge!
I’ve often said that if I were ever to come into a large windfall of cash, that I would consider becoming a full-time student. Think about that – learning, full-time. And, always learning something completely new and different. I know that’s not a dream job to some, but to me it would be fantastic! How could one ever become bored with an infinite amount of knowledge to attain? If I got tired of learning one subject, I’d invest my time in another!
That’s when I know it’s time for me to move on from one thing to the next, when it become routine. I’m not saying that I don’t like routine, I just don’t like feeling as though my mind is being subjected to repetitive tasks. That is one of the main reasons that many of my friends have said I would make a good lawyer – there is always something to be researched or learned or discovered. :)
Tomorrow, I’m meeting my friend Craig for breakfast at Bruegger’s, it’s great that we’ve gotten back in the habit of getting together for breakfast at least once a week to solve the world’s problems. :) It’s really a great way to not only start the day, but to also kick start the weekend. I’ve completed not only my personal journal, but also 2 out of my 3 relaxation technique lab reports, leaving just my final report for the weekend. I feel very on top of things and as though I can take on anything!! :)
If it’s nice this weekend, I’d like to devote some time to researching some cutting edge wedding photography techniques – something that’s really new and exciting and different! That’s one way I try and set myself apart from the other Rochester, New York wedding photographers – I’m always learning and trying new ways of photographing weddings in the Rochester area!
Lots of Wedding Photography!
Ooooooo, Friday the 13th!
I decided to spend some time at Starbucks just down the road to work on some school things and to just change my scenery for a few hours. I spent about 2 hours there transcribing journal entries and just clearing my mind of the chatter from the past week.
I’m not sure what the meditation process is, though I’m excited to learn about it in forth coming chapters from my stress class. I wonder if writing can be a form of meditation, specifically free-form writing where one just writes his or her thoughts down as they flow from his or her mind through the veins, reaching the fingertips as they strike the keys on a keyboard.
I do find that leading up to writing, if it’s something that’s been assigned to me, I am hesitant, I feel pressured much I am at work to produce creative works. I’m much more relaxed writing at my own pace, when I am not congested with racing thoughts or consumed by deadlines. I’m also much more productive as well.
This weekend, I need to work on a wedding photography proposal for a high school friend of mine who sent me an inquiry about shooting her wedding photos in 2010! I also talked to the ex-husband of an old acquaintance of mine; he is getting married in August and is looking for a wedding photographer. I offered him my card and drafted a few different wedding photography package options. I’m also getting ready to sign a contract to do some family portraits in July 5 – it’s gearing up to be a busy but productive summer! :)
I’ve also recently implemented my strategy for accepting credit cards and I’m excited to start offering that service to customers! :)
Relaxing Lunch Retreat.
Seeing as how I had hot dogs for lunch on Tuesday, ham on Wednesday, and today an offering of pork, I was a little bit cashed out on swine. So, I did what most would do if they found themselves in a position similar to mine – leave for lunch. :)
My good friend Craig and I decided to go to Wegmans for a very relaxing lunch retreat. The Wegmans in Penfield has picnic tables along the right side of the store, a fact that is very unknown to most – including myself until today. We ate our lunch in the bright sun and afterward laid on the tables while discussing how to solve the world’s problems. I took a picture of myself laying on the table with my iPhone and sent it to my wife so she could partake in my joy too! :)
Afterward, I went back to finishing up the web site for Lindsay. The site had been a very slow work in progress for about 2 or 3 months so finishing it felt extremely satisfying; however, it will always be a work in progress as we unveil new upcoming events and list progress reports.
Check it out! http://www.LindsayGraygoEmpowermentScholarship.org
Afterward, I finished up some lingering yard work left over from the past weekend, including repairing some lattice work and priming it before I get a chance to stain it THIS weekend – sometime after working on my mini-paper for my Stress Management class. ;)
I also spent some time in the evening retouching some wedding photos, and researching some locations in Upstate and Rochester, New York for wedding engagement photography sessions.
Routine Basics.
I find writing to be relaxing and words easy to come by. In fact, one of the biggest problems I have when I write is trimming back the words. I guess I have a lot to say!
I started writing this blog at the beginning of 2008, and while I was able to maintain writing every single day for the first month, I simply found it impossible to write every day. I should really keep a voice recorder handy and just dictate my thoughts at the end of the day. :)
Tomorrow I’m looking forward to catching up on a long-distance project with a group of friends from high school. We’re trying to organize a fund raiser for a fellow student who was murdered back in February. The proceeds from the fund raiser will be used to establish a scholarship in her name – the Lindsay Graygo Empowerment Scholarship!
I’m planning on tomorrow being a good day to hunker down a bit on that project, and a few others. :) For the most part, I’m in a good place with respect to my projects and my tasks that have deadlines approaching.
It’s hot right now – really hot, almost sweltering. In fact, at 12:32am, it’s 73 degrees outside. And, tomorrow is supposed to be 90! Someone kicked it up a notch alright. Bammm! I have a few more things to do before heading off to bed. I’m meeting my friend Craig for breakfast in the morning too, which will be nice as we have fallen out of our usual routine of weekly breakfasts. I’m definitely looking forward to it. :)
There is some photographic equipment that I’m looking to buy in the upcoming months, that should really come in handy photographing weddings here in Rochester, New York. Upstate is such a beautiful location to have your wedding photos taken, and the new equipment will surely augment New York’s beauty! :)
A Webster Site Visit.
The family portrait session that I’m going to be shooting in July will be shot on location at the Webster arboretum. Since I’ve never been there, I thought I would take advantage of the weather today and go do a site visit.
The arboretum was fantastic! I’m even more excited to shoot there in July! There are plenty of different areas at the location where I can shoot. I ended up spending about an hour or so there just exploring all the different angles that I can use for photographing the family portraits.
:)
Wedding Photography At Keuka Lake.
I photographed James and Luba’s wedding on Saturday and I’m very pleased with how the wedding photographs turned out.
I spent most of Saturday photographing the wedding, which was right next to Keuka Lake in Upstate, New York. I wrapped up taking photographs by 5:30 and I was able to manage a few hours at home afterward to import the nearly 2,700 wedding photos, select all the good images, kick out the bad, and have them posted online by 12am!
There were some really excellent images that I was able to capture that I hope to post in the coming days. This was the first wedding trying out a new post-production workflow and I was pleasantly surprised by how quick and efficient the new workflow is – it will dramatically cut down on the amount of time I spend post-processing photos.
On Sunday I received confirmation that I would be shooting some family portraits in July at the Webster Arboretum which I’m really excited about! I’ve never shot there before, so I’m looking forward to it!
The weather in Rochester, New York has been gorgeous, perfect wedding photography weather!! :)
Master Grill Chef Ryan.
Well, last night was an amazing time at the Chase Challenge, where I took some excellent photographs. I actually ended up neither running or walking, but instead I took over 300 photos and grilling for my wife’s company, Lenel, at their tent.
Until last night, I had never really grilled for more than 4 people, but last night I ended up grilling for 30 people! I was slightly apprehensive about grilling for so many people (well, many as far as I’m concerned), but it was a lot of fun – many thanks to the Lenel team!
There was a brief period of time where demand outpaced my supply of burgers, but only for a few minutes. After that passed, I had a moment to relax, enjoy a sampling of my own cooking, and looked around to see many happy, smiling, and satisfied individuals. Now, I don’t claim to know anything about the food service industry (I’m much more in tune with photography :)), but I can’t think of a better reward or compliment than to see every plate clean and folks coming back for seconds. :)
Turns out, I’m not only good at eating food, I’m also quite handy in a pinch for a grill-chef. :)
Ahhhhhhhhhh. [Big stretch]
I’m all caught up with my accounting class, so I’ll be able to spend some time relaxing on Sunday before moving forward a few clicks to the next stage of my stress management class. I’d like to keep about a week or two ahead of the schedule so I can adequately respond to any “bumps” in the road.
Happy grillin’!
Do West-Coasters Get SAD?
Today is the Chase Corporate Challenge at RIT and I’m excited because I’ll be getting out of work a little early to join the other 11,000 participants at this year’s race. Though, I’m on the fence if I’ll run, walk, or just hang back with my wife and help her out at her company’s tent. :)
I’m going to bring my camera and see if I can’t pop of a few shots before the race starts. If I end up not running, I’ll take a few pictures of the race start and of the first hundred finishers and my wife’s team’s picture too!
Portrait photography is something that I’m starting to really enjoy, along with wedding photography and fine art photography. There are so many beautiful locations in Rochester, New York and really in Upstate, New York in general. Photographing weddings in Rochester is truly exceptional!
It is beautiful outside! Something that I’ve noticed is that I’m much happier when the weather is very sunny and warm. I started reading forward into my Stress Management text, to get a jump start on things and not fall behind, and in the chapter the text refers to SAD, a phenomenon that occurs when people do not get enough sunshine – such as in the arctic circle. While I definitely do not suffer from SAD, it was interesting to read about the link between weather and personal health altogether.
There’s a consensus that folks on the West coast are a lot happier than us East coast folks, maybe there’s a correlation there. Can sunshine make one warm on the inside too?
Anywho – I’m excited for the weekend, as I’ll be photographing a wedding in Keuka Lake, New York which will kick start the wedding photography season in Rochester, New York. ;)
I’ll post some of the wedding photos later on in the weekend. It’s gorgeous outside – warm, sunny, and 70º!