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.

 

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!

 

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).

 

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!

 

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. :)

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! ;)

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!

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!

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! :)