Photographer of the Year

I posted last week on earning the prestigious honor of having a print accepted in to the PPA Loan Collection. A few days after that, I received another letter from PPA that I will be receiving an award for Photographer of the Year at the National PPA Conference this coming January in Tampa, Florida. It stated that I was receiving this award because all four of my prints received blue ribbons, two made it in the showcase book and one in the loan collection.

I was also contacted last week by the Montel Williams Show to come down to New York for a taping of their wedding episode. They wanted to interview me on Trash the Dress Sessions. Unfortunately, the episode has been postponed.

Recent Weddings

The past few weeks have been insanely busy. I'm not complaining, I just haven't updated the blog in a while because of it. Here are some images from some recent weddings, including some from today's wedding I shot with my sister Ellen.

Blends and Breakouts

Amanda and I have been working on some cool senior photos the past few weeks with blended photos and others with objects that appear to breakout of the image borders. I love digital!!!! It allows us to play for a living. I will post some of the images below, but keep checking back for new ones as we create them. Seniors, keep in mind that it's not too late to have your senior photos taken. Visit our website at http://www.cheslerphoto.com/senior.htm for more information.

9-11 Remembered

In March of 2002 I received a book from my sister Caren who is a freelance writer down in New York City. The book was titled New York, September 11 by Magnum Photographers. It was a graphic depiction of the events that took place just six months earlier by several Magnum photojournalists from various vantage points in and around New York City on that fateful day.
My life has never been so effected in such a short period of time as those months following September 11, 2001. Life for every American was drastically altered, only in the months following, I would also lose my father to cancer and bring my son into the world 6 weeks after that.
My sister wrote a long message on the opening fly sheet of the book on how her life had changed since my father's passing. She encouraged me to follow my passion. I look back on how my life has changed since then and I have done just that. I can honestly say that I have built a business around something I truly love doing. I have a complete passion for my career and can also enjoy the fruits of my labor. I feel blessed for that.
I sat down with my kids tonight and shared the book with them. My daughter who is in fourth grade shared a moment of silence with her classmates this morning. Ironically, 9-11-01 was her first day of preschool. I was to fly to New York City that day to spend time with my father who was in a clinical trial cancer treatment at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NYC. I put my flight plans off until the afternoon so I could share the morning with my daughter on her milestone day. I never made it to the city that afternoon. I was finally able to fly down a few weeks later, landing over the still smoldering ruins of ground zero.
My son's kindergarten class did not do anything for 9-11 that he was aware of, but he may not have understood the significance of what they were doing this morning. Both kids thumbed through the pages with great interest, asking numerous questions. I shared my stories of the Twin Towers having grown up on Long Island.
Earlier in the afternoon, I peered out the studio window and watched the parade of firefighters, bag pipes and pedestrians march north along Main Street on their way to a vigil at the American Legion. It was warming to see how the community still comes together to pay tribute to those who lost their lives that day. May you all walk in peace, and never forget those who were lost on 9-11.

-Steve

Little Bear Goes to School

My little boy boarded the bus today for his first day of Kindergarten. He had the guidance of his big sister so he was much more excited than scared. He didn't even look back as he boarded the bus. (sniff, sniff) My little bear is growing up.

Photographer of the Week

This week I am the Photographer of the Week on the Trashthedress.com website. Here is the link to the interview. Photographer of the Week/Steve Chesler

A big Thank You to Mark Eric for not only creating the Trash the Dress website, but for allowing me to be such a big part of it.

Dansville Balloon Festival

I went to the Dansville Balloon Festival today with my wife Sue, my kids and my mom. I told my mom that for her birthday we would take her up in a balloon, but after last weeks accident in British Columbia we decided to view the festival from a safer vantage point. We still ended up going up in a tethered balloon 30 feet off the ground. It was at dusk, so the view was great and we got to see a private balloon glow.