Jeffrey's Bar Mitzvah

Last weekend, Rich and I drove down to New Rochelle just outside of NYC, to photograph Jeffrey's Bar Mitzvah. Rich graduated high school with Jeffrey's mom, Lauren, so when she saw our photography style on Facebook, she new that's what she wanted for Jeffrey. We met at my sister Caren's house in Harlem Friday night and headed up to New Rochelle early Saturday. We started the day photographing Jeffrey and his family before heading into the synagouge to photograph the rehearsal. We couldn't shoot during the ceremony itself, so this was a great oppoprtunity to not only photograph Jeffrey with the Torah, but to do it with our unique perspective.
After the service, we headed back to Lauren and Ira's house to photograph Jeffrey in his own environment. We did some fun aerial shots perched above his basketball hoop while he took shots.
Later that evening, the reception was held in the ballroom at Temple Israel in New Rochelle. What a party!

Fox Trot

Yesterday, Amanda and I photographed Erin and Michael Fox, who were married in Aruba a few days earlier. I offered to go to Aruba with them but I wasn't so lucky. We met them over at the Hyatt in downtown Rochester for some getting ready shots. While we were playing with her dress and shoes for still life photos, sand was going everywhere. After the Hyatt, we went over to High Falls for some great shots on a fire escape and overlooking the old mill. For the reception, we headed over to the Harro East Ballroom downtown.

Erin and Andrew

A few weeks ago Rich and I photographed the wedding of Erin and Andrew at Belhurst Castle. It was a gorgeous Saturday afternoon wedding, albeit a little chilly in late March. We had so much fun with them. In fact, that's were Rich and I started playing with the fish eye lens from the previous blog post. Here are some images from the day.

No Session Fees - No April Fools

For the month of April, we are waiving our session fees for all in-studio portraits. This is not an April Fools joke. Let's face it, word of mouth is our best source of advertising, so in order to get some of the coolest senior photos on the planet into the hands of as many seniors as we can before school ends, we are taking drastic measures. Since we don't want to play favorites though, we are extending the offer to any in-studio portrait session, not just seniors.
As an added bonus though for the Class of 2011, we will also include some cool giveaways that we want people to see, such as personality cards, key chain sized mini albums, wallets, posters and more. Time slots will go fast with students limited after school availability, so call the studio today to get on the schedule at 585-393-9242.

Big Print Sale

Now this can be read in two different ways, one is a (Big) Print Sale and the other is a (Big Print) Sale. We are running the latter with a 25% off sale on all prints 16x20 and larger, including Gallery Wraps. There are some new options with Gallery Wraps as well called Photo Splits, which are three Gallery Wraps of a single image split into a series. See the image below. We are also extending the sale to include float mounts which are a thin canvas wrap mounted on a block so it sits farther from the wall. Depending how it's lit, the shadow it creates can add a unique design element to the image. There are other options for the Gallery Wraps as well, such as high gloss wraps and leather wraps. For those of you who don't know what a Gallery Wrap is to begin with, it's an image printed on canvas that wraps around a wooden stretcher frame and part of the image wraps around the edge so it does not need to be framed.
If you want a more traditional look, we just picked up a new line of frames and mattes at the PPSNYS trade show, which not only look awesome, but they are priced right as well.
The "Big Print" Sale will run through the end of April, however plan ahead and come in soon if you would like these back for Mother's Day.

Fish Eye Fun

After getting very little use for years, I've started using my fish eye lens more often for the sheer entertainment value of it. I've never been a big fan of fish eyes while working, but they can be a riot with a little bit of creativity. Flattering is not a word I would use to describe the result, but when the image drops me to my knees in laughter, it has to be shared.
I also recently purchased the Ray Flash ring light to spread a light source around the lens, creating a high fashion look. However, when used with a fish eye lens, the ring light shows up in the image creating a unique look. I did a test shot on Amanda this morning at the studio. Some people get to play for a living. :)

Jedi Master

I just returned from an awesome weekend at the Desmond Hotel in Albany for this years Professional Photographer's Society of New York state conference. It was actually the first ever Northeast Regional conference in conjunction with New Jersey. As usually happens at these conferences, my head is spinning with ideas, but that's coming in it's own blog post.
Several months ago I received a letter from PPA (Professional Photographer's of America) that I had received my degree of Master of Photography. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the Imaging USA conference in Nashville to take part in the ceremony to confer my degree. In Albany, PPA President Louis Tonsmeire, officially recognized those who received their degrees during the banquet Sunday night. Now it's official.
I also received my degree of Accredited Photographer from PPSNYS this weekend as well.
This years print competition went well also. Although I didn't take home any of the big trophies I was hoping for, I did receive a blue ribbon on each of my four prints.
Here are the images I entered as well as a few other photos from the weekend.

Photo by Jim Ferrara