Melissa and Jason

I have some more photos to edit from New Orleans, but before time gets the best of me, I wanted to blog about Melissa and Jason's wedding, which I shot just before the trip. They were married at Ventosa Vineyard in Geneva, with an awesome ceremony out on the back lawn overlookng the grapes and Seneca Lake. The reception that followed was amazing with the biggest dessert table I've ever seen and a private fireworks show.

We started the day at Posh Salon in Geneva, which I discovered was owned by one of my past brides.

The guys were getting ready at the Ramada so we stopped there after the salon for some fun lakeside photos.

I have photographed dozens of wedding receptions at Ventosa, but only a few ceremonies. This was the first one out on the lawn and it was a spectacular setting. It felt like a southern plantation, which was kind of fitting since I was leaving for the deep south a day later.

Gator Country

Our first day down in New Orleans, we went on a swamp boat tour. We saw plenty of gators since they followed the boat in search of a marshmallow hand out. They probably would have been just as happy with a marshmallow covered hand. Nevertheless, we returned with all of our appendages intact. We even got to hold a baby gator.

Later in the evening we began shooting in New Orleans at a fountain at Harrah's Casino. Even at 11 at night the temperature was still a sultry 99 degrees, so a dip in the fountain was refreshing.

The Big Easy

New Orleans should be called The Big Hotty instead of The Big Easy. I just returned from a three day trip to New Orleans, or "Nawlins" as the locals pronounce it. We've had some pretty hot days up here in Western New York this summer, but non of them compare to the heat I experienced down there. With daily high temperatures of 102 degrees all three days with the dew point in the 80s, the apparent temperature was 114 degrees. Sweating was a given, it was spontaneous combustion we were trying to avoid.

I met Rich at New Orleans airport Sunday morning for a three day trash the dress shoot with my permamodel Stacy and her sister-in-law Becky. Stacy flew me down there as a wedding gift to Becky who eloped a year earlier and didn't have any professional wedding photos.

Becky's husband Mike is in the Navy, so we got to tour the base in Belle Chase, LA. We even got to do some photos near an F-18 painted up as a Blue Angel.

We spent most of our time though in the French Quarter doing some great photos, both day and night. I will post the photos in several sets since there are too many to do at once.

Here are some from the first night there from Bourbon Street and Coyote Ugly where the girls got to dance on the bar.

White Eagle

I love exploring new places I've never been to before. It makes me feel like I'm on vacation even if it's relatively close to home. Saturday's wedding of Tim and Christa brought to the White Eagle Conference Center in Hamilton, NY. I've shot weddings in Manlius and Cazenovia, but this brought me farther east in to uncharted territory.

Even though Long Island is a concrete jungle, there is the occasional oasis of tranquility. One of those places was just outside of my neighborhood, tucked between Jericho Turnpike and Route 106. There was a Quaker Meeting House on Old Jericho Turnpike dating back to the 1600's. One of the founders of Jericho and Hicksville, Elias Hicks is buried there. Ironically, he also had a hand in founding the hamlet of Farmington up here in the Finger Lakes just north of Canandaigua.

The White Eagle Conference Center reminded me of that old Quaker Meeting House. There was a small colonial like village there, complete with a saloon and an old church. Tim and Christa had there ceremony in the church. Before the ceremony, we walked around the small village and did photos among the old buildings and including a covered bridge.

Tim and Christa wanted something different for their wedding. They certainly found it nestled in the hills of Central New York.