Amazing Lake Placid Wedding

Playing with a Ferrari

As a child I had a ton of car toys. My favorite was a 15" plastic 1978 Trans Am just like the one from Smokey and the Bandit. I wore out the carpet and my knees racing that car all over the house. Not much has changed since then, my life still revolves around cars. 

As part of my business I lease my cars for three years. It never fails, as soon as the new car reaches my driveway, my gaze starts looking along the horizon for the next one in three years. I'm a car research junkie, however I always put my efforts in to researching cars I have a remote shot at getting. I'm realistic, so I don't put much time in to reading about the super cars such as Ferraris, Lambourghinis, Porsches, etc… 

 Over the last year or so, I've been fortunate enough to get hooked up with RM Auctions, a Canadian company that does high end auctions for the world's premiere cars. My role with them is to photograph cars going to auction from Buffalo through Albany. This region is not exactly a hot bed for super cars, but if you look carefully, they're hiding in places you'd never suspect. I've driven through Ovid, NY dozens of times on my way to Ithaca or down to Wagner Vineyard for weddings. I never would have guessed that tucked between the miles of farms and rusting pick up trucks was the last prototype Ferrari F-50 before they went in to production. Needless to say when I pulled in to the driveway to photograph this beast I was giddy. The owner even took me for a short ride from one shooting point to the other.

 Shooting for RM Auctions, I have to wait until after the auction ends before I can post the photos as to not interfere with the auction process. "My" little red Ferrari sold at the Arizona auction for $1,625,000. Not a bad pay day.

 As my business transitions more heavily in to commercial work, I'm setting my sights on more and more automobile photography. Since I can't afford them, I can always drool over someone else's.

Flipping the Bird

Growing up near New York City, it's unavoidable to get sucked in to the battles of every day life, whether it's fighting for your lane on the crowded streets, your space in line to buy a bagel or playing chicken for a parking space. All too often, the attitude is every man for himself. I'm making a huge generalization here where there are plenty of exceptions, but all too often the battle culminates in someone getting flipped off. I grew up thinking that's just the way life was, not knowing it could be any different. 

 Going away to school in Brockport, I discovered how different every day life could be in a small rural community in Western New York. I fell in love with the easy going attitude where people go out of their way to hold a door or give you their spot in line if you had fewer items than they did. I'm not saying people don't rub each other the wrong way every once in a while, they just react to it differently.  

As a business owner in a small town, I really have to watch the way I react when something happens, because inevitably that same person will be walking in to the studio. I've had it happen where I'm trying to get to the studio for an appointment only to be held up by someone going 15 mph under the speed limit the entire way. Sure enough, the person holding me up ended up being my client that I was rushing to meet. 

 Last week my brother Rich and I were on Long Island shooting a Bar Mitzvah for an old friend of the family. When we got to the venue they were finishing another event so there were no parking spots left except for one. Rich found the last spot and was about to pull in when an SUV came flying around the parking lot the wrong direction and stole the spot. I can't say that I'm surprised when stuff like this happens down there, but I still don't understand why people think they have the right to do stuff like that. Rich and I sat there in disbelief as the guy gets out of his car, looks at us and says "How ya doin?" and walks inside. 

 After a few deep breaths and restraint from giving the pompous guy a piece of our minds, we found another spot and brought our gear inside the venue. We met our friend Dave inside who promptly introduced us to the owner of the venue Mr. Pompous himself. It's a good thing we showed self restraint or it would have been a very long day with no doubt a fresh loogie on our dinner. I guess the moral of the story is "Don't flip off the hand that feeds you."

Wine, Wind and a Wedding

I first met Krista and Doug at Starbucks down in Mamaroneck in Westchester. I knew right away that they would be a blast to work with. They traveled up to the Finger Lakes for their wedding at Belhurst Castle, on a windy early Fall day. Krista's veil had a mind of it's own during the ceremony, creating some interesting and humorous moments. The broken over cast sky made for some great textures over Seneca Lake. Congratulations Krista and Doug!

Reignite

It's time! I've been in a rut for a while, doing the same things, thinking the same things, just basically sticking with the status quo. There is nothing wrong with sticking with something that works...normally, however with the speed with which the photography industry changes, standing still gets you left behind. One of the biggest things that's been missing lately has been inspiration. I love being inspired but somewhere in the hustle of every day life, I stopped looking for it. It's time to start looking again and the best place to start is right here. Since 2006, my blog has been a great source of inspiration for myself and my army of 18 followers. Over the last year or two though, I've been posting less and less, and just throwing things up on Facebook, which is not nearly as satisfying. It's time to reignite the passion that has brought me to where I am. 

 One of the things that fuels the passion is helping to inspire others. I'm going to offer more, bigger and better photography classes, to share my knowledge and vision with others. The next class will be a Fall Foliage class this Saturday, October 12 from 3:00-6:00 p.m. We'll be taking a hike to find some breath taking vistas and gullys surrounding Canandaigua Lake. The cost is just $45. Call the studio at 585-393-9242 to reserve your spot.

Sowing Seeds of Love

On Saturday, Ellen and I photographed the wedding of Sarah and Andy Mussack at Keuka College on Keuka Lake with a reception at Kings Catering. I first worked with Sarah and Andy last year for their engagement shoot which we did at a winery on Seneca Lake and then their hobby farm in Seneca Castle. An amateur gardener myself, I was blown away by the size and quality of the garden they had going in their backyard. This past Spring, Sarah was one of the students at several of my photography classes, so it was like photographing the wedding of old friends more than clients. I joked with them that I would trade photography lessons for gardening lessons. 

 Norton Chapel at Keuka College is an amazing backdrop for a wedding in the Finger Lakes. We were able to get some great shots right behind the chapel out on a dock on Keuka Lake before heading back to Canandaigua for the reception. We were initially going to stop at a spot on Flint Creek in Seneca Castle for some photos, but with the ridiculous amount of rain we've had lately we had to nix those plans due to the high water levels. The river looks more like chocolate milk right now than a quiet rural stream. Congrats Sarah and Andy! You guys are the best.

Love Knechtion

I've been doing so many sports leagues and Bar Mitzvah's lately that we've actually gotten a late start on our wedding season. We dove in with both feet this weekend with two weddings in a row. We started the weekend on Friday with Jennalyn and Brian Knecht, who were married at St. Stephen's in Geneva with a reception at Belhurst Castle. Even though it was about 9,000 degrees in the church, it was nice to be back at a wedding with Father Mull who was recently reassigned to Geneva from St. Mary's in Canandaigua. Father Mull has been a fixture in our community for the last decade, so it was nice to know that I will see him regularly in Geneva. Jennalyn and Brian were great to work with. They took the heat in stride even with Brian wearing a three piece tux that must have been torture. I give him credit, I would have jumped in the lake. Congrats Brian and Jennalyn!