One of the things I love about the weddings I’ve been fortunate enough to photograph is they allow me to travel to new and interesting places. Recently, I photographed Julia and Sam’s wedding at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Now, Cornell wasn’t completely new to me. I had made a pit stop there on my way back from a cabin trip in Cayuga last year for a whopping half an hour. I walked a portion of the university and saw classic ivy league architecture interspersed with lush green forests and incredible gorges. I walked with my jaw gaping open and could picture my life there a la Alternate Ithaca Tom. I knew I would have to come back. Lo and behold, here I was photographing a wedding at the beautiful Sage Chapel on the most perfect summer day imaginable.
You may purchase prints from this wedding — as well as view all 599 photographs — at my proofing site.
The next couple of my blog posts will be detailing a great weekend in Savannah, Georgia — the jewel of the American South. It was my first time there and we were celebrating the wedding of Kelly’s younger sister, Kara and her now-husband, Zach. I wasn’t the lead photographer at this wedding, so it was nice to sit back (for the most part) and enjoy the show. That is, until the heavens parted.
I have several friends (including Kara and Zach) who are alumnus of the über-artsy Savannah College of Art and Design and they all agreed it’s a common occurrence to have sporadic intense thunderstorms that last only a few minutes. (The most disappointing part is that the rain does nothing to break the hellish humidity.) The timing of this storm was impeccable. It had been a perfectly sunny day until about an hour before the 5 p.m. ceremony. That’s when the sky suddenly turned dark and we heard the distant rumble of thunder.
Saturday, April 3, 2010 — Wedding season is upon us, dear friends! Last week, I had the pleasure of photographing my first ceremony of the year. The happy couple were Heather Plourde and Michael Rubiner. Heather, a talented interior designer, was a one-woman planning and decorating team. She blended her craftiness and personal touch to every element — from handmade felt flowers for each guest to an adorable bride and groom cake topper (see photo at end). Michael, an accomplished screenwriter, added his wit and humor to a very funny toast and also made sure all the arrangements went as per schedule.
This being an April wedding, the theme was “pushing spring.” Heather and her bridesmaids wore bright, vibrant colors (Heather, an exquisite lime green and white dress) which added a nice contrast to the classic architecture. The weather was also in total agreement with the theme. It was a fine spring day with plenty of sunshine and even a cool breeze. As per usual, I arrived hours ahead of schedule — a tip I picked up from my friend (and fellow wedding photographer) Jacob Pritchard — and even had time to stop for coffee at the neighborhood establishment Tea Lounge. I then arrived at the breathtaking Montauk Club.
The Montauk Club is a true hidden gem in my hometown of Brooklyn, New York. It’s a private club that’s been a gathering place for the Park Slope community since 1890. The architect, Francis H. Kimball, was inspired by a palace on the Grand Canal in Venice. Michael and Heather are members and somehow scored this superb space for the big day. (Word has it Martin Scorsese just filmed a scene of his new movie there).
The wedding itself was unique and inspiring. I saw a lot of familiar faces — Heather and Mike were guests at a previous wedding I photographed last year and that was the point of contact for their own ceremony. They, along with a couple of hundred of their closest friends and family, filled the space with laughter, cries, a beautiful rendition of the Magnetic Fields’ song, “Book of Love” and of course plenty of dancing and rocking out. Dinner included a delicious buffet and no less than a dozen homemade cakes (one for each table)!
All in all, it was a great celebration and a wonderful party!
Portraits of Poets: 1910 – 2010 Exhibition, National Arts Club, New York, NY.
January 5, 2010 — Recently, I was invited to photograph the opening night of the Portraits of Poets 1910-2010 exhibit, as part of the Centennial Anniversary celebrations of the Poetry Society of America (PSA) — the organization responsible for the excellent Poetry in Motion subway series among many other poetry-celebratory endeavors.
The evening featured gripping performances by poets Galway Kinnell, Marie Ponsot, Yusef Komnunyakaa, Richard Howard, and Sapphire — the latter, whos novel is now the major Oscar-buzzy motion picture, Precious.
The exhibit, which will be up through January 15th at the National Arts Club in Gramercy, Manhattan, includes drawings, photographs, and oil portraits of distinguished poets from W. B. Yeats, Robert Frost, and Marianne Moore to Lorine Niedecker, Frank O’Hara, Etheridge Knight, Gary Snyder, Adrienne Rich, and Audre Lorde.
Even if you missed the opening night cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, I highly recommend checking out the incredible mansion-space as well as the wonderful works of art.
Before I’m about to jump on a 20-some hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, I wanted to share some photos of an event I recently photographed. The party was to introduce the eco-friendly fashion Web site, Ecouterre.com, from the spirited, green-minded folks at Inhabitat.com.
I got the call mere hours before showtime, but luckily was able to squeeze it in and get some good shots of the party people. The event took place at Kaight NYC in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, and included complimentary organic huckleberry vodka cocktails, vegan raspberry jam cookies and a raffled off handmade Andean Collection necklace made from ivory palm.
Additional writeups (and some of my bonus photography) are floating around the Web, including at PaperMag.com, Ecouterre.com and Kaight NYC’s Web site.
Stay Green!
