March 7, 2010 — Last weekend, I received an email with the subject line “Holi Shit!” from my friend Ashwin. He was referring, of course, to Holi, the grand festival of colors that Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and others celebrate to welcome spring. The tradition involves throwing dye, baby powder, and colored water at each other to “chase away the winter grays.”
And what a springtime day it was. Sunny. Warm. Miraculous.
I realize I’ve strayed from the “travel” part of my blog, but I shall return to form after my South Africa trip in November. Meanwhile, I’ve been practicing my portrait-taking abilities at dinner parties in the neighborhood.
I met Dave and Jenn while working at Condé Nast in my early publishing years. Coincidentally, that’s also how they met each other. Fast-forward a few years, and next month this lovely couple will be tying the knot at the KumGangSan Gallery in Queens.
I’m really excited to shoot their wedding, especially because I sense such great chemistry between the Web-savvy couple. Between Dave, an experienced Web developer, and Jenn, a fantasic designer (she designed Gourmet.com when we worked together) they’ve come up with some fantastic ideas for their traditional-and-Korean-themed wedding next month — which I have no doubt will make for an amazing ceremony and, hopefully, great photography!
Last weekend, the three of us went for a little walk in their Lower East Side neighborhood where I shot a few photographs to get a feel for things.
I live for a good dinner party. So when Emily suggested a cookout with our blogging-minded friends, I jumped at the opportunity.
But the “North Brooklyn Bloggers Banquet” would not be a spectator event, I was alerted. Each participant would either cook or assist in the preparation of a dish and then publish their experiences in a blog post. So, with my camera and a curried squash soup in tow, I joined the group at Liz and Joe’s lovely apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
There, I found a kitchen full of delicious aromas and Sunday conversations. Beans and corn were being shucked, avocados expertly peeled. Breads and tarts came in and out of a very busy oven. Someone plopped a case of PBR into a bucket of ice. All the while, Kenan, inconspicuous sketched portraits on a simple notepad and Jake screwed on his brand new 50mm 1.2 lens to his 5D Mark II (jealous!).
I helped myself to some delicious rosé from the fridge and then got down to work. And by “work” I mean snapping tipsy shots, sampling sliced tomatoes from the balcony-garden, refilling my glass one more time.
A quick thunderstorm. Some strong sun. Occasionally, we took our drinks to the balcony where a hammock was stretched and looked down at the garden below.
Brooklyn continues to exist as the most magical place I’ve ever lived in.
