Pittsburgh Wedding Photographer | Hidden Valley Engagement Session | Megan and Mike

Middle of January is not the time most people want an engagement session. Then again, Megan and Mike are not most people. Because they both LOVE winter it was only fitting we made a trip to their snowy retreat in Hidden Valley to create some special images. It was indeed a fun and interesting day! Haven't played (or fallen) in the snow like that in years! As much as we enjoyed our day of play, we're really looking forward to their wedding later this year, when it's a bit warmer!

Thanks again and we'll be seeing you soon!

PS. That hot chocolate was fabulous!

Snow angles!!

Ready...

Aim...

Fire!!!

Snowpocalypse | The Great Blizzard of 2010

Depending on where you measure (or stand) here in the North Pittsburgh area we got about 20 inches of snow overnight. Wow. Fourth largest snowfall on record some say.

Yes, it's a mess, a pain and dangerous to drive. So take a walk, look at the world around you like a kid again and have some fun. Go ahead, nobody's looking, toss a few snowballs or better still, drop and make a snow angle : )

Enjoy in life's simple pleasures and the beauty of nature.

Pittsburgh Photographer | Photo Technique | Camera Cleaning Tutorial | Moose Peterson

I'm a very anal Virgo type person. Think "Monk." Almost. But sometimes I slip and it's nice to be reminded.

Moose Peterson is one of the best, no, Moose is THE best nature photographer working today. Hands down, no comparison. He's also a gifted and giving teacher. His site is a treasure trove of inspiration and education. But the video tutorial series I want to highlight is his very interesting method of cleaning his gear.

Cleaning? Yes, cleaning. Back in the day when cameras were cheap and lenses not really all that expensive many photographers would clean their stuff only when the grime got so bad you could no longer move the controls. Well, that might have worked OK when a new camera body was $400 and a new lens was $200, but now with a new body setting you back $4,000 or more, and a professional quality lens coming in at a cool $2K, it behooves you to take care of your gear. In other words, keep it clean, keep it packed safe and don't abuse those little mini-computers so when the moment is right, your camera will work.

You can view his series on proper cleaning techniques HERE.