Saturday I photographed my last wedding of the season, and what a way to end an incredible year! Craig and Bridget’s Celtic Wedding was, in a word, awesome.

I’ve known Craig for about a year. We met at BNI (Business Network International), a great business networking organization. Craig is a printer rep for Alpha Graphics (so if you need printing, see Craig… when he comes back from his honeymoon). When he asked me to photograph his wedding I was totally jazzed. Being of Scottish descent I have a great love for all things Celtic. Someday I even hope to learn the bagpipes (sorry neighbors).

Craig made sure every detail was covered from the Celtic Knot wedding rings on down to the drum and bagpipe processional and recessional by Katherine Craig and Alasdair Gillies, respectively.





The church, Bellefield Presbyterian, is one impressive place. Gorgeous stained glass windows allowing terrific light to flow into the sanctuary top the rotunda.



It was so awesome seeing how much love they share.





Bridget, a graduate of Chatham College, wanted a special picture on her Alma Matter’s soccer field. Of course I was more than happy to comply! The soccer ball was borrowed from a couple of kids also on the field. Everyone had so much fun!



Thanks guys for allowing me the honor of photographing your day. See you when you get back!

“Sometimes I photograph just to see what things look like on film” – Garry Winogrand (1928-1984)

I’ve liked that line since the day I first heard it in college. In many ways it describes my philosophy on photography, too. When I’m working on a personal project I often photograph to see what the subject will look like in two dimensions, with a particular lens or at some obscure angle.

Of course there’s a big line between intentional experimentation and just snapping a ton of images hoping something will come out cool. I usually have an image in my minds eye before I snap the first picture.

Digital makes it so simple to just keep making picture after picture until you get what you’re seeing in your head. ‘Back in the day’ we only had 36 exposures on each roll of film. HA! Today when we reach 36 we’re reaching for the next flashcard. Yesterday I got a 2 Gig SD card for my new snap shot carry around camera, a Canon ELF. Besides the fact the camera is awesome, my 2 Gig card allows me to make more than 700 photos before changing “film.” Seven hundred! That’s about what we use to get out of 20 rolls of 35mm film. We live in amazing times!

The following photo is one from a day of making images just because. I had this image in my minds eye all day and was very happy when it all came together. A little Photoshop work this morning and it’s done. Hope you like it, too.

There's a good reason why Pittsburgh's downtown is called "The Golden Triangle." I've been photographing my adopted city since the day I arrived 16 years ago and am constantly amazed at how many beautiful views it offers. I just had to share this one from last night. At some point in the near future I'll have a gallery of images (available for purchase) dedicated to this amazing city.

Wow, I'm so jazzed today! Saturday I had the honor of photographing Mia and Joel's awesome wedding at Shakespeare's Restaurant & Pub at Olde Stonewall Golf Club. It's a very unique castle outside of Ellwood City, PA and quite a dramatic venue -- complete with suites armor on display about the halls. Really cool.



After their ceremony on the balcony we went off for a few minutes of "alone time" around the grounds. God was looking after us and held off the rain until we finished the photos. In fact, the sun peaked out a few times just to add a bit of drama to the lovely late afternoon light.




After dinner the party really cranked up thanks to a fabulous playlist. Everyone had a great time dancing to the really hot tunes. But guys, what's the story behind the Central Michigan reference? Growing up in central Michigan it really took me by surprise! How random was that!?




Last night, sore feet and tired beyond words, I still couldn't wait to see the pictures. Thanks guys for a terrific time!

Who knew? Today I had to say no to yet another wedding for July 14th, 2007. This one in Hanover, NH. This makes the fourth inquire for this date so far. The strange part is this -- I would have bet money on 07.07.07 being my most requested day next year and so far not one inquire! On that once in a lifetime date I'm still available. I'm sure I'll book up but it does strike me as odd. Who knew?

Saturday I was honored to photograph Brigette and Steve's beautiful wedding at the magnificent Hyeholde in Moon Township. Even though I'm only a few minutes from this incredible place it was my first time there for a wedding ceremony. The manager, Jeffrey Cooper, and his staff did an amazing job!

Brigette wasn't a nervous bride at all, she was just happy, smiling and enjoying her day! They are both so cool! Steve is an artist and designed their rings.

And how about that motorcycle, guys? Wow, what a touching gift. Bet you wish you could fit it on the plane for your honeymoon! See you when you get back!

Here are a few of my quick picks from the day..

Just got back from an incredible wedding this weekend in California with my good friend Mike Colon and new friend, and terrific photographer, Ray Santana. It was the most lavish and expensive wedding I've shot to date. When Mike asked a few weeks ago if I would come out to help him I was totally stoked. Unfortunately because of a strict Non-Disclosure Agreement I cannot talk about it or show any images, but if you Google around you'll see lots of press, the paparazzi were staked out on the hillsides and more. Hopefully someday I can show some shots, but I'm not holding my breath. Thanks again, Mike, for putting your faith and trust with me. I'm so glad we were able to, as you said, "nail the shots!"

Here's a picture I "borrowed" from Mike's site of us doing a pose to show off our uber stylish Panerai. The shot was made late into what turned out to be around a 19 hour day.

This is incredible; I cannot believe it’s been almost a month since I last made an entry, but what a month it’s been! With a wedding every weekend, engagement sessions and commercial assignments spattered throughout the time has flown by. Long hours and late nights have been the rule. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything!

Cool tools. I’m an Apple guy through and through. This month, on top of every thing else going on, I added a new Macintosh G5 to my arsenal. This puppy is packed with everything possible to deliver blazing processing speed. Multiple racks of external hard drives provide more than two terabytes of storage. That should last me through this season at least! Twin LaCie monitors and a stack of Lexar firewire CF card readers round out my new workstation.

This added technology couldn’t come at a better time! I’ve had so many wonderful jobs lately it’s been a pleasure to be locked in front of my computers (well, almost). The real pleasure has been meeting so many awesome people and making so many wonderful images.



Kelly and Mike Conlon were married on Friday, August 4h in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. They are such a happy couple! I don’t think I’ve seen a guy laugh with such zeal as Mike, he just lights up a room with his joy. This was a “quiet moment” made between the wedding and reception. When Kelly’s mother saw the picture all she said was “yep, that’s our Mike.”





Kelly and Dave will be married next year. On Saturday, August 5th we all met at Station Square for their engagement session. I normally don’t schedule anything the day after a wedding but, for them I made an exception because Dave had to return to Washington DC the next morning. They were uncomfortable in front of the camera for maybe 30 seconds, if that! Once I told Dave to ignore me and pay attention to Kelly, well, let’s just say the interaction between them was quite magical. Can’t wait for their wedding!





Heather and Gino are not your typical couple. They didn’t want a traditional wedding in any way shape or form. Instead they had a garden party and at some point get married! The couple exchanged vows on a bridge over a lap pool. The pool was in Heather’s grandmother’s backyard. Very cool! Keeping in the non-traditional style, they don’t want an album; rather, several fine art black and white prints from the day will adorn the walls of their home. Awesome! Although, Heather did say maybe one color photo would be OK, the dress is really quite colorful.





I would be quite remiss if I did not mention a very special assignment I had this month. As many of you know, for many years I was a newspaper and magazine photojournalist. Most of that is behind me now, but there are a few special publications I continue to work with at any opportunity. Guideposts is one. In early August it was my pleasure to travel to Grove City, PA to photograph Josh Anderson, his mother, Sheryl, a some close friends for a special profile. I don't want to let the cat out of the bag so grab a copy of the magazine and read his heartwarming story. It should be on newsstands now.

A Perfect July Wedding Day!

It's not often you have cool temps in July, but Lauren and Mike did! The cold front came in bringing almost spring-like weather to last weeks wedding. Their afternoon ceremony at Orchard Hill Church was beautiful and the reception following at Shannopin Country Club was absolutely awesome! Since the wedding I've been busily editing more than 3,300 images Ed and I made throughout the day. There are so many special moments! Thank you guys for allowing us to share your incredible day.

Western PA School for Blind Children

The most rewarding assignments I receive are those where I am allowed to just go out and find images packed with emotion. Finding special moments in daily life is what I'm all about. Yesterday I had the opportunity to explore the wonderful work done at the Western PA School for Blind Children. The staff there are simply angles doing incredible things helping God's children. I feel truly blessed their designer, Pam Peters, President of MarketSpace Communications, entrusted me to document this amazing facility for their annual report.

When I sent Pam a few images from the shoot last night she sent me this note:

"FANTASTIC!!!!!!

These are absolutely gorgeous.

You are amazing with the camera!

Pam."

Thank you, Pam, for the beautiful opportunity to witness the love and dedication of everyone at the school.

A Day in the Life of Kelly & Mike

This week I hung out with an awesome couple for a few hours making pictures and talking about their upcoming wedding.

Kelly, Mike and I met in Pittsburgh's Strip District to wander around and shoot their engagement photos. Most know by now I don't do the "typical" studio engagement session of 'lean-this-way-and-look-off-into-the-future.' BLECH! Naw, we just hang out for a while, explore a section of this great area and make pictures as things unfold. It's fun, the expressions are real and we get a series of beautiful 'Day in the Life' photos that can be made into a little picture book.

We had so much fun that morning, I can't wait for the wedding!

Pixel mania

Man, what a time it's been lately! Seems like forever since I made a new post here, but there's a good reason -- two weddings, two engagement sessions, a rehearsal dinner and a couple of commercial shoots all in the pipeline for digital processing at the same time. All totaled I've reviewed, edited, tweaked and processed more than 10,000 images in the last couple of weeks!

Adding to the craziness I recently switched picture hosting providers to provide better customer service. Once this is up and running (hopefully this week!) clients will be able to purchase prints and other items online and use a credit card for on the spot payment. When the orders are completed the items will be shipped directly to their door. This will be so much more convenient for friends and family, especially those from out of town.


Springwood

The only appointment I had this week outside the studio was with Kate at Springwood, a very cool ceremony and reception site in Verona. The place is fabulous! It's a big old mansion with lots of outdoor areas, covered areas and incredible rooms for weddings. Check out their website at Springwood.org. For more information write Kate at info@springwood.org. One word of advice -- plan far ahead -- as you might expect they get booked up fast.

Here are some of the pictures from Springwood:

The main entrance as seen from the driveway

The front room with stone fireplace

A view of the back patio with owl carving. When a tree dies they bring in an artist to carve animals in the wood. How cool is that!?

A peaceful pond graces the front lawn. There's a waterfall feeding the pond, too, that's just so sweet!

A great week!

What an amazing week this has been! Thursday was wall to wall, all in a good way. Early in the morning I shot “several hundred” photos for a magazine cover and ad campaign for one of my commercial clients then dashed off to lunch and an engagement session with Lauren and Mike -- I’ll be photographing their wedding next month. The engagement session was so much fun, thank you guys!! We went to a local park and just had a blast. The shaved ice afterward was so good.

That evening was the rehearsal and dinner for Maria and Andy (their wedding is this Saturday). The weather Saturday is going to be sunny and warm -- perfect for a springtime wedding. Check back on Monday to see some pictures!!

High on Love

Friday afternoon I met Maria and Andy at the vineyard where their reception will be held. What a beautiful backdrop for photos! With the rains we've had recently everything is so vivid green it looks fake, but it's all real. The session went fantastic thanks to Maria's enthusiasm, along with her ability to leap like Superwoman! We'll see if she does this in a full wedding dress next weekend! The photos from the session will be projected during the reception, in between Italy's World Cup match, of course!

Colleen and Kevin

Wow, what an awesome wedding Colleen and Kevin had last Saturday! The event was held at the Morning Glory Inn, a beautiful Victorian bed & breakfast on Pittsburgh's South Side. The weather was absolutely perfect, too (not always something you can brag about in Pittsburgh)!

Here it is, Wednesday, and I'm still giddy because it was such a wonderful time. Thank you guys for picking me to photograph your day! Can you believe we were able to walk in the middle of Sarah Street and nobody ran us over? Bet we couldn't do that at rush hour!! If you'd like to see the pictures, click here for a slide show album of the wedding: Colleen and Kevin's day

Tender moment

Wow, I just finished an incredible session with an awesome couple and had to share one of the photos. Verquan and Deneen came in for a very special portrait. She's expecting... like in a couple of weeks! These kids are SO in love, they both just glow. Verquan is so tender and gentle with her. It was a pleasure and an honor to photograph them at this time in their lives.

A great new book!

I'm so excited this week! I just completed a HUGE book project with master fitness expert Weston Lyon. I provided the photos, he provided the exercises to be photographed. This book is absolutely awesome! Over 300 photographs were created to show every exercise. Now this isn't your typical pumpin iron kind of book, oh no, Weston doesn't do weights, he knows there's a better, a more natural way. Weston believes your own body weight is enough weight (we all have enough of that don't we?). By doing the proper exercises you WILL lose weight. Check it out for yourself at www.westonlyon.com. And while you're at it, sign up for his free daily fitness tips, you won't be sorry, just healthier.

More seminar images

Ok, sometimes when working in the digital darkroom one thing leads to another and I never know where it will go until I get there. These photos were from the Thursday afternoon shoot with Mike Colon at The Beehive (see post below). Great models, fun images and a whole lot of experimenting in Photoshop! Not right for every shoot, but the funky colors and cross processing effect are perfect for this one! Take a look!!