Shooting with Vlad Chaloupka ~ May 28th ~ La Posada

I love it when when I am asked to second shoot a wedding. In my humble opinion, Vlad Chaloupka is one a Santa Fe's best wedding photographers. I am honored when he asks me to shoot with him, we've worked together before and every time I am thrilled to have the experience. This wedding on May 28th was full of love for Ben and Amanda. Their friends and family traveled far and wide to gather in Santa Fe for their special day.

I enjoy documenting everything about a wedding, even the smallest details because it is obvious a lot of thought and care went into every aspect of the day.

Vlad was photographing Amanda and her bridesmaids before the wedding. So I got to hang out with Ben and his crew. They were a great group of guys.

 

Here is Amanda's proud mother before the wedding. Now I know where Amanda gets her beautiful, bright eyes. Here is one of the ring bearers getting prepped.

The flowers were so, so fragrant.

While Vlad was shooting the formal family portraits, I had a chance to take individual groupings like these of Ben's parents. He has a blended family and it was so wonderful to see everyone come together to support him.

Here are the adorable ring bearers walking down the isle.

Amanda and her father just about to walk down the isle. This is the first time I saw Amanda. What a radiant smile!

The ceremony was beautiful.

Ben and Amanda seemed so happy after the ceremony. Let the festivities begin!

More amazing details.

As usual, the food at La Posada looked scrumptious.

The tent and tables were beautiful.

La Posada has this lovely courtyard which is perfect for wedding receptions.

The first dance. Amanda and Ben only had eyes for each other.

Ben's brother is giving a toast here. He managed to make us all laugh and cry.

The live music was wonderful.

Such a lovely image of Amanda and her dad dancing during the father daughter dance. Look at his expression, it says it all.

Jessica & Nate

It was so much fun photographing Jessica and Nate's engagement session yesterday! I am thrilled to be shooting their wedding in July.

Tarrytown Wedding ~ Emily & Mitch

I had the honor and pleasure of photographing Mitch and Emily's wedding April 17, 2011 in Tarrytown, New York. The ceremony and reception were both at the magnificent Tappan Hill Mansion. The on site event manager, Kathy Policastro was amazing. She handled every detail with grace and professionalism.

For those of you who don't know, I totally "geek-out" over weddings. I get so excited to see the dress, the shoes, the flowers, the hair and make-up. Look at Emily, so radiant!

The gorgeous bouquet.

Emily has two sisters, Sara and Rachel. They were so fun and playful. This photo was a quick shot I took emphasizing Emily's cool hoodie that reads, "Mrs. Weiser." What I love about this photo, is that I asked them to come together and put their arms around Emily's waist. They so easily snuggled in and surrounded their sister, and dropped their heads. Maybe it wasn't intentional, but it looked to me like they were in prayer or at least a moment of contemplation. It also indicates the obvious closeness between them.

So here is Emily immediately after she put her dress on. I LOVE this moment at every single wedding! It still gets me, to be able to be there and witness when the bride puts on her dress. This is a big time "geek-out" moment for me. I try to contain my excitement and play it cool. Sigh...... just look at her, she is so gorgeous. And look at her mother, Terri, so proud of her daughter. By-the-way, now I know where all the girls get their amazingly beautiful brown eyes. So next up is the moment when Emily and Mitch see each other for the first time. Tappan Hill Mansion has this stunning staircase which was perfect for the moment.

Emily's father seeing her for the first time in her beautiful gown.

We went outside for some couples shots. It was a little windy but what a beautiful day! Did I mention that Emily and Mitch met in med school? They are both finishing soon and will be doctors. Yes, doctors. Mitch-surgeon, Emily-anesthesiologist. Very, very impressive.

What I love about shooting weddings is that I have the opportunity to get to know the family. I had Paul and Terri, the mother and father of the bride, right in front of my camera here. Instead of smiling at me, Paul planted this deep kiss on Terri. To me, that says something about the passion and love between them. Absolutely, wonderful.

 Signing the ketubah.

The ceremony was lovely.

There was such joy and laughter during the reception. Both families clearly love and support Emily and Mitch with all their hearts. They definitely know how to have a good time. 

I absolutely love this image of Mr. Weiser being raised during the hora.

This is one of my favorite photographs from the evening. At the end of the reception Emily & Mitch embraced, totally naturally, spontaneously. Thank you both for sharing your beautiful wedding day with me.

I would like to mention Mikkel Paige, she was my second photographer. She took some amazing photographs. Please check out her blog Mikkel Paige.

Sneek Peek ~ Mitch & Emily's rehearsal.

Emily and Mitch had their rehearsal dinner in New York City tonight. I took this photograph

of them in Grand Central Station. The wedding tomorrow is going to be amazing!

Second Shooting

I once again had the honor to second shoot with Vlad Chaloupka. He is an amazing local photographer in Santa Fe, New Mexico. What I love about second shooting is that I get the opportunity to work with another photographer. I also get the chance to shoot the event from a different perspective. I can kind of be invisible while the principle photographer is in charge of everything. In a sense, I can relax and capture things in a photo journalistic way. Here are some of my images from the wedding that Vlad so generously allowed me to post.

I love this image because I happened to capture the father looking at his beautiful daughter as he was walking her down the isle.

The ceremony and reception were held at the amazing La Posada resort and spa in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

[SIN]pathy band shoot

I had such a great time doing a photo shoot with Jessica's band on Sunday. I photographed Jessica's wedding last September and heard her amazing voice that weekend when she sang to her new husband Brad. I'm so excited that she is in a band again. It truly is her calling. So when she asked if I'd shoot some band photographs I was excited. I practiced some new techniques that I learned at the annual convention I attend every year for WPPI ~ wedding and portrait photographers international in Las Vegas.

I went into the room where the band practices, turned off all the lights and shut the curtains (learned this from Gerry Ghionis, attended his two day plus class) . Beginning with a completely dark space, I brought back light by opening the curtains slightly. These portraits were shot in front of the window.

Geraldo Garcia drums and Jessica Preston vocals.

Sean Pilgrim guitar.

Jose Hozer Granados bass and Roberto J Lujan guitar.

Then we went across the street to shoot some group shots near the Santa Fe River.

Roberto had access to this awesome building with great light.