Here is a quick sneak peek at some of the photos I have been working on from an engagement session this past weekend. Charisse and Sterling were an amazing couple. I will tell a little more of their story and some info about the location in a later blog. I just wanted to throw up a few photos to show what I’ve been working on.
Peace and Love
JJ_080908-103, originally uploaded by hennessey|g.
Got an opportunity to tag along with Marta at a wedding last Saturday, and it was another great experience. You can read her blog about it here . I’m really starting to enjoy photographing weddings. I think that when I started I was just in love with taking photos but now I am really getting into it. I guess having back to back weddings the last two Saturdays and another coming up soon has put me into the “wedding spirit”! My little 5 day stint in Vegas at the end of the month will come as a welcome respite from a long, long August of photography. I may consider not taking my camera.
This was one of the smallest weddings I’ve had the pleasure to be a part of. A small affair at a beautiful old church in downtown Fredericksburg. It was one of those cute old churches with wooden pews. One drawback was the little doors that stopped me from moving freely from row to row in the church. Note to self, a little tape to hold the door open might be a good accessory. The ceremony was followed by some formals in the church then a bridal session on the grounds outside of the church then it was off to the reception at the Frederickburg Square. Small weddings are great but I will say that there seemed to be a dramatic shortage of men on the dance floor. The DJ seemed a little miffed, but all in all it was a nice and quaint celebration of two people who where obviously in love.
You know I usually frown when someone says a woman has “classic lines” or is a “classic beauty” but the phrase really seemed to fit this bride.
When I met the groom he had a grin ear to ear as if he really got one over on the rest of the world and when his bride walked into the church, I was moving over to his side of the fence.
I don’t know if I shot enough. My 600+ photos were easily dwarfed by Marta filling up 8GB cards, but it was a great opportunity to pick Marta’s brain a bit about how she approaches weddings.
A couple of things you guys should know if you haven’t been able to shoot with Marta or have not been following Marta’s blog…..
1. She’s a workaholic. (she may deny it but the proof is there)
2. She’s crazy talented
3. She’s nicer than you imagine.
I had a great time and I thought that it came through in some of my photos.
Details….Details…Details
The smile on her face was unrequested and spoke volumes about how she felt about her husband
It was late and we were preparing to leave and I looked up and saw the bride with her two sisters talking and just as I picked up my lens and changed some settings…….. she looked at her ring. GOTCHA!
No light in this portion of the room at this time of night and I was too far away for my flash to be effective. Thank God for Noise Ninja. Not a perfect shot but one that tells a story!
Of course I have to ask the age old question……. Why is there always a cute flower girl to steal the show!!!!
a final couple of photos of the lucky lady
and one of the lucky guy!
Sorry for the the Thompson Twins moment there. and those readers out there whom aren’t old enough to remember the 80’s phenomenon that was the trio called the Thompson Twins….. well lets just say, “you missed out!”
Toni, sent me an e-mail requesting that I post some of the pictures of my recent trip to New York. The problem is that the trip wasn’t all that recent. The issue with carrying your camera with you every where you go these days and on top of that photographing models and weddings is that you run out of time to post and blog. But the blog is assisting you with driving the business of taking pictures. It’s a serious catch 22. To Toni and all my other friends, I will endeavor to get better.
Here are the best of the best from my trip to Brooklyn. I have others of the city and I may post them later but this was the first time I had an opportunity to shoot one of the most photographed bridges in the world.
This last picture is from a subway station. I saw the dangling “wet paint” sign and thougt it was interesting against it’s blank background but when a speeding subway train went by ( the red and white lines on the right) I had to take a photo!
One of the local photography groups that I have blogged about in the past is the DC/MD/VA Strobist group. It is an interesting collection of novice and professional photographers who like to get together and take photographs focusing mainly on using off-camera flash kits. I’ve been getting to know them over the course of the last 8 or 9 months and it’s been an enriching experience so far.
This particular meet-up was at a local Coast Guard Base. One of the photographers is attached to the base so it was a good opportunity to drag the members, out of the comfy confines of the District of Columbia, way out to Alexandria, VA. We were going to have a little cookout, do a little shooting, have a little fun, and just enjoy spending some time with other people who like to walk around with a camera attached to their face. I had invited Karen and specifically had the intention of NOT shooting. I had taken quite a few photographs in the weeks leading up to the meet-up and wanted a weekend day off. I even invited Karen to entice me into relaxing for the day.
Needless to say, from the photographs above, I took some photos. Sarah and Sean Baker of Twice Baked Photograhy had lined up a lot of models to come by during the cookout and much shooting was there to be done. I hope you enjoy the photos.
I had an opportunity to shoot with a photographer named Dotun recently. You can see his work here. He is a talented and experienced photographer whom I hope to get a more “settled” opportunity to shoot with in the future. I say settled because I literally was brought onto the shoot last minute. He said that he had tried to contact me via e-mail but I had not received the e-mails. He sent me a text message that I did not receive until Saturday, the morning of the wedding. Usually I am up for a challange and even though I believe that I got some good shots, I was a little disappointed that I thought I could have done much better with some time to prepare.
This may strike some of you as peculiar but this was my first african wedding. Both the bride and the groom were Ethiopian. It was a great experience and I hope to be able to shoot another in the future. The colors that the attendees were wearing are a photographers dream. So it made for a great photo op. Here are a brief collection of photos. All photographs were taken in conjunction with Dotuns Photolounge out of Lanham Maryland.
After we left Amanda, William, and Edward, we hopped on the Metro and decided to ride to get some dinner. The metro ride was entertaining in itself.
It is always fun to see kids experience something new for the first time. Hannah tried to hide her excitement for the ride, but she smiled everytime the train started up again after a stop. She was very cute walking around town with her backpack and an american flag sticking out of the back. We decided to go to Clarendon to get something to eat before venturing downtown. We picked Clarendon because it offered a few options which is important when you’re out with a kid who only eats “Chicken and Fries” After much debate, we decided to go with The Cheesecake Factory. I think we picked it because Hannah liked the colors of the restaurant. I don’t remember.
After trhe meal we ventured downtown, braving a brief rainstorm, to watch the fireworks on the Mall. It was wet and damp but the rain stopped as the fireworks started (seems to happen that way every year) and the Fireworks went off without a hitch.
It was a nice day. As someone who has lived in DC off and on for several years, I would usually opt not to join the masses downtown. And even though it was a long long day! It was well worth it. I hope that Hannah thought so too.
Fourth of July can be a long day. You get up early, you stay up late watching fireworks, and you usually try to stuff way too much into the day and spend far too much time out in the hot sun. Karen and I had a big day planned. Our niece Hannah was coming into town to stay with us for a few days and we promised here that we would take her to the mall. Now I know you Washingtonians are saying, “What?!?!?!” In my defense, she had never seen a big fireworks display live before. And who wouldn’t want their first fireworks be on the national mall.
The day started out with our friends the Wallingfords. Amanda and her two sons William and Edward took us to their community pool to let the kids play in the water. Will and Ed are two great little guys and its been fun seeing them grow up
I just wanted to post some photos of the little guys. I will post on the rest of the day later
Matchbox 1, originally uploaded by hennessey|g.
At the start of what was going to be a whirlwind two weeks for me I had an opportuntiy to go out to dinner with my wife and a couple of friends at Matchbox. For my West Coast friends. Matchbox is basically a local pizza joint on steroids. Nice wine list good atmosphere, and a great location near Chinatown. Now on top of these great details, they supposedly have some of the best pizza in town. I was eager to try it out so when it was suggested, I hopped on board to the idea quickly.
It’s a great little restaurant. It has everything you need to be successfull, execpt a competent Host staff. I don’t want this to digress into some rant about the DC service industry but let’s just say it seems that mediocre service is the norm these days in our fair city. I try to ignore it but one of the worst parts about being a former restaurant mangaer is that you tend to notice the little things. My biggest beef was with the pizza. It was good but not great It had all the ingredients to be a great pizza …. good sauce, lots of topping but it just lacked the little something that keeps you coming back for more. I guess my love for Facia Luna will live to fight another day.
Hay Lady!, originally uploaded by hennessey|g.
I’ve learned the last 7 or 8 months that I’ve been on Flickr that meeting new photographers can be a mixed bag. Ideas and shooting styles don’t always mesh. But it’s always been a good learning experience. I had been checking out Marta’s blog off and on for the past few months and was glad to be offered an opportunity to shoot with her this past weekend. I arrived at the location - Chatham Hall in Fredericksburg - at the same time as Marta. And we immediately fell into an easy conversation about the shoot and photography in general while we waited for the bride to arrive. It’s always nice to meet a complete stranger and have them that at ease. It shows a confidence and comfort with themselves and the world around them. Because let’s face it, on the scale from Denzel Washington to Kimbo Slice, I’m definitely on the Slice side.
Shannon, the bride, arrived and we got down to shooting. Let me start out by saying it was hot. I believe that we all were trying to talk ourselves into staying cool by saying that it wasn’t so bad. But it was hot. The occasional breeze did help but it was HOT. To that end, I give all the credit in the world to Shannon, she took the heat in stride and I’m sure the pictures turned out amazing. She’s a beautiful lady and with that great “can do” attitude, Steve is a lucky guy. If you want to see some picture of Steve, Marta had a great looking engagment session that you can check out in her galleries here.
I don’t know if I was much assistance during the shoot. I tried to help out where I could but, I was greatful for the opportunity to meet and talk to a spectacular photographer. If you get an chance to shoot with Marta, I would highly recommend it. If you are in need of a Wedding or Portrait Photographer, she should definitely be on your short list
It was a great location to shoot, I’m glad Marta introduced me to it. It would certainly be worth traveling down to the Fred to have a good location to shoot.
Great Location! Great Model! Great Company! You couldn’t ask for much more. Other than about 20 degrees cooler.
Thanks Marta!
Wrigley Field, originally uploaded by hennessey|g.
I had an opportunity to go to the “Windy City” a few weeks ago. I had been to Chicago before but the weather was much more agreeable this trip. Sunny and 70’s in Downtown Chicago is a great place to be. I was staying at the Renaissance Chicago Hotel, a faboulous location if you are visiting the city.
My trip started with all sorts of negativity. The plane sat on the tarmac for about an hour and a half while we waited for storms to clear. I made the mistake of taking the train from O’Hare to downtown. (another 1.5 hour extravaganza due to construction) But there is something about a room at the Renaissance that makes it all better. (must be the sheets).
After a hot shower, I went out with some friends to a local Thai restaurant and reminiced about some old times. It’s always good to talk about the good old days. I met the couple, Lisa and Jorge, before they were a couple when they were waiters in a restaurant that I managed. I have been able to keep in touch with them over the years and they are now happily married and living in Chicago. Lisa is a lawyer and Jorge works for a competing hotel company. (grrrr!)
I was able to walk around the city and take some photographs. I’m still trying to get used to some of my new lenses, but I was happy with most of my photo walks. After a while the Chicago Skyline got a little boring but I only had a couple of days and didn’t get a chance to venture too far outside the city. Hope you enjoy the photos.
After lunch one day I was surprised to see a press event for the movie Kit Kittredge: An American Girl occuring outside the restaurant. I took the opportunity to act like a papparzzi and snap off a few shots of the star of the movie Abigail Breslin.
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