DESTINATION: HOUSTON!

A few weeks ago I was off to Houston to shoot my first Indian wedding... well the first one under my name.
And I was very excited. Indian weddings are colorful, rich, vibrant, happy and filled with beautiful people! And the music is so alive.
I had not met Anu before the wedding but had met Hitesh at my studio. He told me that Anu was beautiful but I didn't expect her to be so much so!
The first part of the day was a bit tough for me because Anu's family is bit
traditional and they did not want me phtoographing them getting ready. But in the end, I got some really amazing shots and had a great time with everyone there.
This was also the first time that I photographed some obvious wedding crashers that came in the form of teenage girls in shorts and t-shirts... It seemed no one in the wedding really minded, some were even laughing and talking with them. Can you believe that event the father of the bride was getting down with them?
Great people!

enjoy!!!

The wedding crashers have fun with the father of the bride!

For a slideshow presentation go here. Watch out for the music and have patience while it loads (9mb).

QUE VIVA COLOMBIA!

I'm wondering how many of you know I'm Colombian. because if you did know, then you would begin to understand why a Colombian wedding would be extra special for me.
I'm wondering because then everyone will understand why this entry will seem a bit biased.

Natalia was my first Colombian bride...
And she was beautiful, and was so proud of being Colombian.
There was the moment when she knelt before her mom, and then her dad to receive a benediction and words of love right as she was about to leave for the religious ceremony...
My favorite moment however, was when Natalia at the dinner party took out candles she had brought just for this occasion, passed them around to all the guests, lit them and then told the history of the Cumbia dance in Colombia while everyone held the candles and prepared to dance with them!
Then the dancing began, and boy did she dance! (I remember looking over at Stefan and he was -put simply- mesmerized!)
It's hard to put in words how moving and beautiful this wedding seemed to me...

One of the reasons why I love shooting weddings is that I get to see and experience so many different traditions, cultures, rituals, people... But with Natalia's wedding it was a bit different, only because it reminded me of my childhood, my family, my life... I felt awed, proud and humbled, it was hard at moments to hold back my tears.
But alas, I did!!!
Thanks guys!
Enjoy...

For more images go here for the slideshow! (careful with the music! and have patience as it may take a minute to load). Enjoy!

A PARK'ED LIFE

OK see if you can follow this:

My good friend Kevin introduced me to Jane.
Jane introduced me to Sean.
Sean introduced me to David.
And David introduced me to his lovely Karaoke skills on the lower east side.
Now,*
Jane is Kevin's cousin, who -by the way- happens to be in love with Sean.
Sean in a way is David's brother but is not a Park.
David is both Jane's brother and Kevin's cousin...
and Kevin? Well, Kevin is a cousin, a cultural interpreter and a Park!
Got it?

Good!
...

The Bride with her father

The Groom with his mother

The Groom with his beautiful wife
The triplets of Bellville

Jane and Sean I am eternally grateful to you both for not only allowing me photograph your wedding but for the new experiences that it brought me. I had never shot a Korean wedding before! This is one of the reasons why I love to do what I do. It's the exposure to the world and it's people...and you guys just gave me a piece of that.
And don't think I forgot about the walk from the Staten Island Terminal up the hill to your place! But it was worth it. My assistant and I had a great time!
We should do Karaoke again soon!

*Litereray trick I learned from Dave Egger's "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius".

BARNABY DID WHAT ?

Only in New York folks, only in New York.
When I found out through Jason Groupp (whom had asked me to come photograph this wedding with him) that Barnaby (the groom) had promised his bride a perfect day for their wedding, I could not believe it!
I mean, a promise of A PERFECT DAY,... that's quite a promise!
Think about it!

Well, if you are wondering if he kept his promise,
take a look:

What do you think?

Enjoy!

Barnaby's beautiful mom

Barnaby's -not so beautiful- dad

Some of you may recognize this church from a prevoius post...

A princess gets ready to walk down the aisle...

she just needs a little encouragement!




Does being part of the "Barnaby Train"...

allow you to walk anywhere, anytime?!!!

Thanks Jason for inviting me to tag along!
And hey Jeff it was really cool that you joined us -That whole accidental burning of my jacket incident... forget bout it! ;)

-To see more pictures of the day check out Jason's and Jeff's blog-

PS. Barnaby how about you share some of your secrets with me? I could have used them on my Bond shoot...

KIRSTEN & KEITH

This wedding was a bit different for me, a lot shorter than I am used. I was hired to shoot the ceremony and the formals only, so in a way it was a great gig since it was in the middle of the busy season for me and I could definitely appreciate such a job. I appreciated it so much that I rented a Mini Cooper convertible for the drive!
Well, I had a great time, everyone was nice and cool and many of the guests were laughing and joking around. I made some new friends and despite the short day I got many great images AND most importantly I captured some really great moments...

Here one of my new friends strikes a smile!

I really, really need to get me an Aston Martin

Or maybe just a Brioni suit...
If I had had them, then maybe I could have held Caterina Murino (the newest Bond Girl) in my arms just a bit longer...
In the meantime... does anyone know of a good "distinguished gentleman" school?












You can see how jealous my friend Brien is getting!

(Watch for my friend Don Sercer's shoot in the next issue of 21 magazine!)

DESTINATION: MOHONK!!!

Two days in this idyllic setting and you start to get spoiled, let me tell you.

Deb and Matt had it all perfectly planned for their two day wedding extravaganza:
The ideal location, the BBQ, the hike, the rehearsal dinner, the Ketubah signing, the wedding ceremony...
Well, maybe not everything!
Deb, Matt -should I mention the hike?
Ah, yes. The infamous hike.

Matt pumps up the crowd.

I just don't know if everyone knew what the hike entailed, maybe it was because Matt forgot to mention some of the obstacles we were to face...

Obviously those of us that were carrying precious and fragile "gear" had to find a detour...

-Not surprisingly we got lost.

Funny enough, we made it to the top of the hill while the main group didn't!
It was worth it though. The views were spectacular (see first picture) and everyone was having a great time.

The day went on to have a great rehearsal dinner, filled with extremely funny moments as some gave historical slideshow presentations explaining some of the family's esoteric evolution, while others engaged in formal theories on why the Tropp-Spain merger was perfect...

They seemed to be right, as the next couple of images clearly support what was said:

I have to admit I was very excited about this wedding; I mean I had two days of photographing in such a beautiful setting and, it was to be my first official "destination" wedding.
But never did I expect for Deb and Matt to give me such artistic freedom as they did at the end of the first day for the Ketubah signing. First off they surprised me by telling me that they wanted to sign it that night and that we could do it in one of the main rooms of the hotel. When I saw the room and I asked if it would be O.K. if we shot it in a dramatic way and with available light, they said they loved the idea.
I shot so many great images, but here is one of my new all time favorite images of any wedding I have shot:




Day two was full of the magic that make weddings beautiful....

We couldn't have asked for a better day!

When the time came for the reception, it seems everyone was having a blast (in their own way) of course.

Deb and Matt thanks for everything and most importantly for those Ketubah shots! I can't wait to show you guys the rest of the pictures from that series!