Sagrada Familia in Barcelona

As many of you may already know, travel is one of my many passions. I recently returned from a 2 week excursion to northern Spain. My very first to this region. A true highlight of my visit to Barcelona was to finally see the famed Sagrada Familia, designed by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí . Construction began on the Roman Catholic Basílica in 1882 and continues to this day. It appears that the interior of the Basílica is complete with the instillation of the grandest stained glass windows I have ever seen. They say that the exterior spires might be completed within 10 years. I’ll definitely have to go back. I arrived at the perfect time of day as the setting sun was low in the sky and created the most fabulous light show streaming through all the colored windows!  Sagrada-Familia-01 Sagrada-Familia-02 Sagrada-Familia-04 Sagrada-Familia-03 Sagrada-Familia-05 Sagrada-Familia-06 Sagrada-Familia-07 Sagrada-Familia-09 Sagrada-Familia-08

And More Beauty With Christine

I first photographed beautiful Christine 4 years ago when she was just graduating from high school. Now she has graduated from college and she has gone from beautiful girl to beautiful woman. It’s always such a pleasure to work with her and I’m looking forward to many more to come.  Christine is a model with Click Models Philadelphia. Ot was a fun and beautiful makeup and hair shoot with makeup by Beke Beau and  hair by Ashley Brown of Moko Salon. Thanks you everyone!Editorial-Beauty-05 Editorial-Beauty-10 Editorial-Beauty-08 Editorial-Beauty-04 Editorial-Beauty-07 Editorial-Beauty-02 Editorial-Beauty-01 Editorial-Beauty-03 Editorial-Beauty-06 Editorial-Beauty-09

A Beautiful Beauty Shoot

I had a wonderful inspiring time this week doing a makeup and hair shoot with makeup by Beke Beau and  hair by Ashley Brown of Moko Salon. Our beautiful model was Angela of Click Models Philadelphia. We actually had two models and I’ll be featuring her next week. I just love doing these shoots. It really gives me a chance to work on my retouching and creative Photoshop skills and gets me ready for my wedding season to come! Who knows, maybe someday I’ll find the next Tyra Banks!Model-beauty-shoot-07 Model-beauty-shoot-06 Model-beauty-shoot-02 Model-beauty-shoot-04 Model-beauty-shoot-03  Model-beauty-shoot-05 Model-beauty-shoot-08 Model-beauty-shoot-01

This WAS Film

I was doing a little spring cleaning and ran across some of my sample wedding albums from 2000 – 2005. Yes, I’ve been photographing weddings that long. Back in the day all photography was film photography.  Digital camera were not very good and certainly not of a professional caliber. I loved the look of film and I think I was one of the last photographers to go “kicking and screaming” into the digital age. Problem was, all my film labs went out of business. I worked very hard on my post-production to make my digital images look like film. Looking back at my old albums I do think I come pretty close. There are many advantages to digital photography, especially in the Northeast where great  “available light” is not always available. Every so often I do like to shoot a little film. I still have my Contax 645 medium format film camera that I used back in 2001. The final image in this post is of film today.  It is a much softer artistic look. The difference today is that after the film is processed  it is then scanned digitally. This second generation gives it it’s unique look; a look for film today. I like both looks, but I share this little post of film of yesterday!

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Can a “First Look” be Romantic?

Absolutely! A very romantic and emotional moment for a couple on their wedding day is when they see each other for the first time in their wedding attire. A big question for some is when to do the “big reveal”. Every wedding and every couple is very unique and where and when to do the first look can be a personal preference. It is a something that you need to take into consideration when planning your wedding day. For some, it is most important to have the big reveal when the bride is walking down the aisle. Interesting fact, it has usually been the groom that insists on not seeing his bride prior to the ceremony. If this is your preference you need to allow additional time between your ceremony and the reception for family and couple portraits. With just an hour cocktail hour your family and bridal party will miss part of the cocktail hour and you will probably miss all of it! An idea for some is to have an extended cocktail hour. For some couples having a “First look” prior to the ceremony is the better solution. Trust me, it can be very romantic. If you think about it, it is probably your only time together on the day when you are not surrounded by people. This time can be so dreamy because is just the 2 of you, with me, of course. Your portraits are not rushed and you can go to as many locations you like. Whatever your preference for your reveal, it’s totally your vision and I assist all my clients to make it happen. This is just something to think about.First-look-of-wedding-couple-on-wedding-day-01 First-look-of-wedding-couple-on-wedding-day-02 First-look-of-wedding-couple-on-wedding-day-02-1 First-look-of-wedding-couple-on-wedding-day-03 First-look-of-wedding-couple-on-wedding-day-04 First-look-of-wedding-couple-on-wedding-day-05