Jen and Mike Wedding

Well over 1000 images were taken this Saturday and the transferring of over 12 gigs of data took a good bit of time on Sunday. The wedding that Justin, Justin and I attended was in Baltimore at the Sheraton Hotel. Justin, That DJ Guy, was our driver and the reason we all came together on that fine afternoon. He knew Jen from back in the school days and when she needed a DJ for her wedding she turn to her childhood friend, Justin. Justin and I have known each other for close to 2 years now and I was the one who photographed his wedding a year ago. So when Jen said she needed a photographer too, Justin suggested me. Lucky me!
For this event which was big, I brought along my photographer friend and business partner in Miniloc Marketing, Justin Michalski. You can’t image how the 2-3 hour journey from Salisbury to Baltimore flew by with the three of us in the minivan, joking, telling stories and having a good old time. Definitely was a great ride. However getting back into Salisbury at 1am was not pretty. And it took me till 2:30 am to get myself home after dropping Justin off at his place along the way to Rehoboth.
The wedding went great with only a few bumps along the way. Jen allowed me ample time to get some fun creative photos before the ceremony, and with 6 bridesmaids and 2 junior bridesmaids and a flower girl. We were supposed to take photos outside the Sheraton entrance where they had these cute waterfalls, however the construction did not allow for that. Bump 1. After the ceremony the bridal party all wanted to enjoy the cocktail hour rather than grab the after ceremony formals and that caused a ripple that was felt later when it was so hard to get the bridal party out for one quick shot after the cake cutting. So what is normally a 20 – 50 photo shooting experience turned into 3 pictures of the whole group and that was it. Bump 2. We had a 4 year old flower girl that was as darling as could be, but after the first photo was taken, she wasn’t into it much anymore. After a while she warmed up but when you need instant smiles to grab the shots in a few minutes, we don’t always have hours for the one person to come around to smiling.
The dance floor was “HOPPING” with a capital Hop, as I knew it would with Justin, That DJ Guy. His charismatic personality without a doubt a powerful force in helping people have a good time. He was joking with the crowd, played all the right songs, and even stuck around 20 plus minutes after his time had ended just to please the people. Having worked with him before I knew I was in for a good time. But Bump 4 showed up unexpectedly, there was this Drunk guy that was shouting, “worst DJ ever” and it took every ounce of self control not to walk him out the room. Justin was going by the long list of songs that Jen and Mike requested. The song in question was that “we are family” song. What can the poor guy do, but play the songs he was hired to play. Granted he mixed it up a bit, throwing in some good dancing songs he knew would please the crowd. It’s just, he nowhere near a bad DJ, the guy was Drunk and I just had to keep telling myself that.
All in all it was fun to do this wedding and with my crew with me, it was more fun than work.

Ocean City Air Show

It was the last day of the first annual Ocean City Air Show and I almost didn’t go. I’ve got all this work to do, building websites, getting photos ready for printing, and photos to scan. But my wife says I should go, and take a break. So I did. And boy was it ever cool. I’m used to seeing big air shows at RAF Mildenhall, England when I was stationed there in the Air Force. I got to see the B2, and I even got a chance to touch the F-117. I found out later I wasn’t supposed to, because of the material its covered in. by far my favorite aircraft is the B1B Lancer. When I was at Mildenhall and worked on the flight line I parked my truck right next to the runway, I heard this plane was inbound and wanted to see it. It came in with its wings swept back and zoomed through, it was sooo loud and powerful the whole ground shock around me. It was incredible!

Now Ocean City is having the Air Show and I was thinking that it would only be Bi planes or Cessnas. My father saw it the day before and told me about the F16 and the F15 both Super cool planes and I missed being near fighter planes. So I had to see it. Sean’s parents had a place right there on 19th St, right on the boardwalk. It was the sweetest place to view it all; I definitely had the hook up there. Later we left the family party but they hadn’t shown the F16 yet so I stayed. I was seated right near the beach, and when it came out from behind the hotel area, it scared the crap out of me. I couldn’t focus the camera, I was shaking so bad. It was just so loud and all of a sudden, but it was so cool. So with this being the first Annual Air show, I’m looking forward to the next, how to see you all there.

Kung Fu Panda

It’s not photo related, but hey it’s my blog and I’d like to pass on the good news. For those of you who are looking for a fun, I mean FUN movie, this was it. The last movie I saw before this one was Iron Man and it was really, Really good (saw it twice good) but with Kung Fu Panda, I was laughing so hard, and then crying the next. The action sequences were so amazing I was on the edge of my seat. The color and graphics had me going “ohhh, Ahhh” left and right. Without a doubt I’m wanting to own this movie. I was a big fan of Toy Story when it came out, and this is right up there with it. Now I know it’s a cartoon, and I’m not a kid, but it was pretty Awesome. “Will Recommended” Enjoy!

Patron Party at Ocean Pines Beach Club

I got called up to one of the weirdest gigs I've ever really had. I put together a type of “Party Package” where I would take photos at an event and print them out on the spot, something like a photo booth but with a lot more fun and flexibility. And the goal was to make it work in the reception part of a wedding, however at the Ocean Pines Beach Club we were demonstrating it and they people there really liked it. And that’s how I got this gig, even though it wasn’t wedding related it was certainly a lot of fun and I’d like to get more photography jobs like that in the future.
The Patron party was pretty, I’d like to say “off the hook” but it wasn’t really that hopping. There was a really good turnout of people and another 10 to 20 more people might have made too crowded. As people would sign in, I’d greet them and offer to take their picture in front of cute little backdrop I created. After words, I’d let them know their photo would be printed up in about 3 minutes and could pick them up over on the table. Everything was paid for, and so the photos were free. I’ve done this at other events where the customers would pay for the images, this way it actually just worked out for everyone. I was happy, the music was great, they would bring around all the free Patron samples you could try, and I sampled a few. Not enough to make wallaby but the right amount to blend in with all the other people and have fun with them. It was great, hats off to you folk with the Ocean Pines Association. http://www.oceanpines.org/
View More Photos Here

Doug and Michelle Wedding

I can’t say this was the smallest wedding I’ve ever photographed, as there are a few times when its only me, the couple getting married and the minister. Those are small events. But with Michelle and Doug’s wedding what it lacked in size it made up with in character. The ceremony took place down at Assateague state park; right on the beach and we were actually able to have a pony show up on queue. With it starting at 6:30pm the light was a bit harsh on the skin and hard to see without sunglasses. All in all it was fun. I had my video crew out there videotaping the wedding. My wife Olya manning camera one and Big John as I like to call him manning camera two. They were both capturing the event from all angles. Olya was able to get the pony walking ahead of the bride before her grand entrance.
Afterwards I photographed the bridal party on the beach and the broke it up to just the bride and groom shots. We then headed over to the Harrisons Harbor Watch down by the Ocean City Inlet, where the reception was being held. I did a wedding there with my buddy Leo before and we already knew of some cool spots to photograph the bride and groom. Soon it was time to get down and get funky with the crazy tunes DJ Jaws was playing. DJ Jaws by far one of the coolest DJ’s around and as a matter of fact he’s due to get married in 2009 and we were talking about where he is going to have his wedding. We just couldn’t decide whether I was going to do the photography at his wedding here in Ocean City, or in Cancun, Mexico. My vote is for Cancun.