Of the vast pool of talented photographers to choose from in New York City, Kathy and Joe wanted me to photograph their wedding in Upstate. I’ve known them from before I ever did photography in any serious manner, so I feel like they are two siblings who watched and supported my creative endeavors. Their wedding also felt like a big reunion to me because throughout our parallel journeys, I’ve met many of their family and friends on jobs and occasions, and there they were all in one place on that day. Our long friendship led to finding myself at the Diamond Mills Hotel over Labor Day weekend this year.

Late into the celebration, Rick Moranis (of Ghostbusters, Spaceballs, and other 80’s Hollywood hits) shows up to say hi and to dance for a bit. Leave it to Kathy and Joe’s circle of friends to spot him in their neighborhood doing his thing and nudging him into crashing a wedding. The longer you shoot (weddings), the more celebrities you encounter.

Tossed into the photos is also one of me in a grey suit with the Vitamin Enriched team, with whom I’ve worked a number of gigs over the years.

Continue reading “Kathy + Joe: Diamond Mills Hotel Wedding”

If you ever want to impress a wedding photographer (which really should be your goal when you’re planning, since we see so many weddings!), consider a custom touch to your outfit such as camera dial cufflinks. Brandan comes from a family of photographers so it was only natural that he created his own cufflinks from pieces of film cameras. Now that I think about it, I have a few defunct relics that are suitable donors for something like this. I admired their choice of venue for their wedding, Orcutt Ranch. Its few historic buildings matched their personalities in not having to be overtly loud or bright and embracing the natural scenery that surrounds it.

Kelley and Brandan also expressed their fondness for nature and America’s national parks, having visited almost all of the ones in the western contiguous states, by adding some illustrated postcards into their table setting.

This was another hot summer afternoon wedding that progressed into the warm evening, which can be a challenge for lighting. The guests seemed to have such a good time that the sun didn’t seem so bad after a while. In fact, they were even poking a bit of fun at me in some of the photos. I was equally sweaty, slathered in sunscreen, and hyped for wedding pie, their alternative to the traditional cake.

Continue reading “Kelley + Brandan: Orcutt Ranch Wedding”