I would guess that I am one of the few wedding photographers who actually really like it when it rains at a wedding. I don’t like the all-day downpours or the high winds or anything like that, but I do like a short little 20 minute shower. The reason for my liking the rain is that I think it helps to clean up the atmosphere, the sky just looks cleaner. I also like the great cloud formations, the nice diffused lighting and the amazing reflections off of everything wet .

This is an engagement session from Rochester, NY, that I did on Wednesday evening right after a heavy rain and then during a light shower. I was a little nervous about high winds and lightning, but thankfully all we got was a little rain. Jess and Andrew told me not to worry about working outside because they didn’t mind getting dirty. I wore grey pants, so I guess I didn’t mind sitting, laying and leaning in the mud, dirt and general lack of cleanliness in the city. After I showed Jess her images I received just about the best compliment ever,

“What can I say buddy, you rock the house! We love the pictures they are beautiful, which is something of a miracle because I hate the way I look in almost all pictures. I can’t wait to see what you pick for the book. My roommate asked if she could borrow you to just follow her around the house for the day and make her look good, hahaha!!! I will check in later today for the book!

Now get some sleep you fool, 5 something in the morning what in the world!”

I’d love to see a video of me working one day because just about every client laughs at me, the process, my reactions and my words while I am shooting… I really don’t mind since I consistently come away with photographs like these but it makes me wonder what cracks people up .

I am going to be using a new lab for some of my weddings this year, I got the sample prints in the mail today and everything looks great. Their customer service is very personal and their packaging is amazing. Neither of those may seem like huge feats but in today’s high quantity low quality marketplace it can be difficult to find a company that is willing to make that extra effort to make their client genuinely happy. I think one of the reasons that I am satisfied with this new photo lab is that the company culture (based on the two people who I have been working with) aligns very nicely with my own personal and company culture so the comfort level is high.

I received a pack of 100 DVD-R discs in the mail today. The package was in rough shape, the container was opened and the discs were damaged. Now it is time to see how this reputable ecommerce store handles the problem. If all goes well then I will recommend that you shop with them, if things go badly then expect to read an honest warning.

I frequently speak of how important great customer service is and how I think that one of the reasons why so many people are quick to price shop is because, in many instances, great customer service is something that people have not ever experienced and so don’t know that they are missing out on it by working with the cheapest provider. This week I have been given the opportunity to prove that I practice what I promote. I offer what are called reception signature journals and I had several clients order them just a few weeks before their wedding. Under normal circumstances there is no chance that they would be ready in time, as the standard turn around period is 4-6 weeks (and sometimes 8+ weeks). For these clients I immediately had the images edited, the books designed and uploaded to the print presses website on the day of the order. I am covering the cost of rush service on these reception signature journals and I am also paying for expedited shipping to ensure that the books are delivered in time for the weddings. As a way to show good faith, and to prove that I didn’t mark the books up by my rush service cost, I charged each client the rate which was quoted to them almost 6 months ago . I think this is one of those instances where a company that charges a premium has a responsibility to give their clients more than they expect and exactly what they paid for .

My grandmother fell and broke her femur, she is out of surgery already and I believe that she is doing very well .

I am going to take the rest of the night off to read, exercise and think. I have been working very hard and I need some time to reflect on things.

I hope you enjoyed the photos; that was a fun engagement session with Jess and Andrew, a very loving couple!

I have one of those aluminum sided compact flash card holders to keep all of my digital photos safe when I am on the run. The case is very strong and works well, despite a bunch of dents that I’ve put in it . When I was on location the other day photographing I had one of the hinges break (it was the pin part that broke) which basically meant that the clamshell designed case would not close and it would not be strong.

It just so happened that the shaft of a broken 1/16th” drill bit is the perfect diameter to replace the hinge. I used a pair of pliers and cut the shaft to length then reassembled the case and it is as good as new .

I think the UPS man is bringing me 8 packages on Friday, I ordered just about everything that I’ll need for the year in two days and everything is scheduled for a Friday delivery. It will be nice to get my things in time for Saturday’s wedding.

I initially started my blog as a way to show clients my latest wedding photos, but soon after I started writing I began to really enjoy the process. Now I use my blog for just about anything that I am thinking about and I know that it is read by family, friends, old classmates, clients, other photographers, people doing random Google searches and people who I have never met, so my audience has grown to many thousands of unique visitors per month who are all reading for different reasons. I am considering starting a second blog just for wedding photographs where I will post only pictures… if you have a strong opinion about that then email it to me and I’ll take it into consideration .

I was just looking through my blog stats to see where people were coming from and I made this list of the interesting countries. Keep in mind that there are dozens, hundreds and thousands of unique visitors coming from each of these countries

Australia
UK
Canada
Netherlands
Finland
Philippines
South Africa
Mexico
France
Brazil
United Arab Emirates
Republic of Korea
USA

Have a great day!

I can always tell when I am not exercising enough, I get killer headaches and easily irritated. This weekend and last week were rough since I spent so much time at my computer doing post-wedding work, like wedding album design. The headaches I’ve had have been almost unbearable.

Tonight when I worked out I decided to make up for last week, so I changed my cardio and I am seriously feeling dead. I did a flat-out sprint for a half mile on the stationary bike at the highest resistance level, then 100 steps on the lateral thigh trainer at the highest resistance as fast as I can go, then a 150-yard sprint as fast as I can go with 20lbs of weights in each hand, then 50 vertical leaps as high as I can go with 20lbs of weights in each hand, then 50 slow and painful sit-ups, followed by 60 second right side and left side balancing with my eyes closed. I repeated the whole process three times, though; my goal is to repeat the whole process five to eight times by the end of June.

I wouldn’t recommend that to even my worst enemy… it would have been like nothing when I was playing soccer in high school, but I am not in the same kind of shape as I used to be

Meant to Be (track 11) is my new favorite song, I listened to it for a while tonight while I was designing albums and really love it. I suggest that you spend the $0.99 on iTunes and buy it for yourself .

Have a great day

Most Finger Lakes wedding photographers have a few months off in the winter due to the weather in this area. While I personally love the winter and look forward to the few winter weddings that I get to photograph each year, not many brides choose to have a winter wedding… and those that do usually minimize their time outdoors . This year I have a wedding in Buffalo on 12-30-06 and I am already thinking about the creative images that I want to make with all of the (hopefully) feet of snow that will be on the ground . I am going to pack a full winter outfit to photograph because anyone who has seen me work knows that I can get pretty dirty, wet and muddy while doing everything possible to make amazing photographs .

During the few months off this past winter I took a lot of time to read about pushing my business up to the next level in terms of service and artistic vision, and so far I have met all of my goals .

In terms of service, I want to share a little story about one of my friends… Brad needed a new belt and some golf shorts, instead of going to Dicks Sporting Goods or another large chain, he went to Up The Creek, in Pittsford, NY. The store closed at 5:30pm and Brad happened to call at 5:32pm to see how long they were open for. The person who answered the phone (possibly the owner, I don’t know) said that they were just closing but that they would wait for Brad if he needed the items now. Since Brad needed the golf shorts for photographing the Wegman’s LPGA event he did need the items. Whoever answered the phone when Brad called waited for almost 20 minutes while Brad drove to the store and shopped. While Brad probably paid a little more for the belt and two pair of shorts, he received service that would have been impossible at a large chain store. Sometimes that few extra percent that we pay to shop locally is really buying more than just the product, it is buying genuine concern for the customer, which in my opinion is priceless .

During the past winter months off I also took the time become as efficient as possible, my goal was to have all wedding images online for the client to see by the Monday after the wedding! That is a lot of work and requires a very precise workflow with great dedication. So far this year I have delivered all wedding images within that timeline and I think that I can take it a step further . My new goal is to have a complete wedding album designed and online within 5 business days of the wedding, meaning that the album will be online for the client to see before they are even back from their honeymoon! I have spent the past week creating an amazing system that is going to allow me to do this for every wedding this year . I am very excited about my efficiency in getting the photographs to the client as soon as possible. I think that they will appreciate being able to see their wedding photos while the memory is still fresh in their mind .

Businessman and photographer Dan Watkins mentioned something about the unattainable triad, meaning that of the three business variables of quality, price and speed, you can only have two out of the three. I am now providing 100% of quality and 100% of speed! It is my promise that if you want high quality photography, personal customer service, unique wedding photography package additions (special moment’s albums, reception signature journals, custom designed guest gallery cards and signature prints) and unparalleled speed, I will provide that every time to every client .

Have a great day!

My younger brother graduated from Honeoye Central High School this evening, it was very nice .

Here are a few images from the graduation ceremony, enjoy!

I took these for the couple that was sitting next to me, I thought it would be nice to give them some great photographs at no cost .

Have a great weekend, I know I will!

It has been a while since I’ve written; I have been incredibly busy, which is always nice .

This is an image from a recent engagement portrait, I love the dramatic lighting!

This week I have been talking with a great wedding videographer, Joshua Smith, at Cinematic Bride. He makes amazing art out of wedding videos, they are seriously visual masterpieces! Josh is actually younger than I am and is on his way to becoming one of the best videographers in the nation (and possibly world ). He travels for weddings, so if you want somebody to film your wedding that is young, talented and a great value, then check out Josh at Cinematic Bride, I endorse him. I am looking forward to working with him in the future!

My younger brother graduates from high school this evening. My grandparents are making the trip in from Buffalo to see the ceremony; it will be nice to visit with them .

I went on a small spending spree this week, acquiring everything that I will need for the rest of this wedding season. I bought a notebook PC, another 4 GB memory card, 50 archival gold DVDs (the ones endorsed by the Library of Congress, they’re $3.00 apiece), some PC software and a bunch of other things. I may be buying another camera in a week or so, I have not decided if I am going to splurge again this year.

I will start to post images again soon; I have been keeping on top of designing albums and fulfilling client orders within 24 hours of the order being received.

I need to change my schedule to give myself time to read, I have not picked up a book in over 2 weeks. Once I get back in the habit I will post up mini-reviews with Amazon.com links.

My good friends in the band Navar have a show coming up in Rochester soon. I just had a last minute client call me for the date of their concert, so I am not sure if I’ll be able to make it. Either way, I’ll get to be at great wedding or I’ll get to see a great concert, it will be a good day .

Have a great weekend

It has been a busy few weeks with weddings, engagement sessions and meetings. I photographed an engagement session this weekend and I had a few thousand images edited, it was very productive .

These are a few of my favorites from Stacey and Joe’s engagement. Their wedding is coming up in just a few weeks in the Finger Lakes, I am looking forward to it!

To view the slideshow click on the little PLAY triangle

I hope you enjoyed the images!

I just found out that one of my high school class mates was found dead in the back seat of her car in Rochester on Tuesday. I went to a very small high school and graduated with around 75-80 students, so I knew everyone fairly well, including Stephanie. You can read the short press article here.

I have to return the rental truck this week… driving it was fun while it lasted.

I was just sent a link to the cost of wedding website, many of you are probably already familiar with it, but it is new to me .

I had and still have a busy week with meetings and photography. I met with the wedding photographer Gary Ventura in Canandaigua and talked for close to three hours about all sorts of things. The crazy part is that the conversation could have kept going, except that it was 10pm and he had to be awake by 5am and I had to be in Rochester for a meeting by 10am. Check out Gary’s website, he is a great Finger Lakes wedding photographer. If you want to hire him, call soon, I bet that he is booking up quickly .

I also had a meeting in Rochester with a client about their Buffalo wedding photography in the summer of 2007. Jonathan and Rachel are a great couple, we spent almost three hours together talking about photography, business and other topics. Jonathan photocopied me a few articles from the Harvard Business Review, it was a great gesture and the articles were really informative too. I think I will be making a few business changes based around what I read.

After the meeting with Jonathan and Rachel I met with my friend Brad and we photographed him playing tennis with his cousin Johnny and his friend Andy. All three guys had and have amazing tennis careers playing with the best pro players and in the best pro tournaments, so this casual game was a lot of fun to watch.

Photographing tennis is a lot more difficult than photographing weddings. I might need a little more practice before Sports Illusrtrated comes calling

Enjoy the photos.