Another Super Model Party!

We had a blast with these girls today. It wasn't even anyone's birthday, just a party for fun.

Daddy and baby

During my trip to NC last week I photographed my nephew with his new baby. It was very special to photograph them and see the bond my nephew has with his son. He's a great daddy.

Einav's Birthday Party

So this was our first Super Model Birthday Party at the studio and it was a huge success! These girls had SO MUCH FUN! We did too, and we can't wait to do another one.

Our float in the parade

Can't wait till next year!

Spirit of Christmas Parade in Downtown Altoona

We had a blast last night at our first downtown holiday parade. It was so much fun to see the little kids with their bright faces lining the downtown streets as they watched the parade. I can't believe how many people came downtown braving the bitter cold to join in the festivities! It was so much fun! Our entire staff worked really hard decorating our float which won FIRST PLACE in our division!!! A very special thank you goes out to the Sollenberger family for letting us use their haywagon and Patrick McCloskey for donating his time to help us all day Thursday. We are already planning for next year's parade. Here are a few photos from last night and a short video (above)...

A great new discovery

So Tamar and I ventured out to Hollidaysburg BEFORE the freezing rain this morning to have lunch at the coffee shop and see ART 4, the new art gallery in town. OMG, this is the most fabulous gallery I've ever seen in this area! If you haven't yet discovered ART 4 you have to stop in and visit Jody and Sue in the diamond area of downtown Hollidaysburg. It's so unique and so fun you will absolutely LOVE it. I wanted to buy everything. The cool thing about ART 4 is that you can buy items for as little as $3. They have everything from fun pen holders made from stone to furniture that will be the conversation piece of the room. I especially loved the scarves that were unlike any I've ever seen and the really cool pottery.

If anybody reading this wants to buy me a gift for Christmas, go there!

And for the record, they are not really open on Mondays but Jody took pity on us as we peered longingly through the windows and she let us in to look around while she was working on stuff in the back.

Katie

My new little fashion model, Miss Katie.

Just "monkeying around"...

As if he isn't cute enough already, Grant's mom made him this adorable monkey suit for Halloween. Since I can barely sew a button on, I'm totally impressed that she could make this outfit! And he is just so sweet.....all we needed was a banana.

Grant was pleased as punch to be eating this lollipop. He had us all laughing as he went to town on it as if it was the best thing he ever tasted. That is truly the face of a "sugar high". Thankfully he didn't scream when his mom took it away. That just shows what a great baby he is. It's always a pleasure to photograph this little guy.

Our Open House was a success!

If you were not able to join us last night for our open house, you missed a great time. We had about 40 people throughout the evening. It was so nice to see our regular clients who stopped by as well as meet some new people. We reminisced with some people who had not been in our building since it was Westfalls Men's Clothing Store in the 70's. Boy, have times changed since then!

Thank you to Joe Servello for spreading the word at your coinciding open house, lovely meeting your friends.

Thank you to Michael from Michael's Cafe who provided our fabulous food for the evening!

I meant to bring out the camera and take some photos to post here, but I got so caught up in socializing that I completely forgot. Maybe next time.

Here they are again....you gotta see the video!

Two cuties with attitude!

Kyara and Morgan are my new favorite models. Expect to see more of them here!

What about the economy?

People keep asking me "does the economy seem to be affecting your business?". Well, it's hard to say for sure since we are a very seasonal business and we book our weddings 12-18 months in advance. However, we are taking steps to prepare for hard times. One of the things we are doing this winter is closing our studio on Fridays. Since Fridays are our slowest day of the week, we are hoping to cut down on our expenses a bit by shortening our work week during the slow season.

Another thing we are doing is holding a monthly Open House at our studio so our clients can stop by and enjoy a glass of wine and refreshments while they check out our new products, our studio and meet our staff. Our first Open House is this Monday, Nov. 17 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm. (Servello's Art Gallery next door to us is also having an Open House during the same time.) The big advantage to our clients during these events is that they can purchase our gift certificates at HALF PRICE! These gift certificates can be used anytime throughout 2009. Hopefully this will help our clients when money is tight as well as boost our sales during our slower season.

Other wedding vendors I have talked to seem to agree that the weddings for 2009 are coming in a bit slower, but people may be waiting to book closer to their date. This year we photographed just under 50 weddings and our bookings for next year are not far behind where they should be at this point. I'm not sure photography would be the first place a bride would look to save money on her wedding. When the most special day of her life is over, she still wants those memories captured in beautiful images she can keep and pass down to her children.

Some brides and grooms I have met with lately have decided to make payments throughout the year towards their wedding package so they don't have to come up with a large amount at once. Those who are good at budgeting are finding ways to get the things that are important to them.

I think if we plan ahead and be thoughtful about our spending, we can help ourselves in this tough economic time.

I've got two words for you, Weatherman: BRING IT!!!

The rainy, foggy, cold, dreary day did not keep me from photographing Ashley and Cory for their engagement session today.

Last wedding of the season

What a great couple to photograph for my last wedding of the year!

Wedding season is over.

I'd like to say I'm releived and ready for a break, but truth be told - I'm actually kinda sad. I know it's crazy, but I enjoy photographing weddings every Saturday. I love being a part of a couple's most important day, meeting their friends and family and most of all capturing those exciting moments when two people join together to become a family. There is someting magical about the wedding day, especially that moment when the bride walks down the aisle and the groom looks at her for the first time in her wedding gown. No matter how many weddings I photograph, that moment always gives me goosebumps. It's my favorite moment of the wedding day. While everyone stands and looks at the bride in the back of the church, I always turn the other way and catch a peek of the groom's expression as he looks at the love of his life getting ready to become his wife. I always capture that image, because nobody is ever looking at the groom at that moment - all eyes are on the bride. But the look on the groom's face is as touching to me as the bride in all her glory.

Sigh. I'm going to miss that. So far my next wedding is not until next Spring. For the past 25 Saturdays I've been photographing weddings. Now what am I going to do on the weekend? I'm sure I'll find something, but whatever I do I will be looking forward to the Spring and the start of wedding season again.

Shred Metal w/ Pastor Brad

Listen to this man's amazing talent!!!

Wedding/Engagement Video

Here are some of our favorite wedding and engagement images in a really cool slideshow...

Trophy Girls!!!

Tamar and I had a great time at the Triangle Fall Convention this past weekend. It's always great to walk away with trophies. I'm so proud of Tamar who cleaned house with Best Portrait, Best Portrait by a CPP, Jeannie Norman Award for Best Portrait of a Child, and Best of Show. Our friend Trisha got Best Illustrative Image. I was proud to be named Photographer of the Year for the second year in a row.

Triangle Photographers Association

The Bodyguard

Autumn Grandeur

In the Zone

Shabby Chic

Tonight I am leaving for the annual convention at Triangle. It's my favorite convention of the year. I'm entering these four images (not these exact versions) in the print competition - wish me luck!!!

Binghamton, NY

Last week Tamar and I spoke at the Southern Tier of Professional Photographers in New York. We really enjoyed hanging out with those folks, and they treated us really well. Hope all is going great with you folks! Keep Jim Metz in line up there.

Dancing bridal party

We had a blast photographing Deanna and Ryan's wedding yesterday. They were "gettin' down w/ their bad selves" before the reception even started! You guys were great!

Autumn downtown

Here are a few from our latest engagement sessions. I'm loving fall downtown!

Fun fall session

This is Elliott. He's a really cool kid who wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up.

More photos from the Grand Tetons

A coyote along side of the road...

The remains of a very large elk head we found while hiking through the woods...

Up close and personal with a bison...

Trumpet swans on a lake in Yellowstone National Park...

Scwabacher Landing at approximately 6:45a.m.

More beauty in the Tetons

A prong-horn roaming...

Aspen groves...

Thistles

Wildlife in the Tetons

This is me on top of our SUV shooting a bison who wanted to have a "stare down" with me. I was a little nervous when he started snorting. But eventually he walked away.

This is one of the shots I got of the above bison...

A friend of the bison in the road was watching us from the field....

Some horses we saw our first day here...

An elk checking us out..

Ox Bow Bend

We got up at 4:30 this morning so we could leave at 5:00 to get the primo spot to photograph Ox Bow Bend. There is only room for about 15 photographers to be at this spot at one time. The sun does not rise until about 7:15a.m., so we stood there shivering in the 28 degree morning while we waited for the sun to rise. When the sun finally came up and cast light on this mountain range, a hush came over all the photographers who had gathered (about 30 or so tried to squeeze into various spots around us). It was well worth the wait! Here is the prize image from this morning. Now we are getting ready to go search for some wildlife in the evening light. Post more tomorrow!

The Grand Tetons

So Caleb and I are taking our annual "mom and son" trip this year to the Grand Tetons. We arrived late last night and here are our first photos to share. These are taken with the little pocket "point and shoot" camera. I can't wait to go out tomorrow at daybreak and take some with my real camera. This is the view right outside of our cabin. The weather is gorgeous - 70's during the day and dipping down into the 30's at night. I could absolutely live here!

On the way to the lodge from the airport last night we saw elk, two foxes and a coyote. I can't wait to go hiking and actually photograph some of the wildlife around here.