My clients are very special to me and getting to know them is something that I feel is very important, especially when it comes to weddings and the associated getting ready shots where we are often allowed behind the scenes. For a bride, that is not ideally the first time you want to be meeting your photographer! No, instead I prefer to try to get to know my clients beforehand which lets me learn about their personalities and then try to bring those personalities out in the images. The best way I can think of to do that is to spend time with them. That and I check out their wedding website which many of today’s brides are putting together. Very cool indeed!

Tonight I had the pleasure of grabbing some dinner with one of my brides, Kate, and her fiance, Joe. I was promised that I would be shown some of the best pizza around and boy was I ever! I met up with Kate and Joe in Port Jervis and they took me down to Len and Jo’s where we had a great time hanging out, discussing their upcoming wedding, bachelor and bachelorette parties, along with enjoying some awesome pizza! It’s not your typical NY pizza that is for sure and it’s worth a trip to check out Len and Jo’s.

It was also the first time that I had the opportunity to meet Joe because he was never able to make the consultations. For a minute I thought Kate may be making this whole wedding thing up, but she assured me that Joe did really exist and tonight I got to meet him in person and not just through Katie’s wedding site. What a great guy, I am so happy for these two and I look forward to shooting their wedding in the fall.

Thanks again you guys!

Great people and some great pizza!

I just love this time of year in the Hudson Valley. We are seeing the green return to the grass and the light staying with us longer in the day tells us that summer is right around the corner.

I had the occasion to go to NYC to visit a friend of mine who was up here doing some work on a personal photography project. She is doing a book on the dogs of Central Park, kind of a tribute to all those city dogs who no doubt are happy to see the green grass return! It was a fun afternoon and I got to meet many new friends, both two and four legged! Check out the guys from Zen K9 walking these herds!

For those that have been following the blog, you know how important I think it is to keep up with new techniques and education because it allows me to give that much more to my clients. Well, last week, and at the last minute, I found out that I would be able to attend a great lighting workshop in Florida. The workshop, Light Pro, is known for it’s intensive hands-on style and its almost around the clock shooting. For me that was just too much to pass up so when a slot opened up, I jumped at the chance and headed on down.

It was a fantastic time and I had the opportunity to work with some of the leaders in the industry. From weddings, to classic portraiture, to high school seniors the ideas came in from all sides.

Here are a few of my favorites from the trip.

And here’s a quick little video I made for some of my photographer friends and other attendees.  I thought I would share it here too, it’s just some of the fun behind the scenes stuff from one of the night sessions. From dawn until late in the night the learning never stopped!

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Ok, I know sometimes I let too much time go between posts. I am working on that, really I am! Here are some images from my trip back in January. I had held off on posting them because of another project, but I can post them now. These are a few selections from a whole collection from the trip. As I get time I will try to post more here and there. The trip was just so incredible, I hope I get a chance to do something like that again soon!

And I ask that you please respect my copyright and do not copy, print or download and share these or any other images. If you are interested in a print, please contact me and we will make arrangement. Web resolution images rarely make for good prints and besides, it is illegal.

I hope you enjoy them! Drop me a comment and let me know what you think!

Pete