Wedding Photography: A Happy Bride

Wedding Photography and weddings in general are pretty special. I know some will that is an understatement, which is true. It is very hard to use words, sometimes, to convey the real emotion that a wedding can ensue. There are not time weddings that are ever the same, even if it is in the same venue, same church, or if they have similar ideas. Every wedding is just its own unique day with two special people. Moments before the first dance, literally just as the bride and groom were about to be announced, my business partner came running up to me, "she is going to run in, jump in the air and click her feet together." He wasn't kidding. The bride and the groom came walking towards me and she jolted forward and sprang into the air. She is a Happy Bride!

Unexpected Gem: Amherst Farm Winery

Mother's Day, this past Sunday was nice. I sat with my mother and brother for lunch after a new mommy and daddy came to the studio for a portrait session. Over the last 9 months I have photographed the expected mother once a month for a progression series. On Sunday she came in with the new baby. It was a beautiful morning and early afternoon. It was the beginning of a great day in general. A short time after my lunch ended I made my way to my girlfriend's place. Needing to do an errand in Hadley, we made our way up. The afternoon was welcomed and well received. It was once of the nicest days we have had weather wise in a very long time. Soft white clouds filled the sharp blue sky. It was warm, mid 80s. But not hot. The soft breeze was pleasant. I stopped a few times to make a few landscape shots. Pictured in the gallery below. It was such a great day, I wanted to capture the essence of what we were being given. We arrived at our destination, did what we needed to, and set out to find a means to enjoy being outside. Before long we found we had plans to enjoy the rest of the afternoon at the Quabin Reservoir. After a stop for water, coffee, and a snack, we were on our way. Moments after we pulled out of the gas station we passed a sign, "Wine Tasting 12-6" Me, "Want to go." Her, "Absolutely." We turned around and made our way back. Exiting the car and walking towards the door we were greeted by a hello and how are you. We didnt know it at the time, but the woman greeting us from the front porch with her little baby was Audrey Samek, the owner of Amherst Farm Winery. We were greeted a second time by Craig McNichol. Craig introduced us to the atmosphere, gave us a tour, and explained the Winery in detail. From a list of 15 wines, we were allowed to sample 5 each. The choices of wine we selected were subtle and provided a unique and distinct taste. Each sample teased the palate and provided a multi-sensory delight that was better than the previous tastings. After we had our samples, we proceeded to take a bottle out on to their patio, which cleverly is shaped like a wine barrel, and enjoy the late afternoon sun. As we sat, basking in the sun, talking and laughing, Craig surprised us with a fresh loaf of bread topped with sea salt, herbs and fresh garlic. Just out of the oven, on a warm plate surrounded by a drizzle of vinaigrette, we were presented with an appetizer that further enhanced the already gracious hospitality. Realizing that we discovered a rare moment on a great day, we sat with pleasant smiles and enjoyed the wine and fresh baked bread. Following our enjoyment, we proceeded to say good bye and take with us the wine we purchased. What started out as a simple thank you and good bye turned into a great conversation and an intimate view of hospitality and social responsibility. Audrey and Craig provided us with an experience and completed out day. I strongly recommend an afternoon or evening at the Amherst Farm Winery.[gallery columns="4"]

Happy Mothers Day: New Documentary

To all the mothers in the world, I hope you have a Happy Mothers Day! I have begun working on a new, personal documentary. This Is Autism is a doc about an 11 year old child, my brother, who has Autism. He was just diagnosed with autism within the last year. He also displays traits and characteristics of Cerebral Palsy. For him, life is a different view. I am documenting him, the way he interacts, the way he lives his life, and to capture what it means to be autistic. He has over come tremendous amounts of adversity and continues to do so as he grows up.

The following link will take you to my flickr set, This Is Autism

Go Read A Book, A Must Read: A Photoless Post

Take your eyes off this post, once you're done reading and looking at my photographs and order yourself This Book: Photographs Not Taken. I received a few emails regarding this book. More or less it was, hey check this out, or this is something I know you'd like. Which is true, for me this will be a great read. The text reflects a few personal interests I have in photography, unrelated to making photographs, but how the idea of an image relates to people, stories, and communication. Photography is more than just an image, it is more than just pressing the button of a camera. Photography holds a powerful place in the world, it has since they days it began and will continue to as the medium evolves. For those that spend hours, days, months, years, life times trying making photographs, they know how to communicate through images. Their stories are telling of how they see the world and tell the reader what they are thinking through a visual narrative. For myself, photography is about communicating and sharing. This book is imageless, (as reviewed on Wired) but speaks volumes about the mental image, the minds photograph, that image that was never constructed for extrinsic reasons. I suggest and recommend reading this book. The insight can inspire you and possibly teach you a very valuable lesson. Dont take my word for it, take the word of Will Steacy. Check out his Blog Here, as well.

On Location: Inside the recording studio.

Yesterday I was on location in a recording studio for a pretty cool shoot. I can't say I ran 2nd, 3rd, or 4th camera because there were more cameras than people to run them. There were 2 Sony NexFS100's a Canon 5D MarkIII 2 Canon 7Ds 2 Canon 60Ds a bunch of lenses and a Nikon dslr strapped to my back to capture some stills. I captured stills of some of the action taking place and video of the location and surrounding area. The musicians that were recording their album provided us with some good tunes to bob our heads to while we worked. Here is a pano from inside one of the booths.

Facebook Timeline: Studio Shot

I figured since Facebook timeline bombed my personal page, I might as well be productive and create something to put in its place. I am sure my business page is next *JeffreyB Photography on facebook*Granted, I do have plenty of images, I figured eh, why not shoot the interior of the studio and show it off a bit more than I have. I did a quick set up with the lights and couches and viola! I withheld from showing the multi-colored backdrops and decided to show the post-mill aesthetic and charm that is my studio.