Filed under Engagement • Written by Ryan @ 11:43 pm
We spent the day today with Ana and Gerry shooting their engagement session… started off in Tarrytown at Stone Barns, and then stopped off for Greek food before going to an awesome park in Larchmont for pictures. We had a lot of fun, and it was a great way to start off the holiday weekend. We’ll be putting some of these images into a custom guest book for Ana and Gerry’s July wedding… more and more brides are looking to do something personal like that to make their sign in book more of a keepsake, and to showcase some great images.
Both locations were so good, we could have spent days at both of them, just exploring and getting different shots. I know we’ve got a lot of great ones from the day… here’s just a couple… enjoy!
3. You will regret it if you skip videography.
Photos only take you so far: Videos let you hear your voice tremble as you say your vows and watch your friends tear up the dance floor. With more people documenting your wedding, you’ll see things you may have missed on the day.
9. Don’t even think about speeding through photos.
Speaking of not having enough time, any less than an hour isn’t enough for a portrait session; an hour-and-a-half is closer to ideal because you’ll look more relaxed in your pictures (and those first few never come out as well as you hope). Squeezing photos into the first half-hour of your cocktail hour will make you anything but at ease. If you refuse to see your groom before the ceremony, take pictures separately beforehand so the only shots left to take after the ceremony include both of you.
10. Avoid “hiring” a friend instead of a pro.
Sure, your pal was the king of the mix CD back in the day, but that doesn’t mean he’ll make a great wedding DJ. Same goes for your friend who won’t leave home without her Flip — this doesn’t make her a videographer! Even on a tight budget, you’re much better off paying a vendor with experience to take care of the biggies. Don’t you want your friends to enjoy your wedding instead of having to work through it, anyway?
Filed under Engagement • Written by Ryan @ 4:35 pm
We had another great day spending time with a fun couple… when Kat asked to take her engagement pictures at their place, I started looking for local parks, just in case… but when we got to their house we realized there were plenty of cool places for pictures… no need to travel any further. And JP’s only stipulation was that we made sure to get their American flag in a picture, and his truck in a picture… we got them both, of course… one of the truck shots is featured below.
After such a great session, I forgive Kat the transgression of calling Biggie & Tupac “old school rap”. Old school is clearly Grand Master Flash, Kurtis Blow, etc. So now that we’ve straightened that out, we’ll see you guys in August at The Thayer!
Filed under Engagement • Written by Ryan @ 10:53 pm
We drove an hour and a half today to get up to Innisfree in Milford, NY… farther than we’d normally go, but when Ben suggested Innisfree Garden, it looked so cool, I didn’t actually check how far away it was. Plus, Benjamin was driving up from North Carolina for this session, so I couldn’t complain! Besides, we had an awesome time, it was well worth the drive. Benjamin and Rafaela are a great couple, and Rafaela is definitely a trooper, I must say. I’ve posted a couple of pictures below.
I really value the time we spend during our engagement sessions… I’m definitely looking forward to all of your weddings. And to Rafaela and Benjamin, we’ll see you in July… these shots are awesome and now I can’t wait to get shots of you guys in dress and tux!
Filed under Video, Weddings • Written by Ryan @ 4:08 pm
We had a great time this past weekend shooting Maria and Craig’s wedding… we put up some highlight pictures on the Small Moments Studios facebook page, and so here are the video highlights… outtakes and all. Most of the video was shot by Keith and edited by me… and special thanks to our second shooter David Wong who joined us for the day.
Stay tuned… wedding season is upon us! We’ll be updating a lot more often now!
Video shot by Keith Jurow and edited by Ryan Kaplan of Small Moments Studios… with a photo credit on those awesome shoes in the beginning that goes to David Wong, our second shooter… all video shot on a Canon 7D (with occasional 5DmII footage by me)
We had a chance to set up our Spotlight photobooth at Laura and Walter’s wedding this weekend… everyone had a great time coming in to get pictures throughout the night. People would head over to the bar to get a drink, take some fun pictures (with Keith manning the booth most of the time), and then head back to the dance floor… this is a video of just some of the pictures from our Spotlight booth. Give us a call and let us know you want this for your wedding.
No no no, that doesn’t mean I dance while I shoot, though if you play good music at your wedding, you might catch me dancing a bit on the sidelines. What it means is that I was recently hired by Hunter College to shoot a dance recital. Rebecca Imaizumi produced House of Healing, bringing together different types of dance. I didn’t know what to expect, other than that they wanted portraits and shots of the recital. The recital photography required just the right setting of shutter speed to ensure no blurring along with the aperture wide enough to get as much light as possible, while being closed enough to keep everything necessary in focus. Flash in a situation like that is not only distracting, but will kill the photo. However, back in the dressing room for the portraits I was able to set up and control my lighting. The only trick was that I had to adjust the lighting for each subject due to the nature of their poses. Jumping shots needed broader light setups while the dances with lunges required another.
During the performance I realized I’ve gotten so busy over the past couple of years, growing my business and of course, enjoying time with my wife and two beautiful daughters. In being a business owner and a relatively new father, I’ve let go of some of the artistic joys in my life (aside from photography). Japanese dancers took the stage and made me pause to inspect their slow deliberate graceful movements. The Indian dancer intrigued and entreated with her hands and her eyes. The Puerto Rican dance (bomba) was very fluid and energetic and finally, the African dancers ventured out and the stage erupted with drums and an amazing energy as they expressed themselves through their movements. I found myself pressing the shutter of my modern-day digital camera in time with the ancient drum sounds and movements from the stage. I don’t know when the next time I’ll get a chance to shoot something like this will be, but I can tell you, I look forward to it.
Here are a couple of the images that I captured.
Be well,
-Ryan.
Rebecca Imaizumi produced the show and was one of the Japanese dancers. Fujima Konishiki and Kaori Ibuki were the other two Japanese dancers. Alisha Desai performed the dances from India. Lannette Alvarez along with the Millennium Dance Junior Company performed Bomba, and members of the Millennium Dance Junior Company finished off the show with the African Dance. Poet c. huffman opened the show.
