Miscellaneous•
August 21st, 2009•
I wanted to post something to let everyone know that I am very, very sorry for not posting much lately! We have been super busy gearing up for the fall season and I have been working on updating the look of our website. In just a few short weeks, we will be unveiling our brand new Wanamaker Photography website as well as a Senior Photography website. Subscribe to our RSS feed, add us as a friend on FaceBook or stop back in the beginning of September to check out the new look!
Miscellaneous•
July 1st, 2009•
After a very tough week because of my dad’s funeral, we had to pull ourselves together for our last big event of the spring – the 2009 Minisink Valley Graduation Ceremony.
Friday morning, the 26th of June, was a particularly tough morning as it was the last time the family got to see my dad before the funeral home finished what they needed to do. We were all emotionally drained from everything that had gone on during the last few days and none of us really had our heads in the right spot. However, Loretta and I had one last job to do for Minisink Valley before the school year closed out.
As we headed home, we noticed that the skies we nearly black – and sitting right over where we needed to go. We got back to my parent’s house and turned on the weather channel to see what was headed our way. The screen simply said – strong thunderstorms …
Though the skies were dark and the wind was picking up, we headed over to the school to meet up with our freelance photographers to go over the final game plan – should the ceremony continue. Unfortunately, just as we arrived, the office word came out that everything had been moved to Saturday morning – and it was a good thing too!
The black clouds that we saw were upon us in no time and the “strong thunderstorm” notice from the weather channel was a complete understatement. Lightning was crashing all around us, rain was coming down in buckets and the wind was strong enough to knock almost anything over. With that, we headed home and made sure we were ready for Saturday morning!
When the time rolled around, the weather was pretty iffy. A few pockets of rain doused the field while everyone was getting setup. Luckily, it all passed with about 30 minutes to spare. Just as the ceremony began, the sun came out and made for a beautiful but muggy day. With everyone happy to just have great weather, we started capturing some great shots of the graduates … including this extremely interesting one while everyone was walking in …
… as well as this “dreamy” looking one of a veteran receiving his honorary diploma.
While walking up and down the sides of the graduates, taking shots of them and their friends together, this one girl caught my attention simply because her shoes almost screamed at me for attention …
A blog post about a high school graduation (or any graduation for that matter) wouldn’t be complete without the usual “cap throwing” shot …
All in all, it was a nice ending to a rough week. It actually made me feel like I was back at my own graduation in 2001 …
Miscellaneous•
June 29th, 2009•
I never truly realized the value of what we, photographers, provide individuals and families, until recently. It was a week ago, June 21st 2009 – Father’s Day, when the importance of being a photographer and photographs in general really came into light.
Overall, Father’s Day Sunday was a beautiful day. After raining for nearly 3 weeks straight, we finally had a day where we could head outside without getting soaked. Loretta and I headed up to Sussex NJ to cover a soccer game for one of our leagues, High Point Soccer Club. However, my Mom had made early reservations for a Sushi restaurant in Monoroe NY, called the Plum House, so that we could all take my Dad out for his favorite dinner on Father’s Day. We covered the first of two games and handed control over to Tom, one of our freelance photographers, so that we could head out and meet up with my parents.
After an incredible dinner, we took a detour past our old house, talked with an old neighbor and headed back to Westtown. At home, we enjoyed cake and coffee while my Dad opened all of the gifts we had gotten him. Everyone did surprisingly well since he never really provided us with a list of what he wanted. As the night went on, my Mom spoke up and asked us all to head out on the deck so we could take some group photos with her new camera (one that she got on Mother’s Day last month).
We took a big group shots, shots of just the boys and shots of just the girls. There were even a couple shots in there with the dog. After looking at the picture, I realize why I stay BEHIND the lens …
… but we all laughed and headed back inside to finish out the evening. Around 10PM, Loretta and I decided to head home as we had a bit of a drive and lots of work to do the next day. What happened next has forever changed the lives of each one of us …
As we were getting ready to leave, including my brother and his girlfriend, my Dad collapsed in the garage. We frantically tried CPR to try and bring him back – but we all feel that he was already gone before the first responding EMS technicians even arrived. The ambulance arrived and took him to the hospital as the technicians continued to try and bring my Dad back – but at 10:40PM, he was officially pronounced dead.
What started out as a beautiful day, ended in horrible tragedy for our entire family. My Dad was only 64. In the days that followed, a range of emotions hit us all – but Sean and I held together what we could and worked on putting a tribute together to be played during his viewing services. As we combed through boxes and boxes of photographs, it was then that I realized how important being a photographer really is and how much value it provides families – whether they realize it or not.
Nearly each day, we photograph high school seniors, families, weddings, events and sports – never fully realizing that the images we are capturing could be the last images of that person. When we speak with some of our clients, they tell us that is has been 10 or more years since they last had a family photo taken. 10 years is a long time, especially when your entire life can change in the blink of an eye.
While many may not see the value of a photograph or what goes into producing that image, all I can say is that I am happy that our family has photographers because we may have never captured the final image above. To me, the image above has more value than anything in this world because it is the last image we took together as a family!
Miscellaneous•
June 24th, 2009•
As a photographer, we get to shoot all (or at least most) of our promotional material – which gives us control over the look and feel of the final product. In an effort to add to our library, Loretta headed out with one of her sisters and a friend for a “Trash The Prom Dress” session.
Similar to a bridal “Trash The Dress” session, Loretta took her sister and her friend to all kinds of places in order to come as close to destroying the dress as possible. Some of these areas included hiking trails, caves and even the Delaware River!
While we cannot show you everything that we took, here are two shots from inside a cave near our Dingmans Ferry office …
Miscellaneous•
June 10th, 2009•
This past weekend, we headed up to my parent’s house to celebrate my birthday. Just before leaving, my brother called and told me that the rockets were flying in Pine Island, so bring my camera. I packed the Mark III and our 100-400mm lens. When we arrived at my parent’s house, we all hopped into my brother’s car and headed out into the onion fields to get a closer look.
Wanting to speak directly with the person in charge (who is also the announcer), we walked past a long line of tents with nothing but rockets and rocket parts underneath. Though this may be a hobby to some, it is a sport to others!
We were granted permission to sit on the inside of the launch field so that I could setup and capture some shots of the rockets on the pads. There were small rockets, medium sized rockets, big rockets and “freakin’ huge” rockets! Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see the latter take off as we arrived at the end of their FAA window. However, what we did see was absolutely amazing! Here are some of the shots, including one for reference to show you how big some of the large rockets were …
