I had such a difficult time putting this together this year, but not for the reasons you might think. I actually loved most of my work this year. That is a shocking revelation! As an artist, I am super critical of my work and never really feel satisfied, but this year I think I produced some work that I am super proud of. In fact, I had this list at almost 100 images. Never in my career have I felt this way, so this is a good thing! That being said, I did narrow this down,but I am not comfortable labeling this “Best of 2015” as I think this goes beyond that. There are special people I photographed, unforgettable moments and places and memories. These images are my favorites not because of their technical greatness, but because of those people in them, what it took to create the image and the memory around it. I can’t separate it. So, I am going to rename this My Most Memorable Moments of 2015 in Photographs. I hope you enjoy them.
A moment I couldn’t have planned if I tried. We were taking some formals and a gust of wind kicked up and his kippah just flew off. We were hysterical! And made for a great candid image.
Amanda and Brian…I could have added 100 from this day alone! I love this moment of their reception, everyone singing and so full of joy and love. It perfectly sums up their day.
I was so thrilled to finally be able to do some boudoir images of my hair and makeup artist extraordinaire, Miss Anna. It was a gift for her husband. We had so much fun capturing these images.
Jane and Jay….sunny California…..magic! I feel like I just should share their entire wedding as I loved it so much. It was an honor getting to know them and their families. That backdrop, need I say more?
This image just haunts me. It’s actually an outtake. I was asking her to run ahead of me so I could capture her walking toward me and when I saw her dress and hair blowing, the back was so much more stunning with the movement.
Amanda and Brian again…I don’t need to caption this. You feel it, don’t you?
X’Zavia and Todd….best first dance EVER!! To do Thriller as part of it, it doesn’t get much better than that!
Probably my favorite ring shot of 2015. Jackie and Omar were married in a Nashville recording studio. I wanted to capture that somehow with the rings and couldn’t find anything that spoke to me or screamed “recording studio.” I was shooting part of the ceremony from this control room and asked permission to use the panel for a shot. it took me about 20 minutes to get this right and I was allowed to make the panel light up how I wanted. Lesson, ask and you shall receive. If I didn’t have the courage to ask if I could photograph in that room, this wouldn’t have happened!
Jackie and Omar….so many images from this day I am in love with. but this was unplanned. They walked outside and I saw it in my camera. I shouted at them to stop dead in their tracks. The light was shining perfect with the rays of the sun reflecting. A magical opportunity I couldn’t pass up!
Andrea and Erik met online like so many of my other couples, but they didn’t meet on Match.com, Plenty of Fish or, OK Cupid. Nope, they met on Tinder of all places. Such a fun couple, up for anything and they have a wonderful sense of humor. This is one of my faves from their engagement session.
Catherine and Noah….when Catherine contacted me to tell me she was pregnant I was overjoyed for them. I photographed their engagement images three years ago. Sadly, I didn’t get to shoot their wedding, but we hit it off so well, they wanted me to do maternity and family images after their little girl is born. SO we just shot this a few weeks ago during our mild December. I was looking for something a little creative and different, and this ended up being one of my favorites from their session.
Kirstin and Michael….a Phantom of the Opera themed wedding in New Hampshire. This place was gorgeous! They were so much fun. I love an outside the box wedding and they pulled it off beautifully.
Elana and Brandon…autumn in NYC, an unusually warm November day and the NYC skyline. I don’t know how many jumps this took to perfect, I should go back and count how many images I took, but I wore them out pretty good! The final result is so much fun!
Elana and Brandon, again…I adore this image. We were in Central Park at the Botanic Gardens and I was shooting through the water. SO hard to focus and the wind had the water spraying all over. But I literally only had moments of that gorgeous back light left and we nailed probably one of my absolute favorite images of 2015.
Gorgeous X’Zavia…probably one of my favorite stand alone bridal portraits this year. Perfect light, perfect pose, just so graceful and glorious.
Christie & Doug…it’s always a challenge finding new and creative ways to pose a large bridal party. Trying to post a large bridal party while it starts to drizzle and you know you only have a few moments, you are limited to a small space and time as guests were arriving shortly, the challenge is real folks! I had to stand on a rock and balance myself just high enough to make this work. But they all listened to my direction and this turned out to be one of my favorites of the year. And we did it in less than 5 minutes. Wowzers!
The gorgeous mom to be, Eileen! We were photographing her baby shower in NYC and we had some time prior to do some portraits. I asked her to leave the hotel and walk down the street with me in the hopes i would get inspired. It was actually chilly that day and the wind was whipping pretty good. And there was construction next to the hotel. And the light was magical. SO posing her near the construction, the onlookers were staring thinking we were nuts. I don’t think Eileen knew what I was doing at first, either. But she knows me well enough to just go with my crazy ideas. Voila! This to me could be in a magazine. Perfect representation of NYC and a perfect representation of Eileen!
One of my dearest friends welcomed his son this summer. I was thrilled to photograph his growing family and his 2 daughters sharing a beautiful moment with their baby brother. This is so darn sweet I can’t stand it!
This may seem like an ordinary head shot, but it is not. This image was taken in a mall parking garage during a horrific rain and wind storm. (I periscoped it for those that watched) The weather didn’t quite cooperate that day, but it was the only day Wendy could squeeze in a session. We had to make it work. I drove around the garage for about 30 minutes finding the perfect indoor spot that wasn’t crowded with lots of cars, didn’t have that awful parking garage lighting, and a spot where the wind whipped rain wouldnt drench her. We found it and made magic happen.
Another favorite head shot of Cara. She needed a new Linkedin profile pic. She is a new client and was skeptical. After Anna did her hair and makeup and I took her to her back yard, she wasn’t convinced I would capture a good photo because she feels she never looks good in photos. We did this shoot probably in less than 10-15 minutes. She was floored as the hair and makeup took 90 minutes. But when she saw this image on the back of my camera, she hugged me and was brought to tears. That to me is the best feeling!
Ahhh, who could forget Zander. Boris and I were walking around Beverly Hills and walked into an photo gallery. He was working behind the counter. Boris struck up a conversation with him and asked to photograph him as he said he was an actor/model. He said he couldn’t leave work. I told Boris to be patient. We chatted for about 20 minutes and then his supervisor joined us as I purchased a print for my new office. We spoke of experiences photographing on the east coast. I knew the time was right. I asked his supervisor if I could steal him for literally 2 minutes to take a quick photo. She said “Of course, I don’t blame you for wanting to photograph him.” That was all we had. High noon, just off Rodeo Drive in a foreign place and I had 2 minutes. Dear God! Outside I found a white wall. I had to make it work, otherwise the opportunity was blown. This is how it happens. Spontaneous, but magical and unforgettable!
Another one of those random moments doing lifestyle portraits. Nicole is a celebrity hairstylist in NYC. We were doing all kinds of portraits that day, but as she walked by the sign, it felt like it belonged in a magazine. I saw the moment as she walked but this time I asked her to walk by again and I photographed it. All of the gorgeous images we shot that day, this one to me feels like it could be in Vogue.
Another dear friend called on me to do boudoir images as a gift to her husband. She was the first person to shoot my boudoir several years ago so to reciprocate finally was such an honor. We shot this in her home in the middle of her living room.
The Samaro family….we had a picture perfect evening on the beach the day of their family portraits. And they came out stunning. But this random moment of a wave coming a little too close just makes me smile.
One of my favorite images ever, I think. Lauryn made her First Communion this year. We couldn’t have planned for better light, I saw it and was directing her to the exact spot that caused the flare I desired. Try telling an 8 year old “take a mini step to your right, more, a little more, no back to your left, ok don’t move” Yup that’s how it went. But she did amazing, and this is hardly edited at all.
My dear friend Marni welcomed her second son Eli this spring. February is not the most attractive time of year in New Jersey to do outdoor images, but we had snow and it was so pretty. So of course I had my pregnant friend outside in the cold trekking in the snow and mud to get to the perfect spot in the woods. She was a trooper and I love this image of her.
Kristina and Boris….for those that don’t know, Boris is my second shooter. He got married in April. He doesn’t do traditional. Kristina made her own gown and we shot this in Weehawken. My favorite from their day. I just love them…
The Whealan Family. I went to high school with the Whealan sisters. I have known them all for many years. This photo shoot almost didn’t happen. It needed to happen. I insisted it happen. Their dad has Alzheimers. Ann, the oldest daughter (far left) lives in Germany with her husband and 2 daughters. It’s not often they are all together. I know it is a difficult time for the family but they needed images of them all together while dad was well enough to be there. I love this one because everyone is happy and celebrating the newest addition to their family. You can’t put a price tag on what this image means to this family.
So we hit the Jersey shore to attempt to recreate an image my client saw. It was two girls holding surfboards by the ocean silhouetted by the sun. Only problem is that it was the wrong time of day. Sunrise is over the ocean, not sunset. When planning the time for this, they only had evening available. I had to pray I would have a sunny day where I could attempt to recreate the feel the client wanted. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect sunset. Gorgeous clouds, perfect temps, a little bit of that shore misty fog, I think this one turned out better than the one we were trying to recreate. And my client was thrilled.
Siblings….this is a perfect representation of innocence and that love/hate relationship between a brother and sister. Someday this image will haunt them because of its cuteness, it will be so embarrassing….that’s why I love it. Totally candid, great moment.
Baby Valentina on her Christening Day. She looks like an angel.
This story is one of my faves. A huge bridal party, a timeline that is almost 45 minutes behind, it’s over 90 degrees and I have one shot to photograph the entire bridal party. What do I do? Ask them to all climb the side of a mountain. I had the vision for this when I scouted the location the day before. I knew the light would be right, I just didn’t think over 20 adults and kids would trek through the terrain to make it happen. One bridesmaid broke her shoe, the gown was covered in dirt and debris, they were sweating, but this was worth it. I did get cursed at and yelled at, lovingly, of course, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. And it takes 3 people to help a bride up a hill in case you’re wondering.
There were so many more images I wanted to include, so many special families. I had such a memorable and spectacular year photographing. Can’t wait to see what 2016 will have in store for us. Thank you to all of my clients for your trust, referrals and support. It means more than you can imagine.