At First Sight

We got to photograph a fantastic wedding this January and for the most part, it has been warm here in NYC up until about a week ago. We caught a 70 degree day for the event. Couples often ask about seeing each other for the first time prior to the their wedding ceremony. Photographically speaking it's aways a great option because the couples gets to embrace and enjoy the moment instead of being rushed up to the alter. It also allows the portraits to be taken before the event which frees up the rest of the day to just live in the moment.

Here are a couple of clips from the wedding where the couple chose to see each other. Isn't it romantic. I love this vintage look I have been working on. It has such a softness to it yet it has an old world glamor at the same time. It reminds me of classic movie clips only these are real moments which makes it that much better.

It's a small world

So yesterday I learned about Google Analytics. It's a free service that allows you to see maps and city names of who visits your website. So, I got yesterdays stats today and the map shows visitors from Africa, Australia, Europe, and all over the United States. We do enough destination assignments to know that people find us from all over, but this really hit it home that it's really not that big of a world out there. Pretty cool.

Wedding Style New England Features

Wedding Style New England hit the newstands this month and we are psyched to have several pages of images from tabletop decor, to bouquets, to a 5 page feature wedding that closes the issue. Kelly Devlin and Matthew Robbins had a spectacular wedding at The Wadsworth Mansion in Middletown, Connecticut. It poured all day setting the tone for some stunning photography. Rain never seems to bother us. In fact, some of our most awarded photographs have happened on days when it rained or snowed. One thing about weddings in the Northeast, you can't predict the weather. Check the feature...

Blog Transfer

I hope everyone seeing this likes the look and feel of the new blog. I spent all day working on it. When I started blogging months ago, I tried a few different blog software from Apple's IWeb which I have used up until now, Blogger.com, and a couple of others as well. Blogger looked to be the best solution, but up until recently, posting images from a Mac wasn't an option. Every browser I tried wouldn't show the Icons.

The Firefox browser works on Blogger, which is now Google, and I am pleased to say, it works perfectly. I was dreading the long hours it would take to transfer all of my blogs from IWeb to Google, but it was well worth it. The problem I was having with IWeb was that I couldn't Blog from anywhere. I had to be on my laptop where the software was installed. Since Google is web based, I can blog from home, the studio, the NYC studio, our NYC apartment, even mobile with my Blackberry 8700. So, I should be more up to date with future blogs instead of having so many gaps.

Plus... We now welcome comments, so feel free to join in on our blog as well.
I'll be in touch!

Why Teach? Question of the Day...

I spent as much of the day as possible, between phone calls from tele-marketers, client meetings, a photo session, a staff meeting, and working on a recent wedding.... creating an educational DVD for Professional Photographers. It is amazing how the day flew, and I am sitting here at 7:30 at night and once again, and the day isn’t even close to finished.

A photographer friend of mine said today, “seems like you are creating a lot of educational information for photographers... Why do you want to teach? Aren’t you afraid it will take away from your business?” So, there is the question of the day. WHY TEACH?

I thought about this answer for a while today. My first thought was, well, we didn’t get to where we are by ourselves. In fact, we have had the honor of learning from colleagues who were willing to share business skills and technical skills to allow us to flourish. It’s only right for us to share what we know with the next generation of entrepreneurs. But truth be told, that was a logical answer.

At some point, as an artist, you forget everything you learned and you stop looking for answers. I don’t know when exactly this happened for us, but we started creating our own answers and finding our own paths to artistic photography and the art of business.

I find comfort in letting my soul take me where it wants to go. We have been creating some new websites and companies with emphasis on education for engaged couples and professional photographers because something is telling us that it’s missing, and for better or worse, we are just following our hearts. This is becoming and extension of our art and it is creatively one of the most unique works of art we have ever tried to finish.

Seeing things through to completion is one of our gifts. I think above all else, in business, the ability to finish projects to the best of your ability and know how, without ever sacrificing quality, is the key to success. The moment you sacrifice quality, you sacrifice a piece of yourself.

Why Teach? I think it boils down to following your heart. I can’t imagine not sharing how we created a successful studio. And, truth be told, there isn’t one way to the top. There are a million ways to the top. The world progresses and growth happens because there are people out there that can’t help but to share. They don’t know any other way. I think that is why we teach. Because we are compelled to. For some strange reason, under the stars, we feel that we have to. We just pray that what we share helps others to piece the success puzzle together to allow them to live their dream to the fullest potential.

So, a big thank you from myself and Jennifer to the photographers that have helped is learn to think for ourselves and create our own path. Many of you know who you are. We couldn’t have done it without you.

The Question of the Day

Celebrity Portraits

We were psyched to get a call from David Tutera’s staff scheduling a portrait session with us the other day. However, they wanted more than just a portrait session, they wanted more character that showed many sides of this famed event planner.

We have worked with David on other projects including photographing his last two book on entertaining. So, we knew what they didn’t want which was a big help.

Check out these handsome images that showcase a sexier side, a fun side, and a classic side of this famed designer and television star.
Recipe for the Images...
All of these photographs were taken with a Canon EOS 1Ds MarkII and processed in Apple's Aperture software. 100 ISO. A large medium size softbox 90 degrees from the subject at f/11 a grid spot on a standard reflector f/11 aimed at the face, and barn doors on a standard reflector reading f/11 from the top of the head.

DIGITAL SUCCESS EXCLUSIVE

We are excited to announce that for the first time ever, we are opening up our personal home, studio, and lab for a three day DIGITAL SUCCESS seminar that will be held April 24-26, 2007.

The class is limited to only 20 people and will offer personal in depth training by Charles and Jennifer Maring. The tuition is $1850 and includes some meals, a dinner party, models for the photo sessions, a real photo session showcasing various lighting, camera, and posing techniques, as well as a full day of post production workflow and marketing.

Learn more on our home page in the NEWS section or you can click here to download the course outline and registration form which can be faxed in to reserve your space.

DigitalGURUtv.com

We recently gave a two hour program at The Javitz Center in New York City. Two photographers mentioned after the program that they had come a long way and that the only reason they came to the conference was because they heard we were speaking. One had come from Florida and another from California.

That is quite a humbling feeling to say the least. Jennifer and I feel so blessed. Just like any artist or business person, we have our trials and tribulations. We are proud of the art we create, proud of our families, proud of each other, and proud of the way we build lasting relationships that with our clients.

The real reason our studio is successful, beyond all of our expertise, is because we love what we do. There are so many new photographers jumping into the industry due to digital technology. It is exciting what can be done. We receive emails and phone calls from photographers from near and far that are yearning to learn how to improve their photography skills and their business skills. Our passion for what we do has forced us to follow our hearts in a new direction of education. We are launching a new website that will allow us to share our vision, the tools we use, the techniques we have developed, and good business practices. These sessions will be valuable to individual photographers, universities, and students.

DigitalGURUtv.com is being finalized as we speak. We will offer 4 online seminars per year with six television shows each that share a behind the scenes look at our wedding photography, studio lighting techniques, computer workflow, business strategies, and much more. Podcasts of past issues will become available to members as well as we will archive every issue of the professional resource. We are also planning 2-3 day digital workshops that will take place both in our studio and home or in other cities and countries which we will roll out soon.

We are excited about education and will update the blog as we progress these new ideas. We would like to send out a personal thank you to all the photographers who email us, stop us at conferences to say hello, and that love our work enough to make mention to us.