Happy Birthday Jennifer

Today is Jennifer's birthday and she is off with friends and family for a little while this morning. So, I spent this morning looking through photographs from a recent family vacation as I want to create a collage for our home. Every year or two we take a sailing adventure and take the whole family and some friends as well. I guess it has become a family tradition as my father started us on these adventures and taught me how to sail. I sure miss him and each trip is a tribute to dad.

We charter a 50+ foot sailboat or catamaran, and I get to be the captain. Needless to say, it is an exciting adventure. I am working on a book that will span a decade of sailing in the Carribean. These images were from our 6th trip last year and as I looked through the photographs, there were lots of beautiful photographs of Jennifer.

I wanted to blog a little tribute to my best friend and tell her happy birthday. Jennifer and I met by chance 13 years ago and have been attached at the hip from day one. She is my business partner, the love of my life, and most of all, she is my best friend. Jennifer, I just want to say how proud I am of you. I hold you in the highest regard, I am honored to be your husband and friend, and to me you are the most talented, loving, and beautiful woman and soul there is. It is hard to believe how the time passes, but I look forward to every year and every moment we have together.

I know I am not alone as the whole family and all of your friends think the world of you. You lookout for everyone's best interest and try to be a true friend to all. We all thank you for just being you.

Happy Birthday.

WP Concert

Several portrait sessions today that went fantastic in the studio. We are loving the new Profoto lights we are working with. It adds such dimension and fun to the portrait work we are doing. Many more sessions tomorrow as well before I head off to New York City for appointments on Thursday.

Tonight was a special treat as myself, Jennifer, my nephew Derrick, and friends Bob, Dan, and Corey went to see the band Widespread Panic. It was another incredible show. We've been catching WP concerts for years, since 1992 to be exact, and they never seem to disappoint. They jammed for a good three hours, so it was a long couple of sets. I captured this image of the stage from the pit with my IPhone.

Getting up early for a bike ride with my friend George. We'll probably only put in 20 -30 miles or so as it is a busy day ahead after that. Looking forward to the exercise as I haven't been able to ride as we have been so busy at work this past week. Now off to bed.. Goodnight all...

A Day Break

Jennifer and I photographed a beautiful country wedding in New Hampshire on Saturday. Then, on Sunday, we drove up to Mount Washington and stayed the night at the Mount Washington Hotel and Resort. What a gorgeous setting. The hotel sits right below Mount Washington and is one of the last Grand Hotels in New England. The Resort opened in 1901 and still has a very 1920's charm. The whole time, we kept saying, what a cool location for a destination wedding that could be 20's themed.

We got up early, 5:30 am to make the 5 hour drive back home and just got in. I took this photo of Mount Washington with my IPhone from the back porch. It was nice to spend an evening just relaxing with each other and learning a little history.

Giclee Albums

It's been a creative few weeks here at the Connecticut studio and lab as we have been inventing.
Jennifer and I are so excited about a new fine art product line we are rolling out. It won't be for every one's taste, but we created some new one of a kind wedding albums in which every single print is a Giclee. These books have a very clean design, and the complete opposite of the coffee table style books. These books are also very delicate and need to be treated like the world class work of art they are.

This product takes photography to new heights artistically and technically as we are printing using archival inks and both the black and whites and the color images are tremendous. These books will cost much more than photographic printed books because the printing process alone takes days for one book and the cost of these luxurious papers and ink is so high. The binding of these papers is work of art in itself and we have literally designed the binding of the books from scratch.

One of the collections is bound in house by us personally in luxury leathers, so we take on every step of the creative process including capturing the images, designing the images, designing the pages, digitally mastering the color, artistically rendering the masterpiece, printing the Giclee's, hand cutting the papers, gluing the spine of the book, binding the pages, cutting the book board for covers, wrapping and gluing the leathers, and pressing the book in an old world press. So, as you can see, it is an arduous process, yet is part of our passion for creating one of a kind works of art.

We wanted to roll out something new that would be the ultimate statement of luxury and art that simply couldn't be found anywhere else. And, we have certainly managed to do just that. These fine art books are only available here at Maring, and we look forward to sharing them with all of our couples soon.

Exciting Times

I haven't blogged in a while, sorry everyone. We are in the thick of the our busiest time, so it has been tough to find the time to sit down and write. I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. We just relaxed at home which was a welcomed change of pace.

Just got back from a 30 mile bike ride and have been putting in some miles lately in the early morning or evenings. We rode from Wallingford to New Haven up to the top of East Rock and back again. Feels great to be pushing myself athletically.

There is so much going on at work with weddings every weekend and portrait sessions all day everyday Tuesday - Friday that life is a little crazy right now. It can be hard to find the balance when you are booked out weeks in advance and the phone keeps ringing. We are so blessed and thankful for that of course! Thank you all for honoring us and allowing us to photograph your histories. Also thank you for your patience. Sometimes it may take a couple of weeks notice to get in to meet with us, but we take pride in the fact that we always make personal time for each and every client. That is what working with an artist is all about. And I would think it is better to work with an artist that is in demand than not.

We are so excited about so many creative ideas and continue to push the creative envelope as hard as we can. We purchased two brand new Canon XH-A1 HD video cameras and are filming all sorts of things in HD now. It is hard to explain the integrity of the footage we are creating when viewed on a 1080P television. It's stunning to say the least. We'll be making some website changes with new footage soon and are developing new visual products that mix the medias of photography, design, sound, motion graphics, and HD video together. All of this is starting to unveil as we cross the divide into becoming Maring Media. We are a very progressive company that loves change and keeping on top of the media blend is very important for serious photographers and visual artists. Mixed media is where it's at. With all the change surrounding the photography / Video blend, it's Exciting times!

I got a new IPhone. Ordered the 8 Gig version online and had it in two days. I have to say, it is much better than I expected. I figured that it would be missing at least something, but it more then met my expectations. The only feature that I am hoping comes soon is the ability to view Adobe Flash content which isn't in the web browser part of the phone now. But I have heard that it will have it soon.

That's about it other than working hard and spending countless hours working on images in front of the computer. Looking forward to seeing many of you soon...