and the final shot -minus the tractors  :)

I was lying on my side, camera almost on the ground with a 70-200mm lens, 1/160, sec F2.8, 200mm. ISO 200

So the next time you think you’re stuck for grabbing a great shot in a tough location – stop, think and LOOK!! See beyond what you see and make the shot happen.

]]> http://www.norman-photography.com/blog/taking-a-great-photo-almost-anyplace/feed/ 0 http://www.norman-photography.com/blog/jessicaanthony-the-coveleigh-club-rye-ny/ http://www.norman-photography.com/blog/jessicaanthony-the-coveleigh-club-rye-ny/#comments Sun, 13 May 2012 22:56:01 +0000 admin http://www.norman-photography.com/blog/?p=6637 Jessica and Anthony were married last weekend in Harrison NY at St. Gregory The Great, with a reception afterwards at the Coveleigh Club, Rye NY. For me, everything about this day was really fantastic, not the least of which are my super photogenic (and REALLY fun)  couple!

check it out….

It’s funny, after all these years there are sometimes churches as well as not-often-visited reception sites that I forget I was previously at until I walk in–turns out i’d been to both the church AND venue before!

Im not really into shoes, but found myself a bit enamored with Jessica’s Mischka’s..

the flowers were by X-Quisite flowers in New Rochelle, NY.

Lauren Jordano was on hand for hair and makeup

…see what I mean?  More shoe shots!!

honestly – the bridal prep room was all laughs and hardly any stress!!1 A GREAT way to start the day!

Jessica’s dad sees her for the first time in her dress

so there was some sort of other small event going on at the club – a confirmation maybe–I doing even really know, all I DO know is there was a Bouncy House and Jess wanted to pose with it!!

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meanwhile, there is NOT a bouncy house at the church.

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 Back at the Coveleigh Club for some shots and a trip to the beach before cocktail hour

Earlier the sun had come out and everybody (expect me ) were all sorts of happy. By the time we got to the water the clouds rolled in ( I was now happy once again) and the light was amazingly soft and creamy.

With a simple “You can do this if you want or you don’t have not- it’s up to YOU…but if you went out there on the rocks it would be really cool...” comment, the next thing I knew shoes were off and out they went.

Just beautiful– I love the contrast of the rusty pylon and her gorgeous dress

Maybe my favorite formal who of the day…

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their cake was by Cornerstone Caterers in Rye, NY

I could not get a bad photo of Jessica if I tried—

everything was ‘going fine’ until Anthony’s brother got everybody all emotional….

an unexpected cake attack!

and an equally unexpected candy bar!! Woo-Hoo!!

Hothouse band (one of my consistent FAVORITES!!) kept the crowd rockin’

hope you guys are enjoying Hawaii!! Thanks again for a great day–

This past weekend Jean and Jim were married and had their reception at Saltwater Farm Vineyard, in Stonington CT. Theirs was a small and intimate affair, with a wedding party consisting of 2 people and about 50 guests.

this was the little flowers girls first time out with wedding responsibilities!

Jean’s Mom -The maid of honor- helps her into her dress

Jim surprised Jean with a little gift right before the First Look

Spectacular flowers - as always – from Yumiko at Hana Floral Design

and I really loved these boutonnières - they were so tiny and cute!

My associate JC came along and happened to grab this cool shot while I had Jim outside ready for the First Look

I know it seems everybody shoots on this side of Saltwater, but the light there is always so great!

We took a stroll down to the end of the loan that saltwater is on, where there were great Cherry Blossom’s in bloom

JC and I scoped out the marsh earlier in the day, as I had always wanted to get somebody down there for shots, but it typical seem too wet and muddy. It didn’t seem so bad, and these two were troopers and did the schlep down to the waterside!

Jeans brother was there with his bagpipes

yes, that’s right–they had bobble heads made!

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It was a beautiful day, though we were fighting with the wind for sure!!!

who’s that dummy to the right ruining the shot–oh wait–that’s me in the way…

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I experimented a little with a 20 second exposure–

This was actually Jean and Jim’s idea–to go out by the tree at dusk–which came out pretty cool!

Thanks again to the good folks at Saltwater Farm as well as Coastal Gourmet and Keith Alan Productions rocking the tunes

So, you know Mr. Vintage here, i’m always hunting the internet, tag sales, eBay, Brimfield–wherever, for vintage stuff (especially wedding stuff) which I have come to find is often difficult to locate. The thought first came to me after scanning some old slides from my parents wedding and seeing my moms dress and flowers:

Many times at REAL weddings there are elements that are vintage, but let’s face it – nobody is going ALL OUT 1950′s these days.

The thought pops into my head: HEY! Why don’t I try and shoot my OWN vintage wedding. So I started reaching out to some of my industry pals, starting with Miss D.D. Nickel. She and I had done a vintage makeup shoot a number of months back, so I knew she was REALLY into this kind of stuff. We chatted about the idea and met one day in New Haven CT at Fashionista, where she had gotten many of the outfits for our previous shoot.

I arrived a few minutes late (typical…), and without D.D. seeing my moms old dress, she had pulled a few for me to check out. I walked in, looked at them and pointed to one and said “THAT’S the dress!!” To me, it was about as exact a replica of my moms dress as I could have hoped for. But I had my doubts it would fit our model Kirsty…

Kirsty arrived a few minutes later, tried on ‘dress #1′ and lo-and-behold: it FIT!!! Not wanting to chance it disappearing, I bought it rather than renting it (so now I own a dress if you need one…)

I’ll spare you all the details of planing the day (which included a call from the New Haven police while I was in Mississippi, as I apparently REALLY scared an 85 year old woman by putting a letter in her mailbox telling her how much I wanted to use her house to shoot in front of — that’s a whole other tale…)

Let’s just say, that it was amazing to see it all come together the way it did. I had plotted out the shots in my head for so many months that I knew pretty much exactly what I wanted when we actually started shooting!

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Nichole Michel of Coral Pheasant Stationary whipped together this beautiful wedding invite just a few days before the shoot (my fault for thinking of it last minute, and kudos to her for doing it so quickly!!)

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OK.

The Car.

Lets talk about The Car.

Tom Guinta of Trumbull CT is friends with our model Kirsty’s friend Elisabeth , (confusing, I know) and he just HAPPENED to have this gorgeous, Mercury Montclair aqua piece of heaven that he parked in my driveway. Amazingly, he has done very little cosmetic work to it and it only about 8,000 miles on it!!

I think I could have photographed it all day long….

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a relaxing cocktail for our bride..

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Robin Dini was on hand as well, and grabbed this really cool angle–

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Diane Gaudett did an incredible job with the flowers, doing 2 different bouquets– she did one that was more ‘authentic’ for the period (the daises which were very popular) and the larger ones you’ll see below which mimicked Jackie O’s wedding bouquet! (…we joked when we added them to the photo that her wedding budget had just jumped up a few notches)

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And last but hardly least, Mr Jim Alteri of Vintage Cinema came by to capture the behind the scenes in his very individual style which – come ON now — fits what we did like a glove!!!!

[a true 'vision of loveliness ' at about 2:15...]

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thanks again for everyone for their time and effort and my pals Mike and Jen of Ikes Atomic Photobooth for letting me take over their driveway!

A number of months back I did a shoot for Beth at Venetucci Home (a dangerous shop where I wanted to leave with everything for my house…) where we were going for an eclectic garden inspired look, featuring props and items from Venetucci as well as flowers from Hana Floral Design, table design by True Event,  paper goods from Stonington design + paperie and makeup from Jennie Fresa.

So today I discovered that the images grace the opening page of The White Dress site, as well as their being used in an inspiration piece too!

here are a few images but there’s lots more on the site..

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—for you photographers out there – here’s a little “behind the scenes” –I had just bought an app for the iPhone called Sun Scout which tells you the position of the sun at any given time of day, you can can estimate where and when it will be. Its not usually the case where you have the luxury of shifting around shots to accommodate the light, but this day, after seeing if we waited 3 hours the sun would be right BEHIND the table, we scrambled up our shooting schedule to do these images last. As you can see below, I think it was worth it!!

If I had it my way, everything would be bathed in golden end-of-the-day- light 24-7…

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The workshop was held in Clarksdale MS, pretty much considered the Birthplace Of The Blues. There were about 11 students in all, and we all stayed at a VERY unique spot called the Shack Up Inn, which are basically repurposed sharecropper shacks turned into rooms

Lets just say that I have never stayed in a place like this before—

it’s a little like someone went to an antique show, bought doors, window frames, pieces of metal–old signs….and then used then all one way or the other in the cabin

the building across the way was an existing cotton gin turned into more ‘hotel’ type rooms.

  Theres an interesting article here in Delta Magazine about the property

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we all gathered Sunday afternoon for a meet and greet and an overview of the weeks schedule. Diving right in obnoxiousness, I started shooting right away…

the next morning we started with an overview of palladium printing, with New Orleans’ Thom Bennett

lots of photo visual goodies!

We started each day with a writing assignment as well as an unexpected drawing task as well! The writing was based on a website called Unphotographable, where you are trying to think more consciously about what you are seeing when you ARE not photographing (as well as when you are!) So we had about 5 minutes to write a brief statement which started with: This is a picture I did not take

 Not as easy as it sounds, but it DOES get you thinking in a different fashion in day to day life

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We were paired up in dreams and had 30 minutes ( 15 minutes each) to do a portrait of our team member. Shari and I went into her cabin where she had a random piece from a church we incorporated in the the shot. I was playing with my tilt-shift lens for this image

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I was grabbing quick portraits when ever I could.

Will took me out for a ride to a town a bit south of where we were, and while pretty typical shots, I enjoyed the patterns of the cotton/soy bean fields

this particular one with the dust in the distance was my favorite

I went out later on my own and found a few interesting things right near town.

the open hydrant and bright colors against the abandoned house was just too odd not to photograph

a few shots of the famous New Roxy theatre, which plays a big part in Blues History.

I was ALL OVER this pristine Greyhound station !

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later on, I got to use a large format camera for the first time EVER (I still can’t believe I have NEVER used one of these!) The negative from that ended up being used for a palladium print, but I also grabbed a few shots digitally..

just a random hook I spotted in a garage.

My cabin at dusk.

That night, we had a little evening get together after a long day of shooting

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the next day we had a fast project to go out and shoot shapes – trying to look for the space BETWEEN things rather than the thing themselves. I also grabbed a few train shots right as it started POURING rain!

you can see the rain below if you look carefully

It was one of several pretty intense Mississippi storms to pass through

goofing around some more with the tilt-shift lens…

don’t ask me why, but I was fascinated by my shower head

I grabbed this series in maybe all of 5 minutes–a little tribute to Diane Arbus

the final day (the day of the gallery show–more on that in a moment) I spent a little time in a part of Clarksdale I hadn’t driven through before

I had been shooting 2 1/4 film with my ancient Hasselblad and had 3 shots to kill to finish the roll–and this actually turned out great!

this was the Wet Plate image I did…you can see a little video I made about the process HERE

driving to Cleveland MS, there was this little abandoned taco stand in the middle of nowhere.

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so the entire week we were working towards creating an image suitable for a gallery show at Will’s Gallery Thursday evening.

here I am watching everybody else get stuff done.

our ‘unphotographable’ writings were all grouped together on one wall.

Will Jacks and Chris Williams

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afterwards we strolled through town to Wills house where his wife Jamie and his Mom had prepared an amazing dinner for us. I took this snap on the way ( …trailing behind as usual!!)

the image I ended up choosing (after much internal debate) to put in the show. If you’re in Mississippi–stop by: its up for about 5 more weeks

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a group shot after dinner (snagged from Will’s blog)

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and what better way to end than with more vintage neon?…

It was such a very fun week and so great to have a chance to get out of the ‘normal’ way of thinking, especially when all you start to think about through the year are wedding images. And doing things out of the box was really cool and a good eye-opener before I head into Wedding Season— I have not sat and drew something for no good reason for 30 minutes like we did there in I don’t know HOW long. I cannot believe i finally got to use a large format camera and the Wet Plate process is simply Black Magic , if you ask me  :)

the evening ACTUALLY ended when about 6 of us went to ‘Po Monkeys…there are bo photos but check this out and you will get the idea….

I started off on Beale street – which is kind of the ‘place you go’ when you visit memphis ( the equal of Bourbon Street or a super-tiny Times Square) I was surprised at how small it actually was; only a few blocks long, and needless to say not was kind of crowded and touristy—but still, there were some pretty interesting things there if you looked past the obvious….

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you KNOW i’m a sucker for an old sign!

in the old pharmacy, i found some thing to ward off evil spirits.

This was SOME kind of event going on inside this space, but this was SO abstract I thought

Ummm—uhhhh—I have no comment.

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The Peabody Hotel was built in 1869 and really worth a stop to check it out. I did not get to see the famous ducks however (they were in their rooftop condo by the time I got there)

there was a historical display with some really cool old trinkets and stuff

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This was a weird experience as I THOUGHT I had stumbled across a cool midtown motel that just happen to have vintage cars parked in front of ( it looked like a photo shoot or something as I walked closer to it) But when I got right there I realized it was the National Civil Rights Museum, and this is a preserved motel where Martin Luther King was shot. So it suddenly became a lot more serious feeling and less funky, if you know what I mean.

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Ahhh yes, THIS is what you were waiting for: Graceland. I’m not the world’s biggest Elvis fan, but how do you go to Memphis and NOT go check this out?

It did not disappoint….

(wish I could show this larger  here–a pano stitched together with 5 shots)

Elvis’ kitchen looked oddly like mine growing up in the 70′s…minus the cartpeting.

The bizarre and VERY yellow entertainment room, complete with 3 TV’s and a mirrored ceiling.

And a ceramic monkey.

This room freaked me out a little – the fabric on every surface kind of gave me the willies…

—although THIS was kind of  a suffocating feeling as well – avocado green carpet on the walls and cieling

The Jungle Room. ‘Nuff said.

Lisa Maries playlet from when she was little

the office out back that he and his manager worked from

the rear of Graceland

I never thought about there being Elvis toys!

they claim Elvis spent time and played a few songs on the piano the evening he died here

I have found my new outfit for weddings this season….

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Outside in the line to see his grave.

Spectacular people watching.

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the line for Elvis’ resting place or a casino buffet? I can’t tell the difference.

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His car Museum

Elvis continues to perform on any available TV screen

Inside his personal jets

I really thought her dress was super-cool!!!

The guys waited patiently in a shuttle out front, as we were headed into town for a First Look.

…there was a lOT of laughing going on!

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we did the first look right pin the corner in front of a favorite spot of theirs (where we just happened to hop inside for a quick St Patty’s drink…)

they were very cool with letting us take over the bar for 15 minutes

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Heres a good example of ‘you won’t get if you don’t ask’ — I saw this cool alleyway that was behind a locked fence I thought would make a great spot for photos. As I told Bridget, you can pretty much get away with anything if you’re in a wedding dress. So we asked all nice and stuff, and they unlocked it and let us in!

onto the church—

they FLEW out of the church and we zipped right over to the Fox Hill Inn  for a few more shots before guests arrived

Diane Gaudett did an amazing job with the flowers—as usual!

there a story behind this stuffed toy I won’t go into here—-  :)

wow.

Nice ring.

Almost looks ediable.

check out that spotty light hitting the back go her gown–pretty neat I thought, so I had Bridget walk away from me a tim for two to catch it the right way.

Well. OK, come on. It’s St Patricks Day….

Congrats and thanks to you both for making the day fun as well as a terrific start to my 2012 wedding season. Also thanks to Tom Morlock of Vantagepoint Films for his humor and help that day!

since its fussy to use ( so I rarely use it at a wedding) I broke out the tilt-shift lens for a different take on things

I tell you – these 2 just RELATE to each other so well, you can really see that in the shots. When they hug, kiss–hold hands: they mean it!

I almost killed myself trying to maneuver my un-graceful self down these rocks, but the result was worth it!

i LOVE this—looks like a movie still!

I have always SEEN this structure there at the park, but never gone over to shoot with it–I think it makes a cool (though most likely puzzling) backdrop

we ended with a little fashion model seriousness

—thanks for making the drive from Philadelphia, looking forward to seeing you in about a month!!! Thanks as well to JC, who took many of the shots included here

It’s with a quiet and humble smidgen of fanfare about something I have been silently working on for months that I shall share with you here, now.  Something that has been truly swimming through my head for over 3 years. I have been trying my best to get as much right straight out of the gate as i possibly could, in a possible vain attempt to have it run like clockwork without any hangups.

I kinda figure with Inspire Photo Seminars coming up next week, this is as good a time as any to make my little/major announcement. I must admit that I toyed with the idea of silently slipping this new approach to my business mode into action without any fussing whatsoever. I REALLY wanted to avoid the Facebook “big news coming next week!”... “giant super-duper announcement in 3 hours…” kind of tease…but I realized that would be unfair to the team who has committed themselves fully to this new project. Photographers who themselves are changing the way they operate, taking a risk, shutting down their websites and shaking things up personally after running their own businesses for so long, in order to simply to join me in my new project because they believe in it. That’s an overwhelming feeling, of both pride and fear.

I know for a fact that I have over-thunk this beyond belief (ask my poor friends who have had to listen to me ruminate for months on end about this subject….” We’ll what if THIS happens? What if THAT didn’t work right…” on and on and on.)  I’d of wanted to shoot me if I were them, and I am forever grateful for they’re patience.

I am lucky enough as well, to have an amazing network of CT photographers whose brains I have tapped into on many an occasion the past few months. Professionals willing to generously offer their time, opinions and to openly listen to me carry on for an hour or more hashing out THIS and THAT in my head…You guys KNOW who you’re (I don’t want to give away my Super Secret Inside connections) and I thank you a million times over for your generous gift of time, advice and open minds. You all helped me fish though the oceans of options and approaches in my attempt to find the balance for me. It often felt like this was New Business: Day One.

This has been quite the education for me both business wise and personally, as I used to think that was a pretty flexible guy open to change.  The rather eye-opening reality discovered through this process is …. Well— that’s not really the case.  I really do kinda like things the way they “are” and, I get REALLY comfortable with patterns I’ve established.  21 years of a business pattern is a tough nut to crack overnight, and the ability to “let go, trust and embrace” a new way of working has been far tougher than I expected for me. My close friends look at me when I say that and give me the, “...what? Are you KIDDING me??? You thought you were FLEXIBLE to change????!!” look in the eye—ok,ok-– I can take hint. Settle down. I GOTCHA. I realize everyone else knows me better than I know myself.

STILL being stuck in your old farty ways cannot be 100% bad, as it has gotten me to the level of success I now enjoy.  I don’t believe that’s all just simple chance, error and luck. And I write this to ANYONE who is thinking and any kind of either personal or business radical change. It takes a big leap to shake yourself out of whatever rut you find yourself in, as transformation doesn’t happen without discomfort and uncertainty. So enough with the esoteric….

So what on earth is this big, damn news? 

It’ll probably be a letdown now after the dramatic setup,  but Robert Norman Photography is now a group. A Team. A Studio.  A “collective” perhaps. Three talented photographers with a similar eye yet different approaches, all working under the umbrella of Robert Norman (I get to claim the big, red throne…) Allowing us to expand, offer more options, keep some more work in house (to be honest) share duties, produce a consistent product across the board, learn, grow, change and discover.  It is truly a 180 change for me, but only for the better. I feel like the time of working fully alone and solo for weeks on end are over in exchange for something more collaborative.

Still, I know the time is right both for a change as well as expanding and taking a different approach. No risk, no gain. And for me, this FEELS right at this point I time.  It’s a very different way of running my business, but I would not have made this leap if I thought it was an error. This was not a decision made overnight or lightly by any means; you have no idea how much the spinning wheels in my knuckle-head have been twirling for months on end .  I have seen this done VERY well, and I’ve seen it done poorly, dissolving within months.  I have seen people take on a position only to feel undervalued and taken advantage of. I can’t stress enough my concern for having that NOT be the case. Having been an employee who has felt more like a slave, my main concern is fairness, open dialogue and commitment to the entire group; getting it to feel “right” for all of us. This is no longer “just me” (having to refer to my business in terms of “US and WE” in consults rather than “I or ME” has been a giant , very strange change alone right there!!)

Finding people who can represent you is not an easy task, as they aren’t just shooting photos for you, but are an EXTENSION of who are and the Brand you have worked so hard to establish  That’s quite the sticky point as well, as there are an amazing amount of talented people in CT who are qualified and whom I’m rather close to.  But I found myself, as I think ANY pro would in a similar situation, considering not just the WORK, but the EXPERIENCE they provide, and how that fits in with MY business vision. Not everyone you like make a great match, and that’s a tough call, but in fairness on the flip side, I would not be appropriate for many studios either.

So away we go…I know this, like any worthwhile endeavor, will be a work In progress. Things will change, grow, mutate and maybe get worse before they improve. But I know in the end it’s all for the best.  Please help me welcome Jay Fleming and JC Carley now with Robert Norman Photography. Along with the additions, we have changed and significantly changed and simplified our pricing structures to keep things basic, simple, and hopefully confusion-free. Our quality and approach shall remain consistent: we simply now offer more photographer options to help be more available during the peak seasons as well as offer various price points.

Thank you for listening to me ramble on and on- you can TELL this was a big decision—And if you happen to run into someone from our team, come on up and say HI!! Of course, you can say HI to me too…(the website updates are all pretty much complete– they re a lot of fun, so take a look!)