Adam & Jordan’s awesome post blizzard Engagement Shoot in Washigton, DC

After spending the day with James & Laura in Baltimore on Saturday, I spent Valentine’s with their good friends Adam & Jordan. We met up a few blocks from the Capitol building, put on some warm hats and headed out for a walking tour of DC. We hit some awesome spots, including the Capitol, Supreme Court, and the local neighborhoods around the area. Of course you can’t be around DC trying to get great shots without the local Jack Bauer coming out to keep things in check. We were at a Federal Building – the Reserve, I think  – and Adam & Jordan are hanging out by the wall, looking good, doing their thing – and I’m, of course, doing my thing with the cameras. I see one of DC’s finest drive by in a car, checking us out. I then see him approaching – and he stops the three of us. Turns out, these building have infrared sensors on the marble walls, and super sensitive motion sensors on the doors. We had set them off and he came out to investigate. He was really cool though, and after the obligatory lecture, we were on our way :).
Even cooler was the great security guard at the Capitol, who gave us 5 minutes to go past the security line onto the steps and take some shots. All in all, we had an awesome time, and got some great shots. I can’t wait for the wedding, where, like with Wes & Krysten (also good friends of Adam & Jordan), we’re going to do a walking tour, or maybe a double deck bus tour, of the DC area after the ceremony. Yup, it’s going to be an awesome 2010!

Katy Gray - March 12, 2010 - 6:14 pm

Brrr! :) I absolutely love the shots on the courthouse steps, very dramatic background.

katie - March 11, 2010 - 8:42 am

These are beautiful – wow, DC never looked so good! They will definitely cherish these photos…

My brother Ramin’s new short film: Plastic Bag

As you probably know from reading the blog, my brother Ramin is a fantastic filmmaker based out of Brooklyn, NY. He was commissioned by Futurestates TV and ITVS to make a short film for a series they just premiered today. His short, Plastic Bag (Facebook the link here) is about a “existential journey of a plastic bag (voiced by Werner Herzog) searching for its lost maker, the woman who took it home from the store and eventually discarded it. Along the way, it encounters strange creatures, experiences love in the sky, grieves the loss of its beloved maker, and tries to grasp its purpose in the world.”

The short premiered last year at the Venice Film Festival (along with Cannes, the 2 largest and most important film festivals in the world), and is now online. It is definitely worth 18 minutes of your time to watch. Also, you can click here to learn more about the Great Pacific Vortex of trash. Larger than the State of Texas, it is floating around endlessly in the Pacific Ocean.

Click the poster below to watch it online.

The biggest snow in Baltimore’s history can’t stop James & Laura!

Washington / Baltimore gets snow, sure. But who would have thought that on Valentine’s Day  weekend, James & Laura would be prepping to get married in the midst of the biggest snow storm in Washington/Baltimore history! Even at home in Winston-Salem, NC, where we were getting a pretty good snow, it was nothing compared to what was happening up in the DC area. How was it driving up? Not too bad actually – the driving up part at least. I rented an SUV, got my boots on, and packed a shovel and drove up Thursday after
noon. When I got into the Inner Harbor on Thursday night, that’s when I realized how bad it was.

Snow banks were at least 6 feet high, and covering most of the cars parked on the street. The city was so quiet, with a few people walking and maybe one or two other cars. Actually, the day prior, the Mayor had put out a level 3 emergency which meant only emergency vehicles were allowed to drive on the streets. It was lifted the morning I drove up.

I had a meeting with Laura Friday afternoon at the reception site (the beautiful Cloisters Castle) and was trying to find a way to get to the church, the Holy Rosary Parish, when she called to say the meeting was off because the road to the Cloisters wasn’t plowed and wasn’t passable. Wow, hmmm…. Well, after deciding the car couldn’t make it to the church, and walking there, I decided to head up to Cloisters anyway, just to see what was going on. Laura was right – after walking halfway up the very steep, somewhat cleared drive, I ran into the bobcat desperately trying to clear the road. I thought it wasn’t too bad, until I turned the corner and saw 3 feet of untouched snow and another 100 yards left to the castle. But, to make a long story short, Annie, the manager of Cloisters, worked her magic and was able to get some heavy duty trucks in to clear the path overnight, and by Saturday morning, James’ dad had confirmed the road was clear and the wedding was on!

And it was an awesome wedding at that – the great part is that this is the second time I’ve been part of Laura’s family having a wedding. Back in 2007, I was with Katie and Steve (Laura’s brother) as they got married, and Laura was getting married and Katie was her bridesmaid. When I saw them dancing, I had an instant flashback to their original first dance in 2007 and a photo I took of it. To see that same love, the same way in which she holds him as she dances – its perfect and its what we all hope for and want.

It really is SO cool to see old friends again, and make tons of new ones with James’ side of the family. We had an awesome limo ride with the bridesmaids; the Holy Rosary Parish is simply a stunning church; the Cloisters was picture perfect against the backdrop of the snow; the band was cookin’ and it was good times had by all. Major props to Annie at the Cloisters, the city of Baltimore for clearing the roads, the driver of the Chariots bus who has mad skills, and everyone else who helped make this awesome wedding happen. And thanks so much to both James & Laura and their families for having me back for such an important day. Now let’s look at a few of my favorite samples!

Oh, and keep an eye out in that last photo of the castle at night – look up in the top right window – that’s the perfect couple having the perfect moment to themselves before they leave their wedding night. :)

(Full screen mode is the icon to the right of the play/pause when you start the slideshow)

Joe - March 6, 2010 - 9:11 pm

Great story! Well done.

I love those photos, the spiral stair especially. It must have been a beautiful wedding.

Ted Johns - March 2, 2010 - 11:11 am

Beautiful work as always, and nice blogging about the big day and huge snowstorm. I love your lighting expertise shown in these pictures as well.

Katy Gray - March 1, 2010 - 12:29 pm

Amazing! I LOVE the stairway shot with the twinkle lights.

What a beautiful venue. You really got the best out of it, great job! I love the black and white bride and groom shots too, very moody and romantic.

Laura - February 27, 2010 - 2:20 pm

I’m totally blown away!! I can’t thank you enough for capturing our day so exquisitely. We will cherish these photos for the rest of our lives. You’re phenomenal!

San Jose Photographer - Benipayo - February 27, 2010 - 4:45 am

Ooohh. Nice photographs of James and Laura. I like your style, just fantastic.

Beautiful images! I love the location. Great shot on you header as well. I hate when videographers camp out with that dang tripod.

Katie - February 26, 2010 - 9:00 pm

You’ve done it again – love each and every one, just fabulous! You captured everything perfectly. Amazing work and an amazingly awesome day!

Ramin - February 26, 2010 - 7:28 pm

Amazing location and you captured the Bride and Groom in the space perfectly. They are very lucky to have these

Mary anne Kamas - February 26, 2010 - 7:12 pm

The pictures are stunning! You are so talented…..

[...] spending the day with James & Laura in Baltimore on Saturday, I spent Valentine’s with their good friends Adam & Jordan. We met up a few [...]

Sterling Events and the WinMock Barn in Clemmons, NC

A few weeks back, good friend and bride to be Andrea contacted me about a photo shoot she needed help with. Andrea is getting married in a few months and we had an awesome engagement shoot a few months ago. Andrea contacted me about her need for a new project Sterling Events is putting together. They are refurbishing the awesome WinMock barn in Clemmons, NC into a top of the line wedding & event venue. Scheduled to open around the Spring of 2011, the WinMock Barn will be able to accommodate wedding ceremonies inside and out, as well as large receptions on the amazing second floor. Of course, you can head over to the WinMock site to get more info. Take a look at the mock wedding shoot we did for people to get a feel of how cool their wedding can be in this awesome barn. We’ll be going back later in the year for another shoot when everything is complete. If you’re getting married in 2011 (and I know you are, because you guys are already emailing into Sept of 2011!) and are looking for that cool, contemporary, rustic good time wedding, this just might be the place for you! If you want to talk to Andrea direct, call Sterling at 800.777.8741 and ask for her. And of course to get me, just click the contact button above :)

The icon on the bottom right of the gallery menu is full screen.

Great images of what will clearly be an amazing and unique venue!

James Brown - February 26, 2010 - 2:49 pm

Very lovely work, as always! Well done :)

Fast Cars at Virginia International Raceway

Back in November, my good friend Jonathan B. worked a track day at the Virginia International Raceway (VIR). It was a combination of cars they maintain and support on the Grand Am circuit, as well as other cars which came out for the day. He was nice enough to have me out for some photos, and it was a blast.

I thought you guys would enjoy seeing something different, so here are a few of the shots from the day. Full Screen mode is next to the Pause button next to the thumbnails.

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