East meets West

I’m having such a great week. I’ve attended East meets West workshop at the beginning of this week which was hosted by Jason Groupp and Gene Higa. Jason Groupp is one of the finest wedding photographers in Manhattan and Gene Higa is named as one of the top 10 wedding photographers worldwide. The whole experience was just great. We had two couples that modeled for us on some of the Manhattan streets. It was informative to see how Jason and Gene work with their clients. I have always been curious about it. I also met and made friends with other really cool photographers at the workshop. I love meeting other wedding photographers that possess the same passion as me, because it magnifies the passion I already have. I know I say this a lot, but learning keeps my knowledge fresh.

This Friday I’ll also attend Joe Buissink’s seminar.

 

 

This is Jason, we are now ready to go.

 

 

This is Gene.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gift

Last Friday I had an engagement session with my first Turkish couple, Yasemin and Yusuf. Even though I’m Turkish, I’m not well known yet in my community; so, I hope this will help to spread the word. My first meeting with them left me with a great impression. Their hospitality was beyond my expectations. We met at Yusuf’s home and they treated me like I was a part of their family. They served me food and invited their friends and family to see my work. The best part was that they gave me a gift as I was leaving. How awesome is that?  I originally went there to meet them and present my work and I ended up getting treated like family and getting a gift. They are a really cool couple and I was looking forward to having them in front of my lens. The session went very well but it felt as if it went by too fast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little things,

make me happy

I Love Starbucks

Occasionally, I meet my brides at Startbucks behind my home. Thats how I met Jillian, who is a barista there. I always go there but very few people know that I’m a wedding photographer. Jillian was getting married and was looking for someone to capture her day, and there I was buying my latte. Well last Sunday we had our engagement session with Jillian and her fiance John. It was such a blast! At first I was concerned about the weather,because it was cold. I actually started to change my plans. Originally, we decided on Belmar but it is hard to be by the shore when its cold. Luckily, the weather changed completely. By the time we got to the shoot it was warm and sunny versus cold and cloudy. I’m so glad we ended up at the beach. Jillian and John are one cute couple and I wanted that to reflect that in my images. I feel that they will be my friends for a long time. It was great hanging with them and I’m looking forward to doing it again at the wedding This time I can spend all day with them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She also sends me the sweetest email, I love getting feedback from my clients and emails like this make me wanna grab my camera and shoot them again

 

 

 

 

 

First Bridal Show

Yes, I finally did it!!  After a long preparation, the day of the show finally arrived.  It wasn’t as busy as I thought it was going to be, but I still consider it to be successful. I had the chance to meet with many other great vendors, Melissa and Jennifer, who are personal trainers, Jim Kelley, who is a great photographer and his wife, and many other great people. This was a small show, but my next show is going to be big! Anyone is more than welcome to stop by and say, “Hi!”  It will be at Radisson Hotel (Freehold Gardens) in Freehold, NJ on October 29th.  Hopefully I will see you there!

 I’d like to thanks to everyone for stopping by my booth, thaaaanks

mom stopped by I luv mom

Teri and Jim, sweetness

Last week I had a great time shooting Teri and Jim for their engagement session. They are both very sweet. I remember when Teri first sent me an email inquiry, I could just see how excited she was. This really boosts me up and gets me excited!! I was looking forward to meeting them for the e-session. We had two awesome locations: Spring Lake and Hoboken, both in NJ. At the first location,Spring Lake, the sun was too bright and I couldn’t really see on the screen of my camera how my exposure was. It helped that I had experience shooting with film where you can’t see the images right on the back of the camera. It was kind of like I was shooting blind, but I had a good idea of how my images would come out. My eye was locked on them, because I wanted to bring out the chemistry they had right in front of me. Hoboken was awesome as well. Many people didn’t recognize the pictures as being taken in Hoboken,or even the US. It was great! Love was all around them! I can’t wait for their wedding day. I can already picture how it will be

here are some of the shots, click here to see them all

after all when I get an email like this, it makes me just love wedding photography even more, it’s such a feeling that i can’t explain.

Canon

Since the beginning of my photography career, I have been a “Canon guy.” Today, I am still a Canon guy and intend to always be one! I just received some of my gear back from them. My camera needed maintenance, calibration, and one of its lenses fixed. It is such a great feeling to know that you have company that genuinely cares about its customers. I’m extremely happy with the quality of their service and how quickly my equipment is returned. Another perk is that Canon is only about 30 minutes away from me!! They have never turned me down. This is customer service at its best! These are the qualities I would like to emulate while taking care of my clients. I want to make sure they not only get the best pictures, album, and slide show; But, great service by me!

Most importantly, I am very excited to have my equipment back. I took some pictures today to ensure that everything is working properly and of course it is!

Knowledge Is Everything

The seminar was fantastic! I wish it had lasted longer. I was happy to meet David Jay and Jasmine Star. I love being at seminars. It’s awesome to see so many people sharing the same passion learning something new. Its a blessing to have a talent, but you have to feed it with knowledge. It’s the greatest investment. The camera is just a tool, talent is a gift, but knowledge is everything!
I met new friends while seeing old ones! It was great!

David Jay and my friend Syed’s camera

David Jay

Jasmine Star

The only [b]ecker, one day I’ll be at his seminar

this is Syed (left) and Jason Groupp (right), great photographers

Kenny Kim with the Kenny Kim pose

Charlie’s Angels Cara, Marissa and Vanessa…no I’m not Charlie.

good times.

David Jay

In few minutes I’ll be leaving to attend David Jay’s seminar in NYC. I’ve been waiting for months for this day to come. David is one wedding photographer that I idolize and look up to. I’m excited to finally meet him and learn some new things at this seminar. I’ll upload some pictures later and tell you about the workshop.

July is hottt

Click here to see it

 

 

I have one more wedding this weekend and will leave July as one memorable month. Great times with great couples.

 

I luv it