The winter months are a slow shooting time for me most years, which is good because I can get caught up on a few things.  Besides the dozen or so albums to design for my wedding couples, I like to be able to kick out a couple of new Sample Books for the studio.  This one is from Rachelle & Michael's wedding at The Garrison in New York.  I picked it for many reasons - one being I had shot her sister Regina's wedding a few years ago and they are just a great family.  Two - Rachele & Michael are just an awesome couple, I had a lot of fun shooting their engagements in New York City.  Three - The Garrison was a very cool and different place for me to shoot.  And four - I just liked this wedding, it was a blast!

Here is the layout as I designed it.  Wait til you see it bound, I ordered a VERY unique cover for it!  This book is a great example of the new West Coast Style design that we are doing more of this year.  The gray line through the photos is the page fold/center.

 

The site is up and running!  I've been hinting and talking about the video services that my brother Patrick has been offering for almost a year now.  Well he finally got the website up and running.  Information about his services, a quick FAQ page, and most important - some demos!  Make sure you check it out at  -  www.pshvideo.net!

Also, come see both of us at The Carriage House Spring Bridal Show on Sunday, April 11, 2010!

Michael and Sylvia had an Egyptian wedding at The Carriage House in January.  It was a very energetic reception, to say the least!  Dancers and Egyptian music & entertainment all night!  The colors of the night looked awesome in the Savannah Room, which looked amazing to begin with thanks to Gerad's Florist.  We also had enough time to get a bunch of the great shots I try to always get at The Carriage House - most of them I couldn't fit in here!

Getting Sylvia all ready!

Michael looks ready to get married

This couple goes back a ways, but now that the sort-of-slow winter season is upon me, maybe I can entertain you by posting up a new wedding each week.  Pay no attention to my resolution of last year, as I completely broke it as nearly everyone does with their New Years resolutions...

Nicole and Erik got married at The Rams Head Inn - one of my favorite places in the whole world.  It's even better there than going to Rome!  (you're welcome Caitlyn!!)  Since Nicole got dressed at the Rams Head, we were able to use the new bridal suite for pictures.  They were the nicest group, we got some awesome pictures, I shot Nicole's sister with her arm up in the air, and both Nicole and Erik entertained us later in the evening with the band...

Here's what happens when we have to wait for family for portraits...

Here's what happens when you can't get the dress bustled...

...and here's what happens when you have an awesome band

Dear Tanya and Greg,

   You are WAY cool!

Love,
CHRISTOPHER H

     What can I say to you guys!  Greg's brother is Dave - my oldest friend who lives in Phoenix, AZ.  The guy who puts up with my antics when I head out West!  I even shot his other brother Eric's wedding in Arizona a few years ago.  So I've known Greg and his family forever and even spent time with him and Tanya in San Diego this past summer.  Poor Tanya and I put in only about 15 minutes on a Southern California beach one day and decided we were done frying! 
     Their wedding was in the beginning of November and we had a load of fun.  I shot the rehearsal, at the salon, Tanya's family owns a farm down towards Swedesboro so we shot around the farm, and we had a blast at the reception!  They even shocked me with a little "wedding gift" - not many people know I'm a huge Star Wars fan and a Lego fan.  Tanya and Greg found this out in California when we spent a day at LegoLand!

In San Diego...

This was fun - we did the same shot at the rehearsal and on the wedding day

This is Noah, Greg's nephew and my little buddy when I head out to Phoenix!

...and it was another crazy night!

Tanya got Greg with the cake, but we all figured he deserved it!

And last, but not least, they surprised me with a Lego Millennium Falcon - the crown prince of Legos!!  I have been drooling over this for about 2 years, and they remembered me doing so in LegoLand.  I sure hope I get a few free weeks in January and February to get to work on this - over 5,000 pieces!!  I can't thank you guys enough!  I promise I'll keep a photo update on the Blog once I start it!!

I am big time cheating by posting these so fast, but hey, it's Kristin!  So we were in the Carriage House one night last year, and we got to talking about New York City.  I showed her this awesome photo I got one evening in Times Square right after the sun set.  She said "I'd LOVE to have my engagement photos shot in New York."  And so we did...

...and last but not least - the shot we went up there for!

There's a lot more awesome photos and we even got some great footage during the day.  I brought Patrick from PSH Video along as well.  Once we get a chance to sit down and put together a cool demo, we'll post it up here.  Patrick got the coolest piece of footage ever in Times Square!!

Lisa and Kevin's wedding is late getting up on the BLOG, but I'm just happy to post some photos in the actual month when I shot them!  Lisa and Kevin got married on, I think, the windiest day of the decade!  The ocean looked really dramatic though!  Then we were off to the Carriage House for some photos and a great party night.  I have to give a shout out to her brother Keith and his wife Rona, who live in San Diego and who were kind enough to send me a list of some "must see's" while I was out there in July.  One day I'll actually post some photos of San Diego!

A couple of weeks ago I met with Kristina and Rick for their engagement session down in Ventnor.  They brought their puppy along with them too.  She was a little bit excited to be on the beach, but we got her in a few shots.  Their wedding is next year, but I'm already looking forward to it!  Here's a couple of images...

 

Ever wonder, as you sit at Thanksgiving dinner, where those cranberries come from?  I did...  and I went to find out.  I've lived around here all my xx years and I have never seen the cranberry harvest.  So off I went to the Lee Farm in Chatsworth for 2 days in early October to see what they do and how they do it.  It was great to get out and shoot for fun for two days, not to mention the photos are gorgeous.  This is just a quick sample.  When I slow down a little, I'll have some of the really good ones up in a Gallery on the website.  I have to thank the Lee family for letting me come out to wander around their farm.  I've know the Lee's for a long time - I went all through grade school and high school with Tricia Lee and used to run on the track team with Stephen Lee.  I would love to go back out again next year!  I also want to thank the crew in the bogs doing the work.  They let me get right in there (literally) and would show me how it all worked, it was very interesting.  I have the online photos up for them, if you want some photos they are on me!  And the last thing I'll do is a short plug for Allen's Camera in PA - one of my Nikon dealers.  I went out the week before harvest and got a new teleconverter from Allen's for the D700's and it paid off awesome!  It gave me a lot more reach with my lens and I got some great shots with it - it was a toy I've wanted for a while and this was my excuse to go get it.  Allen's has a huge inventory of new gear and a tremendous selection of used gear to check out. 

Out on the farm you have to get up early...

I love this one with the mist coming off the bog 

Some of the shots as the cranberries are harvested...

Like I said - they let me get right in there!

...but then I could get some great angles!

one of my self-portraits

I ended my shoot on a beautiful, clear, cool fall afternoon.

I should have my full set posted up on the website soon.  The book I'm going to make of this shoot is going to be incredible!  In the meantime, when you see me next, I have a lot more on my iPhone that I can show you!

The months are filling up quick for 2010.  I only have March and December left as open months for the First of the Month Special, where you can get a great discount applied to your 8 Hour Day or 10 Hour Day.  October just went, November should go any day now, and a couple of months in 2011 are gone as well!  You have to be quick!  And as a quick note - May is almost filled altogether, and July is filling up fast!  If those are months you are looking into, reserve fast! 

I know I'm working backwards here, but with the new format and with some new ideas, it'll make it easier to get BLOG Galleries up.  There were a lot of weddings in July and August that never made it up, but with the summer rush and with San Diego, I fell way behind!!

I shot Stasia and Brad's wedding at Sea Oaks the first weekend in September.  Their wedding day kicked off a month's worth of excellent weather!  We got loads of great photos outside and the temp. was finally nice and cool after a hot summer.  Stasia was a dancer and back in August I met them both at her childhood dance studio for a rehearsal.  They were doing great then, but at the wedding they nailed it!!  Their reception room was also way cool thanks to Betina, and I see a lot of cakes, but theirs was one of the best!  I also have to say that Stasia and Brad's bridal party was one of the greatest!  They were loads of fun, very helpful, and the guys even asked me to do a toast with them - to which, in a rare display and at the end of the night, of course, I gladly accepted!

 

I have to get back onto this BLOG!!

We'll re-start our Best Of... postings with Jaime and Ron's wedding at the Chelsea in Atlantic City.  My first time at the Chelsea - loads of cool places for photos!  It was an awesome evening for a beach wedding as the sun set in the west!  I've known Ron for a long time, he's a good friend of my brother's and we all had a blast on his wedding night.  I knew I'd get plenty of crazy party pictures!  I also got to say HI to Ann and Marc (CHP alumni 2005)  &  Jen and Matt (CHP alumni 2005).  Check out some of my favorites below...

 

As 2009 begins to start winding down, I've started to think about all the new things for 2010.  Equipment-wise, I'm already ahead of things with my new 85mm lens and the new on-site backup drive.  Both of which work awesome and have me totally psyched for weddings!  I also have a new display album in from The Carriage House, as well as a bunch of new Gallery Prints.  I also have in the works a new display album for The Rams Head Inn, a book from my New York wedding, and hopefully a third new book (I think it will be from a Sea Oaks wedding).  I've also finally tracked down new Pocket Books!! 

The Online Proof site will change in 2010.  At long last, we should be able to take credit cards for online orders!  There are also some cool new features of the site including a gallery of stock photos and Art Prints available from Christopher H Photo Stock.

I'm also going to start phasing out the traditiional album in PHO 253, our 8 Hour Day.  I am doing less and less of the traditional style these days.  I'll still offer them to those who like that style, however.  You'll see some other changes in our Wedding Plans before the end of 2009.

And lastly, there is the video thing!  I've got video services.  Well, CH Photography doesn't have video services, but I have a great new offering for video.  My brother, who has been shooting video for about 15 years now, has followed in my family's crazy wedding business tradition (for those of you who don't know, my mother was a wedding florist for 30 years) and he has struck out on his own.  You can get PSH Video services through Christopher H Photography.  When you stop in, ask to see the latest demo!

Unbeleivable!  August is just about over.  Summer is just about over.  Where those three months went, I don't know.  When was the last posted article, sometime in early July?  Well, I got slammed with all kinds of appointments and orders and shoots so I thought I'd compile a short list of where I've been as an apology for never coming onto my own BLOG...

1.   I went to San Diego, went to the desert, got baked out of the desert, and retreated back to the coast, where I spent a lot of time in a pool.

2.   I shot 4 weddings, 3 portraits, and 1 senior portrait session - all down the shore.

3.   I went to the Olive Garden for dinner one night.

4.   I met with about a dozen couples searching for their photographer.

5.   My toaster oven broke, not the oven part but the toaster part.  Now I can't make waffles unless I bake them.  I haven't gotten a new one yet.

6.   I've been secretly fighting crime as a masked vigilante to champion the cause of good.  (not really - it just sounds real cool)

7.   I updated my portable card reader to a faster, larger unit where I can keep a couple of months worth of shoots backed up.

8.   I finally finished my Alaska Books - that only took a year.

9.   I now have a sample of each of next year's proofing options in the office.

10.  I actually went on a whole new shoot that I never did before - a couple's dance rehearsal for their choreographed first dance.  They were really good!

So I'm going to California, which is good cause I've always wanted to be a cowboy. You have no idea how hard it is to find a rental horse company that has a counter at the airport. But I finally found Capt. Jose Smith's Horseys and Burros. I told him I wanted a horse, a big one, like in the Budweiser commercials. It cost me a load but I figured I just wouldn't eat for the first 3 days I'm there. I have to feed Mr. Champ though - that's my horse's name. So me and Mr. Champ are gonna just ride. Maybe we'll find a pueblo. That would be cool as long as there is a Starbucks nearby. I heard that there are rattlesnakes out there too, but I'm not worried. I figured I'll find a stick and skewer a cactus on the end and make a rattlesnake/cactus club.

This is SO COOL, I shoulda been a cowboy.

I'm bringing my iPod.

gonna just ride into the sunset