For an experiment, I tried using an AI site to write this post. I had no intention of using what the bot spit out, I just wanted to see what it would say. It was intriguing because recently I tried other AI programs to help me with post-production with mixed results. I was skeptical in the first place and as expected, the content was stale and predictable. The fact is, no bot can capture the true vibes of a rad portrait session. We connected at Liberty State Park, mid-peak fall season on a sunny Saturday. It was a busy day, the park was packed, to say the least. I can load the dialog box with all the right keywords, but it still wouldn’t be able to describe the actual moment Judy and Raph had a first look for fun. The cloudless sky and perfect sun, the wind, the 5 weddings happening at the same time, a sweet 16, surprise proposal, families, jet skies, jets, helicopters, and content creators. Can’t forget the jokes, obligatory useless facts about Canada, and most importantly, vibes. Good vibes. No bot or computer can ever truly describe what good vibes are never mind what they look like. Judy and Raph have a great connection and it was a pleasure to be their creative third wheel. I think we did a pretty solid job capturing good vibes :)
Seriously, I can’t wait to share more photos of this beauty! I have been waiting for fall to come around to do a full detail shoot, but I can’t wait anymore..lol. This build was so much fun from start to finish. The inspiration was early 1900’s Italian race bikes as most bikes then were fixed gear and built for short distances. It’s a modern spin on a vintage style. The only frames I would even consider building on were Italian built, the same for all the components. I will list the components and more in my next bike post.
Classic never gets old. Claire and Chris had a perfect day for their wedding at the Rumson CC and it was a pleasure to capture their day. Everyone had a great time, there were lots of laughs and nothing but good vibes all day as well - the sunset was so beautiful!!!
Philly for the win. This wouldn’t be the first time I have mentioned on the NTB how much I love Philly. Good thing Kristin and Tim feel the same way and are big sports fans! We met at the sports complex before the game started on a cloudy Sunday morning in front of CBP. After hanging out at the fields we made our way to one of the best spots in the whole city for pictures, Race Street Pier. Nothing but good vibes with these two, and I look forward to their wedding this time next year at Scotland Run!
That’s a wrap for summer 2022! We had a blast at the shore, and basketball games – Moody Park FTW, lots of late nights, and about three hundred pizzas, thank you Villa Rosea:) We spent a lot of time in the backyard, tooling around and enjoying the heat. As with every summer, things had to come to an end. Jalen and Janessa were happy to get back to normal and start school. See my next post for highlights
PS — For my camera heads, fun fact - all of my Random Snaps series of photos are shot with a 12-year-old canon 1Ds mark iii with either a 24-70 or 35mm lens. The color is always true and color balanced and the files are puuuurfect. The body is big and heavy, shoots mad slow, the ISO tops out at 1600 and the frame rate is ancient. This body has been my fav from the minute it came out. 10 megapixels and all. Years ago while getting my bike fixed in BK, another rider shared an interesting observation about expensive cycles - “It’s not the machine, it’s the man.” This resonated with me. As time went on and cameras evolved the cost to keep up with the latest and greatest machine also evolved. Naturally, as a photographer, the desire to keep up with trends and have the best camera with the most megapixels takes over and you find yourself $3k lighter and needing new hard drives every few weeks. I can only speak for myself here, but after a few years of new bodies, slightly upgraded, a little better here and there, I got bored. I just wanted to keep things simple and focus on the subject, the human, not the machine. For weddings and commercial work, of course, I use the latest and greatest, but for my day-to-day art and random snaps, I keep things simple.
This little wild one was all smiles for his “Where the wild this are’ themed shoot at Well Mills Park. The same spot where his Mom and Dad made things official!
It is baby time for Marcela and Rob! The family of three is about to be a lovely round family of 4 soon! We met in Princeton and braved the heat a few days before the new baby make thier entrance. Congrats fam!
Summertime vibes. Time to start blogging again, like really blogging. This is a slow transition away from Meta. Back to the roots of blogging and creating original content that stands alone, with nothing to do with Facebook or IG. Meta has corrupted the idea of content and creativity and I won’t let that stand in the way of posting and keeping it real… ahh, the old, keeping it real debate. lol…. peep this song … by Qwel…”The it in keeping ‘It” real “
This verse always stood out to me ..
But brothers would it kill us to change from vain Jiggy, diddy, viddy what you give me to up jump the boogie But man it might change us to stay the same shitty Gritty, cities hittin kiddies with fronts, stunts, and hoodies Sissies with a name and claim to fame Woody looking goody, it’s all boogie to beat beat beat With deceit seat seeded and conceit’s teeth gleamin The truth gets diluted to me me me
