Recently, a bride who loves my work decided to go with another photographer after reading my blog post on, “The Best locations for engagement photos in New York City”.  Her wedding will be at the Palm House in New York City’s renowned Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

I thought my readers will realize that the post was a tongue and cheek writing about personal preferences and why you should not have one as professional photographer. That’s why I intentionally did not give a long list of the best locations for engagement photos in NYC, because the best locations are where you end up at the moment. The best “landscapes” are the human faces. Without that there’s no meaning to the best locations.

I’m certain that I’ll write more future blog posts on the best locations for photography sessions. Hopefully, soon you’ll be able to see some incredible images taken in ordinary everyday locations.

I would like to  end this post and leave with you a thought about focus…if you focus on the finger pointing to the moon; you will miss all that heavenly glory. And if you focus on getting to that beautiful location, you will miss those gorgeous moments on the way. Seize the moment, which is here and now and right in front of you! Carpe diem!

Amanda & Jordan thank you for letting us know that your wedding story is featured in the Spring 2010 issue of Contemporary Bride magazine.  Thank you for the copy of the magazine, and most importantly, thank you for submitting your wedding story to Contemporary Bride.

After going through the magazine, I understand why Contemporary Bride registered the phrase, “The Engaged Girl’s Survival Guide“.  They just know what every engaged girl needs to know.  They cut down to the chase and list every wedding vendor and detail of the bride and groom, even how many buttons are on a groom’s tuxedo.  In this New Jersey issue of the magazine they have 17 couples share their wedding stories.  The following is 1 of the 17 stories.  It is the wedding story of Amanda & Jordan.

Wishing you health, happiness & prosperity throughout the coming year

While going through our pile of magazines once more before they are recycled; I found this very interesting article from Fast Company magazine.  We may be in wedding industry and photography is our speciality, but we do not know all the facts and figures on weddings except for fact that June is the most popular month for weddings.

2,190,363 couples were wedded in the U.S. in 2008.

The world’s longest-married living couple, Zelmyra & Herbert Fisher of North Carolina, were, at press time, preparing to celebrate their 85th anniversary.

$707,051,028 worth of wedding cake and fondant frosting (more than 16 tons) was consumed last year in the U.S.

The average American wedding costs $28,704.

In frugal Mississippi the average drops to $18,562.

In spendthrift New Jersey that jumps to $36,113.

Behemoth David’s Bridal claims roughly 30% of the wedding-gown market, with dresses that start at $99.

Steel tycon Lakshmi Mittal spent an estimated $60 million on a five-day French wedding for his daughter, Vanisha, which included a 1,000 person engagement party at Versailles.

The discount chain Filene’s Basement has held its Running of the Brides event at dozens of stores each year since 1947.

At one store, shoppers cleared the racks of 3,000 marked-down dresses in a record 37 seconds.

In 1960, an American bride was typically 20 years old and a groom was 23. Today, they’re 27 and 29, respectively.

Six countries currently allow same-sex marriage: Belgium, Canada, Holland, Norway, South Africa, and Spain.

December is the most popular month to pop the question, accounting for one in five engagements.

\?pe-sk?-?ter-?-?n\

pescatarian or pescetarian: one whose diet includes fish but no meat

Etymology: probably from Italian pesce fish (from Latin piscis) + English vegetarian

What do pescetarians eat on Thanksgiving? Tofurkey? No, not this year, this Thanksgiving it’ll be curry fish head for us.

Have many of you wonder how Willi capture his images?  He  shoots high, he shoots low and don’t forget the Asian squat!  Don’t believe me!? Scroll down to see Willi, theStoryteller, in action during a recent pre-wedding photo shoot.

The images were captured by the future bride, groom, a friend of ours and yours truly using a smart phone, iphone, Canon G11 and Canon Powershot SD40.

It’s going to be a while before I blog a another wedding, because I’m going  to switch my focus to getting all my weddings processed before the end of the year or some of my  brides may be very unhappy.

I used carry my professional camera with me whenever I walk out the door. It lasted only couple weeks before I stop, because it’s really heavy. One day when I went out during the middle of the day; I saw a construction worker cutting up the road with a huge radial saw. The sparks were flying, this huge saw was cutting away right in the middle of the road with cars backed up all the way. I reached for my camera and then realized that I didn’t bring it! What a missed opportunity for a great shot!

On a wedding day I carry 3 fully loaded cameras for over 10 hours without a complain, but on a off day, I somehow cannot even carry one professional camera.

Recently, I purchased a Canon G11, a portable point and shoot semi-pro camera and it goes with me whenever I go out. I love it! Now, I can record the changing of the season and all the nuisances of the day as I travel through time and places that are easily forgotten.

I’ve decided to share with you some images straight from my new carry around camera without any editing or processing whatsoever. The pros call these images SOOC  (straight out of camera). Here’s a collage of light and color of fall 2009 as I wandered through and captured it with my point and shoot camera.

]]> http://williwongportraits.com/blog/2009/11/24/new-york-city-fall-autumn-foliage/feed/ 0 http://williwongportraits.com/blog/2009/11/05/modern-lifestyle-family-portrait-photographer/ http://williwongportraits.com/blog/2009/11/05/modern-lifestyle-family-portrait-photographer/#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:09:27 +0000 theAssistant http://williwongportraits.com/blog/?p=2506

A few of weekends ago; we met a little girl while shooting a Modern Lifestyle Family Portrait session.  By the end of the session Willi and the preschooler became buddies. 

Children are very observant and it’s amazing to see a child’s reaction to the new things and new events happening around them.  We told her to carry on as usual as if we were not in her home.  She was not at all shy with us nor was she shy in front of our cameras.

At the end of the session while we were putting away our cameras and equipment she quickly drew a picture of Willi.  She insisted on walking us out to the elevator.  When the elevator came she surprised us with the picture.

She drew a very handsome Willi with his camera on his hand.  She even noticed the way Willi has to wink his eye when he looks through the viewfinder.

I am very touched by the little girl and her drawing. It brings tears to my eyes each time I look at the beautiful hand-crafted Thank You note.  This is by far one of the best Thank You notes that Willi have received.

We want to take this opportunity to thank this little preschooler for making the Modern Lifestyle Family Portrait session so special for us.   We were there to capture the moments in her life, but in the end she captured our hearts.  I am sure that she made a greater impression on us than we had on her.  

Click here for expert advice from a modern lifestyle portrait photographer on getting the best photos from your family portrait session.

A private eye in stilettos? No, it’s  makeup artist extraordinaire Laura Nadeau.

It should be common sense for people in wedding industry to be dedicated to the well being and happiness of their clients. If one cannot provide this most basic service, one should consider a profession in another industry. After all it’s a service industry and you are here to make people feel fantastic and comfortable on their big day!

This past weekend, I had the unfortunate encounter of a limousine driver who made the groom felt so bad on the way to the church that everyone got off the limo and walked to the church! And I must say this is the first for me in New York. Few years ago, I encountered something like that in Boston and was totally shocked by the experience.

Of course these are extreme cases and people in our industry in general are service oriented people, but there are few that stand above and beyond the norm!  Laura Nadeau is one of those who go above and beyond her duty to help and make her clients feel terrific on their big day! Not only is she a consummate artist who makes her brides look beautiful; she is out to help them by providing one of the most informative and inspiring website filled with expert advices from the pros in the wedding industry. This is something you rarely see.

I had the fortunate experience of working with Laura and she made my job much easier by handing over a gorgeous bride on time; so I did not have to rush.

I challenged Laura, and asked her to make herself look beautiful by doing her own makeup. We did a glamour editorial session last week in Soho.

Modern brides don’t forget to listen to an impromptu interview with Laura.  Please keep in mind that I am a professional photographer and do not have the eloquence of Barbara Walters.

Without further adieu…the gorgeous Laura Nadeau’s Modern Lifestlye Fashion Photography Shoot.

Can’t believe that it’s been almost 2 months since my last blog post! I have good reasons for this long absence. I have been busy shooting weddings! To relax after a long day of shooting and relieve my eye strain from sitting in front of the computer working on images; I have taking up guitar learning. It’s been a long time desire of mine and I am glad that I finally put down some good money for an acoustic guitar and lessons on DVDs.

There are couples of things against me as a guitarist; I have short fingers and can’t read music. So don’t expect me posting my playing anytime soon, but I must say that the regiment of practicing the basics, getting my short fingers to wrap correctly around the notes and producing a decent sound relaxes me and shows me once again that it’s possible to learn anything if you apply your time and energy to it.

Johann Sebastian Bach once said, “It’s easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is to touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself.”

If you want to be good at anything, keep on practicing. If you want to be a good photographer just shoot, shoot, and shoot some more. That’s it. That’s the secret. We become what we consistently do and practice!

I don’t know what kind of guitarist I will be, but I have  improved since I started my first lesson. I can now play the C and G7 chords that were giving me so much trouble that I was thinking of getting something to extend the length my index finger or getting a guitar for kids. Patience, perseverance, and persistent will always overcome any obstacles.

As a photographer, I can tell you that once you mastered the technical skills, then all you need is to combine it with feelings to give your photographs life. Without that personal touch chances are your photos will never go beyond technical and into the realm of art.

I am hoping that my guitar learning and playing will one day help infuse my photography with a new dimension of light, sound, and rhythm.

There are 2 posts I am excited about writing and sharing with you soon and they will give you a peek into why I am the luckiest photographer in the world; so stay tuned!

As humans we tend to gravitate towards a preference because we are creatures of habit; so when someone asks us about our favorites we are excited to tell all.

What’s my favorite piece of equipment? Well, if you know me or have plenty of free time on your hand to read through my blog posts, then you’ll probably know my answer. “I have no favorites and/or preferences”!

I apologize for the let down, but let me explain. I’m a person that doesn’t like to be pigeonholed. As I have learned from Takuan Soho’s, “The Unfettered Mind”: the placement of the mind in a sword fight is very important; if you put your mind and attention on a specific spot you will be cut by the sword. When you focus on the tree, you will miss the forest. When one falls in love with a favorite piece of equipment or a favorite style, one may no longer see other beauties or opportunities; this is very good for a marriage but not great for photography.

I will not limit myself to one lens; so in my arsenal of lenses, which are the eyes of my cameras, I have a long range telephoto zoom which is like a high power rifle for a sniper; I have a mid-range zoom which is like an AK 47 for running and shooting; I have a short-range zoom which is like an Uzi for spraying at close distance. I also use prime lenses which are for stealth and low light shooting. (I’m not a proponent or opponent of guns; this is just a visual analogy). Without a preference I can tell a story with a broader range of possibilities, but I would shoot a wedding with a point and shoot camera if that’s all I am given. As a photographer, I aspire to be consistent in the quality of my work; which will not only require a technical mastery of my tools, but also a flexible creative approach to each subject that appears in front of my lens.

From the following slideshow; can you find the long, the short and the in between shots?