Glen Island Harbor Club Wedding {Elena & Chris}

Tuesday, March 17th, 2009       Written by: theStoryteller, a Modern Lifestyle Photographer      { Marriage, Wedding Stories }

Many of us go through life making mistakes without a second chance to make it right. Chris and Elena first dated for 3½ years and took a 2 year break before a meeting by chance brought them back together. They seized upon this once in a lifetime opportunity to treasure one another and fall in love all over again and in their own words, “It’s much better the second time around”.

It must be fate, but without the appreciation of what life offers us we can not profit from the opportunity. One can see that Chris and Elena genuinely appreciate this gift that brought them back together and they are profiting from this reunion and turning their life into one of love, caring and appreciation. I can truly sense these energies in the presence of Chris and Elena.

Check out my conversation with them at the end of their wedding images.

This is my first audio interview with a couple and I look forward to more exciting and insightful conversations with brides and grooms who have given me the opportunity to be their storyteller.

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Elena & Chris’s Prom and Wedding were held at  Glen Island Harbor Club New Rochelle, New York


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How to plan a wedding reception

Friday, March 6th, 2009       Written by: theAssistant      { Marriage }

As I was searching for an old episode of Vern Yip’s Deserving Design on hulu.com, I found the following video instead.  My eyes were drawn to the introductory sentence.

Sometimes deciding where to get married is more complicated than deciding who to marry. Planning a reception is complicated. But Carley Roney, editor of TheKnot.com, has great advice to make planning the reception manageable.”

If you find this video helpful, then you may want to check out the rest of the wedding related videos on howdini.com.


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Airing out your private life

Thursday, February 26th, 2009       Written by: theStoryteller, a Modern Lifestyle Photographer      { Life }

I have always been a private person and believed that my work will speak for itself. That has worked quite well for me until the advent of reality shows.

First I had a website, then I need a blog to keep my website going and now I need to be in Facebook and learn how to Twitter. If that’s not enough, then I’ll need to let the world know what I am doing every second on these social networks. It’s getting out of hand.

I am wondering out loud, is that the norm for our life now? What do you do? Do you leave your computer on 24/7 connecting to the World Wide Web and have your fingers stay on the keyboard?  Do you share every private details of your life with the world? Is there no longer a line between private and public anymore? Is the Brave New World really here?

I believe it is for better or for worse – thanks to Jerry Springer and the media we are now all expected to hang our private laundry out in public. Anything less is totally anti-cool and undemocratic. Well, maybe I am exaggerating a bit here, but you get my drift.

To honor this new found freedom and joining the bandwagon I would like to share with you a piece of my sh*t, I mean journal, a bit of my private thought. Don’t worry Jerry Springer, there’s a long way before I catch up with you.

Here’s the piece from my private journal:

One thing I hate most is to blame other people for my own failure even if that person caused it. It’s like blaming a cold for making you sick. It’s unreasonable and a waste of time.

Sure, the person who might have caused you pain is not going to be getting rid of easily from your thoughts nor will a cold disappear the moment you get it. The effect will be around for a while to cause you discomfort and pain.

But what use is it to blame them? Learn from the experience and be a better and healthier person so it would be harder for others to take advantage of you or a cold to get hold of you next time.

It’s a total waste of time to blame. If you are in the habit of blaming others all the time for things happened in your life, it’s probably a good time to look within and change the way you do things or live.

We have no one else to blame but ourselves for our experiences; even when it’s someone else’s fault, we should always focus on the solution and not the problem.

I have heard from some photographers over and over again, complaining about the effectiveness of one camera or another, but it’s always the same thing over and over. Obviously, they are just complaining for the sake of it – they haven’t done anything about their unhappiness. They are and probably will be always focusing on the same problem. Dude, focus on the solution then the problem will go away – simple as that.

Stop blaming people or thing for your misery. It’s you! You are the problem and solution.

Sorry if you were expecting something more private or saucier, but at least you get to know the private me a bit better. Don’t worry if my work is not up to par, I am to blame and not you.

Here, I would like to share a photo from my recent trip to Hainan, China where I was born.

This is a photograph of Mrs. Zhao (my childhood neighbor) and her granddaughter. She’s in her seventies. She has the agility of a young girl and can climb a tree like no one else can. The sweetsop or sugar-apple she grows is the best fruit I tasted anywhere in the world. Of course, I might be bias to the soil which gave me life. The rest of the photos from my trip to Italy and China will be posted shortly.


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and the winner is…

Friday, February 20th, 2009       Written by: theAssistant      { Life }

A while back we ran a photo contest and the winner is…

We have only one entry; however, instead of canceling the contest; we’re going to reward Greg for his time and effort.

Sadly, this will also conclude the end of contests for us.   Well, at least for now.


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WellWed: {Shadow Lawn Wedding} Part 2

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009       Written by: theAssistant      { Marriage }

In Part 1 of this post we saw how Tammy executed her magic, in Part 2 we shall see theStoryteller’s magic.

I was fortunate enough to witness Tammy’s magic first hand. Her wedding was unforgettable. There was laughter, tears, sunshine, rain, thunder, lightning and most memorable was the double rainbow.   The setting at Shadow Lawn is simply magical.

Shadow Lawn
2233 Lucas Turnpike
High Falls, New York 12440
845.678.2302


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