Samantha's Bat Mitzvah

Last weekend I photographed Samantha's Bat Mitzvah at the Temple Sinai in Squirrel Hill.  Samantha's a tiny thing, and even the Rabbi joked that the Torah was as tall as she was.

The party was at Green Oaks Country Club.  A great place with a first-rate staff.  Music and entertainment was provided by The Party Crew from Soundtastic Enterprises, who have proven very popular with many of the Bar/Bat Mitzvahs that I have photographed this year.  Much of the decorating was done by one of Samantha's grandmothers, who did an incredible job with the centerpieces.

One of the things that was new for me was the use of the EverSnap app to share photos.  Samantha's parents set up an online album for Samantha's photos, and guests were given the name and password for the album.  They could then download the app (available for both iOS and Android) to upload photos from their phones.  There was a projector behind the DJ running a slideshow of the photos from the online album, updated in real time as new photos were uploaded.  In essence, this is the digital version of the film-era disposable cameras people would put on guest tables.  A cool idea, and I uploaded a few images from the Friday night and Saturday morning services, which got a lot of compliments.  There were a few issues with it.  Some folks apparently had a little trouble with the app, and accidentally uploaded other photos from their phones.  So there were some vacation photos and non-party selfies in the slide show.  These had all been deleted by the next day.  In addition, the plan was to set up a special wifi network at the party, to make it easier for people to upload photos, and there were problems getting that running.  Even when it was running, the signal was so weak that I couldn't upload from where my laptop was located.  Finally, the app allows people to order prints of any photo in the gallery.  I have an issue with this, because I own the copyright on all my images.  The solution was to upload low-res versions of the photos (800 pixels on the long edge), which is great for online viewing, but won't give you a good print.  This is what I do for any social media use of my images, and it worked out great in this case.

Carolina's Sweet 16 Party

Sweet 16 parties are not something we have often in the Pittsburgh area.  This was only the second Sweet 16 that I've shot, the first being Carolina's older sister's party a couple of years ago.  The party was at the Treesdale Country Club in Gibsonia, which is a wonderful venue with an awesome staff.

Cara was stunning in a white dress.  The weather was great, and before the party started I had a chance to take her out on the balcony for some quick portraits.

One think that was different for this event was that I set up my backdrop and flash umbrellas as a sort of photo booth.  As I shot the images, they were automatically transferred to my laptop via my Eye-Fi card and displayed as a slide show.  We had a table of props for the kids, and they had a lot of fun hamming it up in front of my camera.

Photos from the event can be found HERE.

Something Old, Something New

In the land of Nikon, we are blessed with the option of using old classic Nikon lenses with our shiny new DSLRs. For grins I decided to put my first Nikon lens (a manual-focus 50mm/1.8 AIS lens purchased new in 1983) with my newest body (a D800E). This is one of the resulting images. Using one of these lenses just feels different. These old lenses are all-metal, and focusing is very smooth. When you use one, you definitely feel you are using a finely crafted tool. The manual focusing also makes you slow down some, because there is no way you can focus as quickly as an autofocus lens. It is hard to believe that this simple lens was my go-to wedding lens (and just about everything else I shot) for 17 years. Now I depend on a quick autofocus wunder-zoom, but it is nice to break out this classic now and again.

2015 PIIN Celebration Banquet

The 2015 Celebration Banquet for the Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network (PIIN) was held Sunday, May 3, at the Westin Convention Center Hotel.  This is my third year photographing the event.  PIIN is an alliance of religious groups, organized labor, and others engaged in social activism.  When you watch the local news, and you see clergy being arrested outside UPMC during a protest, or protests for a living wage, you're seeing PIIN in action.

Photos from the event can be found HERE.

Olivia's Bat Mitzvah

Olivia's Bat Mitzvah was my second one for 2015, and was also at my "home base" of Temple Sinai in Squirrel Hill.  One of the hardest things to photograph during the service is to get people actually looking up, instead of looking down at what they are reading.  Olivia made it easy for me.  She would notice me at the back of the sanctuary, and she made it a point to look at the camera and smile, making for the perfect "Kodak Moment".

We lucked out in that this was the nicest weekend of the year to that point.  Plenty of sunshine, and a high temperature in the low 70s.  Because I can do formal and family photos quickly when I have to, we had enough time after the photos in the sanctuary to head to the rose garden behind Temple Sinai to shoot some great stuff.  There weren't any roses yet, but the sunshine, combined with the dark walls in the background, made for some wonderful shots.

Olivia didn't want your typical Bat Mitzvah party, so instead of the usual locations, her family rented out the BRGR restaurant in East Liberty.  The kids were upstairs on the top balcony, while the adults were underneath in the main restaurant area.  Entertainment was provided by Vincient the Magician, who provided amazing performances that wowed both the adults and the kids.

Mara's Bat Mitzvah

I had photographed Mara's older sister's Bat Mitzvah a couple of years ago, so I was excited when her family contacted me for Mara's.  The ceremony was at Temple Sinai in Squirrel Hill, and the party was at the Longue Vue Country Club in Verona.  Mara's theme for her party was "Masquerade", so all of the kids had decorative masks to wear.  DJ Vanessa had plenty of music, balloons, and games to keep the party going.

Photos from Mara's big day can be found HERE.

Easter Portraits at the Playground

Late last year I did a series of "Photos at the Playground" sessions over at the Swisshelm Park Playground, where parents could bring their kids for photos in a relaxed, kid-friendly environment. There was a small shooting fee, and parents can then order prints and enlargements online. We were able to have three session in the late fall before it finally got too cold and nasty

After laying low for the winter, I was looking forward to bring the concept back this spring.  Easter Sunday seemed like a perfect fit, even though it came early this year.  Unfortunately, in early April there aren't a lot of flowers in bloom, and the grass is more brown than green.  I needed to come up with something that would say "Spring".  I had a colorful blanket to start with, which would also help if the ground was wet.  A quick trip to local stores produced some nice bright flower decorations and some oversized eggs which added color to the scene and made great props.  Perfect!