There are all types of weddings..

I've been to weddings with 400 or 500 guests and even though it is a day of celebration and everyone is in a great mood, it almost feels like when you are in a rock concert, where you can hardly see the band (they look more like small ants dancing in the distance), but yet you end up having a good time.

There are more intimate weddings with about 50 guests, where it feels like you are one of the family. Almost like attending a concert in a small venue, where you feel like you can almost touch the instruments the musicians are playing.

Two days ago was my first wedding where not only I attended the concert, but I also played in the band... Yup. Carol and Mike came from New Orleans to get married in Central Park. Not only that I was their photographer, but I was also the witness!! (and I have the photo to prove it ;)) And strangely enought New York state requires only 1 witness... so it was a band of 4 on Tuesday.

Here's a slideshow of the photos I took as a member of my new band!

Congratulations Carol and Mike!

Family

Speaking of family just made me think of this past weekend. I had spent 4 days in a cruise ship in the Bahamas in my first ever family reunion.
Roberto and cruise are two words that I wouldn't usually use in the same sentence, but believe it or not, it was actually a good idea for its purpose. Organizing 25 people for 4 days would be a logistical nightmare! So my family decided to do it in the "comfort" of the Majesty of the Seas!

I just got a bit melancholy about family so I decided to post one of the photos that I took in the trip. These are my parents, who I don't get to see that often and which I love very much.

I will post more photos of my trip in the next few weeks... (got to catch up with some work ;) )

Heather and Erik

I've been to Baltimore very few times. This time I came to photograph Heather and Erik's wedding.
Everyone in the party had come from multiple places; Ohio, Virginia, Florida, New York... I don't think anyone lives in Maryland!! Then why have the wedding here?, well it was for a couple of reasons, but one of them was because of Heather's father, who used to sail from DC to Baltimore. In his honor Heather and Erik started looking for a place to have their party.

I was just at a family reunion this past weekend (which I will post pictures and talk about in another post soon), and it is just nice to see how strong family feelings can be and how we do things because of loved ones, so I completely relate to Heather and Erik's decision to have the wedding here.

Here are some of the photos that we took at the Radison Hotel (where the wedding took place) and at the Baltimore Harbor. Enjoy! More to come...

Masha and Sky in Croton

Sunday I had a very different wedding. It happened outdoors at the Croton Point Park.

A few years ago (When I was enjoying the subsidy by Columbia University) I learned that New York City received all it's water from this area and that's why for some time people use to call tap water "Croton Water".

It was a very sunny and hot day, perfect for a wedding (not so perfect for photography ;). bit we got some good stuff!! ).

Sky and Masha had a very low key wedding, which was very refreshing for me, since I had not slept more than 5 hours the night before.

One of Masha's bridesmaids had brought these very cool parasols. They were orange and had funky shapes. At the end of the wedding I was able to do a shot against the sun with Masha.... I liked the powerful colors that we got.

Jan and Marco in NYC subways

This past weekend was a busy one for me. I photographed two weddings and very different from each other...
Jan and Marco got married at Columbia University's Chapel and had their party accross the street at the beautiful "Casa Italiana".
After having an emotional party where Jan's grandparents celebrating their 80th birthday at the same time (yes, they were both born the same day !!), we took the train back home... Yes. Jan, Marco and their frinds to the subway back home, and of course I couldn't let them go without me. Here are a few images of the ride back... more to come soon.

I love destination weddings!

All weddings are celebrations and moments of joy, but destination weddings in particular have the additional element of vacation-feel to them. Everyone attending the wedding is out of their own element, which makes them relax and enjoy the location.
This past weekend didn't come any short. I celebrated Tisola and Mick's wedding in the beautiful island of Tobago. It took place at the Blue Heaven Hotel. Beautiful hotel, home of some royals and film stars since the beginning of the 40's. Even Robinson Crusoe was belive to have set foot on the grounds (Of course before it was a hotel !! ;) ) . Fun detail on every room was that the bathrooms had glass walls that faced the direction of the ocean. We showered with an ocean veiew!!

Not only that it was a beautiful wedding and that I got to do some fun photography work, but I got to meet some wonderful people. Tisola and Mick's friends were a fun group of people to hang out with. A lot of them live in NYC as well, so I am happy to have gained a few new friends as well.

Here are a couple of images form this fab weekend: