Why we love what we do.

We start every shoot with expectations.  We think about the couple, the weather, and where will the light be coming from among many other things.  A recent shoot with Elizabeth and Chris exceeded all of our expectations!  Everything fell into place and we spent an amazing evening with these guys as the warm evening light spilled all around us.  It was so wonderful we didn’t want the shoot to end!  It’s couples like these that make our job so wonderful!  Thanks you Elizabeth and Chris for putting up with our antics and being so wonderful.  We can’t wait to photograph your big day!

Cheers!
D & A

Another reason to love Chicago

We’ve always loved Chicago! Come on, Michigan Avenue, deep dish pizza, and the best sushi I’ve ever had, seriously! (http://www.friendssushi.com/).  The reasons to love Chi-town go on and on but recently we found another reason, their names are Emilie and Ryan.  We had the pleasure of doing an engagement session with these two in beautiful Chicago.  We had such a wonderful time getting to know Ryan and Emilie and can’t wait to photograph their wedding this June.

Cheers!

D & A

Family

In life there a few things more precious than family. So when I got the call from my cousin that he and his wife were expecting and wanted photos taken of their little guy when he arrived we were thrilled. As you can see Jack has made his grand entrance into this world and is handsome as can be! Congrats Vern and Amy, it was such a pleasure to catch up and meet your fantastic son Jack!

Cheers!

D & A

No Excuses!

I love new gear!  I love opening the box and pulling all of the camera’s, cables and batteries out of their neatly sealed bags.  In that moment the possibilities seem endless.  I think to myself this camera will let me do this or that better… it has better ISO performance or a better focusing system.  In the end you could go bankrupt buying gear to help you take “better” photos.

A long time ago I bought a cheapo guitar and started teaching myself to play.  The guitar wasn’t the best and I thought what I needed was a better guitar, then I would really be able play better.  I knew a guy who played guitar at the time who was really good.  Instead of using guitar picks he used his old credit cards that he had cut up, maybe as an act of redemption to make something beautiful out of them, ha ha!  Anyway he picked up my out of tune $300 guitar that I bought on my lunch break and made it sing with nothing more than a piece of a credit card in his fingers.  The obvious reality that had escaped me until then hit me like a ton of bricks.  You know where I’m going with this…  I’ve since gotten a much nicer guitar (Taylor 310CE) and have gotten much better than I was back then at playing that guitar but the thing that has stayed the same is that nothing can replace hard work and practice put towards perfecting your craft whatever it is.  There are no shortcuts to getting where you want to be.

I’d love to pick up a couple of Canon 5d Mark III’s, a few lenses, and some lights and as time goes on I will.  But in the meantime I don’t ever want to lose sight of what’s really important, perfecting my craft and making images that matter to me.  There will always be better gear out there to buy but it won’t necessarily make you better.  Push the gear you have to it’s very limit, learn as you go, and make beautiful things that matter.

Cheers!

Danno

Collaboration

Two heads are better than one right?  That’s what they say anyway.  The one thing that I’ve learned about photography is that if you really want to learn more and perfect your craft one of the biggest keys is collaboration. In my mind there are two types of collaboration.

First is actually building relationships with other photographers and creatives and prioritizing shared time together.  This is something that can have so much value on so many levels.  Don’t be afraid to share ideas and get critiques.  As creatives we know that opening up to other creatives can feel a bit like walking around in public with no pants on but it can be very helpful.  Create projects that challenge each other creatively and technically.  The goal is growth and sharing time and space with other like minded creatives is like fertilizer.

The second kind of collaboration is a little more voyeuristic. In recent years the web and social networking have become so valuable to us as a tool to learn and share with other creatives.  Last weekend I watched a 3 day seminar at www.creativelive.com for free.  I was able to watch other professional photographers teach and share what has made them successful while being able to tweet questions and have them answered in real-time.  All this for $0!

The point of it all is don’t isolate yourselves.  Come on if you’re a creative you know that there is always that voice in the back of you head whispering “don’t tell anyone your ideas or they’ll steal them and do them better.”  If we listen to that voice we may do some great work but will more than likely end up alone which as far as I’m concerned isn’t a good place to be.  Get out there, be creative and connect with your fellow photog’s!

Cheers!

Danno

2011: Year In Review

Everyone else is doing it at this time of year.  As 2011 winds down and 2012 kicks into gear we wanted to take a look back at a few of the beautiful weddings we had the privilege of photographing this year.  We’re so thankful for all the couples and their families and friends who made 2011 such a wonderful year.  Here’s to all the newlyweds celebrating they’re first New Year as husband and wife and to all the couples that we are looking forward to working with in 2012!  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

CHEERS!!!

D & A

Sadness.

Social media is a crazy thing.  It’s changed so much about the way we relate to one another both for the better and the worse.  Yesterday I mourned the loss of someone I never met.  If you haven’t been following the journey of Jennifer and Angelo Merendino (www.mywifesfightwithbreastcancer.com) I would encourage you to take the time to backtrack through their journey not to wallow in sadness but to challenge ourselves to live and love deeply like Angelo and Jennifer did.

Yesterday Jennifer lost her battle with cancer.  Having vicariously followed her and Angelo I feel such a sense of sorrow for them but also such a renewed desire to love like they did.  I have caught myself many times offering up a silent prayer for these “strangers” or just wondering how they are doing?  Social media has done some damage to the way that we share life with others but in this case I’m grateful to have shared life with two people that I would have otherwise never met.

Cherish the ones you love.

Danno

Family style

We’re disconnected.  Our culture has been moving in a direction that is further and further from our neighbors both physically and relationally.  So what do we do?

One of the things we do is to make intentional decisions to move back toward each other and to create that space where the focus is time spent and memories made.  A couple weeks ago we did a little clambake, our first, and invited a bunch of friends that we hadn’t been able to spend to much time with for most of the summer.  Wedding season proved to be incredibly busy so when we had the chance to start moving back in the direction of the people we love we went for it!  What a fantastic day of eating, laughing, and enjoying a beautiful fall day after a week of almost non stop rain.  There’s something I love about a shared table and people reaching across each other for this and that.  As the off season officially kicks in I’m looking forward to more time spent with lovely friends and family.  It’s a good life… enjoy it!

Cheers!
Danno

In the moment

Sometimes the best photos aren’t planned at all.  I can think of so many times where the plan just went out the window and we had to make a decision on the fly.  How many times have you been photographing something or someone and had something completely unexpected and wonderful happen that makes the whole shoot.

I was shooting a wedding this summer on a brutally hot day.  The mother of the groom was wearing a beautiful hat and as we waiting for the ceremony to begin I turned to take a quick shot of it.

It’s simple photo but elegant, beautiful lines and soft light.  There’s just something about it I love. This is one of the many things I love about photography.  It’s a freeze frame of what can be a wild shoot or event.  Sometimes when you pull a single frame out of the lineup it stands alone, not as part of the story but as something all together seperate and beautiful.

It reminds of a time in Kenya when we were photographing a motorcycle taxi driver or boda boda.  While waiting for him to make another pass on his motorcycle I saw a woman carrying banana’s in a basket on her head and immediately headed over to get the shot.  After a short discussion negotiating the price for her to allow us to photograph her it was done.  Just like that.  It’s one of my favorite photos from the entire trip and it only happened because I was looking for the unexpected.

It’s good to have a plan and an objective when you are out shooting but always keep the thought in the back of you mind that you may not see the thing you are looking for until it smacks you in the face. Keep shooting and you’ll know what it is when you see it.

Cheers!

Danno

Family shoot

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of photographing a beautiful family at Horseshoe Lake in Shaker Heights.  We love when we get the chance to build an ongoing relationship with a family as their family grows, especially a family as wonderful as these guys!  We’ve done their maternity, newborn, and 6 month photos and it’s so much fun to watch a family as it grows.  Their little girl is so beautiful and it’s such a joy to work such a fantastic family!