Neon Taxi Fetish

Those who read my blog from time to time know I have a thing for NYC taxis and neon together. This morning's wet weather provided a slippery racetrack for the yellow speed demons. Only this driver's intense focus and nerves of steel keep him ahead of the pack. You can hear "Radar Love" blasting thru the glass.

This MIB Agent is just popping out of HyperDrive on 6th Ave. And you thought Men In Black was just a movie...

Don't even THINK about it!

New Yorkers are not rude.

It's just that we are direct. No parking, No standing, No Nothin'!

Now MOVE IT BUDDY!

Macro Mondays...

Macro Mondays are a weekly look at the world close up. Usually there is a story in the image. Today...the story is simple.

The Months before your Wedding are going to be hectic. The Weeks before will be chaotic and move faster than you thought possible. Write tasks down. Work a plan.
Keep your Fiance involved. Don't get caught up in the preparations too much to spend quality time together. You will only do this once...so make sure to make some happy memories of the process.

Grooms-to-be who are reading this...Plan a surprise for her for no reason. Maybe it is flowers delivered to her office, maybe it is a hand made sign stuck at her exit on the Southern State. Do something spontaneous for her.

J. Mitchel Photography provides the best in affordable Wedding and Event photography in the NY Metro area.

Long Island Wedding Photography

Sharpening the Skills....always working to sharpen the skills. I have fun last night at a marathon seminar that didn't let out until after 11PM. Ed Pierce is a master with over 30 years experience and his Captivated by the light tour presents some new ways of solving traditional lighting problems in a digital environment. http://www.edpierceseminars.com/learn.php

Not only did I gain some really great insight from the speakers into what I am doing well and why, but I learned a few new tricks and even won the raffle! I love presenting my work on framed Canvas and I won a nice 16x20 canvas print credit from WHCC, one of the Pro Only vendors I use to give my Brides the very best in prints.

By constantly sharpening my skills, I can provide the very best in Long Island and Metro NY Wedding Photography.

Interestingly, one of the hot topics of the forums was how the "wedding factory" photographers try to stay fresh and creative. I was not surprised when the straw poll came back that out of 350 seminar participants, when the question was asked: "How many of you shoot weddings"?. Almost every hand went up. "Now put your hand down if you shoot ONLY weddings" Ed said. There were three hands left, including mine.

Ed asked "Why? How can you stay creative like that"?

Parker Pfister ( http://www.parkerjphoto.com/ ) had a very insightful presentation that summed up my philosophy... By shooting for yourself...a creative outlet in landscapes and the world around you, you can see, shoot and capture the story of your Brides Wedding day in ways you would never notice when you only shoot if you get paid for the shot...when you shoot only weddings.

J. Mitchel Photography provides the best in creative editorial Wedding and event photography in the NY Metro area. By shooting with an artists eye and mindset, I get the shots that the Wedding Factories who shoot 2 or 3 weddings each weekend can't. They get tunnelvision and resort to shooting the same stale shots week after week.

Each event is special to me, and it shows in the images.

New Toy on the Way !

I had so much fun with the ringflash a few weeks ago when shooting a class in NYC, that I just ordered one. Look forward to some really great engagement shoots with a high fashion look in unique locations! J. Mitchel Photography offers inexpensive NYC and Long Island Wedding Photography.
http://www.alienbees.com/abr800.html

Since I am getting my taxes done today,

Since I am getting my taxes done today, this seemed appropriate.

How nice was the weather Today?

So nice that there were more folks waterskiing than iceskating at Rock Center Rink today.
The sun made short work of the ice at Rockefeller Center today. A balmy 74 degrees in Midtown. That was not going to slow down this guy...

Website is Down Temporarily...

Updated 7PM, Dynamods got their act together and we are back up and running.

Dynamods, my webhost, seems to be having some issues at the moment. The have been great, with zero downtime in the last 12 months, so I am cutting them some slack. The site should be back up shortly. This is affecting my email as well, so please call me if it is urgent, at 516 236 9277.

For recent Weddings and Corporate Interiors clients, you are able to view your images on the separately run proofing site at: http://jmitchelphotography.instaproofs.com/ and enter your password for access to your secret folder.

I appologize for the outage and lookforward to having the website up shortly.

Thanks,

Jeff

Macro Mondays

As an Long Island Wedding Photographer I need to always be looking for the hidden image in plain sight. Sometimes that means not only seeing the forest for the trees, but finding the hidden beauty, even when the trees aren't looking so hot. So, Monday's I am going to find something unexpected in everyday life. Today....it is a lush view of green fields of Waimea Canyon in the mountains of Kauai.

Or maybe it is just some moss on a tree stump. You decide.

What makes Wedding Photography so expensive?

J. Mitchel Photography provides outstanding wedding photography at accessible prices.

Weddings starting at just $1500.

Because my photography is done on location, I don't need an expensive storefront studio. That means I can price weddings at an affordable level for creative, professional pictures.

To provide creative and dramatic images I am always sharpening my skills and learning new techniques. I frequently attend seminars and training programs on every facet of my studio's business, from photoshop, lens work, lighting...even a marketing class now and then.

Today, I am spending the day with the President of Lumedyne Lighting, D. J. LaDez. We are discussing some new ideas on using studio strobes on the streets of NYC.

Take photos in NY and nobody blinks. Have some decent off camera lighting and a couple of attractive models...EVERYBODY stops and asks "Who is that? Is she famous" and you get a crowd around you.

Art vs. Going Green

From the end of Feb I have been seeing this Electric Fountain sculpture in Rockefeller Center. There is more info about it here: http://www.cityguideny.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=9415

My question is, if Rock Center is making a big push about being "green"...how does a piece that uses over 3400 watts of electricity support that statement? That said...it is an interesting work.

Not Quite Summertime Yet...

But I was down at the Lido Beach mushrooms scouting some engagement shoot locations on Sunday. The Cabanas are still all wrapped up for Winter, but there were some dogs walking their owners on the beach.

The Lido Beach Mushrooms are one of my favorite photo locations. They are just not something you will see anywhere else. Who took your picture? Only The Shadow Knows...

A little cross processed look to the image here. Not bad for a cameraphone.

The Mushrooms are concrete shelters at the beach park. Most folks don't know that across the street was an active Nike (no, not the sneaker) nuclear missle launch site until the mid '60s. The bunkers are still in the ground there, near the school buses. http://alpha.fdu.edu/~bender/NY29.html The below images courtesy of Google Maps:

And the "Magic Mushrooms" of Lido Beach:

There is Nothing as NYC as...

A "Black Car" livery taxi and a "Yellow Cab" taxi fighting over a lane in Midtown. This was at 8:30AM today. Posted from my Sony Cameraphone.

Noticing the details is important in a Wedding Photographer. Check out J. Mitchel Photography for the best in affordable NY wedding photography. In fact tell your friends. Stop people on the steet and tell them. Shout from the rooftops... www.JMitchelPhotography.com !
Actually, I am dying to do some more proposal shoots, so if you know anyone who is thinking of popping the question, have them call me.

The best way to propose
J. Mitchel Photography will capture that magic moment when you pop the question! In addition to creative wedding and event photography, J. Mitchel Photography will capture the look on her face when she says YES! Unnoticed in the background, I will be in position at our prearranged location and time to get the photos that she will be bragging to her friends and family with. She will not even know I am there.
This is your shot to be her hero! You want this picture! Call Jeff at 516 236 9277 today, and see how you can have truely inspiring photos, for less than you think. Proposal imaging is just $249 for up to 2 hours, with prints! www.jmitchelphotography.com

Traveling for Easter

We are heading up to the Grandparents in Boston for the Weekend. First time for them to see the baby. Everybody seems to think my daughter looks like me. I was hoping she would look like my wife, who is the good looking one. I got to spend some time playing Bob Vila and fixed stuff around the house. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Villa

At 94, my grandfather could kick Jack La Lanne's ass. Sharp as a tack, but twice as dangerous. With 40 years as a proctologist, he has a great sense of humor and can always see the brighter side of things.

My grandmother, Chef extraordinaire, has sharp tastebuds only exceeded by her sharp wit. She could debate Clinton...ANY Clinton and make him or her cry.

We were supposed to stay until Monday, but could not get anyone to cat sit for my wife's cat on Monday. Apparently a 19 year old cat needs a chaperone. Wild parties and such. So we make the trek home on Sunday night. TWO AND A HALF HOURS from Newton to I84 on the Mass Pike. Normally, 45 minutes. Maybe the toll collectors all took break at once? Once thru the tolls, it was clear sailing all the way home.

The way up, 3 hours and 32 MPG. The return trip, 5.5 hours, 28 MPG. I love that Saab has a "NightPanel" button. Turns off all the gauges and lights except the speedo. Nice dark dash.

Baby slept the whole way up. We stopped to feed and changer her on the way back. McDonald's coffee is still Waaaaaay too hot for me.

It is absolutely beautiful out!

If you are a duck.

Bring an Umbrella, it's Gonna be a Wet One. But wet is good. It helps bring out the colors and increased contrast. I snapped this, like almost all the images on the blog, with my Sony K790i cameraphone, on the way in today.

I have a thing for taxis with neon behind them. Don't ask.

Met's Spring Training Comment of the day...

Met's Spring Training Comment of the day...

Backup Catcher Ramon Castro commenting on an apparent hamstring injury: "I didn't pull nothing," he said. "I don't think it's nothing big. I feel something, so I stop running. I stopped running and it went away." (quote courtesy of Newsday, Image is © J. Mitchel Photography 7/2006)

"I stopped running and it went away..."

Reminds me of the old joke; A guy walks in to a Doctor's office. Says to the Doctor, it hurts my arm when I do this....Doctor says. Don't do that. Please pay the receptionist on the way out.

Do you have to be a Met's fan to be a Wedding Photographer in Queens? No, but it helps.
Check out http://www.jmitchelphotography.com/ for the best in Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island Wedding Photography.

Bad Boys, Bad Boys, Whacha Gonna Do?

The parade is tons of fun. But behave yourself because NY's Finest is out in force today.


These folks have a tough job. Don't make it harder by being foolish out there.

Don't drive to NYC today

In fact, avoid the trains too, because there is nothing so much fun as the evening St. Pat's drunk train home. Do what these wise folks did. Take the Magic Bus.

No Parking Even if your Irish

Or even if your not Irish

Happy St. Patrick's Day

The city is alive with activity and everyone is wearing their green like a badge of courage.