Since they are going to be married at the awesome historic Sotterley Plantation, I thought it was only fitting to do their session in a plantation nearby… so off we went to the Lancaster County Park. The day was chilly, definitely colder than the 70 degree weather they have been enjoying down in Maryland this week, but they braved it out and made it so easy for me! Katherine and Matt, thanks again for coming all the way to Lancaster and hanging out with me today!

And now, here are some of my favorites from the day!

We started at a lake near my home and ended the session at an abandoned (and semi-demolished) house a couple of miles down the road. Having never done a session in the snow before, I didn’t know how physically tough it was going to be. By the end of the session I think I had sprained my ankle, pulled my hamstring, and had lots of bruises, but it was so worth it! Terica & Dan, thanks so much for being so flexible and awesome! Can’t wait for the wedding!

I always encourage my clients to come up with ideas for pictures – the best ideas really do often come from you guys! Emily and Seth had this idea of doing their first look with both standing next to each other with their eyes closed.. and then turning around to look at each other in the mirror. What a fun idea!

We then ventured outside to brave the cold for their bridal portraits.. Emily and Seth you guys were so awesome in your willingness to do this!

The beautiful ceremony started..

OK. So for their grand entrance to the reception, Emily & Seth did something that none of my clients have ever done. You see, Seth has a twin brother and he’s the best man. THEY DID A SWITCHEROO (and not told me beforehand!!!) and no-one realized it, including this poor photographer. Seth’s brother was the one introduced with Emily! Look at the picture on the right once some people started to realize what was going on… LOL.

And right away the real Seth cartwheeled into the dance floor! At this point I was as stunned as everyone else and almost missed the shot completely, but managed to get Seth’s red socks LOL!

Seth and Emily, you guys are such a fun couple and it was an honor for me to be able to capture your special day. What a great way to start the year with such a great wedding! I wish you both the best in everything, and a wonderful marriage filled with many adventurous flights together!

At the beginning of the year my wife and 18-month-old son traveled out of the country for a couple of months. This gave me my only opportunity to do house projects this year so I took on painting our home and remodeling the kitchen a little. In January I flew out (in the middle of a snowstorm that involved me getting to JFK only to see the terminal shut down and I had to sleep on the floor by the parking garage!) in January and spent a few weeks with my family in Indonesia as well.

Early in the summer we received the news that Winny is expecting our second child! We are thrilled, the pregnancy is doing very well, and the baby is due this March. This is such a fun time as several of our good friends are all also expecting, thus we often had gatherings in our home where all the ladies present were pregnant!

In November I attended a workshop that changed my career. I was re-energized, challenged, taught, and encouraged. I met many, many amazing photographers whom I can proudly call friends and mentors. If you are a photographer and are looking for that next step to improve your skill, I highly recommend it. Their next workshop is in March and it will be even better than ever!

As soon as we got back from our overseas trip, our photography business started picking up again, culminating in a whirlwind 2-month period during October/November where we did about 20 shoots in a 2 month period. This forced us to became even more efficient in our editing, as we strove to deliver images consistently and quickly. One of the instructors at Genesis, Tony Hoffer, taught that we photographers should always examine our own work and strive to improve on it instead of always looking for inspirations from others. So at the end of the year, after 15,000 images have been delivered to clients, I thought it would be fun to create a ‘Best of 2011′ slideshow as we celebrate the beginning of what should be our best year yet! If you have a high speed connection, don’t forget to watch it in HD!

We really owe all of you family, friends, and clients a huge debt of gratitude for the amazing year that we had. Thank you for all your support, kind words, and most importantly for trusting us in capturing your most important day of your lives. 2012 looks to be an even better year, and we hope you will continue to walk on this journey with us! Cheers!

I still remember the first day I met Lesmana. It was at Soekarno Hatta International airport, September 2000. I was a scrawny kid from a small town far away, on my way to the States for the very first time to attend college in Pensacola, FL.

I didn’t know anyone, but I knew that there were many others that were to depart on the same flight as me. Lesmana wore a blue shirt (its weird the things you remember after many years) and was waiting in line for our immigration papers. I was behind him, and I asked if he was going where I was going, and our friendship started.

We both studied Computer Science and shared many classes together.  On weekends, we walked together to Chinese buffets around school because neither of us owned a car. We played basketball every Saturday. Throughout college, Lesmana was always a good friend to me. We both graduated in 2004 and went our separate ways.

I received a phone call a few months ago. It was Lesmana. He was getting married and he wanted me to shoot the wedding. I was delighted – what a privilege we photographers have to be able to document our friends’ most important day of their lives.

Lesmana & Yuli, thanks so much for the opportunity to hang out with you guys and shoot your wedding. And HAVE FUN IN HAWAII!!!!!!

Now on to the pictures – enjoy!

This is my son Jackson, meeting Kaitlin for the very first time, bonding over Barney.Kaitlin’s parents are our good friend from college as well, and our weddings were a week apart.

A few weeks ago we scheduled our shoot and the day finally came. As I was packing my gear I heard the phone ringing, and I was told that we had to cancel the shoot because Tim was suffering from kidney stone! I was kinda bummed not only for Tim but also because that evening we had the most gorgeous sunset we could have ever asked for! But thankfully he pulled through and we were able to reschedule the shoot a few weeks later.

I didn’t know much about the location they choose other than it is very meaningful to them.  So I was really pleased when I saw how awesome it was – it’s been a while since I got to shoot at such a rustic location. Not to mention Laura and Tim was SOOOO easy to work with.. I’m so looking forward to their wedding next year!!! Here are some of my favorites:

Monday, 3:36PM

My flight was scheduled for 5:45. You know how things tend to pile up right before you are going to a long trip?  This was one of those days. I hurriedly closed my laptop and drove home as fast as I could, possibly went through some red lights along the way ( I neither confirm or deny this. ) I walked into our kitchen from the side door to  Jackson having a full meltdown right after he woke up from his nap ( I think Winny woke him up so he can hug me goodbye. ) Winny was crying, saying how much she’s going to miss me while I’m gone. It looked like a hurricane (named Jackson) just passed through my home.  I hadn’t even packed. “Go pack your stuff babe, I’ll take care of him.”  That’s what she said. Can I just say how much I love my wife? She’s the reason I do the many things I do.

I jammed all the equipment I could fit into my backpack, gave my wife and son a kiss, and drove away to the airport as fast as I could.  I was flying to Memphis. I was going the Genesis Workshop.

Every one of us has a subject of interest. For some of us it might be business/finance. For some others it’s music. Now imagine a collection of experts in your subject of interest gathering together to help YOU get better at the thing you love to do. That’s what this workshop was to me.  Jeff & Melanie Mansfield. Tony Hoffer. Sam Hassas. Ed Pingol. Evan Baines. These are the people who inspire me every day. These are the people who influenced everything about my photography. These are the people who through their work motivate me like no one else. These people are the reason I went to Genesis.

Monday, 10:47PM

Memphis, Tennessee. I was sitting inside a minivan with a stranger as Roy, our driver, gave out random factoids about Memphis. I found out  the stranger next to me came to Memphis for a residency interview. He was asking all kinds of weird questions, including “What is the demographic breakdown of the city” and “Is it safe for me to walk around downtown.”  I arrived at our hotel, the Springhill Suites, right at Downtown. The guy at the front desk gave me a long, weird look when I told him I’m coming for room 608. “Then WHO is James Heine??” he suspiciously asked. Well, that would be Jim, my roomate during the workshop, and one of the many new amazing friends I met there.

Speaking of friends. I made a lot of friends during my time there. And not just friends, photographer friends. Those don’t come around too often. To be honest, I never went into Genesis thinking that “hey, I’m looking forward to be making new friends!” But I couldn’t not to. Starting when I walked into my room and was warmly greeted by Jim, we immediately bonded over photography,  complemented each other’s work, shared war stories, and kinda unofficially made a pact to second shoot for each other. Then I logged in to Facebook and saw that everyone in the group was looking for me because I had stupidly misread my arrival time and was MIA for the meet-and-greet. The tone for the rest of the workshop was set. These guys are not my competitors, they are my colleagues. They are my friends. For the rest of the workshop I made darn sure that I popped into people’s conversations and introduced myself to as many people as I could ( for those of you who found me annoying, I’m sorry! for those who I didn’t approach and say ‘hi’ to, I’m sorry! I probably was scared of you. Or something. )

Tuesday,  9:00AM

It had officially started. All the instructors gathered up front and Mel officially welcomed everyone. Everyone was giddy and excited. “Where’s Farid?? Is he here??” Mel said. I came up, she gave me a hug, and proceeded to slap me upside the head for MIA-ing the meet and greet. I felt so special.

We immediately went into our on location instructor shoot-out, where all of the instructors were shooting our models all at the same time. Different instructors would take turn shooting a model in different locations. Let me just say this: to me, this was more than worth the price of admission already. To see these guys in their element, to understand how they think through a shot, to study how they masterfully craft a pose, to experience how they paint light into a scene, it was mind blowing on so many levels. No secrets. Nothing held back. The only thing I remember thinking was, “whoa.”

I vividly remember feeling completely overwhelmed.. “Man, that’s Sam freaking Hassas directing a couple right in front of my eyes. Wait, who’s that on the right??? Ed Pingol is about to blow everyone’s mind with his 2 off camera light setup. I better check it out!” That’s pretty much how it went all morning.

Wednesday,  7:00PM

We rushed back after cramping down our Gus’s Fried Chicken meal ( which was incredible, by the way. I mean,  Spicy fried chicken with a side of fried rice, spicy baked beans, and fried pickle? WIN.) The last session of the day was about to start – Tony Hoffer’s branding session. One of my many lofty goals coming into Genesis was like a page out of Dr. Phil’s episode – to find who I am. The session started and lots of thought-provoking information was shared. Then it happened. Shane Deringer, an amazing photographer from Canada and one of the nicest man you could ever meet, was asked if he was willing to be critiqued. He agreed, and the next few minutes was absolutely amazing. Shane was being completely open and vulnerable, sharing his vision as a photographer in front of everyone, as we all evaluated and helped him craft his ‘brand’. Wow.

I’ve always had a general idea about what kind of photographer I wanted to be, but I’ve never been absolutely certain. Coming out of this session, I felt like a fog has been lifted. I knew exactly who I am. I knew exactly what kind of images I want to make. Thank you Tony. Thank you Shane.

Wednesday, 11:50PM

I stumbled into Springhill Suites after a long, tiring day.  It was the end of our second day. 3 incredible sessions, many mind blowing moments, tons of tips and nuggets shared.  I was really hoping on catching up on sleep during the workshop but so far it had’t exactly been working out that way.  As I was waiting for the elevator I heard a little commotion.. there were  a handful of people from the workshop hanging out at the lobby. “Hey guys, what’s up?”  I asked. “Our session was kinda cut short with Ed and we’re doing an impromptu session tonight to finish up.”  Someone said. “Mind if I join??”

Over the next 2 HOURS, there in the dark corner of the breakfast area at Springhill Suites, Ed opened up to a bunch of strangers and shared a ridiculous amount of knowledge and tips on how he runs his business. The whole thing could have been a session on its own. I went from being super tired and sleepy all the way to completely wide awake when it was all said and done. That night I tossed and turned as everything I soaked up that day ran through my head. This is ridiculous. Ridiculously awesome!

Friday, 3:30AM

I was spent. Absolutely spent. Laying down on a bench at the nearly empty Memphis airport, and trying to close my eyes to catch a couple of hours of sleep before my flight. I started to doze off before the stupid PSA system jolted me with some announcement about reporting suspicious activities. Bah. We had just partied at a Karaoke bar and if I heard correctly the party continued on somewhere else, but I had a 6AM flight to catch so I decided to leave when I saw a taxi right outside the karaoke place. It was over. The three days that changed my career for the better was over.

If I have one regret about the workshop, it would be that I didn’t get to spend more time hanging out with everyone. There were some really, really amazing photographers attending the workshop whom I proudly call as colleague and friends because of Genesis. I just wish we would have more time to chat. Tony Hoffer puts it best on his recap: we photographers are often judged by the images we produce, but the reality is that our identity is found in the relationships we make along the way, and things that are much bigger than ourselves. Word, my man.

To Amy & Tony: Thanks for being such an inspiration for me this past couple of years. I admire you both as a couple as much as I admire your amazing talent and dedication to the industry. Thanks for shooting our family this summer and shared so many tricks a long the way. And thanks for introducing me to Genesis.

To Evan: Thanks for sharing your amazing well of knowledge so openly even though you were technically just a ‘guest’ speaker. In the few moments I spent with you I learned more about lighting and posing than I ever have in my entire career. Your session on photojournalism was immensely helpful and have already made an impact in how I shoot.

To Sam: Sam, if there would be an instructor I was most eager to hear speak it would be you, my friend. Your humor and enthusiasm was ridiculously infectious. I learned so, so much just from watching you interact  with your subjects, and you managed to blow my mind repeatedly during your rotation. Thank you for all the advice and encouragement you gave me to push forward with my career.

To Ed: Thanks for being so Bad-Ass. You are kinda a big deal, I heard.  Thanks for being so open in sharing the secret sauce to your amazingly bad-ass images. Thanks for reaffirming to me that it is OK to have fun as a photographer.

To Jeff & Mel: Thank you for making all of this happen. Thank you for sharing your heart and vision to all of us. Thank you for believing that family is more important than anything else money can buy. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for changing my career for the better.

To Keith Lee (MY BFF), Alison Lee, Katie MERKLE (my other BFF), Jim Heine (best roomate ever), Rick van der Valk, Amy Dale (if this photography thing doesn’t work you can always try american Idol),  Miguel Serrano,  Rob Laungayan, Quincy Adam, Shane Deringer, Jon-Mark Wiltshire, Jon Mold, Matt and Chera Yorke, Maura Moore, Todd Wilson, Zalmy B (the most bad-ass Rabbi I’ve ever met.),  Kyla Brown (HAVE FUN in Indonesia), Andrea Wood,  Mark Arnold, Michael Cauffman, Kory Chase and Erin Hanssen, Amy Oyler and Kate Miller, Lisa Rhinehart, Anabelle Dando, Pattrick O’Connor, Tamara Poppit, Michael Clay, Erin Hiltbrand,  Alisa Buckingham, Ryan Trinidad, Pat and Maricar Desiderio, Rafael and Veronica Badillo, Rebecca Eby, Cinthia Farabaugh, Brian & Sabrina Jodon, Alex Collevecchio, Twila Kolberg, and Alan Bushnell: I’M YOUR BIGGEST FAN.

To my fellow enchanted rainbows, thank you for a fun few days together.

To all my friends and colleagues that I met during the workshop, thank you for letting this weird asian dude join in the fun. You guys seriously rock.

I went to a workshop. It’s called Genesis. I learned stuff. I made friends. If you are a photographer you should go too. I’ll see you there.

We hung out around Rittenhouse Square, before wandering around the neighborhood and finishing the shoot at Broad Street. Sara and Erik tease each other so much.. so getting them to laugh was probably the easiest part of the job!

Thanks again guys for hanging out with me and being so much fun!