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….I knew the moment I met Jenn + Ed that photographing their wedding was going to be a blast, and I wasn’t wrong! They had a beautiful ceremony, a great reception, an amazing band, and most importantly, a wonderful group of friends and family.

Check out the slideshow for more…

 

This past weekend I had the distinct pleasure of photographing the wedding of my friend Tara to her fiance Rob. 

Tara and I have been friends since the 1st grade, so it was especially nice to be there with her on their big day, and get to photograph it. 

Check out the slideshow here.

 

 

Cristina + Samuel finally had their big day this weekend! They had it at the stunning Appleford Estate. It was a beautiful day, and they were extremely lucky that the morning’s rain left and was replaced with sunshine. 

Here are a few of my favorites. You can also check out the slideshow here. 

Last week I got to spend a relaxing few days with my dear friends Matt + Csilla in North Carolina. No trip there would be complete without some quality time with my favorite kids in the whole wide world - Jake + Zack. 

I’m not usually in the habit of posting random videos on the blog, but this one was too good to pass up. 

The video, called “Where the Hell is Matt,” is just a video of a guy named Matt dancing. The difference is that he does the same dance in 42 different countries, often with the help of some locals. 

My description doesn’t do it justice. Just watch and be ready to smile. 

 

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Slideshow here….

Jenny + Sam are both extremely talented musicians, and their entire day featured original music composed (and sometimes performed ) by them. The icing on the cake was the song that they wrote for Sam and his mom to dance to. It was performed by Jenny and her sister, and the lyrics were adapted from a book that Sam’s mom used to read to him as a child. Needless to say, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house, myself included.

You can check out the slideshow here.  

 

When Rob and Dayna first started telling me their ideas for their engagement session, I knew it would be great. They wanted something very non-traditional and fun, but still highlighted their unique personalities and chemistry. We finally settled on shooting in some of the back alleys of Old City, taking advantage of the multitude of textures, colors, and general shabbiness (in a good way). 

The combination of great light, cool locations, and wonderful people made the shoot a fantastic experience. Here are some of my favorites:

Today I am simultaneously happy, proud, and humbled to announce that I’ve placed in the 2008 1st quarter WPJA awards. 

This image, from Vicki + Rick’s wedding, won 3rd place in the off camera flash category. 

 

 

I’ve been honored to win a few awards for [AG]WPJA contests, this is my first win for the WPJA. What makes this so special for me is not just the prestige or bragging rights. It’s because the image that won is one that I feel is indicative of the approach I take with my work.

These were the judges comments:

“Clean and simple, yet a wonderfully creative way to share the first dance: dramatic light with terrific composition and moment. The fact that the viewer can see the couple’s faces adds even more appeal to the photograph.”

I often tell my clients that besides the limited time (usually less than 30 minutes) for group photos, I will never try to direct the action. I see my role as a documentarian, not a director. There is beauty and emotion at every wedding, and I would be doing a disservice to my clients if I tried to make their unique and special day conform to some predetermined photographic mold. After all, it’s their wedding, not my photo shoot. 

This image is a great example of that approach. I wanted to focus the attention on Vicki and Rick, and their closest friends and family. Compared to a lot of traditional wedding photography, this is admittedly a ‘risky’ approach, but the result is a much more powerful and emotional image.

 

 

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