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It’s always fun for me when a good friend asks me to photograph his family. I actually consider it a very high compliment. My former coworker , roommate and friend, Eric recently asked me to do just that as a gift from him for Christmas (unfortunately that was last Christmas and we just finally scheduled the shoot). I already knew a lot about his family and his awesome adoration for his 2 nieces, so I was excited to get to spend some time with them.
We met at Kinder Farm Park in Severna Park, one of my favorite places to shoot-mainly because there is the most giant pig I’ve ever seen that lives there and it’s a great way to get the kids excited if they aren’t into the photo shoot. Kara and Rachel are not the kind of kids you need to have any kind of wow factor for. They are such super awesome kids and so much fun to be around that they made the shoot very silly and fun…just the way I like it.
Toward the end of the shoot, the sun began to set and we had a beautiful moment of the most perfect sky in the distance…it almost made me feel like we were out in the West somewhere with the split rail fences and open land. We got some beautiful photos in that light and I was so happy that the weather was perfect for our shoot.
I always end my shoots at the park with a little playground session with the kids. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure if I do it more for me so I can run around and act crazy with them or not…either way, it always makes for some great candid shots, which we got a ton of.
Now, Eric, I know you are reading this and probably editing my grammar and punctuation (Eric is a writer), but before you send me a note correcting me of anything remember that I will NEVER critique your photos 
Just joking…thanks for trusting me to be your family photographer, enjoy the photos!
This past weekend I photographed my first bar mitzvah for a friend’s son, Elan, a handsome, polite young man who proved to me that he was unlike most of the teenagers I know. Before I gush about how wonderful a person Elan and his friends and family were, I think it’s important to mention the beautiful ceremony that I had the pleasure of witnessing. I arrived at Temple Beth Shalom to a beautifully lit synagogue with people buzzing around setting up for the big event. We did the standard posed photos of Elan reading the Torah as well as the family photos, then I took my seat in the rear of the sanctuary and observed the one and a half hour ceremony led by the very sincere and entertaining, Rabbi Ari Goldstein. Rabbi Goldstein’s words were so touching that I hung on every word. I don’t consider myself a religious person, but something about this ceremony really made me feel good about the message they were giving to Elan as he becomes an adult. The concepts were simple and not overly heavy and reminded him that he now had a major responsibility in this life to be a good person and to do good things to make this world a better place. I don’t know how anyone could argue with that concept.
That idea of being good and doing good was apparent the rest of the day as others praised Elan for the man that he had become and the memories that they had of him as a child. I was very impressed by how much the adults in his community admired his character and was very proud to be chosen to document such a monumental stage of his life.
That evening, I met the kids and their parents at Dave and Buster’s in Arundel Mills for quite a rocking party. I had so much fun running around photographing the kids playing the games as they wrapped ropes of tickets up into their arms. It was so cool to watch them have such a great time and celebrate Elan’s Bar Mitzvah together. The DJ of the night Spinnin’ Scott, kept the kids entertained with several games, including a highly competitive limbo contest. Funny sunglasses, hats, and glow sticks were passed out and the dancing began.
Thank you Elan and family for choosing me to be a part of this very special day. I had so much fun and can’t wait to shoot another Bar Mitzvah!
Whew! It’s been quite a Fall already. September and October have been busy busy busy and I’m loving it! Keep the jobs coming! Unfortunately the blog suffers when I am busy. By the time I finish editing, I am exhausted and have no energy to make sense of anything let alone write complete sentences. So thanks for being patient! I appreciate all my followers so keep visiting!
At the beginning of the month I drove up to Northern NJ for a wedding of one of my best friends from college, Kevin and his bride to be Robin. I was so excited for this wedding because not only would I get to see some of my best friends from Philly but I would be photographing the very small and intimate ceremony and pre reception shots. Ruben, my fiancee and I drove up late the night before the wedding through a ton of rain. The forecast for the weekend was not looking too good for their day and I was starting to panic a bit because the venue that they chose for the ceremony was so picture perfect that I just had to have some clear skies to shoot!
Well, we all lucked out and the rain ended the next morning and Saturday was a beautiful day. The ceremony took place at The Historic Village at Allaire State Park. A small group of close family and friends gathered in a very cute little chapel where a mutual friend married them with some of the most beautiful words I have ever heard during a ceremony. Other mutual friends sang and provided the music for the intimate little ceremony. Afterwards, we all headed out for some photos around the Historic Village and then onto the reception which was held in a beautiful red barn at Bayonett Farm.
A few months before the wedding I was reminded by Robin that I was the one that introduced the two of them. We were at a park in Philly at a party the Kevin had thrown, complete with moon bounce and sumo wrestling suits. She and I were chatting on the bench watching the “kids” on the moon bounce and she asked me if I knew anyone here that was single. It was then that I spoke up, “that guy, Kevin, over there on the moon bounce, is and he’s the best guy in the world”…or something to that effect. Who knew that it would turn into a lifetime romance. I am so happy for them and glad to call them both my friend.
Unfortunately, right after the wedding they packed up their house in Philly and moved to California, so visiting them will be harder, but way more exciting! I can’t wait!
I would have never believed it if you told me 5 years ago that I would be shooting video with my SLR camera, but that day has come and I have embraced it 100%. I love shooting video…I love editing video…I love seeing my subjects come to life.
About a month ago, my friend/videographer extraordinaire, Becca Saunders and I were hired to shoot a cinematic style video for a wedding North of Philadelphia, PA. That wedding was ALOT of work and as we were laying flat out on our backs at hotel room we thought about the day: 13 hours of schleping around heavy equipment, having to think about ANOTHER element (audio) and dealing with the rain…our conclusion was “NEVER AGAIN!”
A few days later, I was sitting with Becca and looking at the footage we both looked at each other and said, “Let’s do it again!” The process is painful, but we felt so accomplished once we saw all that we had filmed that day and started to visualize how to put it all together into a story for the bride and groom.
Each day we get together to edit, I am wanting more and more for another bride to call me and hire us ASAP. This was way to much fun and I/we are ready to do more! Now, we just need to think of a good name for our new business!
The film will be available for viewing on Vimeo.com in a few weeks (after the bride and groom have seen it)…can’t wait to show you all!
In the meantime, take a look at my other two “movies” that I put together. One was on a weekend roadtrip with my fiancee and his band Swampcandy. Becca and I shot the footage together just passing the camera back and forth all weekend. The other video is from a friend’s party that they throw every Labor Day weekend near Annapolis.
Floyd Swampcandy from alison harbaugh on Vimeo.
Recently when my cousin’s wife Annie was due to have her baby, I was on high alert waiting for my phone to ding to let me know that the little bugger had arrived. This is only the second baby to be born in our family so it’s still an exciting moment when the time comes. The day he was born, I received a text message from my sister saying “Bennett is here!” I was so excited wondering if he had red hair (something only me and my two cousins have), who did he look like, how big was he? I knew I would have to wait until our photoshoot which I had gifted to Annie for her baby shower.
The next day, I received a phone call from my Dad saying that Bennett had some heart problems. My stomach sank. “This can’t be,” I thought. When asked I asked Annie to explain to me what had happened she said “he was born with transposition of the major arteries in his heart. His heart was not pumping oxygenated blood throughout his body. The surgeon at Hershey Med Center switched the pulmonary artery and the aorta, and moved the coronary arteries from the pulmonary to the aorta. He was born on June 20 and had surgery on 23rd. He came home on the 29th. He will need follow-up visits with a cardiologist the rest of his life, but otherwise should be able to live a normal life.”
I can’t tell you how relieved I was that this little guy made it through his surgery and was a happy and healthy baby that could go home just a little over a week after he was born. I didn’t doubt his strength because he has two very strong parents and I was reminded of this strength when I finally got the opportunity to meet him and photograph him at one month old. As I was photographing him on his tummy, he lifted his head up and held it there for longer than I expected him to. It was a pretty neat moment as I smiled to myself and thought of his will power. This kid is gonna do big things.
His scar that goes down his chest will always be a reminder of that strength and I feel so very lucky that I was able to capture him at this stage in his life and create a memory for his family to enjoy for the rest of their lives.
Congrats again Josh and Annie. So happy to have another little one in the family. Much love to you.
Yesterday I had a wonderfully successful baby shoot with baby John. My fiancee’s cousin Casey gave birth to this little bundle of energy about 4 months ago and we had been trying to schedule a shoot for awhile. I usually don’t wait this long for the first shoot of a newborn, but time had a different plan for us. I was very happy that I got to photograph him at this stage because he was so full of life. As soon as I arrived, I was greeted at the door by Casey with John in her arms. He was smiling and kicking his feet and ready to get a move on. So, we headed right up to the nursery and got started.
John is a baby that likes to be held, put him down and he starts squirming and fussing, this was a small challenge. I am used to crying babies and babies on the move so I kept snapping away as he rolled from one side to another and changed positions for me. He’s a natural model, if he’d just sit still Baby John has the cutest face and wonderful expressions that would make any baby product sell…I told his mother that he needs to get into baby modeling…who knows, with college payments as high as they are, why not!?
The light in the bedroom was perfect so we stuck to one room and moved the little guy around from the bed to the crib to the changing table. He did quite well on his belly too as he inched his way up toward the camera several times…this guy is going to be crawling in no time…watch out!
It was beautiful to watch the bond that has already been created between Casey and her son, she is such a sweet and calm mother and I’m glad I could capture a few moments of that as he took his bottle and fell asleep in her arms.
I find that the hardest shoots are with the ones you love. When you photograph someone you know, it’s harder to use all the little tricks you have up your sleeve to make your subject comfortable, it’s harder for them to let down their guard and it’s harder for a couple to get all mushy in front a a friend. This was the case the other night when I got to photograph my good friends Kristen and Ryan on their last night in Annapolis.
Kristen recently got accepted into a PhD program in Madison, Wisconsin and I was dreading the day that she and Ryan were going to move. As the days grew closer and time was running out to do their engagement shoot, we threw one together on the fly their last night in town just before our crew met up at our favorite dining spot, El Toro Bravo (or ETB as we like to call it).
Kristen and Ryan got engaged the same week my guy proposed to me, so she and I have had a fun time the last few months discussing wedding plans and trying on wedding dresses. It’s sad to think that she won’t be just a few minutes away anymore when I need an accomplice for wedding madness that I am sure will hit me at some point in time. A few days before they moved, she and I went to try on dresses at a local shop and for the first time in my life I had to think about “silhouettes” and “gown length”…what the heck am I going to do without her here to help me with this one….aahhhh!
The shoot was a quick one, but a successful one, that is after I figured out how to make Ryan stop making faces like he was a 13 year old boy. It was pretty hilarious at first and then I realized that every time I told them to kiss, he’d get all silly, kiss her and then they would laugh and that’s when I got my best shots. This was truly them I thought. It’s weird, you don’t realize that you don’t know that side of your friends, that side that comes out when no one else is around. I feel a bit privileged that I got to see that side of them.
Next May, Kristen and Ryan will tie the knot and I’ll be there (this time without a camera) to watch it all happen and celebrate the fact that the two of them are back in Annapolis, even if it’s just for a few days.
Congrats you guys….missing you already!
Birthday parties are fun and so are tea parties. Combine the two with a group of 4 year old girls and what do you get? An absolutely cute and super fun afternoon!
Cailey, the birthday girl’s mom put together quite an event for her little girl. I was blown away when I walked into the house to find the most perfect tea party setup. I mentioned that she should do this for a living and the reply I got was “are you kidding me, never again” Well, maybe she’ll change her mind later once the stress of this party has passed…
The party started with each little girl arriving, doll in hand (per the request of their custom designed invites). They were lead to the dressing area where little pink tutus hung on a clothes rack next to a vanity where they could then add accessories to their cute little outfits. Once all the girls had arrived and were in their tea party attire, they had a little craft session where they decorated little foam teapot frames. Then, it was time to shop! Play money was handed out to each little girl and they got to go shopping for their dolls. They roamed around the living room, which was set up like a candy store, boutique shop and jewelry store and purchased items for their dolls. The dolls were now ready to have tea in style just like the girls.
As they gathered around the small table set up with play tea sets, they each poured tea for their dolls and had quite an affair. The dolls has had their fix and it was now time for games…pin the pacifier on the baby (like pin the tail), musical chairs and a moment to jump around to some music had the girls giggling and ready for some sweets.
Speaking of sweets…I’ve never seen so many beautiful little desserts and candies in my life. These girls were lucky little ones! There were custom cupcakes, a fabulously pink cake, cookies, macaroons, chocolate covered oreos and pink lemonade. The girls made their was to the dining room which was set up for the kids tea party. Each girl was poured a cup of “tea” and given her choice of sweets as they sat around the table like proper little ladies and talked about things that four year olds talk about.
It was so cool watching all the girls interact and enjoy ing a wonderful afternoon as they celebrated Cailey’s birthday. Happy Birthday Cailey!
This past May I photographed the beautiful Paris wedding of Laura and Adam (see that blog post here). I didn’t think that they could pull of another wedding that would be as beautiful and memorable as that one was, but they did just that last weekend at Regents Glen in York, Pennsylvania. This place was absolutely gorgeous and Laura (with some help from family) did an amazing job of planning and keeping with the European theme.
The ceremony took place in one of the many English-style gardens on the property that sits upon a hill overlooking York. Everything was simplified since they in fact had already tied the knot in Paris, but in keeping with the love for their family and friends, they performed another ceremony back home for them to witness.
After the ceremony the guests walked back up to the main house to enjoy the many appetizers and Irish music being played in a parlor (a tip of the hat to their honeymoon in Ireland). Guests enjoyed the air conditioned porch and rooms on the main level (as opposed to the VERY hot outdoor stone patio) where each room had a beautiful set up of old wedding photos of Laura and Adam’s family as well as some timeless vintage touches. My favorite part was seeing alot of the photographs that I had taken in Paris blown up and displayed around the main floor.
A fun night was had by all as guests conversed, danced along to the Irish music and enjoyed a libation or two. I loved that I have now photographed this couple three times during their engagement, Paris wedding and US reception. Thank you Laura and Adam for being such wonder subjects and including me in all your special moments!
