First with Dan and his wife Amanda and their absolutely adorable little girl, who is one of my favorite subjects to photograph, Charley. After a fun afternoon spent at a craft market at the Armory downtown, Dan, a very old friend of mine, Chris and I made our way to a new German beer garden in Northern Liberties called Frankford Hall. This place was a dream come true to me…giant mugs of beer, outdoor heated seating of long picnic tables in a graveled courtyard complete with a fire pit for making your own s’mores! If the beer and atmosphere weren’t already cool enough, then I saw the food! Bratwurst and GIANT pretzels with spicy mustard…yes please! I will definitely be going back there on my next visit!

The next day, I made my way to another college buddy’s house in New Jersey for the annual photo session with his growing family. He and his wife just had a new baby, bringing their family to three kiddos. The newest addition, Aubrey is the first girl, so it was a pleasure to document the sweet little girl in her pink and yellow room. The boys have grown up so much since our last shoot and have now become quite comfortable with me sticking a camera in their faces and chasing them around the yard. We had a lot of fun on a very unseasonably warm day.

It always makes me sad when I leave these guys…thank God they are all only a couple hours drive away! Maybe one day, I will make my way back to living in Philly, until then, I’m happy to drive up there anytime for a photo shoot!

A week or so later, while I was home for Thanksgiving, another friend asked me if I’d be available to photograph her entire family when they were all in town. There are three siblings in her family and they each recently welcomed a little one into their own families so this was a big deal of a shoot and get together. I assumed it would be hectic with 5 kids total (3 being new babies) and 4 sets of adults, but I was pleasantly suprised when all of the kids behaved….they rock!

So my PA tour came to an end and I have three wonderful shoots to show from it. Enjoy!

I am going to be photographing their family the day after Thanksgiving so more to come!

Gracie had lots of her friends come out for her birthday carnival. Carnival games were set up around the room for the kids to play and win prizes, a craft table where they could make necklaces and picture frames was a popular spot and Crystalooney’s Creative Arts was there to give each kid their own special face paint creation. It’s always a blast to work with Chrystalene and Chelsea as they transform the kids into princesses, animals and super heroes with face paint.

Beyond the fun and games, there was plenty of sugar to be had as the kids gobbled up the cotton candy, cupcakes and popcorn (just like a real carnival!). I have to say my favorite part was watching the kids eat the blue cupcakes which turn faces, tongues and hands blue (making for some pretty funny photos).

Thanks Amy and Jen for continuing to have me docuement your beuaitufl family, it’s always a pure joy to spend time with you all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACIE!!!!

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!

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!

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!

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.