11.24.07 Jesse + Basha

Philly.
Love it.

Basha & Jesse & Philly.
Awesome.

I loved these two the moment I met in them in a coffee shop near Rittenhouse Square last spring. They were excited and in love and super enthusiastic about photography.

Their wedding and reception were at The Westin, a killer downtown hotel, and it was still (barely) warm enough to get out into the city for pictures.

The ceremony and reception had the most amazing light ever. See for yourself.

I also got to work again with my friend and wedding planner Jenn Poletti of Perfect Planners who, as usual, made the whole day run smoothly.

Thanks, Basha and Jesse, it was a real thrill.

Douglas

11.03.07 Scott + Laura

I wrote a really long ramble about shooting pictures I've never shot before, even at venues I've worked dozens of times.

I deleted it. Too many words.

Here's the picture, though. I like it a lot.



Scott and Laura were just awesome. These are more I really like. I hope they do, too.

Best,
Douglas

More Gifts

I just wrote about this kind of image in my last blog.

But I never tire of them and hope to have hundreds more to put here. I don't know this couple. They were strangers to me, two people dancing at a wedding. But I know someting about them, everything I probably need to know, because of this image they gave me.

More, please.

Best,
Douglas

10.20.07 Jason + Erica

My job, sometimes, is impossibly easy. I show up, people share amazing moments and I snap the picture. Click. Done.

It's as simple as that: The best pictures are gifts.

This gift was given to me by Jason and Erica and Jason's dad Paul:


I sent this photo to my buddy and said: "This is why I do what I do." It's authentic and powerful. It speaks to me about the people who are in it. It moves me.

I'll trade a bucket full of pretty silhouette's for just one of these. The good ones - the really great ones - have to be given to you.

Jason and Erica felt like old friends by the time their wedding rolled around. You may remember them from an earlier blog about their engagement photo last year outside the movie theater. We put their names on the marquee and shot them in the street at night. It was awesome.

And so was their wedding. It was warm & fun & loving.

Thanks for the photos,
Douglas

10.13.07 Ryan + Kristin

There have been many more great weddings than I've had time to post here.

Please meet Ryan & Kristin. I finished working on these images today and I can't wait for them to see them.

Best,
Douglas

09.23.07 Matthew + Vanessa

Two Sundays ago was a kind of homecoming for me, returning to Lauxmont Farms near York, Pennsylvania.

Lauxmont is, absolutely, one of the most beautiful venues on the East Coast.

It had been nearly two years since I was there to photograph one of my very first weddings for Cat & Joe. That was, by far, the most successful wedding I had ever shot and those images are still all over the website. The opening image of the site, a picture showing a couple at dusk walking toward their reception, was shot there.

I was more than excited to return to Lauxmont for Matthew and Vanessa.

I hadn't met Matthew yet because he serves in the military but it was quick to figure out he was a perfect match for Vanessa. It was a perfect couple at a perfect venue on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Douglas

I'm loving this snap of Courtney coming down the aisle last weekend. It's always a moment of great drama & it just manifested itself in a particularly visual way on Saturday.

d

Allison & Chris' Engagement

Lots of fun last night with Allison & Chris at Valley Forge National Park. We were just looking for a pretty place and I think it turned out well.

Best,
Douglas

Levity

Kelly Durie got me thinking about this and I know I'll live to regret it.

In comments posted to my portrait blog (below) she referred to a picture of me at her wedding:


I'll admit there are times during formals when I go a little overboard. At Teena & Chris' wedding I was trying to show Teena how to sit on Chris' lap:



This kind of interaction doesn't fly with all my grooms.

And finally, most recently, is one of my favorite snaps from Lisa & Tim's wedding:


Best,
Douglas

Lisa + Tim + The Bear

I've written before about my buddy Joe Craig.

Joe is an awesome shooter & helps me out a lot.

So Joe and I have a healthy sense of competition, always trying to out-shoot each other. One of the most important arenas of our pursuit is "the ring shot."

And on the occasion of Tim and Lisa's excellent wedding adventure Joe beat me hands down.

Who has ever shot the rings on the teeth of a bear?

Joe has.

Hats off to Joe.

Douglas

06.17.07 Jess + Lindsay

I realized part of my delay in posting these weddings has just been my aversion to writing.

Putting words on a page has always been hard for me. Images come more easily.

So I'll skip the words and cut right to the images.

Please meet Jess & Lindsay. They are the kind of people you like immediately and think about long after they've left the room.

Douglas

Do Unto Others

Today it was my turn in front of the camera.

I need a photo of myself on the website. Seeing a person helps me identify with them and somehow makes me feel like I know something about them. So I want a snap of myself on there.

So my buddy Joe Craig (still the second best wedding photographer on the East Coast) helped me out.

It was a totally wierd feeling seeing Joe point that thing at me. He did a great job considering what he had on my end of the camera.

Best,
Douglas

Kristin + Ralph + Summer

We paid our $12 and rolled into the parking lot just off the beach in Ocean City, New Jersey.

I opened the car door and there it was: the smell of salt water, the sound of an arcade and the sight of surf.

It was the perfect summer trifecta.

It was me & Kristin & Ralph and it was just awesome.

Let me just say this: If you're young & good looking & in love, it's pretty darn easy getting a decent engagement shoot.

Especially if your willing to roll around in the sand.

Sorry about the sand in the car, Ralph. And thanks for the taffy.









I know, I know I know: I am hopelessly behind in updating the blog. This summer has been a wonderful whirlwind and I have had just a batch of awesome weddings. Big shout out to Rich & Heather & Lindsay & Jess & Mark & Susan & Kelly & Alistair & Kristal & Robert & Chris & Leanne.

I'll get more of these online, I promise.

Douglas

06.22.07 Megan + Andrew

I'm crazy behind in posting weddings but I have to share this now.

At every client interview I've ever done, I've talked about the importance of covering the entire day. I don't do six hours. I don't do eight hours. I only do the whole thing. I don't leave until the couple leaves.

And this image shows why: The day is done. Guests are gone. It gives me the feeling: "We're done. This was an amazing day and I have given it everything I have." As a viewer, it puts me in that time and place.

I love being an insider and I love telling that story.

Thanks to Megan and Andrew for giving it to me.

Douglas

06.02.07 Wayne + Rebecca

I have a pretty great life.

This morning I woke up, made coffee & came upstairs to work on images. I can't imagine anything better.

Pictures are like little gifts. They're sitting they're, all wrapped, waiting to be opened. In the blur of a wedding day you see them, shoot them & move on. It's not until later you get to really discover them.

This morning it was wonderful to revisit Wayne & Rebecca's wedding. They were married two weeks ago at Holly Hedge Estates near New Hope.

This is some of what I found.

Douglas

05.26.07 Chris + Teena

Bring the Bliss.

Wedding days can be overwhelming for couples. It's easy to be distracted by the details and demands of the day. Couples can get lost in the unimportant stuff and forget to live in the moment. I can see it in their eyes. I know they are happy and love each other and belong together. But sometimes it doesn't show.

I can do a lot - a whole lot for a couple - but I need them to be happy and look happy. I need them to bring their Bliss.

Let go. Leap. Love. Embrace the moment. Bring the Bliss.

That's pretty much what I told Chris and Teena in our final planning meeting, although I'm not sure they needed to hear it.

And they brought it. And it shows. See for yourself.

Douglas

05.19.07 Charles + Amanda

We are in the summer wedding groove now, baby.

Charles & Amanda tied their knot in an awesome countryside ceremony. It was really wonderful. I liked them when we met and loved them by the end.

I'll shut up and let the pictures tell the story.

douglas

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day!

My folks came out from Indiana for the weekend and hung out with Wendy and the boys while I shot Teena and Chris' awesome wedding Saturday. On Sunday we watched the Indy 500 - a big deal back home - and mom made a belated birthday dinner for Wendy who had a birthday last week.

Here's a snap I love of Wendy (far left) and mom with Wyatt (middle) and Jack.


Have a great holiday!

Douglas

04.28.07 Megan + Christopher

Whoa! Getting a little behind here!

I'm a bit late here posting pix from Megan & Christopher's fabulous wedding adventure at the fabulous Knowlton Mansion.

Did I mention it was fabulous?

Once the bleeding stopped after Chris' slight shaving mishap (note to grooms: take your time) everything went according to plan. Megan stopped the rain using will power alone!

Enjoy the pix!

Douglas

Moab, Utah

Moab, Utah, is the most stunning place on earth.

My buddy Joe Craig (second best wedding shooter in the world) and my new friend Josh Pollarine (knows-more-than-the-Park-Ranger-Josh) & I spent most of last week camping there. I was speechless. The camera was my only hope of doing the place justice.

We hiked two parks near Moab: Arches & Canyonlands National Parks.

Joe and I talked all week about how cool it would be to shoot a bridal portrait there.

Kind of like the picture above. But Joe refused to wear a dress.

Go figure.

Douglas

Getting Out of Church

Let's get that dress out of the church, shall we?

I wanted to play with this new "trash the dress" idea
so my good friend Jenn Poletti and I had some fun at
the Eastern State Penitentiary, a creepy cool prison
in Philadelphia. If you haven't heard about it
already, the big trend is to do things with your
wedding dress that would horrify your mother. So
getting down and dirty in this cool old prison seemed
like the perfect idea.

I have to say it didn't turn out the way I expected. I
was looking for filth but I saw beautiful.

The way photography works - for me anyway - doesn't
involve a whole lot of planning. I don't like
figuring out every aspect of an image before picking
up the camera. I like to take fun people to fun places
and see what happens. And this is what happened.

And I love it.

I have to thank Jenn for being such a great model.
Jenn happens to be a wedding planner based in
Philadelphia and I have to make the plug:
www.Perfect-Planners.com.

Thanks Jenn!

Douglas

(hit the arrow below to play the show)

Save The Date - IN STYLE

You have gotta-gotta-gotta get a look at THIS!



Erica and Jason are a young, hip, and classy couple I’ll be working with this fall at Hotel Bethlehem. But long before their date they were planning a theme – and theme’s rock. (Especially this one!)

No cookie cutter wedding here. No, no, no.

“Rock 'N Roll” reflects their love of bands and live music, will be the common underpinning of their wedding and we planned an engagement shoot to get the ball rolling.

With the help of the Roxy Theater, a stunning Art Deco theater, I shot their engagement photo with their names and wedding date on the marquee. We had their names in lights!

Erica use her favorite pic on their Save The Date cards. Man, if I got one of these cards I would be stoked.



What a way to put out the word that this wedding will ROCK!

Douglas

db in the News

Great press this winter for db!

Two magazines now on the stands feature db weddings.



The Knot Pennsylvania published seven pictures from Cat & Joe's wedding at Lauxmont Farms. Cat and Joe are just the best in every way. Pictures from their wedding are plastered all over the website. I'm just thrilled to see them get press like this - they deserve it!








Style magazine did the same for Wesley & Sarah who married the same weekend Hurricane Ernesto blew into the Lehigh Valley. You know, a lot of couples get all worked up when it looks like rain. Sarah and Wes couldn't give a damn - and had a killer wedding despite the weather.

It was great to see this couple get the publicity. Sarah and Wesley run Wesley Works, one of the best DJ companies in Eastern PA. We get to work together frequently at weddings. Check'em out:

http://www.wesleyworks.com/

So two big hits in the wedding mags this winter! I could not be more thrilled. Let's see who can get in for 2007!

Best,
Douglas

The Winter Life of a Wedding Shooter

BURRRR…freakin…BURRR

It's a BILLION degrees below out there. No wonder why no one is getting married.

Well, at least none of my sensible couples.

So winters are VEEEEERY SLOOOW for wedding photographers (cue: crickets).

So I could just sit by the fire and whittle or find something else to shoot. Nothing against whittling, but I’ll take the latter.

I have been having an awesome time shooting for Lehigh Valley International Airport. Since I was a kid I've been fascinated with airplanes. They're cool: big, shiny, sleek birds that go really fast.

What's not to love?

Here are a few of my favorite snaps, including Yours Truly modeling an I-don't-know-what but it looked like a great hat.

Best,
Douglas

Welcome to Blog db!!

Finally!

For the LONGEST time I've wanted a better way to keep in touch with clients - past, present and future. And here it is: The db blog!

Come here to see current weddings and db news. I'll pick a few of my favorite frames from each wedding to post here. You can get a peek at pictures from other weddings and see your own when the BIG DAY comes.

First Things First: THANKS to all the clients (who have become friends) of 2006. What a great year. Just take a look at the new galleries on the website (Galleries 1, 3 & 4 are all from 2006) and you will see what I mean.

Also thanks for the nice things you are saying about me to your friends. Referalls are 90% of my bookings and a huge THANK YOU goes out to all of you putting a good word in for me.

I hope you will make this blog a regular stopping place. Visit often!

COMING SOON! The pictures! And I will start with one of me: DOUG MODELS AIRPLANE PARTS during a shoot at Lehigh Valley International Airport!

How could you not come back for that?

Best,
Douglas