01.26.08 Rebecca + Michael

I was ready for this one.

It had been nearly two months since my last wedding and I was really, really excited to shoot again.

Along came Rebecca & Michael.

This one was special from the beginning. Michael and Rebecca own The Architects Club in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, and run catering for The Club at Morgan Hill near Easton, Pennsylvania.

Rebecca is the wedding planner at both facilities and Michael is the executive chef. We have worked weddings together many times and they have a reputation for being the very best in the Lehigh Valley.

This is a couple who spend their professional lives catering to the needs of wedding couples, now getting married themselves. The wedding planner plans her own wedding. The executive chef bakes his own wedding cake.

The new dimension for me was to document a larger aspect of the wedding, the planning process itself. I went with Rebecca to the florist and then the greenhouse of Phillipsburg High School where students were growing her wedding flowers from bulbs. At 8:00 a.m. on his wedding day, Michael and I were in the club kitchen putting final touches on the cake he and his wife would cut that night.

That was all new & interesting & fun but looking back at the images now, I remember mainly the warmth and joy on their wedding day. In that respect it was what every wedding should be about.

Best,
Douglas

Hooper & Me, redux

Many have asked & I am pleased to report the dog photo show was a HUGE success!

Check out the YouTube video here:
Shelter Beautiful Video

Huge thanks to videographer Bill Crumlic for doing such a killer job with the video!

There must have been 400 people on opening night & it looks like we'll raise more than $3,000 thanks to the efforts of my fellow photographers and volunteers who pulled it off. Contributing photographers, Alison Conklin, Ryan Hulvat & April Pilz all came out to hang opening night.

Thanks for all the moral support from those of you too far away to visit. If you're in Bethlehem be sure to catch the show at Popmart before it ends February 29.

Best,
Douglas

p.s. Hooper is still looking for a home & this project, for me, won't be a complete success until he is out of the shelter. So if you know anyone interested in a big, loving dog let me know!

5.25.08 Ross + Alexandra

Alex & Ross stopped by the house Saturday.

We pulled together images from our engagement shoot last summer for an album they'll use as a guest sign-in book at their wedding in May. I think it turned out great.

Working with these summer images in the dead of winter felt really good. So I'm posting them here & maybe they'll make you feel good, too.

A public service brought to you by Douglas Benedict Photography ;)

Best,
Douglas

Hooper & Me

I shot a dog in my basement.

Well, I photographed him, I should say.

Hooper is one of the hundreds of homeless dogs who live at The Center for Animal Health & Welfare, the shelter where my wife Wendy spends a lot of time volunteering. Our circle of friends includes a lot of gifted photographers & it was Wendy's genius idea to create a gallery of portraits to put in a show and raise money for The Center.

Our friends really stepped up and created some wonderful images including fellow wedding photographer - and uber talented - Alison Conklin. So did my buddy Joe Craig and a bunch of other great Lehigh Valley photographers.

The show will run the entire month of February at PopMart, 38 West Broad Street in downtown Bethlehem.

Here's a snap Wendy shot of me shooting Hooper, a big, loveable pit that I hope gets adopted soon.

Best,
Douglas

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