Chadds Ford wedding photography with Julie and Chris

Last month we shot great casual and classy wedding photographs with Julie and Chris! Both of them are so polite and nice.

What they did well to keep costs down, is getting ready at home. Now typically, this is a logistical nightmare for us, as the photographers. See, Bec and I only take one car, and we need to be near it with all of our gear, backups, lights, ladder, etc. But they both got ready only a few miles from each other! Problem solved. Rebecca dropped me off at Julie's and then drove to Chris' place. After 45 minutes, an hour, she came back to get me at Julie's, just in time to head to the ceremony.

They held it at The Gables of Chadds Ford, an absolutely beautiful and classy location for everything. Food was great. Service was great. We highly recommend this place, and we're so grateful to Julie and Chris for choosing such a wonderful spot. All of their guests had a killer time, and so did we. We're so honored to have been a part of their day. These two really are some of the nicest people we've ever met. Thanks so much!

Love this shot of her dad! Yes, a wedding IS this tiring...

Great dress!

One by Bec beforehand...
I love her smile before her dad gives her away.
Perfect positioning from one of our new photographers, Jason, who came with Bec & I.
Great lighting!
His grandma is so cute.
His dad plays a wicked accordian! The whole room stopped what they were doing and piled around him for this moment. It was one of the best moments of the whole day!
On the dance floor!
They're nutz for getting married!
His niece is adorable! One of about 20 pictures we got of her.
Gotta have one with the guys...
Best,

Joe & (Bec)

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Barack Obama wins!

All Hail to the Chief! The Chief-to-be, that is...

As a newspaper photojournalist and reporter for the Courier-Post, election night is always work. Getting quotes from this candidate. Interviewing voters about their thoughts. Finding the non-cliche photo. Now, being at a local paper, we don't exactly have access to the big names. There is no reporter covering the presidential race. Instead, I had the 1st Congressional District of New Jersey between Rob Andrews and Dale Glading.

But, for this year's presidential election, as soon as our newsroom realized there was no doubt that Barack Obama would become this nation's first African-American President, and take over the White House, it became clear we needed to find an Obama Party before the news media would make the call.

I found students huddling around big-screen TVs at Rutgers University-Camden, a school with a large Black population. So I just waited...but I didn't have to long. When CNN called the race, the crowd erupted. None of this was posed. Obama didn't win. They had. The energy was brilliant and overwhelming and beautiful, regardless of which candidate you supported.






What I'm proud of is that I'll always go down in the history books for working on this historic day. On the front page of my paper, there are only two pictures, one of Obama, and one of my shots from above. I also grabbed some quotes, but I'm really pleased with the last-minute photos. I'm proud to be an American, again...

Joe G

P.S. My contributions are meager, so I recommend a few other links, one from the New York Times: Damon Winter Photo Essay

And another from Getty

Wedding photojournalism at its finest and funnest

What a blast we had with these two! I knew the ever-effusive Mr. and Mrs. Wade were my kind of folk when I did their engagement shoot back in August. It was pouring rain when we were supposed to start the shoot in Great Falls State Park. Were they bummed? Hardly, we just shifted the venue to the Museum of Natural History to get some face (fossil, really) time with one of Pam's passions: dinosaurs.

The wedding was no different. They were relaxed and oh-so-fun. Both of them are seasoned performers -- they met in the a capella scene in college -- so camera shyness was never a threat.

Some of their extremely talented friends performed during ceremony at the gorgeous St. Aloysius church, and the reception at the Meridian House was stunning. Very classy.

It's hard picking favorites from such a beautiful wedding, but here's a quick take of a few that struck my fancy.

Congratulations guys!
- Dan


Yep, that's Pam's mom and dad in the background there.


The Meridian House had this snazzy courtyard area. Couldn't resist it.


That mirror is a family heirloom.


Nerves of steel on this fella.




Funny thing is, the baby Jesus in that stained glass at the top looks like he has a beard.








I didn't catch this guy's last name, but I'm pretty sure his first name is Stud.

Phillies World Series Parade in Philadelphia Oct. 31, 2008

I had the privilege to photograph the Philadelphia Phillies World Series Parade yesterday for my newspaper, the Courier-Post.

I nailed some killer photographs on the parade route. I had all the turf between 20th and Market and Philadelphia City Hall. I often became part of the show during the 3 hours prior to the start of the parade as I helped toss beach volleyballs and tennis balls, back into the crowd. I also got cheers, boos and a couple cat calls as people were trying to get me to shoot some shots of them. I ended up shooting 14 gbs of cards and about 900 shots. I still haven't gone through all of my wide angles, but here a some of my favorites:

Hold that trophy proud Mayor Michael Nutter


I love this one with the Comcast Center in the background:















As a lifelong Phillies lover, and baseball fan (MLB), it was an opportunity I would never have passed up. I felt like I was part of history, and I so proud of my team. In one fell swoop, they turned Philadelphians into winners. Thanks Phillies! We're behind you forever!

Best,
Joe & (Bec)

Delaware Wedding Photographs with Jenn and Jimmy

Take a beach, a bar and tons of fun people, and you get a party. That's what Jenn and Jimmy lined up last month in Delaware, and I was able to shoot some killer Delaware wedding photographs. These two have had a heck of a time between Jimmy being a big-time video production guy for NBC sports. He was sent to China for the Olympics one month before the wedding. Talk about long-distant planning. And Jenn had duel responsibilities between her great job working for kids, and putting the finishing touches on the day.

While they could have chosen a day in the summer for this beach, bar wedding, they chose September, and I have to say, killer decision. Beautiful weather. Absolutely stunning sunset. Great location at the North Beach Restaurant, too, right on the water. But hey, if you don't believe me, see below:













We had such a great time you two! Congrats. We were thrilled to be there. Love the surfboards!

Best,
Joe & (Bec)

Bride falls in pool ... Should the groom have jumped in after her? & Wedding Tip of the Month

Wedding Tips: Bride falls in pool

... Role with it and have fun!

I laughed so loud when I saw this tonight that I woke Rebecca up. She's in bed, trying to get some Zzzz before her 5:30 a.m. alarm.

I know it's wrong to laugh at this, but I had to call her down the stairs. She hated me, until she saw it, and started laughing, too.



But this got us thinking, what should the groom have done? Jump in, of course. We agreed.

So our conversation went like this:

Rebecca: "I hope that bride was cool about the whole thing."
Joe: "I do, too, but from the looks of that wedding, I picked up a traditional bride vibe. I bet she saw it as the worst moment in her life, instead of the funniest."
Rebecca: "If I fell, you should jump in after me."
Joe: "I know. That would be fun."
Rebecca: "They should have done their vows from down there."
Joe: "Absolutely. But instead of a first kiss, they should ad lib a dunk kiss and play some Marco Polo."

And here comes our tip:

One of my own quotes is this, I'll die happy if I never shoot another cookie-cutter wedding for the rest of my life."

For the record, I'm NOT wishing horrible moments on my brides. On the contrary. But I warn them that something bad may happen, and to role with it when it does.

Here is an example from last month. Elizabeth and Scott, two great people had quite honestly the second worst rain I've had in my four years with JPG Photography. They could have sulked, but they didn't. They went with it. They even took shots in the rain. They were great.

Look at the size of that rain off that umbrella!


As Bride and Groom, your guests and family members take their cues on how to behave from you both. If you are stressed or angry, so are they. Only, during the day of the wedding, there is usually little to nothing they can do. So things get worse because they're trying to fix something, only they're helpless.
So keep cool the day of the wedding. Have fun, and don't let anything (including getting tripped by the best man) get in the way of it.

Best,
Joe G

P.S. A special thanks to my buddy, Ron Solimon, at Litrato Photography, for sending this to me.