Elizabeth and Joe were blessed with wonderful weather for their Bear Brook Valley winter wedding. I love couples that are willing to have winter weddings (Ok, so technically it was spring, but growing up in upstate NY, March=winter). There is always an element of adventure to off-season weddings and I can tell you, in my 15 years of wedding photography, it has always worked out. I got to work with Elizabeth and Joe before their wedding during their engagement session in Morristown where they had their first date, coffee, after swiping right on one another. They have an easy chemistry with one another so I’m not surprised that they ended up together. As someone who has observed people for a living for over 15 years, I can easily pick up on these things. Perhaps my next career will be psychic for dating couples. I also love the way Elizabeth and Joe found me. They stumbled upon my work while looking through an MSN article on Wonderful Wedding Colors From Around the World. My image stuck out to them and when they realized I was in New Jersey, they knew they had to reach out. I love the randomness of how they found me and how they found each other. 
Getting dressed can be pretty entertaining…
Joe helps his dad out…
Back to some laughter…
Back to serious business…
Love Elizabeth’s expression here…
While wedding photographers are inundating their blogs with pictures of the bride’s shoes, I’m posting two pictures of a flower girl putting on her shoes. These are the moments. The vanilla images of wedding details suffocating photographers’ blogs these days has me seriously disappointed in the direction of wedding photography. When did the shoes a person wears on a particular day become so important? I prefer to think for myself and photograph images that I believe will bring value to my couples for years to come. I also recognize that sometimes the value of some of the images I create will not be fully recognized the first time they are seen, but I’ve made it in this industry for such a long time by staying connected to what matters and refusing to fall prey to what the wedding blogs, and now, major Instagram pages are pushing wedding photographers to focus on.
The image above captures not just Elizabeth and her nephew and his mom’s interactions, but the concentration of a little girl putting her shoes on amidst this moment. The image below further hones in on her concentration and also puts her to scale which might not seem like a big deal now, but fast forward 15 years when her mom is looking at this picture and thinking about how little she once was and gets happily lost in the photo for a few minutes while her smallness almost becomes tangible again. These are the kinds of moments I strive to capture as these are the kinds of things that life is about and what we will want to remember and revisit years down the road.
I’m fascinated by old images. With so many images taken these days, we don’t often give pause to them. I took a moment to look at each of the wedding images that were on the wall in Elizabeth’s mom’s house. 
I have my own subtle ways of working in those who are not with us…
Gorgeous!
Joe watching his bride walk down the aisle…
you had to be there…
The playfulness of kids during wedding ceremonies ever-fascinates me…
Mr and Mrs!
A lovely Bear Brook Valley winter wedding day…
I appreciate a little silly during portraits…
Since I was a little kid, I’ve been a huge fan of negative space. 
Elizabeth and Joe started their Bear Brook Valley winter wedding with a choreographed first dance…
Party time!
Intensity on a dance floor is one of my favorite things!
It was such a pleasure working with Elizabeth and Joe on their Bear Brook Valley winter wedding day. So happy these two found one another and honored to have been chosen to capture their wedding day for them. Thanks to Kelsey Davis for assisting me.
