Joe Sanfilippo Photography NY Wedding and portrait photographer » Capturing memories to cherish for a lifetime

I have been so busy lately, alot of portrait sessions, weddings, a much needed weekend away, redesigning my website.. but I finally got around to making the slideshow from Sandra and Michaels wedding at Milleridge cottage. I took so many photos it was hard choosing my favorites – So I made a nice little slideshow- I keep saying I am going to create more of these.. I’m just not sure what my viewes would prefer- maybe I will post a poll soon and you all can tell me what you like better slideshows, or a page of photos!

So heres the slideshow- turn your speakers up becasue there is some music!

As I sad in the previous posting, It was a great second shooting for Brian Calabrese on this wedding – I always love working with Brian, and can’t wait until the next shoot!

I spent some time updating my new website, I wanted to do something fullscreen, I am pretty happy with the way it came out – Still working on some of the “bugs” but so far so good. You can check it out at http://portfolio.joesanphoto.com

My blog will still have the latest work and alot more information, and will still be my main web page, mainly because I love my blog!! By the way, if you havent subscribed, you can do so here – subscribing will keep you updated on all the latest happenings at joesanphoto.com.

I hope you like the new site, and if you like leave comment below to let me know what you think!

I cannot believe that my wife and I have been married for 4 years already! Time goes by so quickly!

We had an awesome wedding at the fox hollow in Woodbury, NY – This was the best day of my life, then my son was born.. So he took first place in the best day of my life!

Every post is a littl ebetter with a picture – so I included a photo from our wedding day, cannot believe this picture was taken 4 years ago! I have to laugh when I see some of these pictures, if you look close enough you can see my face all hacked up form shaving, and I also sliced my finger on my razor while shaving,  you can see the band -aid on my finger on this picture, probably could have edited out but it just makes me remember those little things form the day.

This picture was taken by Denise Chastain

Most brides I speak to ask me this question and I thought that it would be a great blog post for anyone passing by my blog.

Wedding blogs and many wedding industry magazines will often suggest saving money by foregoing a professionally designed wedding album and instead opt for a disc of images. Unfortunately these wedding “insiders” dont really know whats best for you, and alot of times offer bad advice.

Every wedding I photograph will come with a CD of all the images for archival purposes along with a license for personal use. Many brides ask me why they need an album when I am giving them a CD. This is a fair question, and heres why:

1. You are starting a new family and the album is your very first family heirloom. Your album will last hundreds of years if properly cared for. Try to imagine showing your grandkids the images on your CD (see #2), then try to imagine sitting down with your grandkids showing them a beautiful wedding album, a vivid picture book telling the story of your day! The wedding album is just the beginning of your story – the story of your family!!

2. Technology moves so quickly. Who can say if 20 years from now a CD or DVD will even be readable in your computer. It is very important that you will always create backups of these files on whatever the latest storage medium is. An album on the other hand – never changes- never goes out of style – an album is a timeless storage medium that will outlast any of the latest technology – if you think about it CD’s have only been around for 20 years or so, and DVD’s even less – Who knows what will be out next!

3. If your photographer shot your wedding with film, How would you feel if you all you received at the end was the negatives? Your probably wouldnt be happy with that. This is essentially what you are getting when you get a CD, an unprocessed, unedited, essentially “undeveloped” digital negatives in a high resolution format. This is good to have for a piece of mind and to know that you always have the images if you needed reprints, but not a very good way to view your images and display them.

Now there are some couples do have great intentions on designing an album on their own to cut down costs but sadly, this usually remains undone. Mainly because they dont have the time to design the album, or they realize that the reputable album wholesalers do not sell directly to the public.

Then there are some couples who decide that they will order a photo book from an online consumer company like “Snapfish”, “shutterfly” or even “Costco” not saying these are bad companies but they do target a particular market and are great for the point and shoot user looking to create christmas gifts, or family keepsakes. These companies certainly do not specialize in wedding albums and by no means meant to be used for professional printing. Basically, these labs are not calibrated to your photographer’s computer monitor or other photographic equipment, and this will definitely affect the overall quality of your photo, color balance, etc. These books also do not have the shelf life of a professional grade wedding album and will not last as long.

Whatever you decide, please remember that your wedding is a once in a lifetime event – You will never do this again!!!! You took alot of time and money to plan the perfect venue, the perfect flowers, even the perfect photographer! Why not display your pictures in a perfect album!! In the end the pictures are the only thing left from all that planning and the only thing that you can actually look back on in years to come! So really sit down and think about it before you make your decision!

If you have any questions about albums – please contact me!

I had a ball shooting Megan and Bryans Engagement session – What a fun couple! We went over to the beach at sunken meadow park to do the session it was a beautiful day but the sun was really strong and I really had to battle some harsh shadows, but the images came out awesome!! Check out some of my favorites below -

I second shot on a wedding this past weekend with Brian Calabrese, a good friend and fellow wedding photographer. Me and brian have been shooting weddings and all type of events together for a long time, so we really know how to work with each other efficiently and our styles mesh together so well. This wedding was at the Milleridge Cottage an awesome location for pictures, beautiful grounds and a very rustic feeling inside. Awesome venue. One of my favorite locations on Long Island.

I took alot of photos and it was so hard to pick out my favorites so I started with the ones below and I am in the process of creating a slideshow as well, so if you are subscribed to my blog you will see the slideshow coming up soon, and if you are not subscribed, you can do so here.

I love second shooting weddings – It lets you see things that you normally wouldn’t as the main photographer, and I get to really play around creatively!  On this wedding I had a chance to take a break from the getting ready shots of the bride and hung out with the groom for his getting ready shots. Turns out he is an amateur photographer and we got to shoot the bull about lenses and cameras, so it was definitely a nice change all around. It went pretty quick too since, it took all of 5 minutes to get ready- another big change from the hour or 2 it takes most brides..

Getting “hitched” – While Michael was doing his thing getting ready I took this shot, wish I had both rings!!!!!!

As usual it is awesome working with Brian – If you would like to see some more of his work check out his website at http://www.briancalabresephotography.com

So last week my little cousin Christy finally tied the knot with here Fiance Charlie. It was crazy seeing my little cousin getting married. It was also great seeing how much they truly love each other.

I havent been a guest at a wedding in a long time.. I will say that it was refreshing. But of course I cant attend a wedding without bringing my camera. I just hung back though took it easy and let the hired photographers do their job without getting in their way. It really is tempting to hop into the mix and start snapping away, and it took so much discipline not to. Even though I had to hold back a little bit, I got some great photos. Here are some of my favorites!

I never shot at the Jericho Terrace before, so it was awesome to get a chance to snoop around, and get some photo ideas – If I get a chance to a shoot a wedding at the Jericho Terrace I will have a head start!

While walking around the hall I found this awesome gold fish pond – i had to take a shot of it since I know my uncle loves Koi Ponds, he actually commented to me how nice the koi were

-During the cocktail hour I had to get a shot of this Ice sculpture

They really are a good looking couple -

Those who follow my work know that I love cake shots, I got some shots of the cake and the topper, I just have to say this was one of the best tasting wedding cakes I have ever had!

Looka t the little guy on the bottom left of this frame.. I love this shot/.

I came across this cool website today  where you can create a map of your entire day – Ceremony location, catering facility even hotels. Here is a sample map so you can see exactly what it does!

Click on the image below to visit the website!

I hope everyone had a happy and safe fourth. We had a great time at BBQ with some friends. Great night – Beer, great food, and a garage full of explosives. Glad I brought my camera!!

Got Pyro?

Last night was a crazy night..  My son was driving us nuts (my wife and I) and we could not get him to relax, he was running around yelling, crying, kicking, screaming.. all you parents out there know what I’m talking about… Anyway – after he went to bed and I had a minute to relax, I started thinking about how much my life had changed since he was born, not only me but my wife as well. This one little person came to the world and just changed everything! Although he can drive us crazy –  he really did change everything for the better! I have to say the day my son was born was the BEST day of my life!

The day he was born was one of the most intense days I ever spent. After hours of waiting and trying to hold back the excitement – it finally happened!! My son was born January 12, 2008!! The first thing that came to my mind when I saw him was ‘holy crap, he is huge’ and sure enough as the Dr. was cutting the cord, he say “congratulations, you just gave birth to a toddler”- He was a big baby – Over 9 lbs. I got to him as fast as possible to catch a photo..

While my wife was in recovery with her mother, My father-in-law and I hung out by the nursery, watching the little guy.. He was the biggest baby in the nursery, even the nurse made a comment about how big he was.. and a comment about how short I am..  I’m not that short, and for the record the proper terminology is vertically challenged.. Anyway- I do think my son will be outgrowing me.. He still is a big boy!!

It’s really crazy to see him now walking around, climbing on things, eating real food, trying to speak, It’s awesome.. Then when I compare pictures from the week he was born to now.. It really blows me away.. and I wonder what else he has in store for us!

Look at that face!!! Sorry for the ramble!!