Joe Sanfilippo Photography NY Wedding and portrait photographer » Engagement session

Carlie and Jason’s engagement session in NYC

JosephS — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:23:26 +0000

This was such a fun session!! Spent a few hours with Carlie and Jason and shot in several locations in Manhattan. We started off in central park, worked our way down to the brooklyn bridge, then over to the south street seaport. As we made our way back up to midtown, we got some great shots in the subway.

I cant wait to photograph their wedding this fall at the Riviera in Massapequa!

Congrats on the engagement Carlie and Jason!!

Sneak Peek: Carlie and Jason’s e-session

JosephS — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 23:34:53 +0000

Wanted to post a little sneak peek from Carlie and Jason’s engagement session. I had an awesome time photographing this couple. We spent some time shooting all over NYC, this shot was on the Brooklyn bridge.

I cant wait for the wedding this fall at the Riviera!

Joanne and Craig’s engagement session at Jones Beach

JosephS — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 01:49:43 +0000

I have been doing so many engagement sessions lately, it seems like all of my clients chose to do their engagement sessions in the same month!! I have quite a few more sessions coming up, but also have a ton of weddings coming up as well!!!!!! You can subscribe to my blog here and be updated whenever I put up a new blog post!

Joanne and Craig will be getting married this summer at the Thatched Cottage in Centerport I am really looking forward to their wedding and cannot wait to photograph it!! Congrats on the upcoming wedding Joanne and Craig!!

Engagement session in Manhattan – Katharine and Justin

JosephS — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 21:44:47 +0000

I met Katharine at her sisters wedding which I photographed earlier this year. During the reception Katharine was telling me that I looked very familiar and that she knew me from somewhere. I told her that I shoot allot of weddings, maybe you have seen me at a wedding or something.. and we basically left it at that. So a few months later here we are. Katharine booked me for her wedding day shortly after her sister received her proofs, and we photographed her engagement session. During this engagement session we found out exactly how she knew me, turns out we used to work together at a law firm in midtown!! This was about 6 years ago before I started my wedding photography business, so I am shocked that she remembered me! Small world!! This is the second client that I have who is connected to this law firm, a bride who I am photographing later this year actually works for the same law firm now! Crazy, like a LOST episode…

So anyway—enough of my babble- here some photos!

Tami and Jason’s engagement session at the Fire Island light house

JosephS — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 19:39:59 +0000

I had a great time shooting Tami and Jason’s engagement session at the fire island light house, one of my favorite locations for an engagement session! We had gorgeous weather and it was the perfect day for a walk on the beach. Looking forward to the wedding this July!

Engaged: Leanne and James

JosephS — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:02:21 +0000

I had a blast shooting this engagement session. We stayed local and just shot in a local park here in Massapequa. It was actually pretty cool location to photograph an e-session! I cant wait for the wedding!

Engaged: Allison and Dave – Sagamore Hill Oyster Bay, NY

JosephS — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:09:34 +0000

Although it was FREEZING OUT – This was a very fun engagement shoot for me! I’ve never been to Sagamore hill before so it was cool to check out, but what I really enjoyed was getting to meet Allison and David, Allison had scheduled for me to photograph their wedding day this coming spring, she actually booked me over the phone and never had a chance to meet, so doing the engagement session was a great way for us to get to know eachother a bit before the big day! I am really looking forward to their wedding day, It is being held a Raphael’s Vineyard, a Gorgeous location in Peconic, NY. I truly cannot wait!

Nia and Mark Engaged – Central Park, NYC

JosephS — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:27:40 +0000

Nia and Mark were a great couple to work with. We had a great time spending a few hours together in central park. Central park is one of my favorite spots in NYC. You could get lost in this park and find a photo in every direction.

Nia and Mark will be getting married his spring in NYC, it sounds like it is going to be a great wedding!

Contact me: info@joesanphoto.com

A little Lovin’ from Polka Dot Bride!

JosephS — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 00:57:01 +0000

One of my engagement sessions was featured on polka dot bride today! Always nice to get a little love from the wedding planning blogs!

Amanda and Kurt (the couple in the photo session) are awesome! They will be getting married this summer at the West Sayville Country Club. Amanda and Kurt are great in front of the camera and I cannot wait to photograph there wedding!

Are you or someone you know planning a wedding? Consider me for your wedding photography! Email me at info@joesanphoto.com or call (631) 592-9039

How to take a great engagement ring photos at home

JosephS — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:39:11 +0000

I met with a client last week who asked me if I could help her out with getting a good picture of her engagement ring. She really wanted a nice shot of the ring to send to her grandmother who lives overseas. She didnt want to wait to get the ring photographed at the engagemkent session, so I gave her some advice and the shots came out great!

I thought I would share with my readers this little tutorial on how to get an awesome shot of your engagement ring with a simple point and shoot camera. You should be able to do this with any late model digital camera! For this tutorial I used a Canon A590 Is (here is a great review on the camera), its a cheap little camera cost about $125 bucks, perfect camera for my tutorial.

1. Kill the flash!!! Most point and shoot cameras have the option of turning off the flash, this is the first thing you want to do. You want to find an icon on the camera that looks similar to this

Direct flash on to your ring is going to make it look washed out so we want to use ambient light or something that isnt as harsh as the on camera flash.

2. Finding good light is going to be the key in getting a good shot of your ring. In my tutorial I used the inside of my refridgerator. I cleared off a shelf close to the light bulb and took my shot. If you dont like the idea of shooting in your fridge, take a look around you -there is light sources everywhere, you just need to find it. A lamp, a flashlight, the sun, look around and see what looks flattering to you.

3. Next you want to think about how you want to display the ring for the shot. I recommend taking the ring off your hand it makes it so much easier to get close to the ring with the camera and allows you to use a backgrund that will make the ring POP!! In my tutorial I used a red rose and placed the ring in between the pedals. If you do a search online you can find some other ring photos to give you inspiration.

4. Now we need to get the camera in Macro Mode. Macro mode allows you to get close to the subject and magnify it to fill the frame. Macro Mode is usually shown on your camera as a little flower that looks like this:

4. Now that you have everything setup, go snap a few photos of your ring, try taking the photos from different angles and views, take the best ones and start sharing them with your friends and family!

This is the shot I took of my wifes engagement ring for this tutorial useing a Canon a590IS Point and Shoot camera.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Contact me directly if you need some help!