The infamous Best Man's speech.

/ Starbucks/
The infamous Best Man's speech.

Sure, you're going to roast your best friend, he deserves it after all. Thats the best part of a friend's wedding is the chance to throw him under the bus, to give payback for all those years of your friendship. Here's a few pointers on how to make your best man's wedding speech shine a bit. You want to make your speech a mix of comedy, heart and entertainment.  

Enjoy and feel free to comment, what was the best speech you've ever heard at a wedding?

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The Butterfly Place

/ The Butterfly Place/
The Butterfly Place

What an awesome time for a photographer. Have you ever chased a butterfly or a very pretty moth (they exist). Today I didn't have to, they sat there and posed for me. Trying to shoot every single butterfly variant became a bit tedious but worth my time. I couldn't find a perfect lens to use for this adventure because I kept wanting to showcase different angles of this amazing location. I'll be back.

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Government Center closing for 2 years

/ Goverment Center MBTA/
Government Center closing for 2 years

Government center is closed now (March 22nd, 2014), this is a final trip for me before the reopening in 2 years. Visited this MBTA location a day before it's closing with Michael Stepien, Stacy Bouley, Tom Haran.  We had a run in with a MBTA employee who was not versed in the MBTA photography policy, I helped him out a bit using their own website.

You'll be able to see all the construction rearing to take place, little by little over the past few weeks and months they've been getting ready. Can't wait to see the finished product. 

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My favorite place to work.

/ Starbucks/
My favorite place to work.

It's hard working from home sometimes, instead I choose Starbucks. While i'm there I pay for the coffee, wifi usage and I have a time limit to work before I'm that creepy guy on his Facebook in the corner.  I always tell my friends, peers, clients about my chosen work place. 

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Word of mouth marketing

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Word of mouth marketing

How do you advertise? I stick to word of mouth and Facebook. Do I make $200k a year, no. But am I shooting weddings and loving what I do. I'll always have people brag to me about how much money they spent on their marketing campaigns, online and print. I don't worry about that right now, for now word of mouth is amazing.

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Mishka and his mice.

/ The Hendrickson Compound/
Mishka and his mice.

Out of all the toys my cat has, there is one that stands above all the rest. The $1 Ikea plush mice. This non-cat toy is in the kids section of Ikea and it's the only toy that my roommates dog doesn't tear up. The Boston Terrier that we co-habitat with treats these small plush mice like a baby, carrying it to her bed and cuddling. 

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B.T's smokehouse

/ B.T's Smokehouse/
B.T's smokehouse

One of my favorite spots for brisket and pulled pork. It's worth the 25 minute trip from Worcester down the Mass Pike for this treat. I usually visit when I can bring a new comer so that I have an excuse to pig out (no pun intended). Make sure to get an order of fries and onion rings if you go, the carrot slaw is out of this world. B.T's will put your BBQ place to shame :). 

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What camera should I buy?

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What camera should I buy?

So you've decided on buying a camera and now you're trying to figure out which one. 

Theres a lot of questions to ask before you decide on this big purchase. Used or new, DSLR or Mirrorless, professional or amateur, money maker or hobby. In the end you're still taking a step in the right direction. Hope my ramblings help you out a bit more. 

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DJ

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So my friend Joe is a DJ and asked me to visit him at one of his jobs. Here's a few of the photos. Very dark room with lights, always love the challenge. 

 

The range

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     Met up with Justin & Seth at the range today. I was going to shoot a little bit with my camera and then the gun. It was an awesome time, despite the freezing cold.  Seth and Justin got all setup, setting a target down range and clearing off some of the snow in our area. 

     Seth is ex-military and an amazing shot, pistol or rifle. Justin is something more of an intense hobbyist. Justin makes his own ammo and explained it to me in great detail, I would hurt myself at some point if I did my own i'm sure.  Justin always has the coolest toys.

     After getting the chance to do some shooting of my own I realized that I really need to get my own LTC (License to carry). It was fun and especially more gratifying when I hit the steel target 100 yards away, the small tin noise it produces makes it all worth it.  Seth is actually able to hit the 100 yard target with just a pistol.  I was very impressed after hearing about the army's proficiency at the range and seeing it in person.

      By the end of my time there It was getting really hard to shoot. My body was shaking so much that I could barely hit the target dead center like I usually do.  Of course i'm joking, but it was a bit cold and my fingers were getting numb and I also had to get going for a meeting. So it was nice to climb back into my Prius with the heat cranked and a cold bottle of water. So here's a few photos from the afternoon. Thanks again to Justin & Seth for bringing me along.

Take a picture of me!!!!!

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So whenever I shoot events for something very specific I always have people that come up to me and ask to have their photo taken. After i've taken the photo the people walk away and never ask about the photos? 

I'm sure other photographers deal with this as well. The most recent was two nights ago at a college prom at the DCU center. I was there to take photos of my friend who was DJ'ing and concentrating on taking photos of his equipment and lights. While I was doing this people asked me several times for photos and then walking away without even asking to see the photo. 

 

#firstworldphotographerproblems

Why wedding photography.

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So wedding photography is the bane of photography, according to some of my photographer friends. No so, it's an olympic challenge of sorts. You have one day to get everything captured and to put on a wonderful show. You are the bride and groom's cheerleader for the day whether you know it or not. You're going to be the one telling them how awesome they look or how good the food was as well as how to cut the cake or pinning a boutonniere.

     I will also mention that you get to spend the day with two people having one of the best, most memorable days they will ever have. I can't remember a wedding that i've shot where I haven't laughed or gotten a tear from someones speech.  There's also the kids that you get to know and hang with at the wedding, they're the best. By the end of the wedding sometimes i'm getting hugs from them which always surprises me. Kids hug if they like you and you forget that if you're not around them normally.

     There's also the whole thing of being a technical mastermind and artist for an entire day, two families depending on you for documenting everything. You're going to run into lighting issues and logistical problems but at the end of the day if you kept your head on a swivel and had lots of memory cards and batteries then you probably did pretty damn good. All my past English teachers are rolling over in their grave at that run on sentence. :) 

Giant kid gets feedback.

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One of the major perks of being a photographer is that you get better because of feedback from friends, family, clients and your facebook fans or elsewhere. In some way you're like a giant little kid asking how do you like my photo how do you like my photo. That's one of the perks of being a photographer, getting that attention regularly and getting to work with beautiful people. 

The one bad thing about having friends and family check out your photos are positive feedback, they're not going to give it to you straight. Don't believe me, put an average picture up and see what responses you get.

As a photographer when i post an okay picture i usually get a few likes or maybe a single comment. When i post an amazing picture it gets shared and gets dozens of likes and an average of 6 to 8 comments.  When i want real commentary i will ask other photographers to give me real feedback and then when they do i ask them to give me real feedback and usually i get it.

That's how you're going to get better, but getting real feedback and adjusting your style, composition and technique. Again, stop being so terrible and get better.