Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year

Every few months, I try and run some type of seasonal promotions to give clients the chance to save a few bucks and book a few more shoots. The holiday season is probably the best time of year to do this as most of us can sure benefit from saving some money. I put together a variety of savings from my packages and products. Check out my promotions page as I am constantly updating it with deals.

Happy Holidays

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Winter in Central Park

Some people live in Long Island their entire lives and hardly ever or never visit Manhattan. With its amazing skyline, tall buildings, crowded streets and beautiful cityscapes, the city has plenty to offer those who simply wish to sight see during any season. Every time I visit Manhattan, I always say to myself, “I have to come back here more often”. However, I don’t know that I could ever live Manhattan. I love living in a suburban area. You have the best of both worlds. You can have a car and park it in your driveway and if you wish to visit the city, it’s as easy as hopping on a train. It’s not that simple the other way around.
I used to wonder what it would be like to live in Manhattan and be able to pretty much go anywhere without ever driving a car. Restaurants, bars, grocery stores, all within a few blocks walk. But what if I wanted to go for a jog or bike ride, play softball, let my dog run around, or have a picnic on the grass. Well, the answer is Central Park.
It’s pretty amazing to see the beautiful landscapes of Central Park with the NYC skyline in the background. The park is so big and it is packed with tons of stuff to see and do. There are beautiful bridges and buildings within the park, historical statues all over, and unbelievable landscapes. Just stand in any spot and take a 360° look around. There are too many photo opportunities to see in one visit, which is why I plan to go back several more times.
Every year, I take pictures for Christmas cards for clients and in some cases, I even design the Christmas cards for them. I was asked by the CEO of a company recently if I could take a photo of a winter scene of Central Park for the company Holiday card that they send out for next year. I was pretty excited about the task and gladly accepted. Now, I just had to wait for snow and we got some…..about two feet. When the snow storm hit, I planned to head into the city the next day. Unfortunately, the storm was so bad and the trains weren’t running so I didn’t make it. I was pretty disappointed, but I knew the snow would be around for a while, so I went a couple of days later.
I walked around for several hours and took lots of pictures, but I didn’t get everything I wished I had. I am definitely going back soon and I plan to start a Central Park collection of photos that I can offer for fine art prints. This place screams fine art. Here is the link to some of the photos of my first Central Park visit. I am excited to improve and expand on this idea.
MS

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Help Portrait - St. Patrick's Parish

The holidays are upon us and as long as they seem to last, they always come and go too fast. For some families, it is a difficult time of year. Every year, most of us think of ways to give back in appreciation of how lucky we all are to have what we do.

St. Patrick’s Parish in Bay Shore has put together a free evening for families to help spread the Christmas cheer. Families will share a holiday meal and afterwards, Santa will be arriving to hand out toys to the children and take holiday photos with the families.

As part of the Help Portrait Community, myself, and some of my photographer friends at Long Island Photo Gallery will donate their services on this evening to provide free family photos with Santa. Help Portrait is a movement of photographers who are using their time, equipment and expertise to give back to those who are less fortunate. I am not quite sure what to expect as far as a turn out of people, but I know it feels pretty good just thinking about it and I hope to make a difference. I will be bringing an arsenal of equipment to get some great pictures for all that show.

We are all looking forward to a nice evening and hope to meet some great families.

Event Details:

December 16th, 2010 ~ 5 PM
St. Patrick's Parish
9 N. Clinton Avenue
Bay Shore, NY 11706