Jessica & Ed @ Pier 5 Baltimore Basilica

Jessica and Ed married in December, and as most of you recall - we had a very snowy winter this year! Luckily, this was not one of those weekends where we got a ton of snow - but there was a dusting expected in the area - which made for a perfect backdrop as the larger flakes started to fall right after the ceremony! :)

Jessica and Ed wed at the Baltimore Basilica - a church I was very excited to shoot in since it is a beautiful building! However, my excitement to shoot in the church turned into photographic frustration upon entering, as I was assigned a guard to watch me the entire time and was told with the exception of the processional, I had to stay not only behind the congregation -- but behind a good 30-40 empty rows behind the congregation for the entire time! -- and what could I do - I had a guard literally following me!

It was an interesting experience simply because I have never had a church be so unaccommodating when it comes to a photography -- and I've shot in a lot of churches with all kinds of strange rules!! :)

But, the building is beautiful, and served as a great place to shoot after the ceremony for the formals and as a great back drop for some bride and groom shots as well!

Jess and Ed had a bit of time between their ceremony and reception, so I hopped right onto the trolley with them and their bridal party and we went around town taking photos! - The most important stop being a trip to Claddagh's Pub where the couple met!! :)

I love when brides open their minds to shots outside of the box like this! - Not only for the fact that it is simply a bar where the 2 met - but any stop for photos outside of the typical church scene can produce some excellent shots that will give some variety to the photos from your wedding day! - I always encourage brides to literally drive the route from the ceremony to reception location and if you see some spots along the way that you think might yield some cool photos - plan on making a quick stop with your photographer!! :)

Once we were done bouncing around town for photos, it was on to Pier 5 hotel, where I must say, I am completely impressed with the staff... they were excellent! Everyone, even staff not working the wedding is very nice and helpful! -- I loved working here and cant wait to return! :)

Jess and Ed had no shortage of fun friends and the party got kicked off right away with an outstanding DJ (who at Pier 5 is literally above the dance floor)!

Here are a handful of the shots throughout the day!

Editorial Month in Review

Although my coverage of news as of recent has dropped significantly due to the fact that it is Spring time and I am in the middle of my busiest year ever with weddings - I still manage to make it down to DC to cover events on occasion during this busy time of year.

This past weekend was Preakness, an event I thoroughly enjoyed covering last year as I was blessed with a mid-day wedding on Preakness day and was able to make it up to Baltimore in time to cover Rachel Alexandra's win over the boys last year. This year, as with most years - I was not able to make it to any event on a Saturday in May that was not a wedding! Instead I got to spend the weekend with a couple great couples as they got married - but I'll tell you more about that in future blogs.

Just a few news shots for this entry - I did enjoy shooting the "banker man" swallowing up tourists (actors) outside of Union Station -- I love any opportunity for political photographer not to be simply the standard talking-head shots we have grown so accustomed to.

However, the politicians decided to take advantage of the beautiful spring weather in DC, and did a handful of press conferences outside -- which offered a different backdrop for which to shoot the talking heads! -- again, enjoyable! :)

Finally, I close it out with a few shots from a lecture given by Abraham Verghese at John's Hopkins. - This was a unique opportunity to sit in on a lecture given to the Doctors at John's Hopkins. As a patient of the hospital myself, it was great to here Dr. Verghese focus on the importance of human interaction, listening to the patients, and actually examining them, as opposed to simply looking at each patient "on paper" - by charts and test results, etc. The idea was to encourage doctors to have a relationship with their patient, instead of treating their patient like a number. -- Again, very nice to hear someone jamming this into the Doctors heads at Hopkins - where it is very easy to simply treat all patients as numbers!

Enjoy the photos - more wedding blogs to follow!



Washington, D.C. - April 28th, 2010: Consumers Union advocates perform a skit in which "Banker Man" ate tourists outside of Capitol Hill. Advocates wanted to deliver the message that banks should stop “feasting” on consumers with outrageous fees and hidden costs and encourage Congress to pass financial reform now.
(Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)



Washington, D.C. - April 28th, 2010: Congresswoman GABRIELLE GIFFORDS of Arizona during a press conference where members of Congress called on the President to secure the border with the National Guard. (Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)



Washington, D.C. - April 28th, 2010: A man holds a sign during a press conference where democratic members of Congress denounced Arizona's new immigration law (Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)



Washington, D.C. - April 28th, 2010: Senate Majority Leader HARRY REID (D-Nevada) looks on as Senator SHERROD BROWN (D-Ohio) speaks at a press conference discussing how Wall Street reform will protect seniors from predatory lending and safeguard retirement savings. (Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)



Baltimore, MD - April 27th, 2010: Professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at the Stanford University and Author ABRAHAM VERGHESE, MD, MACP gives a lecture at the John's Hopkins University. (Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)



Baltimore, MD - April 27th, 2010: Johns Hopkins University President RON DANIELS during a luncheon at the John's Hopkins University. (Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)


Baltimore, MD - April 27th, 2010: Doctor, Professor, and Author, PETER PRONOVOST, MD, PhD, attends a luncheon and lecture at John's Hopkins University. (Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

Cara & Neil @ 1840's Ballroom

Those of you who follow our facebook page might notice that our blogs on weddings tend to lag behind a bit from our facebook "preview" albums. - So you may notice some of the same pictures that you have seen on facebook. This is because we shoot way more weddings than I can possible keep up with enough to write a blog on each one of them! Plus in our "preview albums on facebook, we really cant go into any detail about the wedding itself, so consider these postings a "closer look".

Cara and Neil were expecting a cold, rainy day for their wedding and got exactly that. The week prior to the wedding, my wife called me and told me that she thinks she heard this weekend's bride on the radio. It turns out Cara had called in and was very worried about the weather for her wedding - and really wanted nice weather so we could spend lots of time outside shooting photos!

Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate, but that didn't mean that I had couldn't provide them with nice pictures outside.... even if it was pouring down a very, very cold rain!! :)

Cara and Neil got married at St. Ignatius Church. Judging by the outside, I never would have known this was a church, as it lacked a very traditional church look - but on the inside -- wow! Probably one of the most beautiful churches that I have ever shot in!! The Basilica is nice as well, but they don't let photographers move around at all - so St. Ignatius instantly went to the top of my favorites list! :)

After a beautiful ceremony, we braved the cold rain and shot outside for a bit - and then onto the reception!

Cara and Neil went with one of my recommendations for a DJ - and Carly & Jim from Dance Master's did an outstanding job!

As always, 1840's staff was wonderful to deal with as well, and the night was full of partying as Cara and Neil have such a great group of friends!! :)

So glad that the most wonderful people in the world continuously let me in on the biggest day's of their lives to capture photos!! I love what I do! :)