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Boston, 4th of July

This year Kelley and I took the 4th of July weekend off to see some friends and enjoy a day together. We went to Boston to see the Red Sox, then watch THE BEST fireworks display with the Boston Pops and Neil Diamond. I used to live in Boston and would photograph the fireworks regularly. Some of the first photos I sold as an amature photographer were photos of fireworks. I even have one framed in my hall way at home to remind me how I got started.




The view from our seats!

After a push through the incredible crowd, I managed to get a great view in facing the barge that the fireworks were launching on. That is until the guy in front of me stood up and put his head directly in front of my lens. I asked nicely for him to move over, and he didn’t. I managed.




Geoffrey R. Boka
7.08.2009

beautiful stuff man! looks like it was a blast, no pun intended.

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Dawn & Brian

Day 2 in NYC, Times Square, and Bryant Park. Brian asked Dawn to marry him in the park. The funny story behind it is that as Brian was about to ask the big question, ring out and all, a vendor stopped and asked them if they would like to purchase some candy. Are you kidding me? Do you not see what’s going on right now? Dawn said yes… to the proposal. Not the candy.




I loved this wall and I couldn’t just walk by it and not use it again.


Here’s the spot she said yes!

I was stuck in a rain storm earlier in the day. Then this one came out of no where. I did notice the photos on the back of the camera were getting darker and darker quickly, well before sunset. The the sky opening up, again.

I loved shooting this one with a faster shutter speed so you can see all the individual drops falling.

We tried running into the library to do some photos, but it was closed.





There was a great sunset coming through the buildings.
Lee Baisden
7.09.2009

Great photos of the all american couple. I was expecting the candy salesman to jump out of the monitor any minute.

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Doris & Tom!

Anyone here in the north east knows how crazy the weather has been lately. It could be a beautiful day out, then 5 minutes laster, downpours. Then back to sun. With my schedule being so full I really didn’t want to reschedule my two shoots in Manhattan, so we just crossed our fingers and went for it.

Doris and Tom are regulars in Manhattan. Tom worked there and took the ferry to and from New Jersey. So it was only fitting that we incorporate that into the shoot.








If you haven’t been to Times Square lately, go. There are two streets that go through Times Square and they have one of them completely closed off to traffic. You can now walk around more freely and even sit in a chair in the middle of everything. From what I hear, the city is doing this to make Times Square more pedestrian friendly by giving the area a better identity. It worked.


I’ve been really getting into some more street photography lately and I couldn’t help but incorporate a little into their shoot.



Here’s the all glass side of the ferry terminal.

In the reflection of the glass is the building Tom worked in.



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Emily and Eric!

BOSTON! I love Boston. That reminds me as I’m sitting in a hotel in Manhattan that I gave my car, which has a big Red Sox “B” on the back, to the valet. Hopefully nothing will happen to it. What a walk around town we had. I love this town.


What’s my obsession with puddle reflections this year?






I should NOT have been balancing on the fence I was on to get this shot. Kelley was holding on to me.

I was hiding behind a trash can so I wouldn’t end up in the reflection on the button. The image on the right is where they got engaged!

I saw this photo opportunity and thought it just screamed the look and feel of Boston.

Just waiting to cross the street.



I really should post the whole series of photos from the above shot. I had them stand there so I can time the train going by with some blurry motion action. Well as soon as the train got right up to Emily and Eric, it fired its horn! Emily jumped and walked away really quick. I thought she was going to have a heart attack!

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Christine & Gerald!

I was driving down the highway to Branford looking out my car window at the clouds that were forming. Another thunder storm was on it’s way. I met Christine and Gerald and starting shooting with my fingers crossed. The storm stayed in the distance and just gave us some magical light and color during the sunset.






RAINBOW! Thanks to whoever placed the order for the rainbow.


What Caribbean island are we on? Branford, Connecticut.
Candace Jeffery
7.03.2009

These are fabulous Rich! I love the feet walking right next to the water. Great colors in this shoot.

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Nicole and Trevor!

My wifey requested a blog post since she knows how much I’ve been shooting lately. I didn’t want to suddenly attack my blog with posts, so I set my posts to release at midnight each night while I’m away.

We are working on all the images now, but I figured I should post some shots from Nicole and Trevor’s wedding this past weekend! Something new happened at this wedding that’s never happened to me before. Tornado warnings! I was driving from the house Nicole was getting ready at to the ceremony and the sky just fell. I couldn’t see the road, I almost hit a tree, and for the first time heard the emergency radio system kick in. Despite the sudden weather interruption, the wedding was absolutely beautiful.



Love the blue socks! Gotta stretch out the shoes.






Oh the stories that were told during the ceremony. Nicole was having fun with Trevor!

There was laughter, there were tears.




Hello sunset! We hit this just right (I’m still working on the left image). Then the sky turned into some amazing colors.








This is me with my friend, the one and only, Mrs Carla Ten Eyck. She was a guest of Nicole at the wedding. She was enjoying herself with her hubby by her side instead of her camera! A special thanks to Carla for egging me on with a few photos!

This has been wedding announcement #184!

Kelley Esposito
7.02.2009

So sorry i miseed it!! It heard this wedding was a blast and anytime I miss hanging out with Carla is my loss! Love these photos babe! Hope New York shoots are not too rainy!

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Jet Blue

Kelley and I have been flying a lot the past two years. Amazingly enough, we haven’t had to pay for a single flight! That’s all thanks to the Jet Blue Amex for business and earning points. There’s one main reason I fly Jet Blue, besides Direct TV at every seat, and that’s the leg room. Especially when it comes to traveling with my equipment. I pack 2 camera bodies, 6 lens’s, a flash, and my laptop in a ThinkTank bag for under the seat. In order to really get the bag under the seat in front of me, I take the camera bodies out and put them in the front of me. Once in the air I move the ThinkTank bag under my legs and stretch out. Plenty of room! The iPhone picture doesn’t really show it, but I was able to put 4 fingers inbetween my knees and the cameras.

When I take the laptop out I can actually tilt the screen back and type like it’s on a normal table. I had to fly Delta once this year, and besides being one of the worst experiences out of JFK, I could barely move in the seat and had to become a contortionist to use the laptop. I can’t wait for my next Jet Blue flight! Where should I go next?

I’d fly Jet Blue more, but they just don’t go to enough places. Particularly out of Denver. :(

Melissa Scala
6.23.2009

I’m so with you on this! We didn’t take them to PR…MY idea to save $200 roundtrip. What a flippin mistake! We were like sardines on the Continental flight. And they charged $25 each bag you checked in each way. Never again! MIke swears by Jet Blue every time he goes to Cali.

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Jenn & Brian Sneak Peak

I just got back to our room in Sausalito and I figured I may as well share some photos form Jenn and Brian’s wedding. I have an 11:30am flight tomorrow back to Connecticut, so I gotta start packing!








Their rental car for the wedding. This was around 60mph on the highway in the lane next to us. How awesome? Serisously?
Kathleen Trenske
6.22.2009

That Corvette shot is awesome! Can’t wait to see more from this wedding. Glad to hear you had a great time in California! :)

Steve Depino
6.23.2009

super cool driving photo!!!

robert Norman
6.23.2009

RE: action car photography shooter

Tony Spinelli
6.23.2009

Sweet car shot. Hope you weren’t driving and shooting!

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SF Zoo & The Night Before

Saturday Kelley and I went to the San Francisco Zoo with Kelley’s friend Kim, her husband Dave, and their son Gabrielle. Of course I packed the camera! Kelley refers to me as “National Geographic.” I can’t let her down.



From the Zoo we went right over to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner for Sunday’s wedding.


The groom, Brian, taking care of a few things.

Jenn and Brian listing to the JP’s instructions.

The flower girl! How adorable?

The father of the groom looking on. He admitted to watching how I was working too. Come to find out he’s a bit of a photographer.





At the dinner there were books, made by Brian’s parents, on the tables that had photos of Jenn and Brian from when they were growing up. Each book had a different stage of their life. Everyone enjoyed looking through them.




The father of the groom was snapping away on his Nikon F3 and classic Sunpak flash.

Brian is a car guy, like myself, and he rented a Corvette Z from Hertz for the wedding! I can’t wait to photograph it. We have some awesome plans!!!

Ok, last chance to see each other before the wedding!

Brian mentioned to me an area that we may go to for a few pictures. So I decided to do a site check since it was around the corner from where Kelley and I are staying. All I have to say is… woah.


Goodnight San Francisco!

Vicki
6.21.2009

I just looked at all the photos as of Sun. AM- You still amaze me!!!

Nicole
6.21.2009

All I can say is WOWWWWW! Rick, you are amazing!

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San Francisco, Sonoma, & Napa

The past two days Kelley and I have been on the road. Hours and hours of driving from Sausalito, going to wine country, then from vineyard to vineyard. There’s so much I want talk about, but I have to start with photos and I’ll tell you the stories along the way.

We are staying in my favorite area just outside San Francisco, over the Golden Gate Bridge, called Sausalito. It may just be one of my favorite places in the country, not that I’ve been to that many places. We just walk a block from our room and we have a great view of the city. It was a hazy day when I took this.

We decided to stay at a B&B called the Gables Inn Sausalito. It is one of the best places I’ve ever stayed. The room, the comfy bed, walking distance to everything, the incredibly nice people that work here… can’t say enough. They have an awesome breakfast too. I had to give them a little photo love. We got back tonight and chatted with the person at the desk and I took a photo of the lobby for her.

Thursday we left the Inn on an absolutely beautiful day. We got in the car for a quick run into the city for a quick purchase of an item that I’ll talk about in a minute. We get around the hills outside Sausalito and get a quick glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge. I said to Kelley, FOG! I pray for some low level fog shots every time I come out to San Francisco and it never happens! Finally! So up into the hill side we drove.





For the past few months I’ve been itching to use a lens that I don’t own. Until now. I found one in San Francisco and we made a mad dash into the city to get it. I just had a feeling that it would be an amazing lens for this trip. I was right. I’m not telling what lens it is, you photographers that are reading this will just have to guess! I’ve been really wanting to get back into street photography. The following two images were taken with the new lens from the passenger seat of our car, out the window, as Kelley was driving. The first one at 35mph and the second at about 60mph.


Yes, the above photo was taken as this car was passing us on the right. He’s in the lane next to us doing about 65mph. This should give you an idea of how awesome this lens is.

And now, wine country. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAmazing.

These first two shots, again, taken out of the car window as Kelley was driving 40mph.





The following shots were just outside the Twomey Vineyard in Healdsburg.






The J winery made Kelley’s day.

Above is the Ledson Vineyard. This building was originally intended as the owners home. It’s amazing.


La Crema is a bit of a favorite for Kelley’s mom and sister. The staff was awesome there.

Our favorite vineyard location and building of the trip was the Jordan vineyard. We wish we could live there.


The grounds at Beringer were really nice too.

We were told the Hess winery was the place to go to by a few people, mainly photographers. We made it there with 5 minutes to spare before closing. This place nearly made my photographic day with the barrel room.


So after a bite to eat in Napa we started to head home. At this point I knew I had a few good images, but I just felt like I didn’t get what I came here for. We headed down the main road as the sun started to set and I started to see some shots I was looking for over the past two days, but couldn’t really pull over. I then turned down a side street to take one shot. Then I said to Kelley, let’s just go over this hill and see what’s there. It was amazing from there on back to the main road. Thank you Domaine Carneros Vineyards for the endless amount of acres of vines.






That pretty much sums up our trip so far. Tomorrow, Saturday, we are headed to the San Francisco Zoo with a friend of Kelley’s and her son. Then the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner for the wedding I’m shooting on Sunday. No work and all play on a trip? Yeah right.

Rick O
6.20.2009

Awesome – love the oddly cut wine glasses can imagine if you drank too much wine and started sipping from the wrong side you’d be in trouble …

Erik Souza
6.22.2009

Wow, I am so jealous! Being from San Francisco it makes me feel homesick looking at these pictures. Fantastic job on the Golden Gate bridge in the fog!

Cynthia Brown
6.22.2009

Wow! Amazing trip! I love all the images, I’m so envious having never been to California.

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