Wow!  What else can I say?
Alli and Colin met with me this afternoon (Sun - Sept 10) at Swartswood State Park (NJ) for their engagement shoot, and … yeah .. just look at that photo! It turned out that they are one of those couples that do half the ‘work’ for me as a photographer, and I just have to trip the camera’s shutter. 

Alli & Colin, photographing your wedding next month is definitely going to be a blast! 

A second article that I wrote for Rangefinder - the official magazine of WPPI - appeared in their September ‘06 issue. And of course I am really proud of this. For me it’s quite an honour to appear alongside the best in the industry, in one of the premier photography trade publications. (The previous article appeared in their April ‘06 issue.)

This article first appeared on my PlanetNeil website under the same title - Finding the Light. The topic is on using lighting where the conditions aren’t ideal.  Even though the tone of the article is tongue-in-the-cheek, it will  hopefully be informative, and maybe even inspire other photographers looking for ideas on using photographic lighting. 

Here is what the opening page looked like.
(To read the article, click on the link above.)

For the few weeks runnning up to Beate and Phil’s wedding on Sept 2nd (Sat), Beate and I were in contact via emails and phone calls - and it was clear that Beate was very excited about her wedding at West Point Military Academy. But two days before the wedding date, the edge of tropical rainstorm Ernesto was sweeping over New York state. And yet somehow, for that morning’s ceremony and for the portraits, the rain eased up - and everything went according to plan.

With the combination of soft light from the cloudy day, and the lush surroundings of West Point … and a couple as delightful as Beate and Phil … it was easy to get great photographs. :)

The ceremony inside Cadet Chapel …

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The Saber Arch after the ceremony …

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Beate and Phil ….. congrats!