PPANJ/PPSNYS 1st Annual Joint Convention

Back in March Rob and I were able to speak up in Albany, NY at the PPANJ/PPSNYS 1st Annual Joint Convention. It was a great time and Rob even had an encore "performance" the next day! Can't get much better than that. :-)


We also debued our PhVusion Effects Software at the convention and opened it for pre-orders. We received such amazing feedback from it and we're really pumped for the next two seminars that Rob and I are giving in May!


Thanks to Brody Wheeler for providing the images below and to Gary Lloyd and Alex Wolff for providing the images in the Animoto slideshow!

Carolyn and Mark E-Session

This past Friday, I got to shoot Carolyn and Mark's Engagement Session. Rob and I are both doing their wedding come August, so, I had Rob come along to hold my reflector. :-)

One of the reasons that I love doing engagement sessions is because I get to know the couple more and build a relationship with them that not only helps them be more comfortable around me, but helps me see the couple for who they really are and what they're personalities are together on a day that's not the "most important day of their lives" (thus far). Carolyn and Mark were definitely not at home in front of the camera at first, but by the end of the session, we had their true personalities out and on camera! They are quite the fun and playful couple! Made for some great shots!

Check out some of the images and the slideshow below :-)

MARS School Seminar

Some more great seminar news! Rob and I are speaking at the MARS School 5-day workshop in Cape May. We'll be speaking on Monday night, the 3rd, and then participating in the Marketplace on Tuesday night where we'll be demonstrating our new PhVusion Effects Software.

If you don't know about the MARS School, it's a non-profit organization that offers photographers week long programs with amazing speakers and workshops that are usually held out of the Grand Hotel in Cape May, NJ. This year they're celebrating their 14th Annual Conference and have invited Rob and I to take part in it.

We're particularly excited about this speaking gig - yea, we're calling them gig's now :-) -because on the first night of the conference, Canon will be speaking on PhVusion as relating to their VDSLRs, which will be the perfect scene-setter for what Rob and I will be doing the next night. We're really hoping to share as much knowledge as we can with everyone who's going and feel that with Canon opening the floor to photographers using the video function in the cameras they already have, we'll have a great group of people with open minds and eagerness to learn how they can apply it to their businesses.

Other speakers that are going to be at the MARS School are:

• Dennis Craft - From Photographer to Portrait Artist (beginner to intermediate)
• Tom Munoz - The Complete Package (all levels)
• Fran Reisner - Focus On The Passion (all levels)
• Michael and Tina Timmons - The Fine Art Side of Photography (intermediate to advanced)
• Joyce Wilson and Emily Connolly - Imagine (all levels)

If you were thinking of checking out one of the MARS School conference, this is definitely the year to do it! Hopefully, we'll see some of you there!

~Vj

Favorite Photo of 2009 Contest!

That's right, you heard me, I'm holding a contest!!

As a thanks to all of my wonderful brides and grooms from 2009, my first official full calendar year as a business owner, I'm holding a contest for the Favorite Photo of 2009! And it's not just any dinky contest... we have a SERIOUS GRAND PRIZE to give away!! Are you ready?!?!

A FREE VACATION!!!!

That's right! The grand prize winner couple will receive a week's vacation to almost anywhere in the world that they choose almost anytime they'd like this year! (flight, transportation, meals, etc. not included)

Don't worry, there are also 3 runners up as well who will receive a free 16x20 portrait of their favorite picture from their own wedding day (because the photos below were just my own favorites from their day and sometimes our favorites don't match up and they should have a portrait of their favorite and not mine, right?).

I'm so excited to get this started so here's how it goes:

1. Votes are tallied through the poll on the right.

2. Anyone can vote as many times as they'd like from different computers/IP addresses (try not to spend your WHOLE work day going to everyone's cubicle though!)

3. Get as many of your friends and families to vote for you as you can - you'll want all the votes you can get!

4. Voting ends on May 25 at midnight!

5. Winners will be announced the following week!

And the nominees are!!!!!


Nathan and Danielle


Lauren and Brian


Tariq and Lisa


John and Nicole



Eric and Nancy (by Craig Pittelli second shooting for me that day - and falling in love with infrared!)


Stephen and Sarah


George and Sarah


Ty and Viviane


Kevin and Jenni


Rod and Megan


Mike and Kristin


Tom and Kerianne


Chris and Sarah


Joe and Danielle


Bobby and Jaime

Sometimes to get great pictures...

...you need to be in slightly embarrassing places!!

I thought this was a behind-the-scenes type thing. Thanks to Kay for taking a picture of me in the shower at the bride's prep, and Andres for taking one of me laying down in the dunes (I christened my 5d mark ii camera with sand that day). :-) Here's the how the shot was taken and then what the shot looked like from Diane and Steve's wedding last week.

Diane and Stephen April 9, 2010

Wow! What a great way to kick off the official "wedding season"! I had the joy of having Andres Valenzuela AND Kay English 2nd shooting for me this day and despite the crazy traffic we hit on the way to the beach, the clouds were, well, picture perfect! :-)

I was able to shoot with my new Canon 40d Infrared and it really was a great day for it. On top of that...I got one shot...well two shots, that I made into this one below, definitely my fav shot of the day! See if you can find the two pictures I combined to make this one!

The entire day was amazing, I think one of my favorite parts was when Amanda, the MoH, told me that when I walked through the door that morning, she was slightly star struck like, "Omg, it's Vanessa Joy, the photographer from the DVD!" Haha, I had to laugh and then apologize for my actual presence sans Yvonne Moss' makeup job. :-)

One HUGE thing that I accomplished thanks to Andres and Kay being there to cover most of the reception, was in addition to the slideshow that I display on a digital picture frame, I chose 20 of those images and was able to make them a mini album (thanks to Capri Album and Stacy Evans letting pick out some custom silk from a local fabric store and Rob for buying me a SWEET Canon portable printer for Christmas); and it was ready by dinner! I wish I had taken more pictures of it, but I was just so excited to surprise them with it that I didn't even think of it at the time!

Here's a little collection of my favorite images and a slideshow of the day with pictures by Andres and I, and you can check out Kay's favorites on her blog here.