day 1 – and we are off… again!

we flew out to new york today.  it’s for a number of reasons but mostly to shoot amanda and sal’s engagement session.  amanda’s wedding is next year but we wanted to do a cool shoot in the fall so the photos are completely different.

so… we arrived in nyc and decided that rather than the usual taxi, we’d hop on a bus and take our time getting to our hotel.  i do not think i have been on a city bus in years!  it was pretty cool.  it reminded me of all my teenaged years taking the bus everywhere.  as the sun came in the windows of the bus, it would get super full of people then almost empty as we passed through different neighborhoods. i loved that, i could just people watch for hours. we watched kids hanging out on the street, saw rows and rows of suburb houses and saw the usual herds of yellow taxis.  nyc is hard to explain but what i always notice is because there are just so many people, there are random things all packed into one.  i mean there were store signs that listed it’s contents like beer, papers and school supplies (all in one store).  or an icecream shop with tires and hubcaps for sale. just random stuff that people need are in funny places.  

at a bus stop we asked a girl if she knew a good place to eat.  at that moment we were on jamaica avenue and she told us to take bus # blah blah blah and we’d find a fancy sushi spot.  ”no, i mean some good jerk chicken or roti” i said.  ”oh, just right there” and within minutes we had one of the best home cooked curry chicken with rice and peas and fried plantain ever.  now this is new york!!!  

we found our hotel, checked in, changed into our party shoes and we were on the subway again.  this time we headed to a dwf platinum party at jason groupp’s manhattan studio.  wow, a tonne of photographers showed up and it was really cool to see some familiar faces and meet some new ones!  i have said this before but there is something unique about our industry in that a room can be filled with photographers and we can all chat and connect without any competition.  what other industry gets all the competitors together to simply hang out?  it is very awesome that way.  we met so many new people and decided to go out for some pizza and drinks after the party.  dudes, we didn’t sleep until 5am.  cummon, i can not remember i was out until 5am, maybe when i was like 19?  it was so fun!!!  

day 2

so after sleeping in until an embarrassing time (ok, 12:30) we finally were up and ready to face the busy city.  a small spanish grocery store deli made a wicked grilled chicken sandwich.

photo plus expo is a huge photography convention.  we are actually in nyc for amanda & sal’s engagement shoot, but it just so happened that the two events lined up.  so we went to check out what is new in the world of photography.  like always, we were taken back by the amazingly awesome work that people are coming up with today.  galleries of national geographic images right through to wedding and portraits.  everytime i go to these things, i walk away inspired.  there are so many things photographers can use for inspiration and so many new products to make clients inspired!!!

simply sitting at a starbucks for an hour was so relaxing and watching the busy new york people buzz by was great.  alex and i are really enjoying this little break to just relax and enjoy.  so… what better way to let loosen up than karaoke?  woooooo hoooooo!  we met up with a bunch of really great photographers. karaoke-ing in nyc was on my list of “must do’s” before i die. yes, i have a “must-do” list of a bunch of random things i must do.  cool, check it off the list. it was super fun.  alex and i did a duet to cindy lauper’s “drove all night”.  hahahahaha.

day 3

our friend luis from imagesweddings was also in nyc for work and so we met up at this super cosy restaurant in the lower east side.  yummy food and great company, gotta love it.  we refer luis to any of our brides looking for a videographer.  we love working with him and even more importantly, he is a wicked videographer!  we are big fans of his work and the more we hang out with luis, we love his approach to work in that for him, it is not work at all.  he loves what he does and we love being surrounded by people who love what they do.  so again, to any bride in the toronto or new york area (or anywhere) contact luis and you will fall in love with the company instantly.

day 4

another day at photo plus expo was great.  we saw new albums from graphistudio that looked great!  what a cool time to be in this industry.  we can provide our clients with such great products.  jessica claire was there with her shootsacs, which we love.  jerry ghionis was there with his ice society, which we also love.  hmmm, who else?  jesh de rox has just come up with some pretty wicked new actions. sweetness.  a tonne of people, with a tonne of cool stuff = a great show.

phantom of the opera – oh yeah baby!  even though alex has seen it twice already, he took me and i loooooved it!  it is a classic, i can’t even believe i hadn’t seen it yet!  a sold out show even after 21 years running.  wow.  i got goosebumps within the first five minutes.  i just can’t believe people are so talented!  the singing was phenominal (obviously)!  anyway, the show made this trip feel truly new york.

day 5

this was the day we were waiting for all week!  amanda & sal’s engagement shoot.  this amazing couple is getting married next year so we came to simply shoot their engagement shoot in central park!  oh man, how can i describe these two?  sooooo cute it is rediculous?  sooo in love that it makes you want to hug anyone and everyone.  soooo close to their families that it made me miss my two kids like crazy.  sooo open to new things that it made me want to do something new and exciting.  i guess in a word, these two are inspiring.

here is a small tiny sneak peak of the shoot…  look how happy they are!!!!!!!!!!

after we sat and had a really nice meal with amanda & sal and the shoot was totally done, we packed up and headed for the airport.  as we as we got on our plane, we got this amazing email from amanda.

Tiffany and Alex,