It’s been forever and a day since I last wrote. After a complete overhaul of the studio’s computer system, including a new mainframe hard drive system, two new computers, one new laptop, we are now ready to burn through a staggering amount of photo+video+multimedia, and I am ready to get back to keeping up with the blog!

Kira and Noah’s wedding was at Sherman Mills, a very unique, urban location in East Falls.

Lindsay Landman of Lindsay Landman Events did the planning. The band was called The Union, out of New York City.
The florals were arranged by Flower Sculpture, Marie Huss. The wedding dress was by Badgley Mischka from Mark Ingram Bridal Altelier.

We were so lucky since the weather was perfect. The day unfolded beautifully. At the end of the night, we presented Kira and Noah with our video iPod kit to take with them on their trip, complete with iPod, charger, headphones, a splitter so they can both listen at the same time, and lots of music that I found online at archive.org.

I adore this image! The shadow detail of the dress on the floor is stunning.

This was their first seeing each other at the Four Seasons. Luckily, no one was out there!

We then went to the Waterworks area and took these shots on the newly built stairs that connect the Art Museum with the Waterworks.
I look forward to the construction being completed; when all done, it really will be amazing!

This is one of my favorite images. The camera / lens do not make the photographer, but without my 85mm 1.2 on my Canon 5D, I do not think I would have gotten this shot. I hope to submit this for competition.

I photographed the chupa on my back using my Fuji S5 with my trusty fisheye lens.

The bride walking down “the aisle”…

Details of the space, as transformed by Lindsay and Marie Huss…

The hora is probably the most intense photographic experience one can have. We shot over 200+ images with three different cameras in the span of three minutes!

Thank you, everyone, for making this such a great event!

—jonathan

For the third time in as many months, I scouted a location for a shoot then watched a movie that used the same location.
This time it was “The Mall” in Central Park. The movie was Vanilla Sky. The scene was a dream sequence wit Penelope Cruz walking away from Tom Cruise.
I love this image, shot with the 5D with the 16-35 f/2.8 lens. Super wide angle. I held the camera above my head so that we can see the vanishing point of the two lines. Just this little difference changes everything. POV…point of view. Even just a few inches changes everything. I like to “dance” with the camera to find that exact point in space that best articulates the majesty of the scene…

Since Lisa and Ian were a bit nervous for the shoot, I told them that I am not a “poser”, that I want them to feel relaxed and natural and fun.
So I told them to dance!

We walked down The Mall towards Bethesda Fountain. We found this amazing archway…I love the people at the top, their forms mimicking those of Lisa and Ian…We thought about cloning them out, but this is part of the scene so they stayed in!

I love this series! I took about 60 shots here that will be animated to show movement when we make their final DVD Slideshow

We walked on to the south part of the park to one of the cool rocks that grace the park. They make such great natural vistas…

We then took a cab down to an amazing bar called 230 Fifth, with 15,000 square feet of deck space. Who do we see but Naked Cowboy himself. He just got done shooting a commercial. I sneaked this shot of him without looking.

A wide shot of the bar…It was so cold and the rain was on it’s way, but the company was wonderful and the food and drinks hit the spot!

We went inside to get warm and captured this fun shot using just candlelight…

For me, the engagement shoot is, of course, about images, but it is also about getting to know one another, about being present in a moment together and having fun!

Thank you , Lisa and Ian! Looking forward to your wedding next month in Grand Cayman!!

A day at the beach, the park, the mountains, a summer bbq with all of your family together…the options are limitless!
“Lifestyle Portraiture: creative environmental portraits in fun locations”!
Below are some sample images…

This is a previous post about my niece Sadie the day she was born! We now offer photo + video for our “Year from Now” option: 4 sittings spread across one year! We will have a sample ready for Sadie this summer when she finally turns one!

Here are a few canvas prints we created that just arrived in the studio! They look amazing! The image is printed directly on canvas then stretched to fit around a wood frame. No need to buy a frame.

Congratulations, Jennifer and Mike! Your wedding was a joy to photograph!

I love these two images of Jen. They were not “posed”; her dress was being tied by her mother…

I love reflections!

With so much forced posing going on in the wedding industry today, I feel my style is better suited to letting people just be.
Here, the two fathers stood like two blocks of concrete! It says so much about their character. Was I going to unnaturally change that by posing them? No way!

I took a whole series of the girls walking towards the camera: simple, easy, natural. Since we shot video as well, this will make for a great series of images…

This image is a favorite! I was able to shoot the image from inside the limo with my new Canon 1D Mark III at an ISO of 3200. I love her expression and her father stoically in the background. Normally, I would have not shot this image since it was so dark. The camera does not make the photographer, but it certainly expands the range of his work…

We plan on submitting this image for competition. I love the honesty, the dramatic tension between their passionate love and the stark background.

The cake! I enjoy shooting details, anything that has symbolic power. We used a video light to the left of the cake, which provided a soft and dreamy look.

The final image of the day…on the stairs. We used the video light from above to add a bit of punch…I was shooting through the railings to get this POV. Funny that I never thought for a moment to shoot this image from the conventional angle.

Julie, my cousin, and her husband Austin are having a baby! My family went en mass to LA for the shower.

It was so much fun! I am so lucky to have a family that parties together, even if it means traveling 3,000 miles to get there!
Sadie flew very well. I love these shots of her…


Special thanks to the girls who put together the party!

Julie and Austin were nice enough to put us all up in their magnificent home in the Hollywood Hills! I woke every morning to this view.

We went to see Julie and Austin’s super-cool office where they produce all sorts of amazing content for MTV, etc…Here is Austin, the master editor, in his lair. Austin edited the Cheryl Crow video that was made up of my photographs back in 2001. Austin is one of the reasons why studio nine is so ahead of the curve with the whole wedding multimedia thing. Thank you, my friend!

We took a day trip to the famous Ivy restaurant, where all the famous people go to lunch and to be seen. No star sightings (we didn’t really care that much since the star was really my niece Sadie!!), but reportedly Aston Kutcher was filming something down the street. So, I took I shot of the reaction to the action…

Lunch was fabulous!

The rest of our time was spent playing with Silly Sadie!!

Some of the other players:

We played Rock Band. Crazy stuff!

We all wrote messages to “Baby Reading”, as he is now called, on stones that went inside a fish…

The final image: The Presents…

An excerpt from our 2nd article in Studio Photography Magazine:

For those not too familiar, the Lensbaby produces an uncommon image. Creating distorted periphery, spherical blurs are at the hands of the artist- spontaneous and disorienting. And this is just one frame. Multiply that by 24 frames a second. A medium close-up can become a nauseating 1st person view. Although the lens can create hazy tunnel-like perspectives, my tests prove that it can also be one of the most adaptable lenses in the cinematographer’s toolbox.

In essence, the lens is a 3G with added support for film. It can also be connected quite easily to a video setup by using one of many 35mm lens-to-video adapters available. This means that it can generate wistful b-roll for a million dollar film or equally serve as the only lens on an HD indie short. In my tests I used the lens as the latter. The 3GPL was locked onto a Letus35 Extreme ($1,200), which reflected my experiments into a Panasonic HVX-200. With most lens-to-video adapters, the framed subject is monitored upside-down. I couldn’t imagine trying to focus a lensbaby while monitoring an inverted image. Nausea would ensue. Luckily, this isn’t the case with the Letus35.

In my never-ending quest to have the perfect system, I purchased significant upgrades to my camera arsenal.The 1D Mark III is soooo fast and sharp and has custom looks that I can set right in camera like the two images below. It helped me see what the final outcome would look like. There was very little post production done to these images.

I love the tree branch in the foreground offset by the ghostly forms in the background. The light just popped and I found myself, once again for what seems to be the millionth time, shooting up into the trees. I just cannot get enough of it! The image below is from Ridley Creek State Park, which is adjacent to my house where I grew up. Mom still lives there today.

The 1D has such amazing low-light capabilities. I shot this of my cat Early in the studio with hardly any light: f/2.8 at 1/10th of a second at ISO 3200

The Fuji S5 is all about the image. It may not be the fastest camera in the world, but I do not need it to be fast. It captures images with 400% more dynamic range than ordinary cameras, which enables my image to have great contrast between highlight and shadow. Also, Fuji is known for color. I love these newsstands!

People ask me why I shoot with 4 and sometimes 5 different cameras at a wedding. I answer them by saying that each camera plays a specific role during the event, providing me with the right camera and lens combination at the right time. If my entire business is about the image, how can I go into a shoot without being totally equipped with the right tools?

at the Independence Visitor’s Center / Philadelphia, PA

Lisa & Paul from Studio Nine on Vimeo
Another awesome example of an album brought to life by our in-house editor!

This was an gorgeous day at The Hyatt Regency Penn’s Landing / Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Lauren & Pete from Studio Nine on Vimeo.

ISES held its Fresh Event Wednesday night at Harrah’s. The best designers and caterers showcase their ideas for event planners in the area. Phyllis Jablonowski from Eventricity was the chair for the event. Nice work, Phyllis!

Mike Chowansky is the Catering Manager at Harrahs. Good job, Mike!

My dear friends at H&D Design (Hope and Donna!) collaborated with Culinary Concepts, AMP Audio Visual, Jennfier Angelo Design to create “a pod”. I put together a slideshow of images and logos to go with the fresh and natural theme.