Yep – I’m booked to be the official photographer for the boy’s finals of the Tri County Basketball League (TCBL) at the College of New Rochelle in March for the 3^rd year in a row!  Totally psyched for this as it is my one annual foray into professional sports photography.

99% of my gigs during the year are weddings, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, and family / baby portraits – which I absolutely love shooting – but it is nice to mix in some sports photography as I’ve always loved playing and photographing sports.  I’ve captured some great shots at Yankees games when I’ve been lucky enough to have great seats on the field level.  I’m looking forward to hopefully getting to the Garden to capture some of the new found excitement and Linsanity!

This shoot is a long day as I’ll be shooting two division games from the 5^th, 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grades.  8 total games – about 12 hours on my feet and running from side to side – definitely a workout!  Can’t wait!!!

Just booked two upcoming B’nai Mitzvahs at the lovely Temple Shaaray Tefila in Bedford, NY.  I love shooting Bar and Bat Mitzvahs at Temple Shaaray as both the interior and the exterior grounds are simply gorgeous.  Additionally, Temple Shaaray allows non-flash photography from the back balcony during the service (something most other Synagogues do not allow), and I always throw in a little extra coverage at no additional charge.

This will double the number of Mitzvahs I’ve photographed at Temple Shaaray Tefila in the last 6 months and I have at least a couple of others as prospects in the next year.

As you know if you’ve been following me and my photography on my website or through Facebook with my “Photo of the day”, I love to shoot in candid and photojournalistic style at the events I photograph.  I’ve recently had a couple clients tell me how they feel they always look awful in pictures taken of them.  To which I say to them: if you have a photographer who is simply witnessing your special event – be it a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, wedding, anniversary or birthday party – and capturing the moments as I strive to achieve…  Then you will look great!  You will look natural.  The majority of folks that “don’t look good in pictures” are really talking about when they are aware they are being photographed and “trying” to smile naturally.  I say:  Just have a great time and leave the memories to me…

Bar Mitzvah Photography Westchester County
Bat Mitzvah Photography Westchester County
Bar Mitzvah Photographer
Bat Mitzvah Photographer

People often call the holidays the “season of light”.  One can see why if you attend a Christmas Eve church service or light a menorah or look at a Christmas tree.  I’m lucky that my family celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah and can enjoy the beauty of both celebrations.  I got some lovely photos of my kids lighting the menorah and holding candles while singing “Silent Night” at church on Christmas Eve.  I always try to tell a story with my pictures and I think the photo I captured at the Christmas Eve service of one candle being passed to light another does just that.  Hope you like it as much as I do.

Two years ago I snapped a picture of my kids at the tree swing we put up in Vermont.  I loved the picture as soon as I saw what I had captured and got the idea to take the same picture in different seasons as time passed by – as long as I can get the kids to keep cooperating!  So I now have 4 pictures and will be slated to take another one in the next couple months.  I created a collage of what I have so far going clockwise from top left – oldest to newest.  Hopefully this is something I’ll be able to keep doing for many years to come.

When I say that this was like a fairy tale wedding – I’m not kidding!  It was like a fairy tale in many ways.

The weather for a December day on the water in NYC was amazing.  I think it hit the mid 50s!  I was with the bride to be for over 9 hours – from several hours before the wedding getting photos of getting ready right up to the last guest leaving the party where the dancing rarely stopped!

We had time to get shots with the Brooklyn Bridge as a backdrop, a little homage to Abbey Road as we crossed a city street heading down to the water, and even some great old school NYC gritty shots of the bride in a loading dock area of the South Street Seaport.

The party itself was at Bridgewaters.  What a great space with incredible views of the water!

This was the first time for me shooting a wedding at the South Street Seaport and I gotta say I loved every minute of it.

Been a little while since I’ve made a blog entry about my recent and upcoming photography shoots.  I’ve been busy as I’m in the midst of 10 Bar & Bat Mitzvah events that began in early September and run through early December.  Also recently booked a wedding at Breakwaters at the South Street Seaport in New York City in December.

On top of that I’m excited that I’ve begun booking some great photo shoots for 2012 and even 2013!  I have two weddings I’m extremely excited about photographing in 2012.  One will be at Tappan Hill in Westchester County, NY and the other will be at the NY Botanical Gardens in the Bronx, NY.  I also have a Bat Mitzvah booked for January at Temple Israel and Waykagl Country Club in New Rochelle, NY.

Additionally I just shot a Bat Mitzvah at Temple Shaaray Tefila in Bedford, NY on the outskirts of Mt. Kisco and then a huge and fabulous party at The Loading Dock in Stamford, CT and the Mom and family were so thrilled with my work that they’ve already asked me to hold the date for their next daughter’s Bat Mitzvah in December 2013!  Definitely makes me feel great to know that everyone I’ve shot an event for has loved my photography, style, reliability, energy, effort and personality!!!

So it has been a nice and relaxing summer for me and my family thus far.  I can’t believe it is almost over!!!  Every year it seems the summer passes by faster and faster and my kids are growing waaaaaay too fast!!!  We’ve been going out to Long Beach on Long Island since my oldest was a baby and I just love getting great shots of them on the beach year in and year out.

I’m getting excited for a really busy September and beyond for my photography business.  I have 9 B’nai Mitzvah booked between September 4th and December 4th!  It will definitely be a busy 3 months.  By the time I’m through shooting all these Bar & Bat Mitzvahs – I should be very well versed in all the songs of the day!

Every one of them will be in Westchester County.  I’ve got one that will be taking place at the Crabtree Kittle House Restaurant & Inn in Chappaqua, NY.  At least 4 will be in White Plains, NY with two at Prophecy Night Club, one at Metropolis Country Club, and one at CV Rich Mansion.  Another will be at the Holiday Inn in Mount Kisco, NY.  Additionally I have an engagement shoot scheduled for Wampus Brook Park in Armonk, NY in September.  Like I said – busy!  But believe me – busy is good and exciting – especially when I think about the fact that I only started my photography business not even 3 years ago.  The “word of mouth” has grown exponentially just as I had hoped!

Lastly – September will also be exciting for me as I will be having the first exposition of my work on display and for sale.  It will be at The Black Cow Coffee Co. here in my town of Pleasantville, NY.  The Black Cow is a wonderful indie coffeehouse that opened here just about 2 months ago and exhibits local artists work each month.  I have the month of September and will be displaying about two dozen of my works from over the years covering a wide range of subjects.

If you are around on the evening of Friday, September 9th, between 7-9pm – stop on by The Black Cow for an opening reception with food and drink and some nice chit chat!  If you can’t make it that night – please try to stop by any other time in September to check out my work.  It would be appreciated.

Thanks for your support!

I took this photo of the bride & groom’s wedding rings at their reception Mapleton in White Plains, NY.  It was actually later in the evening after dinner was served and I remembered to borrow their rings to set up this shot.  The dark wooden table was a perfect way to contrast the rings and I just love the lighting and the ring’s reflection shining in the wood.  This was my first wedding that I photographed at Mapleton Historic House.  It is a great venue in New York in the lower Hudson Valley and Westchester County.

Mapleton is for a wedding on the smaller side – probably not much more than 100 guests.  But if you are having a wedding of that size in Westchester, you might want to consider Mapleton as it has a lovely and intimate feel being such an old house and filled with soft wood tones.  It was definitely a great location to photograph a wedding as not only was the house lovely, but the grounds are quite nice.  We got some great wedding photos of the bride & groom and their bridal party and family in a gorgeous flower garden and also up the stone façade of the adjoining church.

Their wedding ceremony was set up outside under the tall 100+ year old trees adorning the grounds and adjacent to the garden.  It really was a lovely day and a wonderful wedding to shoot.  Good people + good food + good entertainment + a once in a lifetime event = Pure joy!

Some technical aspects of the shot I took of the wedding rings for those of you interested.  I tried taking the photo both with and without the use of my flash.  I thought without the flash would actually come out better but this time I was wrong.  I much preferred the flash shot as it added a lot more richness to the wood and helped to create the reflection of the wedding rings in the wood and added some shine.  So using the flash in this shot my camera settings were:  f/3.2, 1/60 sec, ISO-500 at 70mm.  As you can see in the shot the low f-stop and longer focal length of 70mm created a really nice narrow depth of field allowing the main focus of the shot to be the rings.

You can find more information about Mapleton by simply googling it along with White Plains in the search.  They not only host weddings but also Bar & Bat Mitzvah and other special events and corporate events.

Chad David Kraus Photography offers creative and fun photography for special events and family portraits.  Weddings, Bar and Bat Mitzvah, Sweet Sixteen, and more.  Photojournalistic and candid style photography to tell the story of your day.

Had an awesome family portrait shoot in my town of Pleasantville, NY over this past weekend.  It was three generations which is always fun!  Seven grandkids, six moms & dads, and grandma!  And two dogs!  We did a bunch of different groupings of portraits outside on their lawn as the weather was gorgeous and then I shot a bunch of candids of the kids just running around and playing in the backyard.

I love this shot of three of the sisters with their dog laying on the grass.  A nice and relaxing “candid portrait” as I call it.  I think it’s going to be a very busy portrait season come September-November as families gear up for photos for their holiday cards.  I did about a dozen family portrait sessions last fall/winter season mostly in Westchester County and expect it’ll grow this year with word of mouth.

It was a nice weekend overall as I also photographed a wedding in White Plains, NY at Mapleton Historic House on Saturday.  That made for the conclusion of a burst of 4 weddings in 5 weeks that were all over the tri-state area including Sea Bright in New Jersey, New Haven in Connecticut, and Queens, NY.  Brides and grooms overflowing with joy along with their friends and family all having a fabulous time make for great photo shoots and always leave me with a glow of happiness myself.

Photographer for special events and family portraits.  Weddings, Bat and Bat Mitzvah, Sweet Sixteen, and more.  Photojournalistic and candid style photography to tell the story of your day.

I photographed a lovely wedding in White Plains, NY yesterday at the Mapleton Historic Manor.  It was my 4th wedding in 5 weeks and now I get a short breather!  It has been a ton of fun – I’ll tell you that!  And last night I had the opportunity to enjoy some of the awesome catering done by NY Hospitality Group – www.nyhospitalitygroup.com.  The food was awesome and they cater weddings and B’nai Mitzvah and special events at some great spots in Westchester and Connecticut including CV Rich Mansion and Mapleton of Good Council.  Both are historic and timeless locales to host your special event.  They also cater weddings and Bar And Bat Mitzvahs at Sam’s of Gedney Way in White Plains.

These are a few photos of the food and drink at last evening’s wedding.

Chad David Kraus Photography offers high quality and personable photography for special events and family portraits.  Weddings, Bat and Bat Mitzvah, Sweet Sixteen, and more.  Photojournalistic and candid style photography to tell the story of your day.