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.

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!!!

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!

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.

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.

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.

The joy is in the pictures.  And the pictures that I’m capturing are documenting an event that generations can look back on years from now.  It is part of the family history.  I always leave a wedding or B’nai Mitzvah emitting an energy and glow as though I was part of the family.  It’s hard not to when you are around so many people having such a wonderful time.

This photo was shot in Westchester County, NY and the party went well into the night.

I have some select dates left for bookings in the Fall/Winter 2011 season.  So if you or someone you know needs a photographer who loves what they do for an upcoming wedding, Bar or Bat Mitzvah, Sweet Sixteen or other special event – please don’t hesitate to contact me.  I’m also going to begin bookings for 1 hour family portrait sitting for holiday cards.

And although I am based in Westchester County with many clients in Pleasantville, Chappaqua, Armonk, Briarcliff, White Plains and Scarsdale among others – I also shoot all over the tri-state area in NYC, Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, New Jersey and Long Island.