Ohhhh remember baby Alden from last year who loved to stare into your soul with intense, prolonged eye contact? He turned ONE during this session (happy birthday, Alden!) and now stares into your soul slightly less (disappointing but age-appropriate). Now when he looks at you, it’s quickly followed by a clever little smirk like he knows everything about you from previous soul-stealing baby sessions and is definitely going to use it against you in the future. His smile is hilarious and almost looks like he’s incredibly proud of himself… the type of smile that happens right before you’d get a big head nod and he’d open his mouth and say, “Hey bro,” except he’s a baby. It’s incredible. I’d be confident too if I knew how to successfully fish for cats at the age of twelve months. Also, his parents are Kathy and Andrew, whom we love, so obviously this helps to bolster his self-esteem. He’s cute and charming. We did a lot of activities and so by the time we busted out the adorable water table that Alden’s parents bought him for his birthday, he was way tired, and I can say with hands-down certainty that Kathy was the person who enjoyed that table the most (this may have happened even if Alden wasn’t wiped out… Kathy really loved that table). We’re so glad we were there to document this little future-cat-lover (and hopefully extremely good secret-keeper) turn one.

Geoff and I were so thrilled to finally have our first wedding in NYC! We’ve shot sessions there a few times, but we’re glad that we’re able to end our last year as wedding photographers with an actual NYC wedding under our belts thanks to Diana and Long. We’ve always felt like they might be logistical travel challenges (do we take the subway? do we take an Uber? what about traffic?), but the truth is that we’ve had many local Durham weddings that were significantly harder to navigate, and it actually ended up being a breeze. We got outside Diana’s hotel early enough for Geoff to grab a Central Park hot dog (a requirement), and we were on our way.

One of my favorite parts of Central Park is the pond area, where it’s green and watery but you can see all the reflections of the 5th Ave buildings in the water and in the background, and we were lucky enough that Diana was getting ready right in The Pierre. So we took photos directly in that area on one of the nicest weather days and it was lovely. Then we hopped on over to Queens for Diana and Long’s wedding ceremony at the Museum of the Moving Image which was incredible! A movie theater about movies, there are a lot of phenomenal displays in there, including a permanent Jim Henson exhibit where I got to take a selfie with the original Emmet Otter puppet, sad Christmas movie legend. Chewbacca’s head also resides there, as well as a ton of vintage toys and old computer and video game systems. If you’re ever in Queens you should check it out.

Diana and Long were surrounded by their families and friends as they got married in the awesome blue theater, some family members coming from as far away as China, and it was a heart-felt event. They celebrated their reception catching up with loved ones and doing a phenomenally choreographed first dance. Their wedding was music themed, and they had great table cards shaped like cassettes, and different records identifying each table. A lot of time and thought went into their decor, and it was sweet to see what music brought them together. They are super kind and fun-loving people, and we were so happy to work with them on their wedding. It was a big deal for us to have a wedding in NYC, and we’re happy it got to be with them.

Date: May 18, 2019
Ceremony+Reception Venue: Museum of the Moving Image // Queens, NY
Officiant: Friend
Florist: Bride
Dessert: Bibble & Sip
Caterer: Eventfull
Hair/Makeup: Red Image
Videographer: WeCinema