As we all know, this Covid-19 pandemic has been a challenging time for everyone. Whether you’re an essential employee or a photographer such as myself, you’re feeling the effects of this crisis. Being a photographer in New Orleans, I definitely haven’t been immune to how this effecting business. People are having to cancel or postpone their bigger weddings and events which sends ripples through our industry. Being that I was just married a few months ago, I couldn’t imagine all the plans for our wedding having a wrench thrown into them. It has been devastating for some couples, others are choosing alternative means of expressing their love and trying to make the best of the situation presented to them. Which brings me to Shekema and Kevon’s wedding I had the pleasure of covering a little over a week ago.
Lately there has been a world wide pandemic due to Covid-19. Many cities nation wide have shuttered their drinking establishments and entertainment venues. Living as a photographer in New Orleans, I knew I wanted to document the emptiness of the streets. Bourbon Street in the French Quarter of the city is world famous as a place for drinking, partying and general debauchery. It’s typically filled with tourists and party goes nearly every hour of the day. It’s very rare to see the street entirely empty of people. This was the perfect opportunity to head down and photograph this rare occurrence.
Before I made the move down to New Orleans, I had the opportunity to photograph a great engagement session in NYC. I’ve known Matt and Val for a long time now and I was excited when they asked me to be their wedding photographer. Of course we had to do an engagement session since I include them with my all day wedding packages. They weren’t exactly sure where they wanted to go, but after a little back an forth they came up with the awesome idea to have it done at Evil Twin Brewing in NYC. They’re both into craft beers and they thought that Evil Twin Brewery would be perfect.
Last week my wife and I made the move down to New Orleans, Louisiana. Being a wedding photographer, it’s going to take a little time to build up my client base in this new much larger city. So as I’m in this transition, I want to becoming more acquainted with the city and it’s people by photographing as much of it as possible. I made it down a week before Fat Tuesday aka Mardi Gras Day
For most of my wedding packages, I included a complimentary engagement shoot. It provides a great chance for me to meet with the couple and start getting to know them before their big day. It adds a bit of familiarity and makes the wedding day so much smoother. Sara and Tom are Bethlehem locals and really liked the idea of walking around Downtown Bethlehem and getting a few shots around our beautiful town. It was nearing the end of fall, so we had all the great fall aspects to choose from and the possibility of those wonderful autumn sunsets.
I had a few people ask me if I planned on doing a continuation to my Cautionary Tales series from last year. I was considering not doing it since this October has been very busy. Inevitably, my desire to create took over and I started writing ideas out and started to figure out how I wanted to execute them, no pun intended. For the people that didn’t see last year’s series, this is a horror photo series showcasing distraction and what could happen when you are. With no further delay, I present Cautionary Tales 2.
End of summer is bittersweet. I spend a lot of time outside during the summer months and sometimes the heat can get to me. It makes doing the things I love to do outdoors a little more challenging. Being that summer is almost over I was looking forward to AFROPUNK Fest and seeing some great music. I typically don’t go to music festivals because they tend to be too chaotic for me. AFROPUNK on the other hand is more worth my time. The overall vibe is dope, creative and there are many musical acts that I get a chance to see.
I spent Saturday afternoon in Allentown hanging out at Blues, Brews and BBQ. I’ve been to it years in the past, but this was the first time I spent a significant amount of time there watching various artists perform. My friend Pentley was playing on the stage outside of Queen City BBQ. The Allentown Arts Walk provided a great backdrop for the stage. For the most part, Pentley plays alone, but he was backed by a group of great local musicians which provided a different feel to his set. Here’s a few photos from his performance.
Life can be strange sometimes. Peoples’ lives cross in unexpected ways. When we were kids, Pentley Holmes and I shared a bus stop at the half point between our houses. Then he moved to P’burg and I didn't see him for a long time. Around high school, I started to ride BMX and I started to see Pentley around again since he also rode at the time. After a few years, he started music and really immersed himself in playing and learning music. It was a rarity when I would catch him out somewhere. Back when I started photography around 6 years ago, he was one of the first people I did some photos and videos for while he performed in a little basement venue. This past Saturday, I met him at the State Theatre in Easton, PA and shot photos and videos for him in the nicest venue in town. He’s had an awesome journey in music thus far and I thought he’d be a perfect person to talk with.
When I think of ghost towns, I think of the movie There Will Be Blood. I imagine the wood houses, the serenity, the prominent church and an oil well or gold mine. You can see the small tight knit community working towards a common goal, to get rich. When my friend Ron and I were planning on our trip to California, I knew this would be an amazing place to check out.
