Top 19 Photos of 2019
This is our first annual Favorite Shots of the Year post. They are in no particular order. Each has a story to tell, an emotion to share, or a moment to freeze in time. They are comprised of wedding photos, senior portraits, family portraits, sporting events, travel shots and even some salad. We had fun putting this gallery of images together and we hope you enjoy them. 2019 was a great year for the studio, we shot just over 160,000 images through the course of the year and had so much fun along the way, sharing them, making people smile, making moms cry (making dads cry), and hopefully putting a little beauty into the world. Here are our favorite shots, please share them if you like. Now we are on to 2020 and wondering what the 20 best shots of this coming year will look like.
Barbados, a truly magical place to snorkel. This green sea turtle is about 5 feel long and weighs in at 400-500 lbs. We got to spend some quality time with this one and a couple others before the crowds of snorkelers came out. It was really amazing. (Sony A6000, 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS, 1/250 sec at F / 7.1, ISO 100 at 16 mm, using a Sea Frogs 40m underwater housing)
Sacred Heart Ukrainian Catholic Church on May 4. Tanya and Joel had such a beautiful wedding and with this shot, I cranked the drama up to 11 (‘Which is one higher’ - This is Spinal Tap.) (Canon 5D Mk IV, 16-35 2.8L, 1/250 sec at F / 5.0, ISO 320 at 16 mm, naturally lit)
Susquehanna Valley senior Mitchell Knapp leaps over a wall of Gouverneur defenders to score a touchdown on the way to a second straight Class C State Football Championship at the Carrier Dome. (Canon 7D Mk II, 70-200 2.8L, 1/500 sec at F / 3.2, ISO 2000 at 88 mm)
Claire’s senior portrait in the “Tree of Death” at Cutler Gardens in Binghamton. (Canon 5D Mk IV, 70-200 2.8L, 1/200 sec at F / 2.8, ISO 100 at 200 mm, lit with Orlit RT-610 with Westcott RapidBox Medium and back-lit by the sun)
Olivia is a high school senior this year and a firefighter in the Hillcrest Fire Company. We shot this image as part of her senior shoot. It is actually 5 images put together, shooting on a tripod and then lighting different parts of the truck and blending the images together for the final composite. (Canon 5D Mk IV, 70-200 2.8L, 1/200 sec at F / 16, ISO 200 at 70 mm, lit with Orlit RT-610 with Westcott RapidBox Medium)
This was shot for a personal project. This is a composite image consisting of pieces of about seven different captures. (Canon 5D Mk IV, 24-105 4.0L, 1/200 sec at F / 9.0, ISO 200 at 105 mm, lit with a pair of ProFoto B10 plus with profoto 24” beauty dishes)
Johnson City Lacrosse from April 16. Ethan shows his great smile and eye black as the game is about to start. (Canon 5D Mk IV, 70-200 2.8L, 1/1600 sec at F / 2.8, ISO 320 at 200 mm, naturally lit)
High flying Xavier and I had a great time on his senior shoot. I am not sure how many dunks we photographed that day but it was somewhere north of 40 for sure. This one shows clearly that he can fly. (Canon 5D Mk IV, 24-105 4.0L, 1/125 sec at F / 6.3, ISO 640 at 24 mm, lit with Orlit RT-610 with Westcott 7 foot parabolic umbrella)
This is one of Jenna’s senior portraits. We were shooting at her uncle’s place north of Binghamton and we found this cool spot by a shed with an old wagon wheel that just looked nice. Timing it for the breeze to blow her hair a bit we got this shot. (Canon 5D Mk IV, 70-200 2.8L, 1/200 sec at F / 6.3, ISO 100 at 115 mm, lit with Orlit RT-610 with Westcott RapidBox Medium)
Lee rocking the bicycle kick on the turf at Johnson City High School. We had to run through a lot of these to get just the perfect moment of ball on foot. (Canon 5D Mk IV, 16-35 2.8L, 1/500 sec at F / 8.0, ISO 100 at 35 mm, naturally lit)
On the island of Saint Lucia, we stopped in a village called Anse La Raye to visit some beachside gift shops. As we walked around, I saw this man stand up from where he was lying on the beach and I captured this image of him. He has stories to tell. (Canon 5D Mk IV, 70-200 2.8L, 1/500 sec at F / 5.6, ISO 100 at 190 mm)
Dramatically lit, we got this shot of Gavin in downtown Binghamton near the river walk for his senior portraits. (Canon 5D Mk IV, 70-200 2.8L, 1/125 sec at F / 13, ISO 100 at 120 mm, lit with Orlit RT-610 with Westcott RapidBox Medium)
The Gardens of Light at the Montreal Botanical Gardens with a very long exposure. The entirety of the botanical gardens is lit with a light show that is probably the best we have ever seen. We shot this using a stone railing as a makeshift tripod. (Canon 5D Mk IV, 16-35 2.8L, 20 sec at F / 22.0, ISO 100 at 16 mm)
Coastal Brunswick, Maine shot just after sunset. This was taken at Sean’s stepmother’s family home on the water. A beautiful location and home to 6 bald eagles. (Canon 5D Mk IV, 24-105 4L, F / 8.0, shot using 3 bracketed exposures at 1/4, 1/15, 1/25, and ISO 100 at 24 mm, naturally lit)
Vincenzo Nibali cruises past in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal. He was doing about 30 miles per hour so I ran a slow shutter and tracked with him to get the motion blur in the wheels and the background. (Canon 5D Mk IV, 70-200 2.8L, 1/50 sec at F / 13.0, ISO 100 at 115 mm, naturally lit)
One year old mid cake-smash in studio. Cake smashes are so much fun to do, the cleanup… not as much fun but worth it for a shot like this. (Canon 5D Mk IV, 24-105 4L, 1/200 sec at F / 4.0, ISO 800 at 105 mm, lit with the modeling lights from four Orlit Kwik strobes)
Jess posing in Cutler Gardens for her senior portraits. We shot this one using high speed synch on the strobe to get that shallow depth of field of the 2.8 aperture to make her stand out from the background and soften the foreground flowers. (Canon 5D Mk IV, 70-200 2.8L, 1/1000 sec at F / 2.8, ISO 100 at 200 mm, lit with Orlit RT-610 in high speed sync with Westcott RapidBox Medium)
Esther just before her wedding to Zach at Lord Hill Church in Owego, New York. They are a great couple and are now expecting a baby girl! We are so happy for them. (Canon 5D Mk IV, 24-105 4L, 1/200 sec at F / 9.0, ISO 100 at 105 mm, lit with Orlit RT-610 with Westcott RapidBox Medium)
Pure passion in May at Wolfe Park in Binghamton for an engagement shoot. (Canon 5D Mk IV, 70-200 2.8L, 1/200 sec at F / 2.8, ISO 320 at 105 mm, naturally lit)