Frank DiMeo Blog

Patricia and Alan at The Aurora Inn

The majestic Aurora Inn provided a beautiful backdrop for Patricia and Alan’s engagement shoot this past Saturday. Thank you Lauren Tillapaugh, Director of Marketing and Events at the Inn, for recommending such a wonderful couple to me. Lauren is one of the most friendly and attentive people I have met in the wedding business. I can’t say enough good things about her and the rest of the crew that help make the Inn the special place it is. I told Patricia and Alan that they were in good hands with Lauren. They appreciated hearing that, and added that she has been a pleasure to work with. All I can say is wait until the wedding she really is amazing.

The Inn is located in the lovely town of Aurora on the east side of Cayuga Lake. I have shot a few weddings there, but never really had the opportunity to just hang out and take in its splendor. There were no official events scheduled at the Inn, but lunch and dinner entertained capacity crowds. They did give us run of the place though, and as usual, everyone was intrigued watching us work our magic.

Patricia, Alan, and I spent a few hours together, and as always it was such a treat to get to know them before their wedding. Again, I believe whole-heartedly that getting together for these engagement sessions is an essential ingredient to producing more incredible results at the wedding. I honestly feel that they facilitate me becoming a friend instead of just another vendor, and to me that is priceless.

We were all starved when we finished so Patricia and Alan insisted on treating me to a succulent dish of pan-seared scallops with eggplant stuffed ravioli. Did I say YUM! O.k. you got me, another reason I love doing these is because my awesome couples usually treat me to a fantastic meal too. Thank you so much for such an awesome meal, and day together, Patricia and Alan. It is a pleasure to share these images with you and your families, and I look forward to a beautiful wedding, in one of my favorite locations.
As always, please click on an image to see it larger.

Kristen and Greg in Skaneateles

Wow, what a fun couple! Kristen, Greg and I hooked up last weekend to do their engagement shoot in Skaneateles. This week has been so crazy (posting six Cornell shoots online, traveling, and a ton of other things) so it is such a treat to be able to come back and edit images like these and think about the wonderful time we had together. They were a little shy at first (I think everyone is, and know I would be) but they have been together for seven years, and obviously love each other, so it wasn’t a problem. The more we shot, the better they did, and I have to tip my hat to them for being open to anything I suggested.

I also need to thank Kristen’s aunt Ann Crowley, and cousin Andrea from Bella-brations Event Planning (315) 730-7878 for getting us together. I did Jessica and Todd’s wedding last year with Ann and Andrea, and as I said back then, they are awesome! I would highly recommend contacting Ann or Andrea when planning a wedding or big event.

So back to Kristen and Greg. Sometimes I feel like people think I am a little crazy when I ask them to do something. I am constantly asking, “How are you doing? Are you o.k. with this? It might feel a little strange, but it looks awesome!” They both replied, “You’re work is great and we trust anything you say.” That kind of response is so encouraging, and it feels great to know they have such confidence in me.

When we finished shooting, they insisted on treating me to a fantastic meal at Joe’s Pasta Garage. Yum, it was so good. Thanks again for dinner, and everything Kristen and Greg. It was such a pleasure to spend a few hours together and get to know you a little. I hope you and your families enjoy looking at the images as much as I enjoyed creating them. Skaneateles is a beautiful area, and I hope to be shooting there much more in the future. Please click on an image to see it larger.

Motoko and ViMal

Wow, I am really swamped already but just had to get this blog post up for Motoko and Vimal. I had the pleasure of photographing their wedding last weekend in Ithaca and they really are a wonderful couple. I was intrigued by their first email and copied part of it here for you, “Hi, We are getting married on May 5th, 2007. Since this will be the only time all of our families get together (from Japan, India, and US), we would like to have really nice pictures taken on our wedding day. We really love your pictures.
Thanks.”

I was thinking, people from Japan, India, and the US, that sounds awesome, of course I am interested, lets make this happen. Well it was fantastic, and Motoko was a beautiful bride. Thank you both for allowing me to have a part in such an important day of your lives.

I am working on doing more destination weddings, and realized recently that I do them in my hometown all the time. This wedding was another one of them. No one lives where the wedding is held and they come from all different parts of the world to witness it.

As always, click on an image to see it larger, enjoy, and please leave me a message if you like the images.

Nora and Eric in Ithaca

I arrived a little early to meet Nora and Eric at Cornell on Sunday and was thinking about what I do, and these engagement shoots. I have never met them, or Mark and Katherine before yesterdays shoot, and didn’t have a clue as to what any of them looked like. I was wondering how many people could meet someone for the first time, point a camera at them, and walk away with the images I intended on creating with them. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how blessed I am to have this gift that I love so much.

Then I started thinking about the wedding and how much work they are, and how constantly being on the run that day doesn’t really give us a chance to get to know each other either. That is why I do these engagement shoots. I include them in my packages because I feel it is essential for me to connect with my brides and grooms. A lot of photographers do them and charge extra for a limited amount of time. My contract says 1.5 hours but I have never done one in that amount of time. Today we are squeezing it into two hours because Nora and Eric have to go to her Mom’s birthday party (Happy Birthday Mom). Yesterday Mark, Katherine, and I were together for six hours (that is $50.00 worth of babysitter time too) and I have no regrets, in fact I loved it and would not have it any other way.

So I am sitting in my car waiting for another car to pull up. I already asked the wrong girl if she was Nora, and I could hear her telling her friends “I don’t know who he is”. Then a couple walks up out of nowhere, sits down, looks around, and then she starts to pull out a phone so I know it must be them. I pull up, they know it is me, I know it is them, but how does that happen really? Instantly, it is like we have known each other forever, they get in and we drive away to create magic. The whole thing is such an amazing experience, and really blows my mind when I think about it.

I also feel blessed because of my clients. All of my couples are so friendly, and the greatest people. Nora and Eric definitely fit right in with this, they are awesome. Nora’s skin is angelic, light and the camera just love her. I was working on the images trying to think of who she reminded me of. Then it hit me; she looks a lot like Katie Holmes. My wife saw the images and said that she is going to be a beautiful bride.

Thank you Nora and Eric, I wish we could have spent a little more time together but the time we did have was a lot of fun. Hope everyone likes the images, and I can’t wait to be with you on your special day. As always, click on the photos to see them bigger.

Mark and Katherine in Rochester

I was looking forward to shooting Mark and Katherine’s wedding this September at the Avanti Mansion in Buffalo because they seem like such a nice couple. Well, all that changed after Saturday when we got together for their engagement shoot. Now I am REALLY looking forward to it. These two are so much fun! We spent almost six hours together on a rainy day in Rochester and none of us could figure out where the time went. Katherine commented about how nice it was to work with someone that obviously loves what they do for a living. We met at The Dinosaur Bar B Q and decided to drive around to see what we could find. We ended up at the Strong National Museum of Play, and we played. It was so much fun, these two are such a pleasure to be around and were open to just about anything. We ended up back at the Dinosaur where Mark and Katherine treated me to some finger-lickin good ribs and catfish strips (yum).

The men’s bathroom has awesome red and white walls filled with graffiti. Any one that follows my blog knows about my fixation for shooting in bathrooms. They are usually small, with light colored walls, and have tons of mirrors. In other words they are a little paradise for light and mirror junkies who like to bounce their flash around. Well I mentioned it to Katherine and she was all for it. We put some guy on guard at the door but he didn’t stop anyone from coming in, and of course everyone had to go when they saw a woman walk in and the flash going off. We finally walked out after the place filled up, and jokingly fired the guard.

Thanks for the good times, and great food Mark and Katherine. Hope you and your families like the images, and I look forward to getting together again at the wedding.