Frank DiMeo Blog

Nikki and Mike get married in Schenectady

It was a pleasure and an honor to photograph Nikki and Michael’s fabulous wedding at Mallozzi’s Villa Italia Pasticceria in Schenectady, New York. They hooked me up with a room on Friday and Saturday night at Mallozzi's Belvedere Hotel so we were able to spend a little more time together than usual. They also saw each other before the ceremony (which is always great for photographers) so we were able to go into Albany and do some things at the Capital Building. A special thank you goes out to Ryan for watching the clock for us, and Tam for being the best Maid of Honor ever! You two did an awesome job, and it would have been a lot harder without you. I also have to say that Nikki was a beautiful bride (her Mom said that she has always photographed well) who seemed to get more enchanting and elegant as the day went on.

Mallozzi’s is a classic place, with excellent food, service, and ambiance. I tip my hat to the entire staff for doing such an excellent job. They are extremely professional, courteous, and entertaining. Yes entertaining, it was amazing to watch their presentation. Speaking of entertaining, the DJ was none other than the great Cap Capello! This guy has got it going on. I thought that it must have been a recorded professional doing the introductions because his voice sounded so good. Actually, it was a professional, but he was there in the room with us. He was a lot of fun and definitely on top of his game. I can’t rave enough about Mallozzi’s or Cap Capello, and I highly recommend both to anyone getting married. Brett Wasserman from Silhouette Art on Video was the cinematographer and I’m sure he did an excellent job. Everyone knows how hard it is to find good video people. Do yourself a favor and check out Brett’s work if video is important to you.

Nikki, Mike, and I did their engagement shoot about a year ago in Geneva, and had a great time together. The engagement sessions are such a positive thing on so many different levels. With out a doubt, one of the main reasons I do them is to avoid being a stranger at the wedding. It is a lot more fun, and much better to show up having a little history together. I’m sure that all of my couples would agree that the whole experience is better because of it.

Well Nikki and Mike, I really enjoyed your families, friends, and of course, both of you. Thank you again for the wonderful couple of days, and for looking out for me “Arch it”. I have said it so many times before, and have to say it again, that I am really blessed to work with such terrific people. I wish you many blessings, and much love in your future together. Please click on an image to see it larger, and click here to see their slideshow.

Engagement in Hell's Kitchen

New York City has always been one of my favorite shooting locations. The plethora of visual eye candy it provides a photographer is like no other place in the world.

Hye Jin and Ashish are planning a beautiful Korean/Indian wedding in Seattle later this year, and we have been talking about the wedding for months. Hye Jin actually found me through the PDN/Photo District News Top Knots Wedding contest, and photography is very important to her and Ashish. Photographer’s love couples like this, and I was looking forward to finally meeting them.

We decided to meet at their condo in Hell’s Kitchen. Of course, it always takes me a day or so to get reacquainted with the city so I got off the subway too early, walked for forty-five minutes, hopped into a cab (which I had drop me off too soon), and finally ended up walking the remaining twenty minutes. Fortunately it was a lovely day for walking, but it isn’t easy when you are lugging a bunch of heavy photo equipment. As I neared their address, there was obviously one building that was higher than the rest, and I was thinking, “Oh yes, please let that be their building”. To my delight, it was. So I went up to the 24th floor, met this charming couple, and we began our exciting adventure together.

Ashish had to travel the next day to Shanghai for business, so we were hoping for nice weather because this was our only opportunity. We were fortunate because it was better than nice. In fact, it was a perfect autumn day.

We took a few photos from the top of their building, went down into the streets, then decided to go back up to the top of the building for sunset. Afterwards they treated me (and wow was it a treat) to some awesome Indian cuisine in Mid-Town at Baluchi’s. Please do yourself a favor and check this place out if you like Indian food.

Next we went to Times Square and created some fantastic night imagery. I didn’t feel like we had a lot of time for the daylight photos so I offered to meet them again in the morning to shoot more if they were up for it. So the next morning we met again, and did a few more things in Central Park. We were all exhausted by the time we finished but it was worth the effort, and a great chance to get to know each other.

The following week Hye-Jin asked me for my address because she wanted to send me something. A few days later a beautiful Korean coin purse, and two magnets of a couple in traditional Korean wedding attire arrived from Macy’s. I was so impressed by the hospitality that Hye-Jin and Ashish had showed me the whole time we were together, but this just blew me away. My daughter Bella pleaded with me to take them to school for show and tell. I told her she would have to treasure them and be really careful. She was so proud when she gave them back to me unharmed.

Thank you so much for everything Hye Jin and Ashish. It was such a pleasure to meet and do this with you. I am really looking forward to doing the wedding together, and producing spectacular images for you and your families. Please click on an image to see it larger, and click here for the slideshow.