This blog has moved

This blog is now located at http://blog.bephotography.net/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://blog.bephotography.net/feeds/posts/default.

Editorial -- Month(s) in review....?

I know all my posts typically start out by making excuses as to why we have not updated the blog as much as we would have liked.... so I dont want to break the trend here! -

We experienced a much busier than normal winter with a ton of January weddings, and a huge bridal show which lead to multiple meetings every day of the week! - Plus after a slight lul in the news cycle, things have picked up again. Then came the snow, and after shoveling blizzard after blizzard I just didnt have the energy to blog! And would you believe it, now here we are in March!!

I'm writting this the day before our spring wedding season starts, and it is on track to be our busiest year ever! Thank you to all the previous clients who continue to send business our way by telling their friends and family about us!! - We could not have done it with out you!

With that said, we should have plenty of ammo for more frequent blog postings -- if we can just get around to logging in and writting them that is! :)

But for now, here is some of the news I managed to cover over the last month or 2 in between my meetings and the shoveling! :)

January 20th, 2010 - Washington, District of Columbia, USA - TARAQ SALAHI and MICHAELE SALAHI, who managed to attend portions of a White House State Dinner without proper clearance testify before the House Homeland Security Committee. The Salahi's were subpoenaed to testify but repeatedly refused to answer any questions asked by the committee.

(Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

January 20th, 2010 - Washington, District of Columbia, USA - CEO of ExxonMobil REX TILLERSON and Founder of XTO Energy Inc. BOB SIMPSON testify before the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee hearing focusing on the proposed merger between ExxonMobil and XTO and it's impact on US Energy markets.

(Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

February 1st, 2010 - Washington, District of Columbia, USA - President BARACK OBAMA walks into the Grand Foyer of the White House as he prepares to give remarks about his fiscal year 2011 budget.

(Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

February 1st, 2010 - Washington, District of Columbia, USA - President BARACK OBAMA delivers remarks about his proposed FY 2011 budget in the Grand Foyer of the White House.

(Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

February 2nd, 2010 - Washington, District of Columbia, USA - Treasury Secretary TIMOTHY GEITHNER is heckled by Code Pink Protestors as he prepares to give testimony about the President's proposed FY2011 budget.

(Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

February 2nd, 2010 - Washington, District of Columbia, USA - Treasury Secretary TIMOTHY GEITHNER gives testimony about the President's proposed FY2011 budget.

　(Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

February 24th, 2010 - Washington, District of Columbia, USA -Toyota President and CEO AIKO TOYODA testifies at a congressional hearing on the Toyota Gas Pedal recall. Due to reports of malfunctioning gas pedals, Toyota had to recall millions of cars.

(Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

Mary & Josh @ Chincoteague Virginia

Mary and Josh are good friends of ours who's wedding I was planning on shooting in September this year. As many of you already know - I had open heart surgery August 28th, which for the most part put me out of commission for my September and October weddings. So I was rather upset when one of the weddings I would not be able to shoot was the wedding of my wife's best friend since elementary school!

Be that as it may, having gone thru open heart surgery once prior in my life, I knew what was involved with recovery, and I did not think that I would even be able to attend Mary's wedding just three weeks after surgery. I figured I would take things easy and see how it goes, and if I was feeling up to it I hoped to attend the wedding as a guest - but certainly wouldn’t be shooting anything!

Well, recovery went better than expected and I was tired of sitting around resting and needed to try to push my boundaries! I was able to attend the wedding -- but I'm not one to attend a wedding and not be taking photos! So with the help of my wife holding gear and making sure I didn’t over-extend myself - I was able to capture these photos for Mary & Josh at their windy beach wedding in Chincoteague!

Of course, I would have loved to have done much more for these two - but I think I had reached the bounds of what my body could handle at that point in my recovery, and needless to say - I slept very well that evening! :)

Mary always wanted a beach wedding and invited just a small group of friends and family down to Chincoteague to be a part of their ceremony. The weather did not cooperate well as there was a heavy, steady wind on the beach all day long --- but at least it didn’t rain! :)

Chincoteague is such a quaint little town and I am personally a big fan of beach weddings, as I think they lean themselves to gorgeous photos! -- While I wish I could have been feeling 100% and not have been limited by certain positions I could not physically get into yet and all because of my recovery -- I'm pretty happy that I was able to shoot anything at all at this wedding!! :)

And another point about this beautiful wedding -- All the guests stayed at the Comfort Inn in Chincoteague...... which has BY FAR - the very BEST, most COMFORTABLE beds in the entire world!! --- It is a perfect combination of a wonderful mattress and luxurious mattress pad! And while they know what mattresses they use.... they do not sell, or know the mattress pads that they use -- I would have bought 10 of them on the spot!

Renee & David @ Silver Swan Bayside

Renee & David was one of the last weddings I shot before I headed in for open heart surgery at the end of August. For a summer that for the most part was fairly cool compared to our recent summers in the DC/Baltimore metro areas, this day however, was a scorcher!!

Silver Swan Bayside had a friendly staff and a nice location just over the bay bridge on the water, however the major down-side to this facility from a photographers point of view was the lack of shade... anywhere! With that said however, once the sun begins to set and the heat of the day subsides, it does provide for a beautiful backdrop, and wonderful atmosphere!

Editorial Month In Review

The only things that were talked about these last 2 months were health-care and the White House party crashers. Unfortunately, the health-care issue does not really open itself to many great still photographs -- so for the most part I have not covered much of it. -- Possibly a mistake on my end, but the same talking head-shots of pelosi and reid just don't inspire me too much -- not to mention much of the photo ops surrounding health-care seem to have been day-of planning and not on any schedules I see the night before.

That leaves us with the White House party crashers .... Well, I was at the White House for the official state visit by the Indian PM, but had other plans and didn't see too many big notable names on the guest list anyway so opted not to cover the guest arrivals.

Big mistake on my part for how much press this story has been getting! -- but an entire night of searching google trying to find out who the people I took pictures of were and why they were important didn't appeal to me after spending all day at the White House to begin with! --- but in retrospect, it would have been the most profitable part of the day for me! grrrr....

So then the crashers were invited to testify on Capitol Hill. I wake up that day, start heading down to cover it, and as I get about half-way thru my sometimes 2 hour commute -- I hear on the radio that they are not going to show. -- turn around and come home!

The same thing happened again later for another Capitol Hill hearing, except this one had been postponed -- I must start checking the schedule in the AM before I leave!! Anyway, the crashers are supposed to be subpoenaed to Capitol Hill now, and there seems to be a big cover up over the White House Social Secretary's lack of work that day as she herself wanted to be a guest at the party more than wanting to take responsibility for her job.

-- No worries though, she's a long-time Obama family friend, so I'm certain her job will be safe .... as for the Secret Service members involved...... probably not so lucky!

Other than those two items -- nothing else seems to be going on in DC right now!

Washington, D.C. - November 3rd, 2009: Swedish Prime Minister FREDRIK REINFELDT meets with Senator JOHN KERRY.
(Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

Washington, D.C. - November 3rd, 2009: National Football League (NFL) Commissioner ROGER GOODELL testifies on Capitol Hill during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on Sports Anti-Doping Programs.
(Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

Washington, D.C. - November 9th, 2009: Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU speaks at the 2009 General Assembly of The Jewish Federations of North America.
(Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

Washington, D.C. - November 9th, 2009: Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU speaks at the 2009 General Assembly of The Jewish Federations of North America.

(Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

Washington, D.C. - November 16th, 2009: CEO of Nissan Motor Company CARLOS GHOSN came together with other business leaders to form the Electrification Coalition. The Coalition was formed to promote the policies and actions that will facilitate the deployment of electric vehicles on a mass scale.
(Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

Washington, D.C. - November 16th, 2009: US Senator BYRON DORGAN (D-NV) came together with other business leaders to form the Electrification Coalition. The Coalition was formed to promote the policies and actions that will facilitate the deployment of electric vehicles on a mass scale.
(Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

Washington, D.C. - November 19th, 2009: JUAN ZARATE, former deputy assistant to the President George W. Bush and former deputy national security advisor for combating terrorism, and current senior advisor for the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies answers questions before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee discussing a preliminary assessment of the Fort Hood attack. (Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

Washington, D.C. - November 19th, 2009: BRIAN JENKINS, senior advisor at the RAND Corporation answers questions before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee discussing a preliminary assessment of the Fort Hood attack. (Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

Washington, D.C. - November 19th, 2009: Senator JOE LIEBERMAN , chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee headed a hearing discussing a preliminary assessment of the Fort Hood attack. (Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

Washington, D.C. - November 19th, 2009: A sign promoting World Toilet Day sits outside the US Capitol. 2.5 billion people worldwide are without access to proper sanitation, and the goal of Water Advocates is to bring awareness to about the lack of proper sanitation world wide. (Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

Washington, D.C. - November 19th, 2009: ARI SINGH, stands outside of the Capitol promoting World Toilet Day. 2.5 billion people worldwide are without access to proper sanitation, and the goal of Water Advocates is to bring awareness to about the lack of proper sanitation world wide. (Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

Washington, D.C. - November 24th, 2009: President BARACK OBAMA welcomes Indian Prime Minister MANMOMAN SINGH to the White House. Singh will join President Obama at the first official state dinner of Obama's administration tonight.
(Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

November 24th, 2009 - Washington, District of Columbia, USA - President BARACK OBAMA holds a joint press availability with Indian Prime Minister MANMOMAN SINGH in the East Room of the White House. (Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)