Fall Cleaning

It's time to clean things up for winter.... Most people are probably more familiar with "spring cleaning" but I take the opportunity whenever the wedding, product, and news cycle allow me to, because in no time things will be crazy again!

Part of the fall cleaning for us is consolidating our files and ensuring we are only backing up the files we need to back up. So we go thru the system, deleting all the photos that didn't make the cut, and making sure the photos that did make the cut are being backed up off-site.

Very similarly to cleaning up your house/room/boat, etc. - we come across some things that we spend a little time looking at and reminiscing. Today, I came across these photos... still on the wall in my office, but how often do I look up there.... I spend much more time looking at the computer screen!! :)

- Summer 2002I convinced my parents that I needed to take photography class my junior year of college and that they needed to buy me some gear! :) The day I got that nikon 35mm, a good friend of mine decided he had to get the same thing (although he was not taking a photography class) - he had a pattern of getting whatever the latest thing I decided to blow my money on, so that I couldn't "one-up" him.

That night, we went out on the town, anxious to use our new cameras, tripods, bags, and all the other accessories that made us "look" like photographers. Walking around the monuments that night, we heard Boyz II Men in the distance, apparently putting on a concert that I had no knowledge of -- this of course made me quite upset considering Boyz II Men were and still are my favorite band! So we continued walking around the DC Tidal basin shooting whatever we came across. We came home with a bunch of images, this was one of them. That friend of mine later passed away in a car accident and this picture serves as an excellent reminder of all the wonderful times we spent together.

- 9/11/2002 - That same friend of mine and I, basking in our newly found fame amongst our friends as photographers (because we spent a decent amount of money on equipment and accessories) -- decided that we would try to shoot some of the events one year after 9/11. Of course, living in Arlington, we had plenty of opportunities to shoot all kinds of remembrance ceremonies. Plus, I needed to shoot something for my first assignment in Photo 101!!

So off we went, parking fairly close and unpacking all of our gear (so we would really look like photographers) - Not really knowing what we would need, but taking it all "just in case". Until one "real" photographer walked past us as we were unloading from the car and said "your not going to need all that guys... just bring your cameras". So of course we acted like we were just taking inventory, and put the majority of stuff back in the car and walked to the event.

It was a 9/11 remembrance ceremony in Gateway Park in Roslyn (Arlington for those of you who don't know). We shot the entire event, which is where I got the main shot of the large flag blowing in the wind with the word "Remember" below it on a large backdrop. Later, we ran around the grounds of the Pentagon looking for shots. After a good deal of shooting, we then walked back to our cars - I happened to notice a funeral going on in Arlington Cemetery and snapped a few shots of it from where I was parked. That served as the inset shot on the flag.

I turned this in as my first assignment in Photo 101 and I was hooked from there.

If my memory serves me right, these were taken in Spring/Summer of 2003 (even though it says copyright 2004 on it) once my photography skills were improved a bit by Photo 101 (Thanks Kristen - my first photo teacher). From the same area where the remembrance photo was taken, Gateway park served as a great spot to watch an incoming thunderstorm before it started pouring! :)

I knew I had something good when I picked up the prints from Ritz (yeah, I'm not upset to see those film days done with!) and the lady who handed them to me told me there were some really great shots in there and asked me if I did this for a living!!

From the beginning I was hooked, and now that one moment where I said "oh sure, I'll take photo 101, it should be easy and it will make my parents buy me a nice camera for school." -- has now turned into a career that I absolutely love and wouldn't trade for anything in the world! :)

Where have we been?

It's a happy day - we are slowly catching up with the work that has piled up during the busy season, and I personally am about 80% recovered from surgery in August! Add to that, I've finally had a few minutes to update the blog, AND - we found out today that Be Photography was selected by The Knot.com to receive one of their 2010 Best of Weddings Awards for Photographers!

So our apologies go out to our blog followers who have not seen any updates in a while, but I have returned to shooting and I do plan catch up on the blog entries! :)

Here are a handful of news assignments shot recently - unfortunately, the news cycle has been stalled on health-care and not too much else seems to be going on right now! However, it is a welcome stall as the wedding season during September and October is huge and we have had a ton of weddings to cover and a lot of post-production work to catch up on, in addition to a busy time of year for product work as well!

Enjoy these shots and I hope to follow up with a blog shortly highlighting some of the recent weddings! :)

October 6th, 2009 - Washington, District of Columbia, USA - Boston Symphony Orchestra violist MARK LUDWIG plays at a ceremony honoring The Dali Lama. The Tibetan spiritual leader received a human rights award in memory of the late Rep. Tom Lantos of California at the U.S. Capitol.
(Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

October 6th, 2009 - Washington, District of Columbia, USA - The Dali Lama received a human rights award in memory of the late Rep. Tom Lantos of California and met with US lawmakers Tuesday during his visit to Washington. President Barack Obama was set to meet with The Dali Lama during his visit, but recently decided to delay their meeting until he has the opportunity to meet with China's President Hu Jintao.
(Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

Washington, D.C. - October23rd, 2009: First Lady MICHELLE OBAMA greets guests at an event in the east garden of the White House in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
(Credit Image: © James Berglie/ZUMA Press)

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

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I'll also throw in some of the product work we've been doing lately...