I've got that new Pearl Jam song about being a "lucky man to count on two hands the ones I love" in my head. On Friday evening we shot our first official wedding as Photography RI. Although it is becoming more common for commercial (or any working photographer) to dabble in weddings, it is still somewhat uncommon. But, for us it is part of a long term plan.

There is a rush of excitement at shooting weddings and I think I planned more for this one than for many shoots. Unlike an image designed to sell, these images are for future generations. These are important images in and of themselves. They capture a family (2 families) at a moment in time.

I will probably be posting some more images (and behind the scenes) of shooting this wedding in the near future. For now, this is a new workflow and it was a beautiful and amazing experience. I slept like a rock after it was all over and the images were backed up (around 2:00am Sat.).

Many thanks to Teri and Jon for working with Amie and I. It was an honor and a pleasure.

*Notes: These images are not for distribution. Please don't post on other sites such as Facebook, etc. without prior permission.

What is usually a buggy May has been somewhat tamed this past weekend for reasons unknown. It is nothing like I remember last year being. So, it was quite a pleasure to be out shooting after almost a month of being away from bouldering.

Some of the usually cast of characters were out and about, but also some new faces as well. I always enjoy meeting the travelers though I am often left wishing I got more time with them.

I had heard that the hard core climbers aren't going to be out in the buggy times and they avoid the warmer months. But, I am finding that is only somewhat true. They still climb. They can't help it.

And why not. It was beautiful out.

As for me; I am getting back to my roots. In many ways I suppose. But, even as I am embracing digital for climbing photography (this is probably only the third or forth time I've shot digital for climbing) I am getting back to shooting the scene more. I have some shots I can envision that I want to make happen (or more accurately - be prepared to capture when I see the elements coming together).

Shooting digital at 8pm I figured I would try off camera flash. I may be a snob at heart. I shoot off camera lighting for everything except climbing. I've managed to keep my climbing photos largely unadulterated with technology. But, I am not dogmatic. I had the equipment, so I tried it out. The alien spotlight effect just wasn't working for me. Maybe a faux point and shoot thing would be worth faking for effect, but doing the strobist thing with flashes just isn't my style. Not for this. Not for what I want to achieve. (photos not posted because they didn't look good)

So, I want to keep pushing. Every frame counts, even in an ephemeral digital domain. What's the story - and maybe more importantly for me - what is going to last?

While I figure out the answer to that one, I am going to continue to shoot "Seishun." As always: my thanks to the climbers.

Note: If you're going to facebook a photo - give me a link in the caption ( photo by James of http://www.photographyri.com ) Otherwise don't run off with the photo and I won't run off with your food.

Always an interesting group of people. Hard to imagine a whole city full of them. We were up in Camden shooting Abigail's Inn. Went in with a full kit but shot very light weight. Mostly speedlights. This was to be my first foray into the Behind the Scenes video. But alas, some of the video was lost. So, it is kind of moot. A lesson learned for next time.

We actually shoot video in our course of work but not on tiny point and shoots which we were trying out this time.

So, a truck caught fire causing us to be stuck on i95 for about 2 hours with little to do.

Abigail's is a lovely little inn run by a couple of funny young owners with 2 adorable little boys and Roscoe (the greyhound). They aren't originally from Maine and actually have quite an interesting background that they talk about on their site (which should hopefully be updated soon).

We had stayed there previously as guests and this time it was a "workation." We took in the sites, ate great food (Breakfast is delicious... B&B's are the way to go), and took shots in the morning.

Now if only I could get a workation to Japan.

Good times.