Audry & Tim Haut July 19th 2008

One watch, two cards, three priests and numerous bouquet flowers later Audrey and Tim were married! What a wedding day it was…

After tearing over a hallmark card received from Tim to her “getting ready” room, Audrey sent her own back to him (“had to be a handmade one” smiled Tim “she always has one up on me”).

Audrey’s father surprised the to-be groom with a beautiful keep sake – a gorgeous watch, as the Flanegin family tradition keeps on. And Tim wore it proudly throughout the wedding day.

The running joke of the day was that it took three priests to marry them – and they are DEFINATELLY married.

We took beautiful pictures in the church garden, and moved on to the reception to enjoy great food and dancing.

The maid of honor, Audrey’s sister, delivered the most touching speech (“Don’t cry Audrey I will cry too!”), and by the end of the night Audrey surprised all the single ladies by throwing not a bouquets – but a bunch of flowers – so they can each get one…

The kids were a hoot on the dance floor, and everyone was having a great time. What a fun day – congratulations Audrey & Tim!

Iva & Matt Conrad July 5, 2008

Iva & Matt were so cute, they were both very nervous on their wedding day but didn't want the other to know about it. When they saw each other at the church and got to hold hands its like the tension just melted away and they could now enjoy the rest of their day.

They wanted great pictures, and were happy to "play along" to get the shot. And when I asked Matt to sit on the crocodile's head and he did so without hesitation I knew the pictures will be awesome.

When we walked into the old courtroom a scent played out in my head, and quickly I was able to translate it to real life with the whole bridal party participating in the "trail" shot I created...they loved it!!!

The best man speech was hilarious from start to finish, the dancing were fun, and I had one more great reason to smile that day - one of my previous couples - Katie & Devin Hoey, were there. They refered Iva and Matt to me, and it was just great to be able to see them again and enjoy one more fun wedding day with them.

Iva emailed me this morning:

"Rinat,
There are no enough words to express our sincerest gratitude! You made our wedding day so much more special. We have lasting memories of our wonderful day all thanks to your immense talent as a photographer and your professionalism. We are forever grateful to you and we will sing your graces to as many people as we can find.

with much adoration, Iva and Matt Conrad"


And this came from Katie Hoey a few days after the Conrad wedding:

"it was GREAT to see you last weekend at the Conrad wedding! You are awesome as usual. Iva just couldn't stop telling me how happy she was with you!! - Katie"

NYC Reflections show - exciting news!

The NYC "Reflections" art show was invited to be showing at the luxurious Azrieli Towers Canter in Tel Aviv Israel this October. I am honored and very excited. It means the world to me to be displaying my work in my home town. More about the show to come.

Katie & Devin Hoey May 26th 2007

Attending her friend's Iva's wedding had inspired Katie to FINALLY ordered her album, which gave me the opportunity to reflect back on the great pictures we got of her and Devin's wedding day. Sweet sweet Katie and her handsome Devin were having such a good time posing for the camera that as we were saying our goodbyes at the end of their wedding day Devin already wanted to set up a time for another photo session...well guys, its been over a year...now would be a good time :-)

An after thought

My best friend Maya and I were discussing my blog after she was on it reading and viewing the pictures. She brought to my attention that I don’t mention anywhere in my blog how much work it takes to be able to create, compose and capture such images.

To me it seems obvious, but here goes for Maya’s sake: The images you are seeing on this blog don’t just happen. My BS degree in photography and visual merchandising definitely comes into play, as well as my 10 years of experience photographing for a vast array of clients, from newspaper photojournalistic cover, magazines lifestyle shoots, food and architecture photography, to my work as the in house photographer for the Walt Disney Imagineers – to name a few.

Before I became a photographer I was a successful professional actress in Israel for 8 years, hence my ability to make the subject feel comfortable in front of my camera, as well as my knowledge on what makes a good composition – and how to make it appear natural and effortless.
So even though I make it look and feel easy - no, these pictures don’t just happen. And there Maya this one is for you!

Baby Julianna

I first photographed Julianna when she was 6 months old. When her mother Mary Helen brought her for her 18 month portrait session I couldn’t believe how much she’s grown. From a cute little baby to this pretty little girl, and you could see where she was getting her looks since Mary Helen is a gorgeous young woman.

The only problem we had was that Julianna saw me, reached out for me to hold her, and wouldn’t leave me. Well, I wasn’t sure how I could photograph the subject when it’s in my arms so we had to somehow distract her with something else that will take the attention away from me. Thank God for grass because it turns out that’s all it took – Julianna was fascinated by the “green stuff” and we had an awesome portrait session.