I'm very happy to be involved with The Talent Factory, a performing arts center in North Kingstown, RI. Once a year I photograph the dancers and actors before their annual performance. The girls (and a few boys) range in age from very young to teenaged and it's been great fun watching some of them grow over the last few years. Many thanks to Dana and her staff. This year I'm producing posters which I've got a couple of samples of here:

It seems that a lot of the "big names" in the photographic art world have been around for a while. Everyone knows Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Arnold Newman, Richard Avedon, etc., and I certainly love their art, but today I was reminded yet again of the work of a currently producing, fantastic photographic artist. Vincent Laforet is definitely not a small name, but I just wanted to draw some attention to his photos. I actually remember the first time I saw one of his pictures and wanted to know who took it. It was a photo of Bryant Park from the front page of The New York Times on a warm April day in 2002, entitled "Bryant Park, New York - 2002".

What grabbed me about the picture was how perfectly head on all the people were and how they filled the frame, but still appeared small. It appeared as if we were the sky and there was nothing between us and those people on the grass. Not only did I love the photo, I actually took a moment to look up Mr. Laforet's e-mail address and send him a note, which I never, ever do. He was kind enough to respond, letting me in on the info that the spectacular Bryant Park image "was shot with a Canon EOS 1D digital camera with a 200mm lens from the roof of the Verizon building, 42 stories up."

I just came across his slideshow (with narration) from the May 31 New York Times Magazine where Mr. Laforet took photos at sporting events using a tilt-shift lens. I'm not going to get into the technical aspects of the lens because to me this is clearly a case of yes, certain equipment had to be used, but the photographer is the whole reason these images exist. I think the final photographs are just stunning. Take a look at Mr. Laforet's slideshow "A Really Big Show". If you like these examples of his work as much as I do, his very extensive body of work can be found on his site http://www.laforetvisuals.com/.

"Thanks so much David!! Aside from documenting the red-letter day brilliantly, your spectacular attitude meant so much to me and my wife. The proofs look great. Just want to say that we can't stop looking at all of these, thank you! We love them, they are wonderful and it was a pleasure having you photograph the wedding.
Love,
Ann and Rob"

It was truly my pleasure. Ann and Rob had a wonderful wedding and I had a lot of fun photographing it. We started the day at the Providence Biltmore where I met Ann, her bridesmaids and family getting ready. The bride getting ready in the mirror is a little standard, but it is pretty, so I try to get variations on it. Having the Providence Court House in the background was nice.

The ceremony was at St. Joseph's Church on Hope St.

Children always make for fun photos and Ann's nephews were no exception. I was crouched in the aisle trying to be inconspicuous when I realized I had an observer.

It might have rained all day the day before and well into the afternoon of May 19, but by the time we arrived at Blithewold Mansion the sky had—well, it hadn't cleared, but it was dry enough to take pictures outside.

Even though it was fine outside, I love the inside of Blithewold Mansion. It feels homey, like a place you could live instead of like a museum. And I love stairs, there's so much you can do with them and the gray light from outside was perfect.

Like I said, children are walking, or piggy-backing, photo opportunties.

Ann and Rob's first dance as husband and wife under Blithewold's tent beautifully decorated by Exquisite Events.

This photo almost gets me to laugh out loud every time I see it. I mentioned that Ann has nephews (four actually) and they just loved Rob. So much so that Ann's father mentioned in his speech how he knew Rob was in the family when he saw how much the boys accepted him. So when Ann and Rob went to cut the cake, Rob took a moment to show one of his now nephews (nephews-in-law?) just how he was going to "cut" the cake. Like I said, a very fun wedding.