Welcome to the blog. Since this is a photographer's web site, I'm going to get this ball rolling with a photo:

Please check back as I hope to not only show my work, including very recent client images, and discuss current projects, but also to talk about photography in general. Thanks for reading.

I try to carry a camera on me at all times, and most of the time it's just not practical to have my "rig," as I like to call it, with me. Sure I could keep it in the trunk of my car often, but that's not really the best place for it and years of living in New York has made me just paranoid of theft enough to know better. Back in the 90's I had a Canon Elph APS camera (remember that format?). And over the past five years I've gone through a number of consumer point-and-shoot digital cameras, always coming back to the Canon Powershots which are kind of the descendent of the Elph. I've dallied over to Olympus (very nice, but I got tired of the xD memory card) and even Casio (definitely a form over function camera) but I find I just plain prefer the Canon's and my most recent point-and-shoot is their new SD1000 which is definitely pocketable. So far it's been a great camera to have with me at all times. Because you just never know when you're going to come across something you don't see every day.

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/.

I was out in L.A. last week and as luck would have it I was right near one of the twelve 7-Elevens around North America that have been converted into Kwik-E-Marts as a promotional tie-in for the upcoming Simpsons movie. Even though these things are a bit of an over-the-top sham, this was pretty cool. Inside things weren't all that different, just some Simpsons characters and names slapped over things, but the exterior looked perfect, right down to the paint job and "El Barto" graffitti. The best thing inside was the authentic looking Simpsons donuts. I wouldn't put one in my body, but they sure looked cool.

So I've been away from my blog for too long. I've got a ton of things to post about, but no time to edit photos and post. The boring reason is the database that runs it was corrupt and I couldn't get on for a couple of weeks (weddings and portraits are more important than database tweaking). The more exciting reason can sort of be made out in the following photos (which I did not take):

For current and past clients (and pretty much anyone else I know), I sent out my first newsletter today. You can find it here, and if you're not subscribed and wish to you can click on the "Update your e-mail address" link at the bottom of the newsletter. Before sending it out I made a ton of web site updates, from minor text changes, to adding whole new wedding, portrait and corporate galleries and changing the pricing structure for weddings to make it all custom packaging. Please take a look around.

This September 29 & 30 is the first annual National Alpaca Farm Day (yes, I know that's two days, go tell the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association). So, not knowing much more than alpaca wool is very soft and very warm, and finding out that there are three alpaca farms within 20 minutes of my home in eastern CT (and eight in the state of RI), I dragged my wife to Burgis Brook Alpacas. It was nice, but something more for the kids, which is why we're planning on taking our nieces to a local bison farm next week.

Most people would think I photographed this small herd of bison somewhere out West. Maybe in the Great Plains, maybe in Wyoming where I saw many much more sedentary bison throughout Yellowstone National Park in the summer of 2002. How many would have guessed these bison roam on a large farm about 10 miles from my home in eastern CT? Turkey farms in CT—yes (guess where I'm getting our Thanksgiving meal), alpaca farms—more common than you'd think, but bison?

These majestic animals, and majestic is a very good word for them—not hyperbole at all, roam the farm at Creamery Brook Bison in Brooklyn, CT.

As I said, the bison I saw out West were pretty sedate so when the farm owner poured out some feed and part of the herd charged over, it was something to see. These animals are tough and as you can see in the above photo, this one busted his horn, but it certainly didn't seem to phase him at all. If you're ever around Brooklyn I recommend a stop at Creamery Brook. You can tour the farm and buy a lot of bison products there. It's a great spot and you can tell how much the owners love raising these animals.

Shortly before New Year's I stumbled upon a storefront office for rent on Main St. in East Greenwich. After sharing a space with Exquisite Events and Toni Chandler on Bellevue Ave. in Newport for the last few years, this looked like the perfect spot to fill up with solely my work. And so I leapt, and after a few coats of paint, a whole lot of scrubbing, a little furniture shopping, tons of new printing and framing and hanging—I have a new office. I'm really happy with it. Many of my couples and families that I've photographed over the last couple of years may see themselves through the big window. As is usually the case, I didn't take the time for myself to take pictures of the place yet, but here's a couple of quick snaps to give you some sense of the space. Please let me know if you'd like to stop in.

We had our baby girl Brigid Rita Dadekian on Monday, February 4th at 6:26 a.m. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 10 ozs. and is 18 inches long. We came home from the hospital on Wedneday and are happily settled in. With an office at home I'm still "at work." You may find me responding to e-mails at odd hours or hear some crying in the background when I'm on the phone, but I'm still making photos. Heck, I've already taken about 200 of Brigid!

Saturday 4:40 a.m.

I don't want to turn this into the "here's my baby" blog, but very kindly several of my past and future brides have been e-mailing me asking to see more baby photos. So from time to time I'll show you some of my favorites. Thank you everyone for your congratulations and kind words.