The Peninsula has long been known as a gorgeous four star hotel and spa in Manhattan. Their fleet of hotels spans the globe from Beverly Hills to Hong Kong. Last night they had the grand opening party of their newest renovation, Salon de Ning, a rooftop bar and terrace. East meets West in this exotic open air space with incredible views of the Manhattan skyline. I was thrilled to be be hired to shoot the space on opening night, but talk about pressure. Holy cow! People were still setting up while I was shooting with a wide lens trying to avoid them and all of the stuff that goes into making a party happen. I mean cases of booze, ice, boxes of flowers, you name it. All the madness that goes on behind the scenes before a VIP event. The harsh midday sun added an additional challenge, but with only 1 hour to shoot, my hefty studio strobes would have surely slowed me down. All things considered, I was pleased with the results. I was leaving just as the guests were arriving, and it was pretty funny to have to fight my way through the paparazzi that was waiting for Lindsay Lohan to show. I didn’t stick around, but I am told that she did make an appearance. I can’t wait to go back and shoot here at dusk. It really is a gorgeous spot.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of working with Matt Grazier to photograph Richard and Kelley’s wedding reception. Richard is a wedding photographer himself and has been a good friend to me since we met about a year ago, and the moment that I met Kelley, I loved her! There were a lot of wedding photographers there (quite a fun & crazy bunch). This was version #2 for Richard and Kelley who were officially married in San Diego last month. They had a small reception in California so doing it again for all the friends and family that couldn’t go west just made sense. Tom Shields was the DJ (another old friend!) ,and people really danced their butts off, including me! How fun to be taking pictures while your dancing with a bunch of friends. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen Richard and Kelley so happy. They were both absolutely beaming and we were all so proud to be included in their celebration. Long slide show here, but a simple blog post just doesn’t do the event justice. Congratulations Richard and Kelley!

I’m happy to participate again this year in the “Artists for the Outback” fundraising show and sale. The New Canaan Outback Teen Center provides a safe, well supervised place for teens to socialize in an alcohol and drug free environment. With the peer pressure of being a teen (and having a son who is headed there fast), I’m so happy that this is an issue that is addressed by our community. I love the fact that they support constructive outlets for teens to explore and grow, especially the arts. There is an opening reception on May 8th from 6:30-9:30, and the show is free and open to the public Friday and Saturday. Professionals and students alike have work on exhibit with portions of the proceeds to benefit the Teen Center. Stop in and support a good cause.

I got the most wonderful email from Dawn Davis last night. Apparently one of the other “Vegas Love Story” attendees wrote an article about the workshop and submit it to Rangefinder Magazine. Several of us were hoping to get some images to them, but I never figured that it would actually happen. Dawn’s blog post says it all. So, with her permission, I grabbed it to post here! Whoohoo!!! Bob and Dawn Davis are two of the most sincere people that I have ever met. If you are a photographer looking to hone your craft, I would recommend one of their workshops in a heartbeat. I’m so envious of the other attendees who live nearby Chicago because they are all meeting for dinners, seminars and working together. Networking is so cool! Here is Dawn’s Blog post:

Since I’ve got quite a few Birthday parties in the line up lately, (yeah, weddings and birthdays all seem to be scheduled during the warm weather), I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance of having photographs that we cherish of our loved ones. I have so few photographs of my son, and virtually none of he and I together, since I’m the one always taking the pictures. I’m on a new mission to overcome his resistance to being photographed. After all, if I can shoot him, I can shoot anyone! And on Mother’s day, I am going to take my Mom somewhere special and photograph her! For several years I’ve wanted to do a series on my Mom. She is an incredible woman.

So, I am running a special all month for Moms! I’m talking about Moms having a sitting with their kids, children (like me) who want photographs of their Moms, expectant Moms, Grandmothers etc..It’s all about the matriarchs this month and we are celebrating with any on location shoot for $225, including an 8×10 fine art print of one your favorites. This is normally a $350 sitting. You can email me at info@cynthiabrownweddings to schedule a sitting or to ask any questions. This is a busy month, before a busier Summer season, so I would urge anyone who’s interested to inquire before dates fill up. Your Mom will thank you and if you’re capturing your own children, you won’t have any regrets, just cherished memories.