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It’s Up To You New York, New Yoooooork

It’s been a few days since my last post, so I thought I’d take a break from the nonstop web design I’ve been doing and dig into my archives and share a handful of photos I took during our day in New York City a few weeks back. Like I said before, we weren’t too concerned with seeing it ALL (because that would have been a little unrealistic given the time frame), so we just kinda strolled around and took the subway to several of the different neighborhoods to get a feel for each place. I also didn’t take a whole lot of photographs, because sometimes I think for my own mental health that it’s better to just step back and ENJOY what I’m doing, rather than shooting it, facebooking it, or tweeting it to death, so that’s why there won’t be a lot to show. But here are a few!

This is Jamie in front of the New York Stock Exchange. We had just finished eating some pretty amazing bagels on the street right in front of it, where they had set up a bunch of little cafe style tables and chairs. For the past 4 or 5 months, Jamie’s been obsessed with learning everything he can about trading stock options, so I think it was pretty surreal for him to be here, in person, around 9 am on a Monday morning.

And here, ladies and gentlemen, is the flagship Apple store on Fifth Avenue. Or was it heaven? Still not sure. It’s right next to FAO Schwartz, which we also went into. Funny that Jamie wasn’t at all impressed with one of the most famous toy stores in the world, but when we descended that staircase into the biggest Apple store we’d ever been in, it was as if the clouds parted and the angels begin to sing. I guess these are the only toys he cares about these days. :)

We also took a stroll through Central Park, where we stumbled upon this jazz band playing for all the kids who had come to the zoo that day. We sat down on the bench for awhile to just relax and enjoy it all, and as more and more kids began to arrive and start playing with each other, I began to wonder if they were all adopted, because many of them were white children, but the women they were with were mostly Hispanic. And then I overheard some of the kids talking to each other, and they kept referring to “Nanny,” and I realized that these ladies were all nannies (you can see a couple of them on the left side of the photo in the background). I mean, I’ve seen The Nanny Diaries, and I knew this sort of thing was a lot more common in such metropolitan and affluent areas, but still, it was kind of bizarre to see it in real life, and to wonder about how much money all of these families had, and what kind of apartments they lived in, and whether or not any of the children got to spend much quality time with their own parents. Just interesting, I guess.

Here’s a window display for Bergdorf’s, featuring clothing and scenes inspired by the Sex and the City 2 movie, which at this point had just come out in theaters. First of all, the window displays you see on Fifth Avenue are just jaw-dropping, unlike any I’ve seen anywhere else. But this particular display was so funny to me, because it was in this exact area, right in front of the famous Plaza hotel, where, 12 years ago, on my first trip to New York with my family, we stumbled upon the filming of the very first season of the show. Of course, at the time, we had no idea what it was about or what it would become, and Sarah Jessica Parker had yet to become a household name, so when my mom sent me to go ask a crew member what was being filmed and she told me “a new show coming out called Sex and the City“- well, let’s just say we were promptly ushered away from the scene. So I always tell people I could have seen SJP in person, maybe if the name of the show hadn’t sounded so risque. :)

I don’t think I will ever get over the sheer monstrosity of a skyline that is New York’s. Being right in the middle of the city, looking up at the tops of buildings that seem to go on forever and ever, never ceases to amaze me. And add to that the energy on the ground, among the throbs of people rushing to their next destination… it’s an experience unlike anything else. So if you’ve never been, you have to go at least once in your life. Just by watching movies set in New York or seeing photos of it…. you can never really feel it until you’re right inside it. So do it.

July is about to be by far the busiest month for me so far this year, what with 3 weddings and a week-long trip to Denver during which I’ll be shooting approximately 8 family shoots… and throw in some bridal and engagement sessions for the heck of it… and yeah…. welcome to the summer season with a photography business! So I will try to keep up with blogging and updates as best I can, in between also trying to prepare everything for the launch of my brand-spankin’-new website and promotional materials and all that good stuff, so bear with me if I don’t blog as frequently as I have been recently! And as always, thanks for being faithful readers. :)

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megan - What a beautiful city! I think the picture of Jamie in front of the flag should be framed in your house, its great!

K2 the Prom

On Friday night, I got a do-over. Of my prom, that is. Raise your hand if you hated your high school prom. Mine? Totally raised right now. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was a semi-anti-social nerd who just didn’t quite fit in with the popular kids- the ones that drove their ATVs to school and hunted and hung out at Cotton Eyed Joe’s on the weekends (this was back in Tennessee, mind you). Or maybe it had something to do with the fact that my date couldn’t even spell my name properly. Or the fact that we double-dated with my best friend Amy and her not-yet-out-of-the-closet boyfriend, and, unfortunately, at the time there was tension among us for reasons I can’t even begin to go into in one blog entry. (Suffice it to say that throughout high school, I got a little too big for my britches sometimes. Also, we’ve since made up and she was a bridesmaid in our wedding, so it’s totally water under the bridge now. At least we can laugh about it!)

So when I found out that my the college ministry of my church, K2, was going to host a prom for all of those that either wanted to relive our glory days or redo them and pretend they didn’t exist, I have to admit I was pretty excited. I mean, it was the real deal. Prom dresses and tuxes and corsages and fruit punch and balloons and cheesy portraits and a disco ball… the whole nine yards. And I love that pretty much every age group from our church showed up, and apparently some of them dug out their original prom attire, because I saw more than one Madonna-style lacy dress and white tux. It was awesome. And we literally danced for HOURS, to everything from oldies to 80’s music to Lady Gaga. I love dancing, not gonna lie. (Maybe another reason I became a wedding photographer, just so I could hang out at people’s wedding receptions on a regular basis?) Especially when it’s really good dancing music. So we danced for literally hours, and I thought I might honestly pass out from dehydration and exhaustion. I haven’t had that much fun at a party since my own wedding reception. And that’s just one more reason why I adore our church. The community we have there is phenomenal, and I love that they completely blow the whole Christians-can’t-have-fun myth out of the water.

Of course I took some photos, and I just had to share a few. If these don’t make you want to come to church, I don’t know what will! ;)

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Tammy Holm - Ahhh! Morgan you are amazing! I would love to order some pics if I made any of them! You are so stinkin talented!!!! Nice work!

Alex Beadon - Love these photos!! Glad you had a great time, and that story about your own prom is kind of funny :) haha.

Northampton House - Wow. They really went all-out. It was fun of you to take a few photos. Cute post. I’m glad this prom went better than your last. :)

Lindsay and Michael // Engaged

After shooting Sean and Elana’s wedding and day after session, Jamie and I took the train into New York City to spend the next couple of days just relaxing and taking it all in. I had already been a couple of times and had done all the tourist-y stuff, and even though it was Jamie’s first time, he wasn’t interested in spending all our time waiting in long lines, so we decided to forgo any set schedule or plan and just see what we could without stressing ourselves out. I think this was the best idea, because we made an effort to glimpse through all the neighborhoods and see some of the more major sights, like ground zero and the Statue of Liberty (from a distance, anyway) and Times Square and Central Park, but we could actually enjoy them. The high points? Eating New York-style pizza every single day of our trip. The Apple store on Fifth Ave. The old Italian men in Little Italy. Having breakfast in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Multiple trips to Starbucks every day…. just because they were on every corner and we could. Seeing Get Him to the Greek. Standing in front of THE B&H Photo flagship store (couldn’t actually go in, ’cause it was closed, but I definitely did some drooling).

And, of course, meeting up with Lindsay and Michael for an engagement session and dinner in Brooklyn. You might remember that I went to and photographed Lindsay’s bridal shower in Atlanta a few weeks back, but this was the first time Jamie and I got to meet her fiance. I just loved how we instantly meshed and had lots to talk about. These two have really interesting jobs- Lindsay works for Nickelodeon, and she took us on a tour of her office which is literally right in the middle of Times Square. The view from the 44th floor of that building was unreal. And with it being used by MTV & Nickelodeon, it was decorated SO fun. And then Michael is a graphic designer/artist. He does some freelance work for different networks, designing backdrops for shows (which is how he and Lindsay originally met, when he was doing backdrops for Nickelodeon… I think Blue’s Clues specifically, if I remember correctly). But now, his main focus has actually been on developing and illustrating a graphic novel series with several of his friends. It’s been picked up for publication, so they’ve been really busy getting everything all finished, and I can’t WAIT to see it when it’s done.

We were able to shoot in Brooklyn at the most perfect time of day, and the views of the city skyline were unbelievable. Afterward, Lindsay and Michael treated us to a delicious Thai fusion meal and we went for ice cream. All in all, it was a pretty amazing night, and I’m so glad we had the chance to spend time with them before their wedding in September. Hope you guys enjoy the photographs!

I just love their chemistry and sweetness.

Shooting at sunset = amazing light and shadows around every corner.

I love this. So natural. And Lindsay is SUCH a beautiful girl, isn’t she?

I have to keep reminding myself that this is actually the New York skyline. It’s such a fantastic and beautiful and energetic city.

This one is absolutely one of my favorites. First of all, because I love when strangers make it into my photographs… it just adds a little mystery and fun. And then, with it being the city, and the Brooklyn Bridge in the background, and the fact that this guy dressed all in black is giving them a thumbs-up as he’s passing… awesome. It feels very editorial-ish to me. Like it.

But I also love this one too.

I couldn’t resist getting a couple of last shots after we finished our ice cream. Just can’t get over this skyline.

Love this moment.

To see the whole session, check out the slideshow. I used Josh Ritter’s “Beautiful Night,” because it has a very 60s-folksy sound to it, which I think goes quite nicely with the whole Brooklyn look. But maybe that’s just me. Anyway, enjoy!

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KanzlerFoto - Love it! And a little jealous… what a great place to get silhouettes! Photographing in NY is now on the bucket list.

stacy - Theae are great images, absolutley capturing the moment

Michael Lapinski - Since I’m one of the subjects in these photos, there’s no way for me to hide any inherent bias. That said, I was a fan of Morgan’s photography before I even proposed to Lindsay. The fact that she’ll soon be family is just a bonus.

Morgan is so talented and dedicated to her craft. In all of her work I see the trained balance between serendipity and design, the magical in the mundane.

I’m honored to have her capture the spirit of “us” and tell the story of our marriage. And, we also had a fun time with Morgan and Jaimie on a beautiful summer night in one of my favorite neighborhoods. I think it shows…

Fran - What great shots of two beautiful people!!!!!! Love how the photo’s capture their emotions and the sparkle between them. Fun, loving, caring….

Amanda Formosa - Love, LoVe, LOvE these photos in NYC. Cute couple photographed + an awesome city = AMAZING!

Adrienne - OOOH! I love that last one!