One of the Cutest Retro Wedding Invites Ever

I stumbled across this very cute, very retro 8-bit wedding invitation thanks to fellow wedding photographer friend Jason Meehan, of Jason Meehan Photography. Featured on Gizmodo, the invitations were created by the bride and groom and are a throw back to the old-school Mario and Donkey Kong video games.

Take a look for yourself:

The options for play offer both the bride and the groom. It makes me marvel at some of the genius ideas that people come up with for their weddings. Hope you enjoy!

Out on the Farm

I spent part of last week out in Eatonville to help out some friends of the family. While out there, I captured some great photography on the farm. Here is one of my preferred images, the illustrious Fossen on the prowl.
The second image is one that I shot after learning my grandfather had passed away.

I like some of the things going on in the image, but the photo that best expresses my feelings about my grandfather's passing can be seen here.

Gone From My Sight

My grandfather died yesterday. His passing was unexpected. His presence will be missed. After hearing details last night from my family about how quickly he passed, I went outside into the cold night air and shot some new work. His encouragement and influence helped inspire me to become an artist. To pursue a career as a photographer. I will miss his stories and the excitement that I felt each time I would stop in for a visit.

A friend sent me this poem after hearing of my family's loss. I'm grateful for good friends, as the words bring me some comfort at this moment in time.

Gone From My Sight

I am standing upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white
sails to the morning breeze and starts
for the blue ocean.

She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until at length
she hangs like a speck of white cloud
just where the sea and sky come
to mingle with each other.

Then, someone at my side says;
"There, she is gone!"

"Gone where?"
Gone from my sight. That is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull
and spar as she was when she left my side
and she is just as able to bear her
load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone
at my side says, "There, she is gone!"
There are other eyes watching her coming,
and other voices ready to take up the glad
shout;
"Here she comes!"
And that is dying.

by Henry Van Dyke, a 19th Century clergyman, educator, poet, and religious writer

Eu Sinto por Notte Sento

Notte Sento is a beautifully composited short film set in Rome, one that I stumbled upon through a friend. The short is made from over 4500+ still photographs and has a lovely romantic theme. I really like the concept and hope to replicate the method with a short film of my own. Perhaps while I am in Miami this spring, I can take advantage of the locale and do it then!

Notte Sento (English subtitles) from Daniele Napolitano on Vimeo.

Fantasia Floral at the Seattle Wedding Show

Sunday I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the 2010 Seattle Wedding Show. A two-day event, it's quite easy to be overwhelmed by the hundreds of caterers, florists, DJ's, hotels, jewelers, wedding planners and more participating in the show. I left wishing that I could have spent more time to meet and network with other wedding vendors.

Fortunately, I met up with Michael Thomas, owner of Fantasia Floral, to photograph his floral arrangements and the booth he designed for the expo show. Michael's bouquets were even on stage during the fashion show. I captured some lovely photos and am glad to have met Michael. A very courteous and creative designer, Michael and his team did a great job for the trade show. Take a look and enjoy the photos!

Art Criticism Hits the Shelves

Why didn't I think of this? I've done this in the past with ketchup bottles and -given the slam that I gave Woods for his infidelity- guess I should give credit to the street artist who came up with this:

Tiger Woods "Unfaithful" Gatorade labels trigger federal probe

The appearance of Gatorade bottles featuring photos of Tiger Woods and his wife, labelled "Unfaithful" have alerted U.S. food safety authorities.

Several of the tampered bottles of the famed golfer and wife Elin Nordegren have been spotted in the Denver, Colo. area, reports KUSA TV.

The television network spotted an e-mail address hidden in the labels' small print, and fingered Jason Kay of Longmont, Colo., who said he helped a pal with the labels. Kay described the stunt as a "pop art" project.

There were reportedly 1,000 bottles with the "Unfaithful" labels.

KUSA says food and drug administration investigators are probing the incident to see if the drink has been adulterated along with the labels. Federal tampering charges could be laid even if the drink itself has been unaffected, said the network.

Wedding Biznastiness MMX

So the wedding season is picking up and going strong. I'm working on building up ideas for better networking, easier ways to be hired and more clever ways to improve my imagery. Just you wait to see what I have in store. 2010 is going to be a great year, I'm psyched to get my biznastiness up and going strong! If you're interested in information on my current wedding packages, email me for details.