Tara & Mike 04.04.2008

Tara had told me to go shoot the guys getting ready before going over to where she was getting ready. Ha! You know guys, they were just hanging out and in no way ready to put on suits. But Mike got 'em to get dressed so we did get some photographs. Can't really blame them, it's guys right?

So now on to Tara who was allot of fun during her prep time. I loved her take on the whole "bride in doorway" image! 

The ceremony was held at Rayne Methodist Church on St Charles Ave while the reception was at the Riverview Room in the Jax Brewery building down in the French Quarter.

Methodist churches usually make you shoot from the back of the church but with Rayne it's not that large so it was not a problem getting shots from the back. The church itself is still under repair from Hurricane Katrina damage on the outside. 

So the best part - the reception. I've never been to a reception where the band plays "LA Woman" and "Burning Down the House". Awesome! Tara and Mike know how to through a party! Plenty of dancing the rest of the night. I may have overkilled the fisheye lens on the band shots.

Special thanks to Tara and Mike for letting me document the whole day. Later I received an email from Tara stating "kick ass images". That's the first kick ass I've ever received! Cartman would say, "sweet".

Slideshow - www.zoeicaimages.com/Tara&Mike

Yolanda and Carlos - 04.11.2008

Yolanda and Carlos were married at the Immaculate Conception Church on April 11th 2008. I do love the lighting on that altar, always makes for great ceremony images. 

Yolanda and family got dressed at the Intercontinental Hotel , which is just a few blocks away from the church. Great room to photograph with the window light. Following a quick 2nd line parade after the ceremony we headed back to the hotel for the reception. Dr Jazz (Always great to see them!)performed during the dinner and into the first dances. 

Glad Carlos warned me about the dip at the end of the dance, always helps that I can wait for it!

Slideshow link : www.zoeicaimages.com/Yolanda&Carlos

Late posting: French Quarter Fest 2008

Finally getting around to posting some French Quarter Festival images from April. While you can wait a couple of weeks later to go to JazzFest and spend way too much money and not even be allowed to bring in your own Abita Amber, you can go to French Quarter Fest and see the bands for FREE. Of course once your brought from home Abita Amber runs out, you'll have to pay for more while you're there. 

Here's some images from that weekend, and of course some Kermit Ruffins images included. The last few photos include the St Louis Cathedral with the front two stained glass windows lit up. My only guess is the Pope was in the USA that week because I've never seen those lit up at night. 

Slideshow: www.zoeicaimages.com/FrenchQuarterFest08

Kristin & Kevin - 03.29.2008

Kristin and Kevin were married in March at St. Stephen's, reception followed at the Elms Mansion on St. Charles Avenue.

Great daytime wedding, plenty of nice light for images. Notice that Kristin wore comfortable shoes!

St Stephen's was still decorated from Easter so the inside photographs turned out great. As many times as I've been in that church I never noticed the wood carved angels on the ceiling. See something new all the time! Daytime photography in a church is awesome with all the light!

Slideshow link - www.zoeicaimages.com/Kristin&Kevin

Kristin's bridal portraits were at the New Orleans Museum of Art in City Park. Love the way the step images came out!

Slideshow link - www.zoeicaimages.com/KristinBridals

Alton Brown Book Signing - 04.23.2008

We went down to Octavia Books today for Alton Brown's "Feasting on Asphalt" book signing. Plenty of people but we did not have to wait too long. Alton was extremely nice to meet. An assistant offered to take our picture so I handed over my camera. I had it on 11fps so it went off like a machine gun. Alton noticed and afterwards proceeded to shoot some self portraits. I snuck into a few. Hilarious! 

Slideshow - www.zoeicaimages.com/AltonBrownNOLA

Erica & Mark - 03.21.2008

Fun wedding!

Erica and Mark were married in New Orleans on March 21st 2008. Erica's preparation was at the Royal Sonesta Hotel. The ceremony and reception was held at Latrobe's on Royal St.

Two of my favorites places to photograph! The Royal Sonesta offers great views of the French Quarter on the hotel balconies. Latrobe's has to be one of my favorite reception venues. Built in the early 1800's as a bank, it still has the vault room inside with the original vault door. Peeling paint, crumbling brick, centuries old wood, and high ceilings. Perfect for a New Orleans wedding!

I loved how Erica's expression changed as soon as the dress was on. 

I used one of the corner's in Latrobe's for some great available light images of Erica and Mark. Turned out even better than I thought it would. 

Extreme thanks to Erica and Mark for letting me capture their special day!

Oh, and I have to plug the band : Big Sam's Funky Nation

They were awesome! Really kept the crowd going.

Slideshow link : www.zoeicaimages.com/Erica&Mark

Mighty Miss

The Mississippi river is at 17ft in New Orleans, which is just under the 20ft levee system. I took these images last Friday night. Last time the river was this high was 11 years ago.