VIRGIL STEPHENS photography

Our New Baby Girl!

2011-12-26T12:41:00.001-05:00

Photos of Leighton Willow Stephens, born Dec 16th, 2011

Roszell Family Photo Shoot

2011-11-13T15:19:00.020-05:00

Quiet Waters Park, Annapolis MD

Karen + Chas

2011-10-08T14:04:00.005-04:00

Baby Photos, Take One

2011-07-07T15:30:00.001-04:00

I had the pleasure photographing this baby girl just 13 day's old. She was sleepy a little, but helped us make some great photos for her parents..

Spring Weddings 2011

2011-06-15T12:23:00.003-04:00

Here are some photos from recent weddings I attended..

Amber + Chris

2011-02-05T15:23:00.000-05:00

Annapolis, MD

New Site

2010-08-18T18:18:00.013-04:00

It's a long time coming but I finally put up a new site for Virgil Stephens Photography. Couldn't be more happy with the results!

Suzanne Doig is greatly talented designer who I met working for the NYPL a few years ago. We became friends, and for some time she has been suggesting to me to redo my photography business' image/ branding. Early this summer we began meeting, discussing what the site should do, and how to showcase the photography best. Shortly after she worked up a few different looks to try, but I think the one settled on was the hands down winner.. A good look and an very easy interface. Katie Senft is another designer who worked with Suzanne to build the site. Along with this new website we've got new graphics and promo materials to share with prospective clients. The site went up just in time for Labor Day Weekend. Nice job Suzanne and Katie!

Summer Vacation

2010-07-05T20:09:00.016-04:00

Just got back from a great summer road trip with Malissia & our dog Luna. We drove a big loop from Hoboken through North Carolina, stopping in Chapel Hill, and Waynesville in the Appalachians. On the return leg we went back up through Virginia taking country roads and checking out Charlottesville before wrapping up with a 4th of July cookout at our friends the Thomas' in the DC beltway town Oakton, VA.

I did a lot of shooting in the mountains and at the road stops.

hazy view from Whiteside Mountain
under the falls, Pisgah National Forest
Pisgah National Forest
view from the Waynesville homestead
an ancestor? Red House Presbyterian Church Semora, NC
wake me when we get there..
Asheville from a hilltop
downtown Semora

Semi-refreshed, or extremely road-weary I returned home to Hoboken New Jersey appreciating all we have going on here.

Engagement Party in VA

2010-05-01T10:16:00.006-04:00

On Sat. April 24th I was in Alexandria, VA to shoot a couple's engagement party event photos and portraits. Thomas and Momo are planning a wedding in Okinawa, Japan this October and the event was to celebrate their engagement and get the friends and family all together. Tom's sister is Vicki, a good friend of mine and I'd met Tom and his bride to be at Vicki's wedding 2 years ago in Jamaica. They loved the photos I did there, so asked me to come out for this party and do an engagement photo for them. Best wishes to the couple!

River Monsters Party

2010-05-01T10:08:00.006-04:00

Animal Planet threw a party for the press Wednesday April 21st at the restaurant A Voce in New York City’s Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle. The event celebrated the new season of their most popular show River Monsters. I was hired to do the event photos for Animal Planet thanks to my friend Laura whose a Photo Editor for them. I’m an animal lover and a fan of the channel, so these events are always something I enjoy.

Arriving at Columbus Circle the first thing I saw were a half dozen Smart Cars painted to look like the show’s mascot piranha fish. They had professional drivers looping around the circle keeping the little gas-savers in tight formation like the predators they resembled on a hunt for blood. I have to imagine a dreaded reaction when cabbies looked in their rear view mirror to see a school of these quick little killers, fangs bared closing in on them. Maybe we should all be using electric cars..

Upstairs on the 3rd floor A Voce had a private section decorated with pictures from the show, a 12 foot billboard with it’s name, and each wall played HD video of River Monsters on large flat televisions. They had fishbowls on the tables containing those brightly colored Japanese fighting fish you see at pet stores. All the tropical flowers and colored lights gave the ambiance of jungle.

The guest of honor would make it to the party only by skype. Jeremy Wade's flight was canceled like millions of other passengers due to a natural disaster that shut down a great amount of air travel in mid-April 2010. A volcano in Iceland had erupted and shot a cloud of smoke and ash into the earth's atmosphere forcing trans Atlantic air travel to a halt. The show must go on though, and Jeremy was able to interface with NYC party guests through the hi-tech screens and audio system. With a q&a about his adventures, and a toast with the guests he was virtually there at the party with us. Otherwise guests mingled, refreshments were enjoyed, and Animal Planet looks forward to a successful new season of it's highly rated program.

Friends Auction Holiday 2009

2010-01-10T23:33:00.008-05:00

12-01-09 Friends Without a Border had their charity art auction. It's one of my favorite nights in the city. I see artists whom I print for at Griffin Editions, and others whose work I admire. It's organization behind it is a creation of photographer Kenro Izu.

It's a positive fund raiser and excellent showcase from world-class photo artists. They print a gorgeous catalogue of the pieces for sale, and in the past few they've put my ad in it. I've done the event photography of this since 2003 working with friends Fumiyo and Akiko from the Friends group.

If people who like photography and the people who make it can come together and give back to the children who need it most, it's a wonderful thing!

GE2 Holiday Show & Party

2009-12-19T16:50:00.009-05:00

For the 3rd year Griffin Editions hosted a holiday party & staff art show. Unfortunately I'm a little under the weather, as well as in the middle of some really nasty winter weather so unable to attend this year. It's too bad cause it looked like it would be an amazing show and holiday party.

All of the staff at Griffin Editions are wonderful people as well as talented photographers. I work for Griffin Editions printing photos since 2000. We help photo artists produce their work, tweaking and viewing, and so often an impression from our job(s) is made on our own art. The piece I submitted was from my landscape work. A 16x20 b&w silver gelatin print mounted to 4-ply museum board affixed to Sintra. It's a group of trees I shot with a 35mm camera on summer vacation exploring upstate NY. Influencing what I'm doing in this vein would probably be: Sally Gall, Gerald Dearing, Bernd & Hilla Becher, & Erica Lennard. I'm a fan their b&w landscapes.

Happy Holidays to all the Griffin Editions staff, our families, friends, and (importantly) clients!

Lily Fund Holiday Portrait Shoot

2009-11-26T14:55:00.007-05:00

On Sat. Nov 21st. we kicked-off the first ever Family Photo Event for the Lily Fund. The organization is out to raise $ and awareness for children with brain cancer. I got asked to participate by fellow GE staff Orianna Riley who knows the charity from her child's school. The idea was to offer affordable portraits in a studio setting to people that will make a donation to the fund. The timing near Thanksgiving was genius to provide photos family's could use in their holiday cards.

It went really well. We had fashion photographer Ron Cadiz also volunteering to do portraits in the morning and help set up and get the lighting just right. Mike Vorrasi was helping out on the computers and on the fly photo editing. Fred Soffa was our event coordinator and had scheduled the day booked! Hair and make up services were offered to guests. The day felt like a party. Really a great energy with kids and sweet snacks, music and flashes popping in the studio.

It's always good for me when I get to practice my craft, collaborate with brilliant people, and on top of that be doing something that provides help to the community.

Brooklyn by Bridge

2009-09-04T19:03:00.002-04:00

This summer wedding was set for Manhattan, Brooklyn Heights, and the Clinton Hill Navy Yard. I worked with my team of Peter Riesett, Erick Gibson, and myeslf. Three is the magic number, and I knew we could get better photos if we had the trio in effect. The bride and groom are super fun, friendly and have an apartment in lower Manhattan. Our day began there. Amy was getting ready in a suite at the the Millenium Hilton on Church St. around the corner and Peter met up to photograph the groom Sean at home. The ceremony was across the river near the Promenade. Brooklyn Heights is one of my favorite neighborhoods from the Patty Duke Show to the Cosby Show it always entranced me with it's wide tree-lined brownstone streets. The ceremony was in one of the oldest parishes is Brooklyn. The reception was a short drive up the coast to Steiner Studios. This location was excellent with views of downtown NYC. Amy and Sean had a family and friend-filled spectacular reception. We got tons of great guest and dance photos with the extra tight music group. I'll remember this wedding for a long time for how cool the couple, smooth summer's day, and what an amazing wedding went down in New York City

Amy and Sean were married in August '09 in New York City. I booked the photography a year in advance with this couple. They knew of Virgil Stephens Photography from a friends wedding the year before, which they were guests.

Mary Kate and Pat

2009-06-29T13:18:00.013-04:00

Saturday June 29th I was received as a guest at my friends wedding and reception at The Knoll Country Club in Parsippany New Jersey

A sweet time in the North Jersey summer environs. Mary Kate and Pat are friends of Malissia's that I have known for a few years now. Super cool couple that loves life, friends and family. Their wedding was amazing and I really enjoyed myself as a guest -the was ceremony officiated by two priests and music from guest singers!

I have to say I was really impressed with their photographer. They had 3 shooters and excellent coverage. We had the photos done earlier in the day presented to us at their reception. Photography was done by Al Romero.

This June '09 it's rained almost every day for the entire month. The grass and the tress look healthy because of it. I put my brand new digital point/shoot camera to the test. I bought a Canon (first) Powershot SD 880 Elph from B&H in June with some birthday $$. It's a compact digital camera with excellent color, wide field of view, and good resolution (10 mega-pix). It preformed well. I had a little small with lag time focusing and using the flash. I think the difference between using face detection focus vs. center-weighted focus was the reason. The face detection focus was dynamic catching people moving out of the frame. Center-weighted is self explanatory. Photographs I captured were fun. Hooray for this wonderful couple!

Web Design '09

2009-06-20T13:47:00.008-04:00

Working with Eric Thomas to design my new websites. We plan to split my photography website into two separate sites. VirgilStephensPhotography.com will be the Wedding & Event Photography business, and VirgilStephens.com will be my creative personal site.

We've been doing the new sites with Drupal. This should be easier for me to maintain, add pictures, etc. Looking like we will try to get this done pre July 4th. Hopefully. I'm looking forward to the professional photos I've done to come across sharp and dynamic, and the interface be ridiculously simple. The personal site will contain images from my street and landscape series Groundscapes. More to come stay tuned!

Manhattan in May

2009-04-27T07:48:00.011-04:00

Family and friends came to the 4th Unitarian Church at 76th street and Central Park West. A beautiful old church in the wilderness-bordered Manhattan jungle. The bride had arranged for us to meet with her family before hand at the parks entrance to do group photos. This made the day follow a smooth timeline, and the couple could maximize their time with guests. (I didn't learn until after that the bride Sara is a writer, and has been writing for the WETV website)

I was being helped by friend Natalie with the camera work. It made everything easier, and took away stress having an assistant. But I always stay cool.. We changed the plan and took photos at the Museum of Natural History's lawn across the street. Being in the shade allowed the guests more comfort and made the photos less glaring from the mid afternoon sun. The temperature this day was 88 degrees!

Cheers and best wishes Sara and John!

Photographing a wedding as Central Park blooms in Spring we had a great time! Sara and John married at a tremendous and intimate New York City wedding.

Expectant Mother's Portraits

2009-04-13T06:52:00.008-04:00

Always interested in working on the portraits, I've been photographing pregnant friends. Here are some results..

VSP in the NYP

2009-01-02T18:51:00.004-05:00

The New York Post published my photo of Kate and Gabe Capone both in the online and print edition Sunday Dec. 28th, 2008. Not a bad way to end a busy year! Thanks to Tara Geremia from Exquisite Affairs Productions. She was the Wedding Coordinator and is to be thanked for getting the submission published.

Going, Going, Gone!

2008-12-31T17:37:00.008-05:00

Friends Without A Border is a not for profit established since 1996. The founder is photographer Kenro Izu. He began the group after seeing and feeling the need for children's healthcare while visiting Cambodia. The Angkor Hospital for Children has existed since 1999 because of Kenro and Friends, and to date has given care to over 560,000 children.

This past Dec. 9th FWAB held their 12th annual Friends of Friends Holiday Auction. For the past 4 I have volunteered as event photographer for them. It's a party that centers around a live auction of fine art photography. The photography is truly world class and often sold at a steal compared to what it could be had in the galleries. One of the more impressive items auctioned this year was a portfolio of Nationa l Geographic photographer Steve McCurry.

A first this year for Virgil Stephens Photography was an ad that ran in the auction catalogue. I had the help of my friend designer Suzanne Doig to create the layout. I've been really happy with the way it turned out and have been contacted for photo gigs because of the ad.

The auction is a great New York City event I'm proud to be a part of. It's for a great cause and helps kick off the holiday season with a positive consideration.

We Want the Funk!!

2008-10-26T14:16:00.009-04:00

The C.M.J. Marathon in New York City is an action-packed, creatively-energized 5 day event in the city's greatest month October.

My good friend Rosemary is the head of marketing and communications for the event and has hooked me up with photo passes for the past 2 years. It's a ton of music, films, panels and more for the duration. I made sure to be available for at least a few happenings so as to put the opportunity to use.

Got shots of the bands The Dears, and Eulogies at Maxwell's on Wednesday night.

Thursday evening I spent in the company of George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars. I saw them once before at my schools Quadmania Festival. Once again it was extremely entertaining to see this band!
Friday night would be characterized less successful than the previous nights. I wanted to shoot the roots-reggae singer Luciano at the Fillmore Irving Plaza. After being denied my photo privilages, I was disappointed to learn that the Luciano billed was different than the Jamaican born Rasta artist. After that confusion I'd lead myself, Malissia, and artist Onedae down to the Knitting Factory for what I believed to be a Hip-Hop night with D.J. Babu, the Jungle Brothers, and Prince Paul's Stetsasonic but would never actually find out. The person at the door denied our badges and the only music we did catch was chaotic but the entertaining 1960's looking noise performers that did their show surfing the audience -instruments and all! I did also run into Mike Vorrasi and my friend Chris from the Jamaican wedding 2 weeks ago. Unexpected!

Welcome to the Carribean!

2008-10-17T23:19:00.010-04:00

JAMAICA 10-11-08 Vicki & Dave married in Negril. The first wedding I have taken a plane to. Jamaica is gorgeous plus Vicki and Dave are 2 of my coolest friends, so what we have is one amazing event! They got hitched in style..

Malissia and I are friends with all of Vicki and Dave's friends and family so it was a tremendous social-fun atmosphere at the Tensing Pen Resort. Spending time with friends swimming and relaxing. What does a person do 5 nights staying on the Cliffs in Negril? Eat amazing inexpensive food, sleep for 12 hour stands, and drink $2 Red Stripes listening to the greatest reggae (it's all good) is only part of what it's perfect for. The photography is the other. The lush Carribean jungle and clear aqua blue sea, I was in for my memory cards worth. I packed a polarizing filter because of all the water and sky I wanted to capture.

The wedding was Saturday and planned for sunset on the cliffs. Watching the sun go down into the Carribean and having the warm breeze set the stage. I spent some time with Dave and Vicki in their separate quarters. Although laid back is the vibe, the excitement level was tremendous! These friends have been together since we all hung out in their 2 adjacent Williamsburg lofts around 2000. A lot of great matches come from those times, and Malissia and I are another one. To see them at this momentous occasion in their lives was touching and important to us all. The story with the happy ending.

Photographs were shot, speeches and dances happened. The revelers had their wedding and toasted this couple from Philadelphia for their love, friendship, and bright future.

Trinh + JR

2008-10-06T10:01:00.007-04:00

Trinh and JR are good friends of mine that have always said they'd like to have me do their wedding photos. So, when they had a private wedding in Key West, FL this past September and only the 2 of them and an officiant attended, it looked like I had missed my chance forever. These two are creative thinkers though and called me a few weeks later with an idea to do their wedding photos, going back down to Florida, and capture this special time for them before the seasons changed.

They flew me from Newark to Orlando International where we could use a nearby friends mansion in Winter Park, an uncle's beach house in New Smyrna, and spend 2 days getting portraits that they could share and tell their story with.

Winter Park, FL is beautiful. The name makes you think of ice-skating or smoking chimneys, which it it not at all. More like golf courses that can be played wearing shorts in winter. The home we used was a gorgeous lakefront home that belonged to JR's friend's family. Arriving there I was excited with the possibilities. I wasn't lying when I exclaimed that this was the nicest house I'd ever been in! It's outdoor spaces were landscaped meticulously, and it seemed like anywhere I pointed my camera the results were stunning. It didn't hurt either that Trinh and JR are a great looking couple that make everything fun.

We shot for a few hours there first outside on the patio, then by the boat house, and finally using the interior for some bridal portraits. It was a luxury to do these photos with out the constraints of a schedule or audience. It was more like the commercial shoots I'd worked on in my earlier assisting days, but casual with friends. We wrapped at sunset, locked up, powered-down, and made way for Carraba's Italian Grill for dinner.

Saturday started with a more leisurely approach. We spent the a.m. driving out to New Smyrna Beach, stopping at Stetson University to see JR's old haunts, then logged some hours on the sand and in the surf waiting for the light to get perfect. Around 3, we took off for the pictures, and got nice shots using the natural beauty of the panhandle state making our way to Canaveral National Park. I'd never done wedding photos on the beach before. I really enjoyed the warm colors, the crisp atmosphere, and the romantic desolation it offered. Success and Cheers!

Chris + Cathryn

2008-10-01T20:25:00.030-04:00

Arnold, MD

A.F.I. Digital Content Lab Party

2008-09-30T20:12:00.010-04:00

Recently I photographed a party for the American Film Institute's Digital Content Lab. I got the gig from my friend's Rebecca and Charles Richardson.It was an event on Tue. Sept 16th in Mid-town Manhattan at a bar called Social. The guests were from the television and web industry and it was part of a conference that was going on that week in Manhattan to bolster partnerships between the two mediums.

AFI is a national institute providing leadership in screen education and the recognition and celebration of excellence in the art of film, television and digital media. The party was a good time. I passed out a few cards, got the clients shots they wanted, and was able to have Malissia join me for an after party cocktail.

N.Y.P.L.

2008-09-01T09:36:00.015-04:00

The New York Public Library on 42nd street is an institution and landmark in New York City. It first opened it's doors in 1911 and stands as a monument and instrument for higher knowledge and public access. I have working for them in their Photographic Services Department for the past 4 years under my good friend Peter Riesett. There I've had a unique privilege and responsibility of handling some truly amazing relics for digital photo archiving. Some of the more memorable items for me have been: Charles Dicken's notebooks, a Declaration of Independence broadside, Jack Kerouac's writings and drawings, and Walt Witman's scribbled poems.

The building itself is as impressive as it's astounding collection of historical materials. It sits on the eastern side of Bryant Park on 5th Avenue between 40th and 42nd. It looks like a roman palace or temple from the outside. Just to enter the front doors you have to ascend 2 large flights of marble steps, then once inside it's entrance you still have to climb all the way to the 3rd floor to enter the reading rooms. It think it's supposed to make you feel like your elevating yourself consciously and physically. You can not check out books or anything from this branch, it's strictly a reference library. You look up what you want to see, and a library page retrieves it and gives it to you. Other than books, the library has exibitions and parties, a map room, a terrific photography collection, and areas devoted to the preservation of it's collected items. It's solid marble walls remind me of a bank vault dedicated to harboring knowledge.

There is a great amount of the NYPL's book collection now available to view for free on the web due to it's partnership with Google to digitize the library's books. This began in 2004, and while it seems a tremendous undertaking, it sticks with the institutions philosophy to make materials available for the public. It can be accessed on the CATNYP part of the the NYPL's website. The area I have been involved with at the library is it's digital gallery and filling orders of prints and scans. You can view the digital gallery and purchase a print, or a digital file to use for personal or commercial use.

Our goal in the Photo Services Department is to produce an accurate reproduction of a material (either digital or film) without risking any harm to it. Once it's been done, there should not be a need to revisit the material for imaging use, and therefore it will last longer. We use a Hasselblad 555 ELD body with a Phase One P30 back to do the digital shots. A Cambo Legend 4x5 film camera is there for transparency reproductions. Microtek 9800XL scanner does flatbed repro work with our various Mac computers. Capture One DB and Adobe Photoshop are the software's of choice. As well as mailing you a print, transparency, or disc, we can also FTP your images to you electronically. In this way we provide high-tech solutions to archive and distribute historic material anywhere in the world.

I love using my knowledge of photography to work archiving important historical items. I get the chance to handle history, and make it accessable to future generations of curious minds.

Magnum Photo

2008-08-23T09:41:00.008-04:00

Not Magnum P.I., but this is an agency of the photography type. I have been working on their prints at Griffin Editions. Recently I did a 40" x 60" for Larry Towell who is a high-up in the agency's structure.

The word magnum comes from magnus in latin meaning "great". The larger size in wine bottling and the ammuntion caliber is named for that reason as well. They are really great in BW photojournalism. The Agency began after WWII by 4 photographers committed to using the medium to elevate conciousness. Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David "Chim" Seymour.

Another photographer I have had the pleasure of working with recently was Chien Chi Chang. His series of Chinatown, NYC will be displayed at a large show in Singapore this fall. I produced 15 images in the 30 x 40 size for his show. I felt as though I learned how to make his prints sing after the experience. Making a print sing is something achieved after many hours of testing and burning and dodging a print to visual harmony. In years past I've also made 50x70 inch prints from his Chain series. They are haunting.

One other great that is represented by Magnum and I have done printing for is war photographer is James Nachtwey. His stuff is sick and his pictures can disturb, but they are amazing accounts of what is real.

I would like to be a Magnum photographer, but it's questionable whether I have the guts.

The 8-8-08 Olympic Personal Marathon

2008-08-15T06:38:00.017-04:00

In the second weekend of August 2008 I was in my hometown of Annapolis, MD for a wedding of a former AHS classmate. I photographed the wedding of Jen and Jarrett on Friday 8-8-08, then had 3 extra days to visit family, see friends, and exploit the benefits of being mobile in a smaller city.

Friday: Their wedding turned out beautiful and ideal. Jen and Jarrett tied the knot at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Annapolis, then had a reception on the Chesapeake Bay in Shady Side, MD. It was gorgeous, formal yet relaxed, and had a BBQ buffet that appealed to me greatly. I mentioned the bride was an old friend of mine and I felt very at ease around these Marylanders and visiting guests. I shot a ton of photos with both my brand new 17-55 2.8 DX Nikkor lens, and the D300 I rented that morning from Service Photo in Baltimore. The results are fantastic, and I'm excited to deliver them to the couple.

By 11 pm I was almost out of memory cards, my feet were aching, and the party was ending. I said good bye's, packed up and drove the 20 minutes to my folks place where my wife was waiting in West Annapolis. Fortunately for me the Olympics Opening Ceremony was just wrapping up and I got see the finale of the torch lighting. I was cringing when that man was hoisted up the hundred some feet in the air, and did his running pantomime while a few times it looked as if the cables slipped. When it came together though, it was amazing.

Saturday: I slept in a little, then got visit with my only nephew Ian when I awoke. He is 8 1/2, into everything fun, and was on his way to spend a week at a summer camp on the northern Chesapeake. He was excited and I got a kick out of hearing that he would take a photography class there.

With more to get done Mal and I left for a bit, got the car washed, then I went to Macy's at the Annapolis Mall and bought a suit on sale. When we got back my brother in law Lawrence's relatives the Chu family from London were at the house sharing Pizza and playing in the yard with the dogs. Lydia is Lawrence's sister and she was accompanied by her three amazingly great kids Joe 16, Tessa 12, and Sam 8. We all walked down the street to Weems Creek and checked out the water, canoe, and fish.

That night Malissia and I went to eat at Park Place's Carpaccio for dinner. The food was very good. Afterward we met my old friends Chris, Brian, Jim, Stacia, Sean and Kate in Annapolis Roads for some late night reveree. i can't believe nobody complained about us..

Sunday: I start with errands. I go alone because Malissia is a little hung over from all that chardoney. I needed surf wax which is hard to locate in NYC, so I first hit up East of Maui. Next I need a gift for Danniela's birthday (August 11 th) and hit the Game Stop and am told by the sales-kid that Mario and Sonic at the Beijing Olympics is a fun time and I believe him. Cha-Ching!

Visiting and staying in contact with friends is always very important to me. Brian Roszell was an Annapolis guy I became friends with when we both lived in Brooklyn a few years (centuries) ago. Now he and wife Lindsay live back in Annapolis and have a 4 month old daughter named Kate. I stopped by to meet her, catch up as much as I could for an hour, drink another coffee, and get Brian to promise to hit me up on ichat, Skype, or make our Macs friends like we used to be. That afternoon allowed for lunch plans with Nik and Camille -the coolest couple in Annapolis, Maryland (1996-). We got our grub on at CPK (once again) Westfield Mall and had a nice talk about music, philosophy, art, and real estate driven economics. They own a house in York that's been on the market for over a year and are a little bummed about that.. On the very positive side Nik's band Burn The Fields has just released an EP, shot a video and has been signed by Snoop Dogg's label. -damn!

Well that hit the spot. Mal and I had a concert at Pimlico to go to this night. It was the Virgin Mobile Music Festival at Pimlico Race Course outside Baltimore. It was the third year it's happened, but the first time for both of us. On the way I made a pit-stop at Quarter Field Roads new Wal-Mart super store because I had shot my resource's worth of CF Memory. I was happy they were open at 6pm on a Sunday, and the clerk said that they'd opened in March '08 and had not locked the doors yet.

With great thanks to my girl Rosemary at CMJ we got in to the festival free as vip's and got badges to do photography. I am loving life! Bob Dylan goes on as planned at 6:45 and I get nice golden-hour photos of this living legend. Kanye West came on last to close out the weekend, and I reservedly bobbed my head and waved my arms cause the music is infectuous and the light show wicked!

Most folks would be headed for home this Sunday evening. As for my wife and I, we had made our arrangements to have Monday off, so we were just getting started and our friends Angela and Aaron were holding it down in Baltimore till we could get there. The Brewer's Art is my favorite gastro-pub like restaurant w/ a dungeon bar that has strong beer in my old neighborhood Mount Vernon. Go there. A little tired, slightly wobbly, we payed our tab around 1(?) then made way for the Annapolis rest. Almost there, the Double TT Diner could not be resisted, and it's really best we went in to have food in our stomachs, because we laid down that night and would have another day tomorrow, and that would also be eventful and expansive. I just finished one of the longest days in my life.

Monday: Our car needs oil change, Bizzy needs pet store, Brennans have a photo drop, Sammy's Sandwiches "downtowner" really pleases the pallet, Yancey Mortgage Funding needs those pay-stubs, UMBC bookstore for souveiners, Service Photo wants that camera back, hey look it's Charm City Cakes!, In House Jewelery will finally get our bands engraved, then drive home. Whew!!

Emely and Kevin's Wedding

2008-07-12T16:18:00.010-04:00

This past June 14th I photographed a wedding in St. John's in Bergenfield, New Jersey. Emely and Kevin had a beautiful event with many friends and relatives (150+) invited. The groom is the brother of my good friends Kristine and Eric, so everyone was super nice and made us feel right at home. I had my friend Dante Williams help me with their photos, and his unique style added a real nice enhancement to the couples wedding photos.

While the weather had a brief afternoon rain shower we took portraits in the church. Miraculously, the well-timed percipitation didn't disrupt anything or get anyone's fancy clothes soaked -especially the brides!

The reception that night was terific. As well as a great dinner, music and dancing, we were entertained by live violin performances and photo slide-show of the celebrating couple. We finished the job exhausted, full and confident we captured the energy, happiness, and elegance of this special wedding.

Engagement Picture

2008-05-24T09:32:00.004-04:00

My friends asked me to do a portrait for their "save the date" cards. We took this at the site of where their September 08 will be. I liked the faded siding for a nice rustic background. I'm really looking forward to their wedding!

May Wedding in Annapolis

2008-05-22T06:55:00.009-04:00

On Saturday May 10th, 2008 I was back in my hometown Annapolis, MD for the wedding of Ashley and Brendan.

She is the daughter of a family friend, and I hadn't seen her in over 10 years. It was great to see her doing so well after so long. They were both super cool! The day started out drizzly, but during the ceremony the sun came around, and it became a beautiful day.

Their reception was at the Chart House overlooking the water and it made for a spectacular backdrop.
This cake tasted as good as it looked! It came from a cake maker in Cape St. Clair. I'm looking into exactly where, so I can have it again.

Nicholas Wilson Vataj Christening 3/8/2008

2008-04-14T22:08:00.020-04:00

On Sunday March 8th 2008, a beautiful spring like day. I had the honor to shoot the Christening of Nicholas Wilson Vataj the new son of my dear friends Lisa & Wilson. Nicholas was a pleasure to photograph as you can see he loves the camera even at the tender age of 5 months. This was a very special and important day for Nicholas and his parents. Being able to capture this event for them meant a lot.

Getting Down With Flickr

2008-03-08T09:11:00.003-05:00

Fake House
Originally uploaded by virgilstephens

I started this in 2007, but haven't used it for much until lately. Flickr is best for sharing photos with friends and the public. I just uploaded about 45 photos and spent near a 1/2 hour giving them tags, and descriptions. Like everything else it's on your time.. This was taken by Malissia in Feb. 2008.

Extra-Space

2008-02-23T10:34:00.006-05:00

Life is what happens while your busy making other plans.. We've relocated to a temporary apartment in Hoboken while our condo purchase gets decided by the court system of Hudson County. This off-site storage unit makes a good home in the meantime to our collectibles, and wedding gifts. Notice my oldest photo boxes of negatives and prints where the black arrows are pointing. Circa Ritz Camera career.

Busy October

2007-12-13T22:30:00.001-05:00

This past October was the busiest time in my life so far. Exhausted I had jobs every week, shot 2 weddings, worked the 9 to 5, and finished Malissia and my wedding plans. I am only now adding this post -it's Dec. 13th..

ONEDAE Has Skills, Photos

2007-07-19T06:50:00.001-04:00

This past Sunday I met up with ONEDAE for a photo shoot . He's a hip-hop mc that'll be releasing a new album this fall. You can hear some of his tracks on his myspace page and see more of the pictures we did on my flickr page. We used his Brooklyn rooftop be our backdrop for the portraits and did a few shots at the Grand Army Plaza. Look out for his music.. He's not only a accomplished lyricist, he's a good friend of mine.

Video Shoot in Harlem

2007-06-09T17:53:00.002-04:00

DSC01941.JPG
Originally uploaded by kazuomi0130

Cassidy's Nike shoot at 131st street and 12th ave. I worked background with a bike. I had just had my bike stolen and had to borrow a friends.
Taken by fellow biker kazuomi0130..
6-2-07.
Cassidy also recently directed El-P's Smithereens video.

Strawberry Fields

2007-06-09T17:25:00.001-04:00

This is me wearing the NASA suit. Stan Gaz asked me to play the spaceman in a film he's making. Taken by Stan's wife on 6-6-07 in Central Park, NYC. It weighs about 30 pounds! Luckily some of the weight comes from the internal cooling and ventilation system so I didn't overheat. We're supposed to do few more of these shoots. This one was at Strawberry Fields in Central Park.

Colleen and James

2007-05-26T21:42:00.000-04:00

I had the pleasure to attend the wedding of my good friends Colleen and James in Annapolis, MD.