Matchmaker, Matchmaker! Wedding at the Hotel Carlyle.

This past January, I was thrilled to shoot a wonderful wedding for my longtime client, Sarah. Over the years, I have photographed both her son's bar mitzvahs as well as other family events.

The affair took place at the elegant Hotel Carlyle on the Upper East Side (where Woody Allen and the Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band play every Monday night).

In keeping with this musical theme, iconic actor and singer Theodore Bikel gave a private performance during the reception including a rendition of "If I Were A Rich Man" — which he originally performed in Fiddler on the Roof in 1967. The whole room was enraptured, to say the least. It really was a treat! 

Special thanks also goes to Catering Manager Kevin Huang, who created a lovely day for two terrific people.

The celebration ended with a stunning cake and edible favors of colorful butterfly and bird-shaped cookies supplied by Eleni's New York.

Preservation Adoration with National Preservation Week

Did you know that your photo albums, documents and family memories could be at risk of permanent damage? Not from a sudden tragedy like flood or a fire, but from seemingly innocuous packaging materials like acidic paper, acidic adhesives, old photo albums, or improper temperature control! 

Inaugurated in 2010 by the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALA), National Preservation Week is geared towards raising awareness of how easily items decay, and why preservation is such a vital part of our humanity and history. 

This is a celebration of our most beloved artifacts and the people who work meticulously to ensure they remain safe.

In honor of the art of preservation and all of our colleagues, Cyndi Shattuck Photography & Archiving will share tips about our favorite archiving tools on Pinterest. We can’t get enough of these tools—like the finest-point glue pen we’ve ever used—and wholeheartedly recommend them for photo album preservation and safekeeping of your documents and collections. 

We hope you will follow our Pinterest board, blogs, Twitter feed and Facebook pages to learn some new tricks, and hopefully find these tools as indispensable as we do! 
Follow us for National Preservation Week and make sure to check back each day for new items! 

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Lowering Our Flag to Half-Mast

Today is one of those days in New York City where the sirens going north past our office on First Avenue sound different than they did a few days ago.

We first saw the news of the bombing in Boston yesterday, and realized that my cousin Janet was probably running the marathon or cheering her friends. She is a consummate marathon runner and supporter, and so the search for Janet's whereabouts began. We finally heard from Janet in the early evening—and although shaken, she was okay. Some good news and goose bumps; she had been a block away from the finish line at a bar with friends cheering on the runners. I received the email from her on my way downtown to Broadway and Maiden Lane in Manhattan, and my eyes welled with tears of relief in the back of a cab.

As I got out of the cab facing the new Freedom Towers under construction, I realized how eerily quiet the streets were. Not one person was talking on a cell phone. People walking together were not speaking to each other. Even the children were silent. It was the end of a work day and rush hour was pretty much silent. I stood on the corner to observe the palpable hyper-alertness we were all feeling, but especially in that area of the city.

It brought back strong memories for me. I worked at that time for The Wall Street Journal Online, where I was the Creative Director for the Daily News Graphics Department. My 12th story office windows in the World Financial Center faced the Statue of Liberty and my colleagues in the newsroom faced the World Trade Center. I was one of the lucky people fighting a head cold, and running late to work on September 11th. I remember crying for a year every time I looked at the revised skyline of Manhattan as I drove back in from our temporary offices in New Jersey. 

My heart goes out to the people of Boston who will now forever feel what we felt in New York City. They too, have unfairly experienced the deaths, the injuries, the fear, and most of all, the unwarranted hate of others. It is a painful sting that leaves a deep scar.

My husband is a native New Yorker, born and raised on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. On my father's side of my family, I am the fifth generation of our family to live on the Upper East Side. We are New Yorkers deep down in our bones with a passionate love of urban life, the arts, and freedom—fighters of equality for all races and genders. However, yesterday's events did, in fact, stop both me and my husband just a little bit. I took cabs instead of the subway. By 10:00 pm last night, watching the news, we were both in tears. 

I know that we are supposed to stand strong, "keep calm and carry on."  I think that sometimes we all move on too quickly from sadness. Then again, I also come from a long line of people who take time out to sit shiva and mourn when people die. We embrace our grief and surround ourselves with family and friends.

We know first hand that hatred never wins in the end. But for now, the people and the city of Boston are in our hearts. 

2013 "Gold Gala" to benefit St. Jude at The Bowery Hotel

This past February, I had the honor of shooting the second annual Gold Gala and Silent Auction for St. Jude Children’s Hospital, presented by Land Rover of Long Island. 

The event—which raised over $60,000 for pediatric cancer treatment and research—took place in the lavish Bowery Terrace on the second floor of the Bowery Hotel. This is the first opportunity I have had to photograph here, and I hope I will have many more; the space is just exquisite.

Delicious hors d'eouvres were provided by local caterers including Cake Pops by Lena; Baked By Melissa; Pop Burger; Burke Candy & Ingredients; Luke's Lobster, and many more. Meanwhile, DJ Matt Douglas delivered great music to keep the party rocking all night (anyone who plays MGMT has the keys to my heart).

A special thank you to Land Rover of Long Island, Lauren Jaynes of Bowery Hotel, Samantha Levitan, Christina Strong (in photos on right and below), and many others for including me in this gala evening. It was a great time for a great cause!

Below are a few highlights from this "golden" evening:

How to photograph items to sell online

My wonderful colleague, Lisa Zaslow of Gotham Organizers, asked me to write a piece on how amateur photographers can shoot items at home for selling on eBay, Craigslist and other venues. Her new e-book is coming out soon. We'll keep you posted.

I decided to share this with all of you, too. I actually love to sell items myself and encourage the idea of buying used or vintage instead of new whenever one can. Good luck shooting and have fun selling!

• Take a variety of photos to show the item from different angles—at least one of each side. Clothing should be front and back; furniture should be all sides. Don't forget photo details of labels and the manufacturer, as well as flaws and damages to items. Be honest with your images! It will save you and the buyer time and money, especially on eBay where items are often mailed.


• Enhance the quality of the pictures using your computer’s photo editor. Crop out the surrounding environment of the item. No one needs to see the carpeting or ceiling of the room, or your backyard; they just need to see the item. Do NOT use photo editing software to remove defects from your item, but use it to crop, adjust the color of lighting in your room, and straighten the image.


• Clean up! Before shooting you must do the following: iron and use a lint brush on your clothing, clear the clutter from the furniture, dust your objects with a cloth, clean off fingerprints, clean any glass, make your bed, and vacuum your floor. Trust me, no one wants to buy your desk filled with your junk. Items that look like they have been taken care of will command better prices. It is okay and often better to leave tarnish on metals.


• The best way to photograph your items is in the shade—never direct sunlight. Cloudy or overcast outside? Perfect weather! You can shoot all day. Bring your items outside to your driveway or lawn, place them in the shade and shoot. You will get gorgeous images and need very little color correction. 


• If you are in an apartment and don't have access to an outdoor space, clear away all of the clutter in one part of a room, vacuum your floor, and then turn on all of the lights. Then shoot with your flash. If you get a bright spot from the flash on your item and you are using a point and shoot camera, take a small piece of white cardboard, aluminum foil, or paper and form a small U-shaped piece about 3x3 inches which we will call a "bouncer." Hold or gently scotch tape your "bouncer" under the flash on your camera so only the top portion of your flash is open. Then go ahead and shoot, this will bounce the light to the ceiling instead of directly at your item. This is a trial and error process, but works great.



• If you have a DSLR camera, you can avoid a bright flash spot on your item by purchasing a Light Scoop ($29.95 + shipping, pictured above). This will easily bounce light for more professional looking images.





• If you plan to sell many items, you might want to invest in an inexpensive backdrop to improve your pix and boost your sales. You can also go to a fabric store and purchase a large piece of black velvet (great for jewelry and many other items) or a piece of white velvet. You can see a great example of what a simple black background can do for your photos in the image above. Velvet will not reflect light and photograph beautifully. Be sure to clean. You can use Pony Clamps to hang your backdrop from a bookshelf or window sill.




• The most common problem I see are sellers trying to take close-up photos or "details" of an item, but their cameras will not focus at such a short range. Make a small investment in a good camera if you are going to  try and sell items, or rent a macro lens from your DSLR from Calumet or Adorama. This little Canon Elph will let you focus up to 2 inches and sells for $149.00. I also love the Nikon Coolpix, which will also let you focus up to 2 inches in macro mode
 
• In general, photos are great, but description is also an important part too. You must measure the pieces, weigh them if needed for shipping, measure sleeve length, bust/chest size, list materials, year of manufacture, all damages and effects along with photos. Take a few extra minutes to give buyers a thorough description with clear descriptive images and your pieces will sell quickly.

Model Behavior: Julia

In early February, I had the pleasure of working with Julia and one of my favorite makeup artists, Andrea Kooharian-Simpson on a modeling portfolio shoot. Julia is thinking about becoming a model and wanted to see what it would be like to be one for a day. Her grandmother, who joined us for the day, gifted Julia the 4-hour shoot and makeup for the holidays. We had a blast!

I gathered a wardrobe of items that I thought would look great on a 14-year-old teen, and Julia brought her own lace dress and Doc Marten's. Julia's grandmother supplied the yellow leather bike jacket. Andrea worked on a range of looks, from natural to heavy makeup.

Doesn't Julia look like a young Sophia Vergara? Just beautiful.

Jen and Art's Wedding

On a crisp and lovely day in December, I was thrilled to work with Jen and Art to photograph their wedding on The Atlantica, the luxury, private yacht on the Hudson River at Chelsea Pier 61.

With the stunning New York skyline as the perfect backdrop, Jen and Art were married by Captain Gordon as the sun set quietly on the top deck of the exclusive ship.

While we cruised New York Harbor, and while the food and wine flowed, entertainment and lighting were provided by Cameryn Entertainment. If you're interested in their services, please call 212-496-8135 and ask for Bonny.

The beautiful event, produced by Bryan Miranda of Entertainment Cruises, included a close view of the Statue of Liberty. We sailed by the iconic sculpture after dinner — a special treat that felt like our own private tour!