Scots, nattily dressed

Well, I'm here to report that the Irish walk a whole heck of a lot SLOWER than the Scots do.

Please note that next year if you're planning to attend the Tartan Parade, make sure you're on time. It's only an hour long.

Whereas if your attending the NYC St. Patrick's Day parade, plan for a few hours.

-Bitter

ps. I'm sad I missed the bagpipes.

Headshot, ryan s.

I’m ordering some headshot fliers tomorrow and am putting “hottie” Ryan S. on the front.

What do you think? Will people book me in the hopes that I’ll make them look as fabulous as Ryan?

-Bitter

p.s. Some of you may remember him from this image I took last December.

K+R, new zealand

The weather was gorgeous, the air is cleaner and the skies bluer than you can imagine.

The bride was radiant, the groom had an Irish twinkle in his eye, the wedding party came from near and far (mostly far), and they were very happy.

By the time I returned to the US a Kiwi accent had infiltrated certain words and I’d adopted a bit of an Irish brogue.

Slideshow is here.

-Melissa

Kristy & Rolf, engaged

Well, actually, they're married now. But last fall I I did an engagement session with them. They're a sweet couple and I enjoyed working with them.

Here are a couple of my favorites from the day. Loved the leaves and colors.





Congrats Kristy & Rolf!
-Bitter

Free, wedding photography

The Problem:
As told by the New York Times
As told by the The Star-Ledger

The Inspiration:
By Jason Groupp & Jessica Claire

The Details:
Email your story and a photo of yourselves to free (at) bitterphotography.com by Feb. 21st, 2008, 11:59 pm EST. - - Why the 21st? Well because I'm flying out on the 22nd to shoot a wedding in New Zealand and I'll be able to review everyone's stories while I'm on the plane.

Qualifications:
1) Wedding must take place in 2008
2) Must have contracted Celebrations Studios to photograph their wedding
3) Must not be able to afford to hire another photographer
4) Wedding/reception must take place within the five boroughs or Long Island
5) I must be able to blog about the fabulous couple selected
6) Story must be received no later than Feb. 21, 2008 @ 11:59 pm EST

The couple selected will receive:
10 hours of wedding day coverage
An online gallery for sharing and ordering prints
A DVD with images
A professional wedding album by either GraphiStudio or Leather Craftsmen

If you know anyone who's eligible, please pass along the link.
-Bitter

ps. for those of you who read Jason's blog, my birthday is on Feb. 10th, so his birthday giveaway fits perfectly with me. :)

Legal disclaimer: Decision is subjective and final, unless couple selected does not meet the qualifications outlined above. Services and product given to the couple has no cash value.

Teeth, and other great finds

G. Washington's teeth (LOC), originally uploaded by The Library of Congress.

Did you know that the Library of Congress has begun an archiving project on Flickr (a photo sharing forum)? I combed their flickr account for a great photo for this post, and voila, what did I find? A photo of George Washington's teeth!

Crazy! Those don't look very comfortable, and I daresay that dentures have come a long way in the past hundred and fifty years!

The purpose of the Library of Congress' pilot project is to share photos that otherwise wouldn't have been seen, gain a better understanding of web 3.0 and online communities like Flickr, and tap into our abilities to help identify and tag photos in their collection.

So if you're into history, are a photo buff, or just curious. Surf through their account and leave a comment on a favorite photo, or tag a image to help others when using the search feature. :)

-Bitter

Information:
The Library of Congress (LOC) Flickr profile.
The LOC blog.
The LOC Flickr FAQ.

Matt & Mary, engaged

Last November Mary, Matt & I ducked into NYC’s Central Park for an Engagement Session, it was (dare I say it) bitter cold, and we were lucky to survive those few short hours without major loss of limb or digits due to frostbite.

Matt & Mary were definitely troopers. They are a darling couple, very much in love, and were fun to work with. Here are a few of my favorites from the session.

Sheep’s Meadow with the buildings of Columbus Circle and Central Park West in the background.


Some of my favorite benches in Central Park (near the Bandshell), I love the couple in the background of the photo.


Down on the Bethesda Terrace.


Aren’t they a darling couple? :)


-Bitter

Photos, for the holiday

Just some photos I took a couple weeks ago at Columbus Circle. If you have the chance you should go visit the Holiday Fair on the Corner of Cental Park West & Central Park South, and then stroll through the Time Warner Center to see the lights.

Have a great weekend!







I almost used this last one on my Holiday Cards this year.




-Melissa

Snowflake, columbus avenue style

Boy is it cold outside.

Me, week seven

I did a new self portrait over the weekend to submit to contest running in one of the Flickr groups I belong to. I kept debating between the black and white version and the color. I finally decided to go with the color.

What do you think? Should I have gone with the B&W?





-Bitter

Skiing, at age two-and-three-quarters

I've been tagged by Kitty over at NY Portraits, and instead of doing the meme, this time I'll post a picture from my childhood. :)

This is my family when I was little. Yes, that's me in the green.

Yes, I started skiing when I was just a few months shy of my third birthday.



Here's the original



I have fond memories of piling into the family car with my dad and sisters, heading up the mountain to hit the slopes, with Neil Diamond's "Coming to America" blasting from the car stereo. We lived on the benches of the Wasatch Mountains and were just 15-20 minutes away from a handful of major ski resorts. Solitude, Alta, and Snowbird. Needless to say, we went skiing often. We learned the basics on the bunny hill at Snowbird, then graduated to the more difficult runs dotted up and down Little Cottonwood Canyon.

While in elementary school we mostly haunted the slopes at Solitude. They were closest and the least expensive of the resorts up the canyon. I have many fond memories going through the tree runs off to the side of Sesame Street (one of their most popular green runs).

I once got stuck under a gigantic pine tree after spectacularly crashing while skiing through the Sesame Street tree runs. I landed with a thwack against the snowy ground then slid down toward a tree trunk. My body slanting down, head toward the trunk, with skis up toward the trail, I wasn't injured, but was stuck. Immobolized, I thought I was going to die a cold and lonely death before anyone ever found me (most likely during the spring thaw). I cried for what seemed like hours, and no one answered my pleas for help.

Here' a fine work of art that I labored over for hours, that might help you visualize my predicament.

After realizing neither my sisters nor some good Samaritan was going to save me, and that I probably wasn't going to die right away, I managed to pull myself out from the pit and skied on to find my sisters waiting at the end of the run. They weren't too concerned about my near brush with death, and so after a few brief moments of making sure I wasn't bleeding anywhere, we were off to the next run.

As I grew older, we frequented Alta (my favorite, challenging trails and no snow boarders) and Park City Mountain Resort.

Things I love about skiing: the crunch of snow beneath your boots or skis, crisp air, brisk breezes; the smell of grilled hamburgers and fries as you ski past the restaurants perched half-way up the mountain; the wind as it rushes past your face as you fly down the mountain and the rushing sound that fills your ears; the solitude and pervasive peace that claims you as you carve your way down a wide slope or narrow cat track, and how silence presses in when there are not many people on the slopes; the feeling of freedom; the fun camaraderie of friends and family as you try new tricks or trails; the accomplishment I feel when I'm practicing proper technique; or the happiness I feel when I get over my jitteryness from the first run of the season and finally feel comfortable flying down the slopes, knees bending, snow shushing, and muscle memory returning.

But before I get carried away, let me say that I'm a scaredie cat (spelling?) at heart, that I'd rather take a nice blue run over a couple of black diamonds any day. That I almost passed out (complete with tunnel vision, dizziness, and tears) while peering off a drop-off in a snow storm so bad you couldn't see 15 feet in front of you. What did I do? Why I sat down and scooted my way half-way down the hill on my rear-end (much to the chagrin of my brother who won't ever let me live that moment down). You see, I ruined the fresh powder for all those who came after me...

So there you have it, me and the slopes. Fond memories and good times, too bad childhood doesn't last forever.

Do you ski?

-Bitter

For Japanese, say japanese

Me, week three

Well here it is, the photo you've all been waiting for with bated breath. My third attempt at a self-portrait. This week I decided to go yellow in honor of Halloween.



-Bitter

Me, week one

Yep, that's me. *smirk*

I've decided to start doing a weekly self-portrait. This is week one. The only catch, I didn't take the picture, Sherri did...so it looks like I'm off to a bad start. lol

That is unless I loosely use the term "self-portrait", because well, it is myself, and it's a portrait...right?

Next week, I promise to have been the one behind and in front of the lens. :) Everyone okay with that?

-Bitter

Fearless Bridal, sarah style

A few weeks ago I approached Sarah to see if she was interested in doing a “Fearless Bridal” session (formerly known as Trash The Dress or TTD). She was game, and so a few weeks later we found ourselves running around NYC's Upper West Side & Central Park having a great time.

I asked her if she wouldn’t mind writing up a little blurb for the blog, and she said sure (try saying that last part ten times fast). Her words are below, and I’ve even posted a fun clip highlighting fun photos from our shoot.

Happy reading & viewing.

-Bitter

****

When Melissa Bitter first asked me if she could take some pictures of me in my wedding dress, I agreed without hesitation. The weekend we hoped to do the photo shoot would be one week shy of my 1st wedding anniversary, and this seemed like a perfect time to pull out the dress and re-live some of the fun of my wedding day.

But, as the day for the photo shoot drew near, I began to get nervous. Melissa wasn’t going to take me to a photo studio for some nice conservative portraits. I was going to be out there in the public eye; in Central Park, on the streets hailing cabs, and on (not in!) fountains.

I realized- People are going to be staring at me! And despite being a Leo (very easily flattered and generally a sucker for attention), I became more and more apprehensive about tromping around New York in my wedding dress and veil until I finally found myself in the bathroom at the American Museum of Natural History touching up my makeup. And I was self-conscious…for about 5 minutes. Melissa was so professional and encouraging.

As the day progressed, I lost almost all inhibition (as demonstrated by the dance party shots!) and began to fully embrace what I was doing. I felt confident, sexy, and happy. People didn’t think I was weird- they thought I was a bride (albeit, a bride that was climbing over rocks and scaling stonework) and I was greeted by nothing but goodwill from onlookers. When everyone is smiling at you, wishing you congratulations, and telling you that you look beautiful in your dress, it’s hard not enjoy yourself. I felt that wedding-day flush all over again.

Was my dress filthy by the end of the day? Yes.

Was I exhausted? Yes. (Though probably not as much as Melissa who had to lug a 20 pound camera bad around with her everywhere!)

Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. It was such a fun, liberating experience that the fact that Melissa’s shots came out wonderfully is just a bonus. The shoot was a great way to close out my first year of marriage- it reminded me that I’m still a little bit of a blushing bride, but it also helped me (finally!) get my dress to the drycleaner and pack it away that chapter of my life.

-Sarah

Will You Marry Me? document it in stealth mode

I read an article titled, Will You Marry Me? Say Cheese in the New York Times yesterday, the byline?

"Now, not only can men tell friends and family about the circumstances of their engagement, they can show them, too, thanks to a candid shot of the proposal."

I think the idea of shooting a proposal in stealth mode sounds like so much fun! I love capturing candid moments anyway, so I'm thinking this type of work would really float my boat. Are any of you men out there thinking about popping the question anytime soon? Mention you saw this on my blog and I'll cut you a deal. lol

-Bitter

Stealing Shots, not so covertly

A week ago I had the pleasure of shooting fearless bridal session (more commonly known as Trash the Dress) with the Sarah in Central Park. I'm processing the photos tonight and had to share when I came across this one. Check out the camera action she's getting. lol

When we got done shooting at this spot, Sarah turned to me and said laughing, "They were taking pictures." I'm just glad I caught it on camera. :)

It was tricky getting shots both with and without the boats in the lake. That pesky couple in front kept getting in the way. They went back again and again, they probably kept wondering why she was sitting all by herself in the middle of the lake.

Stay tuned for more pictures from Sarah's Fearless Bridal session later in the week. They're awesome!
-Bitter

Headshots, by bitter

Just wanted to spread the word about a headshot special I'm running for those of you actors and musicians out there in need of updated photos.

The Deal:
Book a shoot in the month of September for any Saturday, or Monday-Friday (5:00-7:00) from Sept. 1st to Oct. 15th (2207) for $99+ NY sales tax.

The $99 sale includes approximately 200 headshots, up to 2 outfits, and 1 lightly retouched image from the shoot. All sessions will take place in NYC, on the Upper West Side, and will be shot in natural light.

To book a shoot, email Melissa (ack! now you know my name!) melissa @ bitterphotography.com (remove the spaces to make the email address work) and let her know what date you'd like.

For those of you who don't need headshots, but have artsy friends who need them, spread the word. If you do, I'll work on expanding my blog to give away free desktop wall paper and add the how to/recipe section I've been planning, like pronto. lol

-Bitter, someone who's not against bribing her readers to support a good cause...

A small sample of my work. :)

The Shack Stack, at the shake shack

A burger, a burger.

Some of you may remember back in July when The Drama Teacher came to visit.

Determined to venture out into new parts of the City, and wanting to show a veteran NYC tourist something new she hadn’t seen before, I dragged her down to Madison Avenue & E. 24th Street (Flatiron District), to the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park.

I first heard about the Shake Shack two years ago when I read a blog post about their webcam. Apparently the Shake Shack is so popular that people come from all over the world to see it--well, tourists make a point of stopping by once they’re here--and the line can get a little long. So before you go, feel free to check their webcam to see how long the line stretches.

We took the R train from the Midtown and got off at 23rd Street, and then strolled past the Flatiron Building and along the bottom of the park before snagging a place in line. We then debated the merits of each of the menu items and which one to order. We had lots of time to ponder.



By the time we reached the window, we were determined to experience The Shake Shack to the fullest, so we both ordered the Shack Stack, (it looked like it was the ‘coolest’ burger they had) fries, and a drink.

After paying for our meal, we were handed an electronic pager that would alert us when our food was ready. Freed from hovering near the Shack, we wandered to a nearby table and plopped down into some empty chairs.

A blissful moment passed while sitting in that dappled shade; a gentle breeze kept us cool. My back was telling me, “Oh goodie, something to lean against." My feet throbbed in agreement, in all, it was pleasant to kick back and relax after running around Midtown all morning.

It wasn’t long before a buzzing filled the air as my pager rattled merrily against our metal table. So I did what any rational hungry person would do, I hopped up to get my food.

Here’s what it looked like.


The Shack Stack

The Shack Stack: sandwich of 2 cheeseburgers and a ‘shroom burger served with lettuce, tomato and shack sauce.


The Cheese Fries


Looks absolutely fabulous doesn't i? I do have to admit, I was a little let down by this food, however, you may find it perfect. The Drama Teacher gave it three thumbs up, and the party next to us gave it five. (How they got five thumbs when there were only two people sitting there is beyond me. Perhaps I should have checked to see if he had six fingers on his left hand.)

As for me, I thought it was too salty all-around, and maybe a little too cheesy. Yes, I know, I chose to get the cheese fries. We were going all out, I didn’t have a choice.

The issues I had with the Shack Stack.

You see, the burger only had two wimpy little--soft & thin--slices of tomato,--yes they were that red--and one piece of lovely lettuce. Beautiful? Yes. Satifying? No. Especially when you take into account the triple middle. Two beef patties, one with cheese, and a muenster cheese-stuffed-breaded and fried Portobello mushroom in the middle.

I like a little crunch from veggies in my burgers. Some onion, perhaps a little dill pickle (although perhaps not on the Stack). So the veggie department @ The Shake Shack gets a couple of thumbs down. But somehow I don’t think they care. I’m probably not the demographic they’re targeting anyway. I'm thinkin' this type of burger would be right up my brother's alley. Perhaps when he finally comes to visit, we'll go.

Side note: I’m sad to say that just today I learned that I could have requested onion and pickle, if only I would have known… However, if I’m getting a triple pattie on a burger entitled “stack” you’d think they’d give you a little more lettuce and tomato, so I’ll stick to the thumbs down on the veggie dept.

The Shack Stack was yummy, but I definitely got my caloric and sodium count in for the day if not for the week.

The fries were lovely. Crispy and fresh, I don’t have much to say about them except perhaps the cheese fries are overkill when eaten with the Shack Stack.

Would I go again?

Sure, I now need to go try out their shakes. Oh! So many choices. But as for the burgers, I think I'll leave them for when friends are in town.

When planning your visit, keep in mind that their hours are seasonal, so if you're hankering for a Shack Stack when there's a foot of snow on the ground, check thier website first to see if they're open. As of now, they're toying with the idea of new winter hours, but haven't firmed anything up yet.

For those of you who always look for a second opinion, here's a link to Serious Eats. They're famous in the food blogosphere, and love the Shake Shack.

And before I sign off, a simple word of caution, The Drama Teacher was given an open and half empty bottle of water. The staff was very nice about exchanging it for a new one, but it gets busy there and mistakes happen. So if you order water, double check to make sure that you’re the first one to partake.

For those of you, who have experienced the Shake Shack, tell us what you think in the comments section.

-Bitter

Glamour, in the park

Last Saturday as a small group of us NYC Social Flickrites and models strolled through Central Park attempting brilliance with our cameras. We stopped for a moment to watch a juggler while a few of our group refueled via a local food stand.

We stood chatting as the masses passed around us, a gentle breeze rustled the leaves overhead and dappled sunlight dropped down from above.

I stood a few steps away from the main group talking shop with Punk Dolphin, a Harlem Flickrite, when I looked up and saw this. It was over in moments.







Every once in a while you'll catch shots like these, I'm just glad I was ready when it flew by. I love the way the light caresses Sara Rosa's face, and her carefree beautiful look.

These shots are pretty close to what photogs call SOOC or Straight Out Of the Camera. The only tweaks I did were to sharpen and clip the curves layer. Beautiful.

-Bitter