Joe Turic Photography

New Paltz Family Photo Shoot

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I’ve lived in New Paltz for over ten years.  I’m amazed when I can find a new place to photograph, especially one that’s just a 5 minute drive down the road.  I’ve actually taken pictures on the periphery of this area for years, not realizing that you can take a walk directly through the center where a huge stone structure, the Mohonk Testimonial Gatehouse, leads you to a dirt road where beautiful 100 year old oak trees line what used to the the original eastern entrance to the Mohonk Preserve.

This fall family shoot was a special one.  Not just because this is a beautiful family as well as being great friends, but also because Nick is one half of Candeo Photo, who just photographed our wedding.  If you’re getting married in the Hudson Valley, hands down, these are your guys.  Their attention to detail, professionalism and ability to keep you calm up to and including your wedding day is second to none.

Here are a handful of my favorites from a beautiful afternoon photographing a beautiful family.

 

Family Photos in Central Park

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One of the best things about photographing families is seeing how they grow through the years.  So, I was thrilled when the Geller’s asked me to do another photo shoot with them in Central Park.  I first photographed them just about a year ago when the little one was only 6 months and not walking yet.  Fast forward a year, and now they have two kids who are all over the place!

It was a beautiful, sunny, 80 degree September day in the park, and like last time we met at Sheep Meadow for the shoot.  Unfortunately, Sheep Meadow was closed!  This was actually a blessing in disguise, as we moved through the park to find some new locations to shoot, including Bethesda Terrace and Fountain.  Always a good time, can’t wait for the next shoot!

 

Lena Dunham! Girls! New Paltz!

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Good thing I look at local news.  Just yesterday I saw that Lena Dunham and crew were going to be in my town (New Paltz!) filming an episode of the HBO show Girls (Disclaimer: I really love this show, and was a bit starstruck in seeing Lena Dunham).  I took a walk over to the SUNY New Paltz campus where they were filming today to see what was happening and to try to grab a few pictures.  From the information I gleaned, and what I remember from the end of last season, the episode that was being filmed was actually taking place at The University of Iowa, where Lena’s character, Hannah, just got into the Iowa Writer’s Workshop.  Even some of the signs and buildings on campus were rebranded with Iowa, as well as the clothing of the student extras.

Seeing a production like this shoot what looked like about 2 minutes of footage over the course of a couple of hours was really interesting;  The amount of people involved, the sheer size of the equipment and the number of takes just to get what seems like a fairly basic scene correct.  Also interesting — feeling like I was a photog for TMZ for an afternoon 🙂

All shots were taken with my favorite camera these days, the Olympus OM-D E-M5, and most of them from today had the E-M5 paired with probably one of the most underrated lenses in the system, the Olympus 40-150.  This is a cheap cheap cheap consumer level lens that can deliver excellent results in good light.  In the past couple of weeks I’ve been consistently amazed by it.