Seaport Museum partners with Kevin York Photography!!

Seaport Museum event planning now in house !!

I had the pleasure on Tuesday to meet with Kelly-Ayn Mckay and Elizabeth Brito of Culinary Concepts/Events at ISM. Both Kelly and Elizabeth are top professionals in the catering and event planning industry here in the Philadelphia market. I am honored and privileged to be chosen to partner with Culinary Concepts/Events at ISM as one of their premier wedding professionals.

I look forward to helping Culinary Concepts make Events at ISM a huge success.

Elkins Estate ,Kevin York Preferred Photographer !!

The Elkins Estate in Ekins Park PA has announced that Kevin York Photography has been chosen to be among the Elkins preferred wedding professionals.

I am honored and privileged to be named as a preferred wedding professional. The Ekins Estate(www.elkinsestate.org) is one of the most unique sites for a wedding I have ever seen. I had the opportunity to create images for their website and brochures.

Please stay tuned for more about Elkins Estate . If you need information please feel free to email or call me anytime.

A Robert Frank moment.

Hi Folks,

Many of you that know me understand that I'm a bit old school. I love old Black and white Images .One of my favorite photographers is Robert Frank .You can look at his work over and over and see something different each time. Photographers like Frank did there work with film,old cameras and bad light meters. Alot of their exposures were guesses,I mean experience. They knew their equipment ,their film and the results before it was ever printed.Unlike most photographers today who without a TV on the camera could not function as professionals.
To me Robert Frank's pictures were stories within single images.When you look at a Roberts work you wonder about the subjects and the situations. You can feel the mood ,emotion and his take on life. You wonder what people are thinking and in some cases you relate .
For me photography is telling a story with one image. I have always tried to do that. When ever I was at any event or moment in my life when my camera was in my hand the goal was to come away with that one image,that one perfect image. Sometimes I come close .
When I was editing my work from a recent wedding( Jillian & Jon @ Riverdale in Lancaster PA)I came across this image. I remember when I made it that I was kind of excited but I thought it was too dark . I knew it was a great moment but did I get it. These are the kind of images and situations you can't put your camera on automatic and expect to get results.I mean the lighting is from inside the car light and sparklers. You kind of need to have the experience to pull this off,old school.
Jon was not the most expressive person I ever met. I would descibe him as a proper British gentlemen and a very nice fellow. His beautiful bride Jillian is a typical American girl full of life and lots of fun,they are a great couple and very much in love.
I realize in this photo you can not see the brides face but to me Jon's expression tells you all you need to know about this couple. To me this is as close as I get to a Robert Frank moment .

What's it all about for you ?

I read a blog today from a good friend of mine Craig Sumsky at www.cuttingedgedjs.com/blog/2009/03/25/your-wedding-dj-are-they-listening-to-you/
He wrote about a bride who hired a DJ and then was told that many of the things she liked the DJ did not . This person then proceeded to insult the bride by making comments about her musical taste . The bride was also told that not having a garter /bouquet as part of her day would be "Weird" ??

It amazes me when I hear these stories but unfortunately they are common. This also applies to photography !!

As a bride or just a consumer how is it that you make decisions about things you purchase?? What value do you put towards certain parts of your wedding ?? What's it all about for you ??

Maybe this bride thought that a DJ is a DJ ?? We'll hire somebody so we got them. As it turns out this guy was a jerk. Thank God she (the bride) caught on to this DJ she will now have a great experience because of Craig.

This also holds true with Photographers . Just because someone has a fancy 300,000 megapixel camera !! does not mean they know what they are doing. Or do they have any idea of what you want ,or do they care.

I recently met a young very successful professional woman the other day who told me she is getting married this year. I said "congratulations" and then I asked( you guessed it) "do you have a photographer? She proceeded to tell me about her bother in law who is a photojournalist for a large newspaper out west." He has won some awards and is really good , He also has all the hiTech state of the art equipment" she said. I then asked "has he ever done a wedding"? " well no but our engagement photos were really nice" ,Hmmm.

I really hope this young lady gets great photos . She has no choice and no options she must and will like whatever he gives her for the rest of her life.

Just because I have a camera and I shoot in a photo journalistic style doesn't mean that some newspaper will send me to Iraq. That job requires specific and learned skills that most wedding photographers do not have. On the other hand many photojournalists do not have the specific skills to shoot a wedding.

Ladies, whats it all about for you?? Is it a great Dj,photographer,band,cake,flowers,dress ,place or just fun. Whatever it is take the time to really study what you are buying and make sure that you know who your dealing with. Get to know your people as well they should get to know you.

Paul Newman

Several years ago(back in the 90's) when I was running around the country chasing race cars and stars. I had the privilege to meet all of my boyhood hero's and some really big name folks.
One of those people was Paul Newman. I must say he was not the most outgoing person I ever met and in fact I had quite a time trying to get him to sit for me. He had me follow him to three states until we finally met in Milwaukee .
It was a really strange photo shoot.I guess he knew I was not one of those slick Hollywood paparazzi types. I was polite and called him Mr. Newman which I guess gave me away . I had no army of assistants just me and him.
So here I was with one of the biggest stars in the world .My assignment was to get a portrait of him for a story RACER magazine was doing about how Racing has changed since 1969. Mr Newman had done a movie called winning where he played a character who had won the 1969 Indy 500. The portrait needed to look rough like we were in a garage the "grizzled veteran" type of thing, dramatic light you get it.
I had everything scouted and figured out and when we were ready to shoot he says" no don't like this lets go into my motor home" , which was really a mansion on wheels. Hmmm ,OK in a bus, no light what do I do now?? I always pride myself with being prepared .In photography most things never go as planned so to cover your "butt" and be prepared for the unexpected is par for the course.
To say the least I was surprised but not shocked maybe Mr Newman was challenging me, pushing me to now be creative under his terms."OK here you go take your shots" nothing like a little pressure. This was before digital photography so like many "so called" photographers today you had to know something.
"Mr Newman it is kinda dark in here can I turn on a light"??" No" he said ."If you don't mind Sir may I open one of these blinds a bit just for a little light"? "Just a little" he said.
With that I started to work with Paul Newman,how cool?? I said "I would like to work close with you eyes" Yea they all do,he said. Here I am moving this guy( a superstar of film) around ,posing , lighting and for a few minutes he worked with me. Hey do ya got it??he said," I got something"?? That's all ya get ,good luck,nice to meet ya.
I picked up my stuff shook his hand and before you knew it I was out the door. Ten minutes of my life I will never forget.

Racer magazine loved the photos !!

I"m posting this today because of a couple reasons first the year end tributes of folks who have passed will start and no doubt Paul Newman will be mentioned. Also it is the gift giving season and there is no one I can think of that has done more for people than Paul Newman. More important Paul Newman is a role model . People like him are few and far between. Celebrities today are measured by a much different standard. Traits like honesty ,integrity and helping your fellow man are not whats in fashion today.

I do not have the Images which were used for the story but I do have these out takes. I think he did like me?? Thanks Paul .

Postcards

I want to thank everyone who has responed to my postcards. They seem to be something that folks really like and i get so many nice comments about them.
One thing I want to make sure that everyone is aware that the postcard does have a value to it.What do I mean?? If you come to see me and you decide to book with me your postcard is worth $100 off any product or service . Including family portraits as well.
I thought this would be a nice way to say Thank you.
Please if you receive one of my cards and you think I may be the right photographer for you,give me a call. I would be happy to meet with you and talk about your special day!!

I Love this Image !!

I guess I'm an old romantic , this image reminds me of a painting I saw many years ago. I can't remember the artist . This is from one of our engagement sessions