The day has finally arrived! After spending the last 2 months building our new studio we are moving to our new space on 25th Street. We're all very excited here at the studio as we'll have more space for our work stations and have an adjacent studio.
Congratulations to all New Yorkers (and non- New Yorkers for that matter...) who got married yesterday during the historic first day of legal same sex weddings in New York. What an exciting time!
Sunday marks the first day of legal same sex weddings in New York. To celebrate, we are offering a wedding gift of sorts and inviting 2 couples whose wedding took place on this historic day to do a couple portrait session free of charge. Simply send us a picture of yourselves in front of City Hall along with the marriage license and we’ll set up the shoot.
Please check back with us on Monday and we'll send more information on how to submit your license and photo. Above all, Congratulations!
Above photos by Shawn Connell
UPDATE: If you are one of the lucky couples, please pre-register here
It's my pleasure to introduce Glen Allsop. He is our newest photographer at the studio.
I met Glen last year and was so impressed with his work that I asked him to come shoot for us. A few of our clients already had the pleasure to meet him and see his work in action. He has photographed over 100 weddings in Australia and shot several in the USA. In fact, many of his clients loved his work so much that they flew him from Australia to the US. Not bad, if you think about the photography talent that we have here in the first place.
So, I am very fortunate to announce Glen as the newest member of our team.
His work has been seen in Bride to Be Magazine, Real Weddings Magazine, Woman's Day among others as well as on many blogs.
Also ProPhoto Magazine (Australia) recently did a cover feature on Glen.
Click on his headshot to see Glen's full portfolio and bio.
“The relationship between photographer and client is crucial in creating beautiful, honest photographs. It’s my passion to catch you at your very best, which may be when you least expect it.” - Glen
Popular Photography Magazine goes behind the scenes in an interview with Christian where he reveals some of the secrets of his craft, from the lenses he uses to the details that catch his eye.
Check out the article in the June 2011 issue of Popular Photography on stands now.
Every now and then I get to shoot some cool celebrities. Last week I shot Ric Ocasek from the Cars for the New York Times Magazine. The shoot took place during a break of the rehearsals at the Gibson Showroom in Midtown. Ric was very calm and professional and a genuinely nice person to work with. He made my job really easy as he had done so many shoots in his career.
Link to article: The Return of Ric Ocasek
Stop by our booth and get your picture taken. We'll be at the New York Weddings Event.
WHEN: Wednesday, March 30 from 5 - 8pm.
WHERE: Metropolitan Pavilion 125 West 18th Street
Get tickets here
Over the last few days and weeks the news images show devastated Japan after the earthquake and tsunami with a nuclear catastrophe unfolding. There are many charity organizations that help the unfortunate and one that we support here at the studio is Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors without Borders.
The constant effort by Doctors without Borders to be in disaster areas and conflict zones in over 60 countries is a cause worth supporting. These doctors go where nobody else goes and are very quick to get there. Event though Japan is a wealthy country and seems to be in a much better position to help itself, Doctors without Borders has sent medical teams to support the earthquake and tsunami response in Japan. Their teams are running mobile clinics and are conducting needs assessments at this point.
For this reason we'd like to hold a fundraiser here a the studio by offering a portrait shoot. Our photographers will donate their time. 100 % of your donations will go to Doctors Without Borders/Medicins Sans Frontieres.
The fundraiser will take place on Thursday, March 24th and through Monday, March 28th. Christian Oth Studio is offering a special portrait package that includes a 1-hour session with one of our studio photographers. For further details and questions about how you can make an immediate contribution please contact Meredith Goforth at meredith@christianoth.com by 5pm on Monday, March 28th.
Details of the Fundraiser:
- Purchase a portrait session with one of our studio photographers for a specially reduced rate of $750
- Your portrait session must take place between April 1 and April 15
- We will schedule a time and a place for your photography session. There are 3 areas that we will shoot at: Manhattan's Meat Packing District, Central Park and Dumbo. It will be early Spring and these locations will have a special allure.
- Samples of portrait shoots can be found here, and here. There is also good sample here about several engagement shoots.
- You will receive your images as a link to our proofing site.
- You will also receive iPad and web ready files of the best images from the shoot.
Please contact Meredith Goforth (212) 634-7949 or meredith@christianoth.com to book your portrait session.
We will book as many of these portrait sessions as physically possible within this 2 week period. We have several photographers ready and available to shoot several sessions a day.
Please note that your donation is a general donation to Doctors without Borders and it's not Japan specific, however this will help their efforts there.
We are also looking for corporate sponsors who will match the contributions by our clients.
All of us here at Christian Oth Studio would like to extend our thanks to those who will contribute to the cause.
UPDATE: We just got our first sponsor: The Tara Circle, inc at The Alder Manor (location of many movies such as the Royal Tenenbaums and one of Martha Stewart's favorite locations) has just very generously donated their premises as a backdrop for our portrait shoot.
The concept is simple and brilliant--beautiful dresses at a fraction of the price: Rent the dress instead of owning it. If you haven't heard about it yet, let me be the harbinger of good news: RentTheRunway has arrived!!!
Recently I shot a wedding at Ellis Island that was a top-knotch event. Senators, even our own governor were there. Yet in the hallways I could hear how women rented the dress for the evening instead of owning it. I wish we had something like this for us guys (tuxedo rentals notwithstanding)
Anyhow, Shawn and I shot their latest campaign which can be seen on the new RentTheRunwayWeddings site. Please register!
Today we are thrilled to announce a new collaboration with several of the most respected and revered names in the wedding industry. Launched by my good friend Lyndsey Hamilton, the new partnership, called The Collective, includes New York and L.A. based event planning firm Lyndsey Hamilton Events, Christian Oth Studio, Matthew Robbins floral and event design, Ceci New York couture invitation design, Belle Fleur New York, and Marcey Brownstein Catering.
"Our goal with 'The Collective' is to offer clients the unique opportunity to have our favorite and most recognized industry partners to produce the luxury wedding experience" says Hamilton. We are excited to be a part of a partnership with some of the most creative minds in various fields and are honored to be included in The Collective, as each of our partners in this venture represents the top talent in their respective field. Click on the link below for a sampling of some of the real weddings that our studio has worked on with each of the partners in The Collective. We look forward to many more to come.
Last night marked the 100th anniversary of the New York Public Library, and to celebrate this monumental landmark event, they hosted a resplendent gala. Our studio was asked to be the exclusive photographers for the evening, and we were absolutely thrilled to accept. We have had the pleasure of photographing numerous weddings and events at the New York Public Library throughout the years, and its classic gracefulness and grandeur makes it one of our favorite iconic New York places.
To add to the historic nature of the event and kick off the party, a classic jazz band in full flapper-era attire serenaded guests with upbeat melodies. Giant candelabras lit the room, while literature and the constellations were projected onto the ceiling. An original mock up of the building, which opened to the public in 1911, sat front and center. The event was catered by Peter Callahan, one of New York’s finest chefs, and guests enjoyed everything from tuna tartare to sweet desserts served in champagne glasses. The food was artfully presented and appealed to all the senses--a perfect presentation. As the evening wound down, we reflected on the success of the party in honoring what was truly an historic occasion.
I hope you enjoy the photographs from this wonderful event.
Thanks to Lis Pearson from the NYPL for hosting such a great event.
Loved the food from Creative Edge, Peter Callahan, Glorious Food & Sonnier & Castle
and the incredible band Carte Blanche
Christian Oth Studio is proud to announce that we have been selected as The Knot Best of Weddings Winner for 2011. This prestigious award is presented annually to those wedding vendors whose commitment to excellence ranks them far and above their peers as rated by the brides.
What a great way to start off the year!
I hope you all had a very happy new year! 2011 is shaping up to be a great year for the studio already--the talented editors over at Martha Stewart selected this beautiful wedding shot by Shawn Connell for a feature in their winter weddings issue. We are so honored and excited to see the photographs in the magazine, and of course we would like to thank Eric and Angela (the bride and groom) for letting us share their beautiful celebration below. I hope you enjoy the feature, and stay tuned for even more photographs of this wedding tomorrow.
Happy holidays from all of us at Christian Oth Studio! Whew, what a year it has been... we started off with an all new site, added a blog and had some truly amazing weddings to share. Well there are quite a few more to come in 2011 - we will have lots of destination weddings and some truly amazing New York affairs too.
The studio will be closed for the holidays and we will be taking some much-deserved time off to relax and enjoy friends and family. We'll be back in early January, so until then we wish you a peaceful holiday and a happy new year!
Recently I photographed "Das Racist", a Brooklyn indie-rap group, for the New York Times Magazine (click here for the full interview). Initially I wasn’t very familiar with their music, but Himanshu Suri (in the red and white jacket) and Victor Vazquez were relaxed and extremely comfortable in front of the camera and I love how their personalities came out in the photos. Immediately after arriving they dismantled a bouquet of flowers to use playfully as props. After that we just had fun--they were not afraid to joke around in front of the camera, which resulted in some really great shots. I hope you enjoy these extra takes from the shoot.
I recently got the opportunity to photograph the lovely Melinda Gates for the New York Times Magazine (click here to read the full interview), and want to share some extra shots and a behind-the-scenes photograph from our shoot with you. I was not surprised to discover that Melinda was both kind and incredibly eloquent, traits that have served her well as a philanthropist (she is co-founder and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). A rigorous schedule necessitated that Deborah Solomon from the magazine ask questions over my shoulder while I photographed Melinda, and at one point, Deborah noted “Everybody wants something from you...”. I volunteered that all I wanted from her was a great photograph, and Melinda’s gracious response was “That’s all right with me”. She was elegant and poised throughout the shoot, but I found out that there is one thing she does not tolerate...Apple products in their home! I asked if she would allow her children to have iPods and iPhones, and the answer was a resolute “No”. I enjoyed photographing and talking with Melinda Gates, and her kindness and generosity in person was truly inspiring. I hope you enjoy the photographs from our shoot below.
It’s bridal market week here in New York, and the new collections have been just cause for celebration, with parties taking place all around town. Monday night’s gala thrown by The Knot was by far the highlight of the week. Carley Roney, the talented Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Knot, presided over the festivities with grace and style. She contacted our studio to take pictures of the event, which took place at the beautiful New York Public Library. It was an amazing night, with all of the major wedding celebrities in attendance. The centerpiece-de-resistance was a towering wedding gown made entirely from white and pink flowers by Preston Bailey. I hope you enjoy the photographs below of this truly magical evening.
Mark Ingram, Carley Roney, me, Preston Bailey
Rebecca Crumley, me, Sylvia Weinstock, Carley
Preston Bailey, Carley Roney, Monique L'Huillier
Meredith Goforth, Nicole Fazzini, Karen Bussen, me again...
Lisa Ceci Johnson and of course, Lindsay Landman who did such an amazing job putting this event together.
Photos by Shawn Connell, Rob Northway and Joshua Dalsimer
See more pictures on our Facebook page here
UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal just wrote about the big event here
Recently I photographed Phil Collins for an editorial assignment and I would like to share these images with you.
I met the legendary Grammy Award-Winner at the Atlantic Records headquarters in Midtown Manhattan. I just love it when I am able to photograph someone whose music I started listening to as a teenager, and still enjoy today. We met in the Atlantic Records art bay for the shoot, and it was inspiring to be in the presence of such great works of art with someone as creative and innovative in his own right. Phil fit in perfectly with the setting, and was a genuinely cool guy to work with. During the shoot, we talked about each of our young sons, who are roughly the same age. It was an honor to photograph someone whom I admire, and it was even more refreshing to see how down-to-earth he is.
While we were in one of the staff meeting rooms, I discovered this pin board and it turned out to be the perfect backdrop for our shoot. Sometimes finding unexpected elements in the environment can lead to great photographs, and this pin board was just the right color and texture so I went with it. I hope you enjoy these portraits of Phil Collins from our shoot.
UPDATE: The New York Times Magazine just published an interview by Deborah Solomon of Phil Collins.
Fashion Week is officially underway here in New York, and the city streets have come alive with well-heeled editors, models and celebrities in sky-high Louboutins. Every spring and fall the excitement begins to build as the big white tents go up, but this season fashion week is trading in it’s long-standing home in Bryant Park for the stately plazas at Lincoln Center. The Upper West Side is abuzz with crowds entering and exiting shows, and it’s everyone for themselves when it comes to catching a cab. During fashion week, designers set the trends for the next season with the clothes they send down the runway, but often the show’s attendees are sources for inspiration with their personal sense of style as well.
I started this blog early this year to create a forum where brides, grooms and photographers alike could communicate with our studio and one another. I casually tested the waters by sharing my philosophy and standards for wedding photography, and I got some great comments, questions and suggestions from those of you that follow our blog. Recently, I’ve decided to step up our efforts and become more active with our blog posts, so I am very happy to introduce Molly Dembner as a new addition to our team.
Molly is now interviewing our brides and creating the Real Weddings posts on this site. She has some expertise in this area, as she was one of our real brides just last year! Sue Kessler from our studio photographed her elegant wedding in Dumbo, Brooklyn, and the photographs turned out beautifully. Molly kept in touch with the studio and I ran into her out and about several times in New York, so she naturally popped into my mind when I decided to increase our blogging efforts. She recently moved to San Francisco for her husband Joey’s job at Apple Inc., so west coast brides, keep an eye out for her around the city!
A warm welcome to Molly.
- Christian Oth
In our creative meeting at the studio yesterday, we focused on new and different ways of photographing portraits during weddings. We talked about how we could make them fun and unique while still delivering the traditional idea of a posed portrait.
I shared one of our previous creative meetings with you because I think it is important for our clients and other photographers alike to see what our creative process here at the studio is, and how we are able to stay innovative as a team. This time around, we took a look at some great examples of portraits at recent weddings and discussed what techniques we had used to capture all of the essential actors while still maintaining our creative photojournalistic approach. Everyone at the studio is incredibly talented and passionate about what they do, so we love getting together and sharing new techniques that we have discovered. For those of you out there who are just as passionate as we are, I have included some of the portrait techniques that we discussed below. 
SHOW THE LOCATION
One of the ways to make a posed portrait visually interesting is by including an element of the location that makes it distinct in the background of the photograph. For example, if the wedding is located in Connecticut, the photographer could include a white picket horse coral in the background to give the actors (bride and groom, family members, wedding party) a setting for their story. Additionally, making that background slightly out of focus gives the photograph beautiful contrast and texture and draws attention to the people in the portrait.
Props can also be used for a similar effect. At a wedding that we shot on a farm in upstate New York, there was a beautifully weathered old tractor on the grounds, so we had the bride, groom and family members sit on or stand alongside the tractor in one of their portraits. The tractorgave the people in the portrait a sense of place without creating a distraction.
MIND THE EDGE
As photojournalists, we always try to take beautiful photographs using creative framing, but it’s important when taking portrait photographs to make sure that all of the key participants are fully in the frame. When it comes down to it, the photographs of friends, family members and the wedding party are often the most important to the bride and groom. It’s important to us that we have great communication before the wedding with the couple to make sure we know who all of their family members are and which shots are important to them. Using the right techniques and coordinating with the couple to make sure we have captured all of the key participants can lead to stunning, naturally beautiful photographs. 
PAY ATTENTION TO PERSPECTIVE
Sometimes there are parts of the background that are not visually appealing and should be excluded if possible. By paying attention to perspective, you can focus on your subjects while excluding elements of the background. For instance, if you are shooting a couple and want to capture the beautiful foliage above them but don’t want to include the traffic behind them at ground level, you could shoot from a lower perspective, so that only the foliage is in the background of the portrait. Getting close to the people in the portrait and only including a hint of the foliage behind them is another way to do this.
Similarly, if you are shooting portraits of a couple in an expansive space and want to show them in their environment, a higher perspective taken from a distance and using a longer lens can create beautiful depth to the portrait and draw the focus to the couple.
We chose to talk about portraits this week because they are an essential part of wedding photography, and when they are created thoughtfully, they can be just as innovative and unique as some of the candid moments. Feel free to share your thoughts with us below.
- Christian Oth
Please welcome our new inspiration board section. We get to see so many visually stunning weddings and simply want to share what we see.
The first few boards have color themes and we've previewed a few here already. Look for our summer-themed yellow board in the coming days!
If you recall a few weeks back, in preparation for our new website release; we had a blog posting of some of our photography team doing their headshots. Well, here is the other half of our team having a go. Carolyn, Sue, and Alison approached this shoot with a fun and fancy-free attitude.
Leave it to the ladies to dress as colorful and playful as their personalities.
Out with photographers Michael Falco and Shawn Connell we happened to catch some candid moments while taking some new head shots. Being in front of the camera can be a truly vulnerable time. It's a feeling of being exposed, to which not even photographers are fully immune. Just out for these shots it makes me appreciate the importance of having a great photographer who put you at ease.
Photographer Alison Mayfield recently had an engagement shoot with a fun couple Brenda and Alvin. They came prepared with props and a costume change!
We love our space on 7th Avenue in New York's Fashion District!
Our studio is very central and we do all our client meetings here as well as photo shoots. All the other magic, post processing and book design happens here.
It also doesn't hurt that 28th Street, which is New York's flower district, is right around the corner. Our studio manager loves to always get new flowers for the studio.
We've been here for over 5 years and have really grown into it. This image was taken recently for the website for our new "About Us" section.
Come join us April 7th at the Metropolitan Pavilion - 125 W 18th Street, NYC
The New York Weddings Event offers brides-and-grooms-to-be a one-stop resource for their big day. All the vendors you need to plan your special celebration: the city’s top jewelers, caterers, bridal fashion designers, planners, tabletop brands and much more.
Event begins at 5:00pm on April 7th. Get your tickets now!
I am very proud to announce that Alison Mayfield's picture has not only won 1st place, but is also featured on the cover of the April issue of PDN!
I always knew that Alison was an incredible photographer. One only has to watch her work! This is such a great and unusual picture.
This is now the second PDN cover that we got in our little studio collective. For those of you who are not photographers, you probably don't know Photo District News (PDN), but it's what photographers look at.
Congratulations, Alison!
This is the second time that we got the cover for the PDN annual wedding issue. See the 2006 cover here .
Apple's forthcoming release of the iPad will bring another game changer to the way we view and consume media. As a photographer I am very excited about the new possibilities this handsome new device will bring.
Photographers are inherently interested in technology. When digital cameras came of age I was all about them and mastering all the technical implications of it. What a wonderful combination of technology and photography.
Enter 2010 and Web 2.0 or whatever you may call it. For the past 7 months we have been working on getting our new website off the ground. Even before Apple announced the iPad we wisely decided to create the site in Html5 and have not one bit of Adobe Flash in it. The fruits of this endeavor are now on display in the new iPad.
The above is a screenshot we took in the iPad simulator. We have one on order at the studio and can't wait to see the real thing.
UPDATE: I was just informed that we still have Flash on the site: we had to use it for the music. We're still looking for alternatives on that end.
We are so excited that one of Shawn Connell’s photos was chosen as the cover shot for this year’s Quest Magazine’s Wedding Issue!
Shawn captured this amazing wedding flawlessly. To see more images click here.
Congratulations Shawn!
Please see our coverage in the most recent NY Weddings Magazine! Of course not all the images from this wedding can get published, so we uploaded the wedding to our real wedding gallery, click here to view our favorite images.
I am excited to announce the launch of our new and improved Resources page!
This page was meticulously and thoughtfully compiled with creating the ultimate guide in mind. We were very precise when handpicking each of the vendors making sure each and everyone met our quality standards. We love partnering up with these companies/people and respect their work. To meet all of our standards one must deliver top-notch work, BUT also be a pleasure to work with. I invite you to stroll over to the listings and see for yourself, whether you're window shopping or in desperate need for some yummy wedding cake.
The much anticipated Whitney Biennial opens today to the public. This exhibit highlights lesser known artists that are expected to set the temperature for the next two years in the contemporary art world. This year there are 55 artists showing, 4 of which are photographers, I am especially excited to see the youngest photographer (23) Tam Tran’s work.
While Biennials are always affected by the cultural, political, and social moment, this exhibition simply titled "2010” embodies a cross section of contemporary art production rather than a specific theme.
Click here for more.
Tam Tran
Jake McBride, currently on assignment covering the 21st Winter Olympics, was recently named one of "Australia's most renowned and prolific snow sports photographers this country has ever seen" by Chill Factor Magazine. To see Jake's full interview go to Chill Factor Magazine. Jake's Olympic coverage is updated daily on Mountain Watch.
Shaun White celebrating his victory with his long time coach.
Our new website has been live for a little over 2 weeks now, and what a busy couple of weeks it has been. To put it mildly it's been raved about by many in the industry and clients alike so far. This project started last August and everyone involved in it thought we'd get this out in about 6 weeks. How wrong we were.
The primary obstacle was to improve on a site that already scored highly on aesthetics. I pretty much told my web developers to do most of the same that my old site did. There was definitely some head-butting and there were at least two occasions when I picked up the phone and wanted to call the entire project off only to change my mind during the conversation, because of the charisma and intelligence of .... my brother!
Yes, the web developer behind all of this IS my brother Roland. He is running a startup company in Austria doing all sorts of geeky internet backbone stuff (quite brilliantly so). When he decided to take on this project he collaborated with the graphic designers from Abloom with whom he shares his office. We were truly telecommuting: Skype video and Google Waving. However, oddly enough, we got the bulk done during a ski trip in Austria.
So here it is. The new site. Roland: thank you so much for all the work and hours you put into it. I couldn't be happier and more proud that we worked on this together! Bro, you rock!
The last time we re-designed our website was only 18 months ago, but we felt like we had to stay current with today's communication needs. First and foremost we wanted to add a blog. Then we realized that our photographer's work needed to be featured in a better way - so one thing led to another... and voilà a new website is born.
The new site not only features gorgeous weddings, but it's also a dynamic resource about photography, and more. Register with the site, and you can enjoy and share our new "Favorites" feature -- our one-of-a-kind tool that will be useful to many, as we continue to bring more stunning images to our site. "Star" any image to create custom slideshows that you can share with your friends, use as inspiration as you plan your big day, and help guide you as you choose a photographer. For fans and journalists, you can follow the evolving talents and style of our photographers.
Having been in this industry for a number of years we thought that we had something valuable to share with couples planning their wedding. We have been so privileged to work with many talented and distinguished vendors -- planners, designers, florists, make-up artists and musicians. We have also shot at the top venues in NYC and across the globe for a bevy of unique clients. If you find a resource on this site, you can trust that it's a good one - useful, tasteful and helpful.
New functionalities and resources will evolve over time. Bookmark our page as a valuable, concise and easy-to-use resource. No clutter, I promise.
Christian Oth
