Judy and Michael are a special couple: they decided to tie the knot after 18 years together.

When I met up with them to talk about photographing the wedding, I was sworn to secrecy – almost everyone they knew, even their best friends and closest family members, found out through the wedding invitations in the mail. I really hope they found some way to document what must have been one EPIC week of phone calls, voicemails and emails from everyone.

The love was overflowing the day of the wedding. For me the most incredible moment of the night happened when they walked up together for the first dance. Their movements were slow and weighted, and the way they looked at each other, it felt like they were looking at each other from across the expanse of 18 years. I was bawling along with the rest of them, and absolutely each and every couple in love, young and old, joined the dance floor afterwards.

Judy and Michael, congratulations!

Click here to watch the slideshow, and go here to be notified when the full set of photos is up.

A Little Card Company
Tracy Hattem
tracyhattem@alittlecardco.com
info@alittlecardco.com
917.848.6595

Temple Beth Ahm Yisrael
60 Temple Drive
Springfield, NJ 07081-1521
973.376.0539

Hilton Short Hills
41 John F. Kennedy Parkway
Short Hills, NJ 07078
973.379.0100

Oh, I have so many feelings about Costa Rica and what that place and my time there means to me, but most of them are hard to articulate with words, or even at all. My trip there last month, for a big (big!) family reunion, was my first time back in a year and a half, and it was really the first time I’ve ever gone back intending to use my camera.

For a lot of reasons, these are possibly the most personal photos I’ve ever taken, in every sense. It took a bit of courage to post these, so I hope you enjoy.

<3,
Kat

Back in April Sid, who’s (among other things) a member of the M6, a vocal ensemble that interprets the work of Meredith Monk, contacted me about doing some PR photography for the group. I said yes, and that I wanted to stick around for rehearsals too.

And so on two hot afternoons in May I climbed up five sets of stairs to take a peek into the world of the M6. The six of them – Sasha, Sid, Emily, Holly, Toby and Peter – get together about 1x a month. The music is only partially notated, and so a lot of rehearsal time is /thinking/ about the music – trying things out, debating how it should sound and why, and scribbling notes on the sheet music. I really liked watching the dynamic between all of them.

Amazingly, this is a side project for all involved (main involvements range from singing opera to choreographing dance). The M6 is 4 years in the making, even though coordinating upcoming rehearsals is almost an hour-long process each time.

Sid was telling me that the composer, in her 60s now, has been thinking a lot about how her work will outlive her. She’s been the main performer of her work, but now she’s now spending more time collaborating with people who want to help her interpret her work, like the M6. Here and there you also catch little glimpses of the loft and Meredith’s presence in the photos.

To hear their music, check out this video. And check out the photo slideshow too.

<3,
Kat

P.S. When the Dude first meets Maude in the Big Lebowski, that singing/breathing/chanting she does when’s she’s doing her naked painting – that’s Meredith Monk. Yes.

May 15 was a big day for the Liebhabers. I met up with Josh and his family after the service on that beautiful Saturday afternoon, and everyone walked over together to the lovely luncheon just a few blocks away at Centolire. Josh looked accomplished, and his parents Lisa Beth and Andrew were all smiles.

After some afternoon napping, the Liebhabers cabbed it over to Branch NYC for the party – right on time even with rush hour traffic, thanks to Josh’s punctuality. Josh’s night was racing car themed – everything from the chocolates to the beautiful cake, and the racing arcade games. By 11 the family, exhausted but happy, was ready to call it a night.

Watch the slideshow, and go here to sign up to view the full set of photos.

Congratulations to Josh, Lisa Beth, Andrew and Sari!

Park Avenue Synagogue
50 East 87th Street
New York, NY 10128
212.369.2600

Centolire
1167 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10028-0409, United States
212.734.7711

Branch
223 E 54th st
New York, NY 10022
212.505.7400

From afternoon well into night, Saturday I hung out with the Goldbergs on Reede’s big day, documenting – reception and luncheon at Congregation Rodeph Sholom, hair and makeup at the apartment, cab ride over to the party, and the rest of the night at Crimson NYC.

It was a colorful night – glow sticks, striped socks, dance floor lights and, of course, Reede’s yellow dress and blue heels.  And everything turned out beautifully – Shelby and Theo serenaded their big sis, Heller and Jeff teared up for probably the 5th time that day, and Grandma was dancing decked out in hat and glow stick necklaces.  The whole night went smoothly, the designs were elegant and original (‘Rg – Est. 1997′!), and dancing was inevitable.

Congrats to Reede, Heller, Jeff, Shelby and Theo.  Reede, you looked beautiful.  And guys, it was a pleasure and a blast photographing you as always.

Watch the http://katcheng.com/slideshow/reede/reede-batmitzvah.html”>slideshow, and sign up here to view the full set of photos.

And check out the Goldbergs’ pre-Saturday family portrait session:  http://katchengblog.com/2010/02/the-goldbergs-central-park-family-portraits/

<3,
Kat

Congregation Rodeph Sholom
7 west 83rd street @ Central Park West
New York, NY 10024
Phone: 212.362.8800

Crimson NYC
915 Broadway @ 21st st
New York, NY 10010
212.505.2192

Elisabeth and Mitch get married!

The premise: to spend 2 days, 2 nights, and a few hours on either end getting to know Las Vegas without leaving the Strip. Pretty dumb premise, right?

The backstory is that a friend randomly called a few months back and asked if I wanted to hang out in Las Vegas on the cheap for a couple of days in March. James and I met on an epic backpacking trip a long time ago; he lives in Oklahoma and we don’t get to hang out too often; plus random trips are cool, so the answer was yes. And though Las Vegas is absolutely last on my list of places in the U.S. to pay to get on a plane and fly out to to spend time in, it’s interesting for all the reasons I’m not interested in going there. So on top of hanging out, I took on the project of trying to figure out Las Vegas, and what it’s like to live there. I scribbled down field notes in my journal, pored through publications, and talked up the locals, barely scratching the surface obviously. It was a lot of fun though, so I’m inspired to do it for every place I travel to from now on.

I did more writing than photographing on this trip. By design, Las Vegas is exhibitionist and camera-ready, and our wanderings mostly limited to the Strip – so it was a challenge for me to take photos that were fundamentally Las Vegas but which didn’t feel like tourism ads. The more I think about it, the more I’d love to go back to LV for a longer period of time to do just that. Funny how that works out.

These two images sum up the Las Vegas Strip for me.

Fundamentally, what Las Vegas offers its visitors:
The nothingness that is just one street off of the Strip behind the Wynn Hotel, like walking behind a movie set:

And then we’ve got: me and the Strip, a crazy sunset (real colors!) and the mountains I would have loved to explore, and late afternoon light on my friend James.

Here is something to know about me and seasons: this was the 7th winter I’ve ever experienced, and the first one I made through successfully.

Since 2003, the prospect of cold and dark winters fills me with the most profound sense of dread. I never experienced cold weather, dark days, cabin fever, or suffocating layers of clothing before moving to New York. And since I didn’t grow up sledding, building snowmen or warming my toes by the fire, I don’t have any of the childhood nostalgia that carries everyone through the most frustrating and depressing parts of the season.

But I made it through this one pretty well. I went sledding for the first time, in a laundry basket in Ft Greene Park, and spent a night by myself wandering a Manhattan made empty and beautiful from a blizzard.

To celebrate the first warm day of the year, here’s a couple of shots from one of the coldest days of the year.

Alice is deeply connected to my first ever memories of New York. We’re cousins, and I remember writing ‘Brooklyn, NY’ on a letter addressed to her and her sister Belinda after the first time we met when I was 10 and living in Miami. Later she’d be there for my first visit to NYC, and then again when I moved here a few years later. I couldn’t have imagined at age 10 that 15 years later her city I’d also call mine, and that I’d know it better than any other place I’ve lived.

When Alice asked me to do an engagement photo session for her and Jake, I was thrilled and honored. And what a great way to also do some hanging out and share some of our lives with each other – Alice’s relationship with Jake, and mine with photography.

During our session in DUMBO/Brooklyn Heights we caught up on each other’s lives, talked about wedding/life plans, and joked about the time Alice facilitated my first and only terrifying experience with getting a facial. Afterwards we warmed up and wound down at Siggy’s, a tasty Brooklyn Heights restaurant, where Alice and Jake introduced me to their amazing almond protein shake. Yes, the word ‘protein’ in a food description scares me too, but really, it was unbelievably good, and I’ll be back for more.

Congratulations to an awesome couple. Here’s to more hangouts.

Watch the SLIDESHOW for more photos!

Siggy’s Good Food
76 Henry Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201-6822
www.siggysgoodfood.com
(718) 237-3199