David & Jen's Excellent Wedding

I have been a victim of "Blogger's Block" for several months now. But it's now or never! It's time! Better late than never! Sink or swim!

In other words, if I don't blog about my son David's wedding now, I have no excuse.

Let me begin by saying that Linda and I are ecstatic over our new daughter-in-law Jen!
She has already changed her name (although not her initials) to Jen Soberman. We love her and her family, Bruce and Barbara Seader, and Erica, Jen's sister. We couldn't have done any better! The love she has for David is obvious in the photos.

But the wedding was such an emotional high, and so terrific, that anything I write about it is bound to be a pale imitation of the real thing. But no matter. It's time!

Let's go back in a time capsule to the weekend of June 26-27, 2009, in New York City. Linda and I drove from Michigan, the car full of formal wedding clothing for both our families, and a dozen handmade styrofoam wedding cakes for centerpieces for the rehearsal dinner.


The rehearsal dinner took place at Bayards, an 18th century mansion near Wall Street. It was a fun, casual evening. We saw family and friends who came in for the wedding, as well as meeting some of David's new relatives. It was a beautiful, warm evening in New York...just perfect. David's friends and family gave toast after toast, and roast after roast. Some were even funny!




































Linda actually made the cakes out of styrofoam and plaster, and designed the cupcakes and miniature brides and grooms!










































































But the big event was yet to come....Saturday night! It was held at Capitale
which is a swanky club in Chinatown. It used to be the headquarters of the Bowery Savings Bank, and was designed by the famous architect Stanford White.


What a gorgeous place! And the lighting, flowers, table settings and decor made it about the most beautiful wedding venue ever!





























































We arrived early, to dress and take photos.















David and Jen's friends were there, helping them celebrate by eating, drinking, being supportive and clowning around.









































































Any last minute jitters?





























































































In case anyone doesn't know, David is a HUGE Michigan booster!
































































































David and his mom embrace before the ceremony. Lots of tears were being shed. See lots of other pictures of David kissing!
















After dressing, photos were taken of the wedding party.















































More clowning around....




































































































Was David getting cold feet and thinking of getting out on the Vespa? I don't think so!








































































But Jen and David certainly realized the serious nature of the important step they were taking!













































































































The bride was gorgeous and the groom was handsome. The ceremony was moving, as the rabbi read letters David and Jen had written to one another. I hope they reread the letters regularly throughout their lives!



































































































































































After the ceremony, David and Jen retired to a private room for a few minutes, then reappeared on a catwalk with a spotlight. Very exciting.






























Then a terrific meal, speeches, dancing into the wee hours, and a post-wedding party for their friends in a huge hotel suite with a grand view of New York at night.

























































































































































































































Do we look happy or what?
































































Jen's feet after the ceremony! Note the lovely pedicure!
















The next day, all exhausted, we had brunch together, and talked about how wonderful the wedding had been. We saw lots of the guests at the hotel, and heard nothing but compliments.






The happy (and beautiful) moms!





























Related and now friends forever!

































































Lots of friends and relatives celebrated with us, and below are photos of some.


























































































































































































Finally, we said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. David Soberman, who jetted off to Hawaii for a honeymoon (I'll let them do that blog, as I was not there).

After months of dithering over this blog, I decided that the only way to handle it was to put in lots of photos, so here it goes! If one picture is worth a thousand words, this will be a very long blog! Hope you enjoyed it.

Carlos and Linda

The Big Day - Erik's Exhibition

In the last few blogs, I have written about teaching photography - or transmitting my love of photography - to Erik, a 10 year old boy. It has been rewarding and sometimes frustrating. But it culminated in an exhibition of Erik's photographs.














Many readers have asked me about the exhibition.



















The good news is that the exhibition, held on Sunday, April 5, was a great success! We sold over 50 photographs, and many, many people attended.

The food was wonderful! Mari (Erik's mom) and her friends cooked some wonderful things. I was sure that they had cooked too much food, but by the end of the event, almost everything was gone.





















Erik signing photographs













During the week before the event, I went to Erik's school to invite the principal and his teacher. Although they promised to come, they didn't make it (remember, this is the teacher that called Erik a "burro" - a dummy) Erik's classroom was stifling - 40 students crammed into a small classroom on a hot day. All of the children were wearing uniforms, including sweaters. Erik later told me that they weren't allowed to remove their sweaters, no matter how hot it was.



















Linda and I worked hard on Friday and Saturday to set up the show. Lavinia's Framing lent us easels and boards to display the works. Mari and Linda worked hard to clean up the house. Erik and I made the final photograph choices and I made display prints (13 x 17) as well as smaller prints to sell. We set up the easels in the courtyard, and the food in the dining room and on the patio.



















I asked Mari whether her parents would attend, and she told me that they lived too far away - 1 1/2 hours by bus. I encouraged her to have them come, and even offered to pick them up. On the day of the show, her proud parents were the first to arrive. They were in their mid-80's, and have 9 children and over 60 grandchildren and great-grandchildren! One of the most popular photographs of the show was of the ancient blue door to their home. At the end of the show, Erik's grandmother kissed and hugged Linda and me, and invited us to visit us at their ranch. We are looking forward to doing so next year.






















You may ask whether we accomplished our goal of enhancing Erik's "auto estimo" (self-confidence). I think we made some real progress. At the entrance to the show was a new photo, taken by Linda the previous week, of a proud Erik. To me, he certainly looks more self-confident. What do you think? He now looks us in the eye when he talks to us, and shakes our hands with a firm grip.

We raised over 5000 pesos (about $400 US). Half the money went towards the purchase of Erik's camera, supplies, expenses and food for the event. He got the other half. Remember that this is a boy whose weekly allowance is 20 pesos, or about $1.50. When I handed him over 2500 pesos, his eyes opened wide, as he had never seen so much money in his life. His mother took it for safekeeping. She asked him what he wanted with the money, and he replied "new clothes." I suggested a bicycle, and his eyes lit up.













A neighbor who is a professional photographer, Robb Kendrick, has volunteered to work with Erik over the summer, so he will continue his work in photography. I expect that Erik, with our encouragement and some hard work, will continue to improve both his photographs and his self-esteem.
















Stay tuned for the next episode in Erik's burgeoning career (and see below)!



















The exhibition consisted of 18 photographs, which are available for $12 (8 1/2 x 11) and $20 (13 x 17), postpaid. Other sizes available on request.

My Grandparents' Door
La Puerta de Mis Abuelos



Sadness
Tristesa


The Chimney and the Clouds
La Chimenea y Las Nubes



Mojigangas Puppets
Las Mojigangas


Broken Christ
Christo Roto



Magic Sombrero
Sombrero Magico



Maracas and Drums
Las maracas y Los Tambores


Maguey Cactus
Maguey


The Musicians
Los Nortenos


Blue Table with Skull & Gourds
Mesa Azul con Calavery y Calabasas


Sombrero on a Cactus
Sombrero arriba Cactus


The House in the Tree
La Casa en el Arbol

Flying Tire
Llanta Volando



Truper



The Virgen of St. John
La Virgen de San Juan

The Dry Streambed
El Arroyo


The Hidden Leaf
La Hoja Escondida


Bar Miami
Bar Miami



Note that almost all of these photographs were taken by Erik without my assistance. In most cases, I wasn't even with him. Most of the prints are straight, or with very modest Photoshop assistance, with the exception of the following:

Broken Christ - I used an uninteresting photograph of a piece of sculpture to show Erik some of the things that Photoshop could do - in this case granulation and color changing.

The original photo of the entire sculpture and the closeup are below.

Truper - this started as a photograph of a sombrero in Erik's father's wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow is made by Truper company, a large manufacturer of tools in Mexico. I showed Erik how sometimes a photograph can be cropped to make it more interesting. Even after cropping, it still lacked something (to my eyes), so I desaturated it to turn it into a black and white semi abstraction. The original photo is shown below.


The Hidden Leaf - this was a shot of dry corn leaves. Because it was taken on a very bright day, the shadows were intense, and the contrast of the photograph was excessive. By removing the color and turning it into a black and white photograph, we were able to use the contrast to benefit the photograph. However, it was still uninteresting to me. I suggested to Erik that we crop the shot to show a closeup of the leaves.

Original photo below
Erik did not do the Photoshop work or the printing. They were done by me. Teaching him may be a photographic project for next year. He's not quite 10 years old, and cannot afford a computer (certainly not with internet access).