t1 wedding photography

Vietnam Day 11

2011-09-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

Final days in Vietnam..... It's funny how fate brings people together....8,000 miles and 40 years later we find ourselves dropped in the middle of what I think was the biggest part of the trip for my father....

The man in this video is a Vietnamese General named General Ngyen Etiml Thi.We met him at the hotel where we were staying in Da Lat. His sister owned the hotel and this is how he and my father were brought together after all these years. We figured the general to be around 15 or 16 years old during the war where he fought for the North and against my father. General Thi was wounded pretty badly suffering two to three hits in the leg and another in the chest. He is lucky to be alive, but holds no ill feelings toward Americans, in fact, during this touching moment in the hotel lobby, the two soldiers made peace with each other and the General thanked my father for coming back after nearly forty years....

I hope you enjoyed this video.... this is what this trip was all about and I am so glad that my father is now able to let go of whatever troubled feelings he was holding in for the past forty years and move on with the rest of his life knowing what he did in the war was a good thing no matter what the media and governments on both sides portrayed it to be....

T1 out!

Vietnam Day 10

2011-09-12T22:01:00.000-07:00

Last day of travel back to Saigon.... Once again, please forgive me if these pictures aren't the best, as I said before, shooting from a moving vehicle can be very difficult at times! Hope you enjoy!

Swiffer anyone?

Some of the last pics of the highlands as we made our decent down to Saigon.... Though I was ready for the warm climate of the south, I was also sad to leave this incredibly beautiful place....

and it wasn't long before the mountains were behind us and we were back to the long flat highways leading to Saigon....

The festival of children still going on as we pass through village after village....

We have a party on the patio back in the states.... These guys take the party on the patio on the road!

The tea fields.... wonder if this insecticide does any good against the bugs they have here.....

Vietnamese grave yard....

School letting out in one of the villages we went through.... rain or shine these kids walk miles to and from school.....

It's amazing what you will find build along side the roads here in the middle of no where....

Due to the rains we had in the highlands, there were a number of cool waterfalls along the way, I was able to get the driver to stop for this one so I could get out and get a few long exposure shots to slow blur the water.... turned out pretty good for no tripod!

Thought this was pretty amazing, pretty much an entire village on the water.... I find it very interesting how these people make the best out of the land that they are giving to live on.... or lack there of....

and finally, we end up back in Saigon just in time for rush hour traffic.....

Pop's and I are going to spend our final couple of days in country at the famous Rex hotel that has been here since before the war.... I figured he deserved a little taste of the good life after living on the road for the past week.... He was a total trooper and hung the entire time! Very proud of him and can tell a difference in how he looks at this once war torn place.... I think it's safe to say, all has been forgiven on both sides for the most part....

Vietnam Day 9

2011-09-12T07:43:00.000-07:00

Another Great Day.... We started out visiting and attending a church service at one of the Point Man funded churches just outside of Da Lat. The people there were amazing and very receptive of us....

After the service we got to meet with church elders and I had some of the best coffee we have had yet..... Maybe that was due to the fact that the fields surrounding the church were nothing but coffee plants! Amazing!

My dad with the head Deacon of the church....

Pops with some coffee beans right off the plant!

This is one of the local Tribal women from the village, she is over 100 years old!

Of course Vera went to work passing out blow pops as we walked through the village....

This was temple right down the street from the church, I am amazed by the architecture....

Toward the end of the day we headed out to a feast to celebrate the children.... what an incredible spread and great time!

We stumbled into a cafe to get a break from the street traffic and it just happened to be the Head Quarters of the Da Lat Easy Riders! How cool is that!

These last two images are my favorites from the day, can't decide which one I like best.... Tell me your pic....

Thanks again for stopping by, sorry this post is a day late, but with the heavy rains in Da Lat the last few days, the internet was very spotty and I was unable to get the post up.... Back in Ho Chi Minh City today.... will post more on that trip tomorrow!

Hope all is well with everyone! T1 Out!

Vietnam Day 8

2011-09-10T01:01:00.000-07:00

Hello from Vietnam once again! I just want to start out by saying thank you to everyone for all the "likes" and awesome comments. It has been an inspiration to continue working hard everyday to make sure I get my blog posts up regardless of how tired I am.... and believe me, there were a couple of days when we'd spend 10 hrs on the road, then gone running around after checking into our hotel and I was literally falling asleep sitting up waiting for pictures to upload to the blog.... I hope you all continue to enjoy what you're seeing and please keep the comments coming! With that, here is today's post....

We visited an orphanage just outside of Da Lat this morning and couldn't believe how incredible this place was. We also got invited back tomorrow for a Festival of the Children so the pics from that should be great too.

The children were working hard cutting down bamboo for crafts to sell tomorrow at the festival to raise money for the center....

One of the Educators as he calls himself, spoke to my dad about what was going on, where donations come from and a basic history of the program.

One thing remains the same no matter what part of the world your in, kids are still kids and it's great to watch them play and interact with each other....

Did I mention they love blow pops!

After the orphanage we again headed up higher into the hills to see some more of the sites....

Some of the sites in this area are a new home development that is currently being built.... it looks a lot like homes you see going up in the states and I thought it important to show that it's not all poor run down towns and rural areas.... some of the homes we have seen are amazing!

and right among those homes is a small old school type village where they offer elephant rides.... which I was all set to do until is yet again started raining on us again....

And I didn't want to interrupt the poor guys bath....

Think this boat shot is my favorite shot of the day, and will most likely be on the wall somewhere when I get home from this trip....

Dorky self pic....

After the elephant tour we headed up even higher to a Buddhist Temple which I have been waiting to see since we got in country.... It is amazing how long this stuff has withstood the test of time.....

And what is better then finishing off the trip with a cable car ride? Not much!

Well maybe Planking an Elephant! Ha!

Vietnam Day 7

2011-09-09T05:51:00.000-07:00

Today got off to an early start as Tiep got me up at 6am to go for a little walk.... Yeah.... little turned out being 8 km and most of it was in the rain, which seems to be an everyday thing here.... It was a nice way to see the city and we did stop for our morning coffee along the way, so it was nice. We also got to see the morning market here which was like nothing I have ever seen before.... We have it so easy back in the states walking into a grocery store to get everything we need.... and we complain about it.... we have no idea....

Downtown Da Lat....

The morning market.... unreal!

Fresh fish anyone?

How about chicken or beef?

I love LA too!

Amazing what they do with bushes here....

One of the coolest things from our walk was this little guy at the cafe we stopped at for some coffee. I have never been this close to a monkey before and he was sooooooo freakin cool! He even let me pet him! I want one!

After our walk, it was back to work for us as we visited a small Catholic Church & School here in Da Lat. Most of the children there have some sort disability, many of them being deaf. We watched a dragon dance with the entire school and then went to watch a performance by the deaf children, handed out blow pops and handed out a large package of writing pads that the children are in need of due to that being the main way they communicate. It was a great feeling to see all of them smiling and interacting with us, but mostly just being kids!

These kids love the dragon dance!

Many of the children have hearing aids but alot of don't.... it is amazing to see how happy these kids are.

This is the group of children we spent most of our time with and after a quick group photo, they then put together a little performance for us.....

The dance was to music and it was awesome! Then it was blow pop time!

Point man allowed me to hand over the note pads that they had brought for the children and it was an amazing feeling....

People here are amazed by tattoos and they have to touch them to see if they come off or not.... It is quite funny!

Phil, Vera and one of the children from the School....

My dad showing off pictures of his dogs from his phone.... They really liked that!

After the church, Tiep took me to a scenic waterfall down the road from the heart of town.... we rode these cool little sled like things down this awesome roller coaster type track. It was the coolest thing ever!

Oh yeah, and I had to go ahead and plank the small bridge over the falls.... ha!

This is Tiep, he and I have become good friends since meeting the night we arrived in country and I will surly miss him when we leave to come home....

This last image was taken from the cafe where we had lunch after the falls and headed back to town.....

Hope you enjoyed!

T1 out!

Vietnam Day 6

2011-09-08T07:29:00.000-07:00

Just when I think one day can't possibly get better than the last.... I am totally blown away by this country. The more I see, the more I forget about the history we have here, the more I can see the beauty in this place. I know how hard it must be for some people to do that, but I think if more people came here to see it now, it would help them heal as this country has.... You don't see the scars left here 40 years ago by both sides, what do you see now is a county and people trying to make a life for one another..... It seems like no matter how remote, there are still people working the land to either provide for themselves or for their income.... It's a truly amazing place and I hope these pictures do this land and it's people justice....

Many of the people you will see in today's pictures are what are called Tribals and it seems they have been pushed higher into the mountains.... Not going to talk too much today, just want you all to enjoy the photos.... they were basically taken between Pleiku and Da Lat....

Hope you enjoy....

Vietnam Day 5

2011-09-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

Our day starts off not much different from any of the others, but I did catch some cool sunrise pics today, and then it was off to met my boys downstairs for coffee with the locals. Not quite as exciting as the previous day, but we were out in the sticks this morning, so that is only to be expected.... it was actually kind of nice not having to deal with all street vendors while we sat and enjoyed our coffee. After meeting the rest of the Team for breakfast we loaded up and headed out for Pleiku.... within a half hour of our trip, I get to do something I really wanted to do but had no clue how to pull it off.... well, it all just kind of fell into place and we spot a Vietnamese wedding about to take place. We pull off the road and with Camera in hand we walk up with Tiep, he says something to one of the parents of the couple and they welcome T1 with open arms, Literally! Their weddings are much different then ours and we basically caught the arrival of the couple at the reception which I guess is the first time everyone gets to see them.... very cool!

Ok well, really bad internet connection and this is the best I could do for pics today.... hopefully I can add to this post a little later once we get to the next city.... bare with me and keep checking back.....

Hope everyone back home in the states is doing well!

T1 out....

They have some big bugs here!

Texting and driving? On a motorcycle!

This is our driver Foo, the man has nerves of steel!

Nice Hummer in the middle of no where!

This is what they call a Tribal or Moi.... The Vietnamese Govn't is afraid of them because they are such fierce fighters.....

It is truly amazing to see what these people can come up with to drive and use to farm with....

And finally, I will leave you with this image, I think it was one of the best I have taken thus far.....

Talk to you all soon!

Vietnam Day 4

2011-09-06T08:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, so for some reason these pictures are really out of order so bare with me.... Today we set out to visit a Leper Colony in Na Trang, it was a very moving experience, but also felt incredible at the same time. These people are total outcasts from society and have to totally provide for themselves from within the compound they have been condemed to live in. They are truly grateful for the help we give them and I am so glad I was able to be a part of this mission to help them.....

Thanks again to everyone that donated money to help me and my father get here! I can't thank you all enough!

To give them something to help lift their spirits even more I climbed this massive rock out crop in the middle of the complex and then I planked it! Yeah baby! They had no idea what I was doing but loved it none the less.... No one had ever climbed the rocks before so they say and I will tell you, it was pretty high and I'm not sure the pics can do it justice.... had to be at least 40 to 50 feet up!

This was temple we visited today in Na Trang that is over a 1,000 years old! Amazing there are things build so long ago by hand that are still standing!

Had to throw in a little T1 art today too....

and this was part of a little road side rest area we stopped at today! I could have stayed in this spot.... Forever!

Downtown Na Trang from our hotel room.....

This little boy was a cutie! He was selling packs of gum for 20,000 Dong which is less than a dollar.... Tiep gave him 50,000 and he took off running, we all laughed and said he just got ripped off and he said, he'll be back with change.... sure enough, this is him bringing back the change....

Hangin out with some locals in the morning having some coffee and shooting the breeze.... can't even explain how cool it is to be able to do this.... without Tiep, it wouldn't be possible.... Thanks my friend!

Well that's all I have for today.... Heading deep into the hills tomorrow, so I should have way more cool stuff then.... Just not sure what internet will be like there....

Keep an eye out!

T1 Out!

Vietnam Day 3

2011-09-05T09:06:00.000-07:00

Yet another incredible day, but let me start by saying I am sorry if these images are not up to par, but I shot most of them from a moving vehicle today on a 10 hr trip from Ho Chi Minh City to Na Trang. I am beat and have to be up early tomorrow to catch my first ever sunrise being I am so close to the Land of the Rising Sun.... so I am not going to chat much about the days events at this point.... Hopefully the images will speak for themselves and I hope you enjoy!

Phil and Tiep at a rest stop.....

Yes there is a motorcycle in the somewhere!

A real lotus! Love it!

First rain since we got in country.... kind of cool!

The South China Sea! Hope to swim in it tomorrow!

Ok, these next few are how they process and dry the rice after the harvest.... yep, that's a gas station parking lot.....

Honey can you stop on your way home from work and pick up that piece of furniture I ordered..... Thanks!

Fishermen in the Cam Ranh....

Na Trang from our hotel room....

More to come soon!

Vietnam Day 2....

2011-09-04T08:24:00.000-07:00

Day two was yet another amazing day.... We got a chance to tool around the City with our Guide Tiep today and see a side of the city an American probably would never venture to see, nor should they attempt it without a local to guide them. We were greeted with many smiles and they really seem to love tattoos for some reason, but we did catch a few stares at times that gave you that uneasy feeling we were some place we might not want to be without a guide....

Today was also a day for my father..... a day of healing and retracing old foot steps.... which started at the Vietnam Aggressors Museum..... after a good family style Vietnamese breakfast!

That being said, it was a great day and I hope you enjoy the pictures of day two!

Upon arriving at the museum, one of the first people to greet us was child that had stepped on a land mine shortly after the war. He'd lost both his arms and his right eye in the incident. Now a man, he is not bitter or resentful toward soldiers that fought in Vietnam. He actually tries to sell book that tell the stories of the war from many different points of view and he was amazing to watch overcome his handicap and function unbelievably....

Pop's and Tiep our Vietnamese guide.... another amazing man and a pleasure to be around!

Pops at a Pagoda he'd been to 40 years ago with his good friend Dick Lee.... what an amazing piece of history as you will see from the pictures below....

We decided to finish off the day walking back to the hotel rather than taking a cab, like I said, an incredible tour of the city, but a very hot, and tiring trek for many reason.....

After a quick stop for ice cream for pops and some amazing iced coffee for me!

Thanks for stopping by.... hitting the road for 8 days tomorrow..... look for more images soon!

T1 out!

Vietnam.... Day One!

2011-09-03T18:56:00.000-07:00

So after an amazingly long journey, we have finally reached Vietnam and are currently spending our first couple of days in Ho Chi Minh City. I must say that this city is incredible to say the least. I have been to some of the biggest cities in the world and Ho Chi Minh is up there with all of them. The people and the culture here are like no other you will find. I have never seen so much wealth and poverty in such a close proximity to one another, nor have I seen so many motorcycles in use at one time. I even had the opportunity to ride on one with a local and it was a ride of a lifetime!

Pops and I then had a chance to experience the night life a little bit last night and after enjoying a couple free beers at the amazing Rex Hotel in the heart of downtown, we went on to explore a little more and found a great Jazz/Wine bar with live music. Little do we know how small this huge world can be, but within ten minutes of being there, we were introduced to a character named Johnny who played guitar in the band. Then we came to find out that open jamming is welcomed and there was a whole line up of guests from around the world..... a sax and flute player from New York City, a bass player from Cinn., OH and two drummers from West Virginia, myself and pops! So within an hour we were up on stage rockin out with some locals and guests from around the globe and it was amazing! Pictures and video to come later!

So today we have preperation and planning to do for our 8 day trip into the heart of the country so I will leave you with a few images I do have ready to go from yesterday's trip around town.... Stay posted for more in a few weeks!

Hope you enjoyed!

T1 out!

Ashley & Mike Wedding....

2011-06-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

Ever have one of those days when everything is going right and it all just works? Yeah well last Saturday was one of those days! We had great weather! An incredible wedding planner - Heidi Baumgart owner of Heidzillas Event Planning, A great 2nd shooter - Margaret Baglia & best of all, an absolutely amazing Bride and Groom! Not to mention their families and the coolest Bridal Party a photographer ever ask for! Thanks so much to everyone who had a part in this beautiful day!

I hope you enjoy some of my favorite pics from the day!

and kudos to Margaret for some incredible ring shots! Get it Girl!

As always, thanks for stopping by and I would love to hear your comments!

T1 Out!

Lauren & Tom E Shoot.....

2011-06-15T05:58:00.000-07:00

So this past Sunday I had the pleasure of shooting in another uncharted region for T1 Photo.... I met Lauren and Tom at a small park in Grafton, OH not far from where they live. I love doing this because it allows me to shoot fresh, new sessions and it lets the creativity run wild.... I thought it was a great session and I hope you will agree! Please enjoy!

Thanks again for stopping by.... as always, feel free to leave some blog love and stay posted for some great weddings to be posted soon!
T1 out!

Angela & David's Wedding..... Cleveland Style.....

2011-06-07T10:02:00.000-07:00

Well, we thought it would never get here.... but wedding season is finally here in Cleveland and what a great start to the season we have had! I am actually behind with posting thus far this year so I am going to start with my latest and work my way back a couple of shoots.... Thanks go out to Blondie Hair Design in Mentor for working around me all morning while the girls got ready, you girls Rock! With that, I hope you enjoy!

Laura L Model shoot....

2011-04-09T07:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much to the lovely Laura L. for helping me with this shoot. Thanks also go out to Marty LaMaffa for allowing us to use the loby in the amazing LaMaffa Party Center.... What an amazing place to shoot! After moving around furniture, multiple outfit changes and an all around amazing shoot, we walked away with over 700 images from this shoot, so to narrow it down to only a few to showcase here was not an easy task.... I hope you enjoy what we came up with....

Normally it takes a little time for the photographer and model to warm up to each other and get a level of comfort working together, I think we started nailing it right from the first frames we snapped....

and the images did just seem to keep getting better and better as we shot....

At the end of the shoot, I walked away feeling very good about this shoot.... Would love to hear your comments so please feel free to let me know what you think of this shoot & thanks again for stopping by!

T1 Out!

Marie & Jay E Shoot....

2011-04-03T11:22:00.000-07:00

It's Spring! It's Winter! It's Spring! It's Winter! I'm sure I'm not alone when I say this seems like one of the longest and hardest winters we have had in North Eastern Ohio in quite a while.... Just when you think it's over we get nailed with another wintery blast. Just like a few days before this Engagement shoot with Marie & Jay. We ended up in Marie's home town of Chardon Ohio and figured hey, it's Ohio, it's that up in that air mix between Spring and Winter and it is what it is.... Let's just go have some fun and make some cool pictures, so we did!

I soooooooo love it when couples are able to just cut lose in front of the camera and be themselves.... Sometimes it's hard to forget about the guy looking through that big zoom lens trying to capture you as you like to think you are. But Marie and Jay...well they made it easy and shoots like this are just plain fun!

With a mid April wedding date fast approaching, we can only wonder what Cleveland will bring us on their wedding day, but one thing is for certain...no matter what the weather outside, the love this couple shares will warm the hearts of all those around them on their wedding day....

You can see more of this shoot on http://www.t1photo.com/ thanks for stopping by and look forward to yet another big year from T1 Photo and his incredible couples!

T1 out!

Lindsey and Troy Engagement Shoot....

2011-02-26T12:32:00.000-08:00

Welcome back campers! I know it's been a long, brutal Cleveland winter, but spring is just around the corner.... No really, I'm sure of it! At any rate, thank you so much to Lindsey and Troy for getting me out of the depths of my "Man Cave" and back to doing what I truely love.... being behind a camera!

Thank you to the beautiful Cleveland Hyatt for having such an amazing indoor location for us to use for escaping the cold slushy landscape we all call home.... and with that, I give you...the pictures!

Had a great time guys! Can't wait for the big day!

As always, feel free to show some love and leave a comment or 12!

T1 out!

Trashin the dress.... Rock n Roll Bride Style!

2011-01-25T11:18:00.000-08:00

So it just dawned on me that I never did a blog post about one of the coolest Trash the Dress shoots I did last year.... I posted it on Face Book, but with everything else I had going on, I guess I just kinda forgot to blog it!

So I was on my way to Philadelphia to shoot a wedding and being that I was going to be passing right by the Bellefonte, PA exit, I decided to head out early and set up a shoot with a good friend of my mine that had always wanted to do a Trash the Dress Shoot.... We met on the outskirts of town and headed out to her aunts farm to get things started and as I think you will agree, I'm pretty sure we Rocked this shoot up one side and down the other....

Now don't get me wrong, I love being a Cleveland Area Wedding Photographer.... With the lake, the incredible skies and cloud formations we get, shooting here for the most part is unbeatable.... But sometimes a cool ass chic with some baller tats in a junkyard can't be beat either!

And did I ever mention how much I love red doors? Especially when you throw a white wedding dress up against one! Daaaaaaang!

So with that, I hope I have left you all with a taste for what will hopefully be one heck of a killer wedding season in Cleveland with T1 Wedding Photography.... Only a few more months to go!

And keep an eye out over the next few weeks for some highlights from the "Studio" Model Search shoot that will be taking place this weekend in my old stomping grounds of Chester West Virginia.... We have about 9 hrs to do 31, yes 31... 15 minute shoots! I'm pretty sure it's going to Rock!

T1 Out!

Cleveland Beach shoot... in November? Sweet!

2010-11-15T12:04:00.000-08:00

So I have to say, when Lisa and Bill called me up and wanted to cancel our E shoot back in September due to some bad weather coming in that day, I didn't think we would have much luck getting a decent day to shoot before next spring.... Wow was I wrong! Sooooooooooo glad we waited!

And we still managed to have some leaves to get in a good leaf shoot too! Sweet!

Hope you enjoyed!

T1 Out!

Ashley & Nick Wedding in Geneva, Ohio

2010-09-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

Let me just start by saying..... WOW! You wanna talk about an amazing day to shoot on the shores of Lake Erie.... Yeah well this was one of those days..... and that's all I'm going to say about that.... These images speak for themselves.....

Hope you enjoyed these as much as I did taking them!

Catch you again soon!

T1 Out!

Lindy & Paul Wedding....

2010-09-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

So last Saturday was another first for T1 Photo.... We shot our first Jewish wedding! After much preperation and planning the big day finally came for all of us and I must say, it was an amazing experience! The families on both sides where a huge help and did everything they could to ensure our success.... Thanks soooooo much!

With that, lets get to some pics already!

As always, if you would like to see more of the pics from this incredible wedding, please check out www.t1photo.com

Thanks again for stopping by!

T1 Out....

Hallie & Mike Wedding.....

2010-08-19T06:08:00.000-07:00

Finally got to shoot a wedding downtown once again thanks to a great couple, Hallie and Mike, thanks so much! We had a little bit of everything on this incredible Saturday afternoon.... From a little drizzle, to a full on down pour for a little while...but when it was all said and done with, we had an incredible outdoor wedding in beautiful downtown Cleveland's Mall C. Here are just a few of the highlights from the day, hope you enjoy!

Thanks again for stopping by and feel free to check out www.t1photo.com for more info about us....

The New face of t1 photo....

2010-08-11T11:06:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to drop a quick line to give a shout out to the NEW face of t1 photo.... The recently married Kristen & Jeff Dawson! We were able to leave the reception for about ten minutes as the sun was starting to set over the Springlake Party Center http://www.springlakepartycenter.com/ located in beautiful Lakemore, OH and capture an AMAZING sunset while the couple enjoyed a quiet moment alone together.... Does it get any better? I think not!

Thanks again to Kristen & Jeff for allowing t1 photo to capture their wedding day!

If you would like to see the rest of the pictures from this wedding please click here.... http://t1photo.ifp3.com/2/b1c5d/#/gallery/kristin-jeff-wedding/

t1 out!

A New Trash The Dress Shoot....

2010-07-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

Wow.... It's really been almost 3 months since I posted a new blog entry.... Where does the time go? It's been a very busy wedding season so far for 2010 and as we get ready to make the turn into the 2nd half of the season, I thought I should take the time today to post something...anything...just to let you all know I'm still out here....

With that, lets take a look at an awesome TTD shoot I recently did with Maria & Curt at Mentor Headlands Beach.... We had an awesome time and I think I may have captured my new favorite Bridal Portrait....

And finally, here is my new favorite portrait....

I hope you enjoyed this post and I hope to post more soon!

T1 out!

A Kiss with Attitude!

2010-05-13T15:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, so a few of my clients had mentioned that they love the Kiss Wedding Books, but thought that the covers were a little too simple.... They like some of the other album options they'd seen out there.... So I took it upon myself to try something new with a couple of my Kiss Books and my clients are loving it! That being said, I give you a Kiss with Attitude!

Thanks for stopping by and I would love to hear your comments as to what you think of the mod to the book......