Get your drink on...

Verde Martini from Tre Monti Ristorante in Troy. Photographed for the March issue of StyleLine Magazine (on newsstands now!) Check out page 86 for the full recipe.

Vote Now!

My Real Wedding from The Knot and The Nest.

***UPDATE***: They made the finals(top 10)!! You can vote once a day until April 4th. If they win, my photos will be in The Knot!


Melanie and Laurence have entered their wedding into The Knot's best wedding of 2009 contest. I enjoy every wedding I photograph, but it was one of the best of 2009! If you have a second, click on the link above and vote for them. If they win, they get a trip to Hawaii and my photos would be featured in The Knot's magazine. It's basically a popularity contest, so the more votes the better! You can vote once a day from now through March 21st. Melanie and Laurence thank you in advance for helping them to win a trip and the title of Best Wedding of 2009 (I think it should come with a big belt like the kind you get for winning Wrestlemania!)

Temple Israel Bar Mitzvah

Jordan is the oldest son of a family with all "J" first names. You know they are a fun family when they all have the same initials! Jordan's parents actually babysat for me when I was little (before they were married) so it was fun to be able to celebrate this special day with them. Jordan became a Bar Mitzvah at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield in a beautiful Havdallah service. This is my favorite type service, it marks the end of the sabbath with a cup of wine, the lighting a braided candle and smelling sweet spices. I was able to sneak a few photos during the Torah reading which I normally am not able to do. The service concluded and the party kicked into full swing in the Temple Israel social hall. Jamez from Cloud 9 was a great DJ as always and the cake was a work of art! Hopefully I'll get to celebrate with Jordan, Jodi, Jason, Jonah and Jessica again soon!

blushing

I just received the most sincere, complimentary review from Darren, a recent groom. Here's what he said:

"Brett is the perfect photographer! I can't think of anywhere that he should improve what he does. He was always so nice to work with and seemed like he was really happy to be shooting our wedding. Everyone liked him (some photographers can be annoying, cheesey, get in the way, or go hide and miss shots and not be friendly and happy). Our wedding photos are amazing!!!! I was truly surprised when I saw them. It was like Brett was at the perfect spot and got the perfect photo every time. He even captured my Grandfather and our other guests in a way that really captured their essence and makes it really fun to look at our wedding photos and see our guests being...well...being themselves. I was also really impressed because I looked at Brett's other work and saw that he had really listened to us and it felt like he changed his style to shoot our wedding in a different manner than others he has shot. (This is the sign of a master artist.) Our wedding photos are truly OUR WEDDING photos and not wedding photos that look like everyone elses wedding photos. He just did everything perfectly! Thanks so much Brett!"

I am always honored to capture the memories of a couples most important day and I strive to get reviews like this one from Darren. Thanks for the kind words Darren. I wish you and Sarah all the best!

Rachel & Michael

Michael and I have known each other since high school so it was great to get the call from him and his fiance Rachel to have me photograph their wedding. I have worked with both of them before while volunteering for Summer in The City, where they were usually covered in splotches of paint and dirt - it turns out they clean up pretty well!

The Colony Club was a great venue - another hidden gem in the heart of Detroit. It was only appropriate for two people who have been so committed to the city of Detroit to commit to each other in the city. The couple was engaged for only 5 months, but wanted to have the wedding before the bride's brother started his tour of duty with the Army. Despite the short engagement, all the details came together to create a beautiful day. They even had a sunny day in the middle of December!

Congrats to Rachel and Michael! I look forward to seeing them back in their painting clothes next summer!

"Syd & Samz" B'nai Mitzvot

Twins Sydney & Samantha's B'nai Mitzvot was at Temple Emanu-El in Oak Park and the party took place at The Lafayette Grand in Pontiac with entertainment by Star Trax. The Lafayette Grand is a great location that is often overlooked by the bar/bat mitzvahs and has a fun multi-level layout which made for some great photo opportunities. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed capturing them!

Jennifer & Jeremy wedding

Jennifer and Jeremy had a beautiful November wedding at St. Mary of the Hills in Rochester and the Club Monte Carlo in Shelby Township. One of my favorite photos is of the two of them holding hands around a corner. They didn't want to see eachother before the ceremony, but their nerves were calmed by each others presence. We also had a good amount of time between the ceremony and the reception and we were able to make it over to Stoney Creek Metropark for some sunset photos on the lake. Here's a selection of some of my favorite images.

Ruby's mom has got it going on...

Here's a recent portrait I took of Danielle for her book jacket photo. She's a good friend who happens to live around the corner from me. Our daughters are 2 months apart, so we have lots of play dates. When she's not chasing Ruby around, she's a professor at Wayne State with my father-in-law and just finished writing the book that this photo will appear in, At the Dark End of the Street. Oh, and I didn't know it at the time, but Ruby's future sibling is also in this photo - congrats to Danielle & Adam!

pretty frickin cool... even if you aren't a yankee's fan

I met Robert Caplin while shooting the 2006 world series (The one that the Tigers played in and lost). He was a great photographer then and has come a long way in the last 3 years. Here's his take on this year's World Series final game:

World Series Time-Lapse by Robert Caplin from Robert Caplin on Vimeo.

This is time-lapse photography, not video. He took about 12,000 images to create this effect. It's pretty sweet what you can do with cameras if you know what you are doing... keep it up Robert!

Sarah & Darren

I had the honor of photographing another "Sara and Daren" at the first wedding I ever shot, so when Sarah and Darren contacted me, I knew it was fate. I have known Sarah since elementary school and was glad we were able to reconnect. I believe this is the first wedding I've photographed where the bride was also the makeup artist (it's her profession), which made for some fun images (and great makeup). The couple was married at the Birmingham Unitarian Church (which is not in Birmingham, but in Bloomfield Hills) and they partied Armenian style at St. John's Armenian Church in Southfield.

Here are some of my favorites:



Friends and Family of Sarah and Darren can pre-register to view all the images by clicking the "shop" button in the top right corner of the slideshow. You will be notified by email when they are available to view.