Hot ICE does Slow Frieze at Lincoln Center!

At Monday night's Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble) burned up the stage with the help of two luminaries of the contemporary music world: conductor Ludovic Morlot and pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard. The New York Times' review of the concert was glowing.

It was with great delight that I could photograph their rehearsals for the four days prior to the concert and watch such talented musicians work on these challenging musical pieces.

Claire Chase, the founder of the ensemble, during a practice session at the ICEhaus in Brooklyn with fellow flutist, Eric Lamb, who recently performed at Noble Arts Piano Studio in Historic Downtown Easton, Pennsylvania.

Last Tuesday evening (8/10) I attended the pre-concert recital with Claire Chase on flute and Jacob Greenberg on piano.  With her first selection Claire came bursting out of the gate like a race horse with an adaptation of Bach's massive organ piece, "Toccata and Fugue in D minor", unaccompanied on her magic flute!  After that astounding opening established her virtuosity, the audience hypnotically followed her pied piping into the second, more challenging contemporary piece, Donatoni's "Fili". The final piece, was her own jaw-dropping arrangement for flute of Paganini's "Caprice No. 24",  considered one of the most difficult pieces ever written for solo violin!  It was all over in 30 minutes but made a lasting impression. 

After days of experiencing "surround sound" music, everything began to look like sheet music, bars, measures and notes.

It looks like the top of a missile, and creates its own explosive sound --it's actually a tympani drum turned upside down!  (Adam Silwinski and Greg Beyer on percussion)

Visual rhythm inspired by musical rhythm.

(David Bowlin, Erik Carlson and Yonah Zur on violin)

It was also wonderful to see my friends Ellis Finger, director of Lafayette College's Williams Center for the Arts and recipient of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters William Dawson award, and his wife Phyllis, in attendance at this exciting musical adventure.

Horse and Rider

This week I made my way to Hope Lock Farm in Easton, Pennsylvania to photograph one of the more complex relationships between humans and animals: the one between horse and rider.  Having been a horse-loving adolescent, I looked forward to capturing the fondness that is obvious between these two close friends.

To learn more about the relationships between people and their horses check out the video series on 

PBS Nature: Horse and Rider.

Bank Street Annex Wedding in Historic Downtown Easton

The bride's family originated in Mauritania and the groom's from The Togolese Republic.  Guests traveled from Germany, France, Canada and all parts of the United States to celebrate their wedding at the Bank Street Annex in Historic Downtown Easton, Pennsylvania.  Everyone brought with them the warmth and joy, vibrant color and music of other cultures.

The best man skillfully uncorks vintage bubbly on a vintage trolley in Easton, Pennsylvania.

All the children at the wedding gathered together for a photo with the bride and groom.

Riverview Country Club Wedding with Gaelic Flavor

Mo Anam Cara - "my soul mate" in Irish - was the theme of this weekend's wedding.  I certainly felt like I was in the green fields of Ireland...and straight from a scene from one of my favorite movies, "Falling for a Dancer".

The wedding was held here in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley at the The Riverview Country Club along the Delaware River.

The gazebo was surrounded by deep purple butterfly bushes and the ceremony was adorned by the graceful flight of Red Admirals and Monarchs, nature's royalty.

Despite the dramatic interior of the Villa, the children weren't content to be indoors all night.

My friend, William, may have been one of the youngest but he was definitely one of the quickest!  He managed to catch one of the large toads hopping around after dark.  Who said weddings weren't fun?!

An Oleg Cassini Gown & Manolo 'Blahntastic' Shoes!

If these names mean something to you, you've been doing some serious clothes shopping.  The bride last weekend looked stunning as she walked down the aisle with her high school sweetheart at Our Lady of Queen of Peace Church in Gilbert, Pennsylvania.  She recently graduated with her Doctorate in Physical Therapy and he's a member of the Temple Police Force and doing graduate studies in Criminal Justice.

You can tell that this bride is a fan of  long-term relationships because she's known her maid of honor since kindergarten and her other bridesmaids have been close friends since high school and roomed together at Temple University. 

The weather was perfect for their reception at Woodstone Country Club in Danielsville.

Citizens of the World

This delightful couple started out in West Africa, lived in Paris for a while and settled down in Forks Township.  I'm really looking forward to photographing their international wedding at the Bank Street Annex in Historic Downtown Easton this summer!

Morgan Hill Birthday Celebration

How many images do you have on your laptop/desktop that you've been meaning to print and place into an album or scrapbook?  This past weekend I did what I love to do... capture relationships between people and immortalize those moments in a sequence of images that evoke memories of that day. Click on the cover to see the photos inside.

Carol Hall's 9...

By Armen Elliott Photography

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Chemistry Captured

The spark between people is fleeting and difficult to capture but sometimes in the right environment and under the right circumstances a photographer gets lucky.  This past weekend in Alburtis, PA this young couple forgot about smiling at me and saved their most authentic smiles for each other.  Those are the sweetest smiles of all...the ones lovers give to each other.

Vint-edge work by Ed Eckstein

Easton's Cosmic Cup on College Hill makes the best cup of coffee in the Lehigh Valley and also encourages local talent by inviting them to use wall space to display their work.  Cosmic's owner, Troy Reynard, is actively involved in the community- locally and globally-and encourages painters, photographers, musicians, poets and writers into his cafe.

Photographer Ed Eckstein has vintage work displayed at Cosmic Cup on College Hill . . . 

as well as new work in historic downtown Easton across the street from the Easton Arts Building on Ferry Street,  just a few steps from Sette Luna Restaurant.  Check out his new website at www.EdEckstein.Com

Deployment Photos

The winner of my Macungie Bridal Show gift certificate asked if I could take some photos together with her fiance, a Marine, who was going to be deployed to Afghanistan right after their wedding.  I was more than happy to do it and got to hear about how he surprised her by showing up on Kutztown's campus with some of his buddies (in uniform) with her favorite color roses and an engagement ring!  

Their time together right now is all-too-brief.  He'll be leaving for Afghanistan in about one week for a nine month deployment.  These images will become even more precious during their time apart.

What a sweet couple they make and how very much in love they are.

Photos are powerful in so many ways.  A recent UCLA study showed that just looking at photographs of loved ones can make you feel emotionally and physically better.

I am so grateful to him for his sacrifice and service to our country, and wish him a safe and secure return home to his new bride.