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“The Blue Barn” studio shoot with Wilson-Wilson & my Chloe.

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I still have this same set in place here at the 211 Studios. If you love the look of these, and ever wanted to get some Beautiful Pet Portraits shot of your Best Little Buddies, NOW is the time! Message me on Facebook or drop me an e-mail to set up a time slot to create something beautiful & find out about the Pet Portrait Special I’m currently running for the next week.

Home Again In Horseheads NY One Hundred Years Later

Here’s a neat story about another addition to my collection of “Treasures”.
Last month a family friend, Marcie Baer came up from her home in Maryland & spent the weekend. For a few years she had mentioned that she had a surprise for me, something that she had from a long time ago. She brought up with her an old piece of oak & glass furniture, an old retail umbrella sales & display case. It was in her Dad’s basement for many, many years until he died only a few years ago.
This case was manufactured by the Oscar Onken Company of Cincinnati, Ohio at the turn of the 20th century. Umbrellas were used a lot more back in those days, and were considered a vital and necessary part of every well dressed persons wardrobe. These cases were usually found in most clothing stores and haberdasheries. They were also commonly found in the general stores or local gathering places of smaller communities that sold tobacco, confections, newspapers, etc. So much for the description of what this piece was in it’s past life.
So Marcie knows I collect and appreciate historical items, and knowing that she did not have any practical use for this thing…it now became mine!
It was in terrible shape. It was watermarked, dirty, full of cobwebs, had 2 broken panels of glass. Despite all of this, I saw a real gem inside!
Over the past month, I cleaned it up, hand rubbed it all with Tung Oil, had the missing glass panels replaced, and in general brought this beauty back to life, as these images beautifully show. I actually use it now to hold the many umbrellas that I use here in my Studio. But the neatest thing about this whole story is that this case started out it’s life in the early 1900’s in one of those above mentioned little shops….a place called H.A. Messings – A store selling men’s furnishings – tobacco, magazines & books. It later was sold and changed names into Rudy Baer’s Corner, right on the corner here in Hanover Square, just two blocks away from where my Studio stands today, and where that case will now call home, at least until I retire!
Welcome home to an old friend, back home in Horseheads, NY…..where you began….where you belong!
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The Iggy’s – July 6, 2013

You really know that time is moving along on you when you begin shooting the Weddings of one of your Best Friends Daughters. Today was Michelle & Iggy’s chance for their Happy Wedding Day, and the second time this 2013 Wedding Season that I had the pleasure to be a part of one my buddy Artie’s Daughter’s Weddings, as we already had a blast with Tricia and Chris’s Rochester Wedding way back in April! I was honored to be a part of both Happy Occasions, and I hope that my work will bring smiles to your faces, and many Happy Memories as the years pass by! God Bless you all!

And MY GOD, I still think that you guys looked like the Beverly Hillbillies Clampett’s when you were all on that Damn Old Fire Truck!
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My Best Little Buddy

On tonight’s walk through the swamp across the street, I noticed that our favorite bush was really blooming, so out came the Nikon for a few quick shots of my little girl Chloe, who will be 13 in October.

Trisha & Chris’s Romantic Rochester Rendezvous

Occasionally while editing a Wedding and going through the thousands of images, I feel my ability to really appreciate how special some of the moments are just seems to fade a bit, I guess I just get numb to them all, to everything that I captured, along with my Bride and Groom on their very special day. Then, all of a sudden one of those shots just hits me, and brings me back to truly seeing the absolute beauty in that image, in that eternal moment that we created together. THAT happened a few times tonight as I drew close to finishing up Trisha & Chris’s April 13th Wedding.
This Wedding also had a very, very special meaning to me, in that I personally know Trisha, because I have been lifelong friends with her Dad Artie….Hell, we go all the way back to Grade School together @ St. Mary’s and from there, right through our days in the Fire Department…with our Hot Cars, those Softball & Bowling Teams, our own Weddings, Trisha & Michelle’s Births, and now this very Happy Weekend, only to be duplicated this coming July when once again, I have the honor to capture this time, Michelle & Ryan’s summer Wedding. Shooting every Wedding is always very special for me, but when lifelong friends are involved, well, it just gets that much better.
Anyway, Trisha and Chris….here’s a tiny preview of what you’ve got in store…..these are a few of my absolute favorites that I’ve gone through so far…. the ones that made me stop, look, and FEEL those moments, all over again.

I’ll have your full Wedding Gallery up by the 20th as promised. Till then, enjoy you two! Rick

Oh Christmas Tree! Santa…….. all I Need is MORE ROOM!

My wife says I’m kinda a Scrooge around the Holidays, but I’ve been trying to work on that lately, especially around the Studio & Office. I always hated the set-up & tear down with the tree, because I really have a TON of nice glass ornaments, porcelain ornaments, and just a lot of really neat & meaningful pieces that I have collected over the years. So a few years ago I came up with this total brainstorm…..I had this low cart built on a sheet of aluminum, with wheels, & mounted the tree base, and now all I have to do is unplug it,  throw a large plastic bag over the tree along with a couple of big tarps….and just roll it out to an unused corner of the shooting Studio. What a time saver! The last few years I’ve especially looked forward to going to Kohls late in the Christmas Season, as they always seem to have really nice pieces on sale for like 60%-80% off. The only problem I have now is that I’ve got no more room to hang anything! The damn tree is absolutely PACKED! But I still find a way every year to add a few…& yesterday I somehow managed to get 5 more on, including an official Christmas Vacation talking Moose Mug! “That there’s an RV Clark!”

Studio Cleaning Afflicts Me With A Case of “Romnesia!”

Despite it being an Absolutely Beautiful Late Fall Upstate NY Afternoon,  I finally got around to doing a little cleaning & re-arranging of my storage & utility room here at the 211 Studio. I hoed out a lot of stuff that I haven’t used in ages, then, hauled it across Horseheads & over to our Old Barn/Warehouse, and while upstairs amidst all of the dust & the “Piles of Time” I happened upon an old metal toy that I used to play with way back in the early 1960’s. I was amazed at how timely this thing still was, because as soon as I spotted it, I felt a little bit like Mitt RomneyWITH MY OWN CAR ELEVATOR!!!!  I then started feeling Really Snobbish & Forgetful, and all at once I knew that indeed,  I had come down with a severe case of Stage 3 ROMNESIA!
Don’t worry ……it will clear up & be long gone after November 6th!
🙂

My Aunt Mary….in Memorium

Life is funny….

Sometimes things are just happening all around us for a reason, and we never even know it until its too late. Just this weekend, which was also my 55th birthday on 9/15, I was honored to shoot my Cousin Sue’s Son, Kyle’s, Wedding to Katie. We all had a great time and a lot of fun over the weekend. I hadn’t seen my Aunt Mary (Sue’s Mom) for quite some time, but there she was,  at Friday’s Rehearsal, the Dinner afterward, and of course all day at the Wedding & Reception. We even bugged her up at her home in Pine City on Saturday morning, when Kyle and his guys all got together for the fun, gun shooting images that I just posted here a couple days earlier in the very prior Blog Post. I even picked on her then, like I always do,  about…. what I call, her “Mary on the Half Shell” which is her Statue of the Virgin Mary, resting inside of a Blue Painted Cast Iron Bathtub, buried on it’s end, in the ground out in her side yard! My Cousin Bob & his wife Anna flew in from Miami, Florida & Mary got to see and catch up with everyone. Most importantly though, she got to be a special part of Kyle & Katie’s Happy Wedding Day, something she very much looked forward to! She had such a fun weekend!
Then, only four days later……. she’s gone. But for her older Sister Ann, who is still with us, Mary is now with the rest of her family…..her Husband (my Uncle) Bob, Sisters…. my Mom Helen, Sister Catherine, and their four Brothers, Nick, Chuck, Frank & John, as well as their Mom & Dad, Christine & Paul Zubriski.
We’ll always love & remember you. Rest In Peace Aunt Mary.

Mary Zubriski Fischer – 02/10/1930 – 09/19/2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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My Tribute to Titanic – 100 Years Later – 04/15/1912 – 04/15/2012

As many of my close friends know, I have always had a great interest & fascination with the Titanic , as well as what I feel is a very eerie connection to this storied ship. To commemorate the 100th Year Anniversary of her Maiden Voyage and ultimately her Journey into Eternity, I put together a nice display of some of my collection of period objects, here in the Front Lobby of my Office/Studio.

For any of you that are interested, I have also attached a link to my story, (I finally wrote it all down a few years ago because I’ve been telling it so many times) which details why I feel I have this genuine Titanic connection. So if you’ve got a few minutes, give it a read and let me know what you think? Enjoy!

Rick

My TITANIC story:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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