Baptism Photography New Jersey-New York
Hudson’s baptism was at the Saint Mary Church, Long Island City, NY followed by a reception at Costa Del Sol at Union, NJ.
There were also a few other children baptized at the same time, so the church was full with relatives and invited guests for the families.
The weather had been not so good leading up to that weekend. Although the effects of tropical storm Joaquin had passed, the morning started overcast. I was worried about the lighting inside the church. It’s quite difficult to set up lighting as there is no way you can get a good bounce. Inside the church the ambient light was mainly from the overhead flood lamps and whatever was filtering through the stained glass windows.
I had to supplement that with strobes and umbrella diffusers, yet I couldn’t be quite happy with was I was getting. Sometimes, one has to deal with what is available.
It was my first time at a baptism and it is really a brief ceremony during the mass. After that was over, Hudson’s family wanted to have some group shots. Fortunately, the weather had changed by that time and I got good window light at the other side of the hall.
After that, the party headed for Costa del Sol at Union, NJ for the reception. The reception hall had huge glass windows and ceiling, which was great for natural light and I knew that would pose a challenge when I might have to use flash.
I got shots of the table set up and details before the guests started arriving. The hall filled up and people started mingling, so there were lots of good candid shots.
Hudson’s family and friends are fun loving folks and I was enjoying every moment photographing what was going on around me. Someone had curved Hudson’s face on a pumpkin and it was set at his table at the head of the hall.
The food arrived and the champagne toast was done. The feasting continued until it was evening. The music was on and people started dancing. The godparents gathered for speeches and words of wisdom for little Hudson.
And then it was time again for dancing.
