The Conservatory Gardens are so swoon, and open after renovations!

THAT tree.

First of all, I need to preface this post by saying, always go to the Central Park dot org, not dot com page to get your info about the park. Second of all, I’ve done a ton of destination weddings in Central Park’s Conservatory Garden, but since it’s springtime, I thought I’d feature this one.

The Road Less Traveled

Most tourists go to the portion of Central Park below 96th Street. However, if you have an extra day and want to explore further, go where the tourists rarely venture, to the Conservatory Garden located at 104th and 5th. It’s such a zen place, complete with a crabapple allée as they call it — they even make crabapples sound fancy — an epic entry gate called the Vanderbilt Gate that I just want to hug; an English Garden on the south side (my favorite and featured in the pictures on this post); a beautiful fountain in the Italian section and otherworldly floral displays and statues on the north side, the French garden. It’s like visiting Europe without the lines at the airport.

Weddings in Central Park can be chaotic. Have you ever seen lines of brides on a weekend at the Bow Bridge? I have. This place is a quiet, tucked-in oasis. As my teen would say, it has Max Aura.

Renovations are Done

The Conservancy has just finished a massive renovation. Restoring fountains, freshening up the landscaping, and making everything fresh and new. I just wrote to them to confirm they’re booking weddings. I’ll update this post if I hear back, but I think it’s a go?

May favorite spot is the Burnett Fountain, located at one end of a water lily pool in the Conservatory Garden’s English-style garden. “The Burnett Fountain is a memorial to the children’s book author Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924), known for her novels The Secret Garden, Little Lord Fauntleroy, and A Little Princess.” It’s on the south side, and it’s where a lot of couples have their ceremony because of many things, but especially THAT gorgeous tree, pictured above. A lot of people love getting married under a magestic tree.

To be honest, most of the weddings I did there were destination weddings, of couples traveling from abroad. Since fewer people are traveling to the US these days, I really hope locals will discover this little gem of a wedding venue.

These Guys Owe Me Pictures!

I photographed my dear groom Carlos and his husband at the garden, and I only have a few pictures — long story. I asked for more, and he promised he’d send them to me. For now, voila! Carlos and I share a love for Gloria Estefan and he’s just a wonderful person. Full gallery coming soon I hope. These are also wonderful because the officiant is one of my favorite people, Reverend Annie.

Okay, here’s the rat story

I always like to add a little story. When I first moved into my apartment building again, I saw a creature out of the corner of my eye when I was working on a swivel chair. It was a rat, or a mouse, but I couldn’t tell. Then the next morning, my son screamed while in the bathroom. Like squealed. He said it was a rat, or a mouse. And it ran into the heater area. I called the troops, and they did a search and seal, and left a lot of toxic-smelling glue traps. After a short time I couldn’t bear to see a rat, or a mouse, die in a glue trap, so I tossed the traps.

A few days later, I donated a rolled up futon mattress to someone. I left it outside at 11PM — a minute before the receipient’s arrival — because I didn’t know the person who was picking it up. He texted me and said he couldn’t take it, “because there was a rat, or a mouse, on it.”

And so that is how we evicted the rat — it was a rat, probably an adolescent — without harming him, and we had a little roommate hiding in a futon for a couple of days. And there is my fun New York story that only the people who read to the end will get to read. I know a lot of you have a New York story. Care to share?

Maple Sugar in Western Mass

If you look carefully, you can see the blue tubes that extract the sugar from the trees.

I miss the snow

It feels like ages ago that I was called to photograph Maple Sugar producers in Western Mass, and I almost forgot about it. That is, until I scrolled to CISA’s Instagram post: It states, “as the snow is disappearing and spring sweeps in, sending our appreciation to the maple producers who've been working their tails off this maple season. Pictured here, Paul Zononi, of Paul's Sugar House in Williamsburg, this past March. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I kind of miss the snow.

Paul and his helper. Can you smell the sugar?

I also visited the wonderful Dufresne Sugar House, and met Jacqueline.

She loves red.

Jacqueline told me the story of when historically people would only use cane sugar when company came over or for special occasions. And that for daily sugar, as it was called, they used maple syrup. Funny how things have become reversed over time.

I went back and visited the sugar house during boiling, at night.

So much has happened since I photographed this lovely season. The snow has completely melted. The daffodils are blooming and trees are blossoming. I’ve photographed so many people and things. I’ll be back with more little stories.

children’s pictures in spring

For years and years, I photographed the Hamilton Park Montessori school pictures in Jersey City. I lived right across the street from the school, in a charming brownstone in an historical neighborhood. I was in close contact with the school administrators as the exact date of the pictures was always a little iffy. Why? Because I took the pictures outside, and during the peak blossom season in the park.

School pictures

to order or not to order

School pictures, order now or forever hold your peace

It’s something that has sort of fallen out of fashion, those school photos with the generic backgrounds and kids with hairstyles combed so perfectly you barely recognize your own child. I for one treasure prints of my kids. In fact, I order prints of my past year’s phone and camera pictures at the end of each year as a holiday gift to myself.

My son goes to a private school, and I am told that beyond the sitting fee, hardly anyone orders prints. What? All the pictures I’ve ever taken for schools, I always require parents to order prints. I know, not fair, but they’ll thank me later.

When you miss the blossoms

For years as I’ve mentioned, I coordinated with the school to get the perfect pictures while the apple blossoms, cherry blossoms and dogwoods were blooming in all of their glory. I even called the sessions Blossoms. One year, though, we missed the boat. I don’t recall why. Maybe it was a bad year for blossoms. Maybe the school had scheduling issues. Maybe I did. But in lieu of blossoms, we purchased some potted flowers. Below you can see the results….. Enjoy!