*Wedding Wednesday* :: Event Production

The event-planning industry has a huge convention called Engage!10. One of the conference speakers this year was Bryan Rafanelli, owner of Rafanelli Events, who plans tons of weddings, parties, corporate and nonprofit galas in Boston, West Palm Beach, Fla., and Washington, D.C.

Rafanelli’s credentials include a series of inaugural events leading to and the day-of President Obama’s swearing in and Chelsea Clinton’s wedding.

He’s also done his share of nonprofit events, and the below photo is from a fundraiser.

One of Rafanelli’s strong points is to tell a story with each event he works with anything that is conceivable to the client. The result, I imagine, is an amazing display of environments that shows the quality, the care and attention that people appreciate and are excited about.

Although he isn’t local, there’s still much to draw inspiration on from his work – as a photographer, an event planner, and anyone else in the creative field. And, of course…as a bride.

*Wedding Wednesday* is a weekly post of creative information, ideas and inspiration. If you are a professional in the wedding industry and would like to contribute an entry please contact me for information.

As Ever…

Classics at Car Show for Kids

DAVENPORT, Ia. – I recently had a chance to shoot the 2010 Hooters Car Show for Kids, a fundraiser for the Children’s Therapy Center of the Quad Cities. The event – organized by the Quad Cities Cruisers – was a HUGE success hosted by the Davenport Hooters restaurant. I shot this event last year, and there was no doubt this was the place to be in the QC if you love old cars. There were nearly 250 cars spread over the Northwest Bank parking lot (top and lower levels) and spilling into NorthPark Mall’s lot.

Here’s a glimpse of some of the classics that were in the show.

During the show, participants got to vote on their favorites. The top 12 will be featured in a 2011 calendar, and the cover will be the car chosen as the Kids’ Choice Award. The calendar is currently in the beginning stages of design, and is expected to be out later this year. Proceeds from the calendar sales will also go to the therapy center. Stay tuned for more on this after the calendar comes out!

Cheers,

Shuva

Amelia & Nathaniel ~ March of Dimes Featured Kids

BETTENDORF, Ia. – For the third year in a row, I’ll be shooting the March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auction in mid-October. The event features area chefs who prepare some incredible dishes you can sample and vote on, along with numerous silent and live auction items that are quite spectacular.

To honor the chefs participating this year March of Dimes wanted to feature each with local kids who were born premature. Jason Gomez, the executive chef for Farraday’s at the Isle of Capri, is photographed with Amelia, age 2, and her big brother Nathaniel, who is 3. Nathaniel was born at 32 weeks and spent 31 days in the NICU, and sister Amelia was born at 35 weeks and spent 23 days in the NICU. They are two of the handful of kids selected to be featured at the Signature Chefs Auction.

For more information, check out this link… and stay tuned, as more kids will be featured on the blog in the weeks leading up to the big event!

Have a great day!

Shuva

Revisiting Lynn ~ Iowa City Cover Girl

Earlier this year I shot a cover story for Triumph, a national magazine for regular donors of the American Cancer Society. The story was about childhood cancer, and my subject was Lynn, a young University of Iowa student.

Lynn was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a cancer that resulted in doctors removing her right eye when she was only 1.5 years old. Soon after she got a prosthetic eye – what she’s had all of her life. During our shoot this past winter, she had a patch over her right eye because she was due to get a new prosthetic (needed to better fit her face as she gets older) and had to have the tissue behind her old prosthetic heal (hence the bandage in the magazine photo).

She got her new prosthetic earlier this spring, and we finally met up to take some photos of her with “both” eyes.

It was great to see her again, and hard to tell the prosthetic from the real eye… but… Lynn was more excited about the piercing above her lip – a reward to herself for surviving her first full year of college!

Cheers,

Shuva

A Good Buzz ~ Published in The Iowan Magazine

Last year, I met a beekeeper in Iowa City whose methodology with her work fascinated me. It led me to photograph her story along with another beekeeper in South Amana last summer and fall, and subsequently a story that is featured in the current issue (May/June 2010) of The Iowan. Accompanied by the words of writer Lori Erickson, the beekeeping story allowed me to glimpse a part of the process from producing honey to selling it, and was a great assignment that took me out of my own comfort zone.

The current issue is a tribute to the state’s outdoors, and you can learn more about how to get a copy of this issue here.

This was my third assignment with The Iowan. If you’re a regular reader or a subscriber, you may recall a couple other past stories I’d shot for them – one on labyrinths in early 2009 and another on a monastery in southeast Iowa in 2008.

Thanks, and have a great day!

Cover Photo in American Cancer Society’s National Magazine

In early January I met Lynn Nguyen in downtown Iowa City who shared with me how normal her life has been – with one “real” eye.

She was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a cancer that resulted in doctors removing her right eye when she was only 1.5 years old. Soon after she got a prosthetic eye – what she’s had all of her life.

As a senior last year at Iowa City High School Lynn was applying for scholarships and saw one offered by the American Cancer Society. She applied, and won a $1,000 scholarship. Lynn told me all this in a very matter-of-fact way: This is how it is, no big deal (except the scholarship money, of course).

But the ACS was so impressed with Lynn it featured her on the cover for a story about young survivors of childhood cancer in its current issue of Triumph. It’s the ACS official magazine for donors who give at least $250 annually, and is sent three times a year to more than 300,000 people nationwide.

I was THRILLED to photograph the story. And this past week, Lynn and I were excited to get our copies of the magazine in the mail.

Cover of Spring 2010 Triumph magazine

Inside, pgs. 14-15

Pg. 16

Over her Thanksgiving break Lynn had surgery so the tissue behind her old prosthetic could heal (hence the bandage in these photos) – making it necessary for a new eye to better fit her face as she gets older. Lynn recently received her new prosthetic, and is continuing life as a busy freshman at the University of Iowa.

Published in Vanderbilt University’s Alumni Magazine

So, this is a bit outdated but it’s news to me since I got my copy of Vanderbilt Magazine in the mail this week.

Last summer, I photographed a local woman starting up a nonprofit aimed to help women in domestic violence shelters regain some sense of confidence and control through yoga practice. It’s an ambitious and interesting venture that got the attention of the founder’s alma mater, Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Last fall the university – which has 115,000 graduates – published her story (accompanied by one of my photos) in the alumni magazine. Click on the images below to check out the online edition of the story (published in the magazine):

…(and online):

Labyrinths of Iowa

I had an exciting opportunity last summer and fall to photograph various labyrinths throughout the state for The Iowan magazine, which is now out in the latest issue in an article called Contemplating the Landscape written by Iowa City writer Emily Grosvenor. The assignment took me to Hubbard in central Iowa, Hiawatha just outside Cedar Rapids, and the botanical gardens in Waterloo.

In Hubbard, I met Mary Dreier who runs a spiritual retreat on her farm called Soul of the Prairie, and learned about building a labyrinth. I saw Prairie Woods, which has a labyrinth nestled in the edge of the forest of the Hiawatha retreat, and serves a quiet place of reflection and meditation. And then there were the lawnmower men, Stan McCadam and Manley Orum, who have dedicated many hours at Cedar Valley Arboretum and Botanical Gardens in Waterloo to carve a labyrinth from their lawnmowers. It was a great experience to see how much work, time, history and dedication went into creating these labyrinths as well as appreciating their beauty, simplicity and the calming essence they have on those who come use them. Here’s an inside glimpse of the  magazine story, which you can read by clicking on the preview below:

The Iowan magazine - Jan/Feb 2009 issue

Harvesting a Dream – Where it All Began

Before I started shooting professionally, I was learning about documentary photography in Portland, Maine at The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. During my time there, I did a project photographing a young woman, Rachel Seemar, who was transitioning from being an apprentice on an organic farm to starting her own farm. Everything I shot with black-and-white film, and I processed and developed everything in the darkroom. It was one of the most difficult and most rewarding projects I’d ever done.

Rachel’s story was subsequently published in 2007 in Rural Heritage magazine, a publication about farmers who use draft horses. Recently, a photo from that project was again published in a book by Storey Publishing, called Draft Horses and Mules: Harnessing Equine Power for Farm & Show. While it is exciting to see a photo of mine (one of my favorites in the series) in publication, it is more gratifying to know Rachel’s work continues as an independent organic farmer. Her hard work is a tribute to her and many like her who believe in learning and living sustainable agriculture.

Published in fall 2008