by dmitriybabichenko

Pittsburgh Mitzvah Showcase

An awesome Pittsburgh DJ, Steve Lebo (www.partytimeprodj.com), Bela Sera (www.bellaserabygrecos.com) and myself (the best photographer ever:) are organizing a Bar/Bat Mitzvah service providers showcase. Bela Sera will provide an amazing banquet facility and great food, Steve will take care of music and entertainment and I will click away with my cameras. We`ll also have vendors in the following categories:

  • DJ
  • Entertainment
  • Photography
  • Video
  • Florist
  • Decorations
  • Party Planning
  • Live Musicians

We got a website up and running, so if you are planning a mitzvah, please check it out – www.mitzvahpros.com

by dmitriybabichenko

TLC Photoshoot

Well, my break is finally coming to it`s end. Winter months are always pretty slow as far as photography goes – very few people want to get married when it`s below zero outside. Usually I do get an odd photography job here and there between December and March. This year, given the fact that I recently bought a house and that my wife is 6 months pregnant, I decided to take a break from photography and concentrate on my family. A few days ago I got a call from John Earnest, a client of mine from back when I ran Kronos Media Arts (a company that unfortunately no longer exists). While with Kronos, I designed and coded John`s company`s website (www.teamlaminates.com). In the last year John has been so busy that he never had a chance to finish writing content, so the website never went live. He called me and asked me if I could help him finish this long-overdue project. I stopped by his shop and took some environmental portraits of his employees and a photo of a new cool computer-driven machine that cuts wood into shapes provided by CAD designs.

by dmitriybabichenko

New Year`s Eve

This year my wife and I hosted a party for about 20 of our friends. We usually tend to spend New Year`s Eve with my family – in Russia New Year is the most important family holiday, more important than Christmas or Hanukkah. However, this year neither my wife nor my sister could take enough days off from work to make a trip to Norfolk. As it`s always the case with Russian people, Iryna (my wife) and her friends cooked way to much food and we drank way to much alcohol. We did not go to bad until 5AM, and next day people started coming back around 1PM to finish the leftovers. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

by dmitriybabichenko

Visit to Norfolk

This entry is long overdue, but better late then never. Last week I drove to Norfolk for a few days. This trip kind of served a few purposes – I wanted to visit my family, wish my mom Happy Birthday (she turned 53 on December 28), take a long drive to clear my head, and bring back all the baby stuff that my mom collected for my baby. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that my wife is pregnant and is due in May. Around 7 AM on December 26 I drove my wife to work and hit I-79 South to West Virginia. I wanted to see if I could drive from Pittsburgh to Norfolk without hitting a major highway (at least after I got off I-79). Using a combination of Google Maps and GPS I managed to make it to Williamsburg (about 30 miles from Norfolk) with only 15 minutes on I-81. I loaded my iPod with a ton of audio books, so the 12-hour drive did not seem so bad. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty miserable, so I did not get a chance to take any photos. Every time I visit my grandmother, I try to take as many photographs as I can, even though she hates it. She is 87-years-old, and probably my favorite person in the world. The thought of her passing away scares me; every time I go back to Pittsburgh I am afraid that it`s the last time I`ll see her.

by dmitriybabichenko

Working hard

Today was the last day of work before the Christmas break, so we cut out a bit early and decided to play the Wii. My co-workers decided that the default characters weren`t good enough, so Peter and Michael decided to make a Wii Dmitriy. Looks just like me, doesn`t it:)

by dmitriybabichenko

An early Christmas present:)

Last night my early Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year`s present arrived – a brand-new Canon 50D. Today I did what I always do when I get a new camera – I follow my wife and my cat and snap photos until one or both threaten to kill me. The neat thing about this image is that it was taken at ISO6400, and even though the noise is clearly visible, it`s not obtrusive and does not detract from the image. My wife politely asking me to stop taking photos. After about 50th flash photo, my cat gave me a look that clearly stated that she`s planning on killing me.

by dmitriybabichenko

Florida, Day 2 – Kennedy Space Center

By day 3 I managed to successfully hurt my shoulder (I`ve no idea how or when or even where). Carrying a DSLR became somewhat of a chore, so most photographs at the Kennedy Space Center were taken with a Canon SD1000 point-and-shoot. We managed to find our way into an actual NASA facility… This camera was blown apart by the shock waves generated by a shuttle launch When we finally made it back to our hotel, we went for a walk on the beach. And of course, who could possibly resist a cool jumping shot…