New website!

Same name, same great taste. http://www.mattapgar.com Updated 9/10/2009!

NEW JERSEY: Homelessness Amidst Wealth

My Do1Thing slideshow with fellow photojournalist Danielle Austen!

First wedding of the year!

Sunday was a really good day for me--photographically, that is. Though I was battling a really bad cold that had my nose all sniffly, my brain all foggy, and my muscles all achy, I resolved to not let that affect me like it had the night before on two newspaper assignments. I had hoped, obviously, that it wouldn't affect my newspaper jobs, but unfortunately it did. I couldn't let it affect this wedding reception and have it defeat me two days in a row.


The couple, Joey & Debbie, were such a fun, cute couple, and it was so easy to record them having such a great time. Debbie's dress looked fantastic! Ok, granted I haven't seen very many wedding dresses in my lifetime, but I must say that this one was stunning. They met in El Salvador while Joey was there in the Navy and they had their wedding ceremony down there. This was only their reception, something for Joey's family here in New Jersey.

The reception was relatively small, or intimate I should say--my guess is that there were probably about 50-75 people there. That was good for me because it was easy to move around without disturbing anyone. Though a few people were dancing, the floor didn't really get crowded until after the main course was served. And what a main course it was! Delicious stuffed flounder! Mmmm... And I might add that the venue was incredibly hospitable to me as well--treating me as though I were a guest, even though I was hired help just like them. They made sure I constantly had a full pitcher of Coke and made sure I had all the photos I needed before bringing out the next dishes.
I'm about halfway done with the photos from this job and should be finished by the end of the week, with photos in the mail hopefully by Saturday. Quick turn around, right? I shot a ton of photos, trying to record as many moments as possible. This being my first wedding of the year, I wanted to start it off with a bang. I have two other weddings scheduled for this year, and so far my next one is May 2. I can't wait for that one!



My business partner, Mary Iuvone, and I will be meeting up tomorrow to go to the bank and officially form our LLC for Jersey Moments. We purchased our website, http://www.JerseyMoments.com, a few days ago and are in the process of getting it up and running. It should be live and active in the next couple weeks! Our business cards have already arrived, and we're going to hit the ground running!

8am. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate mornings. Yet I am awake, nearly ready to go out and shoot. First I have a wrestling tournament at Hunterdon Central, then there's a kwanzaa celebration in Plainfield.


I had plans with Mike to go out and see The Spirit after he gets out of work tonight, but I fear I may have to cancel because I was only able to sleep about 3 hours this morning. I'm not the spunky narcoleptic I used to be! lol

So it's technically the day after Christmas, now at about 3:15am and I can't get back to sleep after taking a nap earlier tonight when we got home. So what better to do than post a new blog entry? Well, sleep, of course, but that's currently not an option.


We went to my aunt/uncle/cousins' house for Christmas and I had a ton of fun! Took some really good photos there as well--this top photo is of my cousin Kat in the living room looking at the book I made my parents for Christmas. The book was quite a success, and I'm looking forward to showing it to clients for work and as a potential selling tool for weddings. I was really happy with it as well, but of course I am biased. I have a client luncheon on the 30th, and I'm really looking forward to it!

Last post before Christmas!

Well, it's almost here, which means it's almost over. Then these ridiculous photos of decorations will finally stop here. lol Well, maybe.

Coming in under the wire today was Apple and FedEx. The last of my three shipments was delivered at about 2pm today, and boy do they look amazing! I knew from friends that their products look good, but I didn't expect it to be this good! Granted, they're not perfect, but they're certainly going to be getting more business from me!

I'm currently awaiting the annual Christmas dinner with the folks, then it's off to TGI Fridays with the friends to exchange gifts and get tanked on some bottom-shelf Long Island Iced Teas. No worries, I'm not driving. I can't wait to see the look on my friends' faces when they unwrap their presents! That, to me, is the best part of Christmas. I usually try to put some thought and care into gift giving, and rather than buy something retail, I like making something unique. That way they can't return it! lol Just kidding. ;c)

Late night ramblings on Christmas and photography

So here it is...after 3am in the morning. What I set out to accomplish did not get done. I guess I set my goals too high for the evening. www.MattApgar.com did not get finished tonight, in fact, there are no visible changes on the web. That's cause I've been ass-deep in images for the past 6-or-so hours, re-toning, re-sizing, re-captioning, etc. Ugh. At least I have a few sections worth of images set to be uploaded tomorrow.

So I uploaded this image tonight cause it reminds me of the fond memories I have of Christmas. Not the packed shopping malls, not the hours-long traffic, not the hustle-and-bustle of getting shopping done. It's a quiet moment, a subtle frame that, in my opinion, shows Christmas the a festive yet commercial holiday it is. It's a two-year-old image that was never published, yet I think it certainly fits the mood of the season. As I sit here on a break from working on my website and potentially getting ready for bed, I'm glad that all of my Christmas shopping is done and awaiting arrival at my house for wrapping. I didn't have to go out and wait in long lines, fight for a parking spot, or deprive some crying child of the only toy left in stock at a retail store. Although the latter might actually be kinda fun, in a demented sorta way. This year, I created photobooks for my family and friends of the work I've done as a photographer, using iPhoto. Personally, I would take that sort of gift anyday over a gift card or some merchandise that I would rather return, despite the guilt of doing so. Heck, if all my friends were artists, I would love nothing more than to get some kind of artwork from them. It's personal, thoughtful, and meaningful. Hell, it sure beats a new tie rack!

I'm really anxious to see the books I made. I've never used iPhoto to make books before, so I don't know how well or how poorly they'll come out. I've heard really good things about them from other photo friends, so I expect that they'll come out looking somewhat decent. I ordered an extra copy of each book I made to be added to my already overflowing collection of photo books. Yeah, last thing I need is more books. However, these books are something I think I'll really cherish for years. I hope my friends and family will too!

Progress on MattApgar.com

So last night, I re-taught myself Dreamweaver MX 2004, a website program I used to be quite familiar with but haven't used in years--not since being webmaster for the RIT NPPA and the NJPPA. Most of it was like riding a bike, but there are still some quirks I need to figure out and things I need to tweak.

While Chris is chugging away at his much better version of www.mattapgar.com, I figured I'd give myself an early Christmas present and throw together a little somethin' somethin' to have it up so I can show family on Christmas day. It's not quite fully functional as of this morning, however it should be much more developed tonight. I'll be looking into joining the site with Printroom.com as well, in case there's any interest in purchasing prints from the scenics or artistic section of the site. Hey, never hurts, right?

Christmas preparations

So Mike and I went over to Sam's on Monday and we helped him set up his tree. Well, I should preface that statement by adding that Mike did most of the work, while I was busy taking photos and making a video of the momentous occasion. Granted, it was not a super special event or anything, and under normal circumstances probably wouldn't warrant all the media attention, however I had just learned how to use iMovie HD and was anxious to play around with it. Shooting some photos and video at the same time for such a small, quick "event" was good practice to see how feasable it is to perform both tasks for a newspaper. I came to the conclusion that it's EXTREMELY difficult! Yeah, you didn't see that one coming, did ya' now?

First post!

So this is my first post, since my long-since deleted LiveJournal blog many, many years ago. I'm excited to be creating it tonight! I'm even more excited for its potential on its future home at www.MATTAPGAR.com With an expected launch date of Jan. 1, 2009, the site will have my photojournalism portfolio, wedding work, band photography, many of my many artistic shots, as well as this blog! I hope to make it a useful one, filled with photo information, as well as a near-daily photography outlet for photos that might not otherwise find a home. I hope to see you back as this blog beefs up in the future!