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!