Central Park Boathouse

I certainly had heard of the Central Park Boathouse before shooting a wedding there this past weekend and I have been in and enjoyed Central Park, but I was not familiar with doing a wedding at the Boathouse. However, once I had my parking pass and figured out how to enter the park (roads closed on weekends) I was excited about the event.

As I made my way through NYC and entered the park somewhere up in the 90s, there was graceful peace and calm inside of the park. I was a foreigner with my motorized vehicle slowly driving amongst the bicyclists, skaters and walkers towards my destination. As soon as I arrived at the venue, I knew I had found a very unique place for weddings and events.

Earlier in the day, when I arrived at the bride’s family home for her preparations; I was introduced to their photographer. Jimmy was an unconventional “wedding” photographer from my perspective, but I knew instantly that he was an exceptional artist. Somehow, great artists just know great artists when they see them. Jimmy had a “way”, a “move” and a “technique” that just spoke volumes about the images that I had not even gotten to see yet.

Jimmy and I worked simultaneous in and around our bride and her friends and family… it was a very big loft apartment in midtown and we both took full advantage of the architecture and décor. The ability to anticipate the other artist’s next move is what makes it fun to work with true professionals. Despite only meeting that day, we worked together like a well oiled machine. The day only improved when we arrived at the Central Park Boathouse.

Regardless of the celebrities and the high-profile politicians in attendance at the wedding, it was a truly great event. And much to my surprise, Peter the maître’d at the Boathouse was a very familiar and friendly face as he spent many years as Maître’d at Long Island’s own Swan Club!




Central Park Boathouse
James Ferarra Photography

Amazing Parallels

I had a recent phone conversation with a fellow wedding professional. Photographer Dan Wagner contacted me to inquire about my eNewsletters. We chatted about technology and our wonderful wedding industry. We both have a strong passion for what we do… but what ended up surprising both of us were the parallels in our lives. It turns out that we both studied photography and Farmingdale State (we studied a few years apart, but I won’t say who was older). We had many of the same professors and had nearly exact likes and dislikes in the curriculum we studied.

It also turns out that Dan lived in the same town as me for a couple of years, but again… parallels, our paths did not cross. Then the kicker was when Dan asked if I knew a particular videographer that he had befriended early in the wedding/event video industry. Sure enough we had both been friendly with the same videographer, but again at different times.

While Dan and I have not yet worked together… after that very pleasant conversation, I know that I’d enjoy that opportunity.

Dan Wagner Photography http://www.danwagner.com/