Two Sticks Studios – Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Poconos Wedding Photographers » Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Poconos Wedding Photography, Senior Photography and Portrait Photography

Victoria and Ryan waited a long time for their first engagement session. They wanted it to be in the snow, and we had approximately 2 snow days last winter. They would have to wait even longer for their next engagement session. Unfortunately for them, being my sister-in-law and future brother-in-law meant they had to be scheduled in between all our other photo shoots. Fortunately for them, it also meant we were actually able to go out on THREE engagement shoots to work around the weather.

Here are some photos from parts two and three. Victoria and Ryan, I love you guys, and I don’t care if you want engagement photos parts four to forty, I’ll be happy to do them.

Can’t wait for the wedding!

By the way Vic, Steph told me it was okay to put the paddle photo in. (You never know what you’ll find floating in the Lackawanna during a photo shoot!)

Filed in: Engagement
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Sometimes churches can all look the same. It’s just the nature of churches. There’s some stained glass, nice wood, iffy light (at least from a photographer’s perspective) and maybe a balcony.

On the surface, St. Mary’s in Wilkes-Barre might appear to be just that, another really nice church but nothing that jumps out. That was until we shot Jen and Joe’s wedding a couple of weeks ago. The place was like a candy store for chocolate addicts. First, the light was incredible. Just the amount of sunlight that poured into the church was amazing. The real treat was the amazing wraparound balcony.  I’m sure parishioners love it for the extra seating. We loved it for the really different perspectives we could get when shooting the wedding. For this post, we decided to do the photos in black and white just because.

Thanks again to Jen and Joe for letting us into the “family.” We love you guys.

Filed in: Wedding
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It’s nice to mix things up a little once in awhile. A couple of weeks ago, we had the pleasure of spending a few hours for engagement photos with Laura and Anthony.

We visited Mellow Park, one of my favorite places to shoot. I’ve done some children’s portraits there and it’s just a great setting. There are some railroad tracks that run through a portion of the park. Actually, I don’t know if they are in the park or just outside of it but either way it’s a great place to shoot, and it’s just remote enough that we can stay out of the way of other park goers.

We also went to the Tigue Street Dam in Dunmore. I’m a native of NEPA and had no idea this place was even there, but it turns out it’s also a great place for some photos. There was a bit of a climb to where we wanted to take the photos, but it’s all part of the job. What’s a little hill climbing among friends?

So in addition to making a couple of new friends in Laura and Anthony, we definitely found a couple places we can add to a growing list of great places in our region to go if you are looking for some photos.

Filed in: Engagement
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We weren’t always Two Sticks Studios. We weren’t even portrait or wedding photographers when Bob and I decided to start our business. We were just a couple of guys who loved photography and figured we might as well give it our best shot. So we started shooting everything we could. It started with Little League baseball. We would go to every game we could find and start handing out business cards directing people to a crude website where they could order prints. On the business cards: Bob and Chad Photo. SUPER CATCHY I KNOW. Eventually we included football and soccer and every other conceivable sport where we thought parents might like shots of their kids in action. I can’t even count the number of weekends spent roaming baseball fields grabbing photos and then trying to edit thousands of them to get them on the website that night for parents to see.

While it was going OK, we also realized we weren’t getting to know anybody we were shooting. I’ve found one of the great things about photography is how close it can bring you to the people you are shooting if you have the time to really get to know them. And when you do it can show in your photos.

So we decided to change our focus to portrait and wedding photography. We also decided to change the name  – a process I was really dreading, primarily because I didn’t have a half decent idea. Enter our old friend Mr. Guinness. Actually enter Bob and a couple of Miller Lites, but I have trouble giving that much credit to a light beer. The point is this. Bob came up with the name Two Sticks Studios while we were having a couple of beers at Andy Gavins. He was spitballing on the idea of the creative spark needed for really different photography. So we started talking about the most basic way to light a fire  – rubbing two sticks together. We had a lightbulb moment. “Two Sticks Studios – “The creative sparks starts with two sticks”

We had it. We had a new name and a catchphrase. All we needed were some clients.

That brings me to the point of this rambling post. Bob and I have always said we have the best clients. I don’t think there is one we don’t count as a friend. Every once in awhile we get reminded of how lucky we are to do what we do and to meet the people whom we meet.

We shot a wedding for Jen and Joe last weekend. All day, I listened to story after story about the generosity of these two amazing people. I watched it unfold in how they embraced their guests and treated everyone around them. It seems they don’t make friends as much as they keep making their family bigger. So when they gave us a gift the night of their wedding  – a beautiful framed print that Joe designed  – we were quite literally floored. It was his interpretation of our two sticks logo – taken to the next level. Just amazing!

It brings me to the point of this post and why I was thinking about our name. We came up with two sticks over a couple of beers.  Really the creative spark comes from our clients. It comes from people like Jen and Joe who make you want to not only be a better photographer but a better person. Thanks guys!

Here are a few shots from their day. They’re not the typical wedding shots. We’ll get to those soon. These are the ones that mean so much to Bob and I. Jen and Joe and the gang will understand.

Filed in: Wedding
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  • August 10, 2012 - 6:53 am

    Ted Scazafabo - Thank you for posting this. This is really great. What a great story about how it all came to be. I wouldn’t want to give credit to a light beer either, haha.

    You guys are really great. Cheryl and I feel very fortunate to have met you guys all that time ago. At first your obvious talent stood out clearly from the other photographers and that was amazing. You’re love of the art screams through in your photos. Then we met you guys and were amazed just how damn cool you guys are. You are both guys that put the people you are shooting at ease. Personally you guys seem like guys I would have a ball with just getting a beer together (let’s say Dogfish, seems like a neutral beer between the two of you). I remember my sister Jen commenting how great you guys were and how going the extra mile was the everyday for you guys. You guys stayed for hours on the engagement photos till you got in all the shots no matter how long it took. Cheryl and I thought the same about our engagement session. You aren’t afraid of the long hours and all that work to get that wonderful shot and you always seem to find it.

    As an “artist” (people actually bought some of my stuff! Crazy isn’t it? Be sure to check out Aurants! Nothing lime a shameless plug) I find you guys super inspiring. You are so dedicated and talented you are a force that is just nice to be around and would love to be a part of it. Seeing the creativity in action is amazing. If you guys ever need someone just to hold a camera for you or make words look pretty I’m there in an instant! Three sticks sounds pretty good too :-)

    Thank you so much you guys for being who you are! Hope our paths cross again soon!

    Ted (half of the Cheryl and Ted show)ReplyCancel

  • August 10, 2012 - 6:58 am

    Theo Scaz - PS And seriously Getting to hold the camera was awesome! I think it’s pretty much well known of my geekness so you have no idea of how much it really was super awesome for means how much it meant! Dream came true!ReplyCancel

  • August 10, 2012 - 7:02 am

    Ted - Thank you for posting this. This is really great. What a great story about how it all came to be. I wouldn’t want to give credit to a light beer either, haha.

    You guys are really great. Cheryl and I feel very fortunate to have met you guys all that time ago. At first your obvious talent stood out clearly from the other photographers and that was amazing. You’re love of the art screams through in your photos. Then we met you guys and were amazed just how damn cool you guys are. You are both guys that put the people you are shooting at ease. Personally you guys seem like guys I would have a ball with just getting a beer together (let’s say Dogfish, seems like a neutral beer between the two of you). I remember my sister Jen commenting how great you guys were and how going the extra mile was the everyday for you guys. You guys stayed for hours on the engagement photos till you got in all the shots no matter how long it took. Cheryl and I thought the same about our engagement session. You aren’t afraid of the long hours and all that work to get that wonderful shot and you always seem to find it.

    As an “artist” (people actually bought some of my stuff! Crazy isn’t it? Be sure to check out Aurants! Nothing lime a shameless plug) I find you guys super inspiring. You are so dedicated and talented you are a force that is just nice to be around and would love to be a part of it. Seeing the creativity in action is amazing. If you guys ever need someone just to hold a camera for you or make words look pretty I’m there in an instant! Three sticks sounds pretty good too :-)

    Thank you so much you guys for being who you are! Hope our paths cross again soon!

    Ted (half of the Cheryl and Ted show)ReplyCancel

    • August 14, 2012 - 10:38 am

      chadsebring - Ted,

      Thanks for the exceptionally kinds words. I get the feeling our paths will cross plenty of times. Also, thanks again to you and Cheryl for letting us be a part of your lives. We’re better because of it.ReplyCancel

OK, so I was totally supposed to put up some wedding photos in this blog. Instead I’m playing tour guide to farm animals. Earlier today my daughter and I went to the Wayne County Fair. Nothing too out of the norm here. Lunch started started with strawberry ice cream and ended with funnel cake. But the real reason we went was to see some animals. The whole way up the Casey Highway, all I heard is “I wanna seem some piggies and some horsies.” No problemo, kiddo. The Wayne County Fair has plenty of both.

My daughter even came up with her own rating system for her favorite animals. I’m not entirely sure how the scoring works but it appears to be based largely on how the animal smells, if it’s awake and if the barnyard buddy attempts to bite her favorite stuffed animal. You then throw out the score of the Chinese judge and you have Sophie’s Scoring System. Not surprisingly ponies won. Anyway, here are a few shots.

I’ll get to the wedding post in the next few days.

Filed in: Personal
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Ellen and Mark, you are now the gold standard. It doesn’t come with a prize or anything like that, but just knowing should be reward enough.

I’ve seen quite a few cool things at receptions. I’m seen wedding parties dance to Thriller. I’ve even seen an alarmingly well choreographed dance set to “Baby’s got Back.”

What I have never seen is a sweet and touching mother-and-son dance bust into Guns N Roses’ “Sweet Child O Mine.”

What!?!?!?!?!

Where did that come from? It was the most unique and surprising jump start to an already really good party I have ever seen. I’ve told every person I can find about it. The execution was flawless. The sunglasses were a perfect fit. I think what really made it special is also how close you and your friends are. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a wedding party that were obviously such great friends.

So, to all would-be brides and grooms, the bar has been set. Good luck knocking Ellen and Mark from the throne. Here are a few photos from the reception so you know what you’re up against.

Filed in: Wedding
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