Candice C. Cusic Photography

When Lisa asked me to document her wedding in Brooklyn, I was intrigued.

When she mentioned she planned to wear a yellow dress, I packed my bags.

If you don’t already know Lisa and Todd, you really should.  

Lisa is a longtime writer and photographer.  Her amazing website is one of the most extensive personal journals I have ever read.

I also appreciate the fact that we’re both from North Carolina and around the same age, so when she writes about her childhood experiences and her barrette ribbons, I have a “me too!” moment.   

Todd is an accomplished writer, performer and has left me howling while reading his work.   I was so happy to meet this cool couple and extremely honored to document their wedding day.

Lisa’s father was the officiant for their ceremony inside Brooklyn’s beautiful Montauk Club.   His words were so beautiful, as were Lisa and Todd’s vows.   

Lisa’s gorgeous outfit pulled out all the stops in wedding attire while representing her style perfectly.   

Including shoes from the 1930s she purchased on eBay for thirty bucks.   Beautiful!

Todd painted these wooden figurines to grace the top of their cake.   I thought they were so cute I placed the wedding bands on top of their heads, like little crowns.

Lisa and Todd saw each other before their wedding ceremony, which gave us plenty of time to walk through Brooklyn and take photographs.

Including a stop at the Grand Army Plaza Arch!   

Thanks so much, Lisa and Todd… I really loved documenting your wedding!

For more photographs, please check out the slideshow!

Robin and Joe had their baby!    It is my pleasure to help announce the birth of their daughter, Diana.

Welcome to the world, Diana!

When Jen and Seth suggested we shoot in Chicago’s Meatpacking District, I was excited.

And, I’m a vegetarian.

The Meatpacking District is large, loud and insanely colorful.   We stood on train tracks, ducked between dumpsters and hung out beside a red and yellow building that is so cute I wanted to take it home with me.

These two not only make a great couple, they are wonderful to be around and are always up for a cool photograph.   My favorite kind of people!

(Morning-After Bride.)

I received an email last week that jolted me back thirteen years.

The letter basically consisted of “remember the summer you spent documenting a prison for boys?”

(Inmate Processing.)

I’ve had a camera in my hand since the age of six, and in 1995, as a college student immersed in photojournalism, I was given incredible access to document the Polk Youth Institution.

The prison was an antique complete with bare stone walls and no air conditioning.   I shot black and white film, my beloved Kodak Tri-X that I miss dearly, and spent long evenings in the darkroom before returning to the prison the next day.

(Roberto during Lock-Down.)

I sold this story to a paper I wound up working for, The Independent Weekly, and they requested some of my photographs for their special issue celebrating 25 years of photography.

It was a humbling experience to dig through negatives I made in college.  Extremely humbling.   Photographs I was so excited about remain inside plastic negative sleeves, their prints long abandoned.

(”New Jack,” a new arrival.)

In recognition of my time travel to 1995, I thought I would include some of the images I made that year.

And, to The Independent, I will always love how you pushed me to become the photojournalist I am today.   I can never hear the word “independent” without thinking of you.

(Lunch Line.)

(Lock-Down.)

(Boiler Man.)

I can’t even get upset with you for running my photos this week under the name “Cadice.”

As always, I’m humbled.

Robin and Joe are having a baby!

I was so happy to photograph this cool couple at such an important time in their lives.   They are wonderful people, extremely talented writers and are so much fun to be around.

We spent the afternoon at Promontory Point and watched a field of dragonflies skip through the air while reclining under ancient Maple trees, enjoying the breeze off the lakefront.

Okay, I didn’t recline… I dug my knees, elbows and, at times, eyebrows into the earth while they reclined… looking impossibly comfortable and relaxed while doing so.

Thanks for scaling stone structures, submitting your clothes to possible grass stains and for being such troopers, you two.   You are an amazing team.

What do a bunch of photographers do when they get together for food, drinks and gorgeous light?

They photograph each other, of course!

I honestly don’t know what happened to Jeremy Lawson’s shoes…. maybe that’s why he looks so sad.

Monty Ksycki brought delicious homemade cookies and still looked stealth with his Canon.

Our fearless leader, David Wittig.   Thanks so much for hosting… looking forward to seeing ya’ll next month!

Brandy and Nick are an amazing couple and I was thrilled to photograph their engagement session. They named their dog Wrigley, so I knew the rooftop of The Cubby Bear was a perfect location.

Our photo shoot included one bumpy train, a cab driver who blasted Kenny G., and lots of laughs.

After ten years of growing, loving and dating… congratulations, you guys.   I cannot wait to photograph your wedding in November.

When Wendy and Doc (great name!) announced their wedding, I had to smile.

Wendy and I graduated from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UNC-CH as full-fledged photojournalists, aka Photo Geeks. I knew her wedding day would be a media event I couldn’t miss.

I noticed their dog, Augie, wandering underneath the table while I knelt on the floor, photographing the happy couple. This image surprised Wendy, who didn’t know about Augie’s careful inspection, “but she always does that at home!”

One of the flower girls wanted to get wanted to have her moment behind the microphone.   You could see she truly wished to say some nice words that would make her mother proud.

Only, she couldn’t.

She smiled.

We laughed.

She was beautifully bashful.

Wendy’s big day included three professional photojournalists, one videographer and many guests, happily snapping away. We crowded into her bridal suite trying to document without ruining someone else’s moment. A tough assignment, but we had fun.

So did she.

The flower girls had a small argument, which I discovered. I took this photograph after this little girl exclaimed to the other, “I’m sorry! I just want to be your friend! Can’t we be friends?”

I told her how I wished adults would speak to each other with such honesty and that I was going to tell her mom just how cool I thought she was.

The girls made up immediately and I got to see an actual Wizard Book. I love “Pull on his long beard” on the list of what NOT to do when meeting a wizard.

As Wendy and Doc’s day came to an end in Charlotte, N.C., I thought about what a terrific couple they made, completely surrounded by love. Their wedding was classic, elegant and funny… just like them.

Even Augie thought so.