Complete Lifestyle Photography »

This family is related to another that you have seen on my blog.  The two little girls are cousins and are only 2 months apart!  I don’t have any cousins that are my age so I can only imagine how much fun it will be to have someone to grow with.  In addition, this family was referred to me by the other family.  It means the world to me when people think enough of my work, and want to share me with friends and family.

We did start the shoot in a fairly traditional setting, the family by the fireplace.  I tried to get everyone in a more comfortable and relaxed state and this was the best way to start.

After a full series inside we moved outside.  The shoot had actually been postponed by 3 days as the end of May and beginning of June were very tricky for outdoor shooting.  Outside my vision was of a much more relaxed and natural group.  I let the kids run around, throw balls, use the slide and swings… I let them be kids in their natural state.  A much more lifestyle approach to the family portrait.

We will ALWAYS remember how old these kids were when we did this session.  Its a trick I learned from another photographer.  Just ask the kids how many they are and you get a certain number of fingers.  My hat is off to mom for figuring out a way to get a 1 year old to hold up 1 finger.  It was BRILLIANT and I will use it again and again… shhhhhhhh its my secret!

I had such a good time with this family, I do hope we get to play together again at another milestone!

I am titling this a “classic” wedding because of the 2 prominently feautred classic cars.  The purple one has been in the brides family for YEARS.  The blue truck belonged to the groom’s best friend who is no longer with us.  His twin brother brought the vehicle to the wedding as a tribute, saying it was sweet is an understatement.  I had never been to the Roger Williams Park and Casino before, and frankly had no idea what to expect.  I pictured slot machines, waitresses with big fluffy head pieces… yeah its not that kind of casino.  At least not anymore…

The DJ asked me while I was taking this next image, “So this is what you have been reduced to, taking pictures of CD covers?”  I shrugged took my picture and walked away.  It is by no means what I have been reduced to its a found object.  Maybe this b&g had no idea that their favorite songs from the day were on 1 cd and that they would be getting it at the end of the night.  Maybe this image will make an awesome background image during the party section of the album.  Maybe it was a waste of time, nah.

I don’t often blog about the garter toss.  Let alone the removal of said garter from the bride’s leg.  There is something about the ritual that isn’t really blog worthy to me.  Well enjoy the next sequence as you have NEVER seen a groom retrieve the garter quite like this!

I say little because of the main participant, she just turned 1!  She doesn’t walk or talk just yet, but boy oh boy does she express herself.  She crawled right up to the camera for her close up several times.  We played with a ball, blocks, her butterfly rocking chair… anything that would get her to smile and laugh.  When your working with kids, especially babies, just throw your own sense of self out the window and get down on their level.  Its the only way to be successful.  The only tough part is getting back up!

This next shot is one of my favorites.  Totally a happy accident, but to me it just establishes a time in this family’s life that is so fleeting.  Before we know it I’ll be doing this little girl’s senior session!  But they will always be able to remember when she had these tiny little feet…

Tis’ the season to photograph weddings. We in the biz call it wedding season, creative right? Well before we shoot the wedding often times couples elect to do an engagement session. They are already engaged, again the creativity of the naming of some of this stuff is astounding.

I met Andrea and Ryan at Fort Williams Park in Portland, ME.  Fort Williams Park is also the home of Portland Head Light, one of the many lighthouses that dot the east coast.  Lighthouse are on their way to being extinct.  Many are in disrepair, or worse in danger of just falling into the sea from beach erosion.  I’ll post something later on my feelings about lighthouse preservation, for the time being lets focus on Andrea and Ryan.

They will be getting married this fall at The Landing at Pine Point in Scarborough Maine.  The Landing is a wonderful venue and I am super excited to be going there with this couple.  Ryan grew up in the Portland area and even had his senior portraits done in this park.  So for the first hour our so I let him guide us to some of the locations he was familiar with.  I wanted to let them get completely comfortable, and familiar surroundings will do that.

This was our first setup, Ryan admitted shortly after this that he had never actually been this close to the lighthouse itself.  So this was a first for all of us.

It was shortly after this shot on the swings, that Andrea really wanted, that I took over leading the group.  I had seen some things on our walk that I wanted to visit that might not have been on the couple’s hit list.

I always do a portrait of each person during the session.  The location for these portraits was inside a fairly run down shack.  There was some colorful graffiti on the walls that made it difficult do to more environmental shots.   I didn’t think it appropriate to have such a description of what was going to happen during the honey moon in their e-session portraits.  I can’t wait to shoot their full wedding this fall, its going to be a rockin’ good time!

Last Friday I had the pleasure of photographing a beautiful wedding. I know I say this all the time and each and every time its true! I had been to Lake Pearl before. Its a very nice place, but the true beauty is the grounds. Sprawling lawns, and if you ask nicely the staff will get this little golf cart and take the bride and groom to a little private beach. The light at sundown is perfect no matter what time of year!

The bride and groom were pretty relaxed getting ready. There was plenty of time, nobody rushed or stressed even when the caterer said they had the wrong chair covers. The bride just shrugged it off and we went right back to work.

After a beautiful ceremony in the Gazebo we spent a little bit of time doing family portraits. It was painless for everyone involved. After that we had time to do some lifestyle portraits with the bride and groom alone, just the 3 of us…

I would love to show you hundreds of images from the portrait session, but I would be neglecting the reception. All star DJ was the entertainment and lighting provider. I love when clients do a package upgrade to include uplights at a wedding. It really adds dimension and life to the room, and to the photographs.

The party was amazing, and everyone EVERYONE had a great time. It was a wonderful way to send off this couple onto their journey into married life.

Some of you will remember this couple from their Portsmouth NH e-session, for some this may be the first time seeing them. Becky and Chris were married back in February in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Sadly I was not able to make the trip, but they did have an amazing photographer capture their day.

Because I was not the only person who could not make the event down in the sunny, warm Caribbean they planed to have a small reception state side. They chose the LOVELY and I mean absolutely gorgeous Tupper Manor in Beverly MA.

We did some family shots, some brief coverage of cocktail hour, nothing too over the top as they had done all of this before for the camera. What they had not done was read their vows for their grandparents. That was the heart of this special occasion.

Ok so the heart of the party was allowing the grandparents to hear the vows, the rest of the party was about DANCING! Becky and Chris did a very formal dance they had rehearsed in their kitchen.

After dinner Becky changed into this lovely little green dress and they did another routine they had pre-rehearsed, this one not so formal

By the end of the evening everyone was SPENT… especially the groom. I mean who could blame him, this crowd danced and danced… it was an amazing way to celebrate with family and friends!