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Tag Archives: Mass. wedding photography

Lisa and Joe – NH engagement photography

The forecast was for rain – cold, windy rain – and the plan was to do the engagement shoot at Plum Island next to Newburyport, MA.

Emails back and forth for three days leading up to the shoot – and finally at 8:30 that morning Lisa said, “Let’s go for it, no matter what.”

Now that is my kind of bride! We met at the entrance to the island, I stowed my truck and the three of us headed for the beach, much of which was posted off limits because the plovers are nesting right now. That didn’t matter – there were so many choices for great places to shoot we could have stayed there forever.

The rain never materialized, the temperatures weren’t nearly as chilly as predicted – though it wasn’t t-shirt weather – and we had a great time.

The absolute moment came when Lisa and Joe kicked off their shoes and waded into the water…yep, next was two people screaming their heads off…it is the North Atlantic after all … and they came bursting back onto the beach. Sadly or smartly, I didn’t get the picture of the reaction. Call me a wimp if you want, but I had stayed on dry land! I’d like to think it was a smart move.

Here’s some photos from the session.

Cody and Ryan – MA. engagement photography

I do an engagement shoot as part of my wedding package – it gives us a good start on a working relationship, we get used to each other’s quirks and styles, and the fact is that most couples don’t have many pictures of themselves – lots of pictures of their partners, not many of them together. It’s a nice opportunity to get a start on a collection of “couples” pictures.

The conversation starts with defining a good place for the shoot – a place or environment that has some meaning. As a general rule, that’s a pretty easy process, but Cody and Ryan were stuck for ideas until they said, what about Wellesley College? Turns out Cody is a graduate and they spent part of their “dating” life in that environment.

What a great idea! The campus is beautiful. We hiked around the pond on campus – it was quite a trek since areas were still flooded from all the rains, then meandered through buildings and the chapel. One thing that struck me was nobody paid much attention to us as we shot here and there. Guess I’m not the first person to end up shooting portraits of a couple on the campus – we were as much a part of the landscape as the ivy-covered brick buildings.

Here’s a few photos from the day.

Shelby and Mark – Ma. engagement photos

The New England weather has been so topsy turvy this year – a mild fairly snowless winter, torrential rains and floods in early spring, then hot summer-like temperatures followed by cold, windy, drizzly late spring…those who think global climate change is a farce must have their heads stuck in the sand.

What’s that got to do with an engagement shoot? Well,  scheduling has been a nightmare – and I’ve totally given up on paying any attention to the weather forecasts!

Mark asked Shelby to marry him while the two were at Hampton Beach in New Hampshire, so it seemed a natural place to do their engagement photos.

Forecast, warm, overcast, occasional rain.

Reality, like a fall day – bright sky, chilly and windy!

Shelby was a trooper – she had a jacket but was committed to being in a short sleeved shirt for the photos…Both she and Mark gutted out the temperatures while I was pretty toasty in a sweatshirt and jacket! When all was done, most of the photos I was holding her jacket, she never turned blue from the cold and we had a great shoot.

Here’s a few from the day.

Deena and Sean – Mass. engagement photography

Deena and Sean are Massachusetts natives now living just outside Washington DC. When they decided to get married, the choice was pretty easy – back to Massachusetts. A few weeks ago they were back home for a visit and we took advantage of the time to do an engagement shoot. Given that they are baseball fans – and opening day was just a couple of days away, shooting around Fenway Park was a natural.

It was a perfect day – cool, breezy, and there was the feeling of baseball in the air – Spring in New England! An added bonus – good friend and Boston photographic legend Mark Morelli came along for the shoot. Mark is an exceptional Boston editorial photographer who I met when we were attending the Art Institute of Boston’s MFA program.

Not all the following photos are from Fenway – after the area around the park we wandered through the victory gardens and surrounding areas. The first photo, by the way, is Mark in front of the House of Blues.

Nicole and Joe – Mass. wedding photography

I shot Nicole and Joe’s wedding in late February – what a splendid time! The wedding ceremony was in the Acadaemy of Notre Dame where Nicole went to school – a former monastery turned into school – you could feel the history in the hallways. Then off to the Andover Country Club for the reception, with a major surprise on the way. The wedding party was in a bus in front of me and as we came down an exit ramp I spotted a car in the median strip with flames coming from the rear wheel. Nicole’s dad spotted it to because the bus stopped and a tuxedo-clad father of the bride came running out with a fire extinguisher in hand. He’s a professional firefighter and duty took over.

Can you imagine a guy in a tux fighting a fire?!

After putting it out, he cautioned the occupants to stay clear of the car until the fire department arrived, then looked at them and said, ” Sorry to run but I’ve got a wedding to get to!” And we were off to the reception. I swear, do this long enough and you’ll see the most amazing things!!!

The reception was great, not anti-climactic at all – I knew many of the guests from a wedding I had done in October, second shooting the wedding was good friend and colleague Roger Ramirez and shooting video was good friend and amazing video artist Sean Cusick … it was like old home week!

The only thing missing was a gentle snowfall – Oh well, I guess you can’t have everything.

And here are a couple of really nice photos from Roger:

Racheal and Patrick – Mass. wedding photography

Saturday was Racheal and Patrick’s wedding – the ceremony was in a Catholic Church in Massachusetts and the reception moved to the Pelham Inn in Pelham, NH. These were two huge Irish families – and all I can say is the Irish are no slouches when it comes to knowing how to party! After the couple’s first dance, there were never less than a hundred people on the dance floor – young, old, it didn’t matter – everyone was there to dance and celebrate.
An added treat for me was the presence of videographer Sean Cusick ( http://www.memoriesinhighdef.com ). It’s the second time I’ve worked with Sean and if you ever need a video guy, he’s the man. So often Video and still shooters are more focused on who owns what turf – to the detriment of the job at hand and the clients – but Sean is an absolute breath of fresh air to work with. Always aware of where I am, what angle I’m shooting…and never in my frame! I think its because we have such respect for the other’s craft that we work so well together. Additionally, Roger Ramirez ( http://www.chariotphoto.com) was there as a second shooter, so some serious photo/video work was happening!

By the time we reached the Pelham Inn, it was too dark to shoot the formals outside – and the temperature had dropped into the downright chilly zone, but Racheal and Patrick – both of whom are snowmobile enthusiasts – were psyched to venture out to the lighted gazebo for some photos – they were way beyond the frost setting in! We added a couple of small strobes to just fill the light a bit and came away with a cool portrait of the couple.

Here’s a few photos from a great day.

10-10-09 RACHEAL and PAT wedding  10-10-09 RACHEAL and PAT wedding  10-10-09 RACHEAL and PAT wedding  10-10-09 RACHEAL and PAT wedding  10-10-09 RACHEAL and PAT wedding  10-10-09 RACHEAL and PAT wedding  10-10-09 RACHEAL and PAT wedding  10-10-09 RACHEAL and PAT wedding

Opening Day

Saturday was opening day for my wedding season. The first one of the year always gives me butterflies in the stomach – is all my equipment really ready, have I forgotten anything, do I still remember how to shoot a wedding! It’s like being a kid and shooting your first wedding all over again.
Well, the equipment was fine, I was fine, the bride and groom…well they were nothing short of awesome. Judy and Darren were married in a small ceremony in Southern Massachusetts, followed a couple of hours later by a great reception. In between we stopped by a beach for photos.( they are really hardy souls – it may have been sunny but the wind was blowing and it was a very chilly New England not-quite-Spring day. After the beach we visited a couple of neat old New England buildings to shoot more before finally bowing to the temperature of the day.
Here are a few of my favorites from the day.3-14-09 JUDY AND DARREN3-14-09 JUDY AND DARREN3-14-09 JUDY AND DARREN3-14-09 JUDY AND DARREN3-14-09 JUDY AND DARREN3-14-09 JUDY AND DARREN3-14-09 JUDY AND DARREN3-14-09 JUDY AND DARREN3-14-09 JUDY AND DARREN3-14-09 JUDY AND DARREN