Congrats Kelly and Patrick

We had the pleasure of photographing the fabulous wedding of Kelly and Patrick a few weeks back. Everything was so lovely. Yes, lovely. It was just so organized and well, lovely! Kelly was a doll and full of smiles and such a joy to be around. She had the cutest little flower people and it was a day filled with love and pure happiness. They chose Gillette Castle for their photo location which was cool because although I have shot there before, I had never shot a wedding there. Such a pretty view and creative architecture. My day was filled with new experiences because their reception was at the new Riverhouse in Haddam and this was my first time shooting here as well! What a beautiful spot! Crazy ceiling vaults and a balcony made for some interesting photos. Thank you Kelly and Patrick for sharing your day with us.

Melissa and Tommy ~ Congratulations

I'm way behind on my wedding blogs .... Sorry!

Melissa and Tommy had a Gorgeous day! They were married at the beautiful Waters Edge Resort and Spa a few weeks back. There was so much love and excitement at this wedding and the reception was the craziest dance party I've ever ever ever seen!!! Mind you, it was a Sunday night wedding!!! I left at almost midnight and the dancefloor was still jam packed with kids of ALL ages. We even got a fancy lightning storm in the wee hours of the party. Fun fun times.

First day butterflies

Today was the first day of school in my town. We frantically did our school shopping yesterday at 12pm to get everything my big boy Zack would need for his first day of 1st grade! I just can't believe how fast he has grown up. It seems like not that long ago we were holding him in our arms and praying he'd fall asleep. Now he's off on a big yellow school bus as independent as can be. 5 years old going on 30! He even requested his hair be done up so he can look "cool". I'm so shocked to see that the word 'cool' is still cool! But anyways...after some Kix, a good tooth brushing and a goodbye kiss for Ella, he was off for his newest adventures. And as for me? I think I'll get some work done now!

No, that's not the street, it's actually our rediculously long driveway!It was a bit chilly this morning!

Happy Birthday my sweet!

Today is my beloved's birthday and what a special day it is. He has brought so much patience and love into my life and I'm so glad we are together. We have been together for 11 years (since we were 16) and I've seen him grow into the caring man and wonderful father he is today. It has been a blessing having him in my life.

Igor requested we spend Sunday as a family day and so we took an awesome day trip to Boston. We visited the aquarium and wandered the streets and Quincy Market. It was a beautiful day! Today we'll keep it simple though and gather with our families at our favorite pizza place...Frank Pepe's!!!! YUM! :) Happy 28th Birthday Igor! We love you!

P*U*G spells fun times! (and Pug too)

We were so excited to host the August PUG (Pictage user group) meeting! Justin and Mary brought the movie "The Man Who Wasn't There" and we viewed it all drive-in-movie style with the movie projected on a big white sheet against our house and lawn chairs, popcorn, candy and blankets. Yes, Blankets!!! Why is it so cold already in August? Thanks everyone for such a fun time!

Congrats Adriane and TJ

The most perfect day! Yesterday...the sky was the most amazing blue and we were blessed with white beautiful puffy clouds, the temp was in the 70's and we got to shoot a wedding in all of these perfect conditions. Not just any wedding, Adriane and TJ's wedding! It doesn't get better than that! This was her mom's hanky from her wedding which was embroidered with her name and date. Adriane added her own name and wedding date to it so this was very special. There is also a yellowish hanky under it (you can see peaking out from the left) which Adriane's great grandmother had made for her grandmother's wedding. The beautiful bouquet that was so perfect that everyone thought it was fake! And...the rolls :)

This cathedral church was just breathtaking! St. Augustine's in Bridgeport, it was where Adriane's grandmother was married 55 years prior.
And the first kiss...
For the grand exit, everyone circled around the front church steps and blew bubbles.
Adriane and TJ in the sunflower maze.
And the wedding party in the sunflower maze...so fun!

Igor took this AWESOME silhouette shot by the tree!

The first dance.

Congratulations Adriane and TJ. Thank you for sharing such a special day with us!!

Mrs. Jennifer and baby-to-be

I had the pleasure of photographing the beautiful mom-to-be Jennifer in all of her goddess wonder! What a beaming ray of sunshine. We had so much fun!

What's New? LOTS!

I can't keep up with all of the new stuff we've been up to! First, on Friday evening we went to a really inspiring seminar called "I Shoot People". That IS what we do, right?! And yes, I know I'm in the mafia according to the playing cards but really, it's not for that kind of shooting. The seminar was in NYC and was put on by Sallee Photography out of Dallas Texas. These folks had such great energy and reminded me sooo much of the Marantz's! A cute husband and wife team who were there to inspire. Igor and I stayed overnight at a crazy hotel that overbooked so we ended up in a room with two twin beds! (separated by a nightstand!) Rediculousness. But, other than that we had a great time. We even saw Val McCormick from Val McCormick photography there. So all of that equalled good times, good people and lots of learning. We are sooo reved up with ideas that it can only mean oodles of goodness for our wedding couples.

Next on the agenda...we have entered a new dimension and purchased our first mac! Wow, this is just crazy and we are totally in love. The kind of feeling like you see in the movies when somone opens a book and a chorus starts singing "ahhhh..." and then when you shut the book the singing suddenly stops and then you open it a crack to test it and it starts singing and you shut it and it stops! We experienced lots of "ahhh..." moments yesterday and today and are so happy to welcome it to our collection of work horses. We are most excited because this will mean we can work side by side and get double the work done in the same time while still spending "quality" time together. :)

The last thing I'll mention is...(and this will also be on the next newsletter) that for any bride or couple or past wedding couple that would like to take advantage of getting some extremely unique and interesting not like anyone else kind of wedding, bridal or engagement photos, we will be traveling in January of 2009 to 7 Caribbean Islands. We will be posting our schedule on the blog and newsletter. This is such a great opportunity to have one of a kind photographs/art. This would be great for 'trash the dress' sessions too where the two of you can travel out to the location, have a little vacation time and also get some photographs taken say, walking along or in the ocean or on a mountain. Things you totally wouldn't have done on your wedding day. And seriously, who would pass up the chance to wear their wedding dress again?! The options are limitless and like I said, it's such a great opportunity to get some amazing art and a memorable time. We will be accepting only the first 3 brides/couples that contact us so it is limited. Please email me for more details if you are interested.

Cheerio!

Crazinessssssss

This week has been so super busy and I'm so sorry that I didn't update my blog until now! Just to keep you in the loop on our happenings, I spent Monday and Tuesday on a fabulous photographers retreat in the Berkshires at the amazing Amanda Harris Herzberger's family lake house. I enjoyed kayaking with Miss Aimee Thomas Oswalt for TWO hours!!!! And swimming (well actually hanging from a floating dock) with some of my photography peeps like the Marantz's and Carla Ten Eyck and Julia from Salty Grapes and a new friend Jacob from NoDo photography. It was really a great time to relax and reflect on life in general. The key 'workshop' we did was to create a list of 101 things we wanted to accomplish in 1001 days. This is harder to create than you think! The list encompassed everything from business to personal goals and even spiritual. Anything could go on this list. It helped me realize just how vast our lives really are. I think most of us went into this thinking that our list would be 90% business related goals but in reality, our life is a little bit of everything that makes it a whole. We are supposed to accomplish one of our goals this week and blog about it so here goes... (I did two!)

#9 Wake up earlier than the kids.
I actually accomplished this today!!! Seems like a small step but I am sooo not a morning person so for me, this was Huge! Now I just have to make sure I do this every day for smooth sailing.

#27 Go camping.
Most of the fellow retreat people saw this goal happen. I totally set up my sleeping station on the floor of the lakehouse, I was lying down ready to sleep when suddenly I sat right back up and said, "nope, I'm sleeping outside!". So, I grabbed my stuff at 1:30am and set up my tent with the help of Jacob and slept under the stars. Check on #27

So two checks off of the 101... still working on #44 Learn how to breakdance.