Dena & Jeff - Four Years Later

Today is Dena & Jeff's 4th wedding anniversary!! I thought I'd check in with a little facebook interview to see what their thoughts are on four years of marriage...

Anne: Four years since the wedding, what's changed since then? Has anything stayed the same?
Dena: Well, we are now four, with the addition of Miss Evaline on 01.09.10. Cisco [the adorable dog] is still with us getting older, but still sweet as ever. We are still living in Clearwater. Jeff is still at the same company. I am now a stay at home mom with a side business at www.denarella.com. [I love her upcycled bags!]
Jeff: The biggest change: our daughter Evaline was born this past January. There may have been other changes over the last four years, but they're all eclipsed by the joy (and terror) she's brought into our lives.

Anne: When looking back on your wedding day- what do you remember most? Was there anything you would do differently if you could do it again?
Dena: The friends and family that came together to have a great party. Dancing, eating and socializing with everyone! If I had to do it differently I would of taken group photos before the ceremony. I also would of made the list of photos that I really wanted to make sure that we got them - like you suggested :)
Jeff: You mean other than the obligatory "my beautiful wife walking down the aisle"?
The band.
After our original band cancelled a few weeks before the big day, we were able to find a Blues Brothers tribute band that could perform on short notice. I was worried we'd end up with a theme wedding based on a theme neither of us wanted.
They showed up for the reception... all seven of them, including a full horn section and rocked out all night long to the delight of our guests. The next day, our caterer told us that in the hundreds of weddings he'd been to, he'd never seen so many people on the dance floor for so long.

Anne: What advice would you give to a couple who's planning their wedding right now?
Dena: My biggest advice to couples is to trust in your vendors. Research them and then let them do their job. They do this for a living and they usually know best. Also dont sweat the small things. In the end they do not make a difference and no one will notice except you!
Jeff: Don't sweat the details. I can say this because I was the guy portion of the equation, but I think my wife would agree. On our wedding day, she found out the flowers delivered were totally different than what was ordered, but beautiful nonetheless. She didn't make a big deal out of it because the guests wouldn't have noticed and it would have gotten in the way of why we were there that day: to have a great party with our family and friends.
...and get a band.

Anne: I have to ask... what did you end up doing (if anything) with your wedding photos?
Dena: Um. . . We have a bunch around the house. Jeff also made me a 1st year photo book that has them in there. We also gave most of our family framed photos. I still need to make photo books for ourselves and our parents.
Jeff: We have a few of the photos, in frames, around the house. But, we're both pretty tech savvy, so all of our favorites are in digital photo frames, or screen savers, or photo slide shows. I end up seeing a few different photos of our wedding every day.

Anne: Can you share your top 10 favorite wedding images and why you love them?
Dena: I almost bit it coming down the stairs. Too funny.


Loved having my cousins, room mate from college, and my sister with me for the wedding.


I love this beach. I wanted to get married here since I was small.


What a great group of guys!


Daddy tear - nice shot anne.


My dad got the sand from the beach, and it was a bit wet. Stuck in the bottom.


Our personalities exactly!


Our new family!


My favorite all time PHOTO!


Why you buy a $200 dress and not spend a fortune!


SPEND THE MONEY ON A REAL BAND. It is worth it! My caterer said that he has never seen so many people on the dance floor EVER!


Anne: What have these last four years of marriage taught you?
Dena: Patience, Love and Understanding. Things will happen in time and enjoy the moment you are in.
Jeff: What have I learned? If this was the Newlywed Game, I'd guess that Dena would say, "not enough."
However, I would say that having a partner to share my life and experiences has made the bad times better and the good times extraordinary.

Anne: Can we see a recent image of your family?
Dena: Check [Jeff's] Flickr. You can also check Evie's blog at evalinetherese.com


Happy 4th Anniversary Dena & Jeff!! To see a slideshow of my favorites from their wedding day, click play on the slideshow below:

Kristin & Will: A Scottish New Hampshire Wedding

In the lovely hills of New Hampshire, land of the motto "Live Free or Die", rests the quaint Grand View Inn & Resort with a sprawling view of Mt. Monadnock. It was spring and the magnolias and apple blossoms smelled as sweet as they looked. Family members pitched in putting the final touches on the handtied bouquets and handmade decor. The weather was delightfully warm and sunny- a perfect day for the groom & groomsmen to wear traditional formal kilts with all the extras. The bride looked stunning in her birdcage veil, handmade wedding clogs, and custom Heather Wang Jewelry. Guests arrived from near and far as Aaron Denny played guitar, and those who couldn't were able to attend virtually with the modern technology of a laptop webcam with wireless internet. After the ceremony, the bride & groom were surprised by the gift of a Scottish Bagpiper playing for their exit! The guests enjoyed fabulous local foods, sipped drinks under the stars, and danced the night away. Click play below to see their entire wedding day slideshow:



Thanks to Janelle DePiano for interning as a second shooter with me for this wedding!
PS. This is my first time embedding one of these slideshows in my blog - so please let me know if it works!

Love is... wading through the fog together

We don't always know where we're going in life, especially when something unexpected throws us off course, but we do know that love helps guide us through the fog.

LOVE IT: The Swapaholics

The Swapaholics combine three of my favorite things: fashion, recycling, and an amazing deal! If you've never been to a Swapaholic event, there's no better time than during Boston Fashion Week to check out their Sip & Swap this Thursday at Arts at the Armory in Somerville! Founders Amy Lynn Chase, owner of Haberdash Vintage, and Melissa Massello, creator of Shoestring Magazine, make a powerful pair of fearless fashion finders, bringing their  expertise together for the benefit of lucky swappers. Armed with an impressive team of volunteers, each event provides an opportunity to trade in your less-wanted items for something you'll love more! The best part? You know the entire stash is fresh that day direct from other swappers just like you, and whatever doesn't go home- doesn't come back- it heads off to Salvation Army where the less informed can wade through racks of unwanted clothing and pay more for one piece than you traded for all you can carry!  Want to be in the know before you go?  Check out these  6 Tips for Becoming an Expert Swapaholic!

I had a ton of fun documenting the Canal District Clothing Swap earlier this year, and even did a mini-fashion shoot with Jen Loves Kev and Orchid Grey, who are part of the Delightful Dozen collective of fashion bloggers who trade fashion pieces and interpret them in new ways.





Click play on the slideshow below to see my coverage of the entire swap!

Thanks Offbeat Bride!

Little did Offbeat Megan realize when featuring a couple of my images recently on the Offbeat Bride Blog in her posts on Funny Groomsman Photos and Paying Homage to Your Pets, that both of the weddings from those photos are celebrating their 4th year of marriage this September (or maybe she's super psychic!)  In honor of this interesting coincidence, I thought I'd check in with these lovely couples to see how they're doing and what words of wisdom they can pass on to future couples!  Stay tuned for their response!

A deep breath

in anticipation...

Sexy on the Beach

H & J had a FABULOUS wedding at the Paradisus Palma Real resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Once I saw the resort at night, I just knew we had to get some creative night shots. What I didn't know was how sexy H & J would be at the end of the night!! Yummmmmay.













Special thanks to Corey Ann who was my human light stand and reflector for some of these shots!

LOVE IT: Random Moments

Alex and I were waiting for a ferry in Brisbane, Australia and the only other person at the terminal was a skateboarder who was attempting tricks off the bench in front of us. It was a completely ordinary moment and yet I was captivated. I decided to capture it in the abstract way that I was sensing it- just a bench, a board, a body, a trick, and a return. Inspiration can come from anywhere. Click play below to watch the video:

Two Visions of One Moment

"The true voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."- Marcel Proust. There are many ways to see any given moment, and I love exploring them.

Real Wedding Details | Purple, Pink, Gray

What is Post-Production? Why would I want Processed Images?

Here are a few examples of images that have come straight from the camera, and what a processed version might look like. Since there are many different ways of processing images, every digital developer (or photographer) will have a different preference for the final result (as well as a different way of capturing the initial image.) These examples represent part of my post-production thought process, but are in no way meant to represent a "right" way of doing anything.


In the above image, I reduced the yellow tone to bring the whites back to a bright white so that the white linens in the room actually looked white and the pinks were more pink than peach.


In this one I actually added yellow to make the scene a little more surreal and the couple a little more sun-kissed tan rather than cloudy-day grey.


I decided that the expressions of the people in the background were an important part of this image, and the best way for me to highlight them and give them more of a presence in the image was to increase the brightness and convert to black & white so that the eye would be less drawn to color and more drawn to contrast.


While this image isn't too bad in its original state, it didn't quite reflect just how incredibly vibrant all of the colors were in person, so I added some brightness and contrast to reflect more of what it looked like in person.


As much as we'd love our equipment to cooperate and think like we do 100% of the time, there's always a chance that during a critical moment, a flash will under-fire or not fire at all! When images are captured in RAW instead of JPG, there's a much greater chance for rescuing a critical moment in post-production. While this wasn't critical, there's a pretty hilarious bridesmaid gesture in the background that's lost in the original, but saved with processing.


The original looks pretty true-to-reality here. The colors in this plant weren't very bright or saturated, but with some contrast and saturation this flora becomes spectacular and fascinating rather than easy to glance over.

Most of my clients choose to have me process the images, however I occasionally work for other photographers who prefer to save money by processing their own images. It can be pretty time intensive depending on how much the developer looks at each image, which is why someone who does their own digital developing might take quite a bit of time after shooting hundreds of images on a wedding day.

If this post was interesting, you might also like:
Should I get Digital Negatives From My Photographer?
or
Why Do Wedding Photos Take So Long?

Harvard's Secret Garden

One of my favorite things about collaborating with clients on the location for their shoot is discovering places that I wouldn't find otherwise! This little hidden garden was the perfect place to find some privacy on a very public campus. It was also where the groom was supposed to propose to his bride. However, like many perfectly planned engagement stories, fate had a different plan and the gates were locked, so the proposal happened just outside the garden instead. Luckily the gates were open for our photo shoot, and I was able to catch a little glimpse of what made the garden such a special place for these Harvard grads...



I loved being able to incorporate parts of the quote carved into this stone bench!





Rumor has it, some people can sneak out of their window at night to access the garden, even when the gates are closed. ;-)