Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Where It Began, I Can't Begin To Know When

Another Red Sox reference. Since I don't have any Red Sox photos to post, I figure I might as well make up for it with a couple of titles. No harm, no foul. No pun intended.

The other day I photographed Katie, a talented musician. We were dealing with some dreary weather, but made the most of it. I shot until the raindrops got on the lens and it didn't know where to focus!
Here are some of my favorites from the shoot...






Tomorrow is Halloween! It's not my favorite holiday but I love seeing the kids in costumes. In fact, I even get to photograph a few tomorrow morning. I can't wait. The best part is, the weather is supposed to be beautiful!

We Are The Champions!

Come on, you knew it was coming.... How could I not celebrate the Red Sox winning the World Series with a fun blog title?! Yay, Red Sox!

On with the photos! These little guys were champion models. So adorable. Faces like these make my job easy.



Friday, October 26, 2007

Sisters, Sisters, There Were Never Such Devoted Sisters

Not only are these two adorable girls sisters, but since these are some of their holiday photos, the song from "White Christmas" makes perfect sense!

Abbie & Sophie are my go-to girls when it comes to modeling. In fact, Sophie is my little Christmas tree from the last post! Thank goodness she likes dressing up!






Well, I've still got more to edit. This week, the Red Sox have been keeping me up late, but tonight is their night off, and thus my night off from baseball. Tomorrow I'm photographing Marissa and Heath's wedding. You may remember them from their engagement photos - they brought their giant dog Pachanga along to participate in the shoot. I'm really excited for it. Everyone keep your fingers crossed that it isn't raining for the ceremony or photos!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree



There are still appointments available for those of you dreaming of holiday card photos, or even photos as gifts. What are you waiting for?

Haven't You Always Wanted a Monkey?

Just a little BNL love to commemorate the 10 and a half years I've known Dave and Jen, which, is totally insane. Just ask me. Ten years ago, Dave hired me on as a promotions intern at Eagle 93.7/Mix 98.5. Now I have the privilege of photographing his son. My how things have changed! For instance, neither of us has to deal with large inflatable birds, cans of tuna at 3:30am, or driving the AMC Pacer without air conditioning anymore. Despite the insanity, I learned some invaluable lessons and skills working at the station. I also made some great friends. Caw!

I call these photos "Charlie in the Leaves."




Charlie and Mom and Chloe.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

He Took Off to Find the Footlights

I took a little creative license with the song lyric today because the Harry Chapin song ("Taxi") refers to a woman.

While I was in NYC, I shot some headshots for my friend Dan. Dan is part of the wildly popular sketch comedy group Slightly Known People and also performs in plays around the city. He needed some updated photos and I just happened to be crashing at his apartment while I was in town. Sounds like kismet to me!

This is Dan just being Dan. It's like Manny being Manny except without the pro-baseball money or the dreadlocks.


This is Dan looking headshot-y. Love the eyes.


Also, on a totally different note, it has been brought to my attention that I do indeed know photographers to tag, so here are a few...

1. Kelly Vasami
2. Melissa Bitter
3. Allan Zepeda, the photographer who taught me how to link!

So, now they have to list 8 fun facts about themselves on their blogs. Have fun!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

[b]rooklyn's Got A Winning Team

(Team of photographers, that is!)

Monday night, after finishing an afternoon shoot, I hopped in my (mostly) reliable Honda and headed down to New York City. My purpose? Besides getting to see my good friends Dan & Melissa (you might remember them from the aquarium wedding), I was going to have lunch with [b]ecker, a crazy amazing photographer based out of Southern California. A ton of photographers were in town for the PhotoPlus Expo and [b]ecker had a free afternoon. He generously offered, via his blog, to meet up with other area photographers and talk shop and walk around and take pictures. It sounded like an amazing experience to me, and NYC isn't that far away. I wasn't sure what to expect of the whole thing, except that, at the very least, I'd get to explore part of Brooklyn and photograph it. Well, I got a lot more out of it than that. I met some really cool photographers, ate some delicious pizza, and learned a lot from some people who are more seasoned than I am. It doesn't get much better than that. Here are some of the fruits of our expedition.

As an added bonus to the Brooklyn trip, we all got Shootsacs, or Shootsac covers. This is Steve DePino. He's not only a photographer and suspected international spy, but also a male model.


Since Tuesday, I've been able to see photographs on some of the other photographers' blogs; it's really interesting to see how different we all shoot. Sure, there are some similar photos, but at the same time, there's tons of variety. For instance, most people shot the word "Brooklyn;" I chose the word "Throw." Go figure.



If you look closely, you can see the Statue of Liberty in this shot.


This is Allan Zepeda, modeling, shooting, and all-around looking cool.


Steve , again. This mural was awesome. It's so much fun to shoot in urban settings because there's always so much to see. You can create art from anything.




This is Melissa Bitter, photographer and blogger extraordinaire! She got to model while [b]ecker taught us a little bit about lighting. I love the way the lens dips into the frame.


Look at the way the light hits this star. You can even glimpse a mini-rainbow in the sky. This was taken on Coney Island. I lived in NYC from 1999-2000 and this was my first time on Coney Island. I was so excited to have the chance to get down there, even if it was just to walk around. Granted, we did make a stop for Nathan's hot dogs on the boardwalk.


Another lesson on using light. This time we had a faux engagement shoot. Can you believe these two had only met a few hours earlier? Melissa modeled again and photographer Dan Speicher was her lucky man.


Photographer Kelly Vasami and her Shootsac. Do you think Scary Rotter is like Harry Potter?


As much as I love the colors on these murals, I also love the creepy carousel horse in the window.


[b]ecker was a great sport all day, answering all our questions and traipsing around the city with a bunch of his blog-stalkers. To top it off, it was his birthday!


Thanks so much to [b] and his partner-in-crime for the day, Marissa, for a wonderful day. It was well worth the drive down, and thanks to all the other participating photographers, for their patience, generosity, and for supplying me with enough inspiration to last a long time! And hey, if anyone makes it up to Boston, let me know! Also, once I learn how to insert links into my blog posts, I can go back and link you all to your blogs/websites. Sorry 'bout that!

We'll Play Jacks and Uno Cards

(Rumor has it, my good pal Kate loves this song - "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie - so that's where I grabbed this quote from.)

Now that Christmas season is upon us, I can't be showing tons of photos for fear of ruining surprises. However, I love this one. Kids being kids. Who doesn't love the bunny ears? Do you remember back when you were young enough to find that hysterical? Those were the days.

We had our session at the Old North Bridge in Concord. Despite living in this area my whole life, I had never been to see the bridge. When we got there, I quickly noticed it looks deceptively new. After doing a little research, I discovered this bridge was erected in 2005 and is the 6th bridge to cross the Concord River at the site. The "battle bridge" that was up in 1775 was dismantled in 1788. Guess I missed my chance to see that one.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

They Send You Off To College, Try To Gain a Little Knowledge

Senior photos are so much fun to shoot! I photographed Dominique last weekend at the Old Grist Mill in Sudbury. We had gorgeous fall weather and took advantage of our location. Dominique was such a good sport about it all - sit here, sit here, climb onto that, etc. We only got yelled at by a man in a colonial costume once. That's fine. Whatever. I am so thrilled with the way the photos came out. Dominique looks gorgeous, happy, and ready for college! She and her family are going to have tons of photos to choose from - good luck!






Just for her parents, I used Jimmy Buffett lyrics for the title of this post. The question is, will they immediately know the song? And better yet, do they know what line comes next?

At the Playground

See, I can quote "Iesha" more than once! I might have to keep returning to that song; it seems to have a lot of possibilities.

I was lucky enough to play with Scarlett and her family last weekend. We explored not one, but two, playgrounds. Ah, to be a kid in the city! I don't normally post all black & white photos, but these ones really struck me and I wanted to share them.





Also, I've been "tagged" by the lovely Dorie of Dorie Lynn Photography. Basically, I have to tell you 8 things about myself. So, get to know your friendly neigborhood photographer.

1) I hate carrots. Really. They taste like the ground to me. I will most definitely eat around them. Out of all the childhood food dislikes, this one has really stuck with me.

2) I haven't purchased a pair of sneakers since I was 17 and I was told I needed them to go on my COOT (Colby Outdoor Orientation Trip). I probably wouldn't have bought them then, either, if they hadn't been explicitly listed on the "Things You Must Have To Survive" list for college.

3) I've been kicked out of Central Park by the cops twice.

4) I am caffeine-free, although as a result, I've developed a taste for wine.

5) I am scared of the dark so I have to sleep with the TV on (I always set the sleep timer) or I have to read until I fall asleep. It's not that I think there are monsters in the closet - it just unnerves me a little.

6) My sister is 16 yrs younger than me, which is actually a lot of fun. Even though she thinks I'm a total dork. She's not wrong. Except when I take her to Rated R movies - she likes that.

7) I asked Doug to give me a fun fact about me and he said "You're indifferent about the amount of cheese that I eat." That's questionable, but I'm throwing it on my list anyway because it amuses me. For my real fun fact, my first "late" movie was a 10:10p showing of "Bird on a Wire" with Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn. My cousin Marissa took me and my brother when she was babysitting.

8) I'm a total pack rat. I love hanging on to things with sentimental value, or that I think will have sentimental value 50 yrs from now. I'm trying to be good, so if I am forced to throw something out or give it away, I photograph it. For some reason, that to me proves that I had it. I have always been a documentarian. So, when you see the photos of old cans and police tape and dresses on my blog, it generally means that immediately following their photo shoot, they went on a very long vacation.

Okay, those are my 8 facts. Apparently I am now supposed to tag other people, but Dorie already tagged everyone I know for the most part. Back to work for me! Plenty of editing and posting going on over here.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Hips Don't Lie

My hips, of course, would tell you how much I love to eat. That's a conversation for another time. These hips are the hips of Zehara, a tejedora belly dancer and snake charmer. I first photographed her last winter/spring and we finally managed to get outside for a shoot. Of course, after weeks of uncharacteristically warm October weather, we got a 43 degree morning. Chilly! That also meant her snake could only be photographed for a little while because it needed to be warm. And yes, you can see Zehara's breath in some of these!






Okay, so just for a preview of what's coming up, I've got two family sessions, a sr. portrait, and headshots. I also just got back from New York City. I met up with a bunch of other photographers to go on an adventure around Brooklyn. It was all organized by the amazing wedding photographer [b]ecker. We traipsed around DUMBO, right near the Brooklyn Bridge and then took a ride down to Coney Island. I've got a lot of editing to do, but I'm going to be wicked efficient. Plus, I've got the Red Sox to keep me company for at least 3 1/2 more innings. We'll see what happens in the 9th.

They Did the Mash

This past weekend, after I was returning from an early morning shoot (photos from that next), I came across this poor abused pumpkin in the parking lot. I have a feeling "punks" were involved. Punks are always involved these days. I think that means I'm getting old.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Crazy Love

Natalia and Kyle are getting married on New Year's Eve so we decided to do a little engagement session to take advantage of the fall. They were so much fun to work with and it made me that much more excited to shoot their wedding. I had to show extreme restraint in choosing which photos to post; there were so many good ones (and silly ones). So, here are just a few.






So what if we decided to "borrow" someone's rowboat for photos? It's all about guerilla photography. Natalia and Kyle, hope you guys love the photos as much as I do!

Tonight I leave for New York City for a couple of days. For someone who used to live there, I don't get down there very much. I'm super excited to hang with friends, see the city, and maybe, just maybe, take hundreds of photographs. I've had a bunch of shoots in the past few days, so I'll be putting in some quality editing time when I get back. Stay tuned for a bunch of fun posts!