Teach Your Children Well

I usually don't post a lot of "personal" photos on this blog, but today I am feeling the need. Today was a very special day, and not just because the Sex & The City movie opened. The past few months I've been shooting a lot and not posting as much. I've been crazed and even more of a disaster than I normally am. The reason? I've been teaching 6th grade English. I haven't mentioned it on my blog because I wanted to maintain the privacy of the school and students. I didn't want to use this forum to vent or gloat or anything like that. Now it's different. Today was my last day!! I'm not going to start revealing deep dark secrets, but I feel like I can talk about it now, at least in abstract terms. It was such an amazing experience. Hard, stressful, wonderful... I learned something new every day. I learned more about myself, about 12 year olds, and about grammar than I ever wanted to know! After school today, a handful of my wonderful colleagues took me out to celebrate. Here we are in all our after-school glory!



I can not even tell you how lucky I am to have worked with these people. I will sing it from the rooftops if I need to (and anyone who knows me knows I'll do it). They are amazing educators. Passionate. Dedicated. Funny. They are leaders. I was honored to go to work with them every day. As a photographer, when I'm not on a shoot, I spend most of my days alone, working on the computer. To show up at a workplace everyday was something I hadn't done in a while. I really looked forward to the adult camaraderie, so much so that I think my co-workers got tired of my constant chit-chatting! Yet, they were patient and harmlessly indulgent. I am going to miss seeing them every day. I'm posting these photos to honor them (even though they may be less than thrilled - ha ha) and to say thank you, publicly. As a society, we can not underestimate the importance of our educators. They deserve more praise than I could ever give them. Thank you thank you thank you!

The Girl Can't Help It

Okay, so I can't help posting some photos from this shoot even though I'm not done editing it. And Krista can't help but be beautiful in just about every photo I take of her. Jon's not too bad, either, considering this was his first try at supermodeling!


In order for this one to have maximum impact, you might need to make it larger. Enjoy!



I'm sure there will be plenty more where these came from!

My Memorial Day weekend is winding down. Besides shooting the Bat Mitzvah, I also had a shoot today, which was great. It was outside, so that meant I got to play in the woods. I have to admit, my idea of a good time does not usually include being outside for long periods of time, but I'm getting better as I get older. Going to the movies is ALWAYS my idea of a good time, which is why I went to see Indiana Jones this weekend. I have always loved the Indiana Jones movies, so I felt a need to see it opening weekend. There are plenty of things I can say about it, but I think people need to make up their own minds on this one. I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone. Regardless, it's a good time. Harrison Ford still rocks my world, AARP member or not!

She Sees Love Where Anyone Else Would See Weeds

Yesterday I had the pleasure of once again working with wicked talented photographer extraordinaire Rachel of Merge Weddings. We photographed a bat mitzvah. I had never been to a bat/bar mitzvah, never mind photographed one. Let me tell you, it was awesome! There was yummy food, a super-cool DJ, and thankfully, good weather. You're not allowed to photograph inside the Temple when the ceremony is taking place, so I had a little down time to explore my surroundings. I would never fancy myself a "landscape" photographer; I tend to enjoy people and cities over flowers and fields. However, this grouping of buttercups and dandelions was hard to resist. So, a photo for you!

Other than that, life has been really busy. I was in Baltimore for the weekend, which was great. The plane rides were horrible. I will most likely never go on a propeller plane again. At least not without some sort of medication. I've been photographing up a storm and have some fun shoots lined up in the upcoming weeks. Lots of things to keep me busy. Also, the thing that's been keeping me busiest of all is ending soon, at which point, I can resume my regularly scheduled lifestyle. Wedding season, here I come!

Rest Your Head on My Shoulder

Another photo of Tara and Steve. So adorable. This time I added a little post-processing love. So, tomorrow I'm going to Baltimore to visit with friends and take some photos and I'm wicked excited. I feel like a jet-setting photographer, going off to an exotic location (if you call Baltimore exotic - if John Waters loves it, so can I). However, and this is a big however, I just realized that part of my flight will be spent on a prop plane. HELLO??!! I do NOT like flying. Not at all. A prop plane? Are you kidding me? Should be an adventure. I just hope I live through it.

Love Is All Around

Even Bad Wolves Can Be Good

Okay, this line comes from the song "Li'l Red Riding Hood" by Sam the Sham. It was on a compilation CD of oldies I bought when I was in high school. I liked it for this post because my model finds herself awfully alone in the woods. I had this idea of doing a project involving body paint and I was lucky enough to find a willing model to use for my photographic prototype. I love the way this image looks. Some of our other attempts weren't as successful - I'll need to experiment with different paints. Anyway, I wanted to post one of them before I forgot.

I'd like to tell you this is my body, but it's not. This body obviously does not indulge in nearly as much ice cream as I do!

Rainy Day Women #12 & 35

A couple of weeks ago, my friends and I had our 3rd Photo Workshop. By "workshop," I mean we got together and hung out and photographed some very cool couples. Our scheduled day was almost a rain-out, but we powered through and ended up with a great picture-taking day. We had so much fun! So, the Rainy Day Women title refers to Jay, Emily, and me!

This first couple, Steve and Tara, are getting married in July. They're having a ceremony here, stateside, and another on a tropical island. Not bad, huh? They were so much fun to work with - putty in our hands. Considering there were multiple photographers circling around them, and we were in a very public place, they handled themselves with aplomb!




There are so many great photos from this shoot to choose from. I may have to return to them later. I got to play around with different post-processing techniques, which is always fun. Photographing couples is always fun and creative and a great way to get to know people. We shot another fun couple that day, but I'll save those photos for another post.

Other than that, things have been so busy the past couple of weeks. My first official wedding is right around the corner, but I second-shot a wedding reception for Merge Weddings the other night. I had so much fun. I am so lucky to love what I do. Every day, I get to learn. You can't beat that.

For Esme - With Love & Squalor

I've made a departure with my post titles today. Instead of using a song lyric or title, I used the title of a short story by J.D. Salinger. I think most people end up reading "Catcher in the Rye" in high school at some point, but it wasn't until college that I read "Nine Stories," a collection of Salinger's short stories. I was a second-semester senior and American Short Story seemed like the perfect class to finish up the year. Plus, it was my first class with the legendary Charlie Bassett - one of Colby College's favorite professors. Three mornings a week, we piled into Lovejoy 100 - jocks, nerds, American Studies majors, English majors, everyone. It was always a packed class. Bassett engaged his students, standing in the front of the class, wildly gesticulating, teaching us about Hemingway, Carver, Hawthorne, Salinger, and O'Hara. Almost ten years later, I still remember the stories, still have the books, and still keep in touch with Bassett. I drove up to my alma mater a couple of weeks ago and convinced him to let me take photos of him while we spoke. All of the quintessential English professor mannerisms were still there, even in the living room.