My & Tony: 'Cause We Gon' Rock This Club

Before I turn in for the night, I wanted to share a ring shot from today's wedding...

My & Tony's reception was held at Chau Chow in Dorchester. One of the 11 courses we were served for dinner was lobster.

Parson's Table: 'Round My Hometown

I thought it was time to post a few more food photos! These were taken at Parson's Table in Winchester. Chris Parsons is the owner, head chef, and overall cool guy bringing good food to the 'burbs! He used to run the seafood restaurant "Catch" in the same location and in all my years of living in Winchester, I never went. That's because all that was before I started experimenting with seafood! Anyway, Parson's Table is great! I even photographed a wedding there a few months ago! So, without further ado...

Awesome colors! This is Lane's Lobster Salad With Charred Ward's Farm Corn and Heirloom Tomatoes.


Best looking tomato ever!


And this is Smoked Tomato Gazpacho with Lane's Lobster, Avocado, and Cilantro. Doesn't it all look so good?

Boston Wedding Photography: I Hear It's Nice In The Summer

This is the view of Boston from the rooftop of The Taj at the corner of Arlington & Newbury Streets. Gorgeous, right? This is the kind of photo I take at a wedding and I can't wait to get a giant print of it for myself!

Navy Yard Engagement Session: Sway To The Rhythm of Love

It seems like every couple weeks my mother is asking me for more business cards. I have no idea who she's giving them to or where she's leaving them, but there it is. She's like a one-woman PR army. And every once in a while, it pays off! Last fall, my dad was in the hospital for, literally, one night. His nurse was super sweet and engaged. Business card, business card, business card. "My daughter is a photographer" etc. Well, sure enough, I get an email from the nurse and we meet up, have breakfast at Sound Bites, and she's awesome! And that is how I met Carly!

Carly and Mike are having their wedding on the South Shore, so they decided to do their engagement session closer to the city. We hit up the Charlestown Navy Yard on a gorgeous evening a couple of weeks ago. We couldn't have asked for a nicer night!

I couldn't resist grabbing a photo of the USS Constitution.


Just warming up and already they're adorable!




A little fun in the sun. Carly and Mike laughed throughout their entire session. It was so much fun to just hang around with them!






Carly & Mike, your wedding is going to rock! Thanks for going on an adventure with me & Tess - we had a blast!

The Time Has Come For Closing Books

In case you were wondering what I was up to this past week, I was celebrating my sister's graduation from high school! She had her prom and then her actual graduation ceremony. Honestly, it's pretty amazing how fast time has flown. I was halfway through high school when she was born. Now we're all old! People have been harassing me about sharing some of these photos, but I'm horrible at posting photos on FB, so I thought maybe I'd put a couple here! And yes, my family is wicked awesome!

Gorgeous Tessa & her friend, Haley, pre-prom.


Classic Tessa face!


The 2011 Graduate!


The graduate with her siblings!


The proud parents!


Tess, we are all so proud of you! Congratulations on surviving high school!

Pete and Jen's Backyard Birds: Wanted To Be A Farmer All Year Round

Pete and Jen are two of the coolest people ever. I photographed them this past fall for the Boston Homegrown project and they were so patient with all my questions. We shared a mutual enthusiasm for what we were each doing and it made my time at their farm so wonderful! Pete and Jen run the aptly named Pete and Jen's Backyard Birds in Concord. Don't be fooled by the name though; they also have pigs and rabbits on their farm.

If you've been following along with my Boston Homegrown project, you know that I've been photographing chefs/restaurants that focus on locally sourced ingredients for their dishes. I've had the honor to photograph the farmers/suppliers as well, which has meant fisherman, veggie farmers, and animal farmers. That being said, I knew when I went to visit Pete & Jen that the animals I would meet were going to end up as food. As someone who shops most often at the grocery store, there's always a disconnect between the food I buy and where it comes from. This project is definitely changing that for me, but that's a different topic altogether. Going into this shoot, I wasn't sure if visiting this farm was going to turn me into a vegetarian. Let me be clear on this point: it did the opposite! It was eye-opening to see how well these animals were treated and how much Pete and Jen loved them and loved what they do. The idea that I could benefit from that made me feel a lot better about eating meat (to be specific, meat that can be traced back to a farm, etc). Honestly, it was a revelation.

Here's the thing, price is a deterrent. I get that, the farmers get that. We live in a world of convenience - making a trip to a farm for your veggies/meat is not as easy as going to the chain grocery stores. I am also a slave to this lifestyle, but I'm trying to break free. People like Pete & Jen who take the time out to educate are the people helping me to change my habits, and thus, my lifestyle. When I asked them about price, Pete said something to me that I have been repeating for the past eight months. He said, "The question shouldn't be why our chicken is more expensive, but why is theirs so cheap?" Uhm, hello? It was the simplest thing, but I hadn't ever thought of it. Spending a couple of hours on the farm with them, I saw just a fraction of the amount of physical labor that went into caring for these animals. I saw them feed the chickens, play with the pigs, and cuddle the rabbits. Why is this not the norm? If all this work goes into caring for healthy animals that then provide us with healthy meat, what on earth is happening to the chicken that only costs $8? Think about it.

Enough of that - here are some photos from my trip to Pete and Jen's Backyard Birds:

Bunnies.


Nutmeg.


Friendly piggies. The pigs were like 230 lb puppies! They would come up to me and nuzzle at my knees and try to chew my shoelaces and they'd follow you around. It was so much fun hanging out with them!


Wolfgang. This guy is definitely the BMOC (Big Man on Campus).


Pete and Jen with the egg laying chickens! One of the things that I learned was that the layers are entirely different chickens from the meat chickens. Now I get to pass that information on to you!


I can't thank Pete & Jen enough for spending their time with me and teaching me all about what they do. I encourage everyone to look into their farm. They have a mini-store in Concord where you can purchase eggs and all kinds of meat, too. I can't say enough wonderful things about my experience with Pete and Jen!

My and Tony, New Hampshire Engagement Session: Now The Parking Lot is Empty

We ventured out on the early side of the day, but My & Tony assured me they were morning people! The same can't be said for the rest of Hampton Beach, NH! We pretty much had the entire area to ourselves for the majority of their engagement session. Of course, since it was so early, not much was open. That could have also been because it was a little too early in the season, too. We got to play on the beach and explore the main street. I loved all the great backgrounds we found for their photos!

On the beach!




Sometimes it's fun to shoot through things, like trash cans!


Color, color, color! Also, Funarama?? Does it get any better than that?


Love!






This was already written in the parking lot when we walked by! Perfect!




Hanging out with my brides & grooms is always so much fun! I love getting to know them in person. Always a good idea! So what if it means you take a break in the middle of your session to talk about The Amazing Race?! My & Tony, I can't wait for your wedding next month!