Barefoot Children

You'll have to dig into your Jimmy Buffett catalog for that song, but it will be worth the trip! Last week I had a session with a really cool family up on the coast of the Atlantic. Despte lots of biting bugs and a sand-eating baby, we had a lot of fun! Here are some of the photos from our evening.






I also had a shoot last week with Jovee. There are a ton of photos to go through, and I have to edit wedding photos first, but I couldn't resist this one - it was just too cute. Plus, it totally fits under the title of this post!

Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Feed Me

The photos in this post celebrate my grandmother's 89th birthday! Pretty amazing. All six of her children were there, a bunch of her grandchildren, and even one great-grandchild! I love taking photos of my grandmother. She has this fascinating face. My father took tons of photos when I was little and we have so many wonderful photos of my grandmother. I love looking at them as an adult and I want to make sure I continue the tradition.








Having so much of the family together was a great way to honor my grandmother.

Today I am shooting a wedding, which should be really exciting, despite the ominous skies. I had two other shoots this week that I need to finish editing so I can post some photos. Stay tuned!

Because the Night

The other night, there was such a beautiful sunset I decided to capture it. With my tripod over my shoulder, I made the journey down to the street corner and managed to snag a few beautiful moments before the pink was gone.

I love the way the clouds look. Only one group of people stopped to ask questions. Mainly, it was just me and the night sky.

Making Friends For the World to See

I thought a lyric from Elton John (or more specifically, Bernie Taupin) would be appropriate for this post. I recently celebrated a milestone birthday and this post is about showing off one of my birthday gifts. I have some very creative friends, and most days I consider myself creative. However, when I compare myself to Kristi, she consistently blows me out of the water. She gives Martha Stewart a real run for her money, and I'm not exaggerating. Her talent never ceases to amaze me. A few months ago, my mother threatened to get rid of a bunch of my stuff from the attic. She's been doing this since I graduated college many years ago, but for some reason, I believed her this time. One of the bags she was going to throw out was full of my old concert t-shirts. My first concert was The Pointer Sisters - they played on Boston Common as part of the "Concert on the Common" series. The year was 1987. I went to concerts every year after that. Soon I was caught up in the seedy world of concert t-shirts- I wanted them all! And, much to my present day chagrin, I wanted them XL. I have no idea why. The thought of my mother throwing my shirts in the trash broke my heart. In a panic, I sent up my Bat Signal to my real-life arts & crafts superhero, and she answered the call. What you see here is the result of her blood, sweat, and tears (I've seen them, too, but didn't buy a t-shirt - i do have a photo with the band, though), and years and years of me buying unnecessarily large t-shirts.

Look how big the quilt is! Perfect to snuggle under when it gets chilly (or when the A/C is on high). Some of the concerts highlighted on the quilt are: Elton John, Elton John & Billy Joel, The Who, Jimmy Buffett, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Neil Diamond, Bette Midler... Yes, this is the music I liked. I was a strange teenager. Anyway, I thought I would send props out to Kristi for creating such a beautiful, tangible, portable treasure from all my memories. Awesome, huh?

I Was A Starling, Nobody's Darling

Okay, so today I went to the Prudential Center to catch a free Mandy Moore concert. Boston definitely knows how to throw a free concert, and this one was no different. The best part was that it was during lunchtime so it wasn't even that busy. Here's a photo of my friend Krista and I, chilling out on the lawn before the show started. Don't you think I look rather movie-star-ish? And of course, this is Mandy Moore. Despite being skilled with my digital SLR, I am at a loss when it comes to my digital point-and-shoot. This is the best photo I was able to get. We were pretty close to the stage, although since Krista and I are both teeny-tiny short people, there were still heads in our way.



While we were in the city, I grabbed a photo of the Prudential Center itself. The sky looks so blue. Then when I loaded the images onto my camera, I realized I had taken a similar photo a few weeks ago from a different point in the city. The one from today I shot from the lawn of the building. The other one, much closer up, was taken from the top floor of a parking garage. I love taking architectural photos, but I haven't gone on an expedition in the city in a while. Okay, now I'm done posting blogs for today. Phew. That was exhausting.

I'm Just One of the Out-of-Focus Guys

Not a song line, but a quote from "Almost Famous" which happens to be one of my favorite movies, and as an added bonus, extremely quotable. While I had Moon in my clutches for a while, I thought it would be fun to experiment with photos of two people. We had a lot of fun, which is important, and the results were worth it.







That's it for now!

I Listen to the Wind, to the Wind of My Soul

I took these photos last week and am so excited about them! Hopefully the subject will feel the same way. Moon is an actor and filmmaker who needed some headshots and I like to photograph headshots - a match made in heaven. It had been a while since I had chatted with someone about making movies, so that was especially nice. And, when I quoted "Almost Famous" he knew right where it came from! Hence the song reference. Plus, I saw Mandy Moore in concert today (am I a teenybopper or what?) and she sang a Cat Stevens' song and it just seems to be a Cat Stevens sort of afternoon.






You may notice that I'm experimenting with watermarking my photos. I notice a lot of other photographers putting their names on the photos on their blogs and on Flickr - it's to prevent photo theft. This way, if someone steals my photos (which you SHOULD NOT do), my name is on them. Unless otherwise noted, all of the photos on my blog and on my Flickr account were taken by me and are my property. But don't worry - I won't tell anyone if you illegally download songs or make copies of your Netflix DVDs.

Say That You Remember...

Another weekend, another wedding. Two down, four to go! Jill & Luke got married on July 8, 2007. "Say That You Remember" is a line from the Earth, Wind, and Fire song "September," which played when they made their entrance as man and wife. Aw. They were (and are) adorable! Jill never stopped smiling; they were both giddy. And I have to say, Luke had some definite moves on the dance floor. Holler!

{here comes the bride}


{man & wife}



{dancing the night away}






My next wedding is at the end of July. I'm just gaining momentum fot the 3 in a row I have in August. Criminy! I had a great shoot with an actor last night, so those will be the next photos I work on. Busy busy busy...

You're Not Even Aware, You're Such a Funny Pair

The title of this post comes from the song "Best Friends" sung by Pearl Bailey on the Fox & the Hound soundtrack. These are the lyrics for the first stanza:

When you're the best of friends
Having so much fun together
You're not even aware, you're such a funny pair
You're the best of friends

These words struck me as the perfect description for the following photo.

{nick & cody}

They certainly are a funny pair.

{just nick, post sprinkler}



As an aside, I photographed Nick when he was about 6 weeks old. Now he's almost two! It's an amazing experience to be able to consistently photograph the same children throughout their lives. I've been lucky to be able to do that, and hope to keep doing it!

The Best Is Yet To Come, Babe... Won't It Be Fine?

Apparently, the best thing in life is grandkids. They are way better then real kids 'cause you can give them back whenever you want. You even let them run in your house (sometimes). To celebrate the fact that the whole Mabardy clan was in one place, including all four grandchildren, I went over to photograph them. As always, in big group shots, the adults gave me just as much trouble as the little kids! Regardless, the results are pretty good.

We Could Be Married... And Then We'd Be Happy

When the Cape weather looks like this, who wouldn't want to get married there? Jamie and Mike were lucky enough to own a house right on the beach where they were able to exchange their vows. It was such an amazing celebration, overflowing with family and friends. Of course I shot a million photos - I was able to "narrow down" some of my favorites to these ones....

{the location}


{getting ready}




{the bride & groom}







{the end... and the beginning}