Good Morning, Starshine

I took this photo at a wedding I attended a couple of weeks ago. That's right - I was a guest at a wedding! What's even more fun was that I knew the photographers - Christine & Andy of Bello Photography - from events around Boston. Anyway, I grabbed this photo of the starfish with my new point & shoot camera. Not bad, right? I'm still experimenting with it, but definitely having fun!

Happy Saturday! I am off to Sue & John's wedding in a bit. Thank goodness Mother Nature has finally decided to cooperate!

Hot Fun In The Summertime

Sue & John are getting married on Saturday so I thought I should probably blog their engagement photos! I love the colors Sue chose for their outfits - nothing fancy or matchy-matchy, and the blues are perfect for a myriad of backgrounds. I know the wedding will be awesome!











The following three photos were taken at Malibu Beach (in Dorchester). It was so great to explore someplace I drive by going 65 mph on I-93. It was a nice little beach, but jellyfish suicides seemed to be on the rise. Lots of them washed up on the beach. We stayed away from those.






It's almost August and I have no idea where the summer has gone! As a photographer, I spend a lot of time planning for events that happen months in advance and then suddenly, they're upon me. Finding the balance is always important to me, so I've made it to my fair share of BBQs and concerts. And let's not forget movies. This has been an unusual week - just saw my third since Saturday. I've seen "Girl With A Dragon Tattoo," "Inception," and "Cyrus." Overall, the summer has been pretty decent for "indie" films, but pretty horrible for mainstream Hollywood fare. We'll just have to see what the future brings.

All I've Got's This Sunny Afternoon

Natalia said, "I just want to end up on the blog." So, here she is! Surrounded by her whole family. I photographed Kyle & Natalia's wedding way back in the day. Now they have a little son and this was my first time meeting him! How cute is he?!






The rest of the family was in town, too, so I photographed all the kids!






And, of course, a photo of the whole family, We did some other, more posed, photos, but the ones of everyone relaxing on the deck are some of my favorites. I also love the old film look in this one.


Right now I am visiting my old Maine stomping grounds, seeing all the sights in Waterville. Got to take a tour of Colby, visit with an old professor, and eat Big G's for lunch. We talked about getting WHOP for dinner, but didn't follow through. It's been a nice little getaway! Back to reality tomorrow.

The Mysteries of the NIght Are Putting Sparkles in His Eyes

I photographed Julie & John's super romantic and intimate wedding this past holiday season, so I was pretty excited to photograph their brand new baby boy! How cute is he?!



As everyone already knows, the weather around here has been pretty extreme, even for a New England summer, so it was nice to be able to do some shots outside. The adults were melting, but the baby didn't seem to mind the heat. Although he wasn't too pleased with the sun! Luckily Dad pulled a big table umbrella over and shaded our session. Made all the difference!


I love this photo! It looks like a still from a movie. That makes me happy.


Plum tuckered out.


Julie & John, thanks for once again inviting me into your lives! It was so nice to meet the new member of your family!

You May Be Right, I May Be Crazy

Since my blog is like my own personal forum, I am ranting today. Here's why... Back in the beginning of June, Doug and I went to use a couple of Phantom Gourmet gift cards we had received as gifts. We went online and chose a restaurant. I decided on an out-of-the-way place because I thought we'd make an adventure out of it. We ordered drinks, appetizers, entrees. When the check came, we gave our server our gift card. She came back and told us it had been declined. Obviously, this was extremely inconvenient and it really ticked me off. We paid and left. The next morning, I checked the balances on our gift cards (both full, $50 each) and their expiration dates (both years away). Then I emailed the Phantom Gourmet to figure out what happened. I was informed (relatively promptly) that the company that made my cards, which were purple, had gone out of business. Apparently, the only ones that worked now were sleek black cards. The customer service woman told me that I could mail my cards back to the company and they would be replaced. That's it. That's all she said. So, when I got my act together, I mailed the cards. Today when I checked my mail, I was pleasantly surprised to find my replacement gift card in there. Frankly, I was relieved the others hadn't gotten lost in the mail. That would have been like $100 out the window. When I opened up the envelope, though, I noticed the card was only for $95 and that I had been charged fees for shipping & handling. Now, I am of the mind that this is downright rotten. Since I was required to send the cards to them in order to have them replaced, I feel like I could have charged THEM shipping and handling. Or maybe the customer service woman could have said, "We'll be happy to issue you a replacement charge, but unfortunately, we'll have to deduct $5 for S&H." I still would have been pissed but at least I would have had a heads-up. I know it's only $5, but it's the principle of the thing. They weren't the ones whose card was denied at the restaurant and who had to do all the legwork to find out why. Frankly, they inconvenienced ME, not the other way around. Am I crazy to think it's wrong for them to deduct fees? Does anyone out there have purple Phantom Gourmet gift cards they now have to replace? Do you think I'll hear back from them now that I've sent them a nasty email?

Good Golly Miss Molly

Photographing my friends' babies is one of the best parts of my job! I get to combine a nice visit with the mama with a photoshoot of the baby. This is Miss Molly's professional debut, although there have been a million and one photos of her taken already. Even printed and framed. That makes me so happy. These photos were taken when she was just 2 weeks old. I highly recommend doing your newborn photos within the first couple of weeks. That timeframe really captures the brand newness of it all!

Meet Miss Molly. Adorable munchkin, right?


Diaper covers are awesome and make for the perfect newborn shoot fashion accessory. Molly is already stylish (and summery).




These ones with mom are some of my favorites. I could just eat them both up!




Welcome to the world, Molly!

I hope everyone is staying cool. It seems to be what everyone is thinking and talking about these days. Of course, I can't imagine even having the brain function to think about anything else. It's too hot. Luckily, my office has an A/C, so when I'm ensconced in here, I can stay cool. However, Doug learned the hard way the other day that we can't have the office A/C and the living room A/C running at the same time. Apparently, we blew a fuse. So, we're just plodding along, trying to keep it together in the heat. Like everyone else out there. Stay cool everyone! Drink lots of water!
*Shout out to my mom for quoting this song - perfect title for the blog post!

You've Got To Get Up Every Morning WIth A Smile On Your Face

So, I've been lucky enough to travel around the greater Boston area recently, photographing food. I've gotten to meet some amazing restauranteurs, photograph some amazing dishes, and even had the opportunity to sample some. A few weeks ago, I visited with Karen Masterson, owner of the restaurant Nourish in Lexington, MA. This place is pretty cool. Their motto is "Responsibly Sourced, Respectfully Priced." The restaurant is committed to using locally sourced foods whenever possible and making the food affordably priced. Not a bad mission if you ask me. The day I visited, the chefs had prepared the restaurant's Phyllo Rolls, which are stuffed with cauliflower, kale, mushrooms, and garlic, and served with cranberry chutney and cucumber salad. I got to eat the rolls at the end of the shoot and let me tell you, they were DELICIOUS!

Here are a couple of photos from our session...




The rest of the photos will be featured in the book Boston Homegrown, which if all goes according to plan, will be out next year.
(Today's post title is inspired by my summer of Carole King and what I have to remind myself when I walk into my 85 degree office)

You're Looking For Love Calling Heaven Above

All of my clients have been such good sports with this heat! It is no fun at all to be outside playing around in 90 degree weather. Julie and Tim had their engagement session a couple of weeks ago in the broiling sun. We were lucky enough to be able to use their huge backyard as our main location. That meant staying close by to a drinking water source. We stuck it out, though, and the photos look great!

How can you not use the hammock! I love Julie's expression in this photo!




Katie the dog is a very important part of Julie & Tim's life together so, therefore, she was a very important part of our photo session.




We did venture out beyond their gates and made our way down to a really pretty pond area. Finding some shade with a nice breeze was key!


Julie & Tim, thanks so much for braving the weather with me! We'll be dealing with the opposite come December! Tim, this post title is for you!

I have a couple of other shoots to blog this week - some babies and some more food! Hope everyone is staying cool and being safe in the sun and the heat!