dawn + mike wedding at the branford house in groton

What a surprise- me on the ground!! The image above this one is what I was actually shooting!


The 21st of this month brought me my first reception double-header ever- I had the distinct pleasure of shooting at the Branford House in Groton both days- and were they gorgeous!! It was my first time shooting there and all I heard about it before was how dark it was to shoot in. I visited a few months back and the doors were locked so we couldn't get in to browse around the Alexi Von Shlipe Gallery upstairs (come on, that name is SO funny!) let alone see the space. So when i got there for Dawn & Mike's day I was blown away by how ornate the walls are! That's right- I said WALLS! So detailed and intricate and beautiful- there are so many nooks and crannies in that place paired up with the awesome view and very spacious grounds, this place is awesome! Dawn had such beautiful details I was practically drooling over them all- her cake, done by the super talented Toria Dolce, is so pretty, and it tasted even better than it looked, if you can imagine! Her flowers were also pretty ridiculously beautiful- done by Bakes and Baldwin Floral Co., I love how they had the lime slices lining the interior of the vases- was a fresh way to add a splash of green in the arrangements! Their table numbers were pictures of their dog with numbers, so cute!
Dawn was so excited to see me when i showed up she had her makeup artist stop doing her makeup so she could squeal and jump and give me the biggest hug ever! What a way to be welcomed in!! It totally set the tone for this amazing, emotional day. Dawn & Mike are both so funny, laid back and sweet and were up for anything I suggested! Dawn kept saying 'I totally trust you, you are the professional and you have the vision!' Which is so nice to hear over and over and I didn't have to sell them on any idea, they just went with it. This blog has been truly amazing in that my clients and potential clients actually read it and check it regulary! They know I am typically on the ground at least three times during a wedding, or that I climb on things, or that I like feet pictures! I love it! I feel like I got some really amazing images from them and hope they will check my blog again from their honeymoon so they can see them!! Hi guys!! Have a nice cold one on the beach for me!;)

Also, a big shout out to Jean my second shooter in training! She has been capturing some really kick ass shots, 2 of which are on this post- Jean can you tell me which ones?? Awesome job, sister!!!

trash the dress re-work

I have been working and re-working some images from my shoot with the lovely Mary & Justin and stevedepino.com and wanted to share what I came up with. I know it is becoming more popular now to add textures and layers to images, and for that I am glad, actually. I have always seen my images as layered, complicated things, not always so cut and dry and done in camera. I see things as Polaroid transfers, prints on watercolor paper that got a little wet, an old faded image that is timeless and still beautiful 50 years later. So with that in mind (and it's in mind most of the time, truth be told!) I re-visited my work and made it how I truly originally saw it and am very happy with how the images presented themselves to me- they were like, OK, NOW we're done! Hope you enjoy them!

i can be just as big a dork as stevedepino.com

nice camera dude


Or can I really? Do I always have to be better than him at everything? I think I'll let him win this one, right?

I am posting this in congratulations to my dear friend stevedepino.com, who hit the blogging milestone of 10,000 + hits on his blog! How cool is that? I don't know about you, but I am a .com stalker and proud of it! Blog on, my brother!

You know you like how I am rocking my shootsac!!

see real women: really see women Thursday Oct. 4 2007

I have FINALLY gotten a set date for the opening for my exhibit 'see real women: really see women' portraits that I have been working on for almost 2 years now!! Thursday October 4 2007 at the downtown Hartford Public Library, Hartford CT! I am so pumped about this show and to finally be able to share these amazing women I have worked with over the past two years with everyone...The idea came to me in a rush after years of wondering why women have such incredibly low views of their bodies. It always fascinated me, to be perfectly truthful- to see why my thinner, more 'traditionally beautiful' friends were always so down on themselves about their looks and weight, and not in the attention seeking way- they really and truly thought they were overweight and generally unattractive! I am sure I could have helped myself to a healthy dose of self consciousness, I mean, let's face it I am stout like a good dark beer and that's just the way it is! Nothing self- depricating in that statement- just reality. But I am still a beautiful, sexy, capable woman who doesn't need someone else's view of me to boost me up higher than I already am. I still like it, sure! Who doesn't love cat calls and whistles on a hot summer day! And you know what? In Samoa I could be a swimsuit model! I have just decided to ignore that calling in life and shoot weddings that are art, but it's nice to know I always have something else to fall back on.
I digress- so basically I asked each and every woman how they see themselves as their most beautiful- then came up with a way to photograph that. Much more difficult than it sounds, by the way! Some of their answers were more about feelings and abstract ideas than a tangible, easy to shoot way...but I loved the challenge and really enjoyed brainstorming ways to capture that with each woman. The super sad part is I only secured funding (from the super duper awesome and prestigious Ann T. & Edward C. Roberts Foundation- a super generous supporter of the arts in the Greater Hartford area) for 25 printed & framed images, and I shot WAY more than that! So I had to edit the show down with the help of a panel of photographers and my awesome husband Dave. It was excruciating for me, as I am absolutely invested 2033% in each image, with each woman and her answer. But it was the best thing for me to step back as far as I could and examine each image with their answers to reveal the strongest body of work as a whole. Man, I can't wait to share this work with everyone!!

becky + damian wedding at laurelton hall and the great river country club in milford

My 7/7/07 wedding was one of my most fun ever! I met with Becky & Damian almost a year and a half prior to their wedding, so it seemed like we have know each other forever! They are two of the nicest and most creative people I have ever met- if Becky & her mom Gretchen don't start an event planning business soon, I will be so bummed! They thought of everything, and I mean everything! No detail was left untouched, and it was magnificent! We really rocked their bathroom, oddly enough, because it was SO kickin cool! Check out their awesome mosaic tile- and the blue walls...super cool. I also really loved the bridesmaids necklaces, that ended in a simple blue satin ribbon (Becky made them) The ceremony was at the super beautiful Laurelton Hall in Milford, then , moved on to the Great River Golf Club in Milford. Those guys are so great to work with, I can't say enough about their staff (Hey Karen & Jennifer!!) There were so many fun aspects of this wedding, one of which was shooting with the super talented Studio Foto! They have so much energy and are so creative it was a blast! I love our photobooth shots! The images posted here are a combination of all of our work, can you guess who shot what? Becky & Damian decided to add some props to their photo booth and got a bunch of fake mustaches and Disney inspired stuff that I think really makes their pictures so much fun. I can't wait to put together their online slide show to showcase all of their fun details, I think I am posting a HUGE amount of pictures now but I just could not help myself. We even had two bridesmaids jump into the pool to cool off after the reception and before the after party on the beach! Thanks for a wonderful time! Now, when's our craft night???

trash talking with .com

Thursday brought some serious rain to my little old Hartford area- enough to spoil our original plan for our inaugural trash the dress shoot with the awesome Mary & Justin, which I am going to still do so I won't divulge that- but enough to throw Stevedepino.com and I for a loop- it was quite comedic actually, watching us pace around, get distracted by tornado warnings (!) turned out to be a false alarm, thankfully- to try and re-focus ourselves. We decided to go with the deluge and many flooded areas that resulted and we had so much fun! Tell me you don't love our bridal party shot! (these were just curious onlookers who we decided to add when we wrapped up!) We decided to end on our food fight, because well, then the dress would be totally trashed! It was super fun to watch Mary & Justin go nuts with the toppings- and it created some really cool detail shots for us! Steve and I were both totally amped up, for a variety of reasons, one being this was our first trash session; the other being that our subjects are photographers themselves and then that their photographer for their October wedding is the one and only David Jay...no pressure! As usual we had a blast, laughed more than ever and created some awesome stuff!