adios, 2008!

Aye Dios mio! 2008 is almost OUTTIE!! I am sad to see it go... it was a great year- but I am even more excited to ring in 2009...

I am working on a recap of the year- there are so many things to celebrate both personally and professionally.... but I'll just touch on two of my professional favorites... one being the addition of my new team mate, Mr. Mike Romano! The second being the addition of my MVP, and Mike's MVP I'd wager as well... our fabulous fabulous D3's...

Having the eye and knowing what makes a good image to begin with is the A #1 component of everything. Let me just get that out there... but. But. BUT. butt. :)

When you have the tools to get what is in your head out, the way you actually see it... well hells bells people! That's awesome!

Whether it's the D3 or the new Canon or even a Diana camera, who cares as long as it's the D3! Just kidding. Really, as long as YOU can find the tool that is best for YOU, then HOLLA!!

So, with that.... here are two favorites, SO FAR!
Silly silly Mike! He makes the day go by even faster with his schenanigans and tomfoolery!

And the woman of the hour....my girl, my D3...! And if you think you see a new 50mm 1.4 G crazy awesome lens here you would be RIGHT!!

it's a very ten eyck christmas

Once we got downstairs.... the kids checked the note and the milk and cookies to see if Santa had fueled up at his stop at our place... and he HAD! Not only that, but he wrote a thank you note... a testament to his stellar manners :) He even neglected to mention that the cookies Dave and I left him were absolutely AWFUL- not my fault!! Dave is always trying new organic and 'healthy' recipes for sweets, and this one was a BOMB, according to Dave! I'm like, pass the oreos, homes!!

Reason #14,237 why I LOVE my Jack... he insisted that we get Baba a gift- a toy cell phone- and then was making calls to all of Baba's friends wishing them a happy holiday! He was calling Blanky, of course!

This is my awesome gift pile- a testament to how well my family knows me! I got some seat protectors for my kids car seats so they don't damage my leather seats; a book on the Beatles (I am a BIG fan), some colorful wool socks, and other socks from Dave bc I always gank his socks- he gets the BEST socks from EMS, and I just love them, sorry honey! and a big bling ring from Jack in the shape of a heart, because he loves me so...

Here the aptly named 'Pony' eats her breakfast that Georgie Girl sets out for her!

And my boy... in his GLORY! This little guy just loves his trains and man was he pumped to get this Holiday Edition Lionel G Scale train!


Quintessential Georgie.....I have some pictures of me when I was little doing this almost exact pose... I gotta dig those up!!!

Here's my little kitchen helper, she just loves cooking with mama!


That's right people.... real yummy homemade french toast.. made with italian bread but whatever!! :P

I love how they just let me shoot to my heart's content...

You know you are the child of a photographer when you know how to 'smile with your eyes'

Big Daddy Ten Eyck having a tea party with the little Miss


I'm not sure who was cuter on Christmas morning... the kids or Dave! Once Georgie's little kitchen was set up the night before thanks to her grandparents! Dave went running up to the attic and started digging out little accessories that he had squirreled away... like the Hello Kitty trash can we had up there, and the little wooden baby highchair for Georgie's dolls... and then the cutest was the top to some container, he said 'look! a serving tray!' COME ON!!!! Holy cuteness. So Miss Georgie piled her 'new' serving tray high with goodies and went around offering everyone a treat... here Jack makes his selection very, very carefully! (I picked the cookie and the lettuce ;)

Jack's grandfather got him an N scale train, which is the smallest scale, I think... and then they built all kinds of tunnels for it to go thru out of the used up boxes that all of their toys came in... my family LOVES to recycle and be creative!

After the craziness of the morning subsided, Jack and Georgie took a little sibling time to just catch up and have some tea

Now I am about to BUST Dave UP here... he is out of his mind. So frugal. So tight with his wallet with the most random things! I think most people get caught up with this one, me? Not so much! The price of GAS? Really? OK, even if it's 10 cents more at one place than another, you have a 15 gallon tank, right? OK, that's only ONE DOLLAR AND FIFTY CENTS MORE to fill up at the other place!!! AHHHHH!!! That's IT! Here Dave and his Dad were doing some complicated math equations trying to see if if was worth charging their gas to get back 5% or to pay cash.... really. Really. REALLY!!! But then they'll go blow money on some high end hoo ha or another, and not bat an eye. But I KNOW it's because they saved that $1.50 per fill up... right!

I love my sister in law Kate and her husband Noah... they are just wonderful people. Here Kate and Dave are belting out some Beatles tunes for Christmas! That's just our tradition, don't hate. Now when Dave usually sings he kinda sounds like Kermit the frog- this is not a rank- but an observation, Kermit is cute, right? But this year he got all into it and came up with some interesting vocal arrangements for songs like 'Blister in the Sun' not a Beatles song but a request from Jack, it's a Violent Femmes song...my other new Dave fave is his rendition of Mariah Carey's Christmas song, he couldn't remember the melody and just improvised, it was actually pretty awesome!! (even tho I was giggling while doing the Hello Kitty puzzle while he was doing it) But who is the bigger nerd here? LOL

Just adding more cuteness to the pile of cuteness that is my family...

Here is was just messing with Dave, trying to see how close I could get to him to make him mess up and laugh while he was singing! He is such a good sport :)

And then back to our regularly scheduled tea party... this time with Pony.

One of the things I used to love doing when I was little was talking on the phone. The one that wasn't even plugged in to the wall. Just having pretend conversations. Looks like Georgie is too! Here she is gabbing it UP with her friend Reilly! (who isn't really on the phone, of course)

And...SCENE! How else to end a Christmas without some wildlife? This is what you get when you fill the cats bowl too much... you get an all you can eat light hanging over my house for all of the creatures in the woods! YUCK!

Are We Married Yet??

There is a brand spanking new site out there dedicated entirely to excellent engagement photography called, appropriately... Are We Married Yet?

There's a ton of wonderful work on it and I am honored to be the featured photographer for today!!! YAY!!


Stop by and show some CT love! I have to say, we are causing quite the stir in the industry by how consistently supportive we all are of each other...this is not the norm everywhere.. so we should be proud of what a sincere, tight knit photo community we have here in New England!

Hope Everyone had a great holiday!

xxoo

snow day part two thousand and eight

The snow outside here in Connecticut is nothing short of beautiful & amazing- my family, and this includes my husband Dave- are all in their glory this weekend with it!! Now, my car would say other wise- but maybe it'll be better after I get some snow tires on 'er! :P
Here are some shots that I just could not resist taking of my family as they all played outside today- enjoy!

Poor Gigi- she has a tolerance for the snow of like 5 minutes! She went in and out ALL DAY- back in her snow suit, then back out, tracking snow all over my studio and the house...oh well! Here she is watching Jack play, and she gets herself ready to join him

One of the things that Dave obsessed about before we even had kids was being able to go snowboarding with them... it was really something else for me to see this today! It is amazing to me how much like Dave Jack is turning out to be, even the way he rides- so graceful like his Dad!

Another one of Dave's obsessions is going to Vermont- it was one of the things we did regularly- go up to Killington and snowboard / blade - sleep anywhere- dance all night- board all day.... it was FUN! So now, here we may LOOK like we are somewhere other than Hartford.... but we're not! This is right in my backyard- the Park River runs right through it- and it is our little piece of heaven...

Daddy-O and jack Bibbs, pretending to throw snow at me and my D3- such jokers...


The trifecta of Dave's obsessing? Our fire pit!! This guy fires it up like Cheech & Chong at any chance he gets! I can't say I blame him, it makes our outside experience that much more fun!! We had Swingin' Christmas Music on outside, thanks to my outdoor speaker system- a fire pit, fluffy snow, and my family! Now if we had a hot tub Dave would officially be in heaven... ;)

Check out my new favorite mug many thanks to the generous Jacob Bergmeier!!

The Daddy chair lift was in full effect! I would even snowboard if this was how I got up and down our yard... :P

Little Jack Bibbs....this guy is just the best son I could ever ask for- so sweet and polite and loving

And then there's crazy Georgie! Out she comes like a shot- straps into her board and she is OFF- all aggressive too! She bent her knees and had such FORM I was blown away. She tackled the jump Dave made with a big hop with her tounge out!!SHE IS ONLY FOUR!!!!! Burton may be calling us soon... :)

And so I plan our Burton family ad, just in case they call

some ladies, and some laughs

Last night I got together with some close lady friends- Ralph Mouth aka Miss Robin Dini, the vocal GPS imitating stylings of Miss Eileen Broderick, and the super incognito Miss Julia of Salty Grapes fame- to shoot at Meriden's Hubbard Park with all of the fancy schmancy holiday lights. I haven't laughed so hard in a long long time, I swear!

Here are a few of my favorites- and all were shot by this train that my son Jack would just be foaming at the mouth for, right Val?

And can I get an AMEN for GPS's- I know you knew where you were going Robin, and that you just took the scenic route for fun and all but here is a crash course in 'YOU KNOW YOU'RE IN THE GHETTO WHEN...'

1) There are Check Cashing places, like EVERYWHERE
2) Bars on windows, even on the third floor
3) Liquor stores are mano y mano with adult 'bookstores'
4) Ali Baba Bail Bonds

'nuff said!!!

I was LUV-in' the reflections in Robin's glasses!


Julia and Robin can't HELP but bust out laughing in front of the camera!!

And can I get a shout for Julia's Frosty the Snowman Hat?? AWESOME!!!


When it was Eileen's turn to be in front of the 'firing squad' she was all like, 'I'm not fun and playful like Robin and Julia' But MAN can she rock the serious shots!! Keep in mind that she is tearing me UP while I am shooting her, this girl is so freaking funny I could split my pants from laughing so hard!





Girls, it was fun, thanks for motivating me to get some nice stuff!

xxoo

CT is rep-re-SENT-IN' on Style Me Pretty!

So there is this really awesome wedding planning site called Style Me Pretty - any wedding clients should check it out, it is AWESOME!!! So, they have a vendor blog called The Little Black Book Blog, and they have a feature up on ring shots.....aaannnddd.... I got featured! I am SO excited about this because the caliber of work on their site is just off the hook!

Not to mention that my good friends The Marantz's, Studio Foto, Amanda Harris Herzberger aka Orchard Cove Photography and Daria Bishop of Vermont are ALL featured in there as well!! WAY TO REPRESENT, NEW ENGLAND!!!

You can check it out HERE- and again, feel free to leave a comment and show some CT LOVE! :)

ten eyck tuesday dec 16 class was a freeze OUT!

***disclaimer*** I realize that I start off ALL of the Ten Eyck Tuesday posts with how much fun we had..... but FOR REAL I do have fun, each and every time like it's my JOB! Wait. What? OK, it IS my job!! AND I LOVE MY FREAKING JOB!!!!!!

So stop hating on my fun recap and read ON:

The second December Ten Eyck Tuesday installment was so much fun- this group was the A Number One CHATTIEST most caffeine addicted group I have ever had! They make Mike's venti black eye with energy look like a decaf coffee! MELISSA!! OK, so Val and Simone were not the culprits so I will let you all deduce who the other two were... ;)

Our models for the day? My good buddy & the Mrs. New Good Buddy MR. AND MRS. ERIC FOLEY! Holy Hotness Batman! These two were smoking it UP, and thank god because it was SO freaking cold out! I forgot to bring my hat and gloves so I was super chilly...! But they kept us all warm with all of the talking and laughing we did...
So we started off in Blue Back Square- but not the pretty, easy to shoot part that you may assume I took them! We started in a parking garage- which to me, is fun and a place I would actually choose to shoot. It was fun seeing how everyone got what I saw after explaining how light is really everywhere, and texture, and cool nooks to shoot just ABOUND if you train your eye to look for them all... so we started in these empty spaces...



The best part was showing how radically you can change the feel of an image just by how you decide to expose your image... This is the same spot, but they just sat down.

Here is Simone in action working on changing up her perspective

Same spot again, I just stood up

The garage had these super crazy LED lights in them, so it was fun playing with my white balance to create an immediate mood. Well and then there is Mr. Foley being all moody himself! He really is fun to shoot!!

Miss Aurora Onorato getting in nice and close

Miss Melissa Wilson worked it

So we were headed to Starbucks to warm up, right? Well.... we didn't get too far... because, well, doesn't this little corner look AWESOME to shoot in? So we made a pit stop

Got some snuggly close ups- and man Erin's eyes? Are sooooooo pretty! She is just so photogenic and beautiful and easy to work with

Miss Valeen Thivierge, of The Sweetest Days Photography, working her D3, baby!!!!! We were instant friends, of course.

While shooting Val shooting the Foley's I had to shoot the Foley's, follow?

Then I had to go back in there and shoot... come ON

Poor Simone had the one eyed WILLY going on but it was hilarious. And cold. Did I mention that it was cold?

Simone, pulling a Mike Romano Blue Light Special. Loved the shoes of course

After warming up at Starbucks we went to a beautiful, awesome PARKING LOT! But wherever you are? Is where you are. And so? We work it OUT!!!

Here Eric Foley is working it out

Here I am pretending we are in Alaska or something. For no reason. But doesn't it feel like it? Did I mention that it was cold out?

OK, here are the cast of characters.... drum roll please....
From the Western part of the lovely state of Connecticut, Miss Aurora Onorato!

Again representing our Nutmeg State to points west is Miss Melissa Wilson!!

One of my new favorite people (she got Mike GOOD at our art opening last week and I am forever indebted to her) Miss Valeen Thivierge of The Sweetest Days, bringing it back east to Jewett CITY!!

And last but not least, coming up from the shoreline way... the wise-cracking stylings of Miss Simone Gutkin!

A must. Shoes, shoes as far as the eye could see.... not as bad as my office... and no I am not moving them for tonight :P

Awwww... check us out!!


I had so much fun shooting and learning with you all- don't forget what you challenged yourselves to do when you left and KEEP SHOOTING!!
XXOOO

THERE ARE ONLY A FEW SPOTS LEFT FOR THE JANUARY 6 TEN EYCK TUESDAY- EMAIL ME ASAP IF YOU ARE INTERESTED CARLA@CARLATENEYCK.COM