christine + mike e shoot

Love shooting the rings and this shoot was certainly no exception! We started our shoot in my 'hood in good old Hartford at the Highland Bowl- it's a duck pin bowling alley that is lots of fun. Christine is a serious bowler so this evened the playing field for Mike a bit! But only a bit, my girl still killed it!



There were so many colorful balls here, this shot was just a given, for me!

One of the things that I like to do to Mike (my shooter Mike, not our groom!) is to throw him under the bus a bit and force him from the back of the class where he likes to lurk and be all stealth-like and really stop and create a shot. Very contradictory to the whole photojournalistic approach, certainly, but WAY fun in forcing you to create shots that are a mix of editorial and fashion and just plain fun. It kind of gives me a peek into how he is thinking and then where I am going to take it. He started off with a shot off-lane with a ball and Christine and Mike behind it (check his blog for the exact shot) and I morphed it into this shot. I love the back and forth of - he starts it I finish it and vice versa thing we have going on- it's almost like a choose your own adventure photo shoot!

Now Mike HATES having his picture taken... but he was so calm and natural and sweet with Christine- at one point he was like' Yup, I really don't like having my picture taken but I will do anything for her' AWWWW! Right? So he just got used to us and was himself with her... We hear this a lot and can't stress the importance of doing engagement shoots for this reason!

We thought is was going to rain, and then it wasn't... so we bowled and waited for my favorite late afternoon light to kick in....

Which we got... but had to run for it becasue wouldn't you know that of COURSE it started to rain as we got to the Park- Elizabeth park that is, the world's best park! I love it, it is so beautiful there and so of course we see a wedding party and we're like, huh, I wonder if we know the photographer??

and lo and behold.... it's Miss Nikki Nicole! She started yelling at us to move out of her way (she is great friends with Mike and Christine and will actually be at the wedding!) and there were some people in front of us that started moving, so she was all apologetic to them but I was laughing my butt off!



There is the coolest little arch way that is kind of hidden in the heritage rose garden that I love... it created a very dramatic little nook

They are very passionately renovating their house and this is their basement- they have BIG plans for it, I can't wait to see the finished product! Not only that but they can actually work together... where Dave and I? Let's just say no on that! ;)

I loved the graphic-ness of this shot, it's the side of their house

And a side of some cuddling, please and thank you

Then just chilling in the back yard, spontaneously!


Thanks Christine and Mike for inviting us into your home and making such an incredible spread, you can COOK!!!

Make sure to check out My Mike's shots HERE! He has some great stuff!

geoff + kate wedding slide show

Here is Geoff Boka and Kate Schwabe's wedding slide show!

jeff + becky wedding slide show

Here is the slide show for Jeff & Becky's wedding...! Enjoy!

geoff boka + kate wedding in middlebury ct

Last Saturday I shot Geoff Boka's wedding at a private residence in Middlebury. It was so wonderful and crazy and I could have easily posted a million more shots to tell the full story of the day- there were so many layers to it! The weather alone created such a story element, we started the ceremony, had to stop and run for cover in the garage and then go back for round two- then couldn't go to the tent for the reception so the whole wedding had to hang out in Geoff's brothers' house until the coast was clear- not your typical wedding to say the least! But everyone was so positive and fun it was great to shoot and meet people and just have a great time telling their epic story...

Miss Kate has the world's best girl friends, like, EVER. They were so attentive and kind and helpful and aware, I can't tell you how nice it was shooting with them and their incredible energy. Not only that, but they were so cool with everything I was doing, and how I was doing it. So thanks ladies for being so wonderful! Here's Katie from Dana Bartone working her magic on Kate's hair.

Geoff wrote Kate a note for her to read before the wedding, which she could hardly do- it took her a few tries- and she had us ALL in tears!

There were some cool places to hang the dress in Geoff's brother's beautiful house... so I tried the big foyer window and played up the cool ceiling hoo ha. Then....

Realized you can see the dress hanging from outside and tried that whilst hanging the shoes from the knocker...

The bridesmaids dresses were so pretty and simple. I loved the color

Kate and her Mom

Kate right before the ceremony.... sort of....



This is what the sky looked like right before their outdoor ceremony.... so one person made it down the aisle and then it started to down pour like CRAZY!

Geoff and his boys checking the status of the skies...


Despite the torrential weather Geoff looked so happy to just be marrying his soul mate

Kate's bridesmaid checking out the sky- doesn't she look like Snow White?

And so we try it again.... but Geoff just wanted to make sure

Kate and her Dad, always a favorite shot of mine to take

And then this shot, Geoff seeing Kate for the first time, coming down the aisle... it was so emotional

What a big moment with Kate's Dad... I love the look on Geoff's face

Their ceremony was chock full of laughter...

and tears...

One of my favorite times to shoot my couples is right after they walk back down the aisle and no one else is around- you can get the most raw, and pure emotion from them- they forget you are there and are just caught up in their excitement

Despite being rained on, AGAIN during our portraits these two were just SO psyched to be married nothing dampened their spirits

Kate on her way to the tent- which we weren't allowed to go into for a spell due to some lightning... but again, all smiles! And did her makeup hold up nicely! Naomi Martinez did it and it looked great!

At the end of their first dance

During their toasts I felt like I got to know them so much better after hearing all of the things that their family and friends had to say about them




Now, I think I may have mentioned that there were going to be times I cried during my weddings, it's pretty much par for the course- I am an emotional gal. But. I also knew there may be a time when I would get knocked flat on my ASS, like almost like the wind was knocked out of me and I wouldn't be able to catch my breath.... well, it happened at Kate & Geoff's wedding and totally took me by surprise. I saw Geoff having little moments throughout the night with his Mom and I felt my heart get tight when I saw them... she reminds me of my Mom so much... so I kind of felt it coming and was trying to fend it off a bit but.... when I saw them hug like this I shot it and was so thankful for the darkness of the tent because I had to disappear for a while and just let it out. Despite being caught off guard with an emotional tidal wave like that I felt emotionally refreshed, and almost like my Mom had visited me for a bit...

During dinner I popped outside to see what was going on with the sky and the tent light colors and realized I needed to grab Kate and Geoff and their video man and shoot! Those two were game for anything, it was so much fun

At the very end of the night the caterer's (Emily's Catering, who ROCKED by the way, they were SO incredible, not only food-wise, it was delicious, but they just rolled with it all and made it happen and made it FUN!) put all of the candles on the table and it just sang out to us... Geoff checked in and said, 'you got that, right?' I said yup. But not with YOU!! So we were off again shooting and having a blast with this great light


Matt Wagner and I co-shot this and had such a blast. I totally look like a wet rat, I was soaked head to toe, including equipment, thank God for weather proof D3's!!!

more seminar images!

Here are some of the images that I got that I am happiest about from the awesome Michelle Turner seminar I was at this past Monday and Tuesday...

Make sure you check out Mike's shots HERE! That boy never ceases to amaze me with his clever eye and his debonair charm

I tried something that felt a little counterintuitive to this shot- I dramatically toned down the colors of the shot and gave it a cool feel to it.

The whole seminar I really tried to frame shots up in a different way than I normally do- push the envelope a little so to speak- Michelle works really fast and even though we had some time to work with the models on our own it was very, very brief so I had to try stuff fast in order to give the other photographers their time too. It was a lot like a real wedding, actually!

After I shot the image of Karen above, I saw Bobby standing by a puddle holding her veil and I had to grab this shot- I think the black and white makes it very dramatic. I did ask him to stand that way as well, so it is a set up shot

I tried a tighter version of a shot I had been working up of the massive warehouse walls, I wanted to really play on the shapes and symmetry and keep them as far in the corner of the frame as I could get away with. I also really pulled back the colors a lot on this to make it not be so much about the brick (not my favorite thing to shoot against, admittedly, but I rolled with it)

This is the shot that was screaming my name and everyone else's! Very dramatic. Mike got a great version of this that was tighter, he really worked his 85 I think? Which I ran from, I grabbed my 14-24, which seemed the obvious choice, yes, I know but what's a girl to do?? Karen was such a trooper to climb up this wall and stay there while we all shot our hearts out!

This wall was RIDICULOUS. Add to it the sunset and a ball game going on in the distance and it was quite a cool scene!

While walking to another area to shoot I saw the leading lines that these windows were making and had Karen & Bobby stop and get all frisky

Day Two:
We had Heather, a stunner of a gal to shoot alone, which I see as quite a challenge. I love shooting couples and shooting people alone I always find a bit harder. So I was all fired up for this.
So we were headed to Walden to shoot which I have always wanted to go to but on the way we passed this state park / farm / ice cream stand place and did a u-turn in. Am I glad we did! There was a corn field, first and foremost....

Add to that these crazy clouds and my 14-24 mm lens and you have some wide open expansive stuff going on. I love how the corn is still baby corn and you can see over it.

Yeah. She is so exotic looking, right? I love the moody feel to this shot. Add to it Steve Depino's PRO Actions Newsprint, and a texture I shot the day before at the warehouse, plus some Kubota love- starburst vignette and of course digital fill flash and viola!

Here is a different take on the laying in the grass shot that I normally would have shot from above. I said no to myself, politely and then forced myself to think of something new. (thank you Laurie Crutchfield for inspiring me)

When we got around the side of the barn we had asked permission to shoot by and saw this whole scene I was flailing trying to think of a way to incorporate the color, the place but do something that didn't feel so pose-y. This shot was in between poses and I like the kind of natural and organic feel to it

So when I do pose stuff I like it to feel like super fashiony and like WAY posed or the other extreme, look natural and you wouldn't even know it was posed at all. This is clearly not how Heather usually just spends her time, or maybe she does? I like how it incorporates all of the farm elements and color and then this bride.

Now we had stopped after the last shot for an ice cream break and talked to the farmer who brought us on a tour of the cow stalls and let us shoot in it!! It was awesome- I haven't laughed so hard in my LIFE. Now the only issue with that being that cows are easily scared by loud noises so I was laughing inside myself, snorting like a pig and almost wetting my pants! If you scare a cow their reaction is to PROJECTILE POOP AND PEE. Soooo..... Mike ran around with an air horn! No, but boy it was a poop fest and we were dodging some SHYTE! It was hilarious! But well worth it!

This was the scene- I was shooting this, and was crouched down low, trying to behave myself, and just shoot, right? Well there was this other cow right to my right who I did not realize could reach me and he snorted in my ear so LOUD and touched my face with his slobbery whiskers and I about jumped out of my SKIN, but had to be quiet or there would be a chain reaction shit storm! Michelle was laughing so hard I thought she was going to keel over!

I loved the texture in the ceiling of this barn and the light was soft and super pretty. Nevermind that a Bull is trying to eat her dress while I shot this.


I am always a sucker for a bride walking out of a doorway. Always, always always