amanda + jeff PHOTO BOOTH MADNESS!!!

Mr. Michael Romano did the honors and rocked this super fun and super ridiculous photo booth AND slide show!!
I am so glad Amanda wanted this, it really adds a fun element to a wedding!

kate + adam wedding at camp bournedale ma

Kate had red wedding shoes. Yes! She did! And did Mike and I love her for it...! So we shot these bad boys to death...they're patent leather! And Red! I put these in the shelf of one of the cabins and used Kubota's 300-esgue from his new Artistic Actions Version Four- bu I did do a little pre-action tweaking in Lightroom (lightened the whites, deepened the blacks and took a little of the yellow out before running my action- also vignetted it in LR)

There were clotheslines everywhere...it is a summer camp after all... so I just knew that would figure into some kind of detail shot, and I really like how this one turned out. Mike has a version of it as well, which I think came out terrific too!

Can't say I have ever shot my girls getting ready in a cabin.... and I LOVED it!

Make a mental note, here is where I first cried- there were many other times! This day was jam packed with emotion you would have to be dead, literally, to not have shed a tear... This is when Kate first saw herself in the mirror after putting on her veil and she realized that she is getting married to Adam TODAY, RIGHT NOW! It was such a quiet and powerful moment and despite the hustle and bustle in the room I felt like it was just her and me, and I was just observing and she was just lost, for a second, in her reflection and her anticipation of what was to come... it was so beautiful

I loved the back of her dress, she can sure rock the sexy back dresses, no?

Kate's Dad at the altar, giving her away, amidst many, many tears

During the ceremony

Kate, Adam and her brother who married them, getting DOWN during the gospel choir interlude... yeah, that's right I said it- GOSPEL CHOIR!!!

Said Gospel Choir, singing their hearts out- they were AMAZING and brought an element to a ceremony that I have not seen before. Despite the intense heat of the day I had CHILLS

Adam double high-fiving after the choir's performance!

Never a more passionate first kiss have I seen before...

...add to it the absolute pandemonium that ensued after their kiss- they were bum rushed by well wishers and family- it was beautiful and incredible and I LOVE this shot I caught of Adam's mother holding her little boy's face in her hands...

One element of post-wedding picture taking that I am adamant about is being able to shoot with my brides and grooms immediately after their ceremony if even for a few minutes- there is no way EVER you can replicate their very newlywedded sheer bliss- it's all over their faces, in their body language, it's everywhere! Kate and Adam were so intense and laughing and crying and kissing.... add to this the light they walked out into and Mike and I were like WHAT???!!! It was incredible

I just love how her veil is blowing to the left of the frame

Can you all appreciate the intensity here? So honest and real and I just LOVE it!


There is something about the backs of people during group and family shots that is very personal and loving- Mike shoots all of the family pictures and I flit around catching these little moments

Like this- Adam's Dad gave him a big smooch after they finished their pictures

And yeah, I got peonies for the THIRD wedding in a row! This time in 'blood red' and I was PUMPED!

Add to that her red shoes and you have some trouble!

During a toast by Adam's Dad they had a nice moment. I lit this with my Calumet Travelite 750's (well one of them anyway) I bring these and shoot with it remotely during toasts and first dances- it adds a nice dramatic side light and also kind of a crazy back light as well. Not the fastest recycle time in the world (if I had to buy new lights for this purpose I would get Alien Bees) but well worth the set up

During their first dance

Their DJ (who was AWESOME!) brought some crazy lights that I loved

And who doesn't love themselves a hora? Come on!!

One of my favorite bride and groom dancing shots, the lights, the tone, the black and white that just scream WEDDING!

There was a post-wedding bonfire and some sparklers.... pretty

Photo booth fun

Congratulations guys.... can't wait for you to come back from your honeymoon so we can catch up!


Make sure to check out Mike's incredible shots HERE!

Portrait House PHundraiser Party tomorrow!

Tomorrow I will be hosting a Portrait House PHundraiser at my studio (24 Lorraine Street Hartford) to raise money for us to officially attain non-profit status! The money we are raising will go towards paying for the attorney so that we can do that!

THIS IS OPEN TO EVERYONE, NOT JUST PHOTOGRAPHERS! :)

It starts at 7:00- it's cupcakes and cocktails- and we are asking for a $20 donation at the door. We are also going to have an awesome PHoto booth- it's $1 a shot!

There will be some fun door prizes as well.... including a PRIVATE MENTORING SESSION with yours truly! Maybe I'll get Mike to throw in a back rub or something too... I know he has a big fan base!

Give me a shout if you need directions or anything!

Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

*there was an e-vite sent out to everyone in PUG but many of you have had problems with getting the email... so check your junk mail folders!

photo booth fun at RE and Kelley's wedding

Here are just a few images from last night's photo booth from RE & Kelley's reception only wedding (they officially tied the knot in April in California!) at the Woodwinds in Branford last night! We got to see the incredible Matt Grazier in action, I will post more from that later but I wanted to just get these up because they are outstanding representations of what a bunch of buffoons I spend my time with!

photo + booth

OK, so I am totally going out of order here but I am so pumped to get this done so quickly- this photo booth was from Melissa & Bill's wedding at Cascades this past Saturday and was it a BIG HIT! At one point there was a line that snaked through the entire place! One of my favorite things about the photo booth is that there is such a mixture of formal, serious shots and straight up goofy ones. What a nice way to have really nice pictures taken at a wedding without all of the visual back ground clutter, I say. This is a condensed version of what we shot, otherwise it would be as long as Kate & Ted's on my site- about 900 shots! YIKES! I am going to condense that and post it here soon! This song is here special for Melissa & Bill they were introduced to this song! A big congratulations to you both! Enjoy Italy!

pug love

So our last pug meeting was hosted by RE, and he spoke about how to keep yourself organized as a photographer. But we all had some tricks up our sleeves as his meeting section wound down: a surprise wedding for Justin & Mary!
Amy Ross Jacob had the idea to coordinate this and even took the time to write hilarious vows written in 'superman speak' and with all kinds of personal hilariousness thrown in! Everyone pitched in to help pull this surprise off, none of it could have been done without everyone's help! And Robert Norman.... well, let's just leave that for the video! There were all kinds of bridesmaids and groomsmaids and best men and hilarity- and of course, we had to have a 'bridal shower' photo booth set up to cap the night off! There were some first time PUG attendees who stayed and had a crash course in how we do things- we learn hard , and we play harder! This is how we do it in Connecticut! Congratulations Justin & Mary on your upcoming wedding!

the Photo Booth, carla ten eyck style

Many of you have either noticed that I offer a photo booth in my packages or have been in or at a wedding that I have set mine up at. I get a ton of emails asking me to further explain what it means. Rather then explain it I created a slide show from my new pals Lisa & Tom's wedding. The photo booth was such a HIT at their wedding (as it tends to be at most!) that they had a constant line of people the entire night! See if you can spot some carla ten eyck people in the mix! Though I have to just put a big c10ike shout out to Jay Fleming of Jay Fleming Portrait Design in Trumbull for second shooting, or guest starring, I should say, with my team. It was one of THE hottest days ever in the world of hot days and Jay and Jean and I just sweated it out and had a blast! Enjoy!