charisse + tom e-shoot

Last Monday I spent the day walking all over Boston with my couple Tom & Charisse. They met in Boston and know the city pretty well and thought it would make a nice place to shoot that was meaningful to them. I couldn't agree more! They brought me to one of my new favorite places- Beacon Hill- aka super cute Hobbit ville! Talk about my dream place!! Beacon Hill is filled with the most quaint New England town houses with the coolest details like boot scrapers, vintage flags, beautifully planted flower boxes, IVY ga-LORE, cool doors and the best cobble stone alley way, like EVER! I had a field day and couldn't stop oohh-ing and ahh-ing and basically spazzing out over all of these details! One of the shots I have posted where the cobblestones are in the foreground I was belly down on the ground shooting and a guy literally had to step over me to pass- I didn't realize how tiny the sidewalks were- Charisse said it looked pretty hilarious from her vantage point! I was in the zone, and didn't even realize I was in the way, what can I say? We got caught in a bit of rain in the beginning but ended up having a nice lunch and people watching for a spell, and then got to shooting! I had a blast! Thanks Tom & Charisse for a wonderful day!

more marantz fun!

Friday marked the middle of what is now the end of the fantastic Bess-Marantz Fest of 2007. I couldn't resist taking a ton of shots, for one because they are my people and I gotta represent with my slide show and two because my little man Jack L-O-V-E-S trains. Which is totally why there are so many shots in the beginning, they are for my guy. So love 'em up! Now, please make a mental note of how super adorable Miss Mary is in her argyle sweater and those freakin' KNEE SOCKS are killing me! So cute. And yes, Justin has an argyle sweater on too, I don't think they planned that but come ON! I have major fashion envy. Big New England shout out to all of the CT Puggers on board and a hearty Yankee Welcome to Miss Sarah Barlow and Mr. David Jay, they were rockin it up with us!

happy birthday jean!

Today my right arm is turning 21! :) As many of you know, Jean is my second shooter / assistant this year and she is kicking some major tail. At the beginning of last year Jean and I sat down and talked about our goals and where we saw ourselves and what we wanted to do, ideally, if we could do anything. Well, I am happy to say not only have we done what we set out to do we have surpassed anything I could have imagined for my business! At first we imagined being in my old studio (the carraige house, some of you have been there) and having the whole space humming with computers and shooting and life. Well, we did that! Then now, I am converting a huge old porch / deck area into my studio and it is looking FABULOUS! In the interim, Jean and I took over my kids playroom, painted it 18% gray ( I LOVE IT!) and are making the space work until the new space is done in January. The whole time, before the big bang of 2007 hit- aka wedding season, Jean was plugging away. Whether it was learning editing software or Show It or putting together furniture she got things done. I told her many times it was like having magic- I would talk out loud to myself, going over my to-do list, always a lengthy beast, and then BAM, I would turn around and things were done! One of my favorite things about working with Jean is her unsurpassed love of sushi. I know that every Tuesday is 'sushi Tuesday' at Carla Ten Eyck Photography!! And no matter how much you eat, you never feel gross! Am I right?
The top image I shot of Jean and her children for my project. This is how she feels most beautiful! She is such a wonderful and patient Mom.
Yes, that super HOT bride with the camera is yours truly. I have never worn a veil, not even on my wedding day- and I kind of wish that I had. I have total veil-regret. So Dawn (my bride) was taking hers out and I told her that and she promptly put in on me and Jean caught one of the most special times in this old girls life...sniff, sniff. ha ha ha!! Very funny stuff.
Now at weddings Jean is stealth. She is quiet, always observing and is always in tune to the kids and pretty details. While shooting Jean is led by her heart and often catches sweet, emotional and fleeting moments that really work well with my images to tell the complete story of the day. She is so hungry to learn more and is always pushing herself to do better. In the process she pushes me to be a better shooter and a better person. All of these images posted here were taken by Jean at various weddings this year, I think her work clearly speaks for itself!
Have a happy, relaxing and special day, sister, you deserve it!

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!

corinne + graham wedding at the Candlewood Inn

A few weeks back I shot a couple who I had never met in person prior to their wedding, which is a first for me. Needless to say I was super nervous- I pride myself on the relationships I create with my clients before their date so that it fosters an atmosphere of comfort for them on their wedding day. So this was new and I was a bit nervous! Well, I could not have been more warmly welcomed by Corinne and her fabulous family! She instantly reminded me of one of my best friends in the world, Miss Jaime Oppenheimer of Scruffins Multimedia Fame- as she was tall, like Jaime and had the same warm, loving and funny personality that just immediately puts you at ease. Her voice even sounded the same! So I felt at ease right away and had a blast shooting all day at the Candlewood Inn in Brookfield! Graham and Corinne are so in love and so cute to watch- during their portraits the way Graham just held her or looked at her was like, WOW.
His Dad said something in his toast that has stuck with me- and I barely know Graham but I could clearly see how true it was. He said something like 'Graham is brilliant but with no swagger.' What a humble, open and fun couple! Their family was amazing as well, Corinne's dad busted out with his Irish tin whistle and man could he rock it! Her Mom was so sweet and funny and totally reminded me and Susannah (one of my best friends and assistant for the day) of my Mom- which is why we were both totally crying when Corinne was putting in her corsage- just the way her Mom was looking at her it hit us, like wow, there's Georgie! Very powerful to feel at a wedding, thank goodness I am good at biting my cheek to stop crying!
For Corrine's family shot I think it was her sister that suggested shooting them doing their calming ritual of huddling and humming- it was really fun to see, I was on the ground shooting up at them and it was really calming and a fresh take on a family shot, can I get an amen on THAT?!
Thanks for hiring me, I am looking forward to seeing you guys soon!

monkey time

This afternoon I spent with my two bestest monkey kids in the world and our awesome cousin Sophia at the Old Cider Mill in Glastonbury. This place has been around for-EVER, like back in the day when I was in Brownies and my Mom was the troop leader she brought us there. Yeah, it's old. I have a few weddings left to get caught up on but I had to take some time to be with my kids and not on our 'regularly scheduled night' usually Wednesdays. See, I can totally be spontaneous when I need to be. And I needed to be- my kids are totally missing me and I them- it's been quite the transition for them to have Mom go from kind of part time to definitely part time to totally not part time to completely full time to where the heck is MOM time. But some great things have been coming up as a result- Jack has asked me if 'only girls can have studios or can boys have studios too?' I told him to go meet Steve or Paul or Justin and then ask me again. That was totally lost on him, for sure, the kids five but when I was little it was always my Dad in 'the studio' painting, practicing with his band, working on his photographs. My Dad always had some art opening or another that my Mom would bring us to to support my Dad. I always loved it- the feeling of having people there for MY DAD and his super cool ART. What an impression that makes on a kid! I was bowled over by that. And then it hit me, last week my kids were there at MY opening! Not that they really got it or anything but I did. Or I do now, thinking back on it all. Very cool.
There is a photographer I met named Davina Fear (now how cool is her name?) who had the best short video that I have to find and link here soon. It really touched me for so many reasons- as a parent, mostly for sure but even more as a daughter. I cry every time I see it because it's a beautiful concept- and it shows her family and how much she loves them. But it also made me really reflect on how loved I was by my Mom and how much I miss her. It also touched me as a photographer- that she showed such a personal side of herself. I have to find it- Davina if you read this email me! :)
Partly because of that slide show I got to thinking and realized I had to post THE REASON(s) I do what I do, and why I am what I am. It is for my happy nutty little family. I love what I do and I am so lucky!!
And yes Davina, I DO have a picture of that!! :)

DePino + Ten Eyck = DeLite Full!

My great friend stevedepino.com and I had the pleasure of shooting together again a few weekends back for one of his weddings- and I had SO much fun! Stephanie & Tom's wedding was full of beautiful details at the Harkness Mansion- a place I love shooting, by the way- for its lush gardens, water view and ornate mansion. You really can't go wrong there! Add to the mix a beautiful couple and me and Steve and you get some pretty cool things happening. Steve and I had to make Stephanie laugh before her wedding because she didn't want to cry, so that was pretty easy, we laugh all of the time when we are together anyway! As usual, in addition to shooting the wedding I captured Steve in some pretty funny situations- he is a full service shooter, ready to help hang a dress or make a bride laugh! You gotta love it! Looking forward to our next wedding together .com!!

here at last

Last night marked the culmination of 2 1/2 years of hard, heart & back breaking work. And was it worth it! I can't believe the overwhelming turnout of people who came out to support not only me but the women in the show who put themselves out there physically and emotionally for everyone to see. It was so powerful for me to look around and see these women arrive and react to seeing their picture up for all to see- BIG, present- vibrant. One of my favorite moments was watching my best friend Dominique's eyes well up with tears as she looked at her daughter's image. I had to shut myself off emotionally last night and throughout the project from time to time, because the sheer emotion of it all was so powerful and tangible, and I was feeling overwhelmed. There were so many women who came with their moms and sisters and daughters- I was so proud that this became such a way for these women to bond.

I put a book together of all of the women that I photographed paired with their answers that is for sale on Blurb.com. I was online making sure it is easy to find it and saw that it was listed under 'staff picks!' Thanks Blurb! :)

I am also offering a 10x10 premium book- please email me for that directly: carlateneyck@comcast.net.
Throughout the day I had Face First Films aka the amazing Jeff Reilly along with the super talented Bob 2.0 filming interviews with me and three other women that participated in the show. It was a fun distraction for me that made the entire day so much more fun! I cannot tell you all how excited I am to see what Jeff comes up with! Thanks to everyone for all of their help, incredible energy and support throughout the entire process, it is what got me through it all!

You can buy the book by clicking the picture below:

See Real Women...

images by Carla Ten...

By Carla Ten Eyck

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