Engagement Pictures in Beacon Hill and Boston Public Garden :: Haley + Josh

I work with a lot of out of town couples who are traveling to Boston for their wedding - they live in New York, Chicago, Texas and even California - like Haley & Josh. We'll email, skype and facetime and often the first time we meet is at the engagement session.

Haley grew up in Boston, Josh in California and they decided the wanted a quintessential Boston feel to their engagement pictures so we started in Beacon Hill:


I asked Haley and Josh how they met one another and they laughingly told me how Josh was at a poker game with his buddies when Haley arrived. Josh tried to tell me that Haley saw him and fell instantly in love. Haley explained that she knew nothing about poker but was happy to be invited to the next poker night by Josh ;) 

We totally lucked out on the weather and the Public Garden was the next stop on our list: Haley and Josh were all kinds of awesome to hang out with. It makes my job super easy when a couple genuinely enjoy each others company. Josh is really sweet with Haley and there was a lot of laughing too!

As the sunset and the swan boats retired for the evening I took a few last pictures of the lovebirds
Haley & Josh - that was fun!!! Here are just a few of my favorites - your full gallery is winging it's way to you via email. I can't wait for your wedding on Cape Cod next month!!!

A special thank you to Wendy Joblon for connecting me with Haley & Josh - so excited to work with you next month!

Boston Newborn Baby Photographer :: Meet Charlie

It seems like it was just yesterday that I photographed Katie & Dan's wedding at The Ridge Club on Cape Cod but it was actually waaaaay back in 2011. Time flies when you're having fun people.

Anyhoo, Katie & Dan just welcomed baby Charlie into the world, obviously I had to take some pictures of this adorable little man:


Katie was a very organized bride, always on time if not early and I think Charlie might take after her:

Teeny tiny baby feet:

Charlie was super chill while I was there, we think he was slightly mesmerised by the ca-chunk sound of my camera shutter. Or maybe he was just super cosy in his Daddy's arms:

They say happy parents = happy baby so Charlie should be a very happy baby as these two are still laughing together. It's just laughter over pee and poop now :)

I'd like to tell you I set this up and asked Katie to kiss Charlie just like this but I didn't:

Katie & Dan admitted they often just sit and look at Charlie in amazement:

I like this image a lot Congratulations Katie & Dan!!! I'm so happy to see your little family of two become three. Charlie is a lucky little boy to have you two as parents AND the extended Di Palma and Mooney families to love him!

Happy Mother's Day

The folks at Hallmark or wherever decided to mess with people who live in the US and have family in the UK by making Mother's Day on a different day yet Father's day on the same day. Seriously? What's with that?

Every year I manage to miss Mother's Day in the UK because it's a month or so ahead of the US and there are no obnoxious "Buy your Mom a card or she'll think you don't love her" adverts to remind me.

And every year when I realize I've missed UK Mother's Day again my Mum tells me that it doesn't matter. She doesn't need a card to know how much I love her. Her Mum, my grandmother always tells her the same thing "Now don't be getting me a card for Mother's Day, every day is Mother's day having you as a daughter!"

So here's my belated Mother's Day card to the best Mum & Nan in the world. I love you both tons and tons and tons and I'm sending virtual hugs and kisses :)

A few weeks ago I went back to the UK for a week and spent most of the time laughing in the kitchen with my Mum and Nan. We made my brother take this picture of the three of us, this was the 36th attempt as we were all laughing too much. I'm the luckiest daughter/granddaughter in the world.


I hope you're having a great day with your family today.

Belle Mer Wedding Photographs :: Newport, Rhode Island Wedding Photographer

Once or twice a year I like to second shoot. It's a great opportunity to try out new techniques and it's kind of refreshing to have a different perspective without the usual pressure and time constraints you face as the primary photographer.

So last month I headed down to Rhode Island to photograph a beautiful wedding at Belle Mer (a glamorous and contemporary Longwood Events property) for Kate. This was the second time I've photographed at Belle Mer and the billowy white ballroom situated right on the ocean makes for a magnificent wedding venue:

I started my day just before the wedding ceremony, loving this picture of Michelle greeting her father, Louboutins in hand, along with Granddad greeting his great grandchildren:

It was a typical New England April day - sunny then rainy, clear then foggy, warm then breezy. The ceremony was brought inside due inclement weather and it was incredibly personal and moving. How much are you loving Michelle's Vera Wang gown?

Hot wedding trend - thumbprint balloons. I've seen a lot of "leaves on a tree" so this was pretty cool. Michelle & Nate's guests made their mark during cocktail hour. 

The white/gold wedding colors worked beautifully with Belle Mer's decor. The luxe gold sequins and uplighting were wonderfully offset by the white drapes of the ballroom. I believe Nate is a chef; the menu looked super yummy.

One of the cool things about second shooting is that you have a little more freedom to try something you might not normally do as a primary shooter. Like this image of the first dance

Love this little moment during the toasts

Regular blog readers will know I have a soft spot for all family pictures. Emotional/happy parent dances

The party continued in earnest. These two can really dance.

I think it's mostly the photobooth attendent's nonchalant expression that makes me giggle. 

They lived happily ever after. The End. 

Hugest thanks to Kate for having me along - too much fun!

Charlestown Baby Photographer :: August (and Becky & Duke)

Hi I'm August and you are? Oh! You photographed my Mommy and Daddy when they got married in January 2011 and then me when I was a little tiny baby?

Oh yes, you do look familiar! I'm so sorry I didn't remember your name!

I'd love you to hang out with us for the morning and take some pictures now that I'm one. I might just be the world's happiest little boy except when I'm having a 5 second meltdown over all of these clothing changes. Look, I'm so mad I'm going to lie quietly on the floor. Take that. 

But I'm easily distracted as soon as I see Daddy!

Yay, time to hang out in the yard

Really? Time for another clothing change?

Did you know it's my birthday? I'm one year old and I have a cupcake all to myself. Not sure what a cupcake is but I'm happy to investigate Whoa! That was good. Want some? Too late, it's all gone. Becky & Duke - thank you for asking me to photograph August as he turns one. I love seeing your family grow. It's the only time I've ever wished I was a videographer just so I could capture the awesome sound that is August chortling and laughing.

I have many previous wedding clients who've just had babies/expecting so expect to see the occasional baby/family shoot in between the wedding and engagements! In the meantime, for all the parents out there, here are some my
Top Ten Tips For Taking Pictures of Children and Babies
In no particular order:
1. No cheese. Don't train your children to pull tortured smiles at the camera. A natural expression is always better than  a forced grimace. Wait until your child is really laughing or make them laugh by saying/doing something silly/unexpected
2. Get down on their level - don't photograph small children and babies from an adult height. They'll look extra tiny. Sit on the floor or even lie down
3. Get in the pictures. Yeah, you haven't had time to shower, you still need to lose xlbs of baby weight. You don't like your shirt. Your baby doesn't care. And one day they'll be really thankful to have those pictures with you in them.
4. Get close. Then closer. Your baby/child is the focus of the picture so you don't really need to have all that extra stuff happening around them (plus this will crop out the clutter of their toys/boxes of diapers/other stuff that seems to collect around children)
5. Take too many pictures. Don't get your camera out on special occasions only, insist your children fake smile and then put it away. Capture everyday things. The more pictures you take the higher the chance of a great one!
6. But don't feel you have to keep every picture... Edit. It's OK to keep the best one picture out of ten almost identical ones. Delete the bad ones. A blurry/out of focus picture doesn't need to take up room on your computer
7. Back up. Imagine your computer crashes tomorrow. What couldn't be replaced? Get a back up drive (they're super cheap nowadays) and back up your images
8. Print your pictures. Backing up is a good start but no one wants to look through 200 folders of little tiny thumbnails. Print your pictures out regularly. Store them in acid-free photo storage boxes or put them in albums. Print online albums - Blurb is a good consumer option.
9. Watch your backgrounds. Is there a big tree coming out of your child's head in the park? A distractingly bright colored package of diapers in the corner?
10. Turn off the flash. Of course you'll need flash if it's really dark but try putting your child in front of a window and taking pictures using the natural window light. Much better.

If your iPhone isn't cutting it any longer and you've bought a DSLR but you're baffled by all of the menus and buttons then let me know if you'd like info on my "Photography 101" private classes, Over 2 hours you'll learn all about the different modes and buttons on your camera along with the basics of photography for better pictures of your children.

Come back tomorrow for some wedding pictures at Belle Mer in Rhode Island....:)