Bedtime Reading...

I think I need to get more bookshelves. Last night there was almost no room on my nightstand for my glass of water. It got me thinking about how much I love books and reading in general.

Fact 1: My first word was "read" - as a toddler I would thrust a book at one of my parents and demand that they read to me

Memory 1: A worn yellowed laminated library card, mine from the age of seven. I ploughed through the children's sections and the librarians would often bend the rules and allow me the adult limit of six books per visit.

Fact 2: I read really quickly, too quickly perhaps. I can get through an average paperback book in maybe an hour or two. On a plane back from San Francisco last Friday I got through two and half books. Sometimes if I am totally enjoying a book I force myself to read each word to try to make it last longer.

Memory 2: Much as I loved the library, the biggest treat of all was a new book (a relatively rare occurance, often seemed to coincide with a trip to the dentist or getting a good report at school). To this day, if I've had a rough week or I'm feeling sorry for myself I make a beeline for Borders or hit up Amazon.

I love reading photography books; I'll dip in and out for reference, inspiration and ideas. And I love the escapism of fiction books. From the nightstand above, here are some favorites:

The Moment it Clicks by Joe McNally - Joe is simply a photography legend and he's a big fan of the Nikon SB800 strobes that I shoot with so it's super cool to see how he uses them. This book is like meeting Joe in a bar and hearing all of his favorite photography stories

Trail of Crumbs by Kim Sunee - this was one of the best memoirs I have read in years. One of those books that sucks you in and you're so disappointed when it ends because the people and the story are so very real - loved it

Annie Leibovitz at work - if you've ever read Vanity Fair magazine you'll have likely seen Annie's work. She's a legend, what else to say.

Vogue - as you can see I read a lot of photography books and magazines but I also take inspiration from fashion magazines like Vogue. Of course I'm reading about the makeup, looking at the clothes and I think I've made my feeling about shoes very clear by now. However, more often than not, I'm trying to guess the lighting set-up from the catchlights in the model's eyes and the shadows on her face.

Although I'm all about natural relaxed photography, I love it when a bride is willing to rock it out a little and try something fun - check out Jessica below. I pointed out the contrast between this beat up doorway with her stunning gown and she happily perched there in the late afternoon sun - love it!



Anyway, time for me to get to bed to finish up my latest book - The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. A bestseller in her native France, I'm about halfway through this enchanting book about a concierge in a Parisian apartment block and I'm forcing myself to r e a d - e v e r y - s i n g l e - w o r d

Wedding photography is the just the tip of the iceburg...

I had a great response to last week's post about recommending a professional make-up artist - click here if you missed it - and I received a couple of questions that I thought might be better answered here.

And because blogging is always more exciting with pictures...



Question: Do you have more pictures I can see showing the work of the make-up artist you recommended? D.T. Lowell, MA

Answer: Yes! Just for you, all of the pictures on this blog will feature Ligia Centeno's work. Click on the images to make them larger. I should also point out that the rather stunning up-do above is by Ann Jenkins (you can contact her at 617-719-2084)



Question: I'm interested in a bridal photoshoot with images like you posted last week, is this something you can do? R.S. Andover, MA
Answer: Yes! Photography of the actual wedding is just the tip of the iceburg. I also enjoy photographing all sorts of other wedding-related events. Here's a quick summary:

Engagement: Forget posed photos with the girl stiffly holding her hand on the guy's chest to show off that sparkler. Many couples that I work with today might have been engaged for a while and they aren't really interested in submitting pictures for the newspaper announcement, but they LOVE getting real and relaxed images showing who they really are. We pick a cool location and then just head out and enjoy it!

Bridal: Think of this as your own personal fashion shoot. And who doesn't love a reason to wear their wedding dress more than once.

Day-after/Trash the dress: The objective is not to actually trash the dress, simply to get those romantic, playful, modern images of the two of you as a married couple without worrying about getting to the reception on time. Splashing around in the ocean is not required - but I love it when it happens ;-) And if your new husband is all wedding'd out - we can go it alone!

Boudoir: A totally unique gift for your future husband or even just for you! Imagine stunning, tasteful, playful, intimate and personal photographs bound in a beautiful fine art book.

One last image before I sign off for today - enjoy!



Location: Sheraton Commander, Cambridge, MA
Makeup: Ligia Centeno (LigiaCenteno@hotmail.com or 617-970-3454)
Hair: Ann Jenkins (617-719-2084)

Karen + Scott :: Engagement

There is a magical place right here in Massachusetts...where hundreds of butterflies flutter between brightly colored plants and flowers under a glass atrium...where it's always 80 degrees even in the middle of winter...where Koi carp splash in their pond ...where Scott asked Karen to be his wife last July.

And so this morning, I headed over to The Butterfly Place in Westford, MA to meet with Karen & Scott for their engagement photoshoot.

It was a little chilly outside as the last of the snow melts from the ground but just warm enough to get some shots outside. The sun was peaking from behind the trees and I couldn't resist a little sunflare:




Karen & Scott - it was great to see you both again, hope you enjoy the preview image, check out this little video below - click to start - I'm so looking forward to photographing your wedding in June!

Yay - great makeup artist recommendation...

One of the fun things about being a wedding photographer is meeting other wedding professionals. And one of the best things about being a wedding photographer is meeting someone super-talented who I am happy to recommend to my clients.

Behold, make up by Ligia Centeno - click on any photo to see it BIG:


Hiring a professional make up artist on your wedding day is such a good idea. So much time, effort and expense goes into looking stunning in your dress...the shoes...hair...veil...and so professional makeup is really the icing on the cake.

In the words of the legendary Calvin Klein "The best thing is to look natural; but it takes makeup to look natural". I think Calvin would approve of the above image!

I was delighted to have an opportunity to work with Ligia recently. Ligia is a professional makeup artist and artist is really the perfect label. Ligia has such a good eye and works with each bride to truly bring out the natural beauty - brown eyes look like sparkly chocolate, blue eyes just pop, skin becomes flawless and brides become more confident and insanely happy when they take a look in the mirror!

I know she has a couple of dates available for the 2009 season and is booking into 2010 so contact her quickly if you have a date in mind at LigiaCenteno@hotmail.com or 617-970-3454

And now, enjoy more images (with makeup by Ligia!):

And who says that all makeup has to be subtle and natural? I'm loving the deep red lips here. Remember - click to see it big - you'll see the blue of her eyes just pop!



Everyone should be laughing in photographs:



And I think this might just be my new all-time favorite image...

Meet the parents...the parent albums that is!

Brett & Maria were married last October in a beautiful fall wedding at Alpine Grove in Hollis, NH - from the way they looked at each other during their vows I just knew they were meant to be together.

Their album - like each album I design - and each couple I photograph - is completely unique. In this case, I incorporated the beautiful words that Brett & Maria promised to each other during the ceremony:



A beautiful poem written by Brett himself [Opening line: A shiver down the spine...] and read at the wedding:



And finally the words of the song that they danced their first dance to:



You can see in the first photo that they also ordered mini-albums as gifts for their parents which brings me back to the point of this post - sorry, got a little sidetracked with the cuteness of the inside of the album - parent albums!

After the wedding you want to show your photographs to all your friends and family - well so do your parents! They're often heavily involved in the planning of your wedding and they're so proud - so a parent album saves them having to borrow yours but allows them to share with their own friends!

Leaving Las Vegas....

I'm a member of WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International) and was super excited to attend part of the annual meeting in Las Vegas. Highlights have to be picking up a ever-so-cute Shootsac by Jessica Clare (you'll see me using it to tote my lenses, flashes, CF cards for the 2009 wedding season in style), listening to Cherie Steinberg Cote talk about her photography, checking out some stunning new album vendors including fine handmade Cypress albums plus got to visit the Mothership:



The meeting was in Las Vegas and so we stayed at Wynn Las Vegas (where Mr H and I got married two years ago), here's the view from our room:



And we stayed after the meeting to enjoy some amazing food and great shows (loved KA at MGM, La Reve at Wynn was pretty cool too). I tried a little Blackjack but just can't add up the cards fast enough plus I think rules are meant to be broken so I'm not so keen on having to hit on a 16 which frustrates Mr. H no end. Here we are at L'atelier Joel Robuchon for dinner - I'm very into oversized jewelry at the moment...