A Message from the Christmas Wieners

The dogs like to keep up with the seasons from a fashion point of view, if you missed their Easter outfits you can see them **here**

For their Christmas outfits, they asked for matching red sweaters and reindeer antlers and who am I to deny them?

127 pictures later I had just one picture with them both dressed and sitting still. Of course they're not both looking at the camera but you can't have everything ;)

As always, the outtakes were funnier than the final result as Paul reluctantly wrangled them into position. Tiger kept wriggling out of her sweater or bolting back to the warmth of the house.

Click on the little white triangle to watch the behind-the-scenes movie:

Coco Chanel & Tiger Woods would like to wish everyone a Happy Christmas. Woof!

Indian Pond Country Club Wedding :: Caitlin + Micky (Part I)

Nope I didn't drop off the face of the earth :) last week we were in England and Northern Ireland for an early Christmas and so I was too focused on eating my weight in bacon and chocolate and mince pies and fish and chips to blog. But never fear, I'm back with the most excellent wedding that was Caitlin & Micky's at Indian Pond Country Club in Kingston, MA.

I think we'll start with a little appetizer of gorgeous wedding details - let's just say that not only does Caitlin have very good taste in husbands - Micky is such a great guy - but she is a girl after my own heart when it comes to shoes and purses:


Love love love. Why buy a pair of white satin kitten heels that you'll never wear again in your life when you can have these babies encase your little feet?


All-time favorite wedding purse - so airy and light:


The getting ready fun took place at Caitlin's parents house at Humarock Beach, which was also the location for the first look (coming up tomorrow), I wanted to incorporate the beach/boat theme into the pictures so was happy when I spotted this little sailboat:


Wedding dresses are usually hung on terribly practical plastic hangers with a sort of cardboard frame to hold the bodice in place. I actually keep a bunch of satin padded hangers in my car to use for pictures but I didn't need to as Caitlin had this divine personalized hanger ready to go:


When I bought my Nikon 105mm f/2.8G lens a couple of years ago I remember Mr H expressing a little disbelief that I needed to spend $900 on a lens that I'd use for probably 5-10 shots per wedding. But everytime I get it out I sign with happiness at the pictures it allows me to take:

Caitlin's wedding rings belonged to Micky's late mother so they have extra special sentimental meaning:


As I flitted around the house getting all the detail pictures I noticed Caitlin wonderfully silhouetted by the window as she had her make up done with her hair all pinned up around her head:


I know, I know, such a tease. First look and ceremony tomorrow...

Coming soon....

I'll be "out of the office" on Monday and Tuesday but on Wednesday you'll get to see the first of many posts about Caitlin & Micky's most wonderful wedding followed Jennifer & Wiktor's wedding at the Wayside Inn - my last wedding of 2010. In the meantime, here's a little sneak peak of Caitlin's shoes to tide you over:

Newburyport Engagement Pictures in the Fall :: Lauren + David

Lauren and David live in Austin, TX but will be getting married in Maine next September and guess who'll be photographing their wedding? Yup - me! We talked over the phone plenty but the first time we met in person was to take these pictures and so there was the potential for a little awkwardness but I am happy to report there was zero awkwardness.

We started out down by the harbor:


And then found some cool tall grass in the boatyard. Lauren and Dave were laughing away:


I figured they seemed pretty comfortable with the whole engagement shoot lark and therefore it was time to make them lie down in some leaves. Lauren has spectacular sparkly eyes:


Dave - are you laughing at me or with me? :)


I liked the blue color of this door, it almost matches my blog:


Sometimes couples will ask me "how do we choose a location for our engagement pictures?" and I'll usually ask if there's a place with some special meaning to both of them or their home or a beach or park if they're outdoorsy kind of people.

For out-of-town wedding clients I'll suggest a bunch of different places and when I mentioned the harbor/downtown/New England feel of Newburyport Lauren and Dave happily agreed to meet me there.

Paul and I lived in NBPT for years before moving to NH and so I figured we'd take in some of the more famous sites like the Fowles sign:


We stopped by Oldies Marketplace which is a great way to while away a Sunday morning. Fabulous old estate/costume jewelry and other crazy stuff. Lobster trap anyone?


Lauren & Dave had been haring around Maine trying to find the perfect reception venue to compliment their wedding ceremony which will be held at one of the most beautiful churches in Kennebunkport - Saint Anne's Church and they commented on how many churches there are in New England so we made a quick stop at one:


It was getting pretty cold so we popped into the excellent bookstore in the Tannery:


I found a little bench tucked away under a porch and the light was just beautiful, how cute are these two!?!


I will admit to having some major boot envy going on here:


You're probably wondering how Lauren & Dave met aren't you?

Well, some people live together before they get married.

Lauren and Dave lived together before they even dated :) They were actually at school together and lived in the same large student house. One night they went out for dinner. Lauren says she wasn't sure if it was actually a date as they split the check but Dave assures me it was a date. And everything went from there.

Fast forward past much dating and graduation and other fun. Dave and Lauren went back to Michigan and spent an amazing day doing all of their favorite Ann Arbor things. And at the end of that perfect day Dave asked Lauren to marry him. Lauren said yes. Hurrah! September 2011 can't come soon enough!

I got the most lovely little note in the mail from Lauren after the shoot saying how much fun they'd had. Well, I think I might have had more fun! I hope you like the preview pictures - lots more to follow!

Newburyport Fall Engagement Pictures :: 10 pictures in 10 minutes :: Katy + Sean

When I book new wedding clients at this time of year they often want to wait until the Spring or Summer to do engagement pictures which I completely understand...but then the quandary arises about which pictures to use for a save the date card or for the custom wedding websites that I offer.

So "10 pictures in 10 minutes" was born. This is a complimentary service I provide to my wedding clients who need just a few pictures NOW! Essentially they have to pretty much fit in with my schedule and location but I've done about 4 of these sessions now and they're pretty fun.

Katy & Sean will have their wedding at Atkinson Country Club & Resort in Atkinson, NH next year (can I tell you how excited I am to shoot there? It's where Paul and I had our post-wedding reception, the whole team are amazing, the food is delicious AND it's only 15 minutes from my house). We'll shoot some pictures in the Spring for their guest signature album but they needed just a few pictures now so one Sunday morning a few weeks back we met up to take 10 pictures in 10 minutes (well maybe 20 minutes...we did stop for Starbucks):


Katy and Sean had mentioned that they didn't really want super posed pictures and so I told them just to hang out whilst I checked my camera settings. And then I took some pictures anyway. Oh I am so sneaky:


We went for a little walk along the Newburyport waterfront:


And even sat for a minute:


It was pretty chilly but Katy was a trooper plus she had on a super cute BR shirt that needed to be shown off:


And Sean kept her warm and smiling:


It seems kind of obligatory to have some leaves in fall engagement pictures ;)


I'll often leave some negative space in pictures when I know they'll be used as save the dates as it leaves room for text:


I got all excited when I spotted these tiny red berries - they felt very "fall" or even "Pottery Barn Holiday-ish":


In fact I liked them so much I took another picture:


Katy & Sean are actual real-life high-school sweethearts, they met when one of Sean's friends told him about "a girl who's just what you're looking for". Sean met Katy and boom! They dated through Sean's senior year and the first year that he was away in school and then like many high-school relationships they took a little break. Katy says that during that time she dated a few guys but was always looking for another Sean.

But there's only one Sean:


And wouldn't you know it - he missed Katy too:


And so after finishing school Sean called Katy up one day. Now they're engaged! Next July they'll get married. And then they'll live happily ever after. The End.

So that was actually 12 pictures in like 26 minutes but I've never been that good at math...