A Romantic Fall Day with my Nikon

So most photographers have wonderful portraits of themselves with their beloved camera. I just can't figure out a way to pose with my camera that doesn't make me laugh so hard I shoot milk out my nose. Honestly. I can't pull off the seriously in love with my camera look. It just makes me look awkward. Don't get me wrong, I love my camera. We've shared so many special moments together, we get all misty-eyed at weddings, we coo at babies, we make funny faces at other people's kids and occasionally we sit and daydream while looking at the clouds planning our future. Today we took a romantical stroll through the woods enjoying the fall foliage. Unfortunately my husband came along for the journey and that made Nikon very jealous. It's horrible, my husband even tried to capture a moment between us while we were sitting on a bench. Yea Nikon wasn't having that. Here's the photos that followed.

(editors note: you might have to let it play through once before it plays correctly)

50 and fabulous - Maine Event Photographer

Lena turned 50 this past weekend - hard to believe isn't it? This was a great surprise birthday party planned for her by all her close friends. There was live accoustic guitar entertainment and airbrush tattoos. I've never seen so many ladies so proud to sport their airbrushed, as they called them, "tramp stamps". I had a great time and the party went well into the evening with a fire pit. I hope at 50 I have that many friends who will come out and celebrate with me.

Happy birthday Lena! And to many many more surrounded by such loving friends and family!

Ladies Sexy Sunday - Maine Event Photographer

I belong to a group of lovely ladies called Ladies Event Group or LEG for short - You can find us on facebook by clicking here. We are a bunch of independent business women who's products or services market to other women. We recently held a ladies only event at a local upscale nightclub called Pearl on Fore St in Portland's Old Port and it was quite the success! We had an event planner, make up consultant, foot detox, hair stylists, jewelry, an adult party consultant, specialty perfumes & body candy, a dance instructor doing short lessons throughout the day, cheesecake, myself taking web-ready headshots and the event was catered.

Here are a few of my headshots from the day. Please see our facebook page for more pictures from the event.

And of course I have to recognize some of our men from the day. Below on the left is Will our Interior Designer and Event Planning Diva who greeted the ladies at the door and gave them the lay of the land and on the right is Josh from Pearl who graciously attended the event to check IDs at the door and usher in all the women.

The Adams Family - Maine Family Photographer

I had a fantastic time this past Friday night at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth with the Adams family. As you can see from the slide show below the kids are definitely NOT camera shy! It was a tad bit on the windy side but we managed to get some great shots down by the water between gusts and then headed up to play on the forts. I can't wait to spend a few hours tinkering in photoshop with one awesome shot I took that day. They are the Adams Family after all so we recreated the classic movie poster pose in front of the ruined castle-like fort. I'll have to put in cousin It and Thing and really darken it up. Hopefully it'll make it's debut in time for Halloween. Click below to view the slide show - I recommend viewing it in full screen

Kelly - Maine Portrait Photography

Here's the absolutely stunning Kelly! She made sure that I wasn't going to post her pictures under the "senior" section but I swear she could pass for a senior! Kelly wanted to update her portraits and get some prints done for family and friends so she gave me a call and of course I was more than happy to head out and take her photos. We met up at Two Lights State Park in Cape Elizabeth - I have been to the lighthouses but never into the park so this was a first for me but not the last. The park is stunning. Lots of nice areas and backdrops and of course the wild Maine rocky coast! We found some awesome stone steps, old military bunkers and one amazing sun splashed vine section which looked like it came straight out of the jungle. With the gorgeous fall leaves, the vine scene and the beach backgrounds you never would have guessed they were all within view of eachother.

Marika - Maine Senior Portraits

These gorgeous seniors are making my job so easy! I'm not complaining. I received a call from Hayley's friend Marika about shooting her senior portraits this past weekend. I took the trip back up to Pineland Farms in New Gloucester to work with Marika. When I arrived a wedding was running a bit late so we had to take advantage of some other areas to start our session and I'm so glad! We headed over to the pond on the other side of the street and got some great poses in amazing light by the water. While we were on our way back to the gardens we passed a willow tree and I just had to stop and take some photos there. I took this opportunity to explain to Marika and her mom that I have location ADD if I see something pretty I just have to stop and work with it. Without further adue here is a sampling from Marika's session.

I'm a freckle-faced girl myself so I'm just absolutely in love with the sprinkling of freckles she has across her nose. When I was in high school I worked so hard to cover them up. It's awesome to see her embracing them.
You gotta let loose and have some fun!

Grandma Byron turns 80 - Maine Event Photography

This entry has been sitting in the wings for a while - mainly because it was a family function and I wasn't sure if it had a place on my professional site. My gram turned 80 this year and my family decided to throw her a surprise birthday party. I know what you're thinking. "Sure surprise an 80 year old. Thats nice". I always wondered why we throw surprise parties for pregnant ladies and the elderly - two groups of the population that I think could do without the heart stopping moment of 50 of your closest friends jumping out and yelling surprise!

Anyway back on track. Here are the photos from the party.

Here's Gram when we all surprised her.

This one is a great series. The lady dressed as an old lady is my mother - yup I'll admit it. She has this thing she does for her quilting friends and she dresses up like an elderly woman and harrasses people. It's really a riot unless you're in high school and she shows up at one of your friends house and crashes the halloween party. But I embrace her quirkiness now. At least it makes it easier for people to see where I get it.
Still not sure approaching your mother on her 80th birthday dressed as an old lady toting a purse full of condoms and viagra is still the wisest thing to do. I'm sure gram was proud. :)

Here's gram digging into her cake. I'm sure she still has some in her freezer :) It was a three tier vanilla/fudge swirl decorated like a quilt.

Hayley - Maine Senior Portraits

I haven't blogged in a while - way too much going on with getting our house ready for the fall. I had published on my facebook fan-site a few weeks ago that I was looking for a senior model to do a sample senior portrait session and I am so happy with all the responses I recieved. A friend connected me with her coworker who has two beautiful daughters in high school and she was looking for senior portraits for her oldest. I met up with the family this past Monday at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester which was quite an adventure for me since I had never been there before. It's a beautiful location and I can't wait to get back there again! They have beautiful flower gardens, white fences, huge trees and cows - though they didn't make it into any photos, maybe next time :)

Here's the photos!

Gorgeous Lake Wedding

Bride & Groom: Brigid & Geoff

Venue: Crocker Pond House - Bethel, ME

Flowers: Pooh Corner Farm, Family & Friends

Caterer: Good Food Store - Bethel, ME

DJ & Cakes: Friends & Family

Brigid and Geoff fell in love with the architecture of the Crocker Pond House at first glance. It was designed and built by the owner Stuart Crocker. They could not have asked for better weather, it was a beautiful day in the mid 70's - perfect for an outdoor ceremony & reception. They day was very relaxed, I don't think I've ever seen such a calm bride and groom, Brigid even had time to sit, relax and read a book. The ceremony started at 4:30 followed by a cocktail hour and then dinner under a tent on the lawn. The reception was slated to go until about 1am with lots of dancing. One of the highlights of the reception was the Bourbon Toast. The bride is originally from Kentucky so naturally it was Kentucky bourbon for the toasts. There were some great speeches by one of the bridesmaids, the father of the groom, father of the bride and an impromptu toast by a guest about Kentucky having "great bourbon, fast horses and beautiful women - or as the guys say it great bourbon, fast women and beautiful horses". One of the other events I heard rumor that was planned to occur that night was a 1am Hash Run. The bride, groom, father of the bride and a fair share of the guests belong to the Hash House Harriers which is a "drinking group with a running problem" in which the "hare" lays a confusing trail for the "hounds" to follow. There are plenty of false trails and dead ends and a lot of merriment.

Here's the photos!

One Hot Mama

I had the good fortune of photographing a friends sister for her maternity photos. I really enjoyed myself and hopefully I'll have the opportunity to do more shoots like this. I think maternity, newborn and family portraiture flows naturally with wedding photography. Weddings are just the begining of the story and it's awesome to be able to document the next chapters in peoples lives.

Her son said that she looked like a model and I'd have to agree.

A few more from NY

A few more late nights of editing and dodging a few thunderstorms and Becka & Mike's wedding images are all finished! I'm so excited that I'm receiving rave reviews from the wedding party and they are so happy with the images. Here are a few more for your viewing pleasure!

Rebecca & Michael

Tabernacle Baptist Church - Poughkeepsie, NY

July 18, 2009

In a New York state of mind

I just returned home after photographing Becka & Mike's wedding in Poughkeepsie, NY. What a gorgeous location! We started off the day at the brides home while everyone was getting their hair and makeup done. The wedding & reception were held at the Tabernacle Baptist Church. We also had some time built in for formals down by the Hudson River - I could have photographed there all day but we had to get the bride & groom back to their reception.

It was a great day filled with family and friends. Everyone pitched in to make sure this couple had the most loving wedding possible.

Here is a sneak peek of the day, more to come shortly but I just couldn't resist this sequence of events.

Getting the bride all dressed and moms reaction to the brides sister helping to add the finishing touches.

Testing..1-2-3?

My order fulfillment site is offering a new feature. Embedable slideshows. I'm still working the kinks out of it. It won't allow me to select just a few images to include into it - I have to use the entire album. That will be a little lengthy for some of my shoots - especially weddings which can top over 500 images.
Here's a test of the slideshow. I've used Andrea & Deans couple shoot as my guinea pig - They don't seem to mind :)

Super-fantastic Packaging! I'm in love

I'm as giddy as a school-girl. Really I am! I just received in new disc packaging from my album company and I am head-over-heels in love with them. The company I use for my albums and packaging is a little off-beat and a whole lot of eco-friendly (like me). When I first went to their website their banner across the top read "Chocolate makes your clothes shrink" and with colors like "Sultan Spice" and "Moonflower" how could I not instantly find a connection with this company.
Each disc case arrives in it's own eco-friendly jute gift bag. The disc case is hand-made in silk brocade with great workmanship and completely finished to perfection.

O @ the beach

I said just a few weeks back that I fell in love with Ferry Beach in Scarborough and couldn't wait to shoot there again. Well I got my wish this past 4th of July weekend.

I met with O. and his mom and dad for a family shoot on Sunday evening. We lucked out and couldn't have gotten a better day especially with all the rain we've had lately. I felt like a bride with an outdoor wedding - I was stalking weather.com the week leading up to this shoot. Maybe the secret to sunny weather is booking portrait sessions... Ok rain gods, I'll keep that up!

I'm about half way through editing and wanted to share this great sneak peek of the session. I had quite the heavy trigger finger on Sunday so I'm still going through a ton of great shots. I just fell in love with O.'s expression here - he just loved the water!

MPPA Families on the Beach

I attended the Families on the Beach seminar hosted by fellow Maine PPA member, Robert Akers on June 6th at Ferry Beach in Scarborough. Our model for the shoot was another fellow Maine PPA member, Claudia Murray, and her family. They are so lucky they had about 15 professional photographers following them around on the beach. They're going to have the best looking Christmas cards around! I really enjoyed this shoot and I fell in love with this beach for portraits. I can't wait to shoot there again!

Another Great Couple & Great Day at the Beach

Saturday was a beautiful day at Willard Beach in South Portland and I had a great time with a beautiful couple. We had a fabulous time photographing and goofing around at a small beach that overlooks some of the islands in Casco Bay. Here's a few of my favorites from the day.

Favorites & a new processing action

So... I seriously sprained my ankle last weekend surfing and have been bound to crutches. I haven't been able to get out and get any great pictures this week. I am looking forward to a couples session I have planned for tomorrow at the beach.

I was going through some of my files and wanted to share some favorites from my most recent couples & family session. I'm really loving this great post-processing action I created in Lightroom. I have been using it on images where I think the photo is more about the emotion going on in the image. These two are great examples.

A Day at the beach

I'm so fortunate to live in a great scenic area. Here are some photos from a family session I did over the holiday weekend at Old Orchard Beach.