In 2011 I had the good fortune to photograph in some amazing places, and the photos below came from Seattle (a super cool indie wedding no less), Wentworth by the Sea Country Club, The Connor Family Retreat, The Liberty Hotel (and the Cambodian ceremony the day before at a private home outside Boston), Turner Hill in Ipswich, MA (possibly my favorite estate venue in the area), Belle Mer (my new favorite Newport, RI venue), The Paulist Center in Boston, a private home south of the city, a winter wedding on the beach in Plymouth, MA, Le Meridien in Cambridge, The Boston Marriott Cambridge (an amazing Indian wedding!), The Taj Boston (love that rooftop terrace), The Omni Mount Washington Hotel in the White Mountains (a fairytale venue if ever there was one), Cambridge City Hall (my most intimate wedding of the year with just the couple, myself and the officiant present), an old favorite – Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA, and a number of cute churches dotted around the New England area.  Enjoy!

I started the day much earlier, at The Langham Hotel in downtown Boston where Heather was getting ready (and in fact where the couple put up their ten guests for the weekend). Some fun details to start – I am so happy that they took my recommendation of New Leaf Flores for the beautiful bouquet and boutonniere:

Heather was all big smiles and excited chatter as she was having her makeup done.

I love these two photos of Heather and her friend Sarah:

Time to get dressed! And what a gorgeous dress it was – the Waterfall Gown from J.Crew’s wedding collection.

While Heather was at the hair salon, I snapped some photos of Peter getting suited up:

Despite the chilly breeze, we held their look outside in the tiny park across from the hotel. Heather was so excited to show off her shoes.

Some sweet moments – and some funny ones – followed. Don’t these two kiss like movie stars?

After the first look, we all headed down to Plymouth to the boat launch. I arrived a little earlier than the wedding party, so snapped a few photos of the beach. It was so beautiful …

Led by their fantastic British celebrant Lucille Wymer, everyone made the short walk down the steep hill to the boat launch. Spirits were high:

This was the third smallest wedding ceremony I’d ever photographed and it was perfect. I hope these photos capture some of the intimacy and emotion of the event.

There were beautiful readings, and an emotional account of Peter and Heather’s lives together thus far.

I love this:

It was just the perfect setting … *sigh*

Towards the end of the ceremony, each couple wrote a message which they placed inside a bottle and threw into the sea. It made for great pictures, and lots of laughter.

Rings! And more happy tears …

Peter had prepared a surprise reading for Heather in the form of a poem – it was beautiful:

We stayed on the beach for a few more minutes to take some portraits and detail shots. I can’t get over the bouquet by New Leaf …

These guys were so excited to be married!

The reception was split between post-ceremony drinks back at The Langham Hotel and dinner at L’Espalier. I stayed for the first part and had fun playing with lighting up the crazy dark bar without freaking out the staff there – it was a challenge! But I love the photos we got:

We made a little outing to see the Christmas tree at Faneuil Hall but my very favorite portrait of the night was actually outside L’Espalier – the emotion was perfect. Thank you all so much for a beautiful day, and for trusting me to capture the story of your wedding. I hope you’ve enjoyed the teasers! The full set will be ready in a couple of weeks.

We had such pretty light that day – even at noon!

We didn’t have the best weather for portraits on the wedding day, so I wanted to make sure I got a few of Em alone. Her bouquet was made by Alexei for this shoot – wow!! He also made his own boutonniere (the man’s got some serious talent!)

The Connors Family Retreat is stunning in itself, but it’s also surrounded by lovely woodland. I really like the series we got in the woods to the side of the property:

I thought it would be fun to play with the crazy strong light and see what we could come up with … do you like these?

Probably my favorite shots of the day came from this spot on the stone wall that leads up to the main grounds:

And some final photos on the driveway. It was SO good to see you both again, and thank you so, so much for your patience with these. I really appreciate it! The full set will be with you very shortly.

Love these next three too:

Some cute photos with the bridal party under the willows in the Public Garden:

And a few last couples photos – the light at the end of the afternoon was so pretty …

The reception was held at the Museum of Science in Boston, and before cocktail hour we grabbed a few photos with the exhibits there. Here are some of my favorites:

Dinner and dancing were held at the very tippy top of the Museum in the Skyline Room. The decor and colors were gorgeous – and hurray for uplighting! The room had such a welcoming, warm feel with the orange and gold lighting. Happy days!

There were two guest books; my favorite was actually not the one with my photos but rather the wooden puzzle of Massachusetts – guests were invited to take a piece, write a note, and drop the piece into a Boston Baked Beans pot. Cute!

Some happy looking guests pre-dinner:

The first dance was beautiful – Danny and Kate were gazing into each others’ eyes throughout. It made my job very easy.

During dinner there were toasts …

… then after dinner were the sweet parent dances:

Cake cutting – and what a unique cake it was!

And here are the photos you’ve all been dying to see (or maybe dreading, haha!) Huge thanks to my favorite DJ of all time, Nate Oinonen of White Label DJs for keeping the party rockin’ all night long!

Thank you Kate and Danny for a wonderful wedding day. I loved meeting all your family and friends, and I hope you’ve enjoyed your teasers. The full set will be along at the end of the week, yay!

The girls had their makeup done by the utterly fabulous Veronica Shin (one of my absolute favorite makeup artists in the Boston area), and it was also a pleasure watching hair stylist Jennifer Fusco work her magic. Jason + Chrissy’s sweet doggy Reggie was missing from the celebrations so I worked in one of his toys for some detail shots. Oh, and the beautiful invites are from Hoopity on Etsy.

Chrissy was glowing:

We then all headed up to Turner Hill in Ipswich, MA to complete the getting ready. I am in love with this venue. Look at it!

Love these photos of Chrissy’s girls helping her into her Private Label by G gown:

Jason’s sister and Chrissy’s sister fixing the veil:

The guys, meanwhile, were fully dressed and playing poker at the other end of the hallway. Love it!

I grabbed Jason to have his boutonniere put on by florist The Singing Flower (whose work was gorgeous, by the way). Jason obviously found something about this quite amusing.

And then it was straight into the first look. This light … wow.

These two are so sweet and natural with each other. It made my job easy!

Time for some bridal party photos! Turner Hill could not be any prettier. I mean, really. And that light was just spectacular …

Love this one of the guys (thank you for being brave, Jason!)

One last teaser before the ceremony and reception … which will likely be along on Tuesday next week. In the meantime, if you haven’t already, head on over to my Facebook page and like it – there are often a few little extra sneak peeks posted there first!

We then headed over to the Public Garden for portraits. I’m happy I caught this shot of the bridal party and families crossing the road:

Patty’s Augusta Jones dress was stunning. I loved all the little details …

Time for a few last couples portraits in another area of the Public Gardens:

I just love how they look at each other. This may be my favorite photo of Nate from the day, too:

The ceremony was held in the Gordon Chapel at Old South Church. I have to tell you, I am pretty sure it’s the toughest church I’ve ever photographed in – it’s so dark, and there are lots of restrictions on movement during the ceremony. So I was pretty pleased with how the ceremony photos turned out!

Got to love a little flash flavor during the recessional – especially when it’s accidental

Nate and Patty’s fabulous coordinator Fiona at Pink Orchid Weddings organized a really cool exit from the church: through “yay!” and “married!” flags. I loved that!

I went back and forth on this next image, but I kinda love it.  It’s Patty and Nate in their white Jaguar (from Excelsior Limousine), watching the world go by as they prepare to leave – a mixture of wedding guests and random people on the street.  I’d love to hear your thoughts …

The reception back at the Four Seasons Boston will be along after the weekend … so stay tuned!  And … if you’re a newly engaged couple wanting some kick-ass wedding and engagement photos, view my portfolio here; if you’re more interested in kids and pets, click here; follow me on Facebook here … or contact me here!

Bernie, Mike and Beth’s lab mix, is basically my second son. Bernie and Porter have spent a lot of time together and still seem to really miss each other. Fellow dog-lovers will no doubt understand the significance of the next few photos … I love how Bernie gazes at Beth as she has her hair done … and how she touches him gently on the head as he stands before her:

Beth’s mom, Karen, was on an emotional roller-coaster all day – perfect! I hope she doesn’t hate me for posting these … but I love the emotion here.

Beth made all the hair accessories for her and her bridesmaids. I love the peacock feathers, and the teal of the shoes to contrast with the main accent color, red.

Some more favorites – Beth helping her sister Kate with her makeup, then working on her own:

After a sweet first look in the front yard, we gathered up the guys and girls and headed over to Discovery Park, one of Mike and Beth’s favorite places. We started with couples portarits and detail shots:

… then added in the bridal party. These guys scrub up well!

The weather had turned to full-on miserable by this point, but I begged Mike and Beth to let me take a few final shots down by the lighthouse. They were absolutely freezing, but I promised them it would be worth it.

We headed over to Ballard for coffee and pastries at the Dutch Bike Co. I loved this space! It is so very Seattle – a mixed purpose coffee shop and bike store, in a mixed purpose building. All with gorgeous exposed brick and huge windows. Hurray!

Courtney Kroymann, of Designs by Courtney, did a phenomenal job with the bouquets. I especially love the trailing flower ribbon on Beth’s bouquet. I’ve never seen anything quite like this before. I’m a fan!

I’m not sure why, but I love this next photo.

Part two – the gorgeous ceremony and reception at Ray’s Boathouse, all expertly coordinated by our good friend Stacey Jehlik of Breath … Savor the Day – will be along in a few days. If you’ve enjoyed this post, please come over and check out my Facebook page … If you’re a newly engaged couple wanting some kick-ass wedding and engagement photos, view my portfolio here; if you’re more interested in kids and pets, click here; and of course you can always contact me here!

We were blessed with gorgeous sunshine that lovely, warm afternoon at Olmsted Park and Leverett Pond in JP.  Thank you, Monique, for trusting me.  I hope you enjoy the results!

I am in love with those ducks!  And I love Monique’s bright blue eyes …

I was trying to get out of my open shade/backlit comfort zone with some of these shots – including the last image above …

Monique’s got killer shoes and a huge smile.  Love it!

(Seriously killer shoes …)

I’d love to know what you think – have you got any favorites?  And … if you’re a newly engaged couple wanting some kick ass wedding and engagement photos, view my portfolio here; if you’re more interested in kids and pets, click here; follow me on Facebook here … or contact me here!

Before the workshop I was struggling with the whole idea of learning to pose better … As a mostly candid/documentary photographer, I spend most of the wedding day trying NOT to pose anything; I prefer photographing the moments as they happen, from the sidelines.  Why, then, spend two days learning how to pose people – and not just pose, but fine-tune?  Because, at the end of the day, I do spend part of the wedding day posing people (the family portraits, bridal party photos and couples portraits) … and if I’m going to do something, I’m damn well going to do it well!

During those two days, we each had two ten minute slots to spend with a model, practicing what we had learned.  My first ten minutes were spent with the gorgeous and ridiculously charming Melissa Ghionis, Jerry’s wife.  Melissa was instructed not to give us anything that we didn’t deserve, but you couldn’t ask for an easier model.  I love these shots of her!

The image on the left (above) was the one I submitted for critique the next day.  It was tough choosing just one, though.

And maybe my absolute favorite of the set – I adore laughter!

During those two days of shooting, we learned about all different sorts of light sources.  The remainder of the images are from situations/poses set up by Jerry, unless otherwise indicated.  We learned how to work wonders with a little window light and a dark background – this is our fantastic model/photographer/new found friend Jennifer Kelly:

We were blessed with some damn fine looking models to work with, including Patrick:

Another image of Jen, this time looking all forties-glam with a video light:

Our third model, Tammy, had the most amazing red hair.  Love these!

Jerry demonstrated some good couples poses for super harsh sunlight using Patrick and Tammy:

For my second ten minute session, I decided to really challenge myself by using a male model (posing guys is so different to posing girls!) and by not allowing myself to use my usual outdoor lighting techniques of easy open shade or shooting with back light.  I feel pretty good about the result – although I have to admit to freaking out a bit at the time! 

And one final shot – a quick grab from the end of a demonstration of open shade posing:

I hope you enjoyed these.  Huge thanks to Melissa and Jerry for a great workshop.  I made some friends for life, and had a blast.  And, a week later, I’m just about caught up on my sleep again!

If you’re a newly engaged couple wanting some kick ass wedding and engagement photos, view my portfolio here; if you’re more interested in kids and pets, click here; follow me on Facebook here … or contact me here!

I limited myself to the confines of my home, and an hour of photography.  Oh, and all natural light.  I wanted to keep it simple, and focus on light and posing.  Here’s what we got:

Mirror images – probably my absolute favorite of the afternoon:

The bright red of the dining room wall made a great background, even in black and white:

One last image from the guest room:

I’d love to hear your thoughts; do these more posed shots sit comfortably with the rest of my work?  Would you like to see more?