Dogwoods and Dandelions and Mother's Day

I woke up this morning thinking about the pink dogwood that blooms outside my bedroom window. It is so pretty right now and I knew I wanted to take a photograph of it, more to play with ISO's and settings and all that 'stuff' (yeah, I know, I'm real technical!) So I got George (and you know that's my D3, right?) and a few lenses and went outside.

What a day!! Wow! I started shooting and as I looked around, I saw that there were so many perfectly gorgeous flowers and shrubs in bloom, well it was amazing! And it got me thinking about Mother's Day...

I see all the ads on TV to buy this and that for mom, like you can't show your love without spending a fortune. (Yes, those diamond studs ARE dazzling!) And all the arrangements and dozens of roses from the store are beautiful and thoughtful... but I really think the best gift you'll ever receive will be the bouquet that your little one picked by themselves in the backyard.

So for all the moms out there... I wish you all the joy and love in the world! Happy Mother's Day! :)

And let's not forget the all time favorite!

~ Valeen

Sweet Baby!

It's been just crazy this month! Weddings, families and babies, oh my!! I'm loving every minute of it! Here's a preview of Brooke with more to come!

Superbowl, oh yeah!!

So... did you happen to catch that game last night? :)

~ Valeen Thivierge

4 going on 14!

I'll post the series of shots I did with Katelyn working her new sunglasses with some attitude later this week, but gotta love those baby blues!!

I love this shot and love my D-3! Right out of the camera! :) Yeah!!

~Valeen Thivierge

Too Cute!!

I couldn't think of a better title for this because I'd just laugh each time I'd look at the picture! :)

~Val

A little more Christmas Fun

I know the blog posts are kinda out of order but what the heck, right? It's all about the holiday and I had to share a few more. Okay, I'm going to say it, I have a gorgeous family!!! I had planned on making some amazing Christmas cards and sending them out this year, but... um....well, I got the flu, it got crazy and I didn't get them sent... So here's a big MERRY CHRISTMAS from all of us!

Our very own "Mr. McDreamy!" ... Matthew... he walks in the room and all the girls start to giggle and completely freak out!! Watch out Hollywood!!

Ah Ha!!! Caught ya' chimping!!

Twins! Okay, not really... but I think you can tell they are related!

Love this pic!

Katelyn went to see The Nutcracker this year, can you tell? Here come the ballet classes!

Daddy and Em. And also kind of a before and after set of pictures. Sweet and cute to start....

And then.... ROCKSTAR!!

Of course, now I have to introduce you to my two newest photographers, trust me, you'll love their work! (If they aren't fighting over the camera!)

Katelyn and Emily! Watch out world! They are going to completely change the way we take a picture in the future!! ("I got my first camera when I was 4, and I've been snapping pics ever since")

Love to all! Merry Christmas!!

~Valeen

We need a bigger house!

I have a problem, at least according to my family and there must be a support group for it somewhere. It has something to do with picking a tree that is way too big for the house, every single time!! So this is AFTER we cut a foot off the bottom, and a foot off the top...

Got out the landscaping tools and trimmed it down a little...okay, okay, a lot!! And right when it was almost done....Crash!!! In slow motion and just missed the little guy on the floor! He thought the garland was nice though!

Tom was not amused.

So after some intense work on the stand (which was brand new!) and the trunk (too soft!) and vacuuming for an hour, and redecorating the whole thing...oh, by the way, nothing broke... it's perfect! (Well, sorta!) And what the heck, the Barbies love it!

I have been officially banned from picking out the tree next year!! :)

~Valeen

Halloween!

Ahh, the holidays. Nothin' like it. The sound of screaming goblins. The smell of decomposing zombies. And my daughter son with a wig on. Yep.

Anyway, I'll get over my failure at parenting and my first-born's cross-dressing tendencies, no worries, but in the meantime enjoy some scenes from Portland this evening...

-Bruce

 

 

 

 

Jack O. Lantern

There were pumpkin guts flying all around my house tonite. One even lost an eye. I think he was playing with a Red Rider BB gun. Gruesome...

Play Ball

Ok well it's the wrong kind of ball, but hey what can I say? I guess that would explain why I'm sitting on the sidelines with a camera instead of coaching! Which is a nice change of pace, believe me!

Just a few pics from this morning's soccer extravaganza here in Portland, enjoy!

-Bruce

Put the camera down, please?

My youngest son Brett doesn't really care much for having his picture taken. Which is odd since he's basically had a camera in his face since he was born. It's not that he hates it, but mainly just that he looks at it as an annoyance. I rarely get good pics of him unless he absolutely has no idea I'm photographing him.

What I really like about this shot is that it was a total surprise to me. We leave our cameras lying around, probably a little more than we should ;) The day before a shoot I have to scramble around the house and round everything up, charge batteries, and especially start emptying memory cards so everything's ready to go. This was on one of my cards; apparently a grab shot my wife had snagged sometime during the week, I just love it!

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

-Bruce

Bridget and John

Val hit the nail on the head as far as where I've been! Both my boys play baseball, or should I say, both of my boys eat, sleep and breathe baseball, and guess what season it is! Yep we are off and running right now so I've been a little "time challenged". If I could only find a way to be in more than one place at the same time I'd be all set!

Anyway, here's some WAYYY over-due shots from Bridget and John's wedding. They are back from their honeymoon and now have Internet access so here we go!!

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Here's one from Val...is this an incredible shot or what? That's why SHE'S the boss!

All hands on deck! (Or on Bridget!) These moments just before the ceremony always remind of a racing pit crew! (Hey I'm a guy what can I say?)

Love this shot of the flower girls.

They decided to sneak a peak..

Bridget totally faked this one (but I love it anyway!)

Love a little fish-eye action...another one from the boss!

The weather broke and we able to get outside and play for just a bit with John and Bridget. This is one of my favorite parts of any wedding and usually the time when we get the best shots.

Love you guys, welcome home! Pics will be done before you know it so I'll talk to ya soon!!

-Bruce

Simply Sweet and Perfect

Brody...say hello to the world. (he will when he wakes up)

Where in the world is?

LOL Just teasing! He's got 2 boys in Little League... and as long as they end up playing for the Red Sox (Sorry Roland, but ya know ya gotta give in sooner or later!) and we can get some free tickets on the Green Monster, then I'm all set. ;)

Quick updates...

So Bruce is working on editing the wedding of Bridget and John, it was really great and we will blog some of the shots soon (hint! hint!) ;) And then on Wednesday Krista had the baby! Little Brody is such a cutie, I can't wait to see him with his eyes open, he sleeps all the time. I'll have tons more photos to blog of him soon. I ended up sick on Saturday,I think it's the flu. So much for the flu shot, of course I get to thinking was it the day care center, the hospital, Walmart??

Here's a pic of Katelyn meeting her little brother for the first time at the hospital, he's not even a day old in the picture. I don't think she knew quite what to make of him that day, but now they are the best of buddies.



This is right out of the camera (my beloved D3) and I'll spend some time editing more baby pictures soon... but aren't they just beautiful together?

Emily Runs on Dunkin!

No, it's not coffee...although she has so much energy, I swear she's on expresso all day long!!