Erin and Mike... My niece's wedding!

My niece got married yesterday! It's been a few years since we had a wedding in the family and everyone was really looking forward to this so much. OMG, I had almost forgotten how much work is involved in creating the perfect wedding! But all the hard work and attention to detail paid off big time yesterday, and even if the weather wasn't the perfect New England fall day, everything else was fabulous. To be quite honest, we like the rainy and overcast days too! No shadows, no squinting, no blinking... and we have to get even more creative with our shots too!

I went to get some pictures of the girls getting ready at the hairdresser's... Antenna in Norwich did a great job, everyone looked awesome! Then I ran home to get everyone ready at my house, it was great being a guest as well as the photographer, then went back for the official "getting ready" pictures. I had fun, even got to help get Erin and some of her attendants dressed.

Once Erin was dressed, she looked in the mirror and uttered these classic words... "I look like freaking royalty!" I just laughed, it's just so 'her' to say that! But she did look like a fairytale princess! Check out the images below! My granddaughter Katelyn was at the wedding, she's 2 years old, and when they left she told her mommy that she wanted to go back to the church to see Cinderella!! :-)

The reception was great, the dinner was soooo good! My brother and his wife made extra special arrangements to have the meal be fantastic, and it was! Yum! I could go so more lobster today! (Hey Cliff....hint, hint!!) With the wonderful dancing and fun...and with updates on the Red Sox scores (Go Sox!) the night was perfect... oh, did I mention the sky cleared to a full moon too??

Some images from the day, Macy... the flower girl decided she should do her own hair!




Dad checks the weather... agh! Green on the radar!



Did I tell you that Erin can even make a sweatshirt look good???



Something Blue...



We have a gold pin that every bride in our family has worn for generations, I even have the wedding picture of the original bride who received it as a gift from her groom back in the 1800's! I'll scan it and post it here in a future blog.



Here comes the bride!



It stopped raining just long enough to get the photograph that Erin wanted, the water fall at Wright's Mill in Canterbury.



I love umbrella shots too! :-)



There wasn't a dry eye in the house with the Father Daughter dance... I Loved Her First... My brother and Erin had worked so hard on the dance lessons together and it was simply beautiful.

And for Erin, Mike, Cliff, Cathy, Corrissa, Jeff and all the Red Sox Fans at the wedding, Go Sox!



Congratulations to Erin and Mike... you did it!!

Love, Aunt Valeen

Laura & AJ

If you've been following the blog, you'll remember Laura and AJ, we did an engagement shoot with them out at Misquamicut beach and I was so happy with the shots that we did, I knew that the wedding would be just awesome! It was!

They are just the the best couple... I first met them at Angela and Brian's wedding last year, AJ was the best man. Laura came up to me and with a smile said "I'm marrying the best man." I just thought that was so romantic and sweet and I was so happy for her... then when she said she wanted us to take the photographs, I couldn't wait for the big day!

The wedding was great, I got to see Angela and Brian again, along with some of Brian's family, such nice people! It's a treat for us when we get to meet our couples again, especially at a wedding, makes us feel a little like family. :-)

So here's a few shots from the day!

My daughter Krista shot second camera with me, yes...we do get into our work!



Sometimes we luck out and get to shoot from behind the altar for one of a kind shots like this!



They had some friends from England that brought confetti to throw, and yes, it was bio-degradable!



Check out the effect the mist and the sun had on this shot, one of my favorites.



A stolen moment...



And of course, awesome shoes too!



Autumn in New England, it doesn't get any better.



Oh, and they had a streetcar bus that everyone got to ride in, so cool. :-)



Sunset at Watch Hill



Our thanks to Laura, AJ and their family and friends for letting us be part of the day, it was wonderful.

~Val

The Secret Wedding

Kristel and Oscar got married a couple weeks ago! The secret is out!! If you read the blog a few posts back, I mentioned something about a secret wedding, well... it was wonderful! Just a very small intimate gathering of family and a few friends at Harkness park on a simply perfect September day. The bride was absolutely breathtaking... I think Oscar would agree completely. :-)

Kristel peeking out from behind the building as Oscar arrived.



A stunning bride...





Kristel and Oscar on the beach at Harkness...





A first! The groom cooked the entire reception dinner! I'm not kidding!! It was yummy!



Thank you so much for letting me be part of your day! See you soon!

~Val

A day off !!

I took the day off yesterday!! That's a first in a very long time! We headed down to Misquamicut Beach in RI and it was gorgeous, perfect, awesome!! Are there more words I can use?? The girls just love the ocean and you can't help but relax and laugh watching them... okay, it started out with just dipping toes in the water and then it ended up with them getting totally soaked and loving every minute of it! :-)




Check out what we love to call "tasty light!"



Can you get much cuter??

I'm still waiting for one of my brides to jump in and do just this! How fun would that be, wedding dress and all?? Think of the crazy shots we could get, it's something you'd never forget! Come on... pretty please?

And of course...sunset on the beach... love it!!

Perfection!

Red Sox 2007 AL East Division Champs!!

We interrupt this photography blog for some important sports news:

WOO-HOO!!!!


(photo courtesy Boston Globe)

OK, back to regular programming ;) Wait, one more thing:

GO SOX!!!!!!!

Ok, I feel better now. *PHEW*

-Bruce

Artistic Photography and taking pictures

"An artist is not paid for his labor, but for his vision."
~unknown

This was a quote that I came across recently and I've been thinking about it a lot. Maybe I'll add it to my website. I think most anyone can take a picture, some can take good pictures. But for me, it's about more than that, it's about capturing the day with artistic images that will take your breath away every single time you look at them.

So this was just a little ramble about the value of having artistic professional photographers (us) at your wedding. I won't turn this into a rant about the guy who jumped in front of me with a disposable camera to snap a picture, or the woman who stood in the aisle through the entire ceremony at the church taking a video with her point and shoot camera, or the ... oops, that's almost a rant, isn't it?

Back to work now... I have weddings to edit! :-)

Colleen & Jason

I just had to blog this shot from yesterday, this is in Westerly RI... more on that later this week, what a cool town!! Now it's time to go shoot a secret wedding at Harkness! :-)

The Blog!

So Bruce and I were chatting yesterday about blogging...yes, he's blogged 3 times this week and I haven't blogged since last month!! He's so good at it and I sit at the computer with writer's block, starting and stopping 50 times before I can put anything down that makes sense. lol

So I'm checking the images from the ultra fun wedding yesterday, what a great day! One little note, I think everyone should have a nice gap between the ceremony and the reception! Gives us lots of time to play and be creative with your pictures and I have to say stopping in a neighborhood bar for a drink with friends is highly recommended too! :-)

Crystal and Scott at Avery Point

Sunday, I met up with Crystal and Scott at Avery Point in Groton (yes it was a busy weekend!) for some engagement pictures. Val and I will be shooting their wedding next year. Normally, it's a great opportunity to meet our couples and get to know a little about them before the wedding but in this case, Crystal and I go way back (her Dad and I go wayyyyy back) so this was a little different! It was nice to see everyone again 'cause it's been a while!

It was a bright, sunny day which, believe it or not, is not a photographer's first choice for weather conditions. Why? Squinting! And harsh, bright light can be a challenge for us. But no worries, we were able to get some great shots! Have a look:

Love the shades! ;)



Avery Point lighthouse makes a great backdrop, doesn't it?











Good seeing everyone again! Talk to you soon!

-Bruce

Laura and Gary - by Bruce

This past weekend, I shot Laura and Gary's wedding at the Grassy Hill Country Club in Orange, Connecticut. Laura's sister Vera and I used to work together and that's how I ended up with this wedding. We get SO MUCH of our work from referrals and friends and I can't even begin to tell you how much we appreciate that!

The country club was gorgeous! What a great venue for a wedding. It rained early in the day but cleared out in plenty of time for the late afternoon ceremony.





Laura and Gary are a very relaxed and easy going couple. Weddings can be so tense if you let them but they made it clear right off the bat there'd be none of that stressful stuff at their wedding!

Want a clue? How 'bout the Hershey bar favors ;)



Or the footwear the bride would rather have been wearing!



Speaking of the bride, here's Laura and I'm gonna steal a catch phrase from a favorite photographer of ours and call this a "relaxed portrait"...



And a stylin' (and also relaxed) Gary ;)





The ceremony finished in time to catch the tail end of some very tasty light as the sun went down and we were able to get some great shots...



Here's the wedding party. Yep, that's all of them! Cool, huh?



I, um, really don't want to know. You'll have to ask Laura on this one...



Two turn tables and a microphone...yesirree that's vinyl he's spinning! It's actually more complicated than that and the music doesn't come from the discs directly. They are used for timing, but still. It LOOKS cool!







A little too much dancing for these two!






Laura and Gary, thanks for a great night, I had a blast! It was nice to meet you guys and your whole family and special thanks to Vera for connecting us!!