Alicia and Craig at The Hotchkiss School: Part One

Just over a week ago was the incredible wedding of Alicia and Craig. What a day! Let me warn you in advance--I have a lot of favorites! I think the best way to do this is to split my posts into parts so I don't overwhelm my viewers!

We met up with Alicia, her nine bridesmaids, her parents, her aunt and her adorable flower girl at her parents' house. It was a busy scene, to say the least. It was an assembly line of hair and make-up but everyone was in good spirits--even when the skies opened up and the thunder roared.

Alicia was the most relaxed, happy and beautiful bride.







Here are some detail shots from the Getting Ready portion of the day:



Alicia's dress was just amazing. (Wait till you see it on her!)





Something borrowed:





Okay. This was the BEST reaction I've yet to witness of a bride putting on her dress. The moment the dress was on her body, Alicia was overwhelmed with emotion. It was so moving! I think she had the whole room in tears!



Gorgeous!



Her sister, Nicole, does the honors:







Okay. I don't want poor Craig to feel totally left out! Here are a few more favorites:

Craig and his Best Man, his brother, Eric:



This is one of my favorites from the day! This is Eric peeking out from the back room of the chapel as he and the groom wait for the ceremony to start. I was pretty far away, but luckily had my 70-200 ready to grab it:



A quiet moment from the ceremony:



The Guys:



I love their faces in this shot. Such happiness!



As they walk off, the new Mr. and Mrs.:



Okay. I am tempted to keep going, but you will have to stay tuned for the next installment!

Congratulations, Alicia and Craig! Your wedding was amazing! I had the best time with you and your family and friends! Thank you so much for allowing me to play such an important part in your wedding day. I hope to see you both soon...

#91--Check!

Well, I am happy to report that I have done something on my 101 List. I am disappointed not to be blogging it the way I originally hoped, but perhaps in the next few days I will get the chance.

#91 was to videotape Finn in everyday life. When he was a baby and didn't even do anything, I'd record him for hours. "Look! It's Finn sitting in his bouncy chair...Finn sleeping...Finn staring into space..." For some reason as he's gotten older I have totally "forgotten" to capture his cute little self on tape more often. And I want to be able to look back at every stage of his life and remember how he looked and sounded and acted.

So it isn't really something I can "check off" after just one time. But I am planning to keep the camera charged and with a tape in it so I can grab it at a moment's notice.

Sunday night I shot him dancing his little butt off to "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot. I had hoped to post a video clip here but I can't find the software for my video camera and for the life of me can't figure this out! I need some other kind of cable to hook it to my Mac so I'm gonna have to call it a day. Hopefully one of these days you, too, can laugh at my little spaz shaking his booty with all of his might. (BTW--the song was stuck in his head all morning and he kept singing to himself, "I like big BUTTS and I cannot lie..." My husband wants to kill me!)

A Little Slice of Heaven

This time last week I was hanging out lakeside with a great bunch of folks from the CT PUG, or Pictage User Group. A bunch of photographers coming together to talk shop and just relax and have some fun.

We were hosted by the lovely and gracious Amanda Harris Herzberger of Orchard Cove Photography. Her family's lovely lakehouse:



The "backyard"



Amanda gets pensive by the water:



Nikki Nicole from Nikki Nicole Photography chills with Strider:



Strider. Seriously the best dog I've ever met! What a good boy!



This next photo is the epitome of what I wish for in life. To wake up every morning and glide around the lake in a kayak...Serenity.



Exhibit A:



That's Mr. Justin Marantz, one half of the amazing husband and wife team of Justin Marantz Photography showing us how it's done.

This is how photographers "relax" by the water:



Here's what they're shooting:



That's Jo from Allegro Photography reenacting an Australian commercial.

My girl, Julia, from Salty Grapes. She lights up a room with that smile:



Joy Moody shares her shot of Justin with Jacob Bergmeier of NoDo Photography:



Last but not least:



I thought I'd take many more pictures over the course of 2 days than I did but that's because I was so busy working on our Retreat "Assignment." On the first day we came together to do some serious thinking and soul-searching. Mary Marantz led this portion of the workshop and boy is she good at making you think!

We started off by writing the following categories on a page in our notebooks: Personal, Family, Financial, Spiritual and Business. Then we identified the things in each area of our lives that we felt were obstacles or struggles. On the next page we wrote these same categories and listed our goals for each. We followed up by writing at the top of a page "The Good Life for Me..." And then we just wrote--sort of stream of consciousness--whatever that means to us. The Good Life.

It was very moving for me. And a lot of it boils down to finding time. Feeling like I "owe" every minute of my life to someone or some task. I recognized how very important it is for me to have time to be by myself and not feel guilty or pulled in a million directions by my ever-growing "To-Do" list. And, of course, time to be with my family and forget about email and editing and washing the kitchen floor!

Then we had one more task. 101 in 1001. And while it sounds kind of cute and perky, it was damn hard to do in those 2 days! We made a list of 101 things we want to accomplish in the next 1001 days. That works out to be just over 2 1/2 years, I think. I couldn't believe how hard this was! I had to escape the group and head down to the dock to get started since I cannot concentrate around other people. There ended up being a few of us down there and every 15 minutes or so someone would break the silence to ask for ideas or share their own.

Here are a few things on my 101 List:

Have someone else photograph me with my son, Finn. I am in almost no photos with Finn since he was born! Partly because I am always the one with camera and partly because I hate myself in pictures. But I know that someday Finn will appreciate having photos of himself with his Mommy so I just have to suck it up and get it done!

Learn to play the mandolin.

Take a pottery class. (One of my oldest dreams was to live in Vermont and have an artist's studio where I would do pottery and have a darkroom. This is pre-digital, of course.)

Take Finn to the movies.

Hang a chin up bar in the basement! (Weird, I know. But I love doing pull ups. At least I used to. I am afraid I might only be able to lift myself an inch right now, but I could work myself up to a handful or more. At least I hope I could!)

Of course there are many more. We are supposed to complete and blog about at least one thing on our list by today. I did do something on my list and am going to see if I can figure how to blog this the way I want to. Stay tuned...

Mazey One Month Old

Time flies! I can't believe how big Mazey is getting! I visited her for her one-month shots and that was already almost 2 weeks ago! I just haven't had the time to go through all the pictures yet.

Here is my hands down favorite shot:



Ain't she cute?

Stay tuned. There are many more worth posting; I just need to find the time!

Lady Claire

My dear, sweet niece Claire. She is every aunt's dream. (Especially every photographer-aunt! She is beautiful, photogenic, and she likes to have her picture taken!) And Finn adores her.

My only wish is that we could see her more than once a year.

Without further ado:













This reminds me of a 70's album cover: