A couple of cute shots I wanted to quickly share from a couple of weddings you’ll be seeing up on the blog soon!

First, Jenna and Scott, whose wedding was held at Wentworth by the Sea in Portsmouth, NH:

And Amy and Matt’s wedding at the Hotel Marlowe in Cambridge:

More to come, soon! :)

Linda and Adam are musicians, and while there was some initial talk of incorporating instrumental props and Symphony Hall into their engagement shoot last month, they decided to forego any musical reference and do the shoot along the Esplanade. I have to say that while the instruments and the Symphony would have been a cool change from what I’m used to shooting, I absolutely loved that the simplicity of the river and docks made it so easy to focus on and capture Linda and Adam’s relationship in the images. I think you can tell from the photos that that their relationship is filled with a lot of laughter (and maybe a few Eskimo kisses ;).

I’ve been noticing that I mention the weather a lot when I write about my shoots, and it’s just because it really is such a huge factor in when we choose to do them. For Linda and Adam’s shoot we started at 6:30am to catch what is usually amazing light at that time and since the forecast for that morning promised only a small window of time with sun and no rain. Of course, the forecast was wrong and there was no sun (but also no rain, yay!) and only immediately after we were done for the morning and after I was already on the bus on my way home did the clouds part and the sun came pouring down.

Anyway, despite the lack of sun, I think I was able to get some great images of them along the Esplanade. Like I said, it really wasn’t hard, since Linda and Adam are so sweet together. I don’t know how I get so lucky with such beautiful couples! :)

After we spent maybe ten minutes taking the previous dock photos, we found this written on another section of the same dock, and Linda and Adam were good enough sports to get back down against the cold wood to get some shots with it:

Thanks again for a fun shoot, Linda and Adam!

I met up with Jill and Brian last month for their engagement session, where we started in Beacon Hill and worked our way over to the Esplanade. It was actually my first time photographing on Acorn Street, the cute Beacon Hill alley that everyone and their mother photographs when they’re in the area. To be honest, I remember the first time I saw Acorn Street I thought, “This is it?” It really didn’t look all that impressive and was much smaller than I expected. But, somehow, on the day I came with Jill and Brian it transformed into something so charming and so pretty, and I really fell in love with it.

It usually takes most couples a little while to warm up to my camera, but Jill and Brian were really quick to get comfortable. Their chemistry as a couple is obvious, and they made it so easy to catch their smiles, laughter, and sweet little moments together. I was actually very surprised to learn that they first met on a blind date, so I can only guess that they had incredibly insightful friends to be able to make such a great match!

I’ll be shooting their wedding this October, and I’m so looking forward to it! Here are some of my favorites from the session.

Thanks again for a beautiful session, Jill and Brian!

I met up with Amy and Matt a few weekends ago for their engagement session, but they’re getting married tomorrow (!!) so I figured I needed to rush and get this post up before the whole “engagement” part is no longer applicable! I forget exactly how Amy found me on the web but during our first meeting we learned that we both actually work at the same hospital (aka my day job). Small world. :)

Amy and Matt chose to do the shoot in Nahant since that’s where Amy is from, and the beaches there are where she spent literally every day of her summers. We even drove past the house that she grew up in, which I thought was so sweet. It was a little bit windy and cool that day but this turned out to be great for us because it meant we pretty much had the beaches all to ourselves! I love that the quietness of the beaches during the session really shows in the photos, which came out feeling so serene and intimate. Everything about the shoot was an absolute dream–the rocks, the water, the light, and, most of all, Amy and Matt. I can’t even describe how much I enjoyed shooting this session and going through all of the images!

My favorites…

Amy and Matt, thanks so much for this amazing shoot! See you again very soon for the big day!

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I rarely put photos of me up on the blog. I don’t think there is even one direct shot of my face anywhere! I guess a change was inevitable.

Earlier this year I blogged about how I was hoping to get in front of the camera more. The surprising thing about blogging, I’m learning, is that people actually read my posts and are willing to help out with my goals! Shortly after that post, I met fellow photographer Li Ward of Fat Orange Cat Studio and she offered to help me with my first time in front of the lens. I was already familiar with Li as she is a fabulous Boston area pet photographer, and seeing the weddings and engagements she’d shot and being a fan of her shooting style, I was excited to see what she would come up with for my portrait session.

I ended up learning a lot on the shoot. The number one lesson that I took away from the day though was that direction and communication between the subject and photographer are key. I found that while it might be easy to capture natural moments as a photographer, it’s quite difficult to be natural in front of the camera when you’re the subject. So for those who tend to stiffen up when they have a lens pointed at them (e.g. me!) it is tremendously helpful for the photographer to give some guidance on what to do. I was thankful that Li told me where to look, how to walk, how to toss my hair around (I still can’t believe I did that, haha). Luckily, she also helped put me at ease and I slowly warmed up to the whole idea of “modeling.”

Something else I learned was to start appreciating what I look like from different angles. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I generally only like how I look from my “good side” in photos. I’m starting to realize that I need to see myself as the world sees me, which is from many different perspectives. And as much as I may prefer some sides over others, they’re all still me!

I’ve been meaning to share these for a while now since we did the shoot over a month ago, just a few days before my birthday. Definitely go check out more images on Li’s blog, but here are some of my favorites from the session. These were all taken by Li and post-processed by me.

Thanks SO much, Li, for a fun shoot and for all of these great captures! :)