Monthly Archives: October 2009

{E&J; A Lifestyle Session}

I don’t do many Lifestyle Sessions, so it’s always I treat when I get to shoot one.  Last weekend I had the pleasure of hanging around with E, J and their dog, Cooper for about 30 minutes.  E & J are daughter’s of a friend, and I had so much fun during their session!  Cooper had tons of fun chasing our cat up a tree and then trying to climb it, lol.  For me, a great session is when I can’t stop smiling when I’m looking at the images afterwards.  These are the ones that made me do just that.  Enjoy!

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Silly faces!

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Look at Cooper’s tongue!  LOL!

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Does this say “sisters”, or what?

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This one was Mom’s idea as we were heading inside.  Love it!

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Payback.

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{Katie & Shaun; Engaged}

We were supposed to shoot Katie & Shaun’s fall Engagement Session last Friday, but Mother Nature had plans of her own.  Katie sent me a text around 6:30 am checking to see if I was awake because everything was covered with snow.  Not exactly what any of us pictured when we thought of a fall Engagement Session, lol!  It was freezing cold as well, so we decided to postpone the session until this week.  Katie and Shaun were able to move their schedules around to give us two days available for the shoot this week, just in case.  We kept our fingers crossed and were blessed with a perfect fall day yesterday afternoon.

Katie was really nervous prior to the session so we grabbed some coffee and drove around for a bit while we got to know each-other.  Katie and Shaun went to college together (and actually went to the same college that Jillian and Ashley attended as well) and were friends before they became a couple.  They’re both pharmacists, and are planning an October, 2010 wedding at The Cathedral, with a reception at The Lodge.

We started the session at my new favorite location for portraits.  The theme for their session was “color.”

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My favorite.  The both have amazing eyes, but I love how Katie’s just pop in this picture!

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Katie asked me if I would mind doing a shot of her ring.  MIND?!  Lol!  Of *course* I don’t mind.

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{Ryan & Renae; A Day After Session}

Wedding day’s can be a crazy whirlwind sometimes, and over the years I’ve seen couple’s with as much as 13 hours coverage still not have enough time for some of the pictures they’d hoped to get.  As much as I’d love to have an unlimited amount of time with my couple on their wedding day, they have tons of family and friends who want their time with them, too.  I’m just not the kind of Wedding Photographer that’s going to keep the Bride and Groom from their guests, so I just go with the flow.  Day After Sessions appeal to me because it’s a chance for them to put their wedding clothes back on and get some unique imagery that many times isn’t possible on their wedding day.  I’d been dying to do a Day After Session for some time, and when I approached Ryan & Renae with the idea a couple of weeks prior to their wedding they were game.  I met them Sunday at 7 am, and while I could tell they were tired they were ready to rock their session.

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I do a lot of couple’s and beautiful scenery.  While I love placing a couple in a beautiful location, sometimes other places inspire me.  Ryan and Renae gave me complete creative control for this session and simply wondered what I had in mind when I pulled into the parking lot.  This was what I’d envisioned.  I’m simply in love with this series of images.

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Ryan & Renae, THANK YOU for getting up at the crack of dawn the day after your wedding so I could drag you around town in the freezing cold!  You were the perfect couple for my first Day After Session, and I hope you enjoy the images!

{Gina & Will; Engaged}

Let the 2010 Engagement Sessions begin!  Gina & Will are tying the knot in May at Holy Cross in Dewitt, with a reception at The Lodge in Skaneatleles.  They were in the area over Colombus Day weekend to take care of some wedding-related stuff, and after originally planning their session on Friday, we had to reschedule due to rain.  Luckily we were blessed with an overcast day Monday.  A perfect day for some mini golf!

When I first met Gina & Will they described themselves to me as “quirky”.  They were looking for a Photographer who would capture that in their pictures, and I love that they’re up for exploring any ideas we both come up with.  They didn’t want their Engagement Session images to be the ever popular park locations, and we’d actually discussed the possibility of using some of the abandoned houses in the area for the session.  The thing is, when discussing locations and ideas I really listen to what my couple’s are saying, and I can usually get a feel for whether or not an idea is going to work well with a particular couple.  I knew that Gina & Will weren’t the type to gaze lovingly into each-others eyes with the sun setting behind them, and I decided it would be best if they had an activity to do to keep their mind off of the fact that I was stalking them with my camera.  After a few days I came up with the mini golf idea, and when I approached Gina with it she was like “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that!  We mini golf all the time!”  We were granted permission to shoot at their favorite mini golf location in Syracuse, Fairmount Glenn.  Tom, thank you so much for letting us shoot their session there!  We greatly appreciate it and will definitely be back!

I’m trying out a new look.  I’d love your thoughts on it…do you like the bigger images?  Do you like them with the frame and logo, or without the frame and with a watermark? You can leave your thoughts in the comment section.

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Will had absolutely no idea what was going on behind him.

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This is one of my favorites.

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I love this one, too.

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Gina & Will, you definitely picked an awesome location for the session!  Thanks for letting me stalk you while you played mini golf, lol.  Your playful personalities really came through in the images, and I even caught you gazing into each others eyes at the end.  I’m excited for your wedding in May!  It will be here before you know it.