Want to try something different?

I had my friend Keri and her sister Dori over my house on Friday, just to chat about some photo stuff. I gave them a quick 411 on their cameras. One of the last things I talked to them about was composition (one of my favorite things!).

If I have the time for some fun photos-- I like to try different ways of shooting. I recommended this technique to them (and this is without looking through the viewfinder too!):
-Shoot up (umm.. please don't take that the wrong way!-- This just means to get lower than your subject and shoot up! You may have to back up from your subject so you can get the shot.)
-Shoot down (This angle is a nice place to shoot from if you have your subjects looking up to you slightly-- hint, hint.. makes you look younger! This is an adorable angle for children too- it tends to make children look more innocent.)
-Shoot from the hip (that's right, place your camera on your hip and shoot!)

Here are some funny photos I shot a while back, just by placing the camera on the table and tilting it upwards.
This was just a different way to capture the moment my sons were eating (insert a child's voice here saying): CAKE!!!


PS. And yes, I thought even some of the "bad" ones were funny too ;-)

Robyn & Matthew

LilyLake Inn is such a great place for a ceremony and reception--- Robyn and Matthew had a gorgeous day-- a perfect day (in fact) for an outdoor wedding. They got married right under the Oak Tree, overlooking the water, with crisp white chairs and flower petals leading them down the aisle.

Here is a sneak preview of their day... enjoy the Photobooth Photos (finally posting some), that some of their guests enjoyed as well :-) Special thanks to Christa for another faboo wedding!

Robyn was taking a quick break outside with the ladies.. and I happened to follow them. Inside the hotel I saw this gorgeous window... another one of my favorite things to do!

Amazing what post processing can do to a photo. Which one do you prefer?

Yeah! We did it! (They are such a fun couple!)

2 hours daddy... 2 HOURS!

We decided to take a last-minute family (overnight) trip.
Our destination: Misquamicut Beach in Rhode Island.

I admit.. this was our very first family overnight trip with the boys-- being at such a young age and traveling... well, if it takes me 1.5 hours to do grocery shopping with the boys, imagine what it was going to be like taking them to the beach, the amusement park, the museums..never mind trying to get them to go to sleep in a strange place at night....

I knew we could do it, but I wasn't sure how the boys would react to the hotel, the change of scenery.. and well, the beach! (As you can tell from the pics below... we were a little hesitant at first and we (sorta) got used to it.)

The reason for the title of my post is because technically our trip was suppose to take 1 hour and 15 minutes without traffic. Yes, we did bump into a little traffic.. but for some reason my husband decided to take his own route.. and changed his course a few times. At the end I realized it took us 2 hours to get there.. and well, my son reminded my husband! ;-)

2 hours daddy!!

I used my macro the whole trip- yeah!
Our view from the room- it really was blue!

Our next door neighbor ;-)


Hmm.. Alex didn't take to the sand very well at first. OUCH! Mommy's feet...
But he eventually got used to it (notice he's still on the towel though!)
Aiden had no trouble exploring in the sand.Alex loved watching the waves crashing.

If you know me, I am all about the silhouettes!

A couple of friendly teenagers gave us a sparkler.. the boys were all over it!

On our way home...

Jamie and Jose

OK. I admit. I love blogging. But there's a problem when I do blog.
I find myself reviewing a wedding to put up just a few photos on the blog.
But when I do, I find myself starting to edit photos.. one after another.
I find myself saying- just 5 more... just 3 more to put on the blog...

(And my husband asks why I stay up so late every night :-)

It's very addicting- especially when you have such a great couple like Jamie and Jose.

I remember very distinctly Jamie, Jose, and Kara (Jamie's twin sister), meeting with me in my office. I remember having another inquiry for this exact day in August who was suppose to meet with me as well (before they were!) My policy is that I'm not able to reserve a date without a contract and deposit (sorry!), and they wanted to meet with me. It happened that they literally met with me the day before this other couple (sorry about that!)-- but I have to say, I truly just clicked with all of them. Both Jamie and her sister were getting married in the same year (lots of planning in that household! :)

I was truly honored when both of them selected me as their photographer (thank you!)

I was very inspired at this wedding - there were so many beautiful opportunities to capture delicate moments. (And I don't think I told Jamie this, but the bridal suite she got ready at the Goodwin Hotel was the exact room I had gotten ready in before my wedding- except there was new wall color :-) It brought back some nice memories.

Thank you Jamie and Jose, for allowing Jake and I to capture your moments.

Here's a sneak preview:

I don't know why this photo just caught my eye. But when I turned it into Black and White- POW! I knew it had to be! I think it's the simplicity of the photo with a complicated dress process (all those buttons :-)

I wanted to have a little fun in this picture (thank you Kubota!)
I had to include the sister shot (thank goodness they were wearing different outfits and hair do's!)
I remember seeing some beautiful lighting coming through the windows (but there was a couch blocking it). Hopefully the Goodwin didn't mind too much ;-) (There weren't too many dust bunnies underneath!)
Again, love the lighting!Simple. Yet elegant.

Had to include the natural reaction Jamie had after Jose dipped her!

And their kiss after their very first dance as Mr. and Mrs. :-)