I am so excited about Aimee and Adam’s wedding in Connecticut in September! They have this fabulous area behind their house that will host the reception, and the church where the ceremony will take place is literally a few houses down the road.

I did a sexy little photo session with them (and their pets!) on my way through CT a couple of weeks ago. The birch tree in the photo above has such a cool story - Aimee’s mom and dad picked it up from the side of the road as a sapling on a roadtrip through Canada when they were newlyweds… and now it is this huge and beautiful tree in their yard! This is a family of fierce loyalties and local roots.

[ more photos here ]

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I photographed a session with Cadence and Jesse in their hometown of Newport, Rhode Island back in March. I love these photos they chose to use on their website!

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I’ve said it before and will continue to say it… I love second shooting with other photographers! It gives me great delight to see how they work and challenge myself to complement the principal photographer’s style in a way that is both totally different, but also able to blend with the portfolio of images the client will see in the end.

On June 14 I was out in Wisconsin for the first time visiting with Amy of Ardent Photography. We had an action-packed weekend; one of the highlights was shooting the wedding of Leslie and Josh at First English Lutheran Church in Appleton, WI with her. Here’s her blog post about the wedding.

Amy is totally different in her focus on a wedding than I am. Hers are breathtakingly romantic images and an emphasis on the dashing and beautiful. Of course I wouldn’t characterize my own work as “unromantic” or “unbeautiful”, but I tend to look for the quirky personalities and surprising details of an event….

On a wedding day every photographer becomes family portrait artist, food and product photographer, as well as photojournalist and fashion portraitist… we have to do everything… second shooting means that I can go off and take photos of things on the fringe but still integral to the event, from the flowers in the trolley station parking lot to the children dancing in cacaphony on the dance floor to the bride alone for the first time in a week just moments before walking down the aisle.

[ view all of my favorites from their wedding here ]

Posted in destination, engagements, inspiration, wedding 7 Comments »

Rachel,
We got our engagement pictures in the mail and I can’t BELIEVE how great they are! I really feel like you captured our relationship on film! The ones of Abby are amazing. You put the three of us together, without pressure, and made us look like the family we have become. Thank you so much! I can’t wait to see what you do at the wedding!
XOXO
Christina

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Kristen and Matt are getting married in 3 weeks! I met up with them for a mini session in the Seaport District near the hotel where they’ll be married. I love that area for photos, but I had only been there on the weekend. And let me tell you, on a Thursday at 5:30 is not the time to be looking for street parking.

[ more photos from our session here ]

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from an engagement session last summer in downtown boston.

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I mentioned earlier that I met Christina, Phil, and Abby in Newburyport on one of the super rainiest days. They were amazing about traipsing through the puddles and exploring the businesses that would let us shoot, including a Thai restaurant, a diner, a bookstore, and a bakery.

I’m pretty much in love with this photo:

It was fun to have Abby along. She added a little bit of humor and drama to the session.

[ more photos from the session here ]

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There are a few select people who are leagues beyond their peers in the “inspire Rachel to do good in this world” department. Serena and Mark lead this group. They’re the kind of people who you know are destined for greatness, and in fact already started on that journey. Their goodness is exponentially wonderful when they come together.

In fact, these two have no idea, but they had an extremely important role in helping me put a tangible face to my ideal client when I was rethinking my work last year. They’re smart, large-hearted, beautiful people who lead lives of intentional integrity and love. Serena and Mark are not afraid to step over some pretty major cultural hurdles to profess their unique and wonderful union to the world.

I love the way he smiles deeply when she is close to him. I love the way she allows herself to dream off into the future when she is snuggled in his arms. I love how this huge guy wraps himself around her with a very special tenderness. How his gentle nature becomes fierce with love while her soul becomes quieted in rest and acceptance.

As we walked around exploring the shadows and textures of the Boston Public Gardens, I enjoyed our conversations about bringing Jamaican and Chinese influences into their wedding. I know, very recently in fact, what it means to plan a wedding that is meant to accommodate two very different cultures that hold very different values… while still planning a wedding that is truly who you are together… as an unlikely fusion of flavors.

This photo session is dedicated to Christopher and Amy, who did not yet know what the word emo means but still let us borrow their tree for some photos.

[ more photos from this session will be added here ]

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I just about flipped when Christina suggested that we do their prewedding photo session in Newburyport, Massachusetts where she and Phil spend a lot of time. I would love to be able to call myself a Newburyport wedding photographer in the same way I would like to be a Concord wedding photographer. It’s just one of those quintessential new england towns that is small enough to be friendly and cute but happening enough to have stores and restaurants open past 5pm.

Furthermore, I was thrilled that we got to incorporate almost-six-year old Abby into the shoot. We all had a little adventure, going from the bakery to restaurants to the bookstore for all kinds of crazy cool photos. These guys had an amazingly optimistic attitude even though the rain never stopped! More on that later.

For now I want to share a few personal photos, which I don’t do that often on this blog. After talking with a coworker’s, Ali decided that a folding bike is exactly the right solution for his commute to work so he is not as dependent upon Lowell’s bus system schedule (subway-commuter rail-bus). I tell you what, I didn’t even know such a thing as a folding bike exists! On our way back to Boston, Ali and I stopped at a bike shop in Salem, MA to check out their folding bike collection.

Next to the Salem Bike Shop, there’s a cigar store that had these fantastic items in the front window (I love small towns!)

(dedicated to the lads of Moustache May)

Of course there was a cigar store indian, only this one was missing a large chunk of his arm so his hand is kinda just freefloating:

And here’s a strange window display from what I presume is a tax prep office:

Ok, one more random photo to even it all out. On our way out of Newburyport to Salem we drove by this institutional looking corporation…. that had giant red robots guarding its drive. Ali and I have this thing for bots… but it was still kind of strange to see them right there in the middle of nowhere. Anyone know what company that is?

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I love watching the work of my wedding photographer friends around the world.

Are you ready for this? OC photographer Sarah K Chen first posted about these shoes and inspired Serena Grace to get some for her own wedding (as photographed by Mark Brooke above). They come in cream and red and some other crazy colors and I really can’t wait until one of my hot little brides wears them for a bridal, boudoir, or engagement session. You can get them from Endless and some colors are now on sale! Luichiny shoes are wonderful.

Posted in boudoir, clients, engagements, inspiration, wedding 4 Comments »