There are some pretty interesting photos from an experimental bridal session at a horse farm over at fearlessbridals.com…

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Another fantastic fearless bridal session just hit the other blog…

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A couple of photos from our analog photo shoot today in Princeton, MA. The shoot was mostly film using holgas and my lomo fisheye camera, so it’s going to be a couple of weeks before we get to see the others.

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Remember Jenny, whose Pennsylvania got rained out in September? Well, we did some bridals at Larz Anderson Park in Brookline at the peak of the fall foliage. This combines two of my favorite things in the world – interesting woman in a pretty dress, and autumn color.

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Every time I look at the photos from our bridal session following their wedding and reception, I keep thinking OMYGOSHTHEY’RESOBEAUTIFUL and it’s because Eileen and Wouter are blissfully happy to be together. Their joy really overflows. It was an absolute privilege to photograph for them and I am so glad they decided to invest in the photography aspect of their day, and also happy that they gave me lots of delicious time to do bridal portraits.

The “blue” images are from our stop at the WGBH building in Watertown. Ashley almost-Pizzuti and I scouted the area the day before the wedding on our way to the fancy Boston Magazine Weddings Issue launch party (I felt awkward at the party if you really want to know) and decided that would be a good place for photos. Oh boy, it sure was. Thanks to the accommodating communications director at ‘GBH who saw us shooting and rather than kicking us out like so many other establishments are wont to do, instead invited us to share photos for their membership to enjoy. How cool are you WGBH? You earned my lifelong support with that smooth move.

We went to one final location to get some fun photos at the end of our time together. These are from the “colosseum” that is the Harvard Stadium in Cambridge. I have driven past that place several times before, and even marked it into my GPS as a prime place for a bridal shoot… and here it is.

[ more photos! ]

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I’ve got too many tabs held open in firefox, so I thought I’d share some of the interesting things I have found in the past week of browsing online, and also a little of what’s going on in my life.

• CT photographer Carla ten Eyck has some fabulous floral creations featured from a recent shoot on her blog… check these out! (scroll down 1/3)
• Lowell-based Ashley and Rich of Pizzuti Studios are brilliant. They have mapped out the time a wedding photographer invests into a typical wedding. It seems ridiculous when you put it on paper, but I’d agree with about 95% of their numbers. Here.
• Lifehacker, one of my favorite sites to read every morning, suggests you can be more photogenic by forgetting about the camera. Here.
  
• This is fantastic! Barry Obama, the freshman. Here.
• If you’re interested in seeing the behind-the-scenes action of a great photographer, I’d recommend the book about iconic fashion and celebrity portrait photographer Richard Avedon as he photographed regular people on-location in the American west. Avedon at Work: In the American West is a really interesting read. Check it out from your local public library system!
• Awhile ago I had the pleasure of meeting up with and photographing my friend Gitonga Mbaya, a photographer in Kenya currently shooting weddings for a living. My new travel dream is to get over to Africa this December to check out their crazy wedding season firsthand. Since Kenyans are on holiday from work and school all month in December, people apparently get married on every day of the week!

• I’ve been shooting a LOT of studio maternity lately… and I LOVE it. Wondering if that’s my next specialization? Womens’ bodies are amazing. More on my portrait blog, decent urban lifestyle.
• NYT: The Joy of Less. Here.
• We’re gearing up for some major travel in upcoming weeks. We’re headed to Phoenix, NYC, Chicago, Los Angeles, Maine, Dallas, and BULGARIA (!!) in the next two months.

PERSONAL, health-related.

• My carpal tunnel issues are flaring up again in both wrists . This makes editing, writing, and doing anything with email even MORE time-consuming than it already is.  I am headed back into Boston on Wednesday for some more acupuncture with my brilliant nonwestern practitioner – Rebecca Ong-Sutherland works her magic to balance out bodies for health (she not only helps my wrists, but also allergies! Boston Alternative Health.
  
• Also I am very convinced that everyone my age and younger WILL suffer wrist problems in their 30s. We are so computer-focused and treat ergonomic workstation solutions like they’re uncool. Check out these carpal tunnel stretches, here.
• Our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share starts this week! We’re sharing our weekly box of locally-grown produce with Anne and Alex Ruthmann who live down the street. They even have a pick-your-own flower patch I hope to utilize for some shoots this summer. WorldPEAS.

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I am ridiculously inaccurate when I try to describe time in years off the cuff… but great at remembering things in relation to other influences in my life. Today, minus five years, is the time when a mommy-blogger-with-a-camera influenced a decision that would in turn influence the direction of my career.

I was talking with some other photographers recently about people who inspire us. I asked them to give me the name of one person who has influenced them the most lately, and Tomme mentioned that the work of Tanja Lippert is the reason she switched from Canon to Nikon equipment.

Her statement took me instantly back to the time when I was finishing up grad school in Pasadena, California and made a somewhat spontaneous decision to upgrade my camera. At the time I was shooting obsessively and acting like a professional with one of those fujifilm point and shoot cameras that makes you think you have a “real camera” but really isn’t that great (for laughs, see: my first “photo shoot” march 2002!). I was researching a good starter camera and had decided on the Canon Rebel. The day before I was going out to make my big purchase, I read a post by one of my favorite bloggers, dooce, who had just gotten her first DSLR. Dooce is hilarious and descriptive which, scarily, made me trust her judgment, so without reading much more than her blog post about the camera [link] and a quick price comparison, I decided on the Nikon D70.  Dooce and I purchased our cameras within days of one another, and have both come a LONG way with photography and life since June 2004, and it makes me laugh to think that she had so much influence over the first major decision in what became my full-time photography career.

When friends and acquaintances are shopping for cameras, they often ask which cameras I’d recommend. I’m still a big fan of the Nikon D90 (the love child of the D70 and D80) but also appreciate the compact size and indie feel of my husband’s Ricoh point and shoot.

Thinking back to my Dooce-induced purchase exactly five years ago makes me nostalgic. I shot my first event with the camera about two weeks later… a July 4 wedding in Malibu. This past April I was back in LA for a real wedding booking, and Ali and I drove past the site from that first wedding, where Sunset Blvd hits the ocean, and I was thankful for all of the people who have come into my life since that time.

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Studio work is a love-hate relationship for me.  Until this year, my photography career has flourished completely on-location which means I have a lot less control over the environment. Weddings are unpredictable situations that force you to find the light. Family portraits are charming when taken in the family’s home, but you have to find the most photogenic corners of a clutterful American household. Engagement sessions and headshots are fun and lighthearted when you take to the streets… but what happens when it rains?

My concerns for studio work is that it will be boring for me, or look boring for the viewer. I’m a tiny bit afraid that the work will start to look dated in a few years as styles and fashions change (a la ‘sexy people‘). But then I think… won’t standing in random places and railroad tracks look dated in a few years, anyway?

I’m discovering that the studio is stretching me to try new things, to experiment with lighting, and to challenge myself to focus on expression and body language more than environment. It provides me with a stable location to have meetings and prep for shoots, while extending the time I am able to accommodate people whose work schedules wipe out almost all reasonable daylight hours.

I’m in the process of transitioning to a different kind of work year. I’m no longer accepting mainland US wedding commissions after 2009 and will be offering more portrait-focused sessions in the upcoming months. I’ve discovered that wedding-related portrait sessions (boudoir, fearless bridals, and engagement sessions) give me the space to shoot artfully and produce images that I love the most. I hope to spend time collaborating with wedding industry professionals without the secret agenda of trying to gain referrals… I just want to shoot well and do work I love!

Anyway, I’ve been working hard on getting the images from our recent collaborative studio bridal sessions online.  Head on over to fearlessbridals.com to view the pretty photos and meet some really talented hair and makeup stylists, a floral designer, and see some very interested short wedding dresses (one is partially made of chain mail!).

Felicia’s session

Tara’s photoshoot

Jenn’s portraits

behind the scenes – the stylists!

Please feel free to leave comments over there…!

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source: brides.com

We’re still looking for one more bride with a cute SHORT white/ivory wedding dress for a special photo shoot on the afternoon of April 15 at our studio in Lowell MA. If that’s you or someone you know, please email me at rachel@mergeweddings.com.

I’ve not yet really gotten to photograph a bride in a short (white) dress, so I am really excited about this shoot. I’m working with an amazingly creative floral designer and peonies (which are in season) and I’ve scored some vintage accessories to use on the shoot.

We’re also seeking creative hair, makeup, and jewelry design artists to help with the shoot.  My inspiration for the shoot is REAL SIMPLE meets Anthropologie.

ETA: wowsers – just found a shoot collaboration photographed by Stephanie Williams that does what I would want to do from the shoot (but in a different environent). Check this out!

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More to come soon, over at fearlessbridals.com.
Beautiful images from our bridal shoot at Sakonnet Vineyard in Rhode Island.

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