Here's another wedding that I second shot with Rene Tirado in Duxbury, Massachusetts. The bride and groom, Lauren and Ian, had prepared  a wedding day with so many personal details. Rene and I started at Lauren's house where there was a swarm of activity. There was make-up, hair, dresses, and an air of excitement. After about an hour I headed to Ian's location to capture some images of him getting ready. His groomsmen were making jokes, jabbing fun, and commemorating in the excitement of the prior night. Soon we headed over to the ceremony and reception location which was a expansive sea side private estate. I quickly moved to capture the details and moments prior to the start of the ceremony.

One of the benefits of second shooting is being able capture different perspectives than the lead shooter. For example, as the bride was walking down the isle I was able to capture a profile shot through the crowd and a perspective shot from behind Ian's shoulder as he looked at his bride, Lauren. Once the ceremony wrapped up we headed to the seashore to capture the group portraits and then the portraits of Lauren and Ian. I saw an opportunity to create some fun images with an old 46 Chevy truck and jumped into action. I ask Ian to get into the truck, as if he was driving, and had Lauren looking through the passenger's window. I was trying to create an image where Ian had pulled over to pickup his sensation bride. You can see the image below and a few more are in the slide show. The day seemed to fly by and before you knew it was time to go. Wow, what a day! You can see some of my favorite images below and for those of you who are more videocentric then checkout the slide show. Thanks!




 



 

It was blasted all over the news. A hurricane called Irene was bearing down on the east coast. One of the biggest storms to hit the east coast in history. Wow! Batten down the hatches and hunker down for this? Nah, I had an engagement session scheduled and if my clients, Diana and Bryan, were up for it so was I. We met at Nashoba Winery in Bolton, Massachusetts at about 1pm. By that time the bands of rain were on a 30-40 minute cycle. As I was driving the rain started, I arrived and the rain stopped. We quickly moved through the vineyard and shot some fun images. No sooner was I hitting my rhythm shooting the rain started again. We quickly moved to a dry location, waited a little bit, and headed out in a light drizzle. Yes, I do shoot in the rain. This is why I use professional weather sealed gear.

We came upon a set of apple trees and I had this idea to capture them underneath it. Though, I had to light them to get the clouds to show up in the image. I ran back to my little Smart car, picked a sunflower that was nearby, and grabbed my Cheetah stand with a 580ex fired by the Flex 5. I choose not to use ETTL and went with a manual setting. I find it's easier after learning DOFE. I setup the flash, fired off a few test shots, and nailed it after 2 shots. Yup, I was pleased with the results and had to chimp a little to show the results. We shot some  more but, for me this image was THE image that portrayed their love to me.

Shooting an engagement session is a chance for the clients to get to know their photographer. It's also a time for the photographer to create unique images and tickle the creative soul. What I learned from the shoot is to never give up come rain or hurricane. Clear the tablet, get to know your clients, and make an effort to create images that represent their love.

I recently second shot a wedding with Rene Tirado at the Black Rock Country Club in Hingham, Massachusetts. I started the day off shooting the groom, Alan, and groomsmen while Rene shot the bride, Lindsay, and the bridesmaids.  We met at the country club for the ceremony. It was sunny, a bit warm, and a perfect day for a wedding. The ceremony was short but, sweet and landed us at the AC'd reception. Rene headed out to shoot the portraits while I headed to the reception site to get some overall and detail shots. I shot some more of my HDR images, mostly 3 exposures on  tripod. I like the look if you can get it right but, for some it's so awesome! Back to the reception. Let's talk about how sweet it was to shoot the reception. First off the room was lit up with LEDs in the ceiling that illuminated the sheer fabric... oh yeah, fun!  Here's some of my favorites from the day.

And here's a quick slide show

 

I recently attended the Pictage User Group meeting at LensProToGo in Concord, MA. The featured speaker was Fer Juaristi from Mexico. Fer is a wedding photographer that enjoys seeing natural light, texture, and creative lines. His portraiture is really, really awesome. He is a natural talent with a great, humble, and fun personality. He's been shooting for the last four years with a background in video. He watched a video in 2006 featuring some of the great wedding photographers of our time called Masters of Wedding Photography. This video truly inspired him and motivated him to start shooting stills.

In my research of Fer and his work I noticed that a workshop was scheduled the day after the PUG meeting. I was excited! I signed up as soon as I could. I got up nice and early that day, practiced some hot yoga, ate a healthy breakfast, and headed out on my Daytona 675 motorcycle to Boston for the workshop. Riding in the morning was fun and yes, I used my iPhone for the gps that's mounted on the handle bars. It's convenient and really made the ride straightforward with very little stress getting to the workshop. Once I arrived at the Ad Hoc Studio I was happy to find Fer had just arrived. Ahh, the benefits of arriving early. We had a few minutes to get to know each other and share some stories. I was impressed with his energy and infectious happiness.

Once the FerShop started Fer went over his origins, family, style, imagery, and pricing. The day was planned around discussion, shooting, lunch, discussion, more shooting, and editing. We had two models to work with, Laura and Ryan. They are getting married in February of 2012 at Aventura Spa Palace Resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico. They really knew how to turn on the hotness and showed us some badass chemistry. They really worked it for us, even with the hot sun in their eyes they managed to keep it cool. Thanks Laura and Ryan!

I really enjoyed attending the FerShop. It's so fun to meet, talk, and work with other photographers. Here's some of the images from the day that I really love. Thanks Fer! I look forward to following your work and enjoying your company again.



 

I had the pleasure of photographing the wedding day celebration of Christy and Samuel. I started this sunny day capturing Christy getting ready at her parent's house. Shortly after we headed to the ceremony at Immaculate Conception Church in Medford. The ceremony was touching and full of love. Once the ceremony was complete we headed  to the reception at the Tewksbury Country Club. The reception was exciting and everyone was all about having fun. Here's some photographs that I love from their wedding day. Also, you can see their engagement pictures that were shot at the Charlestown Navy Yard a few months earlier.  Congratulations Christy and Samuel!



 

I had the pleasure of photographing the wedding day of Christina and Brendan. The ceremony took place at the beautiful Mary Immaculate of Lourdes Parish in Newton. The reception followed at Christina and Brendan's home.  Shooting the reception was a bit different than the typical reception locations I've worked but, I think the love still shows through. We also setup a photo boothish area to capture some of the guests antics. I used my creative gadgetry with a tripod and a remote shutter release. The results were pretty cool when you add in some props for fun. Here's some of my favorite images from the day. Congrats Christina and Brendan!

PS. Check out my self portrait at the bottom of the gallery. Yeee Haaa! Also, I'm trying this new picture layout versus posting 10-20 images for a wedding. I think this gives a better representation about how I shoot a wedding day. I hope you enjoy it to!



 

 

I recently assisted Rene Tirado shooting a wedding in Cambridge and Boston. There ceremony took place at St. Paul Church and I'm really amazed at the beauty of this church. The reception followed at the Boston Public Library. This was my first time shooting at the Library and it was an amazing place to shoot the reception. In the center of the library there's a  courtyard with beautiful rows of columns and an exquisite fountain in the center. Inside is a photographer's feast of wonder. There's marble floors, great architecture, and a array of historic paintings. Wow!!! Here's some of my favorites from the day.

I had the distinct pleasure of assisting/second shooting for Sheryl Widberg at the wedding of Nancy and Greg. The ceremony and reception took place at the Tirrell Room in Quincy, Massachusetts. I started off at Greg's house, then headed to Nancy's to meet Sheryl and take some portraits. Once the limo arrived we headed to the Tirrell room to kick off their wedding day. An interesting part of the day was that the JOP was being taped for a possible reality TV show about her JOP services in conjunction to being a funeral home owner. I'll add her info when I find it.

The ceremony was sweet with an inspiring set of vows. The reception followed with plenty of dancing and fun. We even snuck outside in the rain and snow for an image where Sheryl used some flashlights to paint with light. I took the easy way out (i.e. I didn't have a tripod handy) and just shot high ISO and PS'd the LOVE in after the fact. Painting with light has steadily made it's way into semi-mainstream style of shooting wedding photographs. There's a pretty hip photographer that truly inspires me with his cool globes of light and this guy really takes it to a new level of inspiration with his work.  Mental note: come up with my own set of scenes to use at my next wedding.

A word about second shooting, I've come to enjoy second shooting for a couple of reasons. First, second shooting gives me the chance to focus more on the couple and not have to worry about all the details of working with the client prior to the wedding day. Secondly, I have more freedom to get cool detail shots. Thirdly, I can relax a bit and focus on the other moments of the day. Finally, you get to work with your peers and geek out doing photography stuff. Geek speak some photography on me and I get all sorts of giddy.

The night was a filled with lots of dancing fun. Here's some of  the images that I captured on Nancy and Greg's wedding day. Thanks for stopping by!

Today we had another snow storm that was headlined as dropping copious amounts of snow all over New England. As of 6:30 am this morning there was about 5 or 6 inches of snow on the ground. I was awakened by Robert who was heading to work at Mabardy's down the street. The snow was wet and heavy in the morning which made moving the cars around sorta tough. Especially my little Smart car that's rear wheel drive. Oy! Once Robert was on his way to work I continued on clearing the drive way. By 7ish am the snow turned to sleet and shortly after it turned to rain.

Midday rolled around and I was itching to take ride around to see what scenes I could capture. A small side note, It would've been a great day for a fun engagement shoot or bridal session. Especially since it was fairly warm and overcast. It will happen eventually, I know it will. Back to my story, I drove down Cottage street then headed to Eliot street aka South Natick. I took a few shots of the Sargent Footbridge that goes over the Charles river. Then headed to Elm Bank for a shot in the insanely deep snow with a painful layer of ice on top. From there I headed to Lookout Farm, Pegan Hill (the highest spot in Natick), then back tracked to South street which is adjacent to the Broadmore Wildlife Sanctuary, and finally looping back around to Natick via 27.

Here's some of the images that caught my eye on my expedition to capture the big ol' New England Snow Storm of 2011. Enjoy!

Yesterday we had another big snow storm in Natick, Massachusetts. Snow totals for the area is at 60.3 inches of snow so far versus the last years season total of 35.7 inches.  I'd guess that most would consider this a lot of snow but, for me, it's just what New England is about and I say whatevah.... you could always move to Florida. With that being said, I enjoy the snow. Though, I do wish I was skiing instead of shoveling. Thankfully New England is prepared for such storms and basically roads/sidewalks are almost completely clear within a day. We have several ride-in snow removal machines for sidewalks and pedestrian access in town. They get cleared by the time the morning rolls around and life is basically unaffected.

Though, I have to say that I'm now starting to get used to this 25 degree weather. Murmuring under my breath, it feels kinda warm. I always find it amazing when I realize how cold it is and how it doesn't feel as cold as it is. It just goes to prove that we're able to adapt and function in diverse environments... such as a wedding day!

Here's some images that I captured while taking a little photo walk yesterday. Sorta like taking time to smell the flowers. Oh.. a quick side note, as I was walking around yesterday I kept thinking this would be awesome with a bride and groom. So, I'm putting out my intention of capturing a couple in the snow. I'm here and ready! Let's go and capture some great images!!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="900" caption="Pine trees at Elm Banks"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="900" caption="Locks and Keys art project at Yikes! pottery studio"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="900" caption="The Natick Center sign at the Natick Commons"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="651" caption="The gazebo at Natick Commons"][/caption]