Portait Sessions

Halloween turned out to be a great day to photograph, it was warm with a gentle breeze.  My day was full with shoots because of rain the past few Saturdays and shown below are some sampling of the day.  It started with a family portrait of Hannah with her parents and their dog in their front yard.  Their dog was going to be put asleep on Tuesday … but Tuesday never came, he passed away Sunday morning.  For those who read my blogs knows that timing is everything … I am just happy that we got the session in and they now have photographs to remind them of the good times

I’ve been photographing Christian since he was two along with his family.  I love the background in both images which was taken at Scotts Orchard in Deep River, Ct.

Always a good time there!

After Scotts Orchard I hopped into the car and met the Swain family outside of Gillette Castle in Haddam for their family portrait.  The last time I saw Pam and Jeff was at their wedding some twelve years ago that I photographed …. It’s always good to be part and seeing families grow!

My last session of the day was an engagement session at Harkness Park with Jason and Kristin who found me from the web….I’m glad they did because I had a lot of fun with them.

Here are just a few images from the session which I probably could have posted a least thirty!  Not bad for the beach on the last day of October … winds picked up but the light was beautiful.

Since we live on a busy road there are never any children trick and treating so my wife (Deb) and I decided to go out for dinner only to come home to a power outage

We made the best of it … lit some candles and had some fun … one of the more memorable Halloween’s I’ve had since I was a child or I should say my adult life

Beach Engagement Session

Here’s some images of Vanessa and Rich’s engagement session from last night.  We almost canceled the session at 5:00pm because of weather … I’m so glad we didn’t.  The session was short but we created good images after good images.  I love the top photo …. as I’m photographing the two of them all of a sudden out of the blue comes a sail boat right on cue. The session did not start off so well …. within minutes from the start my right flip flop broke so I was left with one, hopping from one jagged rock to the next.

Riverhouse

Timing is everything.

For one of Amy and Andy’s special photos on their list was to be photographed on the Goodspeed bridge in Haddam after the wedding ceremony at the Riverhouse.  I’m thinking to myself …. yeah right … how am I going to do that on a beautiful Sunday in September with no cars to deal with.  It just so happens to be a swinging bridge to let boats through and as we approached the bridge I noticed it was closing so my first thought was …. run!

I was able to get a few shots off before the bridge opened again for traffic … great timing

Joe for a day

Sunday was rent “Joe for the day” day up in Wingaersheek Beach Gloucester, Mass.  The Cunningham family of Sudbury, Mass. was the highest bidder at a silent auction this past winter to benefit the www.christophersheaven.com foundation.   I donated my services to spent the afternoon photographing the families favorite beach activities and finishing the day with family portraits.  It was a fun day and one that I will remember for a long time.  It started with a flock of seagulls … no not the music group … attacking the beach blanket as the kids tried to eat and ending with Mary (mom), Rich (dad) and myself sharing a glass of wine and a lobster roll …. rough day

flower girls

See …. not all of my blogs are about beautiful brides ….

Taylor could easily have her own album from last nights wedding … hint, hint dad

The fist image is Taylor waiting to be lined up for the ceremony which was a half hour late … could you tell by her expression.

The Riverview

It was a warm one yesterday outside and inside

I arrive to the brides (Cate) room yesterday at the Simsbury Inn and was greeted with Cate sitting in a chair wearing nothing except her wedding corset … (no … I’m not showing you those images) … and continued to work as usual while thinking nothing about it, just looking for the next good image.

After a few minutes I entered another room were Cate just put her gown on and …. Oh … My … God … I was a kid in a candy store

At that moment, still after 27 years, why I love my job about being a photographer …. it doesn’t get any better then this!

It’s a very magical time when it all clicks and you nail the shot like the above image with  beautiful window light, striking composition and of course … a beautiful and stunning subject as Cate was.

Which leaves me asking myself if I am normal getting more excited about the light then a gorgeous women in her underwear?

…. I’m good … I hope I don’t change.

On a sad note

Our dog for over 14 years passed away last night in his sleep.  Everyone who came to the studio knew Tucker, he usually greeted you by your car.  He was never tied up … he just enjoyed being around people and hanging around the house.

I’m going to miss him, he was a great friend.

About an hour after coming home from the veterinarians I took this image of the sky over my house/studio …. do you believe in signs.

Family Beach Portrait

I had a lot of fun last night photographing the DeBaggis family at their beach house.  I had the pleasure of photographing two of their weddings awhile back.  Dad wouldn’t let me leave until I tried one of his martini’s    In the bottom photo is kids being kids …. next time I should probably wait and take their whole family photo after a good mud fight … next time.

engagement session at hamonasset state park

Last night didn’t start out so good as we got out of the car a few large drops of rain were falling (what else is new this year) but it turned out to be a very interesting evening for photography.  I had to switch mind thoughts and go with what Mother Nature was giving me.  This wasn’t going to be the soft and romantic light that I like but instead the strong and dramatic light.  Photographed here are Candi and Peter who are getting married next July 4′th at the Saybrook Point Inn.  The bottom image shows that with all the clouds we were still able to get our sunset in.

Strange ending to the day

Yesterday started off as any normal day until it was time to photograph Melissa and Beau’s engagement session for their wedding next July.  They wanted to be photographed where Beau proposed to Melissa which was on a path in the woods of Cromwell.  The path was on private property with many posted signs but that was O.K. because I was assured they have never seen anyone … ever in the past except for today.  As we approached the opening to the path there was an old truck running with a trailer off to the side and out comes a man.  Jillene, Melissa’s mom, leaned over to me and whispered “this looks like something out of the Deliverance”.  She was close

I wished I raised my camera to document the scene but I thought better not to not knowing his reaction.  After a few minutes of him barking at us he let us go to take our pictures.  We all had a uneasy feeling that we were going to see him again … and we did … he decided to drive his truck into the woods to find us.  In the end all was well and he even invited us back anytime to hang out with him and have a few.

After the session I stopped by the 99 restaurant in Cromwell for a quick bite and a drink before heading back home when I walk into the bar area and there I saw a cowboy and his horse.  This time I couldn’t pass up the chance so I went to the car and got my camera