buff brides by June

My mom spotted this snippet in USA Weekend from the Buff Brides series. Note the sentence about your photos outlasting the memory of your cake or flowers. She's right! Working out is good motivation to look fabulous in your wedding day photos, forever!

Click article to enlarge.

Vegas experience

Here is a sweet video Ron Dawson made last week at WPPI. Since I didn't take any pictures during the seminars or tradeshow, this will give you a better idea of the HUGEness of the event.

Runaway advertising

Ahhh, I figured it was only a matter of time before the Runaway Bride, Jennifer Wilbanks, would be back in the news. I never expected, however, that her image would be used for a recruiting billboard for New Mexico police. The officer pictured is the one who led Jennifer through the airport covered in a blanket after she revealed her identity to authorities. Interesting. A simple Google search pulls up thousands of hits, mostly from the media reporting on this billboard campaign. Seems as tho this advertising stunt is reaching a far wider audience than those who will simply drive by the signs on New Mexico's highways. I think it's pretty distasteful (this poor woman can't catch a break! The law should protect her reputation, and here, the law is literally humiliating her), how about you?

Baby portrait sessions in DC

So many of my DC brides have been emailing me pictures of your beautiful additions to your family since I photographed your weddings a few years ago. I will be down in Washington for a few days for a wedding on May 5th and would *love* to meet your smiling bundles of joy.

I am currently scheduling portrait sessions in your home (for newborns in their nurseries or just general play-time at the house) in 1 hour sessions for $200 (images will then be posted on Pictage for 60 days if you would like to order prints). Please let me know if you are interested, and your availability, and I will start coordinating times. I haven't made my flight arrangements yet but will fly down a few days prior/post the 5/5 wedding to accommodate your session.

Meantime, keep those pictures coming! And, congratulations!

home sweet home

I had a great week in Vegas catching up with friends, making new ones, and learning about some new products in the market. A quick preview:

• I will be offering Queensberry now instead of Leather Craftsmen for matted albums. It is a bit more high end than LC and they have a few more options to choose from including a gorgeous cream color double mat with a chocolate brown liner that sold me. Oh, and a very sophisticated title page on translucent paper.
• I found a neat new softcover gift book for engagement sessions and family portraits.

• I fell in love with these canvas prints. They instantly make your photographs look like gallery artwork!
• I am excited to announce that I will be designing holiday cards this year! Remember to plan ahead when scheduling those family and child portraits outdoors before winter arrives (I don't want to think about that already!). I will be ordering samples of all of these items to feature my own photography in the upcoming weeks. Please inquire for more specific pricing information if you see something here that peeks your interest.

And stay tuned for some VERY big website information and new perfect pricing™, too...

out of town: Las Vegas

I will be in Las Vegas at WPPI's (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) annual convention at Paris 3/24-29. In addition to attending seminars, there is an enormous trade show and 10,000 other photographers to network with! I will be checking email and voicemail daily. Have a great week!

a first

The father of dear family friends passed away earlier this week. An image I took at the couple's wedding of him singing his toast was used in his obituary. As far as I know, this is a first for my photography. It's so sad, but I am so grateful to have provided the family with such a lasting image. My thoughts and prayers go out to them during this difficult time. xo

Have weekend plans?

Check out Fitness for a Cure at the Sheraton Tara in Nashua, NH, on Saturday night. This dinner and dance show raises money (more than $500,000 in the last 8 years!) for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. I photographed it last year and unfortunately will miss it this year because I will be out of town (thankfully, my college friend Matt Klicker is able to cover it!).

There was a great article about it in the Nashua Telegraph today. And my slideshow is featured on the group's website under Photo Gallery. If you go, be sure and look for my ad in the program!

assignment: USA Today, cover story

On Thursday, I had the pleasure of driving around Portland with John Webster, a volunteer with the Independent Transportation Network, for a cover story assignment for USA Today!

ITN is a driving service for seniors who no longer drive on their own, but need to run errands or visit a doctor's office. John transported more than a dozen passengers, and I learned a lot of back routes in town! The article is scheduled to run on April 12th, but here is a sneak peek overview image:

John and his wife own a candy store in Boothbay Harbor, Orne's. Keep him in mind for sweet favors, Boothbay brides!

Today will be a busy day, as I leave for Las Vegas tomorrow for WPPI!

doggie news

•I received an email from the shelter in Texas and Molly has been adopted. Phew! So I guess I won't need to return to Allen to save that little love.

•The Inn at Jackson in Jackson, NH, is hosting a silent auction tomorrow night to benefit the I Believe Dog Rescue whose facility (and some of their dogs) was destroyed by fire last month. They are accepting bids via email for a Romance Package which includes two nights lodging, a massage for two, arrival refreshments, breakfast in bed and a giftbag! This package normally sells for $429. Email Don at info@innatjackson.com if you would like to participate. I stayed at this inn in December and it is a beautiful getaway!

USA Today's new look

Interesting. The USAToday.com homepage has a new design, including an option to become a 'member' to comment and recommend articles. I can't say I'm entirely thrilled with the new design (do we really need our online news sources looking like a casual blog?), but I do give them props for trying something new and building an interactive community within their publication. Who knows, it may be a success that other newspapers will soon follow.

staging spaces

While in San Fran, I spent some time feeding my latest obsession- open houses!

Staging homes for sale is popular on the east coast, but multiplied much more so on the left coast. Wow! Take a peek at Spaces Staging & Design to see what I mean.

We saw some amazing productions (and price tags!), as well as beautifully visual marketing hand-outs and slick property websites. Absent were typical real estate listing snapshots... these images were professionally done and could easily appear in a home design magazine (and reminded me a lot of the Washington Post Magazine's home & design issues I used to work on!).

Perhaps I should look into doing such work here in Maine! Beautiful photography really makes the listing sing! For more info on staging, click here.

non-stop in San Fran

Wow! It's already Friday?

Since I arrived in San Francisco, I have visited with my college friend Ryan Anson (who I haven't seen in 7 years!), a USA Today colleague Michelle Kessler (who I haven't seen for 6 years!), Alisa and Coley (I will be photographing their wedding this summer in Maine), my uncle Bill, my hometown friend Rachel (she is getting married this summer... 6 weeks after her brother!), Cara (I photographed her wedding last Fall in Maine), Matt Chou (a participant I mentored at the Foundation Workshop), not to mention all the folks J works with at liveBooks and photographer Gene Higa. I don't think I have ever taken a 'vacation' like this and been so busy being social! I'm exhausted!

SF is a fun place, with lots of diverse textures and colors and light- a photographer's paradise! This weekend, we'll rent a car and explore some neighborhoods outside of the city. I hear there's lots of snow back at home today- my apologies.

Happy St. Patrick's Day tomorrow! And Happy Birthday, Lawrence!

out of town: San Francisco

I will be in San Fran from 3/13-19. I will be checking email or you can always call my cell phone: 207.272.2285. Have a great week!!

Time lapse photo fun

Ohhh... I copied this great post from the fantastic folks at LaCour, based in Atlanta.

They photographed a wedding recently where a photo studio was set up with a remote trigger for the guests to shoot pictures of themselves. The resulting movie clip is a time lapse of all the pictures taken at the photo studio. 1300 images at 10 frames per second.

**Click Here to watch the clip!

* Abra and Matt

Abra and Matt's wedding was my first wedding of the 2007 season! Their wedding was at Top of the Town, a premiere venue overlooking Washington, DC, from Virginia. I have photographed several weddings there and never tire of the spectactular view. I know Abra because her father was the editor of the Washington Post Magazine when I worked there. I photographed her sister's wedding in 2004 and her colleague's wedding in 2005.

A few pics:
The beautiful Abra
The handsome Matt

I spotted the symmetry of the three flower stems when trying to find a creative way to photograph their three rings.
Abra did a very good job tying in the same hue of her dress, jewelry and flowers.

Some dreamy glare while Abra waits to leaveHeading out. Notice the fun decorations on the windows congratulating the soon to be Mr and Mrs.
Waiting for the elevator to take us to the top of the building where the ceremony and reception were held.
The view! This was taken through the protection glass on the deck with the reflection of some Christmas lights on the deck.
The bridesmaids chose their own black dresses, tied together with the same lavender roses.
The best best man toast I have ever seen- an Irish-type sing-a-long on piano!
Fun with slow shutter speed! Weeeeeee!
Congratulations! I had a great time, Abra and Matt! I loved catching up with you and your whole family. Thanks for having me be a part of your special day! I hope your honeymoon was fantastic, and I look forward to seeing your pictures when you get back!!

Good luck, Lisa!

I photographed Lisa and Rory's wedding in DC in 2004. Since then, they have moved to Kentucky with the US Army and have had two beautiful boys, Daniel and Ryan. Lisa just heard word that she will be heading to Iraq at the end of the month. Please keep Lisa and her young family in your thoughts and prayers. Come home soon, and safe, Lisa! xo

Planning a trip to Portland?

Be sure and check out the suggestions by National Geographic Traveler Magazine here if you have 48 hours to spend in Portland and want to see all the right things!

contesting contests

I have a serious dislike for photography contests.

I cringe knowing that so many of my colleagues crave being recognized by their peers- in addition to the fact that it takes away time from business and money to enter.

Each quarter, however, my membership with the Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA) includes two free entries into their wedding photography contests (which determines how high a ranking you have on their lists by state). And each quarter, I enter two images and refuse to purchase additional credits.

Turns out, I placed with one of those freebie entries in the most recent contest in the Toasts category for a funny moment at Lisa and Ehren's wedding last spring (and I have placed twice before as well).

Darn. Perhaps I should enter more images?

I'm torn.

out of town: DC

I will be out of town until Sunday afternoon, 3/4, to photograph a wedding in DC this weekend. Fingers crossed this pending storms stalls a bit so my flight gets out! Please call my cell phone if you need me. Have a great weekend!