October anybody?

Well, not quite yet, but it's creeping up on me very quickly.

Introducing, Becki!

And this was taken almost a month ago, so that's how behind I am on everything. But it means I've been a busy, busy bee!

Sheer Mayhem

Get it?

This summer has been pure craziness, in good ways and bad. Right now leaning towards the good end, I hope. I have several potential jobs lined up, and hopefully one of them pans out! I have my order of preference, but don't ask - it's a secret.

In the meantime, to fill my conventional-job-less days, I've been shooting like crazy. Weddings, some corporate events, and lots and lots of models (most from Model Mayhem - get it now?) In fact, I've been shooting so much, that I've developed a lump-like callous on the joint on the inside of my middle finger from rubbing against the grip of my camera. I show it to anyone who will sit long enough to listen to me cry, "I'm deformed!"

But, my lovely models. I'll go through them slowly so I have a couple of days worth of posts - a little reprieve for my callous.

This is Jen, Suffolk U. student and someone I would consider to be a great sociologist, if not anthropologist. This was supposed to just be a low-key urban fashion shoot, but she was so interesting and so full of personality, I think we got more talking done than shooting.

She also had one of the most fascinating apartments I have ever seen. It was the size of the closet, but it was retro-ed up and wall to wall black and red construction paper that she draws on. And, well... here:

And, she lights the whole thing with red light bulbs:

And, she has the most amazing, sparkly eyes ever:

Ladies and gentlemen, that is the amazing Jen Mayhem.

To Boston, With Love, Cali

This was a fun little photo adventure that has been a long time coming. Rebecca, wonderful import from the West Coast, and the local not-so-average Joe, from the Boston area.

That's not even half the fun. See the rest here on Flickr!

I've been up to my elbows with editing, what with the workshop and the weddings and all the shoots in between - more image heavy posts to come soon!

The Wedding is in the Details

A photographer once told me that the wedding is in the details. All of those little things that people agonize over for months to perfect for that one day, and which inevitably get lost in the full effect of the event. Our job as photographers to make sure that none of those details go unnoticed. That all that trouble and choosing gets recorded for posterity's sake.

I truly subscribe to that. A wedding pulls in anywhere from 75 to 300 guests, and in today's day and age, almost every one of those guests will have a digital camera. More than a few of them probably have a digital SLR camera to boot. So why should the hired photographer be there to take the photos that any one of 100 other people can take? I believe that the photographer should capture the wedding in a way that makes it truly beautiful, ethereal, the way you would want to remember it in addition to the way it actually happened. We are the romanticizers. We make the mistakes beautiful, the humor more comical, the beauty more breathtaking. We make sure that each rock is overturned, each face is captured, each memory is etched in stone.

Congratulations to Nicole and Dan on their beautiful wedding.

It was a foodie kind of week

So last week, I ran part one of Mark's 8th Annual Teen Photo Workshop. I think I may have had more fun than some of the kids.

Day one was spectacularly up my ally - we toured local restaurants in Central Square to photograph and talk to their owners and chefs. This first one is my favorite photo of the whole week.

Steve Johnson, owner and chef of Rendevous on Mass Ave. He was amazingly sweet, and very funny.

Tony Maws, founder and chef of Craigie on Main. I noticed he had a rubber duck sitting in the kitchen, and of course, with my penchant for duckies, I could not pass up the opportunity for this photo:

We also very serendipitously ran into Gus Rancatore, founder of Toscanini's ice cream (which, I have to say, has the most amazing spicy mango sorbet I have ever had in my entire life).

The next day, to continue with our food trend, we had the privilege of touring the Equal Exchange factory in West Bridgewater, MA.

"Equal Exchange has created Big Change since 1986. Our founders envisioned a food system that empowers farmers and consumers, supports small farmer co-ops, and uses sustainable farming methods. They started with fairly traded coffee from Nicaragua and didn't look back."

Our wonderful tour guide of the day, Brian:

I also loved all the crazy machinery everywhere, use to grind coffee, sort coffee, test for quality, etc.

This is a view of the sheer size of the place. Imagine how caffeinated you would be working here:

And lastly, some of my girls with the new line of Equal Exchange mini-chocolates:

I think they make good product models, don't you?

I think that will conclude this particular post. Things to look forward to: portraits of my wonderful interns, kids, and various accosted subjects; outtakes from the workshop; and, of course, a sampling from the beautiful mock wedding and engagement shoot we did.

Til then!

Puppy Love

Here is Jenna and the new(ish) pup, Maya!

These were taken at the Tufts Vet school field in Grafton - absolutely beautiful.

I'm posting this one large because I love it so much:

See the rest on my flickr!!

This post is a little rushed. I am currently working for my old boss this summer - the esteemed Mark Ostow - and this week I am running his 8th Annual Teen Photo Workshop. And when I say I'm running it, I mean, I'm running. All over the place. It's hectic and stressful, and at the same time, rewarding and so much fun. Today we photographed chef owners of local restaurants in the Central Square area (coordinated by yours truly!) with a few serendipitous encounters along the way. Those photos are what I'm currently involved with. Expect more soon!

Oh, the kiddies...

Cadee turned 2 last week, and of course, a barbeque was held in her honor. I wasn't able to get a portrait of the birthday girl because - naturally - she was in high demand, but here are some of her adorable guests:

It's not my party, but I'll still cry if I want to

Aaaaand... I'm taking bookings for the summer! If you want adorable photos of you or your kids, let me know!