family session

i feel so behind on life right now! and there's no respite in sight. in the next 4 weeks, i have 5 weddings, a conference, and three engagement sessions. ack!

i'm out of town this weekend for an everything-but-the-ceremony (they took care of that in Paris last weekend...i know. i feel bad for them, too.) in Philadelphia. i'll see my sister, and we've bandied about the idea of getting some great bridals for her...she's been married 4 years now, but she wasn't very happy w/ her wedding photographer, and hey...how convenient...her sister became one. look at that.

without further ado, some of my favourites from a family session i did with some college friends back in July when i was in Indiana. these are some cool, quirky people that lived in mexico for a while, and then produced a ridiculously cute child.

and the fib was...

i have not run any number of steps in the boston marathon, much less all but the last mile. the rest of them are totally true!

those who actually know me know that i ABHOR running. yech!

(course, when i get really hot, my face turns purple, and that, my friends--is just not attractive.)

tell me something unique about you!

last chance...

one more day to guess which thing is the fib on this post.

I'm gonna spill the beans tomorrow!

(If a client gets it right, I will give you a complimentary 8x10 of your favorite image.)

i'm it!

Margaret Singer-she of the rockstar hairdo-tagged me. I am meant to tell you 8 things about myself...but I like the spin she put on it. Sort of a 3 truths and a lie flavor. I am going to tell you 9 things, and one of them is wildly untrue. Tell me which one you think is the fib. I like comments!

1. I name my cats after horrible international despots
2. I once ate Thanksgiving dinner on a submarine
3. I speak Spanish
4. I went skydiving in New Zealand
5. All of my family members live in "new" states.
6. I have been to all but 7 states
7. I once ran all but the last mile of the Boston marathon
8. I have read War & Peace
9. I jumped off the escape hatch on aircraft carrier flight deck

I'm supposed to tag people now. I'm reasonably certain that anyone I would tag has already been tagged...so. I'll tag a few token people.

1. Marina
2. (I would have put Rachel here, but Margaret already got her.)
3. Cherie
4. Ashley
5. Kim
6. Andrea
ETA...i am tagging one more.
7. Tasha

I think that's it. Remember, tell me which one you think is bogus.

ch-ch-ch-chaaanges!

gwynethcolleenphotography is gonna look a whole lot different in about a month. I'm more excited than a 2 month old puppy meeting you for the first time. Only with less piddling on the floor.

There will be a brand new website (that is going to rock your worlds. I promise.), I'll have a slightly different email address, AND...my prices will be going up significantly. All these changes are going to hopefully roll out sometime mid-September.

SO--if you're on the fence about whether or not to hire me for next year...make up your mind quickly! If you have friends looking for a photographer, send 'em my way to get the best deal around.

It's been an absolutely amazing first year; more successful than my wildest dreams (but probably with fewer unicorns and rope swings)...and I'd like next year to be even more amazing. I've been making a lot of investments into learning my craft more and purchasing better equipment to take even better photographs for all of you. I will always be committed to putting money back into the business to ensure that I am offering the highest quality product to my beloved clients.

Scott & Carabeth-engagement

Scott and Carabeth are getting married today. In about 4 hours, to be exact. I figured I should post about their engagement session before I take their wedding photos.

These two are so cute...and so fun. At our initial meeting, I asked them, "so...are you guys more serious or goofy?" (I always try to get a feel for clients so that I can make sure we capture the kind of moments they want to remember.) His answer was...the best ever. He said, and this is a direct quote, I know, because I wrote it down, "we're kind of quiet and subversively goofy." Subversively goofy. Awesome. And...they totally are. We had a great time during our session at the bird sanctuary in Topsfield.




I DO so love to make people jump. :-D








there's just something about this one...I think it's my favorite from the session


aren't they so cute?

Nick & Katie

I went to college with Nick. We were in the same literature class, and I was always impressed and mildly intimidated by how successfully cerebral he was. I say successful, because I'm sure you've met intellectual people that just kind of...weren't quite right. They were either obnoxiously pretentious, or completely inaccessible, but not in an appealing, mysterious way. Anyway...he was cool.

Then we were both youth sponsors at the same youth group. That church was awesome...they took care of their youth sponsors, thusly, Nick and I found ourselves members of a group given our professors' full blessing to take an entire week off classes to accompany some high schoolers down to Florida. We were driving buddies. And neither of us had driven a 15 passenger van before. So, given our level of experience, the powers that were determined we were clearly the most suited to drive one of the two (of 3 or 4) vans with trailors on the back. Nick and I did not concur. It was very unnerving, but...we made it to Florida and back sans incident.

Anyway, the whole point of this post is that Nick found his girl. And she's great. And they asked me to come to Indiana to photograph their wedding. When he told me they were having a HOG ROAST reception on a FARM...I practically started salivating. Oh the possibilities! (One major disappointment...the hog was not in...photogenic...condition when I arrived. Unless you consider shredded pork in big white coolers photogenic.)


they got married at St. Matthew's Church in South Bend.





I'd done a family session the evening before with some other college friends, and we discovered an amazing location just a few minutes drive from the church. Nick and Katie were up for a detour for the entire wedding party.


yeah, they're giving me "blue steele", "magnum", and "le tigre". (The one groomsmen had never seen Zoolander! I thought it was kind of a requirement for all guys who were in college around the time it came out, but...I was wrong.)




Nick's nephews were really shy...none of my normal "get kids to smile" strategies were working, so...I asked them to make farting noises. I mean, they're young boys, right? GUARANTEED to make them giggle. The little one in the middle wasn't having any of it. He just kept staring right through me. Finally he busted out with this:

and it cracks me up, because he's still so SERIOUS about it!


Nick and I have sort of kept in touch since college...so I saw photos of him and Katie on his blog, and they were always wearing sunglasses. So I begged him to bring them on their wedding day.


there were lots of kids at the wedding...they had a giant trampoline and even set up a slip'n'slide for them. Brilliant. This is Nick's niece, and I'm not sure, but I think it's possible she's the cutest little girl who's ever lived.


um. I love this. so much.




this is my friend Sam. It was nice to take a few minutes and sit down with my iced tea and catch up. He drooled over my awesome lens.








I REALLLLLY wanted to get them up on that tractor, so I could hardly contain my glee when Nick expressed the same desire.


my favorite!


The amazing Carol, who opened her home/land to them and worked UNCEASINGLY behind the scenes to make sure everything went smoothly. They were so lucky to have her. She'd recently gotten married and said she didn't have any nice photos of the two of them, so I made sure I grabbed a couple.


(I should probably take photos of me w/ the bride and groom at some point BEFORE the end of the day...Let me tell you...after 6 hours outside in 90-ish degree weather...laying on the ground, climbing around tractors and the like, my hair is...well, it's remarkable that it doesn't look worse, let's just say that. :-D)

Nick and Katie, I had SO much fun. Thanks again from bringing me out to join the party. I pray an amazing and blessed marriage for you two.

(The rest of my favorites are here.)

Meredith and Kevin

I'm still behind. Meredith and Kevin were married 30 June at the Stevens Estate. I was once again second-shooting for the fabulous Rachel of Decent Urban Weddings. (Being a second shooter is great; there's less pressure, and I get to do lots of fun, creative stuff and let her worry about getting all the "money" shots. It's a nice change of pace every now and then!)

Meredith and Kevin are a riot...they called their event "the wedding of the century"...and they managed to pull off a classy, beautiful day...with these little splashes of quirky and amusing irreverence. Plus, they're really good friends with Amy and Jeff...the couple from March who consented to having their portraits done in front of a bull pen. (The kind that has more snuffly, large bovines that might possibly kill you if irked than men in polyester throwing baseballs.) It was really great to see them again.


the Stevens Estate had character and presence oozing out of the floorboards.




that sky! I wish they made soda in that flavor. Can you imagine anything more refreshing?




I really love the "couple exiting" photos...I'm not sure why. Perhaps because it is so quintessential and beautiful that it transcends boring and traditional? I usually gravitate toward capturing the uniqueness of a particular event, but I love this moment...every time.


Isn't their cake beautiful?! And they put it in a photographer's dream spot...a few feet from a window...so it was bathed in natural light.


their placecards were the "chance" and "community chest" cards...which told the guests which "street" they were supposed to join for the reception. Such fun.

canvases

I've been lugging my 16x20 studio sample canvas to client meetings because it's so freaking awesome! You need to actually see one of these in person to fully appreciate how much more amazing your creative portraits will look at a larger size.

It's not really possible to take photos of a print and do it any justice, but at the request of a portrait client (who has an amazing, beautiful, and artistic idea...I'll be posting photos once it's been executed, but I'm REALLY excited about it!) I snapped a couple shots.







the quality and texture of prints on canvas is incredible! and they come gallery wrapped so they're ready to hang. canvases are certainly not budget items, but they make your photos works of art, that I guarantee will cause visitors to your home to say, "wow!"

(past clients, email me if you're interested in purchasing a canvas.)

Jean & Jack

Remember Jean & Jack...the couple whom b&w loved? Their wedding on the Cape in June was the exact opposite. I couldn't bring myself to do much b&w because the colors were soooo delicious.


I think beach grass is very romantic.




as soon as I saw this little wooden dock, I knew I needed to do some photos on it. Jean was such a great sport. It was a little wobbly/floaty feeling, and she was nervous. I'm pretty sure she's glad she toughed it out for a few minutes. :-D


walking with the granddaughters.




one of the things that brought these two together was a mutual love of fishing. so...immediately after they were pronounced husband and wife, they went out on the jetty for their first cast as a married couple. I'll say it again: I LOVE it when couples incorporate unique and personal things into their wedding day.


Jean's super-fun son and his adorable date...check out those shoes!




I love the current trend for 'beachy' wedding cakes. the best is that loose brown sugar looks just like wet sand...so they sprinkle it around the bottom of the cake. delightful!


one last sunset kiss.


moi, with the happy couple...

also...they're back from their honeymoon, and sent me a few photos...I very matter-of-factly shared my hatred toward them. I think you'll feel the same way when you see these photos:


(my favorite part of this is the men canoeing. in New Zealand, a corner of the Polynesian triangle, the ocean-going canoes are called 'waka'. I'm going to ask wikipedia what they're called in Tahiti. brb. ummm, I think it's the same, but the wikipedia article was kind of useless. I learned other Tahitian trivia, though. Some of which I already knew; the in-flight magazines of Air Tahiti Nui are quite good.) Also, please note this was taken from their ROOM.


yeah, this is the "pool" at their resort. I thought hotel pools were supposed to be roughly 20 feet long, kidney shaped, and full of children w/ inflatable yellow floaties on their arms?


the boat they cruised on, the M/S Paul Gauguin just off of Moorea


overwater bungalows in Taha'a

Jean & Jack...I find the two of you delightful, and your kids are grand fun. I thoroughly enjoyed your wedding day...even if I do hate you desperately now given the photos of your honeymoon you sent. :-D I hope our paths cross again!