The Wedding Ceremony

Plymouth, MA- In front of family and friends, Jen+Nate made their vows to each other at the Plymouth United Methodist Church on April 24th, 2010.

After a good evening of blog reading last night, I kept thinking about this particular post from Grace Ormonde’s blog. “Don’t overlook the details” inspired me to look back at some of my favorite detail images from this past year. I agree that details can certainly tell specific parts of the wedding story and these images can also reflect the personality, character and style of an individual wedding.  Brides and grooms spend hours choosing the jewelery, the dress, the invititations, etc. and as wedding photographers we feel that these parts of the day should get their due attention in the wedding coverage.

This image below is a very standard and simple ring shot taken on a window sill at The Langham Hotel in Boston, MA. This is one of my favorite ring shots of the year, not because it is overly dramatic or stylized, but because it is simple, clean and elegant; and undoubtedly a reflection of the style and taste of the bride and groom. There are probably a few different ring shots from this year that would gain more attention but this is my favorite. That’s the beauty of photography; the subjective, instinctual and visceral feeling that comes over us when we fall in love with pictures.

-RP

Lowell, MA – The studio was merry and bright this year for holiday portraits. Check out some of our favorite sessions of the season.

Happy New Year!

Boston, MA – This October wedding was a small and intimate affair. Held on the Odyssey cruise ship in Boston Harbor, guests enjoyed the beautiful Autumn weather during the ceremony and also got a chance to witness a beautiful sunset as we cruised around the harbor. Kim and Sean were great, we couldn’t have asked for a more laid-back and fun bride and groom. More photos from there Rock the Dress Session coming soon!

Lowell, MA - I’m pretty sure this happens to everyone, or I should say I hope this happens to everyone. You know how there are those special people in your lives that you cannot  live without? Well these four ladies certainly fit that category and we miss them terribly. It’s been a busy year so we haven’t seen them as much as we’d like.

This was Rosslyn’s 3 month session from August (we’re so behind in blogging). The end of the Summer and Fall kind of flew by and with the Christmas and Holiday rush we really haven’t had time to hang out much. So we are very much looking forward to having a bit more time to spend with our friends and family. However, we are so excited for this weekend because we get to hang out with these wonderful ladies, take some pictures and make holiday cookies! Fun!

Andover, MA - Here’s one of our children’s portrait sessions from this past summer. We had photographed Jackson about a year before this particular session so it was great to see how much he had grown. This was definitely a high energy day as any child between 1 and 3 turns a portrait session into a track meet, but we wouldn’t have it any other way because it really fits our style of photography. For example, in order to get things going we had him just play with his favorite truck and the big red wagon. After all we have to make the session enjoyable for younger kids, so this usually means toys and lots of snack breaks.

The day was a bit cloudy and we did get some rain at the end of the shoot, but we pushed through it. Our sessions usually last between one and half to two hours, so by the time the rain really started to come down we had already got a ton of great stuff. With children’s portraits on location, we will encounter rain and uncooperative weather, but you just have to work with it when you live in New England.

Lowell, MA – A few months ago we had the Mauro family up to the studio for a combination family and maternity session.  We would ordinarily approach these two distinct types of sessions from different angles, but here we just simplified everything and focused on the family dynamic. Our goal heading in was to portray a young family growing together, both individually and as a unit. Looking back on the session we’re very happy with the results. Oh and the ‘thumbs up’ image was hilarious and was the direct result of asking a 4 yr. old how he feels about being a big brother.

It’s not very often a friendship like the one I have with Ashley comes along.  We share the same first and middle name and our birthdays are a week apart.  Our friendship is going on almost 15 years and Ash was the first of my best friends to get married.  Like most long friendships through young adulthood we nursed each other through a handful of broken hearts, but once she introduced me to Tim, I knew she had met her match.

I was hesitant at first when Ashley asked me to photograph her wedding, I wanted to finally get a chance to be a guest and not have to ‘work’, but when it came down to it, we both agreed that no one knew her like I did and therefore couldn’t capture their day like we would. Knowing I was already booked to photograph another wedding in our home town in 6 months and I happen to have the following weekend wedding free, she planned her wedding to accommodate our busy studio schedule to make sure we could be there.  I think her exact words were, “Ash, I don’t think I can have a wedding with out your photographing it! It just wouldn’t be right!”

Ashley Cardoza and Tim Hurles were married on September 26,2009 at the old St. John’s Episcopal Church. Their reception was held at the beautiful home of good friends Christina and Jay Wagner in Lodi, CA.

I cannot tell you how thrilled I am that I agreed to photograph their wedding.  It was an extremely emotional day for me, and there were times I had teardrops running between my face and the camera.  It meant the world to me to capture this day for her and her amazing family, which I consider my own.

[Ash, I am honored by your generosity and your friendship. You are one of the most beautiful people I know inside and out.  I still can't believe you're married, but I know you and Tim are going to have an amazing life together.  I couldn't have picked someone more perfect for you.  Thank you for the amazing friendship you have given me.  I love you best friend!  - Ashley]