Giving Love to Rarely Used Lens: The Fujinon 90mm f2

As a photographer, I’ve accumulated a lot of lenses, which means that some get very little use. The Fujinon 90mm f2 is an excellent lens, but is difficult to use when there isn’t a lot of room. Therefore, it finds itself attached to my camera very rarely.

Recently, I was taking stock of my photography gear and felt bad for this lonely lens, so I paired it with my Fuji X-T3 and went outside with my two daughters to document their joy as they frolicked in the snow. Due to its focal length I had to keep my distance to capture my kiddos as they navigated the snowy surroundings of our residence.

To my delight, I found that using this focal length for shots other than portraits (this lens is well known for portraiture) offered a different perspective and I was very pleased with the results. These pictures produced a slightly different aspect than those that I typically take. Below are some highlights of our snowy “shoot”. Enjoy!

A Beautiful Backyard Wedding

When I went to meet Brooke and Stephen for our pre-wedding chat, I immediately got excited about the prospects of documenting their day. Right away I was blown away by their backyard. It had a lot of wide open space as well as quite the scenic backdrop. People pay lots of money to get married at site with such natural beauty. Not only that, but across the street there was large barn made from wood that gave off a rustic charm. The meeting itself was extremely casual, so much so that it felt like I was just spending time with friends. There was no question that we were a good fit for each other.

The wedding day itself was perfect and it held a few pleasant surprises. It was a bright day, but with large billowing clouds that would intermittently block the sun, which in effect brought down a delightfully diffused light. Prior to the ceremony, I had fun splitting up my time between capturing a beautiful bride as she prepared herself, getting shots of children and dogs as they played, and catching candids of family and friends as they arrived. Stephen and his groomsmen highlighted his family’s British heritage by dressing in the style from the show Peaky Blinders, mustaches and all. Another delightful surprise came in the form of the transportation that ferried the guests between the ceremony and reception sites. It was a beautifully restored trolley converted into a bus. Upon seeing it for the first time, I instantly knew that I’d get plenty of fun pictures from that!

The ceremony was just as gorgeous as its backdrop. Just behind the bride and groom was a custom made doorway with two doors, one black and one white, each displaying the letter “C” (first letter of their last names) in the opposite color, giving it a ying-yang feel to it. The ceremony was full of emotion, as both the bride and groom had their own vows prepared, all the while some of the younger guests weaved in and out of the bridal party and groomsmen. The last of the surprises came just after Stephen and Brooke said their “I dos” in the form of a confetti run (or walk as it turned out). I knew then that one of those shots would turn into the frontpage of my website. All of that taken together made for quite the photogenic wedding!

The reception was held at an American Legion hall. It was a nice, fun-loving crowd so I never had to look too far to find laughter and smiles. The celebration raged on until the very end and seemed to peak when Toto’s “Africa” came on. That made for some fun pictures:)

Here is a slideshow that’ll tell the story of what I wrote above:

A Rainy Day Wedding at the 1761 Old Mill

When I met Lauren and Randy for our pre-wedding meeting, I was blown away by the rustic charm of the venue itself, the pond, the mini waterfalls, the swans, ducks and geese, the wooden walkway bridges, and the woods that surrounded the place. The outdoor possibilities were endless. However, approaching wedding day, the forecast showed rain, rain, and more rain. This held true, but rain on their wedding day was in no way ironic. It failed to dampen their spirits, which was also true of their family and friends, who seemed to glow with love and enthusiasm throughout the day. 

When I got there, I made sure to make use of my weather resistant lenses to take pictures outside the place and then put them away in my courier-style camera bag to make way for my typical wedding lenses. I started right away taking some shots of the bride, her mom, and others hastily putting together what turned out to be nicely laid out decorations and got some detail shots of the room where the ceremony and reception were to take place. The ceremony space would give way to dance floor later on. The decorations, in a very nice way, brought the outdoors inside. While the bride didn't want prep photos, I was able to capture a few shots of the groom as he straightened himself up in a room along with his friend/wedding officiant. I later was able to capture Randy's authentic (sometimes these things are planned out) first look at his bride, who was radiant in her pretty, slightly pink dress. 

The ceremony was a bit challenging for me. First of all space was a bit limited as the move to have it indoors meant that a lot of people were crammed into a small space and I had a bit of trouble maneuvering about. On the other hand, the lack of space made for an intimate feel to the ceremony. The other challenge was the length of the ceremony.  I was told that it would be short, so I was forewarned, but their version of "short" took me by surprise. I later looked at the data from my photos and realized that it spanned less than three minutes! Once it was over I could even hear murmurs from the guests about it's length so I knew it wasn't just me. It included exchanging of rings and a hand fastening ritual. Despite it being so brief, it was a beautiful ceremony and I was happy with the few images I captured.

When I took the couple out for some formal shots, I encountered the second of three challenges. Despite the rain, the the 1761 Old Mill provided plenty of beautiful settings that were covered from the wet conditions. The problem came when I wanted to used one of those beautiful wooded walkway bridges. I had the couple lean a bit over the railing of the bridge and to capture this I had to do the same, but leaned over the rail ever farther. In doing so, my courier bag rolled over the railing and next I heard was the cracking sound of what ended up being my two rainy day lenses along with a flash crashing against the rocky stream below. There was no way to get to them and even if they hadn't floated away, they most likely were ruined from the impact. I guess it could have been worse, but still I was in a state of shock from losing such pricey pieces from my arsenal. Despite being in this state, I was able to gather myself enough to continue with the formals of the couple. It probably took an hour or more to get back to feeling normal. It was the feeling of loss that predominated. Luckily, I had insurance for such a thing and it didn't end up being a total loss when all was said and done.  

The reception that followed was a fun-filled affair that included good food, speeches by very young children, the married couple, their mothers and fathers, a well as other guests, cake cutting, and a very lively dance floor. The third of my challenges was the dance floor. It was very crowded, the light was low, and my flash, I assume, was floating farther and farther away. Not wanting miss any of the excitement to get my backup flash from my car, I decided to test the limits of my cameras and lenses to capture the energy of the guests as they danced away. There was one point where I was warned by, I believe it was the bride, that craziness was about to erupt upon the dance floor. I found out that meant a mix of lots of twirling, jumping, spinning, swinging, do-si-do-ing, and other dance moves I can't name or use properly in sentences. I delivered one picture that was purposely blurry with motion to capture the craziness. I was constantly maneuvering in order to keep from landing on my backside and damage anymore of my equipment.

So, all in all, despite a few difficulties, I had a great time at Lauren and Randy's wedding. It was a wedding that didn't take itself too seriously, but was visually beautiful and was meant to be fun for all of those attending. I often look back at previous weddings I've documented and this one always gives me a smile. Below are some of the moments that tell the story of this wedding:   

An Engagement Shoot at the Boston Public Garden/ Fighting the Big, Bright, Blazing Sun

As a photographer you don't always get the final say as to what time of day a shoot is to take place.  I typically try to schedule portrait sessions within an hour and a half to two hours till sunset. With the sun closer to the horizon, this allows for more creative potential working with the sun and within the shadows that it casts, as well as shooting during the "golden hour" when the light is almost magical.

With that said, a few weeks ago I found myself at the Boston Common/ Public Garden scouting out the area in anticipation of an engagement session that was to take place within the hour. There was not a cloud in sight, the sun was shining straight overhead, and the temperature was warm enough to comfortably wear short sleeves and shorts. In my head, the line "It's sunny and 75, it feels so good to be alive" from a song by the Silver Jews was playing on repeat as my thoughts were simultaneously dreading having to battle that big beautiful sun and its delightful rays. The area was packed with many Bostonians strolling about contentedly, taking in the gorgeous weather, but all my thoughts were filled with the images of harsh shadows and blown out backgrounds that I would confront through the viewfinders of my cameras.  This "perfect" day was going to be a constant and continuous struggle to keep the sun from sabotaging my shoot.

Abysmal conditions aside, Vinayak and Priya, were a wonderful couple to work with, despite claiming having very little experience in front of a camera. When it comes to posing, I tend to place couples in spots that make for nice backgrounds, give a few simple directions, and then allow the scene to unfold in front of me. For some couples this doesn't always work, so more direction is needed, but with Vinayak and Priya, this was rarely the case. I was pleasantly surprised by how they were able to focus on each other at times and produce what seemed to be authentic moments. Their smiles rarely looked forced and during these moments I felt like I was taking candid shots, exactly the way I would want such sessions to go. They even were very patient as I dragged them all around the entire garden, trying out different spots and experimenting with the light that was available. All in all, it was a relaxed shoot and there were a few appearances from their dog Louis. I was able to make peace with the sun and in the end, I was happy with the results. Here is a gallery of some of my favorites from this session:

Jennifer and John's Manchester Wedding

Just over a month ago, I had the pleasure to document Jennifer and John's wedding. It was held only months after their engagement, so you can imagine how crazy it must have been to pull it all off in time. Part of that planning was hiring me as their photographer. Now, with full disclosure, I'll tell you that I certainly had the inside track on the job as my wife and Jennifer work together and Jennifer had already seen much of my work. It was as simple as my wife asking me if I wanted to take the job and me saying "yes!", which was by far the most simple wedding booking of my still relatively young photographic career. 

I experienced several notable (at least for me they were notable) "firsts" with this wedding. The first of the "firsts" was that it was a church wedding with a religious ceremony. This meant dealing with a Pastor, whose authority trumps (I hate using this word for some reason) that of the bride and groom, so basically I was at his mercy as to where and when I was allowed to photograph. At first, during my meeting with the Pastor and the couple, I had the feeling that I was going to be banished from the ceremony altogether - my worst nightmare! I mean, how am I supposed to tell the story of their wedding without pictures of the ceremony? I consider myself a documentary photographer and as such, telling the story is everything as far as I'm concerned! But, after a somewhat painful interview process with the Pastor, I gathered that I was allowed in the aisle during the procession, but once the ceremony took place I could only photograph from the periphery and back of the chapel, and if I wanted, I could recreate certain moments from the ceremony after it was over. The idea of recreating moments goes against every domentarian fiber of my being, so I just had to be happy that I wasn't banished from the chapel. In all my previous weddings I had full reign of spots from which I could photograph. One officiant told me what ended up being my favorite responses to the question of where I could be during the ceremony, which was, "Whatever it takes to get the shot!" Another time I literally ducked under and between the bride and groom and officiant to get to other side to get a different perspective (it was my only option in such tight quarters!). In reality, despite what I felt at first was a good deal of resistance, the Pastor's conditions were quite fair and the pictures from the ceremony turned out nicely.

Having to work along the periphery of the chapel led to another one of my "firsts", which was having to rely on my bazooka of a zoom lens. I originally bought this lens for exactly this reason. Last year I thought that I might book a church wedding based off photographing a City Hall wedding. I knew that the couple planned on having a second ceremony at a church and I thought there was a good chance they would pick me to document it. They didn't, but the threat of a church wedding led me to making my second largest photographic purchase, the aforementioned lens. For nearly a year, I barely touched the thing and even considered selling it. Luckily I didn't and it worked quite nicely for me during John and Jennifer's ceremony. I'm even considering incorporating it more for future weddings, as it allows me to be more unobtrusive, which is an adjective I like to use when describing myself when photographing events. 

So with that really long back story, I will now get to the wedding day itself.  It started in a hotel room with Jennifer, her sister, mother, and friend. I basically had about an hour and a half to document the preparation process. This is often my favorite part of the day, because it gives me time to get creative. There were plenty of mirrors and I love exploring the many opportunities that they provide. One of my favorite photos was one in which Jennifer was applying her makeup and a mirror in the background reflected an image of her wedding dress hanging on a curtain rod.

From the hotel I drove to the Church. Before Jennifer arrived, I had fun just moving around between the chapel and other rooms taking pictures of guests conversing, candles being lit in the chapel, Navy personnel practicing with swords, and other random tidbits. The chapel itself was beautiful. It had a very simplistic design and had near perfect lighting (from a photographer's perspective). The ceremony was a perfect length in that I was able to move around the perimeter and get most of the shots that I wanted to get without feeling too rushed. After the ceremony the couple went outside and walked through an arc of swords, stopping at each set to kiss in order to gain passage to the next set. This was also another one of my "firsts". It was a beautiful ritual and made for some nice shots.

Following the swords, I drove to the Puritan Backroom lounge for the reception. It had a relatively simple reception hall and a somewhat rustic bar off to the side. Maybe "rustic" isn't the right word, but it had lots of nicely polished wood and great lighting to give off a wonderful ambiance. The banquet hall presented a challenge in that there were several different competing light sources, including blue uplighting, fluorescent lighting, maybe some incandescent lighting, DJ lighting, and even a large window that backlit several of my shots with bright natural light. The real challenge was in editing the shots afterwards to give everyone skin tones that looked like skin tones. I started out with a lot of blue and/or red faces and adjusting the white balance was quite difficult at times. Converting to Black & White became my best friend with some of the more impossible photos to color-correct. Later in the evening when the dancing was in full effect, I brought out my flash, which made editing much easier. 

The one thing that made this wedding fun to photograph was that the crowd seemed to be quite fun-loving, which presented me with an abundance of moments to capture. There were plenty of smiles, laughs, silly faces, hugs, emotions, etc., which gave the whole event a positive vibe. This made my life behind my cameras much easier and I got to enjoy myself. Another major plus (another one of my "firsts") was that my wife was a guest there! We got to enjoy a really good dinner together. They served lobster mac&cheese! Let me repeat that: Lobster Mac&Cheese! Delicious! The dance floor was quite lively and overall it was evident that everyone enjoyed themselves on this special day for John and Jennifer. I would also like to mention that Jennifer was quite the radiant bride throughout the entire day, despite what I later found out having to battle a bout of illness. I have to give her a lot of credit, because she didn't show it one bit! ....Oh and how could I forget to mention that there was a chihuahua named Maya, a very important member of the family, present for the ceremony? It's amazing how many of my weddings have featured dogs!  

With all that said, here is a gallery of images that I think represents the story of their day(there are a lot of pictures in this gallery, but they are really only a small fraction of what I actually shot):

Favorites from the Last Couple Months

I've been neglecting this poor blog of mine again. It's winter so business has ground to a halt so I don't have anything in the way of shoots to exhibit, but I do continue to take family photos. I meant this to be a monthly thing, but that's just not happening, so this will just be a collection of favorites from since the last time I did favorites. That means there will be quite a few photos to take in. They will span two states, two countries, two species, my younger daughter's second birthday and a bunch of other things. Enjoy! 

A Ski Lodge Wedding

When Brittany and Jake told me that they rented a house in Plymouth, NH and that this would be the site of the wedding I was a bit apprehensive, especially considering I didn't have an opportunity to look at it beforehand (for all my previous weddings I had a chance to check the place out prior to the wedding day). Then when I searched the address using google maps and found dashes leading into the woods instead of a road, I was even more nervous. To add to my pile of nerves, there was to be a family friend taking pictures as well that day. I had never worked with another photographer before, but in the end she respected my space and was rarely in the way. 

On the day of the wedding I made sure to leave with plenty of getting lost/traffic time. Unfortunately, there was so much traffic (it was Saturday, there shouldn't have been any traffic!) that I wasn't left with much getting lost time. So when google told me that my destination was on my left and on my left were a bunch of trees, I was a bit stressed. I had about ten minutes before I was supposed to show up, so I drove back to where I saw some locals and asked if they knew where this place was. It turns that it was off of a dirt road in a different area -- thanks google. Not only that but there was no street sign. I first passed the road because there was a sign with a name on it that I didn't recognize. After that I was desperate, so I pulled over and called Brittany and found out that the name I didn't recognize was Jake's last name (I only knew Brittany's last name) and that this was the road I needed to get to. Luckily I got there just in time.

I first took to taking pictures of Brittany and her wedding party getting made up. There was very little space to move around, but there were mirrors, which I used to my advantage. I never pass up the chance to capture a nice reflection. There was even a nice view of the ceremony site from one of the windows, which was framed up nicely for me to capture. Once I felt I had taken enough preparation photos of the ladies, I moved on to the men downstairs and after fifteen or so minutes with them, I wandered around the site. During our meeting, Brittany and Jake mentioned wanting pictures of their two dogs. There ended up being three dogs present and since I didn't know which ones were theirs, I made sure to get some good portraits of all three.

The ceremony and reception were to be held in the backyard. The wedding arbor, which was handmade, looked stunning against the backdrop of late-October fall foliage. The ceremony was performed by a friend of theirs who referred to himself as "The Reverend". Brittany and Jake recited their own vows to each other, which gave the ceremony a more personal touch. Following the ceremony we managed to get in some group shots before the sun completely set. The reception was held under a white tent that included a DJ and dancefloor.  Cornhole and foosball were being played, and all the while a pig was roasting in the front yard.

It all added up to a great wedding experience. The site was beautiful, the weather was perfect, and the company was friendly and fun. It was a pleasure to document. Here are some of the images that depicted their day:

A Wedding at the Governor's Inn

A few weeks back I shot a wedding at the Governor's Inn in Rochester, New Hampshire. It was a same sex wedding, which was a first for me. I approached it the same exact way I would approach any other wedding and in reality it was no different. I simply took pictures of what was going on around me as a documentarian, unless requested otherwise (posed shots).  The thing that made me most nervous about the day was the forecast, which suggested rain up until the day of. In the end it was quite a sunny day.

The day started off in the preparation room at the Governor's Inn where Amy and her wedding party were getting ready. One of the firsts things asked of me was to help with the tying of a tie. I went to an all-boys Catholic high school where ties were mandatory so tying one was practically second nature even after all these years of not wearing one on a daily basis. This also happens to be the second time in the past few months I've been asked to do so on a wedding day and I was happy to be of service. So if you are an aspiring wedding photographer, my advice to you is to know how to tie a tie.

Following the prep room, I wandered around taking pictures as guests gathered, corsages were being pinned, and last minute decorations were being set. The ceremony, held in front of a gazebo, was fast paced, short, and sweet. It included a sand ritual and before I knew it, Samantha and Amy were performing their first kiss as a married couple.

After some group shots we headed over to the reception area, where good food was served (they let me eat!), there was lively dancing, and some heart-felt toasts. At one point, I was told that something "big" was about to happen by the bar. That ended up being shots to a select few guests. Overall it was a fun wedding and I was glad that I got to document it. Here are some of the snaps that depicted the day:

P.S. Not only did Samantha and Amy hire me to document their special day, but they were the ones that referred me to a previous wedding I shot (look for the blog post titled, "A Backyard Wedding"). So a big Thank You to Samantha and Amy!!

A Martha Mary Chapel/ Wayside Inn Wedding

Earlier in October I had a wedding shoot that started off in Arlington, MA taking pictures with the bride and her dog, Belle. It was different from the way I would normally start a wedding day, but pets are family and I understood. Belle couldn't attend the ceremony or reception so having a mini-shoot beforehand was a way of including her in their special day.

From Arlington I drove to Sudbury, MA where the wedding was to be held. The ceremony was performed in the picturesque Martha Mary chapel, which is really beautiful in its modesty as it sits atop a hill. The chapel itself was featured in a couple of hollywood films, "The Invention of Lying" and "The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past". While I wouldn't go rushing to watch any of these films, the chapel proved to be quite a nice setting for a wedding ceremony. Once that concluded, I got to step inside a limousine for the second time in my life to be escorted to another historic site featuring a watermill, which was the backdrop for another mini-shoot that included the bride, groom and other members of the wedding party. 

The reception was held at the Wayside Inn which provided a classy setting for tasty food and entertainment provided by friendly DJs and a lively dance floor. I had a good time documenting all of this and here are some of the pictures that represent the day:

A Wedding at the Corinthian Hall

Shortly after getting back from my trip overseas, I had the honor of documenting the marriage of Dennis and Shelley at the Corinthian Hall in Melrose, Massachusetts. I met them in their hotel rooms and started to take shots as they were frantically getting ready. At one point I even had to put down my camera to help tie a tie. The hall itself was one of those all-in-one places which featured the ceremony and reception. The ceremony was led by a charismatic minister who seemed to know how to keep us all engaged even as we waited patiently for the sand to arrive for the sand ritual.  The reception was kept lively by a friendly DJ who kindly alerted me to key moments just before they happened. I may have still been a bit jet-lagged so I was very grateful for this. It was a good time, with lively guests and a lovely couple. I certainly appreciated the opportunity to capture this wedding. Here are a few photos from the day:

July 2017 Favorites

As I mentioned in previous posts, July was quite the busy month for me. I had two weddings, a marriage celebration, and a family session. I was able to squeeze in some personal ones too. Some cherries were even picked. For a seasoned full-time photographer that may not seem like a lot, slow even, but it was quite hectic for me. I'm part-timing this business on the account of my kids and am far from seasoned (so would that make me bland?). Maybe next year a month like this will be the norm and then in the following years it will be even crazier. I'm keeping my fingers crossed as I hope to stay in this line of work for many years to come. Nonetheless, I found myself humbled by it all. There were many pictures to choose from and I certainly didn't get them all and I certainly picked a lot, but here a some of the favorites from this hectic month of mine:

A Day in the Life with Friends

To end by far my most busy stretch as a professional photographer, I had a very casual "Day in the Life" type session with some friends. It featured their young toddler and dog (pets are family as far as I'm concerned). It was particularly nice, because it was about as low stress as it can get for a shoot and I felt only the minimal amount of pressure to get off some good shots. Hopefully, one day, I will feel this way about every session.

This shoot was a mixture of documentary and lifestyle, in which there were times where I was just capturing the family doing their thing and other times when I directed them to a particular place and captured them doing their thing. It went fairly smoothly considering their toddler was being a typical toddler, tantrums and all, and I inadvertently had them sit around a nest of yellow jackets (my business is insured for such a thing), but nothing serious came of it. Their dog, Dakota, was also a good sport, even though I kept sticking my camera in his face.

It went basically exactly how I would want a "Day in the Life" session to go (minus the yellow jackets). The parents of the toddler did what they typically do in that they were trying to keep the smiles to a maximum and the crying to a minimum, except this time it was in front of a camera and the results were great. Not only that, my own wife and kids showed up later and we were treated to some beer and a good meal! Below are some of the images from the shoot: 

A Celebration for Newlyweds

The newlywed couple lives in Prague. I was born in Prague. Therefore, it only made sense, as far as fate is concerned,  that the bride's mother picked me to photograph the celebration of their marriage (their wedding occurred in the Czech Republic). The celebration I documented was set at the beautiful Molly's Tavern and Restaurant in New Boston, New Hampshire.  This establishment sits atop a hill with a brook flowing by down below. 

The celebration itself was wonderfully put together by the bride's mother. There were numerous collages set all around the place that featured the newlyweds and their Czech experience. Even the table's were decorated with some sorts of crafts that added to this theme. I can't even comprehend how many hours it must have taken to make all this happen. I can only hope that I have even a small portion of that enthusiasm for my own daughters when they grow up and do things that require celebrations. In addition to the decorations there was a quirky cover band, a couple lawn games set up, and plenty of Czech beer. To my credit, I resisted drinking any of the beer. It took a lot of willpower, but I had a job to do. The event was obviously an enjoyous one and I enjoyed documenting it. Below is a gallery with some of the images from this party:

A Backyard Wedding

Really it was held on the side yard, but backyard just sounds better. Either way it was a beautiful event that featured two individuals who clearly loved each other. Throughout the whole day, they were like magnets that kept attracting and were hard to pull apart. The wedding was a simple and intimate affair. It was a small gathering of family and friends. The ceremony was an emotional one, requiring a good amount of tissues and ended with a sand ritual. Following the ceremony we took a limo ride (my very first one!) to Arms Park in Manchester, NH along the Merrimack river, which held some emotional significance for the couple. Following a short session we headed back for some food, drinks, and driveway disco. Here are some of the images that tell the story of the day:

A Wedding Amongst the Trees

Last week I had the honor of documenting a wedding at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. In attendance there were the bride and groom, their respective parents, the groom's brother and significant other, the officiant, the photographer (me), many beautiful trees, and countless raindrops.  Luckily, the rain let up a bit for the ceremony, but other than that it poured down on us. This wedding was about as striped down as you can get, but the beauty of it wasn't lacking. It was a simple ceremony amongst the trees and amid weather that added to the naturalistic feel of the event. Having had a modest wedding myself, I certainly could appreciate its simplicity. 

Before the event, for many days, I was practically glued to weather.com, checking the forecast just about every 15 minutes. Each time I looked the outlook looked bleak and more often than not bleaker than the time before. The idea of a wet wedding frightened me, especially since there was no rainy weather plan or even any possibility of one. The setting was an arboretum, therefore trees were the only cover. My photographer's anxiety (such a thing exists) was at an all time high. I imaged myself drenched finding out that the weather-sealing on my equipment was just a hoax driving up its price... luckily that wasn't the case. The weather resistance of my gear was valiantly resistant and I was able to shoot for a good hour and a half with wet camera bodies and lenses without issue. 

The pictures themselves portrayed a simple story. Rain was certainly a main character and much of the tale involved a journey trudging along soaked paths as we hiked from one part of the arboretum to the other. The ceremony was short and sweet. It contained some useful information about the origin of some element or other (I really try to listen to what is being said, but most of my focus (pun intended) is on taking pictures), the history of the site itself, as well as the simplest crossword puzzle known to man. Here are some of the images that tell this tale:

June 2017 Favorites

The loud explosions and bright bursts of last night mean that it's time to post some of my more memorable images from June.  This included a trip to Delaware and Maryland, the Baltimore Aquarium, my mom's farm, summer water fun, a wedding, a maternity shoot, and just the general silliness of children and their propensity to put things on their heads. Business was a tick better than the previous month, which is a good thing, but is nothing compared to what's in store for July, which includes two weddings, a marriage celebration, and possibly one or two family sessions. But before I get too far ahead of myself and start panicking about a relatively busy month for this modest part-time business of mine, here is an assortment of images from June:   

A Maternity Shoot at Lake Quannapowitt

Once again I had to pleasure to do a couples maternity shoot along with their canine companion. This time no one had to risk frostbite in order to do so. It was a sunny summer day in Wakefield, Massachusetts at the scenic Lake Quannapowitt (Just saying that name gives me some sense of peace). The sun was out in full force so my options were to hide from it and/or embrace it. I chose to do both and am very happy with the results. Here's a gallery with a few of my favorites from that session:

An Epping Wedding

Last weekend I had the pleasure to document the wedding of Lance and Jane at the beautiful Josiah's Meetinghouse located in Epping, NH. The venue was crafted out of an old barn, which gave it a wonderfully rustic feel. The wedding itself was a bit different in that the couple were looking to forgo some of the typical wedding traditions such as maids of honor, bridesmaids, best men, first dances, wedding cakes (they had a cupcake stand instead, so no pictures of cake slicing), etc. Not only that, their dance floor was themed after Austin Powers movies including GoGo dancers clad in 70s dresses and hoola hoops. And if that wasn't enough, an ice cream truck was commissioned to park right outside the place so that the guests could enjoy a chilly treat of their choosing. It was a laidback affair that even included a cigar smoking table (can't get more relaxed than that!). It was an enjoyable evening and I am grateful to have been a part of it. Here is a gallery with some of the images from the day (p.s. I'm in two of the photos, see if you can locate me):

From 365 to 12 (or fewer)

Lately, I've been seeing lots of people doing 365 projects, where every day in the year is represented with a picture, and I thought that I'd give it a shot. Now that nearly half the year is gone, I probably should have something to show for that, but I don't. It's not that taking pictures is the problem. Every day has had plenty of clicks. It's the posting that has been lacking. I place the blame entirely on my 1 and 3 year-olds. By the time they are in bed, I'm exhausted and my 365 project takes a backseat to binge-watching something or other. And this has happened just about every single day since the year began, so I have just recently given up on that project.

I need to be a bit less ambitious. It's a bit too daunting to pick a single picture from everyday. Some days just have too many "keeper" pictures to pick from, whereas others kind of just blended in with the surrounding days. Either way, I've been depriving my FotoBlog of photos. In the interest of keeping my FotoBlog happy, I'll just monthly post an assortment of some of my favorites.

Since May has been over for only a few days, I'll start with May. Business was slow so most of these shots will be family pictures. This includes Lola, our cat. There will also be a chipmunk featured. I have found since moving here that New Hampshire is infested with the little creatures so I'm going to make more of a concerted effort in the upcoming months to capture them more candidly. It's not easy though. They're quite quick and shifty. So there's a good chance I won't make that effort.... anyway here are the aforementioned images:

1st Birthday Party Insanity

So just recently I had a 1st birthday party/family photo session at an indoor waterpark called the Great Wolf Lodge. There was a pretty big language barrier between the mother, who set the thing up, and I, so I really had very little idea what I was getting myself into. Despite that, we had managed to communicate well enough that I got myself to the right place, on the right day, and at the right time. 

It was fun, but the level of difficulty was quite high on this particular shoot. When I got there and met up with the family, they first wanted to do a bunch of family portraits in and around the park. The family consisted of the Mother and Father and their three boys aged 11, 6, and 1. Family portraits with 1 year olds aren't so easy. We ended up spending most of the time trying to get him to look in my direction and it seemed that every time he did so, the one pointing in my direction was looking at him. Basically, I had to take tons of shots in hopes that one had everyone looking at me. Not only that, but the place was packed, so I had to constantly contend with passersby wanting to... pass by. Then there were the people trying to help, but they themselves tended to get in the way. There was even a staff member that stopped us all to take pictures of the family with her cellphone. The party had a Mario Bros. theme to it and she absolutely loved the costumes and absolutely had to send the picture off to someone or other. Don't worry dear reader, you'll get to see the costumes as well...

This park also doubled as a hotel and in order to stay at the park you have to book a room. The room is where the birthday party was. This basically meant that I had two things going against me. Those being, lack of space and lack of good natural light. There was thankfully a decent sized window on one side of the room and my goal was to milk as much of that nice ambient light as I could. The space that was lit up by this light was very small, however, and the room itself was quite crammed up by the six of us. 

Thankfully, I had just purchased a nice wide-angle prime lens, which I used for most of the shoot. It not only had the width to shoot in such cramped quarters, but it also had the low-light ability to handle the... low light.

Once we were in the room and got some more family portraits out of the way, I was able to start shooting in the documentary style that I was comfortable with and I ended up very pleased with the results. The ambient light I was referring to really helped me get some good shots as it lit up the subject(s) while the background remained dark. It was just a matter of being patient and waiting for the right moments. Here are some of my favorites from this session: