The Armstrongs: A Winter Family Portrait

Last weekend was freezing. I woke up on Sunday morning thinking that it was supposed to be unseasonably warm and it wasn’t. It felt exactly like December in New England should feel. Add in the insane wind and it felt downright miserable. Conveniently enough, Sunday was the only day that was possible to photograph my sister, brother-in-law, and their two kids.

Together, we hit all of my favorite photo spots at Moore State Park in Paxton right as the sun started to dip. You wouldn’t have even known that there were kids under those piles of blankets if you didn’t look carefully. By the end my hands were numb and everyone was ready to jump into heated cars and trucks but I am stoked with how the photos came out. Winter is an underrated time for family photos!

All in all it was fun and definitely worth borderline frostbite. If you are looking to brave the cold for some awesome winter photos with your family I would love to hear from you! From now until Christmas I am selling family session gift certificates! Each purchase comes with a printable PDF that makes a great stocking stuffer. Just click here! See? You don’t even have to get off the couch!

Charles and Evy: Short and Sweet

A few months ago I got to shoot Evy and Charles’ wedding ceremony at their home church in Framingham Massachusetts. While a lot of my weddings are all day affairs, I was only with Evy and Charles for a few hours in Framingham and then a few minutes in Boston. The couple, along with a whole ton of friends and family were going to spend the night on one of the Boston Harbor cruises. I have shot a few weddings on these cruises and they are a blast- if you’re looking for a fun reception that is a little different- definitely check out the cruise options.

I really lucked out with this wedding. The church was huge and it was full of really great light. I asked ahead of time if it was okay to use flash and they were absolutely fine with it (this is not always the case) but I turned it on only once or twice. The people in charge of the ceremony were kind and welcoming and Evy, Charles, and the rest of their guests were so warm and welcoming. I think this wedding really goes to show that don’t need to have a huge event with lots of set pieces and the longest photo package possible to come away with a great wedding story.

Check out some of my favorite photos from this Framingham wedding:

If you like what you saw and are planning your wedding- whether its a two hour elopement at Worcester City Hall or an all-day affair in Manchester, VT- email me or reach out with the contact form below!

Jessica and James: A Wedding at the Asa Waters Mansion

Jessica and James are, in a lot of ways, my favorite kind of people to work with. They were laid back and incredibly nice but also had this sense of humor that really appeals to me. I enjoyed photographing them and I enjoyed working with them through out the wedding process and their wedding at the Asa Waters Mansion in Millbury, MA was fantastic.

Our first engagement session was scrapped because it happened to fall on the same day as our only major snowstorm last winter and I felt awful. They had traveled all the way in from New York and we just couldn’t make it to Moore State Park for our session. I drive a PT Cruiser- not exactly known for its rugged abilities. When we finally had our session a few weeks later the weather was cold but wonderful. Jessica’s son and her sister Barb- also a photographer- came along. Barb let us use her heart shaped umbrella and it ruled. It was a lot of fun and a great way to get to know the people I would be spending a hot summer day with.

Here is my favorite shot from that session.

I was pumped on the day of their wedding. I had met up with Jessica a few days before and she gave me my own heart-shaped umbrella. I was really touched. I toured the lovely Asa Waters Mansion and had a really good idea about where I wanted to go and what I wanted to shoot. I was happy and ready to go. Then, as I was getting my cameras ready to get loaded into my camera bag I got an awful phone call letting me know that one of my cousins had been diagnosed with a real shitty form of Leukemia (not that they aren’t all shitty).

Jessica and James’ wedding taught me that weddings are not an aside from life. Every single person who is at a wedding- whether they are in the wedding or cherished guests (or bearded photographers) have their own massively complex story going on. Not all of it is happy but during a wedding you just have to accept and embrace that. Love is all about accepting a person’s entire story and weddings are all about love.

If I had a normal job I don’t know if I would have functioned properly. I don’t. I arrived at Jessica and James’ wedding having decided that I would paste on a smile and just exist in my camera. The thing is that it’s hard not to smile at a wedding and it’s even harder not to smile around people like Jessica and James. It was also helpful that they and their guests came to get down during the reception! I found that after an incredibly short amount of time my smile was genuine and there were times when I couldn’t help but laugh and feel appreciative for what I do and the people that I get to spend time with. Here are some of my favorite shots from Jessica and James’ wedding at the Asa Waters Mansion in Auburn, MA.

Jackie and Rehan: A Worcester Art Museum Wedding

It was a ton of fun to photograph Jackie and Rehan’s wedding at the Worcester Art Museum. For one thing- the Worcester Art Museum rocks. I have shot there before and it’s almost hard to take a bad picture. Even if Jackie and Rehan weren’t super cool people I would have loved spending most of the night in the museum but Jackie and Rehan were awesome.

Jacke and Rehan were kind enough to let my wife SiEun help out as a second photographer. SiEun has quite a bit of experience in commercial and street photography and we had been talking about adding her into my business a second photographer. It made a lot of sense because she was experienced, we work well together, and we both kind-of like each-other. I wanted to give it a dry-run before we made it official and Jackie and Rehan allowed that to happen.

The Worcester Art Museum was a great place to take advantage of two wedding photographers. For one thing- it’s beautiful. There is too much to photograph for one person. Every where you turn there is some priceless painting or a suit of armor- all of it lit perfectly for a wedding. Another thing is that Jackie and Rehan’s wedding ceremony took place on the grand staircase in front of a classic moasic. SiEun was able to grab some awesome shots from above the action that really showed the big picture while I was on ground-level. This just wouldn’t have been possible with a solo photographer. Also, I had this preconception going in that a wedding at the Worcester Art Museum might be pretty subdued but I could not have been more wrong- the DJ was awesome and these people brought it all to the dance floor.

Check out some of my favorites from Jackie and Rehan’s wedding at the Worcester Art Museum!

Click the links to learn more about the vendors that made this wedding possible:

Venue: Worcester Art Museum

DJ: Doucette DJ Entertainment

Hair: Shaylin Sidoti- Facebook / Instagram

Make-up: Beauty Lush by Sarah

Catering: Struck Catering (There are no food pics in this but the food was great)

Dessert: Bean Counter coming in for the win as usual.

As always- if you like what you see and want to talk about photography for your wedding, whether it is at an internationally renowned art museum or your favorite brewery, just shoot me a message.

Amy and Daniel: An Engagement Session at Scarborough Beach

Amy and Daniel booked me as their wedding photographer about a year or so ago. Their wedding isn’t for another year but in the time between we have gotten together a couple times now for photos. Our first session was an extended family portrait session at a rustic barn (found by Amy). Then in July I got to spend time with Amy and Daniel during their engagement session at Scarborough Beach in Narragansett, RI.

I love doing sessions on the beach and Scarborough Beach (again, found by Amy and Daniel) was a great place for an engagement session. They had dunes, an old stone building facade, and of course lots of sun, surf, and sand.

One of the things I like about Amy and Daniel is that they were willing to venture out and take some chances for these photos. They really embraced the environment and were definitely willing to just dive in- literally.

Check out some of my favorite photos from Amy and Daniel’s engagement session at Scarborough Beach!

If you like what you was and want to talk about your engagement or wedding photography- in sand or snow- all you have to do is fill out the form below. That rhymed.