By far, my favorite lifestyle newborn photo sessions involve older siblings. Kids are wildly unpredictable, and I just love that about them! Baby O’s older sisters were so excited to welcome me into their home. They flitted about showing me their rooms, how well their mattresses bounced, their baby dolls and books, and the star of the day: their new baby brother. This little baby is so very loved by his family!

It was a pleasure spending the morning with this sweet family and catching authentic moments that I hope will be treasured always!

Oh, how the Boston Public Garden sparkled this past Saturday after an afternoon rain shower! We took a brief jaunt through the gardens on our way to this radiant couple’s reception, but I could have happily stayed for hours and still been inspired by my surroundings.

Stay tuned for more to come in the next few weeks!

There are so many things I loved about this recent family session on the Wellesley College Campus:

* little hands getting stuck in a raisin box (because who doesn’t remember the struggle of getting the last stuck ones out?)

* the many faces of an infant that is just learning to sit up (thank you, parents, for allowing me to continue photographing him as his little face crumpled up!)

* the way little kids always manage to find giant sticks twice their body length

….and the sweet moments caught between siblings as their relationship deepens. Always those.

Wellesley, Wellesley, only to be there….

Abbey graduated from my alma mater, Wellesley College, and luckily this summer she returned for her 5 year reunion so we were able to meet in person despite the fact that she and Natalie live in Wisconsin!

Wellesley’s campus, as always, was gorgeous, and we snuck in a few photos on our stroll together while getting to know each other. The rhododendrons were in full bloom in the arboretum, Natalie laughed at Paramecium Pond’s name, and we ended near the Tower Court dorms in front of the only remaining columns left standing after the 1914 College Hall fire.

I had a blast, and I’m so excited to see you two again this August for your Wisconsin wedding!

Journey and Amy’s wedding day at Borderland State Park was WET. Like, the kind of wet where your shoes fill up with rainwater from a squishy lawn and start making funny squeaking noises. But what I remember most about their wedding day is not the misty air (although it made for really romantic portraits!). Instead, I remember the warmth radiating out from Journey and Amy. They simply glowed in that summer sunshine way.

And what a merry band of close family and friends materialized out of the fog! I knew I would have a blast when toddlers appeared clutching dinosaurs, newlywed Wellesley College alumni guests arrived (my alma mater), and their dear loved ones jumped right in helping to set up the reception space and making the cement porch attached to the mansion feel homey with bold pillows, bright tablecloths, and cheery flowers provided by the herb farm where Journey’s mother works.

Isn’t it so obvious when looking at their photos how enamored they are of each other? Congratulations on your first anniversary, and I’m so glad I was able to photograph your wedding!

P.S. The guests who caught the bouquet are getting married next summer, and I’ll be their photographer too! See their engagement session in the Berkshires here!

On a recent visit to my family in Florida, I was introduced to this radiant young woman by a college friend, and we spent an hour laughing together in gorgeous West Palm Beach, FL. She’s currently studying opera in college, and I just know she’s going to succeed in realizing her dreams!

I’m so excited to follow her trajectory!

I had an absolute blast with Tori and Bridget a few weeks ago in the Berkshires! I call my engagement sessions “Adventure Together Sessions” because I like to accompany couples while they do something they love; we get to know each other, and the session is relaxed and full of laughter and movement instead of awkward posing.

One of Tori and Bridget’s first dates was in an arboretum, so after they enjoyed yummy ice cream at SoCo Creamery in charming downtown Great Barrington, we set out for a walk at Pfeiffer Arboretum. The path was certainly not a well traveled one (abundant poison ivy kept us alert, and the pond at the end was viewed from a dilapidated, sinking overlook- we noticed the caution tape only after we turned back…), but the light coming in through the trees was so sweet, and listening to Tori recite a poem about poison ivy that she had written when she was a young girl was amazing!

After our hike, we ventured to a field overlooking the Berkshire Mountains, and the light was *magical.* I could have stayed there for hours with the two of them listening to them banter and laugh together. I’m looking forward to spending more time with them next year at their wedding in Upstate New York!

According to the time stamps on their ceremony photos, one minute and 58 seconds is the time it takes to be officially married in New York City Hall from when you enter the chapel until the first kiss! But Shayla and Paul’s intimate destination wedding in NYC was way more than just the ceremony.

As a wedding photographer with a documentary/storytelling approach, I was giddy over the waiting room aspect of their City Hall wedding. Anticipation built as they waited for their number- C693- to be called, traveled through the various stations, and waited outside the chapel for their turn with the officiant.

And then there was Manhattan! And family portraits under flowering trees, famous Grimaldi’s pizza under the Brooklyn Bridge, vows exchanged in a secluded corner of Battery Park, and countless sweet glances and gentle exchanges between the couple. Thank you, Shayla and Paul; it was an honor photographing your beautiful wedding day, and I wish you all the best for the exciting adventures to come!

I had the pleasure of second shooting for the super talented Ali of Ali Rosa Photography this past fall for the wedding of two fashionable, foodie, and vinyl-record-loving brides in Rhode Island. I adore second shooting because I find it so exciting and energizing to look for second angles to photograph over the course of the wedding. Take this first image, for example, of the brides during their first dance. I crouched down low behind a table, framed the couple with two glasses of water, and used my fastest lens to open up the aperture wiiiiide to create the gorgeous and romantic orbs of light circling them as they danced…. I love the results!

Sometimes, a wedding is so deeply heartfelt that it’s difficult for me to choose which photos best convey the love surrounding a couple for those not there in person to witness it. Sarah and Jenny’s beautiful wedding ceremony on the Mills College Campus in Oakland, CA followed Quaker tradition; there was no fanfare or giving away of the brides, and no officiant. Instead, they walked together into the chapel, and their friends and family members sat in contemplative silence before rising one after another to testify to the strength of the couple’s relationship. The Mills College Chapel is in the round, and believe me, the love indeed circled them!

To make the day even more awesome, add in book-themed decor (both Sarah and Jenny are librarians!), a reception in the Reinhardt Alumnae House where past Mills College presidents looked on as Jenny’s talented cousin Mindy, a professional hair and makeup artist, helped them get ready, and the Spanish and modern architecture mash-up that is the Mills College campus. (Goodness, did I have fun during the portrait session with Sarah and Jenny!) And Portabella Mushroom Banh Mi- YUM!

I feel so honored and lucky that I was able to fly to Oakland to photograph Sarah and Jenny’s wedding!

P.S. You may remember from an earlier blog post (their engagement session here) that Sarah was a bridesmaid at my college friend Sara’s wedding that I photographed back in 2009, and three years later, I received the kind of e-mail that makes a photographer dance around the house with giddiness: “Ever since Sara and Devin’s wedding I’ve been waiting to send you an email like this! Jenny and I just looked over your website again and we loved what we saw.”

Friend referrals are THE BEST!