When Noldcie got in touch for a photo shoot as a gift to herself for her birthday, I was fully on board. It was a bit chilly at the time, but she was pretty unfazed, and I had a great time wandering downtown Stoneham shooting portraits of this stunning woman (and her husband sometimes too)!
Happy Birthday, Noldcie!!
As graduation season approaches, I am so excited to have some new clients! I love my family sessions, portraits and events, and working with high school and college seniors only adds to the fun and variety of my work.
When I met Michaela in Marsh Plaza at Boston University for our session, she was wearing her master’s robe. I asked her if she wanted a combination of robe shots and non-robe shots, and she told me that she’d worked too hard to not wear her robes for all the photos. I love this. She HAS worked hard!
We wandered campus, and went into the School of Law as well, which is where she is graduation from. I mentioned the space with lockers, which law students use to store their items during their long days of studying how to do lawyer-y things. I was so glad that space had relevance to her because the light was so beautiful, and it added an extra, interesting location to her collection.
I was honored that she shared with me a bit about her late-mother who was a teacher, is greatly missed, and who we incorporated into some of her shots as well. Her mom would be so proud of her!
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When someone books a session with me, they receive a booking confirmation email with paperwork and details about what to expect from a session with me.
For the first time, (and hopefully the last), I added a paragraph;
“One more thing about your session - Please come to your session wearing your masks so I can take a few photos of you as a family wearing them. I know this may seem like a strange request, but I feel compelled to record this weird time in our history, with hopes that a year from now it will be a thing of the past. If later on you do not want that photo of your family all wearing masks, you don't have to look a them. But if it strikes you as telling part of your family's story, your experience, you'll have it! (I will email your mask portrait to you for free after your session).”
I wondered if there would be push-back on this. Would my clients not want this horrific experience documented? Would they prefer I simply photograph their family, or outdoor bar mitzvah, or couples session as though it was any other year? I can’t say I would blame them if so. I thought for sure that some people would ask that I not photograph them wearing their masks, or they would ask that the images not be shared.
There was not one objection. They all seemed to understand the importance of taking such a photo. In fact, many expressed how important they thought it was to document it. Some have even mentioned including it in their annual holiday card this year! Documentarians after my own heart!
I find the children especially interesting in these photos. Some have eyes that shine bright while they smile beneath the fabric, many wear their masks with comfortable acceptance, and some have the body language of pure fed-upness. I hear you, kid.
I am often expressing gratitude for my clients on this blog and today is no different. They helped me do something unusual during a most bizarre and unsettling year. They connected with me for family photos, and every last one graciously accepted a request from me and the result is this collection.
For my clients, and many other reasons, I am so thankful!
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I usually only host one mini session event in the fall. I invite clients new and returning to pick a time slot on one specific date and meet me at a predetermined location for a quick twenty minute shoot. It’s a great way to get family photos and for me it helps me provide photography for multiple clients during the busiest time of the year for me.
After my annual mini session day took place, my sisterfriend Maureen got in touch with me and said that she and a few friends would love to have mini sessions too. Typically I would let my sisterfriendclient know that mini sessions are a one day thing, unless multiple families want them. But in this instance, Maureen simply brought me clients, which was so amazing! I was able to provide photos for her family, her friends’ family, and a third family who signed up after I promoted the event.
We shots these photos out in Sudbury. It was a blast, the weather cooperated, and we met for the best light - in the late afternoon!
Linda got in touch with me after high school friends and clients Alison and Beth kindly recommended me to her for a session with her blended family.
I arrived early at our meeting place, Horn Pond in Woburn. I hadn’t been there before and wanted to scope it out before starting around with the family for their session. Our meeting time came and I didn’t see the family - I knew there was Mike and Linda, their golden retriever Jax, and four nearly adult kids with a fifteen year old being the youngest.
I spotted such a family, but they were being photographed already. Something seemed weird to me. Was that my family and had they brought a friend to take photos during our session? Or maybe they’re just playing around before I find them? I was so confused! Perhaps it was just a coincidence that another family with grown kids were having a session at the same time.
I kept side-eyeing the group with that other photographer though. That dog! Along with sending the names and ages of everyone as I’d requested, Linda also sent me a photo of her dog, Jax. Golden and white-faced. That was the dog!
Then as I milled around awkward and confused, I heard some of them say “Summer!” which is Linda’s daughter’s name. That’s when I knew for sure, THIS WAS MY FAMILY!
I approached them and we discovered that the photographer who was working with them had also been waiting for a client named Linda. Apparently the photographer had not really introduced herself or asked for everyone’s names before jumping in and starting a session with the wrong family.
“Well, thanks for warming them up for me!” I joked with the photographer and we had a good laugh.
The family and I marveled at the bizarreness of the situation as we made our way to the first spot for a photo, and Linda said “Somehow it didn’t seem right!” She felt the personality of the imposter photographer didn’t match up with what she expected from someone recommended by Alison and Beth, two of the funniest women you’ll meet. Linda also noted that the other photographer was posing them in a way that didn’t seem to match with my style of shooting.
As we stood pond-side for our first shots, I said or did something goofy or funny and Linda said, with some relief “OK, yes, this makes much more sense!”
We had a delightful time, and I discovered beautiful Horn Pond in the process!
Dig, if you will, a picture; You’ve booked your time slot for your annual mini-session with me. You’ve gotten your kids into their best outfits and made it from your home to Maudslay State Park in Newburyport for your session without anyone asking if you’re there yet or saying they’re thirsty.
You drive along the road where you can view a vast field in the park. And in that field…art installations, along with many many people enjoying said art installations. Interesting.
Not sure where we’re going to take pictures then.
You pull into the parking lot, which is overflowing, navigate your way around the myriad of masked visitors, and just as you pull into your spot with time to spare for your session, you get a text from me, your photographer.
“When you arrive, come to the back of the lot to that big, white clabbered house. Those are the bathrooms! We’re going to take photos back here. See you soon!”
Um, I paid good money for this?
My clients are the best. After their initial Uh…what? wore off, they all went with the flow. I think the results were delightful, and we managed to avoid the crowds as well.
I think we can all agree that things are pretty rough right now. Political unrest, a pandemic making a mess of everything. At the time of this session in August, that was no different, and it was gross and hot too!
I felt some levity when I heard from Kristin who said her family was due for a session. I have photographing them since, well before they were a family! My first session with Benjamin and Kristin were for their engagement. Now they have two beautiful sons and I have had the honor to photograph them as they grow too.
Seeing them and capturing them together brought some light to my week!
Joseph was visiting Boston with his husband Gerard when he contacted me through my Instagram page. The two were looking to have a family session along with their dog Donatella Versace. Donatella Versace?! Sign me up!
I was honored that they wanted to work with me, someone they found out of the blue via IG, and I thought it was a great thing - a photo shoot - to add to a vacation getaway.
They graciously made the trek up to Salem so we could avoid the Boston city crowds and have a session at Salem Willows.
In the midst of this sometimes isolating pandemic, a session with this lovely pair and their sweet pup was a welcome pick-me-up!
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I recently held my annual Fall Mini Session Event. It was quite a day! When I arrived at Salem Willows Park I found that most of the trees in the large park had been damaged by the massive storm earlier in the week and the trees that still stood had not yet changed to striking New England fall colors as I had ordered. The nerve of Mother Nature! In addition to the End of The World appearance of the park there was some kind of video crew shooting in various spots, and a wedding being performed.
My clients, being the awesome folks they are, took it all in stride. We took advantage of the park’s beach and the lovely afternoon light resulted in some great shots. That and puppies. Pictures are always better with puppies.
One of my favorite things about the holiday season is when the cards start coming in. I hang the cards on my wall, and thanks to the popularity of photo cards, before long I have my own little gallery up. It’s great!
Here are some thoughts about what I personally think makes a holiday card really pop!
1. In my opinion, card recipients want to see a clear, beautiful portrait of you and your family/kids/dog, front and center. Make your photo the feature of your card by avoiding designs that take up half the card with sentiments. The sentiments are lovely, of course! but even better is your smile. If you do choose a more elaborate card, use very simple photos (like tight headshots) so that there are not competing design elements, creating a busy, un-peaceful mess.
2. If you’d like your family’s photo to be the featured photo, zoom in on the action - your faces! Sure, you may have gone to the beach this summer and want to share that news, but a beach shot where your family is tiny in the frame just doesn’t feature you the way your card-recipients want to see. Save a shot of your guys burying each other in the sand for the backside of the card, which will contribute to telling a little story about your year!
At right is the original crop, which I zoomed in on for the best effect on the card. When zooming in, be conscious not to crowd the subject by coming in too tight.
4. After you have a well-lit, nicely cropped shot of the whole family for the cover photo (or maybe just the kids, that’s cool too), use the back of the card to share photos that tell the story of your family. Avoid similar photos - four pictures of your kids from the waist-up smiling in the same manner is kind of boring. A shot of your daughter playing a game of soccer and another of your son engrossed in a project are more interesting, and for those who haven’t seen your kids in years or perhaps haven’t even met them, well, they’ve just learned something about your child! Also, if you’ve included a nice cover photo of the whole family looking into the camera, you don’t need a replica shot on the backside, so - go candid!
Do you like a card that’s more design-heavy? Consider a simpler photo, like the ones used in the below samples. Converting your photo to black and white can help avoid clashing colors too.
Click on the thumbnails below and roll your mouse over the opened photos to read more tips. Again, these are all made from shoots during my sessions, but I encourage you to add your favorite candid shots from the year to share with your recipients! (I used mpix.com to create these cards samples).
Happy designing!
John and Peter used to live in my parents’ neighborhood. I was always pleased to bump into them at weddings we were all working at, and at various community events. They moved to the countryside a little while ago, so I was happy to hear they’d won a bid on a photo shoot with me a while back at a local fundraiser before they moved. Now that I no longer shoot weddings and they have moved away, I do not see their friendly faces much at all anymore.
Since their auction win allowed them to use their session in any way they like, we created a smorgasbord photo session. II had a blast making a headshot for Peter who is a practitioner of Structural Integration, in addition to playing the violin, and a headshot for John who plays cello. The minute I saw their cool practice space, I knew I would need to shoot John a bit more extensively, and he obliged. And of course, we made use of the time to get awesome shots of the two of them together too!
Quite productive!
If you’ve visited my blog recently you may have already caught a glimpse of the shots I took for Johnson String Instrument . I wanted to share how those images got used in their annual catalog for 2019-20.
The catalog was designed by Pat Nieshoff Design, and you can see the full catalog HERE.
As always, click to enlarge the images.
Just a sampling from a shoot I did recently for Johnson String Instrument annual catalog. Everybody was great to work with, as always. C, in the jeans top, was charming and has the most amazing skin! And E, in the red and white dress (and on the big comfy chair), I mean c’mon! How can you not smile when you see it’s clear that she loves to laugh? (Oh, and the grown-ups were fine to work with too )
Last year I had the great pleasure of following the Boston University Dance Team through their competition season for picture story for BU Today. You can see the story here. I was in my happiest place when I was a fly on the wall documenting their hard work, their camaraderie, their challenges and triumphs. It was one of my favorite work things to happen last year.
Since then, I occasionally see some of the dancers on campus. I would give them a big hug and enjoy a quick chat before they rushed to their next class on campus.
When Nina contacted me at the end of this year asking if I would photograph some of dancers from last year who are now seniors, I was so excited to see them again and photograph them! This time was a bit different since they were not pushing their bodies to the limit perfecting dance routines (it was a bit more chill this time around), but I really loved being able to chat with them and hear about where they are headed next. We wandered campus photographing each grad in front of her college, did various group and single shots, and of course, got them stepping on the crest (which i recently learned we’ve been incorrectly referring to as a “seal” for many many years) - a BU superstition.
Congratulations, Terriers!
Heather comes up with great photo shoot ideas for her family sessions. You can find a few shots from last year’s Family Photo session in the wrap up gallery, where her daughters Alana and Nadia are riding bikes in their pretty dresses and showing off their soccer ball skills - also in their dresses (which makes them young women after my own heart!).
A few weeks ago I got an email from Heather saying she had this idea about having the family session in the snow; shots of them sledding and having a snowball fight, etc. We would need to wing it a bit, we both agreed, since the session depended on weather. I was in!
Weather and scheduling worked in our favor and on Saturday I went to their place and had a ball watching them have a ball…while making snowballs.
The highlight for me was when we were setting up a shot of everyone throwing the snowball in my direction and Alana claimed “I have terrible aim!” then promptly nailed me right in the face. It was pretty much perfect!
