The Wedding Diaries

Now Accepting Credit Card Transactions!

2011-11-26T16:52:00.001-08:00

My clients have asked for it and now it's official, we are accepting credit card transactions for both print orders or to book us for our services. I have signed up for both a Squareup.com account and a Paypal account. Please visit the pricing page or contact for inquiries on pricing. Please remember, pricing subject to change. Thank you!

More from Denise & Dave - St. Basil's Chapel, Bridgewater

2010-09-19T08:32:00.000-07:00

So this time around, I wanted to try something new and get the photos up online for everyone to see. It required a bit more work, but in the end I'm sure the couple will be very happy to easily be able to share their memories of their wedding day with friends and family who are both near and far.

Before, I used to do just proof prints of the photos for the couple. There was no easy way to share photos with grandparents, aunts and uncles, or friends who might live in other states.

Anyway, here are the rest of the photos from their wedding at St. Basil's Chapel in Bridgewater, MA.

Also, for a limited time, I am offering guests of the wedding 15% off the price of prints. This offer lasts for two weeks and expirse October, 3rd at midnight. Click on my wedding price list and scroll down to see the cost of prints.

Related links:

Denise & Dave - St. Basil's Chapel, Bridgewater, MA

Denise & Dave - St. Basil's Chapel, Bridgewater

2010-09-12T16:26:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I had the pleasure of shooting Denise and Dave's wedding. As the day approached we were all a little worried that Hurricane Earl was going to come storming through and ruin the day as well as our ability to create some photos outdoors. Fortunately, the storm was much over-hyped and ended up blowing out over the cape and leaving us with nothing but gorgeous sunshine!

As usual, I arrived a little bit early at the house to begin setting up and getting ready for Denise. I met her at her mother's house. She was busy getting ready with her dress and hair, so I scouted out possibly locations to take some family photos both inside and outside of the house.

After I found what I needed, I went back in to wait for her to finish up. One funny little thing, when I got there, she was actually still in a t-shirt and partially made up. when I saw her next she had made a complete transformation into a beautiful bride! Anyway, as I was waiting, I decided to start off by making a nice little detail shot of her shoes. For the backdrop, I just placed them on the kitchen floor. I liked how the color of the tile matched the shoes.

When she was finally ready, I gathered her family for some group photos. We did all different sets, mother and daughter, father and daughter, Denise with her sisters and brother and so on. I chose to use the living room as the backdrop as it was the largest indoor area and it had the nice window in the background.

After a few group photos, I headed for the church, St. Basil's Chapel in Bridgewater, MA, to meet with the groom, grab candid photos and be ready for the bride's arrival. One of the most important photographs of the day is probably the groom's reaction to his bride coming down the aisle. Here, Dave awaits Denise, who was escorted by both her parents.

One of the other most important photos is the first kiss. What was also important about this, is that you can see the veil that Denise's mother also wore on her wedding day. Earlier at the house, I did a close up of the veil too.

I also love getting to see both the bride and grooms face. Luckily, there was a doorway behind the alter that I was able to stand in and see both their faces with everyone in attendance behind them.

The ceremony finished up and there was a receiving line outside. I made some photographs there and then we took a short trip (about 100' down the road) to a nice spot nearby with some flowers, benches, stone columns, ivy and other scenery to use for some group photographs. I started with the groom and his groom's men because I hadn't gotten a chance up until then to photograph them separately.

The lighting was a bit tricky and I didn't have much time, so I did my best to select the best spot and get a lot of photos there. I say the lighting was tricky because it was kind of split - part shade, part direct sun, and some spots where the sun was even filtering through the leaves of the trees. I used my large flash to even things out and the photos were looking great! After that, I chose another nearby location for a few more photos, and finally a 3rd nearby location for just some bride and groom photos to give them some options when it came time to selecting photos. The images would all look the same if I didn't move them around a bit.

For this photo, I got low and had them kiss. It works well to eliminate the background - making it mostly sky - so you can focus on the bride and groom.

I love this photograph of Denise and Dave. We had the flowers around us and I really wanted to optimize that in the photo. I used a few flowers in the foreground to frame and layer the photograph. I'm sure a few people laughed at me as I was contorting my body awkwardly (as in me doubled over the flower bed, placing my feet carefully so as not to crush any flowers, and with my butt in the air!) to frame up this picture, but I think the results were worth a little humiliation on my part.

Lastly, I made a bunch of photos, moving quickly to change up the framing and also to speed the bride and groom along to their reception. I really like this one of Denise and Dave just taking a moment to gaze at each other.

We arrived at the reception. Cocktail hour was just finishing up. One of their friends, Kelly, who is a great jazz musician was entertaining the guests with some piano music as they enjoyed some hors d'oeuvres and beverages.

The wedding party got ready for their grand entrance. After that, Denise and Dave had their first dance, then there were some heartfelt toasts in honor of the newly weds. The reception was great and everyone really enjoyed themselves.

It was a shame that the groom's grand- parents were unable to make it to the wedding, but fortunately I was around when someone told them that the couple that they had a call waiting for them. I figured that was kind of unusual, so I followed them to watch them take the call, and it turned out to be the groom's grandparents on the phone. I'm glad I was there to make a few nice images of Denise and Dave sharing a cell phone and chatting with them.

Denise's grandmother was able to be at the wedding and at the end of the night, I caught this wonderful image of her grandmother dancing the night away with her brother. What a memory that will be for them I'm sure. I love how you can see both their faces and the happy expressions on both of them! The night went on and on and it was a really fun wedding to have been a part of. As always, I hope they love and cherish the photographs.

Please Help

2009-09-05T06:27:00.000-07:00

I'm doing this on behalf of a friend. Her sister, Melissa, and her sister's fiancé, John, are getting married and they have a real shot at winning a wedding that is completely paid for. Now, I photograph weddings, so I know just how expensive they can be. This couple sounds like they could really use the help.

So what I'm asking you to do is visit this link, sign in, and vote.

While you're there, take the time to read their story. You'll realize why you're doing this. He's a real patriot, served his country and would love to do so again, but because an accident where he was hit by a drunk driver, the Army will not allow him to serve anymore. There's more to it than this, so go read and most of all VOTE for Melissa and John.

Good luck guys!

Boston, MA - Wedding Vow Renewal Ceremony

2009-08-30T17:37:00.001-07:00

On August 15th, I was hired to photograph a lovely little ceremony for a couple who were renewing their vows. It was a beautiful sunny day (a little hot), and everyone had a great time.

The ceremony took place on a boat, the Seaport Elite, as we cruised around Boston Harbor. Photographing on a boat can be a bit tricky, as you are limited in space, but the backdrop of water, city skyline, and a nice sun set can really combine for some wonderful photograpic opportunities.

The ceremony got started maybe about 30 minutes after the boat disem- barked. The justice of the priest also happened to be a captain of another ship. The ceremony was not that different from a typical wedding. A few people got up and spoke. The couple recited their vows. And when it was all over they shared a kiss.

In this set of three, I like how the groom was winking in the middle image. Not sure if it was at me or his bride, but it was still a unique moment to capture that most people on board didn't even notice happening. Those little moments are what I'm hired to capture. Damian probably wouldn't even remember doing it, if it weren't for this photo!

This photo shows the crowd of friends and family gathered on board to watch. The lighting was just perfect! Blue sky with a hint of the setting sun.

The kiss! I love the reflections in the water and the buildings as a backdrop for this photo.

After the ceremony, I tried to get some family photos. I really wanted to take advantage of the setting sun. When you notice you have beautiful natural light like I had here, you really have to move fast and take advantage of it. You only have about 15-30 minutes before the sun sets further and all that nice light is gone.

After the group photos, it was time for dinner, which was followed by dancing. I think they could have danced all night given the chance. Everyone seemed to have so much fun and I bet they wished the night could go on. They certainly celebrated with style. I know they will continue to enjoy the years they've spent together and the ones still to come!

Now here are three last photos I wanted to share, they are my favorites of the nights. The first two are very similar because I can't decide which one I like best (Maybe you can help by telling me in the comments)! I only had a few seconds to make the photos as the boat was moving the buildings were about to block the sun as we continued onward. After taking the first photo, I immediately reviewed it on the back of the camera to make sure I had it and I fell in love with it then and there! The second one, was just another attempt to recapture that magic. The third photo is a portrait of Damian's father.

Fenway Park Bridal Festival

2009-08-09T18:12:00.000-07:00

I happened to be checking the Red Sox - Yankees score online and came across this. Yes, this is wedding related and not baseball blog. Fenway Park is hosting a bridal festival on Sunday, September 27th from 10 am to 6 pm. If your a Red Sox fan and getting married sometime in the next year, this would be a fun place to go and get some ideas for your wedding planning! Best of all, tickets are extremely affordable, starting at $15.00!

The event includes vendor exhibits (wish I could go - maybe next year!), a champagne breakfast, a fashion show, souvenir photos, raffle prizes, a groom's room (not sure what that is), AND a tour of the ball park!

TIP: Save time by walking by the wedding photographer vendor booths, because obviously you want to hire me for that!

Graduation and family photos

2009-05-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I was hired to photograph some family portraits after Amherst College's graduation ceremonies. Since I was visiting my parents that weekend and their house is over 2 hours away from Amherst, Massachusetts that morning, I set out 3 hours before I needed to arrive. I figured it was much better to be early than to be late. Also, being early provided me the added benefit of being able to get a sense for the lay of the land and scope out the territory for a location to take the family photos.

I arrived about an hour early as expected. I started to walk around a little bit, looking for where the ceremonies were to be held. I quickly realized they were not far from where I parked which was quite nice because I didn't have to lug my gear too far!

I decided I'd do a little extra work and start shooting some candid photos of what was going on that day. I knew the client's last name began with a "P" and since they were somewhere in the "C" range I had some time to roam and take photos.

Also, I found a program for the ceremony with the list of graduates names. I located my client's brother and memorized a couple names before his, so I'd know when to be prepared to get a picture of him walking across the stage to receive his diploma. Again, this wasn't anything they hired me to do, but since I was there, it was nice to be able to offer them something more than what they were looking for!

I was in contact with my client via text messages. She eventually saw me and approached me to say hello. After the ceremonies were over, I followed her and her family to try to get some reaction of the family congratulating the grad! I loved this photo of the grad's mom trying to see if his diploma was real or a blank one, as is handed out at many graduations.

It was a a little difficult to get everyone to the same place for photos immediately after the ceremony, but that was because the family actually has a lot of friends at the school through the hockey team. My first formal group portrait was actually of the hockey team. Again, I'm always looking for something more in my pictures, so aside from getting the straight, lined up photo of the team, I also got this more light-hearted moment.

Once that was aside, I was able to get everyone together for the family photos that they were expecting. I set up different arrangements. I started off with the immediate family, then I photographed the siblings together. After that I made sure to get a nice photo of the grad with his girlfriend. Finally we moved to a different location to get a photo with the extended family. We weren't able to do all the photos in one location since the grandparents aren't as nimble as they once were. The stairs leading down to the area we settled on was too much for them. But, I'm glad we did two different areas for the photos as it gives them a better selection of photographs to choose from!

A few last photos:

Baby Portraits

2009-05-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

I was in Massachusetts again a couple weeks back for work. I had to do some video for my full-time job. While home I was planning on shooting some baby photos for Lauren, a former bride of mine.

Things didn't go quite as planned. It was a pretty crazy weekend because I was going to leave Saturday morning for MA, but while doing the dishes a glass snapped in my hand and I cut my finger. After a short trip to the emergency room for 8 stitches, I decided to put off my already delayed departure.

The next morning I woke up and began packing for the trip. I went to go get my car to put all the gear in the car and I noticed somebody had broken my driver's side mirror on my car. Fantastic!

Anyway, Monday I started at 9 am with the video shoot. Afterward I came home and had enough time to meet up with Lauren to do the baby portraits. I wanted to share the results.

Abby - Images by Shawn Lynch

I knew how I wanted to the photos to look. I imagined them as black and white photos. I did them in color though so as not to limit Lauren's options when it came time to select photos that she'd like as prints. The black and white photos show up first in this slideshow. I just wanted to share this as a reminder that I am available to do more than just wedding photography. I also do family portraits (I will be doing one this weekend, so check back soon for photos from that) and of course baby photos.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy and consider hiring me for all your photographic needs!

Sex and the City wedding dress on sale!

2009-04-15T16:07:00.000-07:00

Here's something a little different. I just read that the wedding dress from the movie Sex and the City, went on sale at NET-A-PORTER.COM. The dress went on sale on my birthday, March 30th, and promptly sold out within hours, but apparently there's a waiting list. So cross your fingers and pray real hard and you too can look absolutely fabulous on your wedding day. At just under $10,000 it's certainly not cheap, but just think how great you will look in it for your photos!

New Gallery online!

2009-02-17T16:50:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, just wanted to make sure you saw the newest galleries of images. They are both weddings I photographed this past summer. I've been so busy, it gets hard to keep the site up to date with fresh images! I actually posted the images about two weeks ago, but I haven't had time to write alert anyone about it on the blog until now.

Denise and Troy had their wedding at Lake Pearl Luciano's, which is located at in Wrentham, Massachusetts. Their were some great views and the natural light that day was amazing!

Nina and David had a Cape wedding. Their's was at the quaint St. Thomas Chapel in Falmouth, Massachusetts and the reception was right across the water at The Flying Bridge Restaurant. The church is really cute and the restaurant was a really nice venue to celebrate at.

Also, bookings for 2009 and 2010 are already rolling in. So make sure to book early because if you wait, I may already have a wedding on the date you've selected.

New Year's resolutions

2009-01-05T14:42:00.000-08:00

This year, I want to name some personal/professional goals for my wedding photography business. I think it's important to set goals and I hope by writing them out here, clients will recognize how serious I take my business.

I think the first goal business-wise is always to increase business. Hopefully an e-mail I recently received is a strong indicator that I should accomplish this goal! On New Year's Day, I received an e-mail from a friend about two potential weddings. Both her sister and a close friend are soon to be tying the knot. Both of them are out of state weddings, so I look forward to the travel as well as photographing weddings in new areas. One will be on Martha's Vineyard and the other will be in New Hampshire. Both are beautiful areas, so I'd love to book these weddings!

With my new job, I have weekends free, so I'm available most weekends for photographing weddings. I hope to increase bookings by about 30-50%.

Since I just recently moved to New York, I'd like to book my first New York wedding. I have been talking to a few couples, so that is bound to happen soon. I'd also like to book more weddings outside of the New England area, potentially even a wedding abraod.

Of course, I want to continue to push myself creatively. Even though I've been a professional for over six years, I still continue to study the art of photography pretty much everyday by viewing photos online, reading books and magazines, and looking at the photographs of some of my close friends who are also photographers. I can almost check this goal off the list already!

I'm not much of a contest person, but this year, I'd like to start entering more contests and hopefully win some recognition for my work.

I'd also like to give back more this year. Not sure how I'm going to do that yet, but I do have a few ideas. I know some of the people who I want to give back to as well. I feel that giving is a very important part of life and that it is better to give than receive. Some of the people I want to give back to are former coworkers or employers who taught me a lot about photography. Maybe I can also give back more to my alma mater as they provided me with the education and knowledge I need to be able to make it in this career.

Anyway, I think that's a good set of goals for now. Maybe if I check some of them off the list, I can add more goals to the list.

I hope you appreciate the efforts I'm putting forth to provide you with better photographs and memories of your wedding day.

Positive feedback!

2008-10-06T14:02:00.001-07:00

Just yesterday, I called my most recent bride to get some feedback on how she liked her wedding photos and also to see if there were any questions about how to place the order for both the album and the prints she will be receiving. I offered Denise tips on how to best select the photos, assuring her that if she ever needed any help, I am almost always reachable to answer questions.

Well, she told me how much she loved her photos. She was surprised to hear that she was actually able to keep the proofs and the album that came with it. Back in the old days (not sure how long ago that actually is), the photographers would actually ask for the proofs back. Since I have no actual use for the photos, I find it is a nicer gesture for me to just give them to the bride, so that they can be shared with family and friends, or kept to have more photos of their wedding to look over and cherish.

Anyway, Denise told me not only how much she loved her photos, but also expressed just how much everyone else who has seen them loved them as well!

I actually remember telling Denise during the reception, "You know, you might have a hard time choosing your favorite photos. I almost think I did too good of a job!" She agrees with me now that she has her proof album.

I can't wait to see which pictures she chooses for her final album and start designing the layout. That part is almost as challenging, but equally rewarding.

Denise and Troy

2008-09-27T19:51:00.000-07:00

This time last week I was at Lake Pearl in Wrentham, MA photographing the wedding of Denise and Troy. It was a beautiful day, and fortunately there was no rain like the last wedding I had. Instead of the florist or the limo driver showing up late this time though, the bride was a bit late arriving with hair and makeup done, but not yet dressed!

This wasn't much of a problem though as the wedding and reception were both taking place at the same location, and I had arranged with her to photograph the men first. I spent some time with Troy and his groomsmen out in the yard of Lake Pearl. The place is neatly landscaped with plenty of locations to take pictures from. We stuck to an area by the gazebo where the ceremony would be taking place.

The light filtering through the trees gave some nice highlights to Troy on both his shoulders and his hair. He was a natural, and quickly was at ease with the camera, which was great. We got through the pictures of Troy and all his groomsmen pretty quickly, so I started to try to grab some candids of the guys, which wasn't nearly as easy. They were literally standing around wait for the wedding, fully dressed, so there wasn't much for them to do. They did joke around and goof off a little bit, so I was able to capitalize on that.

This picture happened just because I saw the background and loved the way it looked. It goes a little bit against the rules of photography that you are taught when you first begin, but rules are meant to be broken especially in photography. The couple of rules here that I broke (yes, I broke more than one!) was that first, I used a pretty busy background. There are tree branches everywhere, some even coming out from behind his head, which is a general no-no, but since the branches are so small, they don't really do any harm. Also, his head falls nicely in this pocket of sky, so the bright white around his head draws your eyes right to his face. Second, I used my on camera flash for this photo. I could see my old photojournalism teachers just cringing as I type that! But again, I know how to use the flash and balance it with the daylight, so it doesn't look like he's being nuked with what is usually an unflattering light source.

Now I was ready for the bride, but the bride was still not ready for me, so I decided to make use of my time and gather some nice little detail shots that could be used to add some nice accents to the wedding album later when I have to put that together for them. I saw the flowers, the cards with the guests names on them telling them where they were seated and the guest book. I even swapped out one flower for another because it looked nicer. Attention to detail!

Finally the bride was ready, but it was also time for her to walk down the aisle, so that's the first picture I got of her! But there was plenty of time between ceremony and reception for formals since we didn't have to drive anywhere or anything.

During the ceremony, there was this nice patch of light that came in from the trees giving a nice warm glow to Denise's face. I swear the people at Lake Pearl must have strategically pruned the trees so that they get that effect or something! If that's not the case, then I just had some really nice luck.

It was very evident just how happy Denise really was. You can really see it here as she gets her ring and also in this other photo of her, just looking on at her now husband. Denise was also pretty teary eyed so I'm lucky her runny makeup didn't really show up in the photos.

The ceremony ended, and it was time for formals. I tried to grab some candids and fun photos when and where I could. Here, Liz and Elaine play up to the camera. I love it too because Elaine told me, "When I get married, you are photographing my wedding!" That's the best thing to hear because I know then that I am definitely doing something right!

I really like the look and feel of natural photos over staged or posed ones. I love this one of the flower girl and ring bearer. They are adorable. She's playing with her flowers and he's staring off in the distance probably a little bit bored of it all, but who can blame him? At that age, I probably would have been running around getting some grass stains on my tux, and my parents would have wanted to kill me, but again, who could blame them!

Well, we finished the formals, and then headed inside for a very nice reception. The best man gave a short but sincere and funny speech. Everyone toasted the new couple, then it was time for dancing, cake cutting and whatever's going on in this last photo!

As the saying goes...

2008-09-10T19:46:00.001-07:00

"When it rains, it pours," and so it did this past weekend while I was on the cape photographing a wedding for a couple of longtime friends. I was closely watching the weather reports on the days leading up to the wedding. Hurricane Hannah, which at some point got downgraded to a tropical storm, marched her way up the east coast and brought some nasty weather with her.

I have to admit I was slightly worried, but probably just more upset, because this would have been one of the most scenic weddings I've had the chance to photograph. I kept my worries in check because I've photographed countless weddings over the past six years and I've always been able to find a way to make beautiful pictures. Some of that skill comes from my time spent as a photojournalist and having to shoot many Friday night football games in the rain long after the sun had gone down, among the myriad of other non-photogenic situations I was thrown into.

So Friday night, after a long drive up from New York to spend at my parents house, I checked all my gear. Batteries charged? Check. Both camera bodies working? Check. Do I have all my memory cards? Check. Did I bring everything for my suit? You get the idea. Then it was pretty much bedtime since I knew I still had a bit of a drive in the morning and a long day ahead of me. My plan was to get to the Cape pretty early and check into my hotel unloading any unnecessary items from the car.

I arrived with plenty of time, and the weather at that point was relatively nice (as nice as it was going to be for that day), so I decided to run down to the church and get some photos for the album. It's a good thing I put in the effort because by the time the ceremony was ready to begin it was pretty dark and raining out.

This wedding was held at St. Thomas Chapel in Falmouth, MA. As you can see from this photo it's a cozy, little place, perfect for this wedding which was a more intimate than the weddings I'm used to photographing.

After getting some photos of the church for the album, I returned to my hotel to get ready. I had IMed the bride, Nina, saying I might arrive a little early to try to beat the rain a bit with formals at her mother's house. Also, I wanted to make sure I did my very best for them as I've known both Nina and her now husband Dave for a long time (I played little league with Dave and ran track in High School with Nina). After sending the text I took a quick shower, shaved, and hopped into my suit. When I got out, Nina had replied to my text asking me not to come early as they were running a little late, which happens often enough. I passed the time by grabbing some food, and then I was finally ready to head over to the mother of the bride's house to begin the wedding day photos.

I arrived to find Nina struggling a bit with the bustle in her dress. The Florist was running late, so there were no flowers for the girls to hold at this point, so I just began to work with what I had. Nina finally got the bustle figured out and so we started with some formals in the living room of the house.

I grabbed a few close up photos of Nina, because she's so pretty and I just wanted to really show that off. She was a little scared at first of the idea of having a close up done, but she trusts me not to make her look bad.

For a change of scenery, we moved upstairs to do more formals. We ran through this group quick, because it was pretty hot upstairs. I didn't want to make anyone suffer through the heat. The girls were great though and kept their energy up for the photos even taking a few moments to be silly between photos.

After a brief cooling off downstairs with help of an air conditioning unit, the florist finally arrived. So I started over and rephotographed many of the images we made earlier, this time with bouquets. I also got some pictures of Nina getting flowers put in her hair.

But the drama still wasn't over, now the limo driver was late and at the wrong location. Nina called to find out where he was and that's when I grabbed this photo showing her looking out the window, I liked her posture and the fact that it showed the back of her dress, which is just as elegant as the front. I knew I had done everything possible there and it I had to hurry along to the church to get some candid pictures of the guys before the wedding. Unfortunately, that meant skipping out on any pictures with the limo (I did manage to get some of Nina getting out of the limo though).

The service was great. It was pretty humid though, so I think the priest sped up his ceremony a little bit, which was a gesture I'm sure many appreciated. From the ceremony onward though it was pretty much smooth sailing. The ceremony finished up, I got some nice shots of the newly married couple outside with some ominous clouds looming in the background. I was thinking, I don't mind clouds though. It can be as cloudy as it wants - just don't rain!

I really liked this one photo of the newly weds. I used a slow shutter to balance the daylight with the flash, but since I chose to use such a slow shutter speed I was able to move the camera slightly giving the image this unique quality. I photographed plenty of images of the bride and groom with their family, friends, wedding party etc. Then it was finally time to move inside for the party!

The reception was held at The Flying Bridge Restaurant, also in Falmouth. Things got pretty lively and it was a blast. Everyone seemed to really have fun and the dance floor was pretty busy right up until the very end of the night. Here's one partier who looks like he was really having a great time. I love this picture. It captures the moment, the mood and the emotions that everyone felt that night.

I also got another one that just showed how much fun everyone was having. I don't even know what they were doing, but whatever it was, they were enjoying it! These are the real moments of the day that will help Nina and Dave to reflect on just how much fun their wedding actually was. Who cares if it rained, that's supposed to be good luck...as the saying goes.

I finally got to put down my camera and really enjoy the party. I really feel blessed to be able to play such a big role in some of my friend's lives on their most important day of their lives. The next day I woke up and went back to Nina's parents house and we spent the day just talking about how fun the wedding was, watching the Patriot's game, and then going out for a short boat ride before I had to leave and start making my way back to New York.

I hope Nina and Dave are enjoying their honeymoon, and that they have clear skies until they get back home!

Cropping an image pt. 2

2008-06-24T13:47:00.000-07:00

This is a continuation of the last post so that way all of my photo sizes are explained. As you will see an 11"x14" is close to a 5"x7" in the cropping, but it is still different. Also notice that a 16"x20" is an 8"x10" photo doubled on each side for four times the area! This means that the 16"x20" image loses the same amount to cropping as an 8"10" does.

Photos can come in any size though, but these are the standards. Anything larger gets a lot more expensive unfortunately because photos look really great when viewed on a very large scale. I know because I have one at my mother's house that is 20"30" and it looks awesome. So here are the two new photo crop demonstrations I made.

Cropping an image

2008-06-13T15:48:00.000-07:00

I made these examples to better help brides and grooms see the difference in an image that is 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10. the ratios of the sides are not the same for each of these dimensions. This means, when you go from seeing a photo as a 4x6 and then want it enlarged to 5x7 or 8x10, there is going to be some cropping involved. This is important to note because the wedding proof album comes with images that are 4x6 (which makes full use of the entire image).

Anyway, here are a couple of examples of how much of an image is lost when changing the size of the photo.

If this sounds weird, because you are making the image larger, but somehow you are loosing some of the image, hopefully these diagrams will help you better understand. What I did was reduce the length of the smaller size of the photo to 4 inches in Photoshop. This automatically converts the other dimension to match so that the image doesn't end up distorted. What you will see is that the new size does not fill the entire area of the 4x6 image.

When photographing, I try to keep this in mind, that the final images are going to be cropped and shoot with a little bit of space on the sides. This allows me to accommodate the cropping and not to loose an important part of the picture when making the final image.

Special Request

2008-06-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

Kara's mother had a special request for me at this wedding. Way back in May of last year, when I met with Kara and Domenic about their wedding, Kara's mom pulled out her album to show me a photograph she wanted me to attempt to make at her daughter's wedding. It was a double exposure of Kara's mother looking up at her mother and father. The background was black and all you could see were the faces. I explained to Kara's mother that most digital cameras today are incapable of making a double exposure, but I had an idea of how to create the image.

When Saturday rolled around, I reminded Kara's mother of her special request. I think she had forgotten about it because she was very surprised that I remembered. To make this picture, I brought along some black cloth that I bought to use as a backdrop. I had Nate, my assistant hang it up across two 13' light stands. He used duct tape to attach it to the poles. Then I had a light set up on a 10' light stand. I placed a 20 degree grid spot into it to narrow down the beam of light so it would only fall on the subjects' faces.

I called Kara in first and had her take a seat. I photographed her in various poses. with her looking up and smiling. I asked her to pretend that she was looking up at her parents and think about how happy and proud they were of her today. I also asked her to think about how happy she was today and how great it was to be married to the love of her life. It didn't take long before I knew I had the picture I wanted. Here are the two of her that I chose to make the final composite photograph out of.

Now it was time for her parents to take a seat. I had a little bit of trouble finding the right angle to have them tilt their heads and where to have them direct theie eyes, but that was solved quickly and I got my photographs. I did some separate and some of the two of them side by side. In the end I went with the side by side image. Here's the one I chose.

After a few color adjustments and some resizing of her parents photo, I extended the background on Kara's photo. This gave me more room to place her parents into the upper right corner. Once I had it placed on the photo, I fussed with how to get the lower left corner of the parents photo to fade into the background. I eventually used a tool to select a circular area, then deleted, making a rounded corner, which worked nicely. Here is the final result. I think it's a rather striking image and not bad for a first try at making a double exposure with a digital camera that isn't capable of doing so. There's even a benefit to doing it this way, other than the usual digital benefits (like "chimping"* so you know when you have an image you can use). This way I didn't have to worry about being perfect on each and ever shot. I could take as many pictures as I wanted and use the best two to make the final image. Where as with film, the two images are taken on one piece of film. You can't go back and add a different image to it if you don't like the two that were paired together at the time the image was made in the camera.

*For anyone wondering what "chimping" is, it is when a photographer looks at the image on the screen on the back of the camera. This action is often referred to as chimping because usually the photographer will show the image around to his friends and elicit various "Ooohs" and "Aaaahs" over the image.

Kara and Domenic

2008-06-09T11:44:00.000-07:00

I talked to Kara the week before her wedding over the phone and she was excited to see me put some photos up here in The Wedding Diaries, so here are some of my favorites from Kara and Domenic's special day and a little bit about how the day went.

The wedding wasn't until 5 pm that night and I was scheduled to meet the bride at her mother's house around 3:30. That gave me plenty of time to wake up, collect my dry cleaning, go out to breakfast, get my car washed, then come home to clean the windows and shine the tires as well as organize my equipment and do a final check to make sure I had everything and that it all was coming with me. I finished up with about an hour to spare. I sat down and tried to relax as I waited for my assistant, Nate, to arrive. I asked him to try to be to my house by 2:30 pm, but because of traffic he didn't make it until 2:50, which had me not as relaxed as I'd like to be.

I knew the day was going to be hot, very hot. Just two minutes inside my car to do a quick wipe down of the windows had me dripping sweat already. This was not a day I wanted to be photographing a wedding by myself. It was a huge sigh of relief when I saw his car pull into the driveway. We quickly gathered the few last items, grabbed some cold bottled water, and hit the road.

Arriving at Kara's mother's house, Kara meets us downstairs in some blue dress she was wearing until she put on the wedding gown. She went upstairs pretty much right after that to put on her dress. During that time, Nate and I set up some strobes in the room that was set aside for some formal portraits. She called us up when she was ready and we brought another light upstairs with us. It was hot up there, so we tried to make it quick up there and get back downstairs where it was cooler. I got some nice pictures of her getting ready, a few posed shots with her family and brides maids, and even some staged photos of her getting ready in the mirror. This first photo is Kara's sister helping her put on her earrings.
I like this photo because it shows her getting ready with all her brides maids tending to her. It kind of captures just how hectic things can get. No matter how crazy it was though or how hot it was Kara was an absolute pleasure to work with. She never complained about anything and had nothing but compliments for Nate and myself.

Kara's really got a pretty smile that I'm sure Domenic won't ever tire of seeing. Her smile shined all day and showed just how happy she was even while she was getting her makeup put on!

We moved downstairs for some formals in the room we set up the lights. Nate was on top of them. He was great to work with since he has worked extensively with the lighting system I use. I basically told him what I want, how I want it and where, and he'd take care of it while I tended to the bride, her family and friends.

I even got a shot of Kara with her dog at her request. The dog had been poking her nose around the house trying to get some attention from us strangers with all these weird bags full of funky things. She didn't really want to sit still for the picture, but we managed to pull it off. You can tell she ready to run away at any second in the photo.
Nate was also great to have with me because I couldn't really have the dog running into and out of the pictures or potentially knocking over a light. Nate crouched down and played with the dog for a little bit to keep her occupied. She eventually got bored or tired from the heat and left us alone though and Nate was back to helping me with anything I needed.

We finished up in the house and made our way outside for a few last photos at the house. Kara wanted some in front of this bush that was flowering. I did some of those, then I changed the angle a little bit because I noticed the awesome light coming in through the line of trees I spotted when I pulled up to their house upon arrival. I didn't think I was going to use it though because at the time there were too many cars in the background, but it miraculously cleared up and I got my picture. I had her stand with her back toward me and looking over her shoulder. I think she looks absolutely fabulous in this one.

Here's one from after the ceremony right before the reception. There was a gazebo area beside the place, that fortunately was not torn up like the last wedding I photographed. We used this location for many of the formal photographs of the bride and groom with their families and friends. I just love how beautiful this kiss is. I made sure he put his hand on her waist and pulled her into him a little bit, so that his arm wasn't hanging down looking stiff stiff and it also gives it a more intimate feel because they are closer. These are the little details that are very important to making a beautiful photograph.

Eventually we finished the formals and moved inside. It was too hot to be outside even a second longer. In fact, I'm surprised no one passed out from the heat at this wedding and very grateful at the the same time that nothing like that happened either. I have to say, that everyone at this wedding dealt with the 91 degree weather well beyond what I could have imagined, even the kids. I can only imagine if I were like 7 or 8 years old and attending a wedding on a day like that, I probably would have been extremely fussy.

The party started with the introduction of the brides maids, grooms men, and mother and father from both the bride and groom, then the couple themselves. They had their first dance. Later in the night they had father-daughter and mother-son dances. The one above is Kara and her father. I took this picture while laying on the ground to get the nice angle, and while I was doing so, a mutual friend of Kara and I, Elaine, came up and took a picture of me lying on the floor to get the picture. I can't wait to see what hers looks like!

There was plenty of fun as the night wore on. The DJ was pretty good at getting people up off their seats and onto the dance floor. He also had a bunch of games to entertain the guests, like this one where a dollar was passed around each and every table. The one who ended up with the dollar won the center piece from the table, then they got to stick the dollar somewhere on Domenic.

It really was a great wedding. I had a ton of fun. Sometimes the longer weddings seem to last longer than they actually do, but this one seemed to go a lot quicker than normal.

Well, I hope the bride and groom are having a blast on their honeymoon. I'll see them soon I'm sure. As for now, I wish them all the best for their future. I hope that their lives are filled with joy and happiness.

After the wedding

2008-06-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

I finished up photographing Kara and Domenic's wedding around midnight. I went home and downloaded the images from Nate, my assistant, onto my computer. When that was done he took off for his home, then I popped in my memory cards, saving the biggest for last. Once I got to the biggest memory card, I popped it into the card reader and let it transfer the images automatically while I climbed into bed for the night.

Sunday morning I got up and had the proofs printed. Since Kara live's mother and my mother live so close together, I left the photos at my parents house. I'm going to order the proof album today, and they should have the proofs by the time they get home from their honeymoon!

After getting the proofs back, I went home to start packing. I headed back to New York right at 8:45 - a little later than I would have liked, but there was absolutely no traffic on the way, which was great. I was a little worried it might start raining , but that held off for me as well. Again, it took me just the three and a half hours to get back to New York.

Yesterday, as I was home getting a few things done, I checked my website to see how many people had visited, which I normally do and I noticed a spike in visitors. Apparently people are pretty eager to see these photos! I know Kara wants me to get some photos up on the blog ASAP, so that's coming next. Should be up in a few more minutes. Stay tuned!

2008-06-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

The drive up to Massach- usetts for today's wedding was really nice. The rain held off for the most part and the there was no traffic which was perfect. I usually take 95 the whole way instead of going on the Mass Pike. I find it's faster. At you can see from this picture of my navigation system, I started out at 1 PM and it said it would take me about three and a half hours. Usually it can take a little bit longer depending on the traffic getting out of New York.

I left on Thursday afternoon so that I would have time to settle in at my parents house, where I'd be staying while in town to photograph this wedding. I like to arrive in town a couple of days early in order to make sure I have every piece of gear with me that I'll need to photograph the wedding. Anyway, you can see from this image, that I made it to my parents house at 4:33 pm. I would have been home sooner had I not needed to stop for gas. I waited to do that until I got to Massachusetts because I knew it would be cheaper and save me some money for this trip. It still cost me over $45 to fill up. Thank god I drive so little living in New York that I usually only have to fill up once a month. When I was working at the newspapers, I was spending about $300 a month on gas, and that was when gas was about $2.80 per gallon!

I could have made it all the way home, but then I might not have made it back to the gas station on the amount of gas I had. If you click on this image you'll see how empty my tank was!

The trip took a total of 209.7 miles. I don't mind the drive. It's pretty nice through Connecticut, especially the parts along the water. I should get a new iPod though so I don't get bored of switching through the music stations looking for something to listen to.
Anyway, I'll be leaving for the wedding in about 2 hours from now. It's a long one that will have me out all night. It's also going to be very hot today. I think I was kind of hoping for a little rain to keep it cool out, but I don't think I'm going to luck out with that. I drove by the bank in the center of town today and it was already 82 (with an expected high of 91 degrees)!

Even with it being so hot out, I'll still be wearing a long sleeve button down shirt, my jacket and a tie. I can't stand the way a short sleeve shirt looks with a tie. I think it looks unprofessional and tacky, so I refuse to do it. I'd rather be a little uncomfortable and hot but looking professional than being a little bit cool and not looking as professional. Even though this wedding is a friend of mine and I'm sure she won't care, her guests might think it also looks tacky and potentially one of them might be looking for a wedding photographer soon, so I have to look my best.

Plus, today I hired an assistant. He will be carrying some of my heavy gear so that I don't get overheated and can focus on doing the job at hand to the best of my abilities.

That's about everything for now. I have to finish doing a few more things before the wedding. I think I'm going to take my car to get washed so it looks nice and clean (it's another way to make a good impression). I'll be triple checking on my gear right before I head out.

I'm going to try to get a few of the best pictures posted ASAP, but realistically that might not happen until late Monday night.

June 7th Wedding

2008-06-05T08:56:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in my apartment in New York right now. Bags are packed and ready to go. I'll be leaving in a few minutes to head back to Massachusetts to photograph another wedding this weekend. This one is a big one, so I have a lot of stuff to take with me. I've got a large check list and everything is checked off and ready to go.

Maybe I'll take some pictures on the way home to document this trip. I can't wait. This one is going to be fun. I hired a friend of mine to assist me. He'll mostly be carrying gear and setting up/breaking down my lighting equipment.

I thought I was going to be staying at home with the family for about a week, but I have more work back here in New York that I will probably have to get back here for rather soon.

Hopefully I'll have some time to hang out with my friends though. The last wedding I had, it was my girlfriend's birthday the very next day, so I made a bee line straight from the wedding to NYC to celebrate it that night!

Hopefully the gazebo will still be standing when it comes time to the formals for this wedding. It should be since it's a different location. Expect an update and photos very soon, probably on Sunday June 8th!

Lauren and Tom

2008-04-22T19:54:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday I had the joy of photographing the wedding of a couple of high school friend's of mine. Lauren is hands down one of the nicest bride's I had the pleasure of photographing to date! It was a nice ceremony with lots of familiar faces. A couple of those faces are other friend's whose weddings are coming up and I will be there to photograph them as well. It was nice for them to get to see me in action.

The wedding was held in Walpole, MA on Saturday, and since I now live in New York, I drove home Thursday morning. I gave myself the extra couple days so that way I could run some last minute errands and make sure that I had time to look over all my equipment and get out to the store in time to buy or rent anything I might have left behind.

The drive was fine. I actually had some company, as a couple friends came to visit me by taking the China town bus and I drove them home with me. Friday, I went around buying things like AA batteries for my flash and getting some allergy medicine just in case I needed it. Spring weddings can be brutal if you're not prepared for the allergies. Back at the house I printed up a few notes and charged the batteries for the cameras and strobes.

On one of my trips, I decided to take a trip by the gazebo in Norwood, where the formal photos were to be taken after the ceremony. I just wanted to walk around and get a feel for the sight lines and see if flowers were growing in and what I had to work with. It's so close to home, that it wasn't a big deal to swing by. For this gazebo, you have to make reservations with the town and when I last talked to Lauren I double checked that she did in fact make her reservations, so I was surprised when I pulled up and saw the gazebo surrounded in caution tape.

After a slight freak out, I started snapping some photos of the area. There weren't really any good angles to shoot from and possibly salvage the scene. I could shoot from this one angle and hide some of the tape and construction barrels with people's bodies, but it wasn't the best angle. There was even one of those PODS things in the background, that probably held some of the construction tools in it or something. I called my mother who also lives in the area to try to brainstorm some other ares that might be good for photographing. I've photographed at the Aggie a couple of times, so I knew that was a possibility. My mother also suggested Bird Park, which is a pretty big local park with some little bridges and ponds.

I finished up taking a few photos and drove home to give Lauren and Tom a call to see if they knew about this little snafu. Lauren finally called me back and wasn't aware of the trouble. She was equally surprised, but was great in handling it and remained calm. She said she had checked in with the town earlier in the week and they confirmed the site would be ready for them to use on their wedding day.

Lauren was on her way to her rehearsal dinner, so I told her to think about possible other locations while at dinner with her family and to call me back later that night and we'd discuss what we would do. She eventually decided to go with Bird Park (even though apparently you're supposed to pay to use the park for photography - desperate times call for desperate measures and I'm not against a little guerrilla photography!)

What easily could have been a wedding day disaster was averted, thank god! That was settled, so it was time to relax for the rest of the night and pray that things worked out with Bird Park. I went to bed so I'd be well rested and could have time to eat before leaving for the day. I arrived at the bride's mother's house just a little before 12:30 as scheduled to start getting formals of her, her family and the bride's maids.

Lauren was already dressed way earlier in the day, so there wasn't really any candids of the getting ready action. We started upstairs in her old bedroom, which her mother tells me no longer looks anything like it did when Lauren actually occupied it. The bedroom actually provided a nice backdrop for where I grabbed this photo of her - one of my favorite portraits from the day.

I also made some full length shots of Lauren in the mirror. I took a few of her getting her veil put on by her maid of honor. There were some pictures with her mother. We finished with the photos upstairs, then she and her bride's maids waited for me downstairs while I gathered all my gear.

There was a bright yellow room in the back of the house that provided a great backdrop for more formals. The big window framed the photos nicely. The yellow color of the wall almost matches the flowers perfectly. The bride's maid in this photo is getting married in June and I'm photographing her wedding as well. Lauren actually came up to me at the end of the night and told me "Kara is really excited to have you photograph her wedding after seeing how hard you worked tonight." Compliments are always great to hear.

Now I'm really ready for that wedding as well. It's good to know that she'll be comfortable with me photographing her wedding since she knows me from high school as well, she knows how hard I work, and she'll probably see some of the finished product before her big day.

Here's a fun candid I caught back at the house. The best part is, this photo is really well lit because my strobe was still set up from taking some formals. I just adjusted a couple settings and grabbed a few frames of the girls goofing around. I love shooting candids, but Lauren told me she was really about the formals.

After the formals were done at the house, came ceremony time. I got there just before Lauren got there because they kept me at the house, so I could get some pictures of Lauren and her grandmother, who was late arriving to the house. Once those were done though, I darted off to the church to see what I could capture, but I wasn't there long before Lauren arrived.

The wedding got underway, and I moved around getting different angle's and photos of the ceremony. Above is Lauren and Tom's first kiss as husband and wife. I was in the perfect position and got a great tight shot of the kiss. This will be quite a memorable moment for them. After the ceremony we went off to the park with a quick stop off first to make a special request photo. At the park, we didn't move in too far, because we were afraid someone might try to stop us from taking pictures or kick us out. I just found a scenic location right around the corner from the entrance, and began shooting. If we weren't afraid of getting the boot, I would have pulled out the big strobes and really worked the scene, but since I didn't know how fast we needed to move, I just stuck with the small on camera flash as a fill light while shooting a back lit scene.

Below is another kiss from the couple. I finished up the pictures at the park and it was time for some candids and photos of people dancing during the reception. It was a great party and I would have put down the camera and stayed a while after I Was off the clock if I didn't have to make it back to New York that night to celebrate my girlfriend's birthday as well! What a long, fun, exciting day with an amazing couple who truly love each other. I wish them the best of luck in the future and hope their honeymoon is perfect!

Introduction

2008-04-15T14:31:00.001-07:00

I've got my first wedding of the season coming up next month and I thought I'd start a blog to go with it. My idea is to add photos and a little summary about each wedding. I hope you all enjoy what I have to offer.

For now, let me give you a little background on myself. My name is Shawn Lynch and I began photographing weddings about six years ago. I've come a long way from the first wedding I was hired to shoot. That wedding I wasn't actually the photographer, but rather the photographer's assistant. Back then I was in college still learning the craft of photography. It was summer break and I gathered up the courage to go speak with the local wedding photographer and ask for a job. Luckily for me, he was pretty generous and hired me after a short talk about my photography and experiences and why I wanted to photograph weddings.

Our first wedding came up later that summer and I tagged along. It was a big fancy affair at Crane Castle in Ipswich, MA. The bride was Chinese and the groom was Jewish. Mainly my job at that point was to just carry the gear and make sure that nothing got left behind. Henry, the photographer, also gave me a digital camera set to auto and let me take whatever pictures I wanted.

Now as I said before, I was still in college learning the craft. I had not made the transition to digital yet, so I really had no idea what I was doing with this camera. I doubt I took too many pictures worth keeping that day. Boy do I wish I could go back and do that wedding over. Now that I've mastered the digital technology and honed my vision of photography, I really could have taken advantage of some of the extravagance of this wedding. They had a very nice chuppah (a canopy) set up for the wedding to take place under. The ceremony was held outside in one of the private gardens. After it was over, they had the breaking of the glass, also of the Jewish tradition. Then during the reception there was a Chinese dragon dance, as well as some other Chinese touches, like the orchids they had for decorations.

I can't wait to get started this year making beautiful images at the weddings I have booked this year. If you want to look into hiring me for your wedding, please visit my website over at shawnpix.com and see what I have to offer. There's still not much there as the website was just built a few months ago and I'm looking forward to filling it out with images from the upcoming weddings.

I should have some images and a little write up to post sometime after Sunday the 20th. I hope you'll check back to see!