A grown up family

Check out this crew!

I had the daunting task of photographing a family of six - the "children" all young adults. Some may think that would be an easy task. No chasing little ones around, no negotiating smiles or dealing with temper tantrums... yes, that's true... however... lest you forget that young adults don't necessarily laugh at bubbles or a game of peek-a-boo!!!

This group did a great job of humoring me with my "activities!"

The oldest son - many, many talents, I learned.
The middle son... quite a photographer himself. Such a warm, easy smile.

Playing around with lighting/flares... I am drawn to this image for some reason... I like the flare. This guy was the most reserved of the bunch and I think his body language does a good job of conveying that.
Beautiful sister! Heading all the way to the west coast to continue schooling. What confidence that takes!

A son and a daughter already in college, two boys who will be off before long. I'm sure life is going too fast for mom and dad. I know that I look at pictures of my own kids and wonder where the 5 and 6 years have gone --- it seems like yesterday that they were newborns and I was trying to figure out the whole parenting thing. Even though my kids are still young it just seems they're growing too fast.
Pretty soon our pictures will look like this one... young adults with the world waiting for them. Ugh. Slow down, life!! I wonder if mom and dad of these 4 share my sentiments. I'm sure they do.

Sure does look like they enjoy each other! What a family! Thanks very much for a beautiful night. I loved watching your family interact!

cousins from texas and california

This is the summer of family!!

I have been doing many large groups of families visiting from here and yonder. I always love to watch the cousins interact. This group was about older cousins - no little 2 year olds to chase in this group!!! They were fun and full of smiles and laughter. There is ONE boy in the group of 9 grandkids. Poor, poor guy!!!

So many hands!

The grandparents of this fine family... I can't remember what was being discussed at this moment, but I LOVE this shot!!

We had some fun with an old VW bug. All the kids piled in it for a few pics and then they were so excited they jumped for joy!!!! Thanks, thanks, thanks!
What a wonderful family you have!! I really enjoyed our morning together.

Carolyn + Sean

Wow!!
Carolyn and Sean were married last night under a beautiful Cazenovia sky. Rain, torrential rain, was abound all weekend long, but the weather held off for a picture perfect late afternoon.
Here are just a few quick pics that caught my eye.

Love Carolyn's smile! Love love it!

Is he cute or what?? I loved the way Sean looked at Carolyn.
The bouquets by Backyard Garden Florist! And, since I also work there, I made the bouquets for the wedding, too!! I thought they were a perfect choice, love the vibrant pink and green against the black dresses.

Beautiful! Hydrangea, dahlias, cabbage roses, hosta leaves... gorgeous!

And, speaking of gorgeous. Wow! I do believe she looks like she just stepped out of a magazine.

One of three ringbearers... C's oldest nephew. He was hugging on the beautiful bride all night. He traveled all the way from New Mexico to be a part of the big day. I think he enjoyed it!


Gave this photo a fun 'old school' finish.
This is probably my favorite photo of the wedding (so far... still have many more to go through!). Gorgeous! Thank you Carolyn and Sean! Your day was just lovely and I was so honored to be a part of it.
Best wishes!

Ithaca is gorges!

Have you ever seen the t-shirts or bumper stickers that say "Ithaca is gorges?" Love that play on words regarding the beautiful scenery that is abundant in that area of CNY.
Well, Ithaca was gorgeous last weekend with the wedding of Ellen and Matthew.

Matthew looking dapper:

Ellen, "gorges!!":Picture perfect ceremony... quite lovely, surrounded by family and friends.

If guest weren't shedding a tear at the happy couple, they had to have done so as the couple's dog, Stellah lay attentively at the ceremony altar. Such an ole sweet girl.. and so content to be a part of the wedding festivities. Love this shot!




Have to include an image of the beautiful gerbera dasies/calla lilies. Loved the colorful scheme of the wedding. Very summery!


Best wishes Ellen and Matthew!

More from the cottage...

A couple of days ago I started a post about a family that summers up north in a beautiful, idyllic setting on Lake Ontario.
I have been to this area the past three summers photographing another family and I was fortunate to be able to capture some special memories for this extended family as well. They hail from New Jersey and Massachusetts and travel to and fro all summer long - some stay for weeks on end, other come back and forth depending on work schedules and such.
I was struck by how loving and friendly this family is. Warm smiles and just a sense of kindness. These are people you just want to be around.

I gave this photo an old school treatment - love how the big sister is taking care of her brood. Arm around one and trying to engage a smile from the other!

the oldest grandchild. what a beauty.

love the red shoes and of course her little tongue hanging out!
The grandkids!
Happy Summer everyone!! So glad to have met you!

A Cape Cod wedding

I've been just a tad busy lately. Add a trip to Cape Cod to shoot a wedding and it makes things even busier!!

Last weekend Genevieve and I traveled six hours to beautiful Sandwich, MA to shoot the wedding of Kara and Brian.
Here are just a few quick ones from their lovely day (I would include more, but my husband took my laptop with him to a conference and my pictures from the wedding are on the laptop!!)






Being on the Cape made me miss Boston - hopefully my family and I can make a trip back sometime this year or next. I was oohhing and ahhing over all of the gorgeous hydrangea bushes that are so prolific on the Cape. Unfair!!!
I was excited to bring back fresh lobster and clams for dinner - a big hit!!!!

Summertime at the cottage

I have been wanting to get a blog entry posted on this fun and spirited family all week, but it has been one thing after another. Now, my computer is driving me nuts and it has taken me four times as long as normal to get these few pictures posted. I am dog tired and have a wedding to shoot tomorrow, so I'm saving my notes until later... more pictures to come along with the description of this beautiful, kind family from NJ and MA.

35 weeks!

Wow! I love a great baby belly!

This mama-to-be was all about a gorgeous belly and embracing pregnancy! I loved her easy going attitude and carefree-ness. We had a gorgeous backdrop in her yard and what a tropper she was - laying on rocks, traipsing through nature to get some beautiful shots. It is certainly true that pregnancy becomes a woman.

Check out that perfect belly.

So so pretty!!!

I think I asked her to find her toes in this picture...

See what I mean about being a trooper... laying on stones in the middle of groundcover!!!



Thank you for a great session! I'm excited to get your gallery together for you.
Best wishes for the rest of your pregnancy.

Oh... any "old wives" out there want to take a guess at the sex of the baby??!

Eight. Whew!

Sometimes you just have to laugh...

Eight kids (cousins).

All on different agendas during our session. A couple were happy go lucky, a couple were hungry, a couple were grouchy, a couple were silly. All were adorable no matter what mood they were in!! It did make for a *festive* time together!

We're missing one cousin in this shot (I believe she was grouchy at the time, oh yea, and crying!), not everyone is looking at me, but I do love what the baby is doing to his cousin's glasses. We laughed about it!

Ahhh... here's the missing cousin. Grouchy? Crying?? Doesn't look like that is the case here!

Thought this little guy looked mighty cute.

I love this shot. I want a shot of me with my kids like this. Here is mom, holding one child while another comes and piles up on her back. I see this as mom juggling it all -- she can hold, she can carry, she can support, she can love and laugh... all at the same time! Because sometimes you just have to laugh!!! Thank you! Thank you!