Myndi B. Photography

2012-01-21T15:42:00.001-05:00

Our dear friends, Jennifer and Peter had a BEAUTIFUL wedding last May and here is a sneak peek of their album- click on the image above to see just how gorgeous their day was. They are now expecting thier first little bundle of joy in April- so I'm proud to say that my track record of post-wedding pregnancies for my couples is still in full force! :o)

Just a Few More Days Until Christmas!!

2011-12-19T14:19:00.000-05:00

I thought I was doing great when I designed our Christmas cards and had them before Thanksgiving this year. I had every intention of sending them out on December 1st (insert laughter here- it's true, but if you know me, you know how funny that actually is). When the cards arrived, I excitedly opened them only to find that I'd somehow selected the wrong paper. Glen then expressed his disappointment with my use of pics from our vacation that were taken by someone else instead of using my own images, but I love the image of all of us with Kasi the famous sea lion-actress so much I couldn't help but use it. Ah well, every card isn't going to be perfect, although the perfectionist in me did consider many times over the past four weeks designing another card- even though I had no idea what I'd do with the 300 I had sitting here! It is what it is, and if you're reading this because you received our card, we had a very busy year- so let me get right to our highlights!

2011 Bogdanovich Family Highlights

* What a crazy year this has been! We had a family of bears as well as a bobcat in our driveway and had our share of crazy weather when we hid in our basement from the tornadoes, felt the tremors from the VA earthquake, prepped for hurricane Irene and spent nearly a week in the dark following the October snowstorm which dumped over a foot of heavy, wet snow across the state and caused Halloween to be cancelled.

• Last winter went well into April, so by the time Ty finished Kindergarten we were itching to get away. We splurged on a family vacation to Atlantis where we fed stingrays and sea turtles, met Kasi the sea lion, who starred in the movie “Andre” and saw tons of sharks followed by a week in Orlando. After riding the SpiderMan ride at Universal’s Islands of Adventure 8 times and braving the Brain Wash at Wet ‘n Wild, it was evident that Disney World wasn’t quite as exciting for Ty when 30 minutes into the park he asked if we could go back to the hotel and swim…WHAT???!!!

• Ty is doing great in 1st grade and just celebrated his 7th Birthday with a trip up to Santa’s Village. He’s been active in sports, with Glen coaching or assistant coaching many of them. Last Spring he played soccer followed by T-Ball and continued with his karate classes throughout the year. When we returned from vacation he attended karate camp, lacrosse camp and tennis camp. He played soccer again in the fall and scored his first goal!! He had his first experience zip-lining with us at an adventure park at Jiminy Peak. Recently he joined the Stingrays swim team- he’s always been a little fish so it was a perfect fit for him and it’s so much fun watching his team compete! At Thanksgiving he tested for and earned his blue belt in karate- his test was over 90 minutes long and included 200 sit-ups, 150 push-ups, and things that “made his legs feel like fire.” He’ll begin basketball in a few weeks with Glen as his coach once again- he’s definitely keeping us busy!!

• In August we traveled to Colorado where Glen competed in the 12-person, 200-mile Wild West “Get Your Ass Over The Pass” Relay. The race started in Fort Collins and ended in Steamboat Springs, and Ty and I were his biggest fans!

It was an amazing experience for all of us- and while Glen was up all night with his team, Ty and I took in a rodeo and some pool-time in Steamboat. Now I have the “bug”, and am putting together a 12-person team for the New Balance 200-mile “Reach the Beach Relay” from Cannon to Hampton Beach on September 14th and 15th- we have 7 people committed to the team and are looking for 5 more- any takers?? :o)

• We’ve tried to keep Ty as involved as we can with our commitment to “giving” both locally and beyond. We spent some time volunteering in Monson with friends and cleared debris off one family’s devastated property after the June 1st tornado. We hosted 6-year-old Ruden from Brooklynn, NY through the Fresh Air Program which was quite an adventure! In October Ty walked the 5-mile Belchertown CROP Hunger Walk with us, and in November Glen and I delivered several food baskets to help families in Springfield as our usual Thanksgiving gift. This holiday season we adopted two families (18 people in all) that are still recovering from the June 1st tornado and delivered gifts for all. We also helped four teachers in high-poverty schools buy requested materials for their classrooms in MA, CA, FL and NC through http://www.donorschoose.org/ – a fabulous organization that everyone should consider contributing to. Through http://www.worldvisiongifts.org/ we provided a stocked fish pond, 10 fruit trees, enough seed for 6 families and clean water (oh- and of course soccer balls!!) to third world countries in need. We love to give to organizations where anyone could contribute even a small amount and feel the blessing that comes from helping others.

* We continue to be blessed with our careers, friends and families. We finally have renters back in our NH house- hooray!! Glen has had an incredible year once again at Atrium with his team currently neck and neck for the number one spot. As Ty’s sports calendar fills up I find that I’m taking on fewer weddings because I don’t want to miss any of his games or events. Perhaps that will change in a few years – or perhaps not…I’m going to play that one by ear for now. I’m looking forward to what 2012 has in store for us- including my 40th birthday…can you say

P-A-R-T-Y???

:o)

Merry Christmas!! The magic and spirit are in the air- can you feel it???

Crazy Weather!

2011-11-10T11:20:00.000-05:00

Just two weeks ago we were getting ready for our end of season soccer party, and no one could have imagined what was going to come next. The team posters were a huge hit- which made me very happy! Our Recreation Department won't allow the coaches to give out trophies or medals, so I try to do something unique from

Myndi B. Photography instead so the coaches can't get in trouble.

How to make a photographer's day is to react like this to one of their images. :o)

After we handed out the posters, the weather started to change.

Of course a few rain drops and snow flakes won't stop a good game of back yard soccer.

A few more flakes made it time to at least put on a couple extra layers of clothes.

And then it started to come down fast and heavy- but it was only October 29th- how bad could it get?

The kids were thrilled to finally have sticky snow to play with! Last year we probably had 10 feet of snow fall and not once was it sticky enough to build a snow man.

This year they got to build their first snow man in October!

We lost power around 8:00 that night. When you stepped outside all you could hear were branches breaking all around and trees falling from the weight of the wet snow.

One tree fell in our driveway while we still had guests here- it was wild outside.

It was eerily quiet when we got up in the morning. The sun was shining, and I could see the neighbors assessing the damage in awe. It was such a beautiful scene- even with all the broken branches and fallen trees.

Our generator was a true gift over the next several days that the entire town was in the dark.

Even with all the fallen trees, we amazingly didn't have any damage to our house or shed.

Glen had to shake the snow off the trees that blocked our driveway to get them to lift high enough for our cars to pass under them.

The plows killed the end of our property when they created a path around one of the hundreds of fallen trees.

We spent the next 5 days without power. It was colder in our house than it was outside most afternoons! We would turn the generator on just for dinner with our neighbors and showers to conserve propane.

The kids weren't complaining about the week off from school while the high school served as a shelter.

After nearly a week had passed, over 70% of residents in our town were still without power. The governor paid the town a visit to see what the problem was, and miraculously within the next 48 hours, nearly the entire town was up and running again with tree-trucks and national grid workers everywhere.

Our garden took a beating.

There's still so much work to be done in our yard.

We spent all day Sunday cutting and clearing as much as we could.

Power tools make Glen silly!

What's left of the tree that fell on our house- luckily it didn't break further down the trunk, or this corner would be gone.

So many trees look just like this one.

I have to plug my favorite post-storm tool now. Glen bought clippers that I absolutely LOVE!

Most of the braches that fell were still alive, so they wouldn't break even when bent- but these clippers would cut them down in size like cutting through paper- I had so much fun using them that I told Glen I wanted another pair! His response was, "Myndi- no one's taking them away from you. You can use them all you want." :o)

Our driveway now has a tunnel of bent trees that will hopefully survive the winter. The storm brought people together, as difficult as it was for so many people to be without power for so long. We were fortunate that it wasn't winter temperatures during the day- for that would have presented an entirely new set of problems for everyone. This wasn't our first long-term power outage, either, so we're becoming pro's at making a good situation out of most anything.

Remember these posts? Start at the bottom of the page and work your way up to read in sequence- it's pretty comical. Enjoy!

http://myndibphotography.blogspot.com/2008_12_01_archive.html

More Visitors! :o)

2011-11-09T14:27:00.000-05:00

Now who would have thought that moving to MA would give us the opportunity to see more wildlife than when we lived in NH?? The past month has been crazy for a number of reasons- most recently the weather, which will be my next post. The variety of birds and creatures that have passed through here in such a short time has been amazing! Sitting at my computer all day editing and designing isn't exactly exciting- but when we happen to catch moments such as those that follow, it makes sitting at my desk feel like anything can happen at any moment!

It was Ty who spied this bobcat after dinner one night. We were just finishing up when he said, "Mom! Get your camera!" He had a slight grin on his face so I thought he was teasing me, but then I saw this beautiful creature walking down our driveway and I ran around like a mad woman trying to find my gear. Normally it's sitting on my desk ready to go, but I had been called for a NILMDTS session that afternoon, so my bag was still on the steps in the garage. It was starting to get dark so I had to use a high shutter speed to try to capture him in the few moments he was here before he ran off into the woods.

I LOVE the detail on the back of his ears- they are gorgeous animals!

And just about as quickly as he came, he was gone after a short rest on our bridge.

Just a few weeks ago, I was at my computer for several hours editing and was preparing to shut down so I could go pick Ty up from school when I saw some movement, once again, in our driveway. When you see something like this, and realize that it's not leaves falling or just a flock of turkeys, which pass through here all the time, your heart starts racing- it is SO cool!!

At first I only saw the Momma and one cub.

Seconds later, I caught this second cub, who had stopped to play with our tire swing, running after his Mom and sibling.

How strange (and wonderful) that our guests seem to stop and pose for just a second so I can get these straight-on shots!

And then, just like the bobcat, this family was off into the woods. The whole time I just kept saying to myself, "No WAY- no WAY!!! This is awesome!"

Not as exciting of course, but still pretty cool, was this woodpecker that Glen saw when he came home from work one day. Now when someone says, "Myndi- get your camera and hurry up!" I trip over myself to get to the door. He stayed around for quite a while- but I was constantly looking around for my bear-friends while taking his picture. :o)

Perhaps there was so much activity with all these critters because they knew wild weather was on the way. Hopefully they faired well in the storm and found safe places to take shelter from all the falling trees and limbs. I'll be back with my LONG post on how we weathered the craziness and its' aftermath. It was an adventure, for sure.

Mr. & Mrs. Coakley

2011-09-18T00:07:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Tim & Carissa, who had an absolutely perfect wedding day yesterday!

Click here to view some of my favorite images from their day on my facebook page.

I Had A Visitor This Morning!

2011-09-14T11:31:00.000-04:00

As I was in my office this morning charging my equipment & cleaning lenses in preparation for Carissa and Tim's wedding this Friday, I looked out my window and caught this super-cool visitor poking around. Luckily my 70-200 was on my camera already, so I grabbed it and out the door I went.

I threw the camera on Program mode because I didn't want to take the time to meter and possibly miss this little guy.

My ISO was already on 400 so I left it there. The program mode set my camera to f 6.3 and 1/160th sec, so the images aren't as clear as if I had set my own settings, but I still love them!

I shot 30 frames in exactly 83 seconds- and then he was gone. I changed my settings to where I would have set them had I had enough time to think about it, and waited a while for him to come back, but he never did.

My camera is ready on my desk in case he does though!

Soccer started this past weekend, and Ty is so excited!

This image cracks me up!

Our team is named "Orange Crush" and they did a great job starting off the season with a tie on Saturday and a win on Sunday!

What's this next image??

It's my knee today after being silly on a run with a friend yesterday! While Ty was at karate, a friend and I went for a run. I had already worked out in the a.m., and wasn't aware of how tired my legs were until we started running. She's in great shape, though, and has been running all summer, so I was going to keep up with her as much as I could. She's doing the "Rugged Maniac" race in two weeks, so when I saw a tree across the trail, I thought I'd be funny and jump it since there will be obstacles in her race. Apparently, my feet didn't get high enough to clear the vines, and down I went. One foot got caught in a picker vine, and as I tried to put the other down to catch myself, it got caught on the fallen tree I was trying to jump over. I haven't fallen that hard ever in my life! I landed flat on my front side, face down in the dirt. I rolled over on my back and we got a good laugh out of it and then continued on our run. This morning I woke up with bumps and bruises that I didn't know I had- and my left wrist is having some difficulty, so I must have also landed on that, or used it to brace myself. I was still able to work my camera when the hummingbird dropped by, so that was good- and it was my main concern with a wedding in two days!

Well, that'll teach me to be silly while running! I'm not saying it'll stop me, though- just might make me think twice about it first. :o)

First Day of First Grade

2011-09-01T10:27:00.000-04:00

Holy cow! September first already?? Our summer FLEW past with all the travelling we did, but we're ready around here for the routines of school to start again. Can't believe my boy began first grade today.

Our school morning rituals are in effect. :o)

In our town, Kindergarten has their own school, and the next school houses grades one through three. Ty hasn't been anxious about going to a new school at all this summer, but at bedtime last night he said he wasn't sure where he had to go. This morning, he woke up a bit nervous, so I sent a note to the mom of one of his buddies that will be in his class, and she said that her son would be there early with his dad and older brother- so we got there early too, and received a wonderful greeting as soon as we opened the door.

Thanks, guys!

The school had sent home a notice over the summer stating that parents should not walk their children in to school- that they should just drop them off and let them find their way with the help of the teachers. I wasn't completely comfortable with that, so I was happy to see that some other moms I know were waiting for the school to open with their children, too.

Ty turned when he was invited to head in and gave me one last wave. LOVE that little guy.

I can NOT wait to hear all about his first day!

I haven't been impressed with how the school has handled the entry into first grade- I can't even tell you what his teacher looks like or any of the staff at the school for that matter, which, in my opinion, is a shame. I know he'll have a wonderful day and be full of stories when I pick him up this afternoon, and hopefully I'll get a chance to meet his teacher at that time.

I'm not like other moms who can't wait for school to start- in fact, I miss him already. He's a great little companion who is full of wonderful ideas and tons of humor. It's quiet in the house right now, and I have a ton of images to work on- mostly personal pics from the summer- so there's plenty to keep me occupied. Trust that I'll be watching the clock and in that school waiting to pick him up as soon as his school day is over!

Have a fantastic first day, little man!!! xoxoxo

Prepping for Irene

2011-08-27T15:09:00.001-04:00

We spent the morning getting ready for Hurricane Irene, which will likely be downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it passes over Western MA. Glen checked and cleared all the gutters and replaced the outdoor bulbs that needed changing before the rain started.

We took a couple trips around the house to determine what had to be taken down and moved indoors.

We invited some friends over tomorrow for a "hurricane party" to try to take Ty's mind off the storm. Ever since the tornado in June, he's been extremely anxious any time he hears thunder or it starts to get dark out during the day. Many of the families we know are going through the same thing with their children- so, we do our best to distract them and show them that although the storm should be taken seriously, there's no need to worry about it until it gives us something worth worrying about.

My house is filled with sunflowers- we're ready for you Irene!

She's heeerrre...and now I'm un-plugging until Monday.

Stella

2011-08-27T14:57:00.000-04:00

Now when is the last time you met a Stella??

We spent a small portion of our shoot at Quabbin and then moved on to the Belchertown common.

Here is the reason we moved the shoot- Dakota, the family's 150-lb Great Dane, wanted in on the session!

LOVED the interaction between Stella and Dakota!

Just like girls to be telling secrets, right?

The conversation continues...

One of my all-time favorite images.

I think this might be our next pet- I LOVE Dakota!

Dakota was never far away and always keeping an eye out for Stella.

The rest of these images were taken by my trusty 6-year-old assistant. I edited them for him and I have to say that I'm pretty impressed!

I've seen that look on Ty's face before when I've asked him to do something he doesn't want to do. It's that contemplation of "hmmm...should I or shouldn't I?"

At one point I noticed Ty at the top of the stairs. I asked him to come back down and he said, "Mom- I'm taking some action shots of YOU."

Like Peter Parker, Ty gets paid for each image I use, so he'll be happy to see some of his work on the blog. :o)

Here she is!

2011-08-22T14:56:00.000-04:00

Not too much of a difference, huh?? Now I'm back in business! (Well, when I get back from visiting family with Ty at Hampton Beach and an engagement session at Misquamicut, I'll be back in business!) :o)

I did it again...

2011-08-20T09:35:00.000-04:00

It seems that every time I say I'll be posting alot in the next couple days, something gets in the way of that, making me a liar! Here is a screen shot of my monitor- that image doesn't look like that, but my monitor does. :o( I've held off on buying a new one and have put up with it for a while now, but when I edited a few pics from my last wedding on my laptop and then saw them recently on someone else's computer, I almost died...the color and contrast were way off. So, it was time- I have a brandy-new top $$ monitor sitting in a box on my kitchen table waiting to be hooked up by my wonderful husband (who is next door helping our neighbor with some big projects). It was recommended by a very knowledgeable photographer in one of my forums- thank you, Joe Ciarcia! So now, although there is housework that desperately needs to be done and an exciting new piece of equipment waiting to be connected so I can edit and share our vacation, a family reunion at Cape Cod, our experience with Ruden, (our guest from the Fresh Air program), TBall, lacrosse camp, our Colorado trip where Glen ran in the Wild West, 200-mile relay with 11 teammates...and I'm sure there's plenty I'm forgetting...I'm going to head out, too, and get some chores done while it's not raining. So the posts are delayed a bit- but they're coming- really they are.

Carissa & Tim's Engagement Session

2011-07-27T16:11:00.000-04:00

I had the pleasure of working with Carissa & Tim a couple weeks ago. Their wedding is coming up in September, and I'm really looking forward to it! They're an ADORABLE couple and they have "love" written all over them!

It's such fun to photograph two people who are truly smitten with one another!

Quabbin Reservoir has been my best friend lately- such a variety of shots can be created to suit the different personalities of the people I work with.

We had to play with the Harley, of course! :o)

The light at the end of their shoot was so beautiful that I couldn't resist a couple more shots.

Love, love, love this gorgeous pair!

Melissa & Joe's Wedding Show

2011-07-24T20:02:00.000-04:00

Melissa & Joe's wedding yesterday at Harrington Farm

in Princeton, MA, was absolutely beautiful!

(Luckily my equipment didn't melt- it was HOT!!!)

If you click on the image above, you'll see a quick re-cap of the big day. I'm so happy for this adorable and fun couple- Melissa was a super relaxed and laid-back bride. She's also the first bride I've ever worked with who has stopped during the reception to ask if my dinner was ok- which was super-sweet of her!

When you shoot for over 10 hours, it's nice to have someone check in to be sure you're not going hungry. :o)

Ty has karate camp this week, so you'll see several blog posts about the happenings around here over the past couple months. Summer is in full swing and I'm on full-time Mom-duty, which doesn't leave much extra time for my work. I'll be cramming in as much as I can over the next five days, so be sure to check back.

Melissa & Joe's Engagement Session

2011-05-23T22:33:00.000-04:00

What I've Been Up To

2011-05-19T11:18:00.000-04:00

The months of April and May have been whirlwind busy with personal and professional endeavors- so much so that I'm sure you noticed I was MIA for a while. I'm now getting more and more portrait requests as I get to know people in and around our area. This little cutie had her one-year portraits done on a very chilly morning- look at those cheeks!

I think Harper may be a Daddy's girl. :o)

I also had a chance to meet our NH neighbors at Quabbin to do senior portraits for my third Salo boy- it

was a gorgeous day!

That family has good genes! Damon's graduation is quickly approaching. Remember when I did senior portraits for his brothers Curtis (he's at the bottom of that post) and Cameron?

Time sure flies!

Glen and I had the pleasure of being guests at a wedding together for once! Our neighbor's daughter got married the day before my 39th Birthday- yes- I am now in my 40th year of this wonderful life! I have to say I was going crazy as a guest with this view!!

Yay!! I could see them exchange vows- can you?

I got a quick "close-up" glimpse of the newlyweds. :o)

This was the most lavish wedding we'd ever attended- they truly went all out and spared no expense. From the flowers, to the beautiful room, to the incredible food...to the...

...plant lady??? I've never seen anything like that!

This is Brian, our neighbor, and Father of the bride- not sure he knew about the plant lady ahead of time!

Since we had planned to stay overnight at the wedding, Ty and Glen took me to one of my favorite places for an early birthday dinner the night before. The next couple sets of images are straight from my phone. Notice one of the ways we kept Ty occupied while we waited for our food?

Here's another way- he and Glen are very creative, don't you think??

When we returned home from the wedding, my whole family surprised me with what I thought was going to be a party for my Godson, who shares the same Birthday. Turns out, it was a party they threw together for both of us- and it took me a few minutes to figure that out, but what a great surprise! It was one of my favorite Birthdays of all time!

I got a bucket of rocks from my little man, of course!

Everyone was there- I love my family!

A family tradition that I never knew was unique to my family- butter (or frosting in this case) on the birthday person's nose.

Honestly- there's nothing like facebook to make someone feel special on their birthday- I've never had so many wonderful wishes! Thanks everyone!!

One week later, Glen and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary. I saw him out the window and had no idea what he was doing out in the rain with the tent and wheelbarrow.

He's too much! He's been calling me "beautiful girl" since one of our first dates when we went to a ski resort and he played the song from INXS on the jukebox in the lodge. Go ahead- say it-

"Awwwwwww"

:o)

Our propane tank is just over that rock wall behind our glasses- and of course the propane guy showed up while we were watching our wedding video out in the rain- I can just imagine what he was thinking!

I hope that all the couples I photograph experience fun and creative ways to celebrate their special day!

This is completely random, but I had to share. Our neighbors in NH gave us a rubber-tree plant several years back, and it hasn't been doing so great in the new house. I decided that it was time to transplant it to see if I could save it. Just carrying it out to the garage it was dropping leaves all over the place.

This guy has nothing to do with my plant, but I took pics of him to show Ty because I thought he was cool.

Anyway, as Ty would say, "Back to the story!" I moved the plant into new soil, and will keep you posted on its progress. It doesn't look too healthy here, but in the next few images you can see where it's still sprouting new growth, so I'm doing what I can to revive him.

I was never much of a green thumb when I was young, but over the years that has changed. When we moved, I needed some greenery for the front of the house, so I went to our NH house and dug up these lilly plants and daisies that I loved so much there. They're thriving here, as you can see, which makes me happy!

This was pure luck, but these plants I bought last year for the bridge were there all winter and they actually grew back! I couldn't believe when I saw new leaves sprouting a few weeks ago!

That's 16 plants I don't have to replace- yippee!!

This is the end of the post- I promise. A couple weekends ago we had the end-of-season soccer party at our home, and I wanted to do something special for the kids on Ty's team. I photographed almost every game, and Glen mentioned that if he'd ever had a poster of himself playing a sport he would have LOVED it.

I thought, "Well, that's simple enough!" I designed these posters and had each of them mounted to foamcore for the players and they were a huge hit!

Just a few days ago Ty said to me, "Mom, I'm glad you're a photographer."

I asked, "Oh yeah? Why is that?"

He just pointed at his poster. Made my heart smile. :o)

Mr. & Mrs. Rademacher

2011-05-16T14:42:00.000-04:00

I had Glen help me narrow down the favorites from this weekend to 30(ish) images, but I'll be posting more on my facebook business page later tonight. If you'd like to see more, click here.

btw- I LOVE when brides add a touch of color with their shoes!!

Jen wanted to apply her own makeup for the big event, so she found a YouTube video with instructions and in my opinion, did as great a job as any professional I've seen.

Jen also designed the floral arrangements and programs- she is one crafty woman.

The reception was rockin!! Here Glen joined the boys with a "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" serenade that was a big crowd (and bride) pleaser.

Jen was on the dance floor all night long! Here she is getting down with her Dad. :o)

Glen and I absolutely adore this couple, and wish them all the blessings in the world. Jennifer and Pete- thank you so much for choosing me to document such a special day. What a pleasure it was to meet both your families and what fun it was to hang until the early morning hours with you and your favorite people. We love you guys! xoxoxo

Jennifer & Peter's Wedding

2011-05-15T23:23:00.000-04:00

We had a fantastic time at Jennifer and Pete's wedding this weekend! I've been trying to get some images from the day posted for a while now and for some reason, they're not uploading- I may have picked too many!! Here's one for now and tomorrow afternoon I'll be back to share a bunch of my favorites from the day. Congratulations to you both-

my apologies for the delay on the sneak peak!

Hope you're both enjoying some much deserved relaxation. :o)

Luke & Avi

2011-04-19T08:13:00.000-04:00

I always love photographing in other people's homes and looking for the best room, colors and light to work with. Avi & Luke's room was perfect for the entire shoot. I wouldn't have been able to get this shot in MY house! Young children are more comfortable and also stay much more attentive in their own environment.

As you can see, Avi is a very proud big sister to her baby brother Luke, who is one-month-young today.

Being a model is NOT always fun and games!

Avi loves doing what I think most children love doing (when they're allowed to do it)!

Seeing sleeping babies always makes me want at least one more of my own. :o)

Now I have to rush off and enjoy Anniversary # 14 with my wonderful husband, followed by a 76th Birthday dinner with Glen's Dad.

Oh btw- Katie is back home from the hospital- hooray!!!

Beautiful Morning!

2011-04-14T12:39:00.002-04:00

The fog was so cool this morning. I snuck out for a couple minutes while Ty was eating breakfast to take some pictures of my favorite tree. The above is what I saw, but the two images below use some creative processes to mix it up a little. I've posted these on facebook HERE- so if you'd like to share your feedback on which one is your favorite, I'd love to hear what you have to say!

This is a b&w process with added sepia for an aged look.

This is a bright sepia infrared process. I think I like this one the best.

I was also excited to see some green finally- LOTS of green!

The spiders have been hard at work. I used a direct positive process on this to punch it up a bit.

Here's another set of trees- which one of these do you like best? Color?

High contrast b&w?

Or a split-tone process?

Click HERE now to share your thoughts on my facebook page and be sure to get out and enjoy this beautiful day!

Baby Katie

2011-04-09T11:48:00.000-04:00

I had the honor of photographing sweet little Katie about a month ago. I photographed Katie's parent's wedding in 2009, and they were blessed with their beautiful daughter much earlier than expected this past fall. They spent several months with her in the hospital in Boston before they could finally bring her home.

There is no question of how much this baby girl is loved! When given the opportunity to work with families who have extraordinary situations they deal with on a daily basis, it surely grounds you, and makes you realize how trivial some of your own "issues" truly are. You can see Katie's feeding tube and trach in the image below. I noticed the visiting nurse documenting every time Katie's Mom had to suction the trach, and couldn't help but think of all the parents who complain about not getting enough sleep, or not having enough time to get their every-day tasks done. If they could only see this dedicated Mom's life of every-minute attention, they'd never say another word about not having enough time.

Last I heard, Katie was back in the hospital in Boston with some complications. Please join me in saying some heartfelt prayers for this family and for Katie's return home again.

Check In on "51 Things"

2011-04-01T14:00:00.000-04:00

Here's my check-in with the list I created at the beginning of the year, but I have to give myself a break on several of these items and add another 3 weeks to my timeline for completing them. Ty had 10 sick days from school and 5 additional days that I intended to work during February vacation, when he was supposed to go to karate camp but changed his mind. So there were many things out of my control...and that's ok!

1. Blog 3x/week
This was a challenge, but I did well with this one for the most part. I had 10 posts in both January and February, but only 6 in March- ouch!
2. Send out discs of images (family & friends) to 10 people

I sent out 6 so far.

3. Get a massage

Done! (twice) :o)

4. Catch up on back work

Hmmmm...still in progress.

5. Complete P90x

I decided I didn't really like P90x all that much!

6. Complete 45 mins of cardio 4x/week

This turned into 20 minutes of cardio, and happened from time to time- let's just say that the exercise items on this list were a bit neglected.
7. Juice 5 days/week

Done- easy peasy!

8. Eat only veg and low-sugar fruit until noon

Done- with the exception of snow days, which is when we'd have something fun and yummy as a family.
9. Get up at 5 a.m. 5 days/week

Ummm...no. Did this one for the first two weeks, but it didn't last. I'll revisit it during the next three weeks and see how it goes.

10. Rebound for 30 mins 3 days/week

Again, for the first couple weeks this one was great, but then it got pushed aside. I'll revisit this one, too, because I love rebounding.
11. Eat a salad every day

Done! (I may have missed a couple days in there, but not many!)

12. Take oils every day

I was about 50% on this one.

13. Take colloidal vitamins every day

I was about 50% on this one, too.

14. Drink 3 liters of greens/water daily

I really do need to stick with this one- I had at least one every day, and there were several days that I had 4 or 5, but it was never consistent.
15. Have dinner out with Glen 3x

Sad to say that this one only happened once.

16. Only have alcohol one day/week (feeling the need to clarify here- eliminating the glass or two of wine at night two-three days/week will give me more energy in the long run!)

Done. Again, there were special occasions here and there when exceptions were made, but I'm ok with that!
17. Spend 15 minutes every morning being grateful

This turned into 5 minutes- by minute 6, my mind would race to my ongoing projects, deadlines and all the other things I needed to complete.
18. Journal 5 favorite things from the day every night

I was about 80% on this one.

19. Get a hair cut

(I never make time for this until I absolutely HAVE to)

Done- and I think I'm ready for another.

20. Perform 5 acts of kindness

I've done 3- will do 2 more in the next couple weeks.

21. Make our bed every day (happens 99% of the time)

Still at 99% on this one.

22. Shower every day (the moms out there know that this is not always a priority!)

I'd say I was about 95% on this one.

23. Print 3 large canvases/prints to hang in our home

Not yet, but I have some ideas for what I want to print.

24. Organize images on hard drives

This is an overwhelming task, so, no, not done yet...
25. Organize office

Nope.

26. Find all Closer To Heaven materials and create plan for completing project by August

Not yet.

27. Replace fireplace screen

Done!

28. Finish reading "The Moment It Clicks"

Nope.

29. Re-read one of Dr. Young's books

Half-way through.

30. Dust once/week (one of the chores we neglect in our house)

It has happened more like once/month- which is better than never!

31. Organize and enjoy a girls' weekend away with a friend/friends

Done- just last weekend with one of my favorite girls, and we had an absolute blast with yummy food, tasty drinks and un-interrupted conversation- it was wonderful! Our men even sent gorgeous roses to our room to start our weekend off- we married such wonderful guys. :o)

32. Learn studio lighting

Done.

33. Become more familiar with off-camera flash

Done. In fact, I blogged previously about my one-on-one sessions with Rick, but here's a quick slideshow of the pics from day 2 of his training- click on the image below to launch the show.

34. Watch training videos in office

Not yet.

35. Have equipment cleaned

Nope.

36. Create a circle of 5 photographers to refer work to

Still working on this one, but currently have three.
37. Attend 3 Pictage User Group meetings

Done.

38. Take at least one NILMDTS session

Done.

39. Create a folder of images to use for new website

Not yet.

40. Check facebook only once daily

I was about 70% on this one.
41. Turn off phone daily from when Ty gets home from school until he goes to bed

Did this 80% of the time.

42. Go to dinner with a friend

Done.

43. Go to lunch with a friend

Done.

44. Relax in my big bath once/month

I did this twice, which is once more than I did all last year. :o)

45. Watch 3 documentary movies

I watched Food Inc, a The President's Photographer, a National Geographic film, and Blue Planet- loved them all.

46. Designate 1 cleaning day/week and stick to it

I was about 75% on this one.

47. Clean fish tank every other week

Done.

48. Practice breathing daily

50%

49. Use total gym for 20 minutes 3x/week

After first couple weeks, this one fell off the list, too.

50. Complete a 7-day cleanse

Done- and it was the best cleanse I've ever done- I didn't have any cravings and felt incredible throughout the entire week.

51. Research setting up a non-profit organization to benefit people in need in my town

There is still some more research that needs to be done, but I started on this.

So there you have it- I have ALOT to do in the next three weeks!!!

Megan & Scott's Wedding Album

2011-03-30T20:30:00.000-04:00

Megan & Scott's album is completed! Click on the above image for a peek at their wedding. I've been tweaking these pages for over a month now- a little here and there in between Ty's snow and sick days. Throughout the winter I received emails from a woman who specializes in album design and she'd asked repeatedly to help out with my albums, so I finally decided to give her a shot. She did a pretty good job, but it still wasn't quite there, so I went in and made adjustments until I was satisfied.

Thank you for the preliminary design, Lindsey. :o)

Amazing Moon!!

2011-03-19T21:07:00.001-04:00

We were getting Ty into his pajamas tonight when I remembered seeing people on facebook saying something about the moon. I announced that we couldn't go to bed until we found it to see what was going on...and when I saw it, I couldn't believe it. It was through the trees, since it was only 7:30, but it looked like the sun! I grabbed my camera and we all jumped in the car and became "moon chasers" for the next hour as we drove around trying to find the best place to see it. By the time we found a spot where we could see it clearly, it had already lost most of the vivid orange I had seen through the trees, but it was still beautiful!

I had to brace my camera through the sunroof for this shot,

pushing my ISO to 6400.

It was a very cool way to end a trying week, as Ty is just recovering from an 8-day illness that had his temperature close to 105 degrees at times. I could hear the man on the moon telling us that spring is right around the corner- it was as though he was saying, "Just hang in there!"

And I am...reluctantly...hanging in there. :o)

Western New England Spring Bridal Show

2011-03-09T14:20:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've done an Expo, but with the move to a new market last year coupled with the limited weddings I took on this year so I could finish a personal project, I thought it would be helpful in finding potential clients for 2012 and beyond. I displayed many of my favorite images, and designed several different photographic business cards. My pricing post card (and my largest sign) featured an image from Sabrina & Jeff's wedding from a couple years ago. Sabrina's Dad had passed away, and before the wedding she asked me to please make sure that if I ended up with any images with sun spots in them, that I didn't edit them- when she saw them in photos it meant to her that her Dad was there with her at that time. There ended up being several images from the day that had them (and I would never edit them anyway because I happen to like them!) but this was by far my favorite. It makes me smile every time I see it.

Somehow I ended up being lucky enough to get this great corner booth. Right behind me was where all the entertainment and fashion shows were going on.

I loved how my booth turned out in the end, but I must give credit to Kristin Korpos who posted photos from her expo in Boston not too long ago. She is obviously much more funky and cool than I am with the records and black & white patterns. :o)

Thanks so much for the great idea, Kristin!

Of course what is a bridal expo without a fashion show??

On our way home, Glen pulled over for me to take a couple shots of these trees in the haze. It was still raining, but I dashed across the street and climbed through about 2 feet of melting snow in my nice black boots and dress pants to get these. It just looked too cool to pass up.

Pretty soon I'll be taking this same image in a field of tall green grass...I hope!

Spring Is Coming!

2011-03-09T12:21:00.001-05:00

I was so incredibly excited to actually see grass this week!! It may not be much, but it's enough for me to know that this crazy winter is slowly coming to an end. When the rain finally stopped on Monday, we could hear rushing water from our backyard, so I set out exploring with Ty and the neighbors.

This is what we found!

The stream was wild with all the melting that had happened.

Still cold enough for the ice to hang on, though.

The big plow banks around our driveway have also been melting in a peculiar way. The rain seemed to carve ice sculptures in a couple of spots. The kids decided that this one was a roaring lion.

And this, of course, is a Mama Polar bear with her cub. :o)

Love it. Can never argue with the imagination of a child.

Kevin & Jill's Wedding Album

2011-03-03T09:08:00.000-05:00

Kevin & Jill had a beautiful fall wedding. They are a super talented and sweet couple- now expecting their first child. :o) Congratulations, guys! Click on the image above for a sneak peek at their album.

Mr. & Mrs. Mongeau's Album

2011-03-01T16:10:00.003-05:00

Here is just one of several albums to come. Click on the image above to launch Meghan & Greg's album show. They've been waiting patiently for me to complete it!

Jennifer & Pete Engagement Session

2011-02-21T15:45:00.001-05:00

This weekend Glen and I drove 5 hours up to Rochester, NY for Pete & Jennifer's engagement session. Click on the image above to launch their slideshow of just a few favorites from the day. We had such a fabulous time- can't wait for their May wedding!

New Software! (Well, new for me, anyway!)

2011-02-18T10:22:00.001-05:00

Although this is not the latest and greatest version of Photoshop, it's what I've been waiting for to complete the three albums I've been almost finished with for three weeks now. It just came in, and I have to walk out the door momentarily for an upstate NY engagement session, so I don't have time to install it right away as I'd like! I'm trying some new things this year, and the educational version of Photoshop that I'd been using needed some upgrading. I found this on eBay for $300 LESS than what it retails for, if you can find it. I don't usually buy things on eBay, but decided to give it a shot with the cost savings I was able to get. My fingers are crossed that it's legit, and if so, when I return from NY, I'll be able to post three new albums by the end of next week. Wahooooo!!!

Just Playing!

2011-02-17T10:31:00.000-05:00

I took my lights to a friend's house last week to see if I could set things up on my own without Rick. I was pleasantly surprised that not only did I get to play with her absolute cutie, Ryan, but Ryan had a little girl friend there as well!

Meet beautiful Harper! I've never met a Harper before in my life, and last week I photographed two!

I set my soft box up for a while, but they didn't stay put for long, so I packed it away and just shot the way I normally do- without all the "stuff".

I love all the moments that happen naturally with children.

Most of my favorite images are captured simply by paying attention- not by telling people how to sit and where to look.

The two families are already saying that this will be the centerpiece photo when Ryan and Harper get married 20 years from now- wouldn't that be something?

:o)

Rick is back today and I've set up seven sessions throughout the day- yikes! Looking forward to the results!

Little Miss Harper

2011-02-11T12:01:00.000-05:00

I visited the Laplante family this week to get some pics of little Harper who just turned one month. Harper's Mom is on the PTO with me and her big sister, Paige, played soccer on Ty's team in the fall, so I was excited to spend some time with this beautiful baby girl!

Harper's other sister, Cadence, was eager to get in on the session.

Those are melt-me-eyes! Doing this session confirmed for me once again that I want a baby girl!

A Personal Note

2011-02-11T11:46:00.001-05:00

In the spirit of all the love that is going to be shared this Valentine's weekend, I've been thinking about a conversation I had with my sister a couple weeks ago. After a couple martinis, she asked why I tell Ty that "Oh, my God" is a bad thing to say and that "hate" is a bad word...and then she went on to say, "Oh, yeah, because you have to be perfect- you always have." I tried to take the bat she had just hit me with out of her hand quickly as I explained that I have my opinions about how I want to do things for myself and my family, but that's about me, and it's what makes my life special. I am doing my best to raise a gentleman in a society that rewards poor behavior. In our house, the "f" word is FAT, and the "h" word is HATE, and we say "toot" instead of "fart" because it's not quite as rude. Is that a bad thing? We're not allowed to say dumb, or stupid, or ugly- they're not nice words. Can you think of a time that you used any of those words where you were being kind or thoughtful? I tell Ty that if he hasn't heard his Dad say it, then he shouldn't say it either- because he always says he wants to be just like his Dad, and who can complain about that? :o)

Of course then Ty brings homework such as this home, which sends him into a fit of giggles...really?? Couldn't they have chosen another three-letter "f" word?? Perhaps my efforts are all in vain, but I'll never be accused of not doing my best to raise that little guy right. All I want is for him to be respectful, hard-working, kind and generous- is that such a bad thing? I don't think so.

My Personal Trainer- Rick Friedman

2011-02-10T11:27:00.001-05:00

This is the man who is teaching me about off-camera lighting and studio set-ups. Rick Friedman teaches lighting workshops all over the country and has had his work published on the covers of TIME, Newsweek, and many others- in fact, this week, his work is in People. You can see more of his Bio HERE. When I tried to sign up for one of his workshops a couple weeks ago and was told that it was already sold out, I contacted him to see if he did one-on-one trainings. I only have a 90-day window to check these items off my list here, so I had to do something! He called me within the hour and we set up two dates to work together- one of which happened on Tuesday. One of the things Rick worked with me on was using filters to add interest or change a scene. These two shots (above and below) were taken seconds after one another- but the bottom one was taken with the white balance set to tungsten while using a tungsten gel.

Rick's assistant was wonderful to work with!

The image above uses a simple softbox while the one below adds in the strobe for a hair light- please ignore the fact that I didn't take the time to edit out the stray hairs- the purpose of the image is to show that I can kind of play around with these little techniques now- fun! :o)

We moved outside as it started to get dark to work with situations that I would otherwise avoid.

This next series of three images shows my favorite lesson from the day. The first one is how the scene looks with a super-high ISO, low shutter speed and no flash (how I generally tend to shoot in low-light situations).

This shows what I would do with the image in Lightroom to make it work for me. :o)

Below is my favorite shot from the entire day- this is what Rick (and now I) would do given the situation. I love this image of him- he was fun to work with, and that look on his face shows his "slightly more serious than he lets on", side...although it was freezing out, so the look could have also been a "hurry the heck up so we can end this lesson and get back inside!" look.

Thank you Rick for some great lessons- it was such a pleasure learning from you! I'm bringing my gear to a friend's house today to test what I've learned. Hopefully all that info you squeezed into one day hasn't already left the building...as technical knowledge generally does for me if it's not something I have to use on a daily basis. Your phone will be ringing if I can't figure this stuff out on my own!

Hope

2011-02-09T14:35:00.002-05:00

"Hope sees the invisible, believes the incredible,

receives the impossible." -Anonymous

Last week, we received a call informing us that Glen's cousin, a healthy 40-something-year-young mother of two wonderful children, both in high school, had some tests done on a cyst, and it appeared to be bad news. Yesterday, she and her husband had additional tests done in Boston, and their fears were confirmed- she has ovarian cancer. Lisa and Bob have started an online journal, keeping friends and family members up to date as she fights this battle. She will begin chemotherapy tomorrow and surgery is likely after a few rounds of treatments. Just like that, life as they knew it has been turned upside down. I bought these necklaces for Lisa and her daughter to wear as they spend some days apart through Lisa's treatments. I bought one for myself as well, in Lisa's honor, as a reminder of how precious each and every day is. Cancer has touched my life through so many people I care about.

Lisa, know that you have all of our energy, prayers, love and support coming your way through the difficult days that lie ahead.

We love you.

Love My Boy!

2011-02-09T10:49:00.000-05:00

It adds such incredible joy to your life when you have a child who is as sweet as mine. I kept asking him to get his shoes on this morning because we were getting ready to leave for school, and he'd tell me to hold on- that he was doing something that he needed to finish (just what every parent wants to hear as they're trying to get ready to leave, right?). I was in my office starting a download so it would hopefully be completed by the time I returned, and I looked up to see Ty standing at my door. He asked me to leave my office to go look for something for him, and as I tried to tell him we didn't have time, he looked up and very sincerely said, "Please, Mom?" Of course I agreed. He then said, "Don't go back in your office until you get home, OK, Mom?" A second later he was in his coat and shoes walking out the door to get in the car. When I got home, it was over an hour before I went into my office, and this was on my chair-

"hi MOM I hope you have a grat dAy"

Made me weepy. :o)

Fun Stats!

2011-02-04T12:03:00.001-05:00

For the first time since I started my Blog, I checked my stats yesterday. I was amazed to see that I had nearly 800 page views

last month from 10 countries! How cool is that?? For all time, I had over 5,000 page views from over 15 different countries-

not too shabby for a photographer who doesn't have the time to enter contests, network or advertise and puts motherhood before her business, huh??

This is my neighbor's house- I don't know where we're going to put any more snow we get. Yes, I know some people are getting sick of the sight of snow and ice on my site, but I just can't help but love all the crazy weather we've had this winter- makes me feel like a kid again- not that I've ever stopped! It's a good thing since Glen's mother called this morning and said she heard there's another "beast" of a storm headed our way next week.

I've been toying with different watermarks lately, tyring to find one I like. This one is added directly from Lightroom, so there's no further editing in Photoshop, which is a huge time-saver. I don't love the look of the watermark itself, but it was simple to try out.

I took all these images on my phone when I brought Ty to school this morning- this last one actually shows the sparkles in the snow- more so if you click on the image to enlarge it. I'm sorry for all the New Englanders who aren't crazy about this weather- we were out in the last storm building a 100-foot-long luge in our back yard!! Once it freezes enough I'll share some pictures- it was alot of work, but it's going to be SO MUCH FUN!!

Progress Report

2011-02-01T13:04:00.000-05:00

January flies by when you have a 90-day project in the works! Yikes! I checked my list last night and am happy to say that I'm doing great with some things...but need to report that I'm not doing so great with others. The first week, I was right on target with everything- and then things got out of sorts with snow days, being a mom, a wife and a friend. (You know- those three little duties that are more important than your work, so when you get called on you drop everything???)

The biggest thing I haven't kept up with over the past three weeks is all the exercise- I've been rebounding, though, so that's good!

(Hear me trying to make myself feel better??)

One of the things I got to cross off was replacing our fireplace screen- thanks to Glen. Our old screen made me crazy- it was the kind that you had to move aside every time you wanted to add wood to the fire. We have fires daily, so it frustrated me to have to move it all the time. I searched online and found several that had doors- but they were all $200 or more, so I held off on buying one.

I just couldn't justify spending that kind of money on something that wasn't essential when there are so many people out of work right now who would be thrilled to have an extra $200 in their pocket.

So I added it to my list hoping to find a good deal by the end of the 90-day period.

Glen called me on his way home from work one day last week and said he found a screen on sale for $30!!! I was ecstatic! Hooray for my shop-savvy husband who helped me cross an item off my very long list! Thanks, Babe!! :o)

More Snow On The Way!!

2011-01-26T12:38:00.034-05:00

I laughed out loud yesterday when we were listening to the latest weather report and Glen looked at the above picture we have hanging on the wall in our family room and said, "I think it's time to take THAT one down." He was VERY serious- which made it even funnier! (Is that even a word?) Anyway, good news is- the amount of snow we're supposed to get has been lowered to only 4-8 inches, and at this point, that's nothing! :o)

This is now my view of my favorite tree from my office windows. I have to look through the giant icicles hanging from our front porch.

Unfortunately, we can't knock them down because our Christmas lights are frozen in them!

Well, here's to another snowy night ahead! My fingers are crossed for a delay for Ty tomorrow morning rather than a full day off- again. All these snow days are really affecting my progress with crossing things off my list. Geeez!!!

Vote For Scott!!

2011-01-25T12:19:00.000-05:00

Ty's Godfather is in a commercial that may be featured during the Super Bowl!! Such exciting things happening to the people we know and love lately! Click on the image above to launch his commercial, and please take a moment to vote for him- every day, if you have the time. If the link brings you to the Doritos finalists instead of Pepsi, click on the Pepsi icon to bring up the Pepsi finalists and then watch (and vote for) Scott's commercial from there. Good Luck Scott!!! :o)

Congratulations Boston Burger Company!!!

2011-01-20T14:28:00.001-05:00

A couple summers ago, while we were visiting with Glen's family up at Lake Winnipesaukee, Glen's cousin's husband told us he was going to stop working for the postal service- where he'd been for YEARS- and open a burger joint in Boston. He said, "Myndi- I'll even have a veggie burger on the menu just for you guys!" I was excited for him- I love when people step outside the norm of their lives and take risks that they believe in- but I also wondered what the chances were of becoming really successful with a new restaurant in Boston when there are already SO MANY great establishments there. Well, just this past week something really wonderful happened!

Paul's burger joint, the Boston Burger Company, was just featured on Rachael Ray's show in the Best Burger competition and he WON!! He was up against two other restaurants who prepared each of their signature burgers, but Paul's Hot Mess was voted the BEST burger of the three by Iron Chef Michael Symon and Everyday with Rachael Ray editor-in-chief, Liz Vaccariello! Talk about great publicity, and they haven't even been open for two years yet!!

Click on any of the pictures from the show to go to Rachael Ray's website for more of this incredible story.

Congratulations to you, Paul!!! (And to you, too, Tricia!!) What a fantastic start to your new business and career path!! We'll be planning a large group trip out to Somerville in the near future to get our veggie version of the Hot Mess!!

Wooo Hooo!!!

It's Sooo Ccc-cooooollld!

2011-01-20T12:16:00.002-05:00

This is always the time of year that I start searching our timeshare website for a tropical beach location with a low of 80 degrees! I love snow...but I prefer temperatures to be at least in the high 20s so we can play outside without getting frostbite.

Somehow, the power of the sun is still able to melt icicles, even with a temperature of 12 degrees. I've been sitting at my desk watching the constant dripping out my window, thinking that it was actually warming up today. I walked outside to take these pictures and heard the sun say, "PSYYYCHE!!!"

And now there's a song playing over and over in my head:

Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take you to

Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama

Key Largo, Montego, baby why don't we go

down to Kokomo, we'll get there fast and then we'll take it slow

That's where we wanna go, way down in Kokomo.

Like how I made the words the color of tropical ocean water??

If you click on the last line of the verse, it'll bring up the song on YouTube- just know in advance that you won't be able to get it out of your head once you listen. (Oh, and just ignore the pictures of the guy who shows up throughout the song- the beach pictures are still worth seeing right now! I'm guessing it's a video that he made for the girl at the end.)

:o)

Jim & Andy's Album

2011-01-19T12:52:00.000-05:00

If you click on the image above, you'll launch the album of our dear friends who have waited so patiently for me to complete it. I have to say "Thank you!" again to Derek of Carpenter Captures who assisted me with this wedding as well as Gina & Alex's last year. Because Derek was there, I was able to enjoy some of the reception with Glen and our friends, so, Thank you, Derek!! The entire page of black & whites of Jim with his mom are Derek's pics, and if you go back to Gina & Alex's album, Derek's pics were the black & white reception shots as well as the black & whites I ended the album with- he's a wonderful photographer and an all around great guy.
I've been trying to finish up this album since Sunday night so my Patriots post would be bumped down a bit- boy was that a disappointment! Everything happens the way it's supposed to, I guess. I'll be posting three more times in the next three days since I didn't get my three in last week, so hopefully it will be completely off the front page and forgotten by Saturday- I'll have you know that I'm still wearing my hat and scarf proudly, though, and giving them credit for the fantastic season they had.
(I say as I hold back my tears...)

Go PATRIOTS!!

2011-01-16T16:39:00.001-05:00

Glen is in the air on his way home from FL, and as my Patriots
kick-off, I have Scooby Doo on the TV- WHY?? Because Glen asked me to tape the game and watch it with him when he gets back. So for now I will have to stay off of my phone and off of facebook, and have faith that the pilot doesn't make announcements about the game in his travels. I'm wearing all my favorite Patriots things, though, and fully cheering them on in spirit RIGHT NOW! So, please don't call or text me about the game, because if a Dolphins fan is as excited to watch it as I am, then I'll enjoy those moments thoroughly! In the meantime, back to Scooby, Dooby Doooooooo!!!

Go PATS!!!

Sooo Much Snow

2011-01-14T13:20:00.000-05:00

What an awesome storm! The snow-day Wednesday threw my week off a bit, but it was the best snow storm we've seen in ages.

Call me crazy- but I just love it. When I woke up at 5 on Wednesday morning, I was so excited to see that we already had about a foot of snow! I lit a fire, and started to rebound on my mini-trampoline as I watched the snow continue to come down in full force outside the windows. Ty woke at about 6:00, and his expression was priceless as he looked out as well. Shortly after, I headed outside with my tripod to get some pictures of it all

before our plow-guy came.

When I started shoveling around 4:00, we had about two feet of snow. I had to shovel in three different spots before I could find where our walkway began.

Finally found it!! With that much snow, the shoveling became my cardio workout for the day!

Ty played outside for hours with our neighbors. Don't think I've ever seen a child play in the snow without sticking their tongue out. :o)

Made it!!

And there's the tongue...

All that snow in our driveway fell AFTER we were already plowed out.

I was about three-quarters of the way done with our walkway when it started to get dark.

And then I heard it- Glen got the snow-blower going after three years of sitting without being used. Hooray!!

This is one of Ty's "favorite people in the whole world"- if we can get through an hour of the day before Ty asks to play with our neighbor, Matthew, it's a miracle.

I could have (and would gladly have) finished the job all by myself...but I wasn't disappointed when the snow-blower rounded the corner and took over for me.

Now it just needs to warm up enough to make the snow sticky so we can make some really big snowmen!

I LOVE winter!!

Visit From Spiderman

2011-01-08T22:17:00.089-05:00

I love when life delivers little surprises. We were out for most of the day attending funeral services for Glen's Cioci Bette, who was admitted to the hospital just before Christmas for something that was seemingly minor. I suppose when you've lived for 83 years, nothing is really minor, though. Within several days, one problem led to another, and after a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs for Cioci Bette's only daughter and her family, she passed just before the end of the year. Ty attended the services with us, and he was as sweet as can be- we've certainly raised an empath for a son! As we were preparing dinner, our doorbell rang. In the few seconds it took us to get to the front door, all I saw were snowy foot prints, and this poster, signed, "To Superhero Ty...From Spiderman". I pulled out my phone to capture the moment and called to Ty. He just stood and stared at it for a minute, and then looked all around to see who could have made the delivery, but we couldn't see anyone! What a great gift for a child who had been so good all day.
Thank you, mystery gift-giver!!

It will be a great addition to his room.

Here's a couple of nature's fun surprises. The entire time our Christmas tree was up, it seemed to be leaning to one side or another, depending on where you stood. It drove us crazy for the first couple days, and then we had to just let it go and keep our fingers crossed that it wouldn't topple over- and at 10-feet tall, that would have been quite a project to get it back up! When it came time to take it down, we knew we wouldn't get it back through the door in one piece, so Glen cut it into pieces, and this is what he found-

No wonder it looked like it was leaning on two sides- it had two trunks!!

Next is this crazy cuke- Ty wanted me to keep it forever, so I told him I'd take a picture for him instead. Pretty cool, huh??
(It's not just us, right?)

Well the first seven days of my New Year list of commitments taught me a few things-

1. taking more time for myself is making me much more productive

2. there is no way I can get my entire house clean in one day- but then again, the list didn't mention cleaning the entire house- it just said I had to designate a cleaning day and stick to it, so I'll take a line from the P90x program and "do my best & forget the rest"

3. turning my phone off from when Ty gets home from school
until he goes to bed should have
been a part of my routine a long time ago!

Brothers & Sisters

2011-01-07T13:22:00.000-05:00

At the end of the year I had a couple of fun brother-sister sessions. Shanelle contacted me to have some portraits made for her parents for Christmas, so I met up with her and her brother Austin and we headed over to Quabbin.

Austin was a bit on the quiet side, so I was really happy to get this shot of him with his older sister.

Now meet Henry and Edith- a much younger brother-sister team! Kids can be very tricky to work with, but they certainly keep things fun! Henry is in Ty's kindergarten class, and his sister, Edie, is an absolute doll.

I love this image of Edie- even though it's blurred, it speaks volumes about her spunky personality!

I told Henry to give his sister a little kiss, and this is what we ended up with- yikes!!

I don't think Edie was thrilled with the affection from her brother.

Her expressions crack me up! I just LOVE her.

And she's outa here...

One day after school I asked Ty if we could get his pictures done quickly for our Christmas cards- he gave me 15 minutes- literally- and he barely sat still for that little bit of time. I managed to get about half-a-dozen shots that were worthy of using.

This one ended up on the back of our cards. When my order came in and I checked one of the cards to make sure there weren't any flaws, I realized something...look at the finger Ty is using to hold his moustache. I guess we flipped the bird to 300 families this year! Oops!!!

Alex & Gina

2011-01-05T11:17:00.000-05:00

The beginning of every year finds me scrambling to complete all the albums from the previous year. Gina and Alex's album was finished before the holidays, but with all my end-of-year orders and sessions, I never posted it. Click on the image above to start their album slideshow. Hope you've had a fabulous start to 2011!!

Bring on the New Year!

2010-12-31T09:36:00.001-05:00

It's hard to believe that 2010 is already coming to an end!! We had so many wonderful experiences this year, and so many great milestones were celebrated. It seems that every year gets better than the last. Some of our most memorable moments were Glen's 40th Birthday, Ty's first day of kindergarten and crossing the finish line of the Amica half-marathon in Newport, RI. Among all the good things that have happened, I've also made many personal promises to myself that I haven't kept- so this year I've decided to do what I see so many other people do- and that is to make my list of promises public. I've seen lists of 101 things to do in 1001 days- but I don't have the patience to wait around for a couple years to get my things done- so I've put myself on the fast-track (no surprise there- right??) and created my list of 51 things to do in 90 days! I'll keep you posted as I cross items off my list over the next three months- many of them are daily health-related things that I've neglected over the past year and some will ensure that I take time for myself every now and then, which I rarely do- so it will be interesting to see which items I focus on first. Have a happy and safe end of 2010 & start of 2011 and remember to check back frequently, since one of the items on my list is to blog 3x/week!!

51 Things In 90 Days

1. Blog 3x/week

2. Send out discs of images (family & friends) to 10 people

3. Get a massage

4. Catch up on back work

5. Complete P90x

6. Complete 45 mins of cardio 4x/week

7. Juice 5 days/week

8. Eat only veg and low-sugar fruit until noon

9. Get up at 5 a.m. 5 days/week

10. Rebound for 30 mins 3 days/week

11. Eat a salad every day

12. Take oils every day

13. Take colloidal vitamins every day

14. Drink 3 liters of greens/water daily

15. Have dinner out with Glen 3x

16. Only have alcohol one day/week (feeling the need to clarify here- eliminating the glass or two of wine at night two-three days/week will give me more energy in the long run!)

17. Spend 15 minutes every morning being grateful

18. Journal 5 favorite things from the day every night

19. Get a hair cut
(I never make time for this until I absolutely HAVE to)

20. Perform 5 acts of kindness

21. Make our bed every day (happens 99% of the time)

22. Shower every day (the moms out there know that this is not always a priority!)

23. Print 3 large canvases/prints to hang in our home

24. Organize images on hard drives

25. Organize office

26. Find all Closer To Heaven materials and create plan for completing project by August

27. Replace fireplace screen

28. Finish reading "The Moment It Clicks"

29. Re-read one of Dr. Young's books

30. Dust once/week (one of the chores we neglect in our house)

31. Organize and enjoy a girls' weekend away with a friend/friends

32. Learn studio lighting

33. Become more familiar with off-camera flash

34. Watch training videos in office

35. Have equipment cleaned

36. Create a circle of 5 photographers to refer work to

37. Attend 3 Pictage User Group meetings

38. Take at least one NILMDTS session

39. Create a folder of images to use for new website

40. Check facebook only once daily

41. Turn off phone daily from when Ty gets home from school until he goes to bed

42. Go to dinner with a friend

43. Go to lunch with a friend

44. Relax in my big bath once/month

45. Watch 3 documentary movies

46. Designate 1 cleaning day/week and stick to it

47. Clean fish tank every other week

48. Practice breathing daily

49. Use total gym for 20 minutes 3x/week

50. Complete a 7-day cleanse

51. Research setting up a non-profit organization to benefit people in need in my town

Merry Christmas Eve!!

2010-12-24T09:40:00.000-05:00

I am so excited for Christmas! Santa comes tonight, and it feels like the morning of Christmas Eve is just as exciting as Christmas morning itself, as the anticipation builds throughout the day for so many children around the world who celebrate.

After we sent out our 300 holiday cards, I realized that I hadn't posted here in over two months! The fall has been so busy that the Blog has been completely neglected. Sorry! I'm still here- busy as ever, as I have attempted over the past couple months (without success) to get caught up before the end of the year so I could start 2011 fresh with current work.

One of my all-time favorite ornaments that Glen bought for me over a decade ago- who doesn't love a happy snowball??

Seems like a little spirit always helps with the late nights that are frequent during the season of shopping, wrapping, preparing, shipping and giving!

Here is another of my favorites that my mother-in-law gave to us many years ago when we bought our first town-home. An old German legend says that if you find a nest in the tree that you harvest for Christmas, health and good fortune will be yours in the coming year. I make that wish for us every year as I find the perfect place on our tree for this very special gift.

This year Ty and I picked out a new assortment of vegetable ornaments that made us smile.

Of course, above is my most precious on the tree- taken just hours after Ty was born. :o)

And here is a favorite of the super-hero fans in the house!

Three of my favorite things combined into one ornament- music, angels and snowmen!

Even Georgia has her own stocking!

I have the say that my most favorite decorations of all this year are the ones that Ty has brought home from school every day. They're hanging all over our house!

And to add to the excitement, we have a variety of count-down tools!

Going to bed early is a rare occurence during the month of December.

This year as we counted our blessings, we decided to give back to our community. After calling several shelters in Springfield, we went shopping!

One shelter is currently housing about 30 women and 60-70 men, so I decided to buy each a "shower kit" of sorts. We were able to get a ready-made kit for all the men and some of the women, but then purchased enough items to put together the rest for the women so no-one would go without.

Next, we put together a box of as many gloves, hats and scarves as we could find- 30 of each.

We bought over 100 toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste.

I also found a couple additional shelters that housed children and single-mothers, so we brought in enough age-appropriate items for each child to have something special to open tomorrow morning.

And what's a holiday without a special treat? I think the dollar store thought I was a little crazy when I bought all their cookies.

When we arrived at the large adult shelter, Glen recognized the director, who was a news anchor in Springfield up until a year ago, when she left television and joined forces with this temporary housing facility. It was extremely rewarding when she told us that they had just talked that day about how they didn't have anything to give to the people staying there this year- how about that!

As we drove home, we were greeted by this beautiful sunset. All was good with our world that day- and hopefully we were able to show a few people that in this season of giving, they're not forgotten. Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Christmas!

Mr. & Mrs. Terlecky

2010-10-10T21:06:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to Alison and Taras who had an amazing day for their wedding on Saturday! It was so great to work with them and have Glen as my assistant. :o) Alison was referred to me by her brother, Jason, last year when she was looking for a photographer. We've been friends with Jay for nearly a decade, so Glen was invited as a guest of the wedding to be Jason's wing-man while I worked. It was a great time!

I love this image of Alison and her Mom!

Such a beautiful bride!

Alison had been prepared for her emotions to take over during the vows, but the priest was also prepared!

Thanks again, Mr. & Mrs. Terlecky, for choosing me to document your special day. I love your families, and I loved being a guest as well as a photographer for your wedding- it was a great way to end 2010! Now aside from an engagement session or two and a corporate event in November, I can play catch-up with the four fall weddings I've had in the past five weeks and finish designing the 7 albums I'm working on. Yikes!

Mr. & Mrs. Hess

2010-10-04T14:31:00.004-04:00

It was difficult narrowing down the pictures from Scott and Megan's big day. A beautiful location with great people- it was absolutely perfect!

The wedding was at Castle In The Clouds in NH, and the weather was a challenge right up until the morning of the big day.

These first couple images were taken the day before when things were still quite wet.

This is Tom- it was his castle that the celebration was held at. Thanks for building such a beautiful estate, Tom!! :o)

(You can learn more about him by clicking here.)

The next morning felt like a miracle when the sun was shining without a cloud in the sky after the week of rain we'd had.

I can say that I've never seen SO MANY people hanging out with the bride the morning of a wedding. The Lamothe's had a full house!! This little lady checked on me throughout the morning.

I LOVED Meg's pajama pants that she wore with her tiara and heels right up until changing into her dress at the carriage house of the castle.

It is always such a pleasure for me to have time with the bride and groom before the ceremony so we can really capture them as they first see one another. It's the only private time they get to be together all day, when they're not surrounded by 100 of their close friends and family.

The trolley brought all the guests from the carriage house up to the castle where the wedding ceremony would take place.

Meg got choked up during her vows and had to take a quick break to wipe her tears. Same thing happened to me when I was about to say my vows nearly 14 years ago, so I had a few tears of my own. :o)

Congratulations to such a sweet and loving couple!

Jill & Kevin's Wedding Show

2010-09-20T11:57:00.000-04:00

Here it is! A sneak peak at Kevin & Jill's wedding. Click the image above to launch a slideshow of the day's highlights. In one of the images, Jill's Mom had just finished commenting on how Jill couldn't function without her phone...and I couldn't resist catching her with her own phone right behind Jill seconds later. :o)
I'll upload the individual images to facebook so if you're friends of theirs, you'll be able to see them there, too. Congratulations to you both!

Mr. & Mrs. Alderfer

2010-09-18T18:13:00.000-04:00

Kevin & Jill had an absolutely magical day yesterday! For some reason, I'm unable to upload images at this time. Must have something to do with these Friday weddings, because last weekend I wasn't able to get pictures from Angela and Aaron's wedding up until a few days after their wedding, either! I'll be back tomorrow to try again. Perhaps too many people blog on Saturdays and there's an overload...who knows?!

Lopez Wedding Show

2010-09-13T11:30:00.002-04:00

Angela & Aaron had a beautiful wedding last Friday! I spent alot of time this weekend trying to narrow my favorite images down to about a dozen to post, but that didn't work, so I put together a slideshow instead. If you click on their image above, you can have a sneak peak at about 70 of the images that I chose to tell the story of their day. They have a beautiful family! You'll notice that the image of them on the stone wall after the ceremony doesn't include their youngest daughter who decided to take her nap during the formals- what can you do? When planning an event that involves young children, my philosophy is, "go with the flow and don't expect things to go according to plan." Congratulations and hugs to you all!!

Mr. & Mrs. Lopez

2010-09-12T20:10:00.000-04:00

I'm experiencing technical difficulties, so pictures from Angela & Aaron's wedding will be up tomorrow- sorry for the delay! I'll also have pictures from Ty's first two soccer games this weekend- we've been very busy around here. :o)

First Day of Kindergarten!

2010-09-03T10:37:00.002-04:00

We brought our little man to his first day of Kindergarten today! I have so many mixed feelings and emotions about this new adventure in all of our lives.

He was kind of quiet on the way to school, but he smiled when I had the camera pointed at him.

The assistant teacher for his classroom was at the door when we arrived.

She quickly took him by the hand and brought him to his line where he would wait with his class for the bell to ring. He walked away without even looking back!

I ran over and gave him one more quick kiss and hug before his class left the common area.

I was really surprised by the very small number of parents that stayed until the children went to their classrooms- there's no way I ever would have missed this.

This genuine smile he flashed me as he walked past to begin his day lifted my heart!

I was fine until we walked out the door- and then the tears came. What if he gets sad at school? Will someone give him a hug and comfort him? What if he's afraid to ask to go to the bathroom? What if another child is mean to him? What if he doesn't understand something the teacher asks him to do and he's nervous about asking for help? There are so many "What ifs" in my mind. As I sit here and write this post, someone else is influencing my child for the entire day- and very soon, other children are going to be teaching him things that he really doesn't need to know yet. The most difficult thing for me right now is that I have no idea what he's doing at this very moment. I took that leap of faith in our public school system- and in the parents who are out there raising the children that my son will play with on the playground. My prayers are said, my fingers are crossed, and now it's time for me to get all the things done that I've not had time for over the past five and a half years.

Scott & Megan

2010-08-27T21:39:00.000-04:00

Megan & Scott's engagement session was supposed to happen on Monday morning, but with the crazy rain, we had to move it...to Pennsylvania! The couple was up here for their shower over the weekend, but they had to get back to PA and their wedding is only a month away so we had to make something happen pretty quickly. Ty and I were originally going to ride down with Glen, since he had to also be there on business this week, but several factors prohibited that and we ended up on a 5-hour train ride, which I'm happy to say Ty completely enjoyed!

This adorable couple was full of laughs! I loved it!

I'd already booked the number of weddings I'd wanted to shoot this year when Megan emailed me about her day. When she said she was "going to marry the love of her life" I had to meet with them.

We spent the morning at Megan's alma mater, Arcadia University.

Megan lived in this castle for part of her college career- crazy!

It was fitting to do their engagement session here since their wedding will be at the Castle In The Clouds in NH in October- I hope the leaves start to change for them before their big day! :o)