the Hills

In late summer of 2007, I traveled to Houston for some graduate school things. I had the opportunity to visit with some friends, including the Hills, who were some of our first friends when Jessica and I arrived in Houston in 1999. (Sarah and I both worked at UST's library.) We miss them terribly and wish our kids (who seem to be on some weird parallel temperament/character birth order thing) could grow up together. Anyway, these are some of the candids from our afternoon gathering.

an engagement

Congratulations to my sister Marissa and her now fiancé Daniel, who became engaged on Saturday night. The entire family (especially Cecilia, my eldest daughter, who instantly claimed her birthright as flower girl) is excited for this development. I'll be posting some photos from a session we had over the summer (we did visit them in Albany in May); in the meantime, I spent a few minutes with them today to photograph the ring:

my wedding season, finished

Yesterday was my last wedding of 2008 (lots of fun--it was a friend from Saint Anselm, so I saw many other close friends). This year was a lot of work and a lot of fun. Being witness to and celebrating the wedding day is always an honor. I met many wonderful people: brides and grooms, their wedding parties, parents, family, and friends. Thanks to everyone, but especially to my family and wife, who, when she wasn't by my side with a camera or assisting, was tending to our growing family.

While I look forward to next year's weddings (which start in January), the break will be good. I have plenty of small photo projects to finish, which I'll feature here. Thanks for watching.

the Vachons

These candid portraits were taken during an interview for an upcoming article in Parable Magazine. They are a very interesting couple who have spent most of their lives in Manchester. More to come when the issue is released.

Renee + Josh

I promised Josh (my brother-in-law) and Renee a session a while ago, so when we had a family wedding at the Danversport Yacht Club a few weeks ago, we took advantage of the setting and the sunset. It was difficult choosing which to post--the session went that well.

Shannon + Dave's wedding, part 4

These were taken during the last 20 minutes of daylight at their reception. Choosing among them was difficult; the full gallery is here.

Shannon + Dave's wedding, part 3

Shannon + Dave's wedding, part 2

Shannon + Dave's wedding, part 1

Shannon and Dave had a small, quiet wedding ceremony at Straw Point of the Middlesex Fells Reservation in Malden, Massachusetts. The weather was stunning, and family and friends gathered under the shade of tall pine trees overlooking Spot Pond. The bride and groom read their vows from scrolls.

After the ceremony, we stayed there for formals and a quick session with just Shannon and Dave. The reception was held at Point of Pines Yacht Club in Revere. We snuck out for another session at sunset: like our first meeting, we had incredible light. Those to come soon.

Shannon + Dave

Shannon and Dave celebrated their wedding last month, but I wanted to post these photos and tell the story of how we met first. In April 2007, Jessica and I were at The Cliff House in Maine for a weekend conference. We had just sat down at the restaurant overlooking the coast at sunset, and I noticed Shannon and Dave sitting next to us. They're about our age and were dressed up, and I was compelled to ask them if I could photograph them (which did not come easily to me). They were there celebrating their engagement and scoping out the place as a wedding location. Shannon was understandably hesitant (and even thought that Dave had planned this), but Dave was willing--primarily because his camera battery had died, and they really wanted some photos of themselves there.

He was able to convince her, and we agreed to meet in 30 minutes. I ran back to my room to grab my Canon 10D and 50mm 1.8 (my sharpest lens at the time), and then tried to calm my nerves. We had unbelievable light as we climbed the rocks for 20-30 minutes and simply had a great session. I don't know that I've ever met anyone who were as comfortable in front of the camera.

Among other things that resulted from this meeting (besides asking me to photograph their wedding), the first photo below is one of my all-time favorites. Thanks again to Shannon and Dave, whose trust and willingness to help had a tremendous effect on what I'm doing today.

The Crucible

The Abbey Players of Saint Anselm College are performing Arthur Miller's Crucible this weekend. I photographed Tuesday's dress rehearsal. I highly recommend attending: the Players give a great performance of challenging material (with a great set, of course).