New Blog!

Ok, I've done it! I've "upgraded" my blog to a new host...wordpress is just so pretty and lets me post larger images...so from now on please check this address instead:

http://ssphotography.wordpress.com/

'Tis a sad day when I leave this blog behind....

Catherine & Mike - Engagement

Catherine and Mike are getting married in early August of 2009 - they will be my first wedding back in the saddle from our honeymoon! I'm really excited to work with them again, they have a great spirit and we had so much fun doing their engagement shoot at Princeton. I first worked there for Cindy & Khanh's wedding, and was excited to go back to spend a little more time exploring the campus with these two. It was a little chilly and very windy, but we snapped away in between gusts and got some great shots!







Catherine is a big Joni Mitchell fan, so it was serendipitous that we stumbled upon this little monument!







Yay for fall and leaf fights! Mike got her good, but then Catherine got some sweet revenge!




And then, there's always opportunity for a little silliness! I love Catherine's expression in the photo with the lion...

Inspiration!

I wanted to share these sites with you...I try to take time now and again to really look at work that is outside the wedding and portrait realm. I think it's important to stay up on what wedding a portrait photography is doing, but find it really inspiring to look at work that is in a totally different direction, as it often inspires and encourages me to think outside of my little box...it keeps things fresh for me. I don't get to as many photography shows as I would like to, but am thrilled that the web can give us access to them. Enjoy!

http://www.dayswithmyfather.com/ - a beautiful and sad documentary project of one man's journey with his father as he ages.
http://www.scouttufankjian.com/main.php - no matter what your political views, it's hard not to appreciate these stunning photos of our new President from the very beginnings of his campaign right up to the end
http://www.parkeharrison.com/slides-graydawn/index.html - this work is just so cool! a totally beautiful syncing of humans and nature. any brides out there want me to grow some trees out of their arms? i kid, i kid...

Christina & Bryan - 11.15.08

Christina and Bryan were married down in Ocean City on Saturday, followed a fabulous brunch buffet at the Flanders Hotel. "Why did you decide to have a brunch?" I asked. "We love breakfast!" Christina replied. haha They were so fabulous, despite the rain and hurrican winds going on outside, and we made the best of the beautiful Flanders hotel!

Whoa, does it look dreary out that window or what!


Ring boxes that were too pretty to open...



I love this one because you can see the huge waves rolling in in the distance...


But this dramatic light is so pretty too!




I LOVE this mural of a bride in one of the dining rooms at the hotel, so we snuck in to get a quick pic.


Luckily Bryan's suite had this awesome balcony. Christina said she is going to pretend that we went to the beach... I love how the wind is practically sailing the veil away!

Cindy & Khanh - Slideshow

I just finished editing Cindy & Khanh's wedding, and am just so pleased with it! One of the great things about my job is all the new and interesting people and customs that I get to be exposed to, that I would never otherwise see.

Khanh & Cindy had a traditional Buddhist ceremony, which started with Khanh and his family traveling to Cindy's family home, bringing gifts and participating int he initial ceremony. We then all traveled back to Khanh's family home, where the second ceremony took place.

After Cindy changed out of her traditional dress into her white gown we were off to Princeton for our photo shoot. The reception was at the Sunny Palace in East Brunswick, and everyone had a fantastic time!

Ken Stillman was there with his team, they did another fantastic job with their B.I.G. Video Show.

Albums, Albums, Albums!!!

It was another busy weekend of shooting, with a beautiful Ocean City brunch wedding on Saturday (yum - breakfast!!!) and a fun engagement shoot in Princeton today. Photos from both of those coming soon...

In the mean time, I wanted to share some of my favorite spreads from some recent album designs. I really love laying out albums, as they tie the whole wedding together and tell a fantastic story when they are done. While I offer two styles of books, both of these are coffeetable/flush albums. The two books were so different from each other, and really captured the essence of both clients.

Stephanie and Tim celebrated their marriage in June of this year. Stephanie was so enthusiastic about getting her album done, it really was a lot of fun! I was so thrilled to be able to use some bright beach colors in her book!







Kristin and Krister were married in August of 2007, and came back to me this summer to work on their book. It was another beautiful product; Kristin chose to go with a grey cover and silver imprinting, it is stunning!

Dress Shopping - Mission Accomplished!

Dress shopping was the part of wedding planning that I feared the most! I had horrible flashbacks to sequined prom dresses with puff sleeves that never looked quite right. Thank goodness for my mom and good friend Katie, if they weren't with me it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun as it was! They were total troopers, lounging by the dreaded three-way mirror and watching me parade around. When I finally found the right dress, it was here at the Country Bride.



It was such a wonderful place to be, Laura was so helpful and patient. I just wanted to give them a shout out, anyone looking for a dress I really recommend going here. They really made me so comfortable and were SO PATIENT with us! Thank you!

Another Obsession

I used to tell eveyone that I was going to marry James Taylor...sigh... Instead I will just watch this over and over again...my favorite song in the whole whole world, by my favorite singer, in my favorite hometown. :) There's nothing like James Taylor at Tanglewood on the 4th of July!



And here's another version, a better recording, because I know you just can't get enough:



Ok, back to work...