Monthly Archives: September 2008

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Fun with twins! - Part I

September 30, 2008 – 6:47 pm

We recently had a week filled with twins here at the studio! We started the week with two absolutely beautiful two year old twin boys - Joshua and Joey. Joshua and Joey’s mom called us about scheduling a formal portrait session with her two little boys and following it up with a more casual session outdoors. Rene and I stopped by a week before the session to meet the boys and it was hard to leave without photographing them right there. These boys are so adorable!

Although they are twins, Joshua and Joey definitely have very unique personalities. It was so much fun learning about them and photographing their differences (and similarities!). First, let’s meet the stars of the session.

A pensive Joey:

And the rather spontaneous Joshua!

There’s nothing like getting a hug from your best friend:

And we took quite a few together with their gorgeous mom as well. You’d NEVER believe that she’s the mom of twins!

And just when we all agreed that the session was done, Joey decided that he couldn’t stand being in his outfit one more second and wiggled away from mom while she was trying to change him. I love this little shirtless running baby! What I love the most is how he seems completely unaffected by all of our giggles:

We had such a great time and absolutely loved playing with the boys while capturing their personalities. I can only imagine how big they’ll be the next time we see them!

By tiradophoto | Posted in main, portraits | Comments (1)

Mikki and Scott - a perfect evening at the Willowbend Country Club

September 14, 2008 – 10:36 pm

I have no idea how to even begin this blog entry! This is one wedding that we have been waiting for all year! Mikki and Scott are a fabulous (and gorgeous!) couple that you might remember from their engagement session this summer.

They’ve been waiting so long for their wedding to arrive and in the meantime, worked incredibly hard planning so many fabulous little details and personal touches. From a table filled with their parents wedding photographs and a personalized guest book, every detail meant something to them - and also matched their wedding colors perfectly!

Their reception was held at the beautiful Willowbend Country Club in Mashpee, MA and that’s exactly where we started. Both Mikki and Scott were getting ready in separate villas on the property when we arrived and Rene and I spent a ton of time with them getting all of those great moments getting ready for their big day!

First, Scott looking incredibly sharp:

And Scott gave his groomsmen some of the best cuff links we have ever seen. I absolutely love this idea - they’re T tokens!

Another cool detail of Scott’s fabulous attire. These guys looked amazing!

Meanwhile, just upstairs in another villa, Mikki had her own team of professionals helping her to look just as perfect:

I absolutely love this next image of Mikki. It’s a candid that was taken when she was putting on her shoes just before stepping into her gorgeous gown:

Isn’t that gown just AMAZING? It’s from Priscilla’s Platinum Collection and I’m completely serious when I say that she took my - and everyone else’s - breath away when she put it on. That dress was made for her (literally) and it definitely showed. It looked as if it was an extension of her body and she just flowed in it. Even more incredibly - this was one of TWO gowns that Mikki would wear! She also changed into a stunning sheath gown later during the reception - perfect for dancing and enjoying the rest of the evening. Once she was dressed, it was time for all of those fun little details:

Mikki and Scott had an absolutely gorgeous day for their wedding and we were able to use the grounds at Willowbend as a great backdrop for some of their photos before the ceremony. When it was time for the girls and I to head outside, Mikki pulled out these adorable pink parasols (pink being one of their wedding colors) and we had SUCH a great time playing with them:

We then headed off to the church in a trolley and waited for the ceremony to begin. The church (St. Elizabeth Seton) was incredibly cozy and quaint. It was also pretty tiny so Mikki and her girls waited just outside the front doors before they walked down the aisle. The day was beautiful, the sky blue and sun bright so it also made for some gorgeous images. This was taken just minutes before Mikki and her dad walked down the aisle:

Mikki and Scott are just such a happy couple and so completely in love. It was so awesome to be there and watch them together. There’s just no denying the excitement here:

After the ceremony, we all boarded the trolley and made a detour to a local beach. Do you think having high heels and 50lb dress was going to stop Mikki from hiking (far!!) across a beach. Not a chance! I had a hard time keeping up with her. That’s my kind of girl!! We are so happy that they were willing to make that trek across the sand, though, because we were able to have so much fun with them!

It’s funny, it just sometimes seems like when things are perfect, they’re REALLY perfect. Everything falls into place, everyone is happy and even the sun sets exactly when you need it to. Like when we stole some time away from everyone for Mikki and Scott’s personal session:

After spending some time on the beach, we hurried back to the Willowbend Country Club, just as last bits of the sun were dipping below the horizon. Not enough light from the sun? Well, that’s nothing a little video light can’t take care of and we definitely had fun playing with one of our favorite lighting methods:

I just can’t ever get enough of Mikki’s stunning smile:

Mikki and Scott were then introduced and kicked off their reception in high style! Their first dance was perfectly choreographed and even though their steps were all perfectly times and in sync, the never once let their gorgeous smiles take a break. One of my favorite images from their dance? It was when they were passing Rene and Scott glanced over and gave him an ever-so-cool wink:

Mikki and Scott truly had a day that no one will forget! They spent an amazing two weeks honeymooning in Greece and we are now so ready to get started on their album together! Thank you again, guys, for letting us be there with you and capture your beautiful personalities! We can’t wait to see you again very soon…

By tiradophoto | Posted in main, weddings | Tagged , , | Comments (4)

Michelle and Scott - a cosmopolitan wedding at Belle Mer in Newport, RI

September 11, 2008 – 8:01 pm

Now on to our second wedding held in Newport, RI - all in the same weekend! Michelle and Scott are going to look familiar as well since we posted about their engagement session just a couple of months ago!

Michelle and Scott have been telling us for months about all of the very cool features of their wedding and it’s been torture waiting for their day to finally arrive! Their ceremony and their reception were held at the breathtaking Belle Mer in Newport, RI. We have a lot of images to share from their wedding, because to be honest… TELLING you about how beautiful everything is just won’t do any of it justice!

Let’s start from the beginning, shall we? With some great getting ready photos… Michelle and Scott book rooms at two local inns in Newport, RI to get ready and they were literally just a couple of houses away from each other the entire time! Here’s Scott putting the finishing touches on his outfit:

Scott helping his best man with that tie. One unique detail from their wedding? Scott’s best man was his dad!

Another VERY cool and unique detail was Michelle’s stunning gown. And it was pink!!! It was so beautiful, fitted through the bodice and dotted with hand sewn flower details. It was just absolutely amazing. And it was pink!!

Michelle and Scott wanted to see each other before the start of the ceremony and also have a private portrait session by themselves as well as with their wedding party. We would take their family portraits after the ceremony, but they wanted a little extra time by themselves and with their closest friends in the wedding party so we all headed over to Belle Mer for a little bit of fun. For some privacy, we had Michelle and Scott’s session in the gorgeous bridal suite above the ballroom. It was absolutely perfect! Here are just a couple of our favorites:

This was Rene’s first time seeing Michelle’s dress, too, and understandably he couldn’t wait to take a few details of his own!

Soon it was time to get ready for the ceremony and the men made their way down to the ceremony location on the back lawn of Belle Mer. While Michelle and her girls spent a few last quiet moments in the bridal suite. It was just such a beautiful, peaceful way to soak it all in!

Admiring the beautiful ocean view from above:

Meanwhile, Scott and his dad enjoyed that time before the ceremony in their own way… playing baseball!

The ceremony itself was just gorgeous. Their closest friends had gathered with the most breathtaking view of the Atlantic Ocean and the beautiful Newport bridge and everyone was there to celebrate Michelle and Scott’s wedding.

Here Michelle and her dad begin their picturesque walk down the aisle:

After the ceremony we headed to the edge of the lawn overlooking the ocean for some family portraits and we couldn’t resist a few more of Michelle and Scott, too:

The reception began and the timing was just perfect as Michelle and Scott enjoyed their first dance against a spectacular sunset:

Another cool detail from their wedding? The outdoor fire pit where some of their guests could enjoy the warm summer evening and enjoy a chat:

Michelle and Scott have worked so hard to organize a beautiful and personal event that all of the friends and family could enjoy with them. I know it had to be so much work, but it was completely worth it and made for a day that they’ll never forget!

By tiradophoto | Posted in main, weddings | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (2)

Jen and Sean - A day at the beach (literally!) at the Atlantic Beach Club in Newport

September 10, 2008 – 8:14 pm

Here come a couple of posts from our weekend away in beautiful Newport, RI! It just so happened that we had two weddings in Newport over the same weekend, so Rene and I had a lot of fun spending the weekend with some fabulous couples. First let’s talk about our Saturday wedding!

Jen and Sean are no strangers to our cameras and it’s no secret that our cameras are completely in love with Jen and Sean. They’ll probably look familiar to our regular readers because of their engagement session this summer which you can see here…

So after months of chatting about all of the details and getting more and more excited, we were all ready for their wedding which was to be held at the Atlantic Beach Club in beautiful Newport, RI. The day finally arrived and although the weather reports promised rain and raging thunderstorms, we all scratched our heads all day while looking at the beautiful blue sky and puffy white clouds!

The afternoon started (as it usually does!) with some getting ready photos. One of my favorites is this great detail image by Rene of the funky ties and cuff links that the guys wore:

Jen and Sean also decided to see each other privately before the ceremony and it was so much fun to set it up for them. Rene and Sean called us to tell us that they had found the perfect spot nearby. Or at least Jen and I THOUGHT it was nearby! As we started walking a parking attendant at the venue realized where we were going, he insisted that we were being ridiculous. He ran to his jeep, told Jen that there was dog hair in the back seat so she’d have to sit in front and after we were all bundled safely inside, we headed off to our designated meeting spot. The priceless moment in the middle of all of this? Halfway there, Jen turned back to look at me in the backseat (and in all my dog hair glory) and said… “This is going to make the blog, isn’t it?” Oh Jen, you know me oh-so-well!!! The truth is, the parking attendant was such a sweet guy and it’s just so typical of that Newport charm!

But once we finally arrived at the perfect meeting point - on a cliff overlooking the ocean below, we were finally ready to see each other. It was just such a beautiful, beautiful moment and we were so honored to be there to capture it. Here are both of our angles of that moment:

We have a LOT of images to share from Jen and Sean’s wedding so we’re going to let the images do a lot of the talking! There were lots of fabulous details and the entire wedding definitely had a very casual, beach-y feel to it - which was perfect since the entire day was spent either on, or right next to, a gorgeous beach! Some of those great details were…

Jen’s gorgeous bouquet (look at the little tiny starfish detail in the middle of her gerbera daisy!):

The carefully chosen footwear… The guys all wore these flip-flops and the girls had on sandals that were so easy to kick off while on the beach:

It’s probably no secret that one of our favorite parts of the day is the alone time that we get to spend with our couples at the wedding. It’s when we really get to go wild and capture some beautiful portraits, show off their personalities and just how in love each of our couples are. Jen and Sean were just as excited about this part of the day, too, and so they set aside a lot of time before the start of the ceremony and we made sure to give them everything they were hoping for! We got so many great portraits that we could never post them all here, but here’s a peek at some of them:

First the very handsome Sean:

And the absolutely stunning Jen:

And now how about a look at this adorable couple together:

Now for one of my favorite candid moments of the day… And it actually happened right in the middle of all of the formal portraits. As I was photographing all of the bridesmaids, Rene turned around and noticed Sean having a quiet conversation with their little ringbearer nearby. We may never know what they were talking about…but to be honest, it just doesn’t matter. My heart melts every time I see this:

Jen and Sean had their ceremony on a beautifully manicured lawn, on a cliff, overlooking the Atlantic ocean. The sounds, the smell and the beautiful setting made for such beautiful memories for everyone. Jen was escorted down the aisle by her dad and this was their view as they started their walk down the aisle. Jen, can you remember exactly what you feeling at this very moment?? I know I still get chills when I remember the crescendo of excitement and anticipation right at this very moment:

After a beautiful ceremony we took some family portraits right there at the edge of the cliff and took a few more minutes to photograph Jen and Sean as the sun began to sink towards the horizon:

And I couldn’t resist posting this last image straight from the dancefloor at the reception. Does this maid of honor look familiar? If you’ve been to our studio, you might be picturing the nearly life sized portrait of Andrea and her hubby, Chris, that we have hanging on our wall:

Andrea and Chris were married exactly one year ago and we had the honor to photograph their wedding, too. We just wanted to say a very big happy anniversary to Andrea and Chris and a HUGE thank you to Jen and Sean. You’re both amazing couples and you guys hold a very special place in our hearts….

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Rita and Scott - a beautifully personal wedding at the Fruitlands Museum

September 9, 2008 – 6:48 am

We knew the moment that we met with Rita and Scott that we were beginning a fabulous and long relationship with them. We have so much in common with them and couldn’t wait to photograph their wedding to document why they are such a special couple. They spent so much time on the details for the wedding…not to create details that are “must haves”, but instead to create touches that were very personal and unique to them. The end result was a day that was filled with a lot of love, creativity and pure happiness. It was just so beautiful!!

Rita and Scott decided that they wanted to see each other privately before the ceremony and then schedule their portrait sessions beforehand as well so that they could enjoy their entire cocktail hour. One of our favorite parts of the day is when our couple see each other privately. The emotion and pure happiness is completely unlike any other experience. What’s great about these moments as well is that both Rene and I are able to capture it from different vantage points. Here’s a sequence of images from Rita and Scott’s very special moment:

We had such a blast with their own portrait session as well. They chose to have their ceremony and reception at the very picturesque Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA. The setting was absolutely stunning and perfect for their own portraits:

Rita purchased some beautiful parasols to use as decorative details during the ceremony. So we decided to borrow them for our session!

Their ceremony was held right on the back lawn of the museum, on a ridge with absolute stunning views. It was such a perfect setting for a beautiful ceremony:

Now this is a fabulous first kiss!

Their reception was held in the tent adjacent to the museum again with beautiful scenic views all around. The timing was just right as the everyone was treated to a breathtaking sunset just as everyone sat down to enjoy a delicious dinner.

One of my favorite details was their centerpieces, made up of colorful gerbera daises and their tables were named after their favorite restaurants:

Another highlight for us was getting to work with one of our favorite djs - DJ Erik Buford with the Event Experience. We’ve been working with him a lot this year which is just fabulous since he is so great at what he does. If you’ve read our blog recently, you’ve probably seen him mentioned before here and probably know that we might be a little biased since he was our own DJ over nine years ago! On top of having a lot of experience, Erik is just a very classy DJ who simply rocks every wedding with fabulous music. And I truly believe that one of the reasons Erik is so successful is because he really he loves what he does. See?

We’re now working on Rita and Scott’s album (already!) and we are so excited to create an album that shows off their beautiful summer wedding!

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The Shanahan Family - two years later!

September 7, 2008 – 12:47 pm

One of our favorite parts of photographing families and kids is seeing everyone again each year and watching our favorite families grow up. You might remember seeing the Shanahan family on our blog a couple of years ago (you can read about our session with them again here…). We had such an amazing time with their gorgeous family (of seven!) last time and so we were so excited when Jen called us to schedule another session. This time, though, she had an extra little challenge for us. All of their extended family were going to be in town over a recent weekend and they wanted to include everyone in the session. It was fabulous getting to meet everyone and watching all of the little cousins play together. So we all met up at a park in Arlington on a recent Sunday morning and we had an absolute blast!

In addition to photographing each family on their own, we wanted to capture some great images of every little one that was there. That was the fun part - photographing each of them while they were running around, playing, or having a tea party!

And then here’s the Shanahan family two years later! We couldn’t believe how much everyone had grown up since the last time we saw them!!

Jen, you are such a doll for organizing everyone’s schedule so we could get together! We had such an amazing time with you again and can’t wait to see your gorgeous family again soon!

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