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Zoe’s Bat Mitzvah – Boston MA
Can I just tell you that I LOVE working with the same families over & over again?! There is something very special about documenting the important moments in the life of a family as it changes and grows over time. And it’s definitely an honor build relationships with those families! Well, a couple of years ago, I photographed Annika’s Bat Mitzvah and after the photos were posted her Mom emailed me and told me to save the date for Zoe’s as well! So, a few weeks ago, the time had finally come for Zoe’s Bat Mitzvah and I was excited to be there to photograph the celebration with this fun family!
On Friday of that weekend, they had the ceremony at their home. Because sundown marks the beginning of their Sabbath, I wasn’t able to photograph the ceremony & party that night. So I came by that afternoon and shot some portraits of Zoe and her family.
I think it’s so cool that Zoe’s learning to play the drums!!! There aren’t many girl drummers out there!
Sisters!
The Fam :)
After a fun Friday night celebration, they had a huge party for the kids on Saturday night at Veronique. We started out with a few more portraits of the Bat Mitzvah girl! She’s so cute :)
Being silly in the photo booth!
The party got started with some GAMES! First up, a crazy hula-hoop contest! Annika was totally impressive…
Then they played Coke & Pepsi. If you haven’t been to a Bar or Bat Mitzvah in the last 5 years or so, you probably have no clue what that is. It’s a crazy game where they line up on opposite sides of the dance floor and do crazy things as the DJ calls out commands… Like “Coke” means to run to one side and sit on your partner’s knee, and “Pepsi” means to run to the other side and do the same. It’s a process of elimination to see who can keep up. It’s hilarious (especially if you’re 13). You can barely see in this photo the blur of the kids running across the floor…
There are always props, and hilarious teenage boys
Lots of dancing! This family loves to dance!
You’ve gotta love a Grandma who likes to party :)
The sisters in the photo booth… more silliness!
And the whole family sang the final song of the night. I told you they were fun :)
Jody, Paul, Siban, Annika & Zoe – it was SO great to work with you all again! Thanks for trusting me with another great moment in your family history! I hope we get the chance to work together again… maybe a wedding one day?! Haha, no rush ;) Congratulations once again Zoe!!!
Rahel & Yitzi’s Wedding – The Details
Rahel’s mother, Terri had two weddings to plan in less than 2 years – first Shoshana‘s, and then Rahel‘s! Since everything went so well the first time, they ended up using a lot of the same vendors for both! It was fun to work with so many of these talented professionals yet again! Here are a few of my favorite details from the day…
Make-up by Christine Lewis
Hair by Kristen Garofalo
Flowers by Sarah’s Garden, who I’ve had the pleasure of working with more than any other florist!
Rahel’s dress was actually Shoshana’s dress as well! The talented Ana Hernandez did some beautiful work to turn it into something unique and special for Rahel!
The bridesmaids’ dresses were all custom-made by dressmakers all over the world – from Boston to Atlanta to Israel!
A few of my favorite details from the preparation
Ceremony
Reception
Special thanks to all of the talented vendors who worked so hard to make Rahel & Yitzi’s wedding beautiful!
Catering & Coordination – Andrew Wiener of Catering by Andrew
Flowers – Sarah Burkstein of Sarah’s Garden
Music – The Nafshenu Orchestra
Hair – Kristen Garofalo
Makeup – Christine Lewis
Bride’s Dress – Ana Hernandez
Bridesmaid’s Dress – Maggie Flood
Location – Granite Links Golf Club
Second Shooters – Glen Cooper & Nicki Pardo
Photo Assistant – Christopher Weigl
Ashley & Scott Anniversary Portraits – Lewiston, Maine
This blog you are visiting was designed by my very creative friend, Ashley! She worked so hard on this project and, in my opinion, did a fabulous job! A few weeks ago, I got to return the favor and take some photographs of her and her husband Scott. Like too many people I know, Ashley & Scott didn’t have a professional photographer shoot their wedding, and they have no photos from the day to remember it all. That just kills me :( But it made me doubly excited to take some great photos of them to share with their grand kids one day!!
Fields of tall grass make me happy :)
And I love me some broken down factories…
We had to get some pics with their baby, Molly!
These two can make each other laugh like no one else!
Ashley & Scott – you rock :) I’m so glad I got to come up and see your new home in Maine, meet Molly, and spend some time with you both! Thank you again, Ashley for making this blog so fun and lovely!
To view more of my favorites from this session, please check out the album on facebook!
Photo Shoot at Fenway Park!
I had the opportunity this summer to shoot a family portrait session inside of Fenway Park! I’m not actually a fan (of any sports team, really), but it was still very cool to get into the Park while it was mostly empty and go out on the field and behind the scenes a bit! It was so fun to photograph a family here! I can’t share those images with you, but I thought I’d share a few of my faves of the Park. For all of you Boston Red Sox fans out there, these are for you :)
Fenway
3
The view from Left Field
Foul Line
The stands
self portrait on the dugout
The Green Monster
The field
batting cages
:)
Rahel & Yitzi’s Orthodox Wedding – Quincy MA
I don’t even know how to begin summing up Rahel & Yitzi‘s wedding… family, love, emotion, joy, FUN, energy, party, dancing, lovely, reverent, and wonderful all describe the day! It was a Jewish Orthodox wedding, so it was very different from your average American wedding in a lot of cool ways. With all that goes on during an Orthodox wedding, I usually need a little extra help so we ended up with 4 of us photographing this wedding and capturing every moment of the day! We shot a gazillion images it seemed, but somehow I’ve narrowed it down to a few of my favorites…
Rahel, the beautiful bride
A happy moment with her sisters, Yonina and Shoshana
My second shooter, Glen Cooper, captured this great shot of Yitzi praying during the Tisch
My take on the same time
Love this shot by my assistant Christopher Weigl
So much emotion between Yitzi & his father in this series caught by Glen
The Bedecken is by far, my favorite part of the Jewish Orthodox wedding day! Rahel & Yitzi hadn’t seen each other all week before the wedding, and in this moment, the groom is presented to his bride by friends and family with dancing and singing! It was SO emotional! I was totally crying!
The groom then lowers the veil over the bride’s face…
He had tears just streaming down his face! Oh, it was precious!
Then the Fathers each bless the bride… more tears…
Rahel holding her mother and Yitzi’s mother’s hands
Then they carried Yitzi off for more singing and dancing before the marriage ceremony (shot by Glen). Don’t you just love how joyous this is?! I mean most people are happy for the bride & groom, but these people are THRILLED that these two are getting married! It’s glorious!
Giving away the bride
A cute moment between Rahel & Yitzi, captured by Glen
I love the graceful look of her hands holding up the veil in this shot
Another great shot by Chris – note the tear in Yitzi’s eye. I told you it was an emotional day!
Married!
After they had a few moments alone following the ceremony, I took Rahel & Yitzi outside for a few portraits.
It started raining again though, so we went back inside for a few more portraits. Luckily, the Granite Links Golf Club had some lovely indoor space for photos!
They’re so cute :)
Let the fun begin!!
Another unique thing about Orthodox Weddings is that for much of the reception, the men dance on one side of the dance floor, and the women on the other. It’s cool to see a big group of men dancing and singing together with such fervor! They’re definitely not messin’ around! shot by Glen (if you look closely, you can see me in the shot… it’s like Where’s Waldo?)
This one was shot by my 2nd 2nd shooter, Nicki Pardo!
The guests often dance & perform for the Bride & Groom also. This guy was roasting marshmallows for them with a fire on top of his hat… I have no idea how he dreamed that up, but it was definitely entertaining!
And then there’s always more dancing…
Rahel & Yitzi – your wedding was just wonderful! I’m so thankful to have been a part of it, and to work with your family again! I’m already looking forward to Yonina’s wedding (one of these days) ;)
To view more of my favorites from this wedding, please check out the album on Facebook!
Nikki’s Senior Photos – Beverly MA
Up until this summer, I’d never shot Senior Photos. It just never seemed to come up, and I wasn’t really putting any energy into trying to get those gigs. So, when one of the girls from my church asked if I could shoot her Senior Portraits, I was totally excited to try something new! Nikki’s a sweet girl, and I knew it would be a fun time hanging out with her – plus she’s totally photogenic and made it easy for me ;) So we headed up to Lynch Park in Beverly to shoot for the afternoon and had a great time!
Check out those green eyes of hers! Woah!
She’s so cute :)
This building with it’s chipping paint is my favorite thing about Lynch Park. I was kinda sad to see that they were starting to repaint it!!
This is what would happen when I’d tell her to give me a “serious face” … hahaha!
This one’s been a crowd favorite on Facebook…
Nikki, you’re awesome! I’m glad you were my very first Senior Photo shoot!! I hope you love the photos! :)
To view more of my favorites from this shoot, please visit the album on Facebook!