Family Photography Boston | Witness to Family Building
FAMILY PORTRAITS OVER TIME
As winter creeps in, outdoor portrait sessions become more and more unviable. I've been rediscovering how much fun it is to document the life of a family, and make family portraits inside a home. A portrait is composed of many things: the faces (usually), the place (the environment in which we take he pictures), the pose (our body language and our gestures of love) and the clothes(what we choose to adorn ourselves with.) All of those things come together to tell a story. When approaching family portraits this way - they really do become a time capsule of who we were at this moment in our lives.
And who we are changes. Today I am sharing a few images from a beautiful family portrait session in their home, on the occasion of their daughter's first birthday. I came over before the gusts arrived to document their morning. We played in J's room, we read some books, we explored the stairs with our curious little legs, we had a snack and inadvertently fed the dog. We tried on a birthday hat. We decided we didn't like it. At all.
The story doesn't begin here, of course. Back in 2011, I first met C and C at their Sheepfold engagement session in Easton. They brought their adorable puppy with them. The next year I photographed their gorgeous winter wedding at Willowdale Estate. Years, and many moves later, C is finished with her PhD and they've returned to be near family in Boston. Delighted to be continuing to document their family's growth.
Aside from the image above, I invite you to scroll through these images in chronological order.
ENGAGEMENT SESSION AT SHEEPFOLD IN EASTON
WINTER WEDDING AT WILLOWDALE ESTATE
FAMILY DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY, PORTRAITS AT HOME
Boston Family Photography | At Home With Twins
Embracing the Chaos
Embracing the chaos - the phrase that rang out when this wonderful mother of six month old twins originally called to plan her family portrait session. She and her husband have a great energy and partnership in parenting.
We began the session at their Brookline home, using the sunlight streaming in through the living room windows. Later we all bundled up and went to a local park to get a few images outside.
Documentary Storytelling
Part of the fun of documenting a family in a photojournalist style to watching and waiting for the moment that expresses the family's energy and the gestures that translate their love and affection.
This is life, unscripted and unfiltered.
Documentary storytelling shows your family as individual and specific, pieces that come together as a whole as well as the relationships between family members.
Family Photojournalism in your home
Another reason I love photographing people in their own spaces is that these images become time capsules of so much more than the age of the people in the image. These documentary family photographs will certainly recall what life felt like, the memory of what was your everyday routine that will, of course, evolve.
Your life, what it is really like in all it's delightful chaos and beautiful imperfections, is a story worth telling.
And Of course, we got some camera aware smiling family portraits. Those are important too!
Boston Family Photographer | Growing Dorchester Family
MINI SESSION AT TURNER'S POND
Our first Boston family mini session took place this past weekend at Turner's Pond in Milton. Seeing the OShea's is always fun! Here are a few of my favorite images from our 2016 shoot of this beautiful and fun-loving family. I've been proud to photograph them regularly over the past few years as their family has grown. From our memorable Liberty Hotel maternity shoot to this past weekend's family of four - Looking back at their images is a joyful pleasure.
Both of these girls are adorable and love the camera. As you can see the oldest is a performer. I was really happy that the rain held off, and we were able to use the beautiful soft afternoon light. I've included a gallery at the end of this post from two years ago so you can see for yourself how much they've changed.
As you can see from the photos below, we had a great time. I couldn't have asked for a better family to kick off our Boston family mini session for fall 2016. And it makes me excited for our next mini-sessions, too!
We still have some mini session spots left!
Milton (10/22)
Brookline (10/29)
Email me to schedule your family's Boston mini session 2016!
Their oldest is such a ham in front of the camera. She showed off her sparkle nails courtesy of her father's manicurist skills, and twirled in her pink dress.
In addition to portraits of each daughter individually, I also wanted to show the relationship between the girls and their parents. Which is so loving!
A peek back at their family a few years ago, before their second daughter was born.
Fun with Drones! | Boston Wedding Photography
Doug, also known as the_mr01 in Instagram, assisted me at the Shalin Liu Performance Center wedding last month. In addition to helping carry my bags, and arriving with ice cold bottled water, he was really there to take some drone images. I asked Doug to shoot still photographs, but he can also shoot video.
Most of the image are pretty much straight out of camera (or should I say straight out of drone), but I played a bit in post with the beach image above. Something so dreamy about the long shadows and the last days of summer.
Doug started with getting some establishing images of the Shalin Lui Performance Center from over the water. It was a very bright and beautiful day in Rockport.
He also came with us for the wedding couple portraits. In the image above you can see me in my usual wedding pose - squatting in black. Below is the image that I was taking. It's fun to see another view of the same moment, and also see myself at work.
Below you can trace the path we took on our portrait walk through Rockport. It looks like a smaller space from the bird's eye view than it felt walking through the streets.
This was my first experience having someone shoot drone images, and I loved it. Even with my widest angle lens, there are things that I can't capture like a drone can.
Particularly cool with a venue like Shalin Liu on the water, where he can fly the drone out to capture the gorgeous coast. Above is an image of the mocktail hour at the wedding. Guests wer enjoying the evening sun and visiting before the dinner upstairs began.
Some of the directly vertical images still give me vertigo.
It was awesome to have Doug and his drone with us at the Shalin Lui wedding. His set of images complimented what I was shooting on the ground. The clients were in love with the venue, with it's seaside location and asked me to frame the action in it's context. Having Doug and his drone with us helped me do that in a spectacular way. I'm looking forward to working with him again this month at a wedding on Martha's Vineyard.
Not only is Doug a great guy to have around, he's a registered and licensed remote pilot! There are a few FAA rules and he makes sure to follow them. Interested in having Doug and his drone at your event? You can find him on Instagram at the_mr01.
a little summer break
In early July, the engineer and I spend a few quiet days in a cabin on a lake up in Ontario. A few tranquil moments here. It was a beautiful week, warm and breezy. With a few books and a few bathing suits, we settled into an easy routine of a morning swim around the island, breakfast, reading, napping, boating and snacking. It was a time to regather and sit in contemplation, to both grieve for a recent loss and treasure what we do have.
Beautiful Boston Harbor
I don't typically post images from the galas and events I photograph, but this one for Boston Harbor Now was too gorgeous not to share. In my lifetime, Boston Harbor has transformed nearly completely. Boston Harbor Now had their annual gala out on Georges Island, as the sun set behind the city. Spectacular views and a beautiful sunset.
This year, two of Boston’s waterfront and islands advocates — The Boston Harbor Association and the Boston Harbor Islands Alliance — combined to form Boston Harbor Now. Their vision is to increase our city's public space by building the harbor's social, economic and cultural value.
Former Governors Dukakis and Weld received awards and briefly spoke about their commitment to a clean harbor.
Do you love spending time on the harbor and the islands? I do! Getting out on the water is one of my absolute favorite Boston summertime activities. As living in Fort Point, I enjoy the HarborWalk daily.
We are off for a week to spend with family in the Berkshires and in Ontario. Enjoy the holiday!
I was honored to be part of the team that made this unforgettable event happen.
Event Coordinating - Conventures
Catering - Rita's
Live Music - SpeechLess
DJ - DJ Zati Productions
Fire Dancing - Boston Circus Guild