gwyneth colleen photography » portsmouth, nh wedding photographer

first off, confession: this is my 2nd “claire” bride of the year…and they both have fellas whose names start w/ b. more than once i have typed “claire & ben”, when i really meant “claire & bobby”…and i don’t confuse them…ben has the pheremone-head that claire loves to sniff, and bobby is a giantman comic. v. different, no?

anyway, last saturday a couple weeks ago, i met claire & bobby at his family’s summer place on lake winnepesauke. great idea, in theory…the area is BEAUTIFUL…however, that area…in early may…what were we thinking? there were, well…you’ll see.

see those bugs?

and these bugs?

yeah…they were EVERYWHERE. i’m not proud of it, but i did squeal on occasion…and there was lots of uncontrollable windmill-hands going on.

once we got down near the water, the bug population dispersed a bit…and these two cracked me up…they were willing to be silly and did all the “mood lightening” poses i suggested.  (poses that usually don’t see the light of a proofing gallery, much less a blog post…)

um, yeah.  nh…lake winnepesauke…it’s slightly attractive.

so, these two…the way they work is…first, they’re all smooshy and lovey-dovey and and all “that’s why i fell in love with you.”

and then…

bobby has to go and bite her nose.

until they wind up here:

i’ve got a whole ‘nother series like this…only…that time…SHE started it. 

stay tuned for the not-silly photos!

so, i just read this article from PDN magazine…they asked 3 brides to review 4 or 5 wedding photographer’s websites and then published their comments (and gave the wedding photographer a chance to respond.) i found it very illuminating…and it made me feel pretty good about my own site!

but…just in case…i thought i’d ask for some feedback. anyone care to share your experiences in navigating my website? the questions PDN asked for each site were:

+immediate first impressions once you were on the homepage
+what are your thoughts on the quality of the photography and how it is being presented?
+did you want to see more or less photos?
+could you make an informed decision about the quality of photography from what you saw on the site?
+what did you think of the photographer’s blog? did it hold your attention?
+does the personality of the wedding photographer emerge from the blog (i’m gonna go out on a limb here and say i don’t need to worry ’bout this one.)
+was it clear from the site what kind of services the photographer is offering and what the pricing is like?
+were there any extra features in the site that really appealed to you?
+was this site easy to use and navigate?
+in what ways could the photographer improve the site?
+if money was no object would you hire this photographer based on what you’ve seen?
+anything else?

so…i’d love to hear opinions if anyone’s got ‘em. no need to even tell me your name! you can leave a comment anonymously (i prefer cartoon name pseudonyms.), or use the contact form on my website to email me w/o telling me who you are.

also, and here’s a shameless request for praise…if you’ve worked with me (and enjoyed it–well, if you didn’t i guess it would be good to know that, too) pretty please go give me a review on wedding wire or on my facebook page? pretty please?

so, i finally created a facebook for gwyneth colleen photography.

you can be my friend here, or visit the page here.  or both!  be my friend AND my fan.  it will make me feel good.

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also, i don’t think i mentioned this, because i didn’t want to advertise that i still had a desk job (not that it was a SECRET, mind you), i just didn’t want all my lovely clients to think that they weren’t getting my full attention, because that was certainly not the case.

anyway…i gave notice at my desk job, and soon i will be a 100% full-time pho-to-graph-er.

woo!

everyone’s asking me if i feel so amazing and have i celebrated?  the short answer is…nope.  it’s been coming down the pipe for a while, so i’m mostly glad to have the making-the-announcement-to-my-boss monkey off my back.  i won’t feel FREE until i don’t have to come back every morning at 8am.  then…THEN…i will devise a fabulous and creative way to celebrate.  (or maybe a divinely lazy and gluttonous way…or maybe both.  maybe i’ll start my day w/ a sleep in and cookie dough for breakfast and THEN do something wildly extravagant and creative.  we’ll see.)

anyway, what does this mean for all of you?  hopefully…nothing.  in fact, i’m hoping it will create some life boundaries for me so i might be slightly LESS accessible.  you will not get an immediate email response anytime between 8am and midnight…but…you WILL get a happier, more well-rested and better adjusted photographer.  and that should translate to better photos!

this may be a record…blogging a wedding less than 2 weeks after it happened? go me.

so, you already know i went to columbus 2 weekends ago to shoot ashley and andy’s wedding. andy is a friend from college…we lived in the same apartment complex, took hebrew together, and served on a student committee together. good times. also, you should know…andy is FREAKISHLY NEAT. his apartment was always one bajillion times cleaner than mine. i used to walk over to borrow his vacuum cleaner…oh, once every 3 weeks if i was feeling particularly donna reed-ish…

i first met ashley last summer when i went to columbus to visit my friend phil (who is an awesome wedding photographer in his own right, but due to a recent girlfriend acquisition, he bailed on second shooting with me. as my friend hannah would say, “only extremely naive people believe ‘bros before hos’.” (not that i am calling myself a bro, but you know what i mean.)) ANYWAY, i was telling you that i met ashley, and i remember thinking she was pretty and very nice. (she popped in toward the end of a big group dinner, so…it’s not like we sat down and had a heart to heart.)

without further ado…the photos.  (they got married at the awesome everal barn and homestead in westerville, oh, but…somehow my favourites don’t showcase the super cool venue.)

ashley’s sister made the bouquet…pretty, right?

this is one of my favourites…i don’t know why.  kate the bridesmaid was doing her bridesmaidy thing and helping ashley with…something.  maybe i just like the colours or the layering…dunno.  also, kate INSISTED on calling me gwyneth paltrow, so i was forced to point out that gwyneth paltrow, while awesome as pepper potts in iron man, is about 8 feet taller than me, 100 lbs lighter than me, and names her children after fruit.

there’s kate again.  helpful, that one.  also…v. photogenic.

this is one of my very favourites!

andy gettin’ his bow-tie did by his brother/best man.  (who is about 80 feet tall…he probably had to stoop.)

i probably shouldn’t admit this…but…they were all so serious, and they were sorta friends, rather than just my average clients (not that i don’t love you all, i DOOOO!  but i probably wouldn’t do this with a bride whose husband-to-be i did not eat spaghetti and meatballs with in college.)  anyway…they were all so serious, so i told them…if there’s a butt in front of you, grab it.  and they did.  and it is hilarious.

while i’m confessing…i will further admit that…i kind of have more fun shooting the groomsmen than the bridesmaids.  please don’t stone me.  i know they’re prettier in their nice dresses and strappy shoes, but…well, i can’t get them to do stuff like this:

or this:

or this:

or this:

do you need a close-up of andy in the middle?  because i did…

(he informed me that those are light grey cashmere socks from the gap.  i prefer to hold onto my belief that they are white athletic socks that he’s wearing with his rented tux.)

andy’s comment on this one:  “this is pretty dang awesome.  it’s like a i merit an entire cadre of bodyguards.”

don’t you love the way he’s looking at her?  that’s the way guys are supposed to look at their girls.

this one makes me feel a little mushy, too, the way he’s gently stroking her hand during the prayer…and i won’t tell anyone he was peeking.

heeeeyyy!  we’re married!  wooo!

(all of the sepia toned images were processed with “tasty coffee” presets developed by christina rawatta…i’m loving them!)

b&g with their deliciously adorably chubby nephew jacob.  he was a doll.

i had to include this one…check out the father of the groom’s facial expression…(i told them to pretend they were at cedar point on a roller coaster…i’m buyin’ it…aren’t you?)

first dance

groom with his super cool sister-in-law stef…

and lastly…chucking the bouquet.  (one of her 2 unmarried bridesmaids caught it…much to her outward chagrin but probably inward secret delight.)  also, it must be said…at these moments, i am very glad i’m the photographer and cannot be made to go stand over there with the group of unattached ladies.  “what?  oh, no…sorry.  gotta take the photos.  too bad.  maybe next time!”

ashley and andy…thanks so much for letting me be part of your day.  i had a blast, and hopefully it won’t be too long till i’m back that way again to visit that awesome apartment of yours!