*side note…it is totally one of my irrational pet peeves when people mean “bazaar” but type “bizarre”…

anyway, i’m unloading some of my photo gear to fund the purchase of newer and better equipment that will fit my shooting style.  all of this stuff has been well cared for and has helped me make some great photos.

so, whether you’re a photographer popping by or a client interested in photography…this is some great stuff!

canon 30d
looks perfect. around 10k actuations
$550 + shipping (currently $699 new @ adorama)

canon 28mm 1.8
i love this lens…just getting something wider + faster. this has been a WORKHORSE for me this season.
$375 + shipping (currently $420 new @ adorama)

canon 50mm 1.4
just serviced by canon. i rarely used this lens…guess i’m not a 50 kind of girl.  i prefer longer or wider lenses.
$275 + shipping (currently $325 new @ adorama)

please email me (gwyn[at]gwynethcolleen.com) if you have any questions!

sooo…the thing with being a wedding photographer in new england is that…your job is kind of…seasonal.

and the thing with being told by your landlords that, “hey, when your lease is up…could you maybe find somewhere else to move?  it’s not you.  it’s us.  we love you, we just want your room to, uh, put some stuff in.  like, maybe, babies or something.  i dunno,” is…as of 1 jan 09, i have no roots.  for several months.

scary?  sure.  or, maybe…less scary, and more…AWESOME.  the world is my frickin’ oyster…and the world in the southern hemisphere…yeah, it’s not so much winter down THERE!

my POINT is…my current plan is to “winter” in new zealand for jan/feb 09.

so, i will be having a special on destination wedding photography services for new zealand in january and february.  i will already be there, so this is a KICKASS deal…the travel expenses you’d have to cover would be incredibly minimised because…that trans-pacific flight can be kind of a bitch.

so, if you’re having a destination wedding in new zealand in january or february (or, ever, really…), PLEASE get in touch with me!  i will cut you an awesome deal.  also…i am the best of both worlds!  i am american, so i’ll “get” you, but i have lived in nz before, and i can do a pretty bang on kiwi accent (no really…i was my former flatmates’ party trick.  “hey guys, listen to her!  can you believe she’s AMERICAN?!”  ask me to do it sometime.), i know my way around (mostly), and i even have a nz driver’s license!

(so, just to tease you…pls note that these were taken w/ a digital p&s circa 2003…before i was even a photographer.  and if i got this kind of beauty out of a crap camera w/o really trying…imagine what we could create NOW!)

(hahei beach in the coromandel.  basically my favourite place on the planet.)

beach outside whakatane (trivia:  in maori, wh=f…so that is pronounced like fah-kah-tah-neigh)  oh, and those are my footprints.

on the way to milford sound

stormy seas on the eastern coast of the south island…on the way from kaikoura

the view from picton overlooking queen charlotte sound.  yes, the water is really that colour.  it’s unreal.

on an island in the bay of islands near paihia

have i convinced you yet?  email me today!

gwyneth colleen, nz new zealand destination wedding photographer

hannah’s mom is a faculty member at wellesley, so it made lots of sense for them to get married at the wellesley college club.  the grounds, where they INTENDED to get married, are gorgeous.  unfortunately, it was deluging at go-time, so…fortunately for them, the inside was also not too shabby.

(here’s hannah having a good attitude, even though the weather wasn’t exactly cooperating.  also…she’s supposed to be all dark like that.  i just wanted the thumbs up silhouette so you could see the wet wet wetness of the scene.)

hannah decided that since her hair takes about 12 seconds to ‘do’, we’d skip the getting ready photos and start off with bride and groom portraits…i enjoyed the challenge of finding beautiful and interesting places to shoot inside the college club.  this was on an outside balcony off the room where the ceremony was held.

(hannah found her dress through me…very indirectly, and very circuitously…and what’s even funnier, is that she’s the SECOND bride i’ve photographed this year with the exact same story.  they came, they read, they clicked on off-beat bride…where they found wai-ching.)

they didn’t really have a traditional bridal party…but these are her “cronies”.  i love how her colour scheme was orange/pink (or porange)…she just gave a general “wear a dress in this colour palette”…and it totally works!  and matches her bouquet perfectly.  rock on.

hannah & jeff’s ceremony was one of the most moving ones i’ve witnessed since i began this whole wedding photographer gig…and i’d expect nothing less from a couple who met at seminary!

they sang one of my very favourite hymns

hannah’s grandparents, who have been married approximately 412 years, prayed with them at the end of the ceremony.

their preaching teacher from seminary performed the ceremony.  she knew them both well, which made it that much more special…and the message was incredibly moving.  this is her benedicting.

ever my favourite:  husband and wife!
(and the flower girl going for round 2 to showcase her petal-tossing skillllllz.)

(i like to give flower girls special twirling opportunities to really ROCK their dresses.  also, these two were everyone’s sweethearts on the dance floor all.night.long.)

even though we’d already take the bride and groom photos…when the sun came out, i had to grab them for a few more with that delicious light!

they had really unique rings.

one of the other unique things they did was hire a bluegrass band instead of a dj…those guys were fun and kept everyone moving all night long.

i probably overshot their first dance (to bramble & the rose), but they were just SO into each other…it was lovely.  i think they were in their own universe.

this guy was a crazy awesome dancer and the kids were eating it up…i love this moment of the flower girl trying to copy his moves.

(hannah’s mom told me she didn’t smile nicely in photos.  i told her not to worry about it.)

hannah & jeff…thanks for asking me to be a part of your celebration!  it was full of love and colour, and i hope that’s a good indication of the rest of your life together!

sara & rob got engaged in rockport, ma.  so…when it came time to decide where we should go for their engagement session…there was no contest.  they wanted to revisit the “scene of the crime.”

the light was really, really beautiful.

the same scene from two different vantage points:

isn’t it incredible how different the colours are?
(speaking of colours…total tangent, but:  i am not on any of my own computers…i’m using this ancient desktop with a crappy dell monitor, and i’m actually sort of horrified by how my images look on it.  i am in no way one of those uber-geeks who is all, “your computer using experience is totally not valid unless your monitor is calibrated and renders colour correctly!”  BUT…it does make a pretty dramatic difference.)

we walked past the restaurant they ate at just before rob popped the question…i darted in, “do you mind if we just go use one of the tables on the balcony for a photo really quickly?”

(basically…if you tell people that someone is engaged or just got married, etc, etc…you can get some incredible permissions for photo ops!)

(that sign says, “no photo taking inside, please.”  well…we weren’t inside, were we?  nooooo.

sara really wanted a hand-kissing picture…and i loved this golden light and the green fence/wall…

these two already got married, so…stay tuned for their wedding post coming up sooooon.

he left last september…few months of training, and then to iraq.  he’s a navy man, but he was deployed with an army unit. he left behind jared and kaitlyn, who are now 3 and 2 respectively.  and his beautiful wife, susan. i was so, so excited when susan contacted me to see if i was available to photograph their reunion.  i remember being one of those kids waiting at the end of the pier for daddy to come off the boat, watching each man in khaki and trying to figure out if THAT one was daddy.  and whether it’s a boarding ramp in an airport or a far-too-long pier…the anticipation is incredible.

this was possibly the most rewarding session i have ever photographed!

first off…i am so sorry for the hiccup!  i’ve had a bad summer for technical difficulties. 

second…it was HORRIBLE not being able to even post something to notify people.  thank you to the clients who called to check in and see what was up…my fabulous hosting company got the situation pushed through the chute about as quickly as beaurocracy allows.

stay tuned…i’ve got LOTS to blog.

a few years ago…in 2005, before i was REALLY into photography…when i was testing the waters…with my big toe and my “super zoom point and shoot”…that made me feel so big and badass…these children were my muses.  my job was to go take care of them all day every day…here are a few of them back in those days:

(yeah, i was a little overzealous with the in-camera sepia setting…good land.)

(trying to get a 2 year old and a 5 year old to jump at the same time w/ a camera w/ shutter delay is…awesome.)

anyway, i used to dress them up in matching/coordinating outfits and do their hair and then do little photoshoots…when their mom used the top one up there for their “hey, we just moved” cards…i was like, “huh…maybe i should do more of this…”  (course NOW…i look at these and go, “oh.  oh my gosh.  WOW.” because i see everything wrong with these images.  heh.)

so, i practiced.  including setting them up w/ a christmas card shot…too bad i forgot how i had to make all their food on matzo for a week because they’re JEWISH.  derrr.  i am awesome.  (but very creative!  matzo pizza, matzo grilled cheese, matzo pb&j, matzo quesadillas (yeah, pretty much the same as the grilled cheese.))

the little one, eva, wasn’t having any of it…i love this series for sophie’s face (she’s the one on the left.  the responsible older sister.  who is basically a teenager in an 8 year old’s body these days.  er…she was then, too.)

here’s one from after i’d actually started doing commissioned work…also, anyone who tells you it’s all the photographer and not the camera…is crazy.  note the difference in image quality!

(i love this because it’s SOOO them!)  they got a make-up kit for christmas…and yes, yes i DID get a makeover, and i was the pretty-pretty-prettiest princess of them all.  sorry, no pictures of THAT.

i saw them a few weeks ago…and they’ve grown so much, but they’re still the most beautiful little girls i’ve ever seen.  (i have been known to tell people, “when i have kids…i am objective enough to know that they will not be as cute as my wee girlies.”)  after we were done swimming, i once again dressed them up, and even though i was running late…took 5 minutes to snap a few frames of them.  aren’t they gorgeous?

(their mom has a large studio shot print of their feet/legs hanging over the fireplace…so, in my 5 minutes, i wanted to capture the rough-and-tumble…tanned toes and scratched up summer legs.)

(laughing at mom over my shoulder).

i love these 3 so much.  i try to make time to visit them every time i go visit my parents.  this time, as i let myself in the gate to their pool area, i heard cries of, “GWYN!  GWYN!”  it’s good to know they love me, too. 

i’ve got lots of things to blog about!

a senior session from rochester, ny, a family session (brits!) from providence, ri, my favourite kids in the whole universe, sara & rob’s engagement photos, rob & ali’s engagement photos…

(not to mention hannah & jeff’s wedding, julia & joshua’s wedding, and sara & rob’s wedding.  oy!)

so, stay tuned!

remember claire and bobby?  they of the awesomeness…the 29 year old male flowergirl, the princess bride ceremony, the combined last names, (did i mention the salad that was not so much salad as…a plate of meatballs?)  oh, and the puppets.  mustn’t forget the puppets.

anyway, they are currently, this very minute, featured on offbeat bride.  which means, by extension, so am i!  it was pretty much the best way to start my morning (side note:  being self employed means that if i want to go to bed at 3 and get up at 10, i totally can.  and i do.) to fire up ye olde mac and see the most fun wedding ever getting its due accolades.  (oh, and the interest from the offbeat brides whose quirkiness i truly embrace…yeah, that doesn’t hurt either.)

so.  yay for claire and bobby (whom i love so very much), and welcome, all those who have clicked their way here from OBB.  (good thing she didn’t call it off-the-beaten-track bride, because then it would be obtb, and if someone forgot that first b, it would just be confusing.  like…i thought i was coming here to bet on grey gander to show?  ok.  rambling now.  but since i’m already rambling, little known gwyn fact:  i worked as a mutuel clerk (read:  bet taker) at the saratoga racetrack for a couple summers in college.  totally fun.)

hey there party people…

i’m excited to announce that you may now purchase prints with your hand-dandy plastic (or paypal.)

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also, for clients whose events i haven’t photographed yet…if you’re interested in having a gift registry set-up, please contact me!  it’s an option which would allow your friends and relatives to give you gifts toward your photos (or albums, or digital negatives.)