gwyneth colleen photography » portsmouth, nh wedding photographer

i’m still working on catching up on all the things i didn’t blog last year. plus…isn’t it nice to see warm, sunny, happy days in the throes of icy winter? i think it is. and it makes me feel better for being so far behind, so…go with it, ok?

naomi and paul are getting married down near boston, but they came up my way for their engagement session. we hit fort mcclary, which has become one of my favorite places to shoot…there is SO much variety.

you’ll see more of these two after their wedding in may! looking forward to seeing you guys, again!

brittney and david got queue jumped because even though i just shot their engagement session yesterday…it was originally scheduled for saturday: brittney’s birthday. i totally had all these grandiose ideas of coming up with something clever and nice to do for her for her birthday.

and then FAILED to remember. at all.

so. as a slightly belated birthday present, i stayed up way too late last night working on their photos…which wasn’t a chore. these two are SO CUTE!

also, how much do i love her? SO MUCH. she found me through jess & brian. she and jess are coworkers, so she’s known about me for a while! at one point they were pointing out a location that was used in the departed. so i told them about debra and mark’s session summer of 07 where i laid in the spot martin sheen landed when he fell off the building in south boston. and she knew exactly what i was talking about!

anyway. we met at christopher columbus park because it is one of their favourite areas of boston. we wandered around the harbour area, and then moved into the north end for a few shots. and then they bought me a delicious dinner at american joe’s…so…super cute and super nice. what’s not to love?

yeah, so i started to tell her what pose i wanted, and she said, “oh, like that couple in NYC in central park?” LOVE.

(isn’t he totally george clooney adorable?)

(hey beth…this fountain had a more comfortable side for her to lay on…i was excited to try it again! )

brittney & david, you two are fabulous, and i can’t wait for your wedding in less than a month!!

beth and josh are getting married in maine in september…they’d originally contacted my friends of the amazing fidelio photography in portland, but they were already booked…so jess sent them my way.  and i’m SOOOO glad she did.  i love beth and josh!  they live in nyc, and the wedding is about 3 hours north of where i am in nh, so i volunteered to drive into the city to shoot them in the places they fell in love and still enjoy spending time together.

aren’t they adorable? i want to make ice cream in beth & josh flavour and eat it for every meal. is that weird to say?

(this one is probably my favourite from the whole session…i love everything about it!)

i love how iconically NY this is. how many movies have you seen this view of the city from central park from? also…they both look sooooo adorable. look at josh’s love crinkled eyes? and that smile he puts on beth’s face.

the bench right next to them said, “one day [someone's initials here] will ask [someone else's initials here] to marry him”…and on the bench they were sitting on…

we walked past that guitar man from central park, and i saw a couple sitting exactly like this…and loved it immediately.

this was right near strawberry fields and the imagine tiles and the hotel where john lennon was killed. strawberry fields is a much nicer thing to think about.

after central park, we were all ready for a break! we grabbed some tasty chicken and sweet potato fries (to die for) at the chirping chicken…then headed back to chill for a bit and change into “city clothes”.

we headed up to the roof of their building for a few images.

look at them. are you kidding me? HOT.

i can’t wait for beth & josh’s wedding in maine in september. they’re super fantastc fabulous awesome etc, etc…they took great care of me and made this visit to NYC a total pleasure…which is saying something for this totally-NOT-city-girl who generally professes nothing but distaste for the big apple. b & j…you guys rock my world.

1. amanda found me by GOOGLING. you have NO idea how happy that makes me. granted, it’s not like i was the first name up, but STILL…
(i have a major thing for google. i used to say “he” was my boyfriend…like, to the point that friends would say stuff like, “oh, i asked gwyn’s boyfriend how to fix the microwave…” true story.)

2. they are getting married on the beach and having their reception on a steamboat. in rye and portsmouth! all of those things also make me extremely happy. i love it when i only have a 20 minute drive home after a long day of work! and the beach…and a boat? AWESOME.

3. they hadn’t even signed a contract yet, but i said, “y’know…if we’re getting together anyway, let’s just do your engagement photos…” they’re getting married in less than 2 months, and i figured it would be easier to do it now than schedule another time to get together to do it. the sky started rumbling ominously and turning greyer and greyer. by the time i arrived, it was downpouring. guess prescott park was out as a photo location…no matter! they fulfilled 3 dreams for me…

exhibit a: starbucks window seat (which is not actually so much a seat as much as a large ledge where they put out free area maps)

exhibit b: where do you go when it’s raining? a parking garage…duh. there’s really interesting colour/texture/lighting in parking garages…promise.

i love this one in both b&w and colour…it’s just so peaceful, intimate, and all around delicious, don’t you think?

exhibit c: getting a couple to dance in the rain

this was, hands down, the fastest session i’ve ever done…but it was like the stars aligned and everything just WORKED. in every session, i usually reach a point where i just know i’ve got enough to work with…it’s just NEVER happened so quickly before!

amanda & matt…i can’t wait for your wedding…i’m so excited about EVERYTHING you’ve got planned! (and amanda…thanks for dancing in the rain for me. i hope you think the photos are worth the wet!)