we met up this past sunday at fort williams in cape elizabeth…one of my favorite places to shoot.  there’s so much variety…you could shoot 4 sessions there in one day and have a different look for each one.

we started off at the lighthouse…bc…it’s maine, and you kind of HAVE to.  but it was CRAZY windy, and after getting the obligatory family-in-front-of-the-lighthouse picture…we moved to another part of the park full of sunlight and no wind.

this is sydney.  we bonded later.  she was my little monkey…mammy came along for child wrangling, and at one point, sydney asked to get down, and then walked over to me and put her arms up.  i happily obliged.  :-D

SUCH a beautiful family…

know how i got that smile out of these two?  i told them dora was inside my lens.  they TOTALLY bought it…kendall-on the right-kept saying, “i see DOWA!”  it was ridiculously adorable.  and VERY effective.

i love the interaction in this one.  i know the highest goal of a family photo shoot is to get a picture of everyone looking at the camera and smiling, but i think these moments of family interaction are just as important…capturing that family dynamic…freezing that moment of time…will evoke more memories down the road than the perfect fridge photo.  :-D

when 2 year olds decide to be unruly and rambunctious…make lemonade. i love this!

daddy with sydney (on the left) and kendall (on the right).

and of course, we had to take a few of just jennilee and troy.  because they’re still jennilee and troy, even if they’ve also become mommy and daddy.

we might or might not have trespassed in order to get inside this old building…totally worth it…you know…if we did.

thanks for coming to hang out with me, guys…i had a great time!



beth has a totally great story about this dress…it’s a vera wang (right, beth?) which she preselected before seeing it or trying it on.  she found a listing on craigslist and went, by herself, after dark, to chinatown to purchase it.  totally worth the trip.  it was gorgeous.

beth got ready at the ADORABLE inn at camden place.  i don’t think i’ve ever ever ever seen an inn that was so lovely and simultaneously homey and inviting.  walking through the halls, it really felt like i was walking through a home…with the modern amenities and privacy you look for in a hotel.

this photo of beth’s ring also has significance.  beth is a self-professed candy-a-holic, and as it was her birthday two days before her wedding, i bought her some gummy bears to help mark the occasion.  and, of course, had to use a couple to showcase her beautiful ring.

and while i was shooting the ladies, the ever talented tomme hilton, who flew up from SC to help me capture this wedding, was photographing the handsome groom and his men.

their flowergirl was RIDICULOUSLY cute.

after the ceremony we took a little drive up the road to this abandoned barn i’d noticed on the way in.  the colors and the wildflowers growing in front perfectly matched the feel of beth’s aesthetic and details…gorgeous and effortless.

and what would a wedding in maine be without a picture by the sea?

i loved how they brought both of their cultural traditions in to their celebration…from the lebanese cookies as a favor, to circling up to do the hora later on in the evening.

but i’m getting a little ahead of myself…ahead of their beautiful first dance.

back to the hora…josh dancing with his sister.

beth + josh, thanks so much for inviting us to celebrate your decision to join your lives together…i’m so glad i met you both…and beth…i’ll see YOU for lunch on monday.  :-D
(and another thank you to tomme for doing such brilliant work and having lots of fun with me while doing it!)

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!

he’s so big you’d expect him to be fearless, but he was FREAKED out by the waves! his big brother was no beach n00b and frolicked with abandon.

what i love about them is that they really are a family, and those dogs really are brothers. waldo (that’s what she calls the big boy) wants to mimic his “big” brother, and is uncomfortable being away from him.

are you seeing the sibling interaction?

(i think this one might be my favourite.)

and of course…THE shot. the one they’d BETTER frame BIIIIGG and put on the wall.

we left off at the end of the ceremony.  right after the ceremony is usually when family members assemble, line up, and smile.  as you’ll see…when i’ve got the time and willing participants…i like to have a little fun with the most traditional type of photos i normally take on a wedding day.

nicki’s sister made sure shane knew no one was going to tolerate any sort of shenanigans from him…and nicki was just a sweet older sister.

so, i think i’ve mentioned before that i love to shoot the groomsmen…something about the suits/tuxes/UNIFORMS! sparks my creativity…and i have lots of fun with it.  also…i should probably see someone about this, but i derive a strange sense of enjoyment from making them do ridiculous/silly/awesome things.  like pretend they’re cracking each other up in a random field.  you know…as you do.

so…see that guy on the left on the end? i don’t know what his real name is. know why? well, let me back up. as a wedding photographer, i spend about 6 days a week by myself–which suits little introvert me–and on the 7th day, i have to be the person at the party who remembers everyone’s name…whose jokes are snappy and lively…who gets things done and makes you smile while doing it. so, i work really hard to remember key peoples’ names…key people like…groomsmen. so, the guy on the end told me his name was ernie. so i called him ernie. repeatedly. “ok, ernie, please turn to face me a little bit more. ok…square your shoulders. right. perfect…and…smile everyone!”

then we were doing shots of the entire group…i called him ernie again, and the ladies looked at me blankly. “who’s ernie?” the rest of the guys laughed, and he sheepishly admitted that ernie was not, in fact, his name. it’s a squadron joke the guys have…whenever they go somewhere, one of them is always ernie. which…i have to admit…is kind of funny, even if it DID make me feel pretty stupid at the time!

this is probably my FAVOURITE bridal party shot of all time. i told them, “ok, now the inspiration for this is…’TAKE THE HILL!’ guys…i want you all running at me, sabres drawn and held high…go!” it was lots of fun. and hey! no one lost an eye! bonus! (they weren’t running very fast…out of concern for aforementioned eyes.)

after that it was time for portraits with the bride & groom…one of the best times of the day!

i slowed my shutter speed way down so that when shane spun her, the motion of her dress would be captured in the images.

(image on right by shyla)

first dance

getting toasted.
wait…i mean…

see this? THIS is why i need to have me a military wedding…how badass is that? oh, let me just lick the frosting from my FRICKIN’ SWORD.

those guys on the right…they are not doing their best ray charles. the groom is a fighter pilot, so of COURSE the guys had to sing “you’ve lost that lovin’ feeling to the bride.” they brought down the house…it was awesome!

and last but not least, i grabbed the bride & groom and took them outside for one last smoochy shot…we played w/ the street lamps and some flash and the timbers supporting their awesome venue (the cliffside lodge in poland spring, me).

nicki & shane…sorry i took so long to finish this up! you’re both awesome, and i’m so glad to know you!

rob is a singer/songwriter (with a side job in marketing), and ali is a nurse…she spends her days helping new life to enter the world uneventfully.  (if babies being born can be referred to as “uneventful”.)  they put so much thought and care into making their wedding a true reflection of them, their love, their values, and the people who made them who they are today.  everything was perfect, down to the last detail.  their invitations were wooden boxes…about 8×6…full of faux grass.  impeccably designed paper goods (mmmm…paper), proclaimed the date, time, location.  but what really struck me (they sent me one), was the obvious care that went into crafting them.  ali spent her dozens of olympics-watching hours hand-stitching pine branches onto their forest themed invites.  there were pinecones.  the box was carefully confetti-ed with tiny brass dragonfiles and rough stone arrowheads…a theme they carried through their entire day.  the envelopes were gocco-ed with arrowheads and dragonflies.  they were perfect.  (i photographed the invitations to share with you here, and…i cannot find those files anywhere.  FAIL.)

and that was just the invitations!

the night before they were going to head up to maine from boston, rob spent the evening hand-delivering a mix-cd he’d made for each guest.  (the out of town ones were fed-exed).  he wanted everyone to enjoy the journey and be in the right “place” upon arrival.  they thought of everything.  (not the least of which was…me!  my birthday was the day after their wedding, and the VERY FIRST THING ali did when i arrived was hand me a very thoughtful birthday gift.  and they had a special birthday cupcake for me and another guest whose birthday was their actual wedding day.  how can you not love people like this?)

the drive up to the campground they selected-kingsley pines-was beautiful!  it was a grey day, so the colours of all the changing foliage really stood out.  when i arrived, they day was still grey and misty, but everyone’s spirits were bright and celebratory (that was a terrible metaphor, wasn’t it?  i’m sorry.)

rob & ali have a “thing” for bigfoot and hello kitty respectively.

(this is one of my all-time favourite ring shots.)

nothing like getting ready in a rustic camp bathroom…ali’s two sisters watch her work the available 1.5cm end-of-lipstick-tube mirror.

the ceremony was originally supposed to be in a semi-circle underneath a giant oak tree (think party tree from lord of the rings) at sunset.  there were going to be candles marking their path and lanterns hanging from the branches.  as you can see…the weather did not cooperate.

(please forgive my poor attempt at a long exposure.  i was resting my camera on a log railing.)

i figured if the weather wasn’t going to cooperate…at least we’d USE it!

ali’s french aunt made her a special french phrasebook for newlyweds in honour of (and in preparation for) their honeymoon to france.

ali enjoys her phrasebook and rob & his brother hug after his toast.

because of the weather (have i mentioned the weather yet?  ha.) we didn’t have time to do bride & groom portraits…so ali & rob got brave and scheduled a day after (really, more like month after) session.  we met in picturesque amesbury, mass and got some AMAZING images.  (and finished it off w/ delectable flatbread.  one can never go wrong with flatbread.  NEVER.)

they wanted a chance to get to re-use their special wedding-day umbrellas…i was happy to oblige. 

rob & ali…thank you for everything.  i feel like my life is better for having met you. 

]]> http://www.gwynethcolleen.com/wedding/ali-rob-weddingmaine-wedding-photographer/feed/ 1 http://www.gwynethcolleen.com/uncategorized/teaser/ http://www.gwynethcolleen.com/uncategorized/teaser/#comments Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:18:17 +0000 gwyneth http://www.gwynethcolleen.com/?p=162 hey nicki & shane…guess whose turn it is!!

everyone else…if you’re having a military wedding…puh-leaaaaase contact me to come shoot it.  i would LOVE to be a part of it…(and if you have hot single officer-guys as groomsmen, i will somehow learn to live with it.  i’m a coper, what can i say?)