Engagement ::: 04.26.09 ::: Carriage Stone Farm

Sunday afternoon, I had the great pleasure of accompanying my dear friend Robin Dini to one of her engagement sessions. I will be getting to photograph this adorable couple later in the summer when they walk down the aisle, so it was SO much fun getting to spend time with them before the big day. Because Robin could potentially be giving birth to her baby at their wedding (!) she has enlisted the amazing Victoria Souza to step in for her.

This was a great opportunity for all of us girls to work together and introduce ourselves to Kate and Erick. =) Can you imagine having three very cheery girls all up in your grill for hours? I don't know how they survived. Special thanks to Carriage Stone Farm in Northford, CT for letting us roam around like a bunch of crazies.

And because each shots gets me more excited than the next, forgive me for the customary overload. I just can't resist! (Especially since I've never done an engagement shoot before!)






The girls in action!




Momentary pause to lust over the new gear.




Oh yes. There were tractors.


Because Robin's dad was the CUTEST and showed up ON HIS TRACTOR.








I don't know why this cracks me up so much, but Robin had told them to go "over there" and I was shooting away and caught this...




And while I despise sweltering heat, it WAS an incredible day.








When we arrived, we were told that some of the horses weren't as friendly as you might expect, so we kept our distance from them all. This guy seemed pretty friendly and I think he really wanted in on the photos.



However, this dude was giving us all the Stink Eye the entire time.


Could they be any cuter?




Caught in a rare serious moment.










Thank you SO much for including me Robin and Vicki... and thanks for being so much fun Kate and Erick! =) This is just sneak peak for you - just imagine the images Robin and Vicki caught!!!

::: Glee :::

Yes, the glee one feels when one sees this non-descript little box on one's doorstep is indescribable. =)


Look, it even comes with its own little case!


Of course I tore into it and immediately ran outside and took the most boring, random photos ever, so humor me. This is something I've wanted and needed, and finally bit the bullet in time for wedding season. :)

I love this... this fence is on my property, but the bunny rabbits that use my fenced in yard as a rabbit baby refuge push the pickets to get IN. I keep going out and fixing it, and they keep pushing past it.




Yeah, I know, exciting. But look at that lovely 2.8! Yummy.


And yeah, that purple house? WTF? That sprouted up recently. I'm standing at the end of my street, looking out at the island across the way. So, that purple house makes the view OH so lovely... not sure what they're thinking.






And what would a practice session be without a little Grover?




Yeah. Done with the photo session. Time to soak up the sun...


Happy Weekend everyone!!! :)

So, the Easter Bunny apparently reads my blog...

I turned up at my folks' house for Easter dinner today and lo and behold, the Bunny had left this for me. :) "He" apparently is a loyal blog follower and saw my reference to my "first" camera and was able to locate the very one I was talking about immediately. =D All these years later! (Ah, behold one of the benefits of being an only child... haha.)


So, if you didn't happen to start out with this beauty, you can see the hi-tech "sensor."


And yes, the compartment for the CF card's predecessor...


Oh the excitement waiting for them to "develop"!!!


Wait, I don't remember taking these?!


=) Hope you all had wonderful holidays... the Bunny did stuff me with food and chocolate, too. Thanks Easter Bunny! ;)

::: My First Camera :::

After spending today's GORGEOUS weather running myself ragged shopping, raking, leaf blowing, cleaning the house, cleaning my car, and having to deal with a dead squirrel who decided to fall out of a tree RIGHT in front of my front door, I crashed on the couch super hard, with a bottle of Advil and a heating pad. And decided to poke around on Google images and eBay. :)

I had this sudden memory of my very first "camera" and I HAD to find a picture of it. And voila... eBay came through!

Did any of you children of the 70s and 80s have this? It was the BEST! You wet the sponge and it "developed" the "pictures." And the little flash blub turned. I wore this thing out.


Of course, I graduated to these later on...


And as a 13 year old girl, who didn't LOVE a pink, turquoise and purple LeClic that took that absurd disk film? (And for the record, it totally matched my pink and purple Huffy 10 speed.)


Thankfully, my parents were both amateur photographers and had this baby from before *I* was a baby that I was able to learn on. (I believe this camera took that very same newborn picture of yours truly!)


That Olympus... man, who wasn't subjected to an entire youth of self-timed set-ups... you know, the ones where mom and Julia sit patiently while Dad sets it up, and then dashes into (barely!) the frame just in the nick of time?


(And while we're at it, you gotta love the 80s attire here. For the record, I had hot pink Jelly shoes on, just off camera. And that was my cat Puss E. Willow.)

I carried that camera all over England when I lived there (and Scotland as well.) It even made a few cameos...


But when I moved back home, I was conveniently "given" a Nikon 35mm all of my very own. :) Still have it, but haven't really used it since I switched to Canon when I went digital. :P

Ahhh... memories!!!