Bags packed, moved, unpacked!

Well, blogger, I've moved on. It's not you, it's me. I've outgrown you-

But don't worry avid readers (Mom). Come visit me at crabapplephotography.com/blog to see family / baby / wedding / retouching updates and photos and sweettoothboudoir.com/blog for boudoir updates!!

See you on the other side.

Big news, but small.

I've got multiple photo shoots I'd like to blog about. I just can't seem to decide WHERE. This is what happens when you have 400 websites and you're beginning to suss out your photo identity. I've begun a new lifestyle website at crabapplephotography.com. I would actually love some feedback. It's about 70% done, a lot of work still left. 

What's b00gling my mind at the moment is whether or not I should move my blog over there. Or I could possibly start a whole brand new URL with a blog.  Life is so confusing.

Introducing Sweet Tooth Boudoir

Introducing Sweet Tooth Boudoir Photography! Just what the $!@K is boudoir photography? The brand new shiny site has a frequently asked questions section definining boudoir, but basically it's *tasteful,* romantic & intimate photography taken in a bedroom setting ... although not always.

There are LOTS of reasons and occasions for boudoir photography, the most popular reason being boudoir albums make fantastic gifts.  Albums make wonderful gifts for your partners birthday, Valentine's day, Christmas or other holiday gift.  A romantic way to show your partner a peek into your passionate side is to give them a boudoir album on the day of your wedding as a surprise. Wedding boudoir is on the rise and it is fan-tastic.

The experience of boudoir photography can be very rewarding. It's amazing to see the transformation of a woman throughout the session. She is often a little nervous and most likely self conscious.  But as the session goes on she gains confidence and absolutely embraces her beauty!

If you've got more questions or want to check out more info, please visit sweettoothboudoir.com and feel free to contact me!

 

2 Triptychs and a Diptych

I recently (on separate occasions) photographed two confident, beautiful women. You might be able to guess the occupation of Lori, the woman in the first set of photos. The two triptychs are indeed meant to be together while the two bottom photos I put together for space/blog reasons.

Heather is a good friend and we decided to do a shoot together after I realized I've never shot her - a rarity among my friends. Here she is, doing her fierce:

AAAAAAnd here's Heather on the softer side:

He knows if you've been bad or good ...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Nothing's cuter than a baby in a Santa suit! Well, maybe two babies in festive gear is cuter. But very little else.

Here is a sampling of TJ chillin' as Baby Claus-

And Kayla as Baby Mrs. Claus, and other festive outfits with Mom below. I suppose a shoe in the mouth should be an outtake, but I L.O.V.E. it! It's what babies do.

Jamesy is the perfect example of 'good things come in small packages'-

This year I had a lot of fun designing Christmas cards and was psyched to see them printed.  I am a huge fan of printing on the cheap, but there was a noticeable difference in quality from what you might find from a retail online printing company.  The card stock was much thicker, crystal clear printing and no disgusting over-the-top GLOSS!  I did print a semi gloss which was quite nice, but I shouldn't be able to see my own reflection in your Christmas card. 

First photo is an example of the front and the next are two versions of the back-

Newborn Baby Photography Bliss

Introducing little Catherine Rose!

She was so amazingly adorable and well behaved! She snoozed a lot, on par with a lot of new borns, but she SMILED a ton! Showing us the cutest little dimple.

Mom had an old scale from the late 1800's that had been her grandfathers. A nice personal family history touch.

Catherine is actually the 3rd in line with an equally adorable older sister and brother.  They were sporting their Wizard of Oz attire.

What's that you say?

Girl secrets! They'll never tell.

Gorgeous couture dresses and head pieces by the very talented Harper Della-Piana of SEAMS Couture, amazing hair and makeup by the fabulous artist Ashley Brecken.  Beautiful faces provided by Diana Podaski and Briana Tripp.

They're probably talking about you anyway.

TJ - 6 Month Update!

So, the secret is, we took some photos for a Christmas / Holiday card of TJ at 6 months. The best part of the secret is: they are absolutely adorable and I'm busting at the seams to show them! BUT - they are a surprise and can't been seen until Christmas! You may remember TJ from photos we took when he was 3 months, hours old, or in the womb.
Here are a couple of non Holiday pictures we shot, my favorite father / son photo of ALL TIME:

Adorableness:

Happy Anniversary Em + Nan!

Emily and Nanny, on their anniversary ... A few pictures to remember (what wedding photography is really all about, right?)

My absolute favorite, favorite photo of the day (and arguably top 10 of all time):

(L) The first sighting! Chris waits for Emily at the bottom of the stairs. I thought her reaction was so awesome. (R) Emily freshly in her dress having some fun. Emily was super fun and super relaxed on her wedding day, it was fantastic and certainly made it easy for me!

Married!

Happy Anniversary, and best wishes for the future ...

hApPY HaLLowEeN!

To be Seven Again

When spinning around, getting dizzy, giggling and falling down was a fantastic way to pass an afternoon. When war was a card game and it was magic to watch Dad remove his thumb before he stole my nose.

No, life was not perfect or even easy.  But the weight of the world on our shoulders seemed just a few pounds lighter.

Cross Process Magic

I shot this portrait of the gorgeous Briana and was working on the beauty retouching when I started messing around with cross processing. Enter warm fuzzy feeling.

Smitten. Again.

Heart Pounding Beauty Retouching

When I snapped this photo and subsequently saw it on the screen, I was smitten. I'm in love with a good profile and Briana's is gorgeous.  Not to mention Harper Della-Piana's amazing head piece that compositionally balances the (stunning) hair (dress by Harper as well). If you're looking for an extremely talented hair or makeup stylist, Ashley Brecken is your woman ... this hair is a work of art.

I thought I'd post the before / after to illustrate what a little high end beauty retouching can do for you.  You can see the ever gratifying mouseover before / after here at http://www.qretouching.com/index.php?&photo_id=16, it's one of my favorite parts and about 55% of the reason I love to retouch!

Resurrection, Polaroid Style

YES!

I hate to admit it but it's true. When Polaroid sianara'ed back in December 2008 I lost interest in my 5, (yes five) various polaroid cameras. I even have film left. I now realize my aloofness was a defense mechanism, saving me from the pain of facing my loss.

BUT! Today the company that bought the Polaroid name (The Summit Global Group) announced they'd be manufacturing instant cameras again. Perhaps Polaroid should never have swayed from it's biggest hit.

Huge props to "The Impossible Project" who for the last year have been relentless in their effort to restart production of film for vintage Polaroid cameras.  Apparently The Summit Global Group took notice and plan to have new instant cameras out and about sometime in the middle of 2010 ... and are having the The Impossible Project people manufacture the film. W00T W00T!

Best iPhone App Ever

This is pretty much the coolest thing to happen to the iPhone since ... the iPhone. The smaller version preview photos have been a bit pixelated. I blame blogger, and not the iPhone app, click on the image to see the larger, non pixelated version. TiltShift Generator.

DC: A garden to die in, and Lil C

While on a recent trip to Washington DC, I was able to photograph LG's childhood home, parent's dog (3rd child) and gorgeous nephew, "lil C." Read all about Cameron's exploits in his mother's blog mommyftw.com.
I've never been so happy to photograph flowers in my entire life! His mother's gardens are truly amazing ...

Baby Steven

Baby Steven, Baby's Mommy & Baby's Daddy and I hit a park in Medford, MA for photos ...

Mommy Love

My personal fav

Happy baby, happy family

A Backyard Wedding

On July 18, my good friend Paul tied the knot with the lady of his heart: Amy.  Gotta love a backyard wedding -- Congrats!

Gettin' Married

Mr & Mrs

Thomas turns 3 months

Thomas turns 3 months. I was pretty lucky back in March to get to meet this little guy on the first day of his life. Check out those newborn photos here.

TJ askin for hugs

When a baby loves his Mommy!