Just one… | Rhode Island Newborn Photography
From this afternoon 🙂 More to come later this week!
Freebie (yummy!) Friday | Rhode Island Photography
As I mentioned in a post a while ago, there is a fabulous cupcake shop that just opened down the street from me. Wayyyyy to close for comfort for the sake of my hips. 😉 But a delicious and cute little store nonetheless. It’s called the Cupcakerie and shares the spot with Jacks Snacks which is a dog bakery. It is right on Broad Ave basically across from the William Hall Public Library. We love it because not only does it sell delicious (and pretty!) cupcakes, but it sells VEGAN cupcakes!!! With Nolan’s egg allergy, being able to buy him a cupcake is a huge deal!
I stopped in on Wednesday to pick up a few cupcakes for the purpose of devouring them after dinner photographing them for the blog. Really, it was for the sake of the blog. I swear. But the real reason that I did it regardless of my stomach’s craving for them, was to have some photos of what you could have yourself!! Because I have decided to give away for fun a $25 gift certificate to the store! This gets you almost ten cupcakes!! That’s enough for two or three weekend night treats for the family. (I would never ever suggest that the winner save all of the cupcakes for themselves with perhaps a cup of coffee on a lunch break for a few weeks No, not at all.)
To win, simply leave a comment below with your favorite flavor of cupcake (any cupcake, you don’t have to have been to their shop before)! I’ll select a random winner on Sunday night so you have until then to enter. A few of our favorites are below – from L-R – Elvis Velvet, Vegan and Chocolate Zinger (orange flavored) Keep in mind that I am not a product photographer so the group photo is a bit soft 😉
*Please note, you should only enter if you are willing to drive to Cranston to get them 🙂 These are not mail-able!
Good luck!!
Lauren and Jay in Love | Rhode Island Photography
Remember how you looked at your spouse when you were first dating? Or engaged or newly married? When was the last time that you really stopped and looked at them like that? For most of us, the answer is “I have no idea!” I know it’s that way in our marriage – we are two busy professionals with two loud, demanding children!! Romance? What is that? I first got the idea to do a couples shoot in my business when we were discussing going to Austin for vacation last year. My friend Lyndsay of Life In Motion photography (fabulous photographer, check her out!) suggested we trade sessions with just our spouses and I loved the idea. Sadly we didn’t get to go on the trip so I never got to do the sessions with her. But it had piqued my interest and I wanted to try it on my own. So I thought about it and even tried to recruit a couple but it fell through due to my busy schedule. So when the new year came, I was determined to do it – a love session that focused on people who never focus on themselves anymore. Something to remind a couple about why they got married in the first place – how gorgeous and special their spouse is, something to rekindle romance even if just for a few hours.
Thankfully when I put out some feelers again recently, Lauren emailed me within a few hours of my posting on the Fan Page. So after several emails, they got a sitter and I met her and her husband Jay on Brown’s campus for some gorgeous evening light photos of the two of them. I have to say that honestly, I don’t think I have ever had that much fun shooting a session. I love my work, don’t get me wrong, I love love love working with kids. But this session, shooting the way that I wanted, shooting the emotion that I love capturing with these two – it was just about photographer Heaven. The scenery was to die for, the light was magical and Lauren and Jay have this chemistry still after almost six years of marriage and one child that I think we can all be envious of and that shone through repeatedly in their photos.
Engagements are great and fun. But there is something about working with a couple who has been together. It is a different kind of love that you are documenting. And it is truly, truly wonderful. I have two more couples lined up for these shoots so there will be more like these to come in the next few weeks. In the meantime, enjoy Lauren and Jay. And think about doing photos like these for yourselves at some point!! I wish I could 🙂
It’s a Zoo! | Rhode Island Commercial Photography
This past Saturday I did a few hours of shooting for the Education Department of Roger Williams Park Zoo. I had four hours to shoot a few of the various program offerings but before we started in with the kids (who you won’t see here for release reasons) I got to photograph just the animals. LOVED it. Sadly, they wouldn’t stay still and look at me when I quacked like a duck or sang my Elmo song (okay, okay I didn’t *really* do that but thought about it)… But I did get to photograph about a dozen different animals. Some were beautiful, others, okay, not so beautiful – but all were amazing. Every time I got to get close to them and take their pictures, I could just hear the voice in the back of my head going “this is SO COOL!!! It’s like Jack Hanna but without the training and mucking out of animal cages!!” I will admit, I get a teensy bit jealous when the kids get to touch the animals and I can’t because I am documenting it. It is the inner kid in me. BUT I did get a very special treat – the kinkajou, which is the brown cute animal with the little ears and big eyes, climbed all over my head and neck and gave me kisses. How many people can say that they’ve been kissed by a kinkajou? 🙂
So enjoy something a bit different. And when you get to the animals that aren’t so cute and cuddly, don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Gone to Carolina | Rhode Island Family Photography
I don’t know about you but I love the James Taylor song. Love it.
So as you know if you follow me at all we spent a glorious week in North Carolina two weeks ago for vacation. You might also know that we lived in North Carolina for four years while Matt was doing his residency at Wake Forest University and absolutely loved it. There is the possibility that we might move back once we are all done here in Rhode Island, but that is still a ways off. (However that doesn’t stop me from looking at real estate there. Trust me, don’t look at real estate there, it will just depress you when you see what you can get for what you spent here. Yeahhhh. Just don’t do it.) Anyways. When we were there I was teaching Spanish at Page High School in Greensboro and I became super close with one of the Social Studies teachers, Nicole. We hit it off immediately, which is good because I was a floating teacher, meaning I didn’t have my own room, and I was assigned her room as one of my classes. At that point neither of us were engaged though we were with the men who would end up being our husbands. We had many lunches, talks, get togethers, etc.
Now, nine years later, Nicole and James are married and have a five year old, an almost-two-year old and are expecting a third baby mid-June (which will necessitate another trip to NC yay!) Whenever we do go back, which has been a few times now, we stay with them for our time there. And it’s great! Our kids play together, the guys golf, I get to talk to one of my best friends, it’s perfect. So we did that for an entire week which was just heaven. There were a few “firsts” this week as well – Nolan’s first movie in a theater (How To Train Your Dragon – boy’s trip), Layne’s first pigtails, Nolan’s first ice cream cone (I think)… I did some more “official” family photos of them but mostly we just had fun. Here are a few of the shots from the week – mostly snapshots but a few nicer ones, too! Enjoy 🙂
