The Monarch butterflies are passing through Connecticut on their way south, the humidity has thankfully dropped, and the weather is gorgeous!  It’s coming up on fall and we wanted to show some more autumn family portraits.  Here’s Amanda and Mike’s family…the first portrait shoot Jane did at Westmoor Park in West Hartford.  Jane has photographed their family for 4 years…it’s always great to see how their kids have grown!  We’re finishing up summer portraits now and in the next few weeks we’ll have info on our first fall fundraiser: “Your Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words” where part of your session fee is donated to local schools to promote child literacy efforts!  Click here to see more fall photos…

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Back to Kaitlin and Kelvin’s wonderful wedding weekend, part duex: their wedding at Trinity College in Hartford!  But first–after a cute first look for Kait and Kelvin–Jane joined the trolley ride for some photos at the State Capitol (where Kelvin has been a state representative for Hartford the past six years).  Upon arriving at Trinity you’re met with a scene out of England’s Downton Abbey–a beautiful campus and soaring gothic cathedral built in 1932 (although it looks centuries older) where the pews face the aisle and are adorned with carved wooden figures ranging from monks and explorers to 1930s football players.  A beautiful place for a wedding!

The English theme continued at their ceremony with an beautiful rendition of the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” with the French Horn resonating through the cathedral.  Then at the cocktail party along Trinity’s Long Walk,  guest played a British “Keep Calm and Marry On” version of Chicago cornhole bean bag toss among the other games.  All throughout the day Kaitlin just beamed, enjoying every moment, including the devilishly funny toasts from family and friends.  Then the band kicked in…SoulSystem Orchestras a high energy band playing a range of music from Salsa to hip hop to rock.  We really enjoyed working with Nancy Goldstein of Amazing Celebrations, and again with our friends Mike and Dean from Buzz Media wedding films.  And loved the flowers from Paula Gallo of Pentimento Design as well.

A fun and really warm wedding with two great families…Kait and Kelvin, congratulations!!  Thanks for having us photograph your wonderful weekend!  To view lots more photos click here…

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Kaitlin and Kelvin’s wonderful wedding weekend kicked off a few Fridays ago with their rehearsal dinner at Max’s Downtown in Hartford.  After dinner, the piano bar vibe of Max’s turned Latin when the congas and maracas and Salsa music kicked in bigtime.  So fun to photograph…I couldn’t help but sway along as I photographed the dancers and the band!  Several friends and family (and Kelvin) took turns at the mic…loved it!

Kelvin and Kaitlin’s wedding brings together Puerto Rican and Irish families, and in his toast Kelvin joked about how much (or little) alike the two cultures are…but, you know, both these island cultures certainly love to celebrate!  Congratulations Kaitlin and Kelvin!!  Stay tuned for their wedding photos from Trinity College coming shortly!  Click here to view more photos…

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I’ve moved around a lot so I’m used to having my close friends spread all over the country.  I realized this April how it feels to be the one left behind when my wonderful friend Caroline moved away to Minneapolis.  She’s back visiting this month and it’s been great seeing her although too short!  We made a big canvas out of the top picture from her family shoot from last summer which is now hanging in their new home.  I really miss our weekly adventures Caroline!  See more images from our shoot here….

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Catching up on family portrait blogging!  We do a lot of family portrait shoots at Elizabeth Park, Westmoor Park, Hill-Stead, Hammonasett, and people’s homes and I feel it’s so important to capture children as they grow.  We’ve actually just hired a favorite photographer to shoot our family and now I’m the one trying to figure out what to wear!

I’ve known Marcella since our kid’s preschool days and was thrilled to be asked to photograph them last summer and get to know her extended family!  Elizabeth Park is a perfect setting for big family portraits because of the space and variety of backgrounds…I still have my favorite nooks for individual shots where the light makes everything glowy!  To see more photos from the shoot click here…

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Hollywood loves Stonington Borough CT (“Hope Springs” with Meryl Streep is the latest movie shot there), a bit of Maine or Martha’s Vineyard squeezed into the southeast corner of the state.   Hilary and Ryan love this place too, and set their upbeat, super-summery wedding down in the Borough at the Calvary Church and up the road at the Salt Water Farm Vineyard.

As an aside…this is funny…last summer Hilary’s mom Sally contacted us and I had to laugh–I grew up in Cheshire down the street from them!   Back to their wedding…Hilary and the girls got ready at the Inn at Stonington with Jane shooting a fun walkabout in town while Ryan and his band of pirates (see photo) stopped by the Dodge Paddock conservancy down on the water.  Then onto the ceremony, where Ryan’s brother Michael–a great pianist–performed beautifully as did Hilary’s bridesmaid who sang amazingly…quite a talented group.  Salt Water Farm Vineyard has to be among the coolest places to share a drink with friends, looking out over the salt marshes towards Rhode Island with the Acela train flying by in the distance.  Great atmosphere for a party, which started with Hilary and Ryan’s whirling dervish first dance (to Veronica Martell and her band)….loved that dance!   And it continued with Hilary’s brother Paul MC-ing a great evening of speeches before more dancing.

Flowers seem to appear in every photo–another awesome burst of floral creativity by Yumiko of Hana Floral Design from her colorful bouquets to the towering Hydrangeas on the tables.  Such a fun wedding to photograph–it was great to see Hilary’s family again and to catch up with her cousin Tony who I played rugby with at Colby.

Congratulations Hilary and Ryan!!  Thanks so much for having us document your day!  To see many more pics click here…

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