Down a Country Lane - a styled "Senior photo" shoot

Putting together a styled shoot and growing it from an idea to finished post has been a longtime goal for me.  When I tossed a few theme ideas to my model, she and I had the same first choice - Down a Country Lane.  From there it was a matter of putting together some props, finding an appropriate location (and oh my, did I ever find an amazing location!), and securing my hair & makeup artist.  I'm so grateful to all those who helped me bring this idea to life...with a special THANK YOU to Jack & Betty Feightner for allowing me to use their property for this shoot. 
We finished the day with so many great images that I had a very hard time narrowing them down for this blog post...which is why there are lots of them here.  But I'm not apologizing - I'm very pleased and proud to share the final results with you all. 
But first, I want to introduce my creative team:
Model:  the adorable Aly Pitzer
Venue:  Edgewood Place
Hair & makeup:  Amy Ford of Strands
Technical assistant and expert reflector holder:  Shanon Pitzer :)

The lemonade was really intended to be a prop, but Aly decided she should have a taste.  Made for some interesting faces.

 Also making his (canine) modeling debut:  FLETCH.  He's a natural!

Class of 2013, if you're interested in an amazing senior photo experience like this, contact me (see "About Me" page for conact info).  We can make your ideas come to life too!

Styled shoot

I'm putting together a styled shoot soon to promote my SENIOR PHOTO packages!  This is a new adventure for me and I'm very excited about the possibilities.  My adorable model is lined up, I have an amazing location locked in, hair and makeup artist ready, and lots of cool prompts in the making.  Check out my idea board for the shoot and stay tuned for the results.

Connecticut coast tour

The awesome "Walk Through a Wedding" workshop ended on Sunday evening and people gradually began heading for home.  A few left Sunday evening to catch the train, a couple headed back by car, several were catching early flights Monday morning.  Well, I had scheduled my return flight on Tues morning so I could spend Monday doing some sightseeing, but when Monday morning came around I was sitting in my hotel room feeling a little intimidated by the idea of renting a car and navigating this little self-guided tour on my own.  But I printed a couple Google maps in the hotel lobby and headed out...and I'm SO glad I did.  My first stop was in downtown New Haven on the campus of Yale University.  It was a beautiful sunny day (tho chilly) and it was such a cool feeling to walk amidst those very large, very OLD buildings.  It's a hard feeling to explain - just felt like I was taken back in time and was in the midst of history.  I REALLY loved it!
I hope these photos allow you to share in that feeling a little bit.  There was so much intricate architecture...fences, archways, doorways, gates...it was just all very cool.

If I were doing a photo shoot on Yale's campus, this is where I'd start.  The light was so warm and swirly in this walkway.  I really kinda wanted to stay there for a long time.

 This girl with the red coat walked out at the perfect time.  I think it makes this image much more interesting.

Then I headed to the Lighthouse Point where there is this cute carousel house...

...and a very tall lighthouse that looked so beautiful against the deep blue sky.

 From there I went to Mystic, arriving at the harbor as the sun was starting to set...very pretty.

I finished my evening with a visit at the home of my cousin, Phillip and his wife, Donna.  It's unfortunate that it was getting dark and I didn't take any photos, because I wish you could have seen the flock of turkeys (is a group of turkeys called a flock?) that waddled up their front yard looking for food.  Donna makes sure none of the animals - wild or domestic - go hungry in the winter. :)  I also wish I could show you the adorable little individual heart-shaped cherry pies that Donna made for our dessert.  Thank you, Phillip & Donna, for having me for dinner and for the wonderful visit.  It was great to see you both.

Walk Through a Wedding

You may remember that I posted a while back about buying myself a Christmas gift on Black Friday (from the comfort of my home). The gift was a seat in a photography workshop called “Walk Through A Wedding” by Justin & Mary Marantz. Wow, it was a great weekend, stuffed full of very helpful tips and information about everything from the technical “how-to’s” to the philosophical “why’s”. Justin and Mary so graciously hosted us in their home and generously shared their wealth of knowledge and experience.
The bonus was that I met some really amazing people and made some great friends.  You know, maybe more important than the photography lessons were the life lessons I took away from this weekend.  On Sunday we shared what photography meant to us and described a photo that was meaningful to us.  I was so touched by the way people opened up and shared themselves, and I felt like I was smacked in the head with the realization that every person has a story.  They're all important.  Everyone has something to offer. Every person has value.  Thank you Justin & Mary, thank you to everyone who worked hard to put the workshop together, and thank you to my new friends.

I've watched J&M's "Live Chats" before, which are filmed in their home, so it was really fun when I saw this fireplace mantel in real life and recognized it.

Some of my faves from the photo shoot...

Be sure and check back in a couple days, because I spent the day after the workshop doing some sightseeing in CT and I have some pretty cool photos to share from that!