Signing off

Married: Katie & Colin in Stonington, CT

"You doin ok? Can I get you anything?"

I looked up from my camera to find Katie standing beside me, her kind eyes smiling. And I just smiled and shook my head. From anyone else, this might have come as a surprising question from a bride on her wedding day....

...but that's just Katie.

Through the course of the day I heard her ask this question of no less than twenty other people surrounding her- the proof and possession of a true giver's heart. And one by one they would each just smile and shake their heads, too overcome by the generosity and thoughtfulness that one single person could possess. She is elegance and grace and goodness defined. A timeless iconic beauty- think Hepburn meets Holmes- mixed with just enough witty banter to make everyone around her just want to be her friend. Because you can just tell that she's the kind of friend who loves with her whole heart and hugs like she means it.

But that's just Katie.

And Katie would not be complete without her Colin. Because while Katie gives to take care of everyone else, Colin is the one who takes care of her. And you only have to see him look at her once to know that he always will.

Married: Katie & Colin

This rosary belonged to Katie's grandmother who wore it on her wedding day, before giving it to Katie's mom to wear on her wedding day. Katie had the amazing Yumiko of Hana Floral Design wrap it around her bouquet so she could continue the tradition.

This was the crazy fog rolling in off the water.

Katie's exquisite Vera Wang gown:

Katie and her beautiful mom, Brenda (who we just LOVE!!)

The handsome Colin:

The rain held off for most of the day until we got through the ceremony, but just as we started setting up this group shot the skies opened and the rain came down. But these guys were such troopers so we just rolled with it.

Absolutely stunning!

Katie & Colin had this car to carry the bridal party, but we had to grab a shot of it because this is the very same car that Justin & I had for our wedding!!

First Dip:

It was such an emotional day from the beginning to the end. I'm not 100% sure when exactly I cried for the first time (because there were just SO many times that day), but I'm willing to bet that THIS had something to do with it: Katie with her dad Bernie

We just want to give a HUGE thanks to the entire staff of the Inn at Mystic and the one and only Traci Romano for putting on such an amazing wedding for Katie & Colin. These guys are the best of the best and we were just so honored to be working alongside them.

Katie, Colin, Brenda & Bernie: you guys treated us like family from minute one, and from here on out that's exactly what you'll always be to us. We cannot thank you enough for everything. We love you guys!!

Catchin up!!

Whew! I'm so sorry about the TOTAL lack of blogging in the past week! Justin & I both came down with something right after we got back from LA and we have just been laying low for the past couple of days. We've got a ton of catching up to do and we're also working on something really BIG that we hope to launch in the next week or two. But since you've been waiting so patiently, we thought we'd give you a little preview. There will be MUCH more to come on this soon, but here's just a little glimpse into what we've been working on:

Sneak Peak: Natalie & Chris

Boy!! With all these sneak peaks we are going to be crazy busy all week trying to get the full posts up! Here are a couple from our incredible wedding last night at the beautiful Norwich Inn.

Sneak Peak: Melanie & Alton

Well we got in around midnight last night, long enough to sleep in our own bed! And then we got back in the car today to head out to Norwich for the weekend wedding of Natalie & Chris, kicking off with their barbecue rehearsal dinner tonight!! We'll of course be showing you more from that, but first we just wanted to post a little sneak peak from an anniversary shoot we did while we were out in LA.

From the inside of an improv studio....where it all began.

Sneak Peak: Katie & Colin

Whew! What a crazy coupla days! Yesterday we had such a fun time shooting Katie & Colin's wedding with the amazing Erik Maziarz along to help us out. Today we drove back home for two meetings and to finish getting ready for our talk before heading out to LA tomorrow. But you know we couldn't take off without posting at least one sneak peak from the wedding...ok, or maybe two! Last night I think we hit an all new record for number of people coming up and telling us they read along on the blog, so I know there are a lot of anxious people waiting on this!! :)

This one was a team effort. I came up with the idea and Erik helped me set it up. Then Justin pushed the button. :) The picture in the foreground is Katie's grandma (her mom's mom):

Katie & her girls just GOT IT!! I'd say pose and they were like ummmm, ok!! And then they'd rock out something like this. C'MON!!! They could seriously be professional bridesmaids! Shoot me an email if you'd like to hire them for your wedding.

Tomorrow we'll be heading out to LA to speak at the Pictage Partner Conference (PartnerCon) for our second time. There will be about 400 photographers there and it's always such an amazing, inspiring time. If you haven't been to one you should definitely plan on going next year!! You can check out more info HERE. We'll definitely be posting more about that and, of course, more from the wedding when get back next week!

Not Quite Married Yet: Katie & Colin

Justin & I are out in Mystic for the weekend wedding of Katie & Colin. Tonight we got to hang out with them at their rehearsal and their killer rehearsal dinner at the Mystic Aquarium, where the special guests of honor were two super fun and playful beluga whales. More on that to come, but it's late now and we need to get some sleep for the big day tomorrow. But before we go, I just had to blog this shot of Katie & her dad that Justin grabbed at the rehearsal. Yea, the tears are gonna start early for me on this one!

Just love these two!!

I promise. To be the best part of waking up.

My eyes flutter open and I wait for the round, silver clock beside our bed to come into focus. I blink. And blink again. Close one eye and then the other and then back again, until finally the little hands start to appear. Seven twenty three. 

I throw back our double stacked duvet and swing my legs over the side of the bed, gingerly stretching for my feet to find the floor. My cloud pajamas are twisted almost the entire way around my body and it takes a second to figure out how exactly to detangle them. I stand. I stretch. A little wobbly, I find my way across the room. One hand rubbing my eyes, the other reaching for the door. Because I've found that when you use both hands to rub your eyes, the doors tend to find you.

I pause long enough by the hallway mirror to smile at the sorry state of my hair, before making my way to the kitchen to flip on the burner for our burnt orange sienna tea pot. The flames crack a few times before stretching their way out around the bottom of the kettle. I guess everything has its own way of waking up. 

I make my way to the couch to wrap myself in my great grandma's quilt and start my day with some quiet time and a good inspirational book....or a celebrity gossip magazine. Y'know whatever's closer. 

Just then I hear the familiar tap, tap, tap and the jingle jangle of my favorite part of the morning. Cooper's teddy bear face appears around the corner in the kitchen and he stops, head cocked to one side, as if to say "Are you crazy?? It's 7:23 in the morning." 

He sighs, takes a few steps, stretches into his best downward dog, and then tap tap taps his way on over to the couch. He climbs up and flops his head into my lap with one more sigh that says, "y'know...you're lucky I love you." I pat his a head a few times and with that, he's off to sleep again. 

But for me, it's what I love most about waking up.

Ask & Learn Wednesday!

Hey guys! Just wanted to let Pictage photographers know that we'll be on the forums tonight for a live Ask & Learn chat starting at 7pm East Coast time!

Click here to say hi!

Let's Bring On the Mountaineers!!

The smoke from the tunnel was still dancing around the field in small, quickly disappearing swirls of clouds. Just then the sun broke through the overcast sky, and sent yellow lines of light streaking through the haze to the ground below. Sitting in row 2 of section 102, I was surrounded by an ocean of gold 60,000 strong. 

And I've never felt so big and yet so small in my whole life.

The crowd was roaring as kick off drew near. But I sat in silence. Staring up at the brand new score board of the Milan Puskar Stadium, I watched as the graphics heralded in a brand new era. A brand new era indeed. 

Just nine months ago, we were a team betrayed. Left days before a bowl game with no coach, no time, and according to 84% of the country, no chance at rising up to a win over Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. But as the gentleman's shirt next to me proclaimed...

"84% Wrong."

I watched the highlights from that bowl game with a rising pride in my chest and a lump in my throat. For that is the spirit of what it truly means to be a Mountaineer. And the further away I go from home in this life, the more important it is for me to be reminded of that. And often. 

Of integrity. Of rising up. Of doing the hard work to get the job done. No matter who doubts you. No matter who says that you can't.

I sat there in that stadium as the smoke danced toward the sun and stared out at an ocean of gold surrounding me. All of them. Standing there so full of hope, and so full of the promise that only a brand new season in a brand new era can offer. Just then the tears broke through behind my sunglasses and were sent streaking across the flying WV tattoo on my cheek below.

And I've never felt so big and yet so small.

Yea, there's no doubt about it. It was a damn good day to be a Mountaineer.

We're so excited we got to hang out with our awesome friends (and also past clients!) Erica & Matt!!

The view from our seats. Not bad, eh? :)

We like the football, we like the football, we like to play the football game!

Ok, so the score TOTALLY got cut off but as predicted we CRUSHED 'em 48 to 21.

"Yea OUR Sportscenter highlight goes like this."