Towards the end of the summer, we were able to do a fabulous fashion shoot at the Lord Thompson Manor. We shared a sneak peak of the photo fun a few weeks back. Now that the wedding season is coming to a close, we wanted to revisit and give you a full taste of what we did with this bridal shoot. We had such a good time working with our model Samantha, Christine and Shirley from Bridal Heirlooms, and enjoying the beautiful grounds of Jackie’s Lord Thompson Manor. I can’t say enough how much we appreciate the generosity of all these ladies. Thank you!!!!

No slideshow this week; all the photographs are right here on the blog. Enjoy!

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Juliet’s bat mitzvah is just around the corner and we had a fabulous Rock Star Portrait Session with her. We are all amped up. Juliet is a natural in front of the camera. She’s spent lots of time on stage as an actor and singer so the attention was nothing new. And she joyfully tried anything we asked of her.

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When we were last in California, we met up with Maya, Drew and Duke for a family portrait session. We photographed Maya and Drew’s wedding last February and are thrilled that we can continue to capture images of their family as they grow and change.

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When we spoke with the amazing ladies from Bridal Heirlooms about doing a fashion shoot, we immediately knew where we wanted to do the shoot. And as we thought more about it we knew what story we wanted the images to tell. Each idea came more and more into focus.

Bridal Heirlooms has a wonderful selection of dresses and Christine and Shirley know just how to match a gown to a person’s style. We wanted to create a collection of images that hearkened back to times gone by, but with a modern touch. And we wanted to show off their fabulous gowns.

The Lord Thompson Manor is a stunning wedding site nestled in the woodlands of Northeastern Connecticut. It is just a short drive from Boston, Rhode Island, Hartford, and even, New York. A perfect getaway close to home, this estate was once a hunting villa. The feel of the site is still warm and welcoming and intensely glamorous - a wonderful place for wedding photography.

Here’s a sneak preview of the Lord Thompson Manor bridal fashion shoot.

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We had a great time with one-year old Isaac the last time we were in California. His mom hired us to take his first year portraits and suggested we take him to Stanford for the session. What a fabulous idea! We selected the art museum because we knew the grounds around it were beautiful.

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My dear friends Liz and Jay got married in San Francisco on leap day. That’s right- February 29, 2008. How cool is that?! Because I couldn’t attend their wedding, we had a private celebration with a little city photo shoot. It was such a blast. We played in and around their apartment. Then we took to the streets of the Mission District. When I envisioned this shoot, I knew two things- murals would be involved and they would spend some time on their bicycles. Here’s a sampling of the fun….

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The Leonard Family is brilliant! They had an amazing idea. Three generations came together in Western Massachusetts for a family vacation and enjoyed a week at the Blue Heron Farm. While there, they chose to take their family portrait. This works out perfectly- during a reunion vacation, everyone is together and everyone is relaxed. These guys were real troopers, too. Our session happened to be one of the warmest days in New England. Still we had a great time and got some great images. Here are a few of our faves…

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We had a great family shoot with a super fabulous family a couple weeks ago- even their cats are cool.

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Kate and James hired us without meeting us in person. So we were totally excited to get them out on a shoot and really get to know them. We had an absolute blast. They are such a fun couple. The engagement session took us all over our old haunts in Golden Gate Park, from the Conservatory of Flowers to Stow Lake to the exterior edges of the San Francisco Botanical Gardens.

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When he is not designing events for celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Elton John, Barbara Walters and Kenneth Cole, David Tutera can be seen hosting not one, but two, TV shows, The Party Planner on The Discovery Channel and Get Married on Lifetime. David is also the creative genius behind Disney’s Couture Wedding Collection and in his spare time, the author of four books on party planning. David graciously invited Critsey Rowe and I into his fabulous Manhattan apartment for a private portrait sitting. Not surprisingly David is quite at ease in front of the camera and we all had a great time.

I just got back from a fantastic trip to New York City. I spent three wonderful days with two of my fellow photographers of The Next Set, Critsey Rowe and Thomas Geist. We toured the city, had great food and, yes, we did some work. We visited cutting-edge wedding vendors including fabulous invitation designers. The highlights, though, were two incredible shoots with Critsey and Thomas. We did a private portrait session with David Tutera, party planner for the stars, acclaimed author and host of the new reality TV series, The Party Planner on The Discovery Channel as well as host of Get Married on Lifetime…more on that shoot later.

Up first is an After Session with Chris and Otakar.

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We recently had the opportunity to shoot a family portrait of Mike Jr. with his mom and dad, Shinae and Mike Sr. at their home in Foster City. And this just one more reason we love what we do. Mike Jr. is darling and engaged. He was actively exploring his world; he had just figured out how to roll over. And mom and dad were happy to help make him laugh and smile. Mike Sr. even put on a display of animal noises which not only entertained Junior, but Shinae and us as well.

The whole family…

All Junior…

One of the benefits of getting together with a bunch of wedding photographers is the wonderful creative energy that everyone brings to an event. While in Tampa for our convention, we worked with several photographers to do a model shoot which included a Trash the Dress session. For those who are unfamiliar with a Trash the Dress session (or TTD as it is sometimes called), this is an opportunity to actually get the wedding dress dirty. Usually on the wedding day, a bride wishes to keep her dress looking as good as possible and is very careful with it. But after the wedding, there is some flexibility. The dress probably won’t be worn again and in many cases can be easily cleaned and preserved regardless. So these sessions provide brides the chance to have a little more fun in her dress.

We were so excited to try some new things in Tampa. Our models climbed in trees, rolled on the ground, and even jumped in a pool. They were game for anything.

We could have spent all day shooting Emily and Erik. They are a fun, witty, adorable couple.

We started our engagement session at the Berkeley Rose Garden, a gorgeous natural environment. This was a great spot for all of us to warm up, not that Emily and Erik needed much warming up, as we found some fun ways to interact with the environment. The gardens offered us paths, a bridge, trees to climb in, and dandelions. Then Erik pulled out his trumpet and serenaded Emily- no wonder we didn’t want to stop!

Following our portrait tour of the gardens, we ventured to Shattuck Avenue to find a more urban setting. We were delighted to find a parking lot with a great wood fence, an apartment building with interesting levels, some alleyways, and a fantastic colorful mural by Paul Barron outside the Green City Gallery. Here, we got to see a different side of Emily and Erik; the urban feel definitely complimented their personalities.

Thank you, Emily and Erik, for sharing your music and taking chances with us. We had so much fun. We can’t wait to celebrate with you at the Mad Art Gallery in St. Louis this May.

Here are several (it was really hard to narrow these down) of our favorites from the shoot….

We couldn’t show them all here but check out the other great shots of Emily and Erik’s session.

When Maya told us she and Drew had gotten engaged, we were thrilled for them both. After all, we are practically related. Maya is Duke’s “mom.” Duke is Max’s litter-mate brother. And Max is our “baby.” So that makes us…. hmm, not really sure.

When they hired us to shoot the wedding, we were so excited. They are a great couple. They are a great family. We can’t wait to celebrate with them at The City Club of San Francisco in February.

A couple of weeks ago, Dave enjoyed a lovely California afternoon with Maya, Drew, and Duke at Crocker Park in Piedmont. Of course, Duke was very well-mannered, and so were Maya and Drew. Everyone had a great time. And they got some great images to boot.

Here are a few of my faves….

Let me start by saying thank you to the Adams-Abate family for hosting us during our stay in Salt Lake. We are always thrilled to stay with friends because it gives us that extra time with them while we are on holiday and of course, it is such a nice, welcome break from hotels and restaurants.

April, Mark, Tyler and Brutus couldn’t have been more hospitable to Dave, Max and I. Brutus seemed to be in heaven chasing and wrestling with Max. Of course, the games of tug were especially exciting and it is a miracle that those two left the house in one piece. And Tyler wasn’t one bit worried about Max. He was enthusiastic about having the “big doggie” in his home. And Max did brilliantly around his youngest fan.

The morning before we left Salt Lake. April brought us all out to a fantastic dog park. Max chased the ball. Brutus chased Max. And April and Tyler posed for some pix with Dave. They couldn’t get through our visit without some photos, of course.