My Bestie's Canandaigua Lake Engagement Shoot!

There’s nothing more fulfilling than capturing a momentous occasion such as your best friend’s engagement!

Laura and I have been besties since the 3rd grade. I’m really going to age myself here but I just did some quick math on my fingers and my jaw dropped realizing that it was now 20 years ago that we met. She’s been my rock ever since. She’s my person I call no matter the occasion..to celebrate the best moments in life, or to vent about the silly stresses and she’s my shoulder to cry on during the hardest times. My favorite thing about Laura is that we can make anything fun. Spending the night in together is just as fun as a big night out.

I’ve been able to watch her love story unfold with Skyler over the past 7 years. We’ve been able to celebrate the biggest moments in life together including mine and Brett’s wedding day, helping them moving into their first home and now celebrating their engagement and planning their wedding.

While i recognize it’s so special having friends like Laura and Skyler to celebrate the BIG moments with, what means even more to me are the small moments that we have spent together in between. It’s the way we can turn an ordinary night into a night we will talk about for years. As I mentioned, this is something Laura and I have had the ability to do since we were little. I love that it has translated into our adult lives and even better that we can share these moments with our guys. Some of my favorite moments are sitting around the fire playing our favorite throwback jams or spontaneous nights where we end up in a dive bar and it turns out to be the best night ever, not because anything crazy happened, but because it was simple, we were all together and we were laughing the whole night. So thankful for this friendship that has truly turned into family.

Now that I’m done with the sappy part, here’s the part you probably came here for, their engagement photos. Was I tearing up behind my lens while photographing them? Maybe.
Did I tear up while editing these pics? Possibly.
Am I sobbing right now as I write this blog post? Certainly.
But can you blame me? Look at these two.

I couldn’t think of a better way to capture their relationship than in Canandaigua, which holds a special place in their hearts. Even better we started their session at Young Lion Brewing. Everyone who knows these two knows they like to stay hydrated.

After we loosened up with a couple drinks, we headed over to Kershaw Park on Canandaigua Lake. Paired with some beautiful golden hour light, it made for some dreamy, romantic engagement pics

And as if these pics weren’t cute enough, Laura and Skyler brought the cutest little accessory to their engagement session AKA Brady.

Loved every second of this session and cannot wait for their big day!! I will not be behind the lens that day but rather standing by Laura’s side as she says “I DO” to the love of her life, and her other best friend, Skyler. Love you guys sm. <3

Practicing Creativity!

Hey there all you cool cats and kittens! (Had to do it)

I hope everyone is feeling healthy and staying creative out there! As for me - I’m trying to get into the groove of my new normal. Overall I can’t help but be thankful for the new perspective this whole “distancing” thing has given me. Don’t get me wrong - there’s been highs and lows. But one thing I have been using my spare time to do is practice my creativity! I have always practiced creativity in one way or another but to be honest, I don’t find myself being creative as frequently as I used to. As life has become more and more busy balancing my full time job, photography, marriage, being a homeowner and trying to maintain somewhat of a social life(although not lately) creativity has taken the back burner. I am, however, lucky enough to be able to express my creative side through my full time job as an interior designer as well as my side business, photography. Regardless, I still like to do some personal side projects to keep my creative juices flowing.

I truly believe that every single person has the capability to be creative. Like anything else, creativity takes practice if you’re not used to utilizing that part of your brain. So I want to encourage anyone reading this to take this time out of your life - when everything has slowed down in the world - to practice your creativity!

Creativity comes in all different forms - my preferred medium is photography, but there are many more options if this isn’t for you. You could paint, draw, write a song, write a poem, refurbish old furniture, or even make up an awesome dance for TikTok ! These are a few ways to practice your creativity but there are endless options..

My advice would be to start by finding something that inspires you. I find inspiration in nature and in people. I love combining the beauty of nature in a photograph along with capturing the personality of a person. This is why I am so passionate about portrait photography and most of my portraits are photographed outdoors!

My husband, Brett, just LOVES when I’m feeling creative and bring my camera along on our adventures(NOT!) Luckily, sometimes he's a good sport and puts up with me and my silly photoshoots. Today we went to Mendon Ponds to explore (and unsuccessfully attempted to feed some birds). I wanted to take the opportunity to push my creativity and try some different editing/shooting styles than my usual work. Let me know your thoughts. How do you practice your creativity?!

Erin & Steve's Dreamy Botanical Wedding at Toad Hill Tree Farm

Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Autumn weather; but looking through Erin & Steve’s wedding photos from early September has me dreaming of those radiant late summer evenings. I absolutely ADORED shooting at this charming wedding venue in Middleport NY. This wedding was so unique from the location, to the friendly bridal party and intricately detailed decor. Loved every second of editing this one, take a look for yourself!

When You Smith Upon a Star - A Fairytale Castle Wedding

One of my favorite parts of being a photographer is taking part in such important life events of some amazing people. Some people who I am only meeting for the first time and some clients whom I have known for years. I often even get to work with people that I’ve known almost my whole life. That was the case for this beautiful wedding.

I was overjoyed when Danielle and Ryan inquired about my willingness to travel to Connecticut for their fairytale castle wedding. My exact words were “I would be honored.” I grew up very close to Ryan’s family and played sports with one of his sisters, Aryn and also photographed her wedding last summer. My husband also grew up with Ryan so it felt super special to be able to play such an important role in capturing his big day marrying his best friend Danielle.

When I arrived at Saint Clements Castle I couldn’t contain my excitement. I knew how much Danielle and Ryan adored Disney and this looked straight-up like a castle out of a Disney fairytale! I was greeted by hugs and familiar smiles in the bridal suite as the bride, her mom, sisters, soon to be sister-in-laws, mother-in-law, and bridesmaids got ready. Danielle’s dress was simply stunning. A beautiful cinderella blue color was chosen for the bridesmaids dresses (with matching shades I might add), while the guys were looking dapper in their complimentary ties and well-fitted navy suits. This entire bridal party was a double threat with their good looks and impeccable dance moves. Seriously though - the dance floor was PACKED the entire night even when I left!

Ryan and Danielle included so many sentimental details into their day from writing their own vows to exchanging gifts and hand written letters to each other before seeing each other. But my favorite moment was hands down Ryan’s reaction when he saw Danielle for the first time for their First Look. He was absolutely speechless as tears flooded his eyes. This is just one example of Ryan and Danielle’s genuine love - it doesn’t require words.

I was honored to capture Danielle and Ryan’s special day. It was truly one of a kind! I hope they are currently having the time of their lives in Hawaii. Check out their fairytale wedding sneak peek below!!

What Time of Day is Best for My Session?

Morning and evening are the best times of day for outdoor sessions in terms of lighting. When the sun is out in the middle of the day, it can cast harsh shadows which is undesirable for my style of portraiture. Morning and evening bring much more manageable lighting situations and often bring a warm golden feeling to your photos. You may have heard the term “golden hour” before - which is the hour right before sunset which can be unbelievably beautiful lighting! The photo above of the Schmitt family was taken during golden hour, and although it was the beginning of spring while the trees were still bare and everything seemed kind of gray - we still achieved a warm beautiful photo thanks to the lovely golden hour lighting we shot in. The photo below of one of my favorite subjects, Lucy Harper, was shot in some beautiful fall morning light. We had a lot of things going for us that helped achieve a beautiful family shoot- bright morning light, beautiful fall leaves, and backlighting.

Unfortunately since morning and evening are my preferred time of shooting, that means these time slots are the first to get booked on my calendar. Although morning and evening are my preferred times to shoot, I like to work with the availability of my clients and around kids nap times. And maybe the adults nap times too ;) With all of that being said - it is absolutely still possible to have a beautiful photo shoot in the middle of the day!

The first scenario could be that the day ends up being overcast and cloudy. Sometimes my clients get bummed when their session ends up on a cloudy day, meanwhile, I’m doing a happy dance when I see a cloud symbol on my weather app before a mid day session. Here’s why - overcast days can be the perfect lighting scenario. The photo above was shot on an overcast day (which still didn’t save us from the blistering July heat). I was thankful for the clouds, because it gave us a more even light distribution (even with the water in the background which has the ability to reflect harsh sunlight!).

Second scenario - we are shooting in the middle of the day on a bright and sunny day. Don’t fret!! We can still achieve beautiful photos! I often run into this scenario when I am doing wedding photography. My first plan of attack is usually to look for the most beautiful nearby tree. I personally prefer shooting in a shady area if possible, because again, the lighting situation is much more predictable - plus who doesn’t love a good tree in the background?! Shooting in a shaded area does a few different things - it can be more comfortable on super hot summer days, it eliminates the harsh shadows that the sun can cast on your face and it also prevents my beautiful models from squinting in their photos. In the photo above, we opted to shoot under one of my absolute favorite trees. This huge tree provides so much shade and also creates a beautiful backdrop.

Keep in mind that every photographer is different. Each one has different techniques and equipment to suit your needs. This is purely based on my style of shooting. I like to encourage everyone to find a photographer that matches their personal style. If you think we are a match, you should contact me today to book your spring or summer session before my calendar is filled. I look forward to hearing from you!

What Should We Wear?

One of the frequent questions I get from clients before their session is “What should we wear?”

Although I like to leave it up to my clients to ultimately choose their outfits because I think it’s important to feel comfortable and feel like yourself during your session, your outfit choices can make or break the final aesthetic of your photos. I love that that Thompson family(below) were able to coordinate even among such a large group. They chose tones of berry and blues which tie together nicely.

Here are a few ideas to assist you in your outfit selection:

Everyone who knows me, knows I am an Old Navy fanatic. So here’s my first suggestion. Old Navy has an entire page on their website dedicated to coordinating outfits for every age group of the family. Check it out: https://oldnavy.gap.com/products/matching-family-outfits.jsp

Another one of my go-to sites is Pinterest. Most of you probably have a Pinterest account, but if you don’t, go sign up! Now!! You can look up all sorts of ideas, I recommend making a pinterest board just for your photo session. You can share it with me and we can exchange our visions. Search things like “photo shoot outfits for couples” or “photo shoot outfits for families”. Pay attention to how the outfits coordinate with the background of the photo. Keep in mind where your photo shoot will take place and think about how your outfit will compliment or contrast with the background. For Anna and Thomas’ engagement session(below), we decided on the color blue to contrast with the sunflower field that they wanted to shoot at. I love that they are wearing different shades of blue.

My ultimate advice is this. Avoid things like : too many busy patterns, neon colors, and being too matchy-matchy with your partner or family members. I recommend wearing deep jewel tones and if you are going to wear a pattern maybe choose one person to wear a pattern and have the other person wear a solid color that can be pulled from that pattern. Zan and Alex(below) chose this beautiful deep red color to wear for their engagement session. The color was perfect for fall and looked beautiful with the golden leaves. I loved how her scarf complimented the color of his plaid shirt!

Your outfits can definitely make a big impact on the overall aesthetic of your shoot. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need help pulling together your outfits for your session. I’m here to help in any way I can!