SUMMERTIME, AND THE LIVIN' IS EASY

The livin' is easy for MOST but if you are a portrait photographer, summer is a very busy time.  It's the perfect time to take advantage of visiting relatives and a good opportunity to get those multigenerational shots.  Since the visitors are on vacation, the mood is generally informal and the subjects, especially kids, are feeling playful.  In the image above and below, Sheryll wanted to use the excuse of having a "big" birthday to encourage her family to have a long overdue portrait session.  She especially wanted a photo of her and her five "kids."  The photos were taken at Gunrock Beach in Hull, just steps from Sheryll's summer place.

Another birthday was the impetus for Jeanne to request a multigenerational photo session with her visiting daughters and grandchildren.  Gracie (blue top/white skirt)  had the creative idea to set up the shot below.  The two images below were both taken at Nantasket beach, very close to the Nantasket Resort Hotel where Jeanne's guests were staying.

In addition to family portraits, late summer is also the time for senior photos and I offer families and opportunity to book a family photo and include the senior photo at no extra charge.  The Johnson family, repeat customers, took me up on this and we took their family portrait in Hingham Harbor and included Marissa's senior portrait at the same time.

 Finally, ANOTHER "big" birthday brought the Carr family together at the South Shore Conservatory.  Below is Jane with five of her grandchildren.

TAKIN' IT TO THE STREETS

One of my goals is to spend at LEAST as much time working on my craft as I spend working.  This doesn't always happen but when I have an opportunity to get out and practice, I try to grab it.  And when one of those opportunities happens to be with members of the South Shore Camera Club AND when we are joined by one of our speakers and mentors, the stars become aligned and something magical happens.  One of the club's favorites, Peter Pereira, spent Saturday with a group of us, acting as mentor, historian and ambassador to the city of New Bedford.  The day was fun, informative and inspiring.

Peter is a photojournalist who works for New Bedford's Standard-Times.  Our tour began inside the newsroom, where we learned about its daily operations. 

Our next stop was aboard a small boat that took us for a spin around the harbor.  Much of the harbor is dedicated to commercial fishing and the rest to a small marina used for recreational boating.  There's also a fast ferry from New Bedford to Martha's Vineyard.  

After a leisurely lunch at Tia Maria's we toured the New Bedford Whaling Museum.  The museum's exhibits depict the importance of the whaling industry to New Bedford's history.  We were then on to Fort Rodman/Fort Taber, an important Civil War installation.  Peter worked his magic, getting us special entrance into the fort, normally closed to visitors (below).  The fort was crawling with World War II re enactors on the day of our visit, offering even more photo opps than normal.

Our visit ended in Fairhaven, with stops at The First Unitarian Church, constructed in 1838 with Gothic architecture, followed by a look at Fort Phoenix.  From the fort grounds you can see into Buzzard's Bay and you also have a very good view of New Bedford's stone hurricane barrier, at 3.5 miles long it's the largest hurricane barrier in the world.

The day was a wonderful combination of photo shoot, history lesson and city/harbor tour!

HERE COMES THE BRIDE

Trying to get caught up; as usual.  Photographed Jennifer and her dashing groom a few weeks ago but this post is all about the bride!  It's good to get the traditional shots that every bride will want but then I try to surprise her with the unexpected.  This bride looked good from every angle, making my job pretty easy but coming up with new ideas is always a challenge.  

MAINE-IAC MOMS

It was an absolutely perfect Mother's Day weekend in Cushing, at Pleasant Point in Maine; cool, sunny and no responsibilities.   Thanks to the hospitality of a friend, I had a great opportunity to kick back, relax and explore with my camera.  It's always good to get back to the basics and practice working on exposure.  

Maine means one thing.  Lobster.  And where there's lobster, there's buoys...

Low tide, we walked over to Gay Island.  At high tide the island is cut off from auto travel. 

ON THE JOB TRAINING

When someone asks me to take a business portrait, whether it's for social media or for use in a magazine or on a website, more often than not, I suggest taking an "environmental" portrait.  This type of shot is usually on location and I like it because it gives some context to the subject being photographed.  It also tends to help the subject relax.  In choosing the location, my goal is to have it  add interest to the shot while not dominating the shot.  These shots were all take with my Canon 24-105 lens, an all-purpose portrait lens, it's effective with an f-stop of 5 or less to blur the background.

Above, the owner of Woods Seafood in Plymouth, showing his wares!

The portrait below was taken of someone who works next to Rowes Wharf.  I suggested taking the photo right outside the building with the water in the background.  In Boston, it's a fairly recognizable area.  Worked out well.  Didn't hurt that the "model" was stunning!

On assignment for South Shore magazine, I had an opportunity to photograph John Wayne's son, Ethan, who is selling Whiskey named after his famous father, the Duke.  

Below, Dr. Teresa Salem in her Holbrook office

Below, kitchen designs by Transitions Kitchen and Bath in Norwell

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE (THIS) HOME

I had driven past 721 Main Street hundreds of times but never stopped to take a closer look, until last week when I had the opportunity to photograph the exterior for a realtor who is listing this historic property.  Intrigued by it's ornateness, I asked the realtor for some additional information.

According to the Massachusetts Historical Commission, the 1864 Andrew C. Cushing House is the only Second Empire residence in the Glad Tidings Local Historic District.  Surrounded by more traditional colonial and cape homes, the Cushing house, with its wrought iron gate and ornate architecture, really stands out.  It sports a dual pitched hipped roof (French mansard), molded cornices and decorative brackets.  From the time that it was built until about 1913, the local newspaper kept tabs on the the house and its owners, reporting on all updates made to the house.  It will continue to cause passersby to stop and stare and hopefully, to look closely and enjoy this amazing example of French architecture.

BUNDLE OF JOY

I don't consider newborn photography to be one of my specialties.  Let me back up.  I LOVE babies.  Who doesn't?  And I do enjoy photographing them and I really enjoy photographing siblings.  I guess I'm just not one of those who will contort a sleeping baby to pose inside of a pumpkin.  Or even into a basket.  I guess my style is pretty straightforward and really, when you have a perfect, beautiful baby, you don't need much else.  I have been lucky enough to have photographed Grayson for nearly two years and then along comes his baby sister Avery.  I used natural window light and a flash with my 24-105 lens.  Nothing too tricky.  I do enjoy applying some Topaz filters now and again and sometimes they work well.  I look forward to watching these two and photographing them again!

AND THAT'S HOW I BECAME A BIRDER

I think it was in elementary school that I nicknamed myself "Joe Cool."  Being cool was (and is) always pretty important to me.  According to my family (and some friends), my cool points took a serious hit when joined the camera club.  I guess people liken it to the AV Club.  But truth be told, the  South Shore Camera Club includes some incredibly talented and creative photographers.  Not to mention they are generous with their knowledge, kind and fun-loving.  Any success that I have had as a photographer, I owe to the members and speakers that have graced our club.  One subject I NEVER thought would interest me was nature photography.  And even more specifically, photographing birds.  An outsider might think "birding" is for the birds but in reality, I have found it quite fascinating and now that I am living on a pond, I'm learning by leaps and bounds that there's a lot that goes into identifying and photographing birds.  I recently noticed some small black and white birds on Straits Pond and learned that they are called Bufflehead ducks.  They had eluded my camera until early Sunday morning, when I clawed my way through the cattails, armed with my 100-400mm lens and a monopod.  I hope to go back to do a bit better but the light was good and I was pretty happy with these for a first attempt.  Turns out, birding is pretty cool.