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childhood 101

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I’m going to a workshop at the end of march in Mississippi (Rebirth) , and we have had a few small projects leading up to the actual event. This past one was ‘home’. Create an image that reminds you of home, childhood etc etc. Its pretty open to intrepretation. My first thought was ‘monkey bars’ and so I posted a plea on Facebook looking for help to locate old-school metal monkey bars, which proved to be a lot tougher than expected. Good luck with finding a set of those around here (theses kids today are pansies, playing on plastic and wood…)

Plan B was to dig out some of my old stuffed toys from upstairs. I ended up creating a rather abstract triptych (top image) of just my Red Dog  (…and that was his name: Red Dog. He’s a dog. And he’s red. What else would you call him?)

I didn’t want it too clear as to what you were looking at, since really – whose childhood is all that clear? Plus i’m always down for something a tad creepy…

Anyhow, I thought i’d share some of the more straight forward shots here just for fun.

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the bunny puppet was another favorite, yet somehow survived much better than Red Dog. I always liked his sassy neckerchief.  :)

i guess this actually looks a bit ghoulish, like Frankensteins monster with a variety of yarn and thread. I would never put this toy down, and my poor mom stitched and glued this thing together to keep it falling part like some sort of old car. He is so sad and dried up that the ‘filling’ pours out of his foot like sand in a hourglass.

this is what’s left of his smashed little head, his foam rubber brains crumbling out, barely contained by 40 year old Elmers glue.

Kristen+Jeff@The Fox Hill Inn, Brookfield CT

(I apologize in advance for these last 2 weddings being out of order—we had a technical glitch!!)

There is something very special about doing weddings in the wintertime. After a years worth of heat and humidity (anyone recall the day it felt 155 degrees?..) a winter event poses a set of completely different challenges (cold, fast fading light–potential snow!) So it’s always a joy when you have a couple who embrace the season and just Go With It, which Kristen and Jeff did. I photographed Jeff’s sisters wedding last year, so it was sorta like hang in out with people I knew already.

The only reason I photographed Kristen’s moms vintage set of grooming accessories was because they were so COOL!! ( had nothing to do with the wedding!)

oh boy–we have a hysterical bridesmaid already (she will kill me that I added that photo, but i think it’s cute!)

 

OK, i’m not sure you will see it, but I have 2 words for you: Julianne Moore. Tell me she doesn’t look like her. I happen to love Julianne Moore, so every time I caught a glimpse of Kristen at just the right angle – well…I couldn’t help myself…

 

at the church, Jeff waited patiently in the cold for the First Look

 

I.   Love.   This.   Photo!

 

my wedding party: frozen solid.

these 2 kids were SO great all day long: just stood around looking cute!

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The Fox Hill Inn – all gussied up for the Holidays

 

I generally don’t like ‘staircase’ shots, but thought with the garland and all decorated for Christmas that it was really pretty [geeky tech corner: the wall to my right made a great source to bounce the flash off of]

 

something about the whole night, including Kristen’s dress, had a vintage feel to me so forgive me here while I go a little crazy and go for the Old Photo look, complete with Christmas tree and all. In my mind my inspiration was: what might a faded photo from tonight look like in 40 years?

—thanks so much for a great day and enduring the rather frigid weather! Congratulations again!

Tammy+Paul@ The Fox Hill Inn, Brookfield CT

The last wedding of any year is always bittersweet. On one hand, and lets be totally honest here, after about 30 weddings (heat, cold, rain, traffic, great light, terrible light, no time to take photos, all the time in the world to shoot what you want , and maybe even a hurricane…) you kinda need a mental break for a period of time. On the other hand, that final wedding each year reminds you of what you have accomplished and all the people you have met, and hopefully touched throughout the year. One’s ‘trigger finger’ has been pretty busy on the shutter button, and it feels like a sad ending in some ways.

This year for whatever reason, my events were rather spread out, starting in March in New Jersey and ending just recently on December 17th, giving me the full range from Spring to Winter (with a couple of vacations tossed in there)

…so Tammy and Paul’s wedding at The Fox Hill Inn was officially the Last Wedding of 2011
Jay Fleming came along to shoot the guys while I was with the gals–
I just love Winter weddings, particularly because I often see great wraps and minks that I think so so cool with a wedding dress!
this shot is interesting, and I almost did not use it, because the light is actually coming from a guests flash. But in B&W I thought it looked kinda neat!
Tammy is a teacher, and a bunch of her kids from school – both recent and past students – came to the church to wish the new couple well!
afterwards, we zipped over top Cranbury Park in Norwalk (where we actually did their engagement session!) and the wedding party really toughed it out in the freezing cold. I had a fleece, jacket and gloves on and was STILL frozen, so we worked fast to get everyone back on the party bus
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This was a DANCIN’ crowd, and Sean ‘Big Daddy’ McKee from James Daniel entertainment really kept the group up on their feet
…halfway through Tammy and her dads dance, they launched into a choreographed dance number which I’m glad I was warned about, because it popped out of nowhere–it was really kinda cute!
Thanks to you both for a great day and a terrific way for me to end my 2011 wedding year!!

Jennifer+Steve@ Harrington Farm, Princeton MA.

There’s something that’s always very exciting about going to a new venue. While a familiar spot provide a certain degree of security, a new place is like opening up a new toy. New angles, different light etc. Couples often say with a sense of relief, “OH!! You HAVE been to our venue before.”, but in reality a new place is really fun. Jennifer and Steve got married and had their reception in the hills of Massachusetts at The Harrington Farm, a perfectly adorable spot that made a beautiful location for a winter wedding…

Not knowing how lost I might get (!!) I left plenty early and arrived with time to get some exterior shots right as the sun was getting nice and golden…

 

Jennifers mom went crazy with the details which were INCREDIBLE–I could have shot the table at the front entrance all day long–

Since there is an inn there as well, I grabbed the dress and made off into one of the empty rooms, where there was just the BEST light streaming in through the window.

 

Steve designed the wedding ring, and they also had a necklace made for Steve’s son to present to him during the ceremony

 

the flowers were by Bella Floral Design

 

OK- i’ll be honest—it was REALLY cold out, but they were troopers for photos as well as their First Look—

 

I was digging the vintage Blue Fox her mom found for her!

 

we had all of about 5 minutes to catch this sun before it was gone for good–and yes, it was freezing out

 

I was thinking about old paintings as I shot this,  with the texture of the trees behind them and muted color…

 

you know how I am: give me an old structure in the background and i’m happy…

 

the program was designed by Robin Lindsay Fine Art & Design, who you can find on facebook!

 

I thought that Gretchen of Enchanted Wedding Cakes of Shrewsbury, MA, did an amazing job with the detailed trees on the cake

 

 

there were lots of little guys running all over the place!

 

OH OH–annnddd: we have a cake smush!

 

Jennifers mom Janalene paused for a moment to get down on the floor and read to the kids—so cute!!!!

So genius here spots the chairs uncovered outside and christmas lights and thinks “Hey! Lets go take a shot out there!!” So out we go for all of maybe 3 minutes (working at Lightspeed as it’s super-freezing now, mind you) and I go to demonstrate how to sit on the chair only to discover its covered with a layer of semi-frozen moisture ( look closely at the right hand cushion), which ended up on my bottom. Not a slick move--but the shot was worth it!

Congrats guys–and thanks for such a fun, easy going day–as well as enduring the cold!

Janalene Robertson - January 4, 2012 - 11:51 am

Robert… your photos are soooo beautiful… you’re just making me cry all over again… xo Janalene

Marjorie+Justin @ The Barns at Wesleyan Hills

There is really no way to talk about Marjorie and Justin’s wedding without a brief time-trip back to August and good ‘Ol Hurricane Irene. Their wedding was originally scheduled for Sunday August 28, but once Irene swept through causing havoc, things were put on hold until November as they wanted to gather together all the same vendors again. As troublesome as that was, I think it was the best idea as none of us knew what conditions we’d experience the day of the storm. So lets flash forward to Thanksgiving weekend–and here we go!….

 

there was such great light by the front doors, I kept trying to photograph everyone as soon as they turned into the light!

 

This may well be one of my favorite shots of the year–this sort of moment just does not happen every week, rest assured!!

 

We skedaddled from Norwalk up to Middletown to The Barns at Wesleyan Hills—

The winter light faded fast but we got an incredible sky in the midst of it!

 

Their cake display, of different sized and decorated cakes was amazing!

 

thanks to Mike Ross for coming to help out and getting some of these cool images from up above

 

Justin’s expressions throughout the best mans speech were priceless

 

this was a DANCIN’ crowd!!

 

there is just something about this image I love –it has a kind of ‘old school hazy’ glow that is really cool (well, I THINK it is anyway!)

 

you might think these ‘blurry’,but i think the mood and moment is pretty neat

 

Congrats to you both on your wedding and for being such great troopers with all the rescheduling and everything that entailed!!

 

Sandy Brown - January 4, 2012 - 6:59 pm

Robert you did an outstanding job, we all had such a great time with you. The pictures are wonderful, you really captured the great time everyone had. Thanks so much. Sandy Brown

Athena Bludé - December 21, 2011 - 1:21 pm

Your favorite shot is also my favorite and that amazing first vertical frame with the bride’s veil – stunning, Robert!

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