Dancing in the Dark

I knew going in that John and Eileen's wedding would be technically challenging. Clark Chapel at the Pomfret School is beautiful, but no one would ever accuse it of having too many windows. Likewise, their reception was at Bullard Tavern in Old Sturbridge Village. Again, beautiful location, but the 1830's were not known for their bright electric lights.

But technical challenges just need a technical solution, and we came prepared with loads more lighting equipment than usual. (Indeed, more than we ended up needing - apparently the 1830's were fairly well lit.) With a little help from my second shooter Margit in holding and positioning lights, we were able to capture everything we wanted.

Sturbridge Village was especially a treat - I'm pretty sure I haven't been there since a field trip in the fifth grade. Getting to walk around and take some photos in the empty park was a lot of fun.

Bullard Tavern has an interesting layout for weddings, with separate dining and dancing rooms. I like it - two intimate and very different locations for the price of one.

I can't wait to edit the rest of these images, and I expect I'll be bringing more lights to future shoots as well, no matter what century they're in.

An Engagement in the Crossfire

Shannon and Andy are a fantastic couple to work with - laid back, fun, photogenic.

On top of that, we got unbelievably lucky with the weather. Despite some unseasonably cold weather lately (We had snow flurries. In mid October.) today was warm and breezy, a last hurrah of summer, and perfect for some outdoor engagement photos.

But lets be real - you came here to figure out what "in the crossfire" means. Well...

I can't wait to see what they do for the wedding.

A Friend's Engagement

Yesterday was a busy day in the Wussow household. 

My friends Victor and Faith got engaged recently, and we offered our house to host an engagement party for them.

The day started with a chilly but beautiful engagement shoot at some local parks.

Then lots of planning, prepping, cooking, and finally partying for the rest of the day. As a treat for the couple (and myself, because it's fun) I got out my ring light setup and ran a little photo-booth out of a side room.

I even found someone to take over camera duties so Heather and I could get a couple photos of us.

So happy for Faith and Vic, and can't wait to photograph their wedding next year!

Three Weddings and an Engagement

What.

A.

Weekend.

Clearly, I've got loads of editing to do. I'm going to write up each of these at length soon, but for now, I'm loving these sneak peeks! I hope you are too.

Halfway There

Well, this past week has taken me through the halfway point in my yearbook photo season. The toughest, most-travel intense weeks are now behind me. (As is, hopefully, my second and last cold of the season. What can you do? Little kids love to cough on strangers.)

It's a stressful couple months, where I never have enough time to  edit my own work or see my friends and family. But it's also a lot of fun, and I get to travel a lot and spend a lot of time outside during the last beautiful days of the summer/first beautiful days of fall. (Seriously, I don't tan all summer, but by October 1st I'm rocking that farmers tan.)

This week I'll be heading to New York City and Massachusetts on a short, three day week... and then I have a day off to prepare for a properly intense three-wedding weekend. Thankfully the second and third weddings are short and very short, respectively. Still, busy busy!

I've seen a picture floating around Facebook lately that says "October is for photographers what April is for tax experts." Truer words are rarely spoken.

Back to work!

Then and Now

Petapixel recently ran an interesting article where a handful of photographers compared a photo from their first real gig, mostly engagements, to their most recent. It sounded like fun, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I've photographed, either as a primary or secondary photographer, sixty-three weddings (including a few elopements) since my first on January 8th, 2011. But that was as a second shooter for a friend of mine. My first wedding was five months later, when Abbas and Hanyia tied the knot.

Not bad, I'd say (and Abbas must have agreed since he gave me a referral just last year!) but everything gets better with practice. Here's another from my most recent wedding.

Here's to many more years of wonderful weddings, beautiful wedding photos, and killer receptions.

Berkshires Getaway (and one more)

Erika and Nana's wedding brought my second shooter and I to Crissey Farm, an amazing venue in Stockbridge, MA, and the nearby Naumkaeg House and Gardens. Erika is a consummate planner, and from my talks with her (and reviewing her detailed itinerary) I knew that the wedding would go off on-schedule and without a hitch. 

That said, this one still exceeded my expectations.

The weather was perfect. The locations looked better in person than in the photos I'd seen beforehand. Erika and Nana (and their families and friends) were amazingly fun, friendly, and easy to work with.

The photos always get done, but some days everything just clicks and it feels effortless.

That alone would have made for a great weekend, but I also spent Friday photographing the Women Entrepreneurs Empowerment Forum for UConn, which featured Joanna Coles and Governor Dannel Malloy. It was a great event - I just wish I'd had time to actually listen to all the talks and visit the booths. Just the scraps I picked up between photos have given me some great ideas for my business.

(Alas - no photos here from that event, due to a special arrangement between UConn and I. However, you can get the gist from their official Instagram hashtag.)

Time to post some Instagram photos, edit some more, and get ready for another week of yearbook photos!

Con Men

Ugh.

One of the downsides of running a business which is advertised online is that periodically someone will try to take advantage of you. Which sucks, but, you know, it comes with the territory. If you pay attention and have some limits/standards, you can avoid getting burned.

But it's still disappointing.

Who wakes up and decides to impersonate a deaf person (they also claimed to be in the ICU elsewhere) just to try to rip someone off? 

Anyway, two things to take from this:

• If you find or sell work online, be careful. If something seems off or weird, trust your gut and ask lots of questions. In this case, the person didn't seem to really be reading my texts, and of course the actual scam, wanting me to funnel money for them. (For anyone who hasn't seen this before: they want to send a check or credit card payment which takes a few days to clear, but you have to send someone a money order immediately. By the time their payment comes back as fraudulent, your cash is gone.)
• If you are one of my clients who found me online, without the benefit of a friend's referral, thank you so much for your trust. I'm very aware that hiring a photographer is always a huge act of trust (that they will carry through with their promises, that their product will be of the promised quality). Giving that trust online is an even bigger leap of faith. It means the world to me, and nothing is more important to me than delivering on that trust.

I won't say something like "this ruins my faith in people", because it doesn't. Almost everyone who reaches out to me is not only who they claim to be, but wonderful people that are a pleasure to work with.

Y'all are great.