New Custom USB Drives!!

In the digital age, I love being able to provide my clients with the high-res digital images from their wedding day. While most of my clients download their images from their online gallery, I believe having a "hard" copy of their images on a USB drive for safe keeping is just as important. That's why I offer custom USB drives to all my clients as an add on to their photography collection.

I'm super excited for my new custom bamboo USB Drives that arrived last week from USB Memory Direct and wanted to show them off! If you're a photographer or any business for that matter and are looking for beautiful custom USB drives that fit your brand, you need to check out USB Memory Direct. They have some of the best custom USB drives I've ever seen and used, and working with them has been awesome! 

CT Wedding Photography | Top Ten Images From 2014

2014 was a great year for me, I moved onto running my business on a full-time basis, April and I moved back to the shoreline, and we got engaged, talk about major life changes! As my life was changing in front of my eyes, so were the lives of my clients. With the start of 2015 it means it's time for me to take a look back at 2014 and the images that stick out in my mind as some of my favorites. 

Trying to select ten images from 2014 to label as my top ten was no easy task. With every wedding I shoot about 1,200 images and easily double that number if I'm working with a second photographer. I than curate that number down to about 400-600 deliverable images for my clients. For engagement sessions I shoot about 200-400 images and curate that number down to about 50-100 deliverable images. Needless to say choosing just 10 images to feature was no easy task, but I've done my best to select images that stick out to me. I present to you the top ten images from 2014 with the story and what I was thinking when I made the image.

10: That Cake

At the final wedding of the year I was about to take a quick break to grab a bit to eat, when all of a sudden I noticed the venue director standing with this little girl next to the cake. Having just put down my gear at the vendor table, I yelled over to April who was assisting me, to throw me one of my cameras. April actually tossed me my camera about five feet. I crouched down and captured this image in a split second. To capture this little girls expression when looking at the cake was priceless and well worth the risk of dropping my camera. 

9: Find The Ring

I always say to be prepared for anything when photographing a wedding. This is about the best case I can make for being prepared for anything. As the cute as a button ring bearer was walking toward the aisle, we quickly realized that he had lost the brides wedding band! Without skipping a beat about half the guest jumped out of their seats and started searching for the ring. Being one to document everything that happens on a wedding day, I took just one image of everyone looking for the ring, before I myself helped in the search. Just as everyone started to get nervous that the ring would not be found, who else but me see's it shining in the August midday sun! Some of the guest said I saved the day, but in my heart I was just doing my job. Best quote was a guest said "whatever you paid the photographer, it was not enough, he actually saved the day!" I just laughed and went back to shooting the ceremony. 

8: A Family Moment

Weddings are about the bride and groom, but there are tons of special moments between the guest as well. I was second shooting for my buddy Robb Cyr Photography during this wedding and was actually shooting of film vs. digital. As the night was winding down I saw this couple dancing in the corner of my eye with their son on his Dad's shoulders. When shooting 35mm film sometimes you get an extra frame or two from your roll. I was just about to change out my roll when I took a chance on capturing this image and luckily I got that one extra frame I needed to capture this special moment between this family. Frame 25 on a roll of film that had 24 exposures gave me this. So worth taking the chance and waiting that extra second to change out my roll of film. 

7. The Dress

Part of my routine on a wedding day is to create detail images of the dress, shoes, rings, etc. Creating detail images are always fun, but sometimes there is more power to a detail image when one of your subjects is in the frame. I was taking a step back to look at this scene to see if I wanted to create an image of the dress in this light, when all of a sudden the bride walked over from hair and make up and started looking at her dress just hanging there. I don't know what thoughts were going through her mind at that moment, but this was a beautiful moment that needed to be captured forever. 

6. Intimate Moment

Many times as I'm setting up an image of the couple, special intimate moments happen, thats why as I'm talking them through how I would like them to pose I have my camera to my eye. This was one of those moments that my couple gave me. This image is from a intimate elopement and right after their ceremony I was setting up a shot shooting through a bush, when the groom started to fix his brides hair. Relaxed, intimate, and candid, this image made April say "what a beautiful moment you captured babe", as we were reviewing the images when we got home.

5. Engagement Rings For Sale

I have Allison and Chad to thank for allowing me to photograph my first wedding ever in my favorite city NYC! Originally we had not planned on doing an engagement session, but when I was looking at my schedule I noticed I had an open Saturday the month before their wedding, so I decided to go down to the city and walk through all the locations we would be shooting at on their wedding day. I brought along one camera, two lenses and asked them if they would like to have a mini engagement session for the heck of it and they said yes! The trick to making images in any location is to always look at your surroundings, as we were walking from one location to the next I noticed this jewelry store with a subway stop right in front of it. I told Chad and Allison to stop and come stand over here and give each other a kiss. As we were walking I had noticed the engagement ring sign, the subway, and the guy standing there in the walkway not giving a damn about what was going on around him and knew I had to create an image in this scene. Not even thinking about it, I ran into the middle of a busy NYC street and created this image. In classic NYC fashion a cab almost hit me, and people yelled at me from their cars. I didn't care, all that was worth it to create this moment. 

4. A Mothers Tears

As I was kneeling down at the end of the aisle during the processional I was right next to the grooms mom. I had one eye on her and one on who was walking down the aisle. I did this because I got the sense she might give me an emotional candid moment. My guess was correct, I glanced over and saw her crying and wiping the tears on her cheek away. Moments like this are why I love my job. 

3. Negative Space

One of the things I'm known for is framing my couples in the corner or bottom of the frame and using negative space to highlight just them. This technique came in handy while in Central Park with Allison and Chad on their wedding day. It was a busy Saturday in August and the park was packed, you would never know that just out of the frame there are about 100 people milling about in the park. If I didn't tell you that, you would probably guess we were in the middle of some beautiful forest, not Central Park..haha.

2. Under the willow tree

Kristina called me on a busy weekday in July (the middle of wedding season) wondering if I was available to shoot an engagement session later that week. I was, and out of curiosity I asked if there was a reason she wanted to shoot it that week. She told me her fiancé was going to be deployed soon and they wanted to capture their love before he left for six months. What I didn't know was, he would be deployed, if I remember correctly, two days after I made this image. Making things a little more stressful was that the day we scheduled the session there were on and off again rain showers and the threat of thunderstorms, without being able to reschedule we took our chances and went ahead with the session. Knowing Avery Point in Groton really well, I knew if the thunderstorms passed we would have a killer mid-summer sunset to work with. As we were winding down the session I asked them if they would be game to try something different for me. This image is a composite of two images. One image was to light Kristina and Joe with a flash April is holding and the second image is for the exposure of the sky and to remove April from the frame later in Photoshop. I have to say, this is probably my favorite image all year from a technical stand point, but what's more important is that I was able to captured their love before Joe had to go back to sea. 

1. A Flower Girls Moment

My favorite image from 2014 is again a candid moment that happened in the blink of an eye. As Amanda was getting into her dress I noticed one of her flower girls watching her, that in it's self would be a great moment to capture, but it's this moment that grabbed my attention. Without even thinking about it, the flower girl helped to fluff out Amanda's train and gave me this moment. She knew I was watching her and to capture her expression with Amanda laughing in the foreground about sums up why I love my job. Wedding days are full of spontaneous moments filled with laughter, love, and joy, this image captures all of that, making it my favorite image from 2014.

In all honesty these are just 10 images from a year full of awesome moments and beautiful photos, but each one of these images has a story and that's why they are on this list. As the 2015 wedding season approaches I can't wait to capture all the moments that my couples allow me to witness. It's an honor to be apart of such an important day in a couples life, so here's to 2015, and all the laughter, love, and joy it will bring! 

-Nach

April and I | She Said Yes!

Every year I hear that right now is engagement "season". I've never actually looked at the numbers, but I' hear that many couples get engaged around the holidays, so sure, I guess that means it's engagement "season" haha. I personally never really planned to ask April to marry me around the holidays, but that's what happened last month.

Almost all my clients know April personally, she was probably my assistant at your engagement session, wedding, or portrait session. If you have not met her personally, if you have had a meeting with me or talked with me online I have mentioned her. She has been my girlfriend and now fiancé for over seven years, but to truly understand just how long I have had a crush on her we need to jump in the time machine. Grab some popcorn and your adult beverages because I'm about to tell you a love story fourteen years in the making....

Our story starts in eight grade at Ledyard Middle School. April was part of my class and at our middle school you would rotate to all your courses with the same group of classmates all year, so needless to say we saw a lot of each other. I honestly can't tell you how we first started talking in our classes, but somehow we became friends.

I was such a boy, I had no idea this girl liked me, I just thought "oh cool a girl want's to talk to me!" As the year went by I started to realize that maybe she liked me. If I remember correctly my best friends still to this day (all three of us have the same tattoo that we got senior year of high school) said to me something to the tune of, "dude, April likes you, you should ask her out!" In typical April fashion she asked me before I could muster up the courage to ask her.

One of our first dates was my Dad driving me to her parents house and us sitting on the couch watching TV. I remember being so afraid to put my arm around her as we sat alone in her parents basement, but again April made the first move and grabbed my arm and put it around her, I was shocked, excited, and scared to death..haha. As the year went by April and I went to dances together, gave each other notes in class, yes real notes, texting was not cool back then! She would steal my hats that I would wear and wear them around school. I was crazy for her, I wanted to see her all the time, and we would have long conversations on the phone when we got home from school. All our friends got along with each other, and honestly I didn't think life could get any better. Remember though we were 14 years old, young love never tends to last...

April and I dated through the Summer leading up to freshman year of high school, but I screwed it all up. I was a football player and loved every second of being one. I choose to ignore April once August came along and football season kicked into full swing. I didn't call her at all, and when the first day of high school started she confronted me at my locker demanding answers, oh and she decided to dye her hair blond (I still tease her to this day about that). That was it for my young self, I hated that hair, and honestly it was football season, I didn't have time for her anymore, and like an idiot I let her get away. We broke it off and like an immature boy I refused to talk to her and avoided her at all cost. She moved on and started dating someone else, and me, well I loved every second of being part of playing football and had no time for girls. In fact my Mom tells a great story about April and her best friend Tracy asking to help at the youth league stand that my Mom ran, and how I threw a fit about her helping and me having to be in the same room as April. My Mom basically said "tough, Tracy and April are coming to do community service for Girl Scouts and you will be working as well, get over it" (love ya Mom)! I actually didn't talk to her at the snack stand, and actually I wouldn't talk to her until the Spring of our Sophomore year of high school. 

April and I were placed in the same math class sophomore year of high school, I had a different girlfriend and had grew up enough to talk to her again. We actually had a really good time in math class together with my best friend Ben. We were friends again, and a little part of me knew that having April as a friend was better than not having her in my life at all. As High School raced by April was the girl in the pack of my guy friends, we were all friends and to this day some of the best memories I have are from high school with that crew. 

When college rolled around naturally we all went our separate ways, I went to Lyndon State College in Vermont and April went to Seton Hall in New Jersey. We both made new friends, but would still instant message each other once in a while at college. The Summer after our freshman year in college it was like the old days again and my crew and April all hanged out and had a great time. It was a party at my buddies house that made me stop and realize, damn I still like April and not as a friend! In fact our friends could see it as well, they always asked me, "man when you are going to get back together with her? It's only a matter of time bro." April had a boyfriend and I've always been a gentleman and would just say "if the time ever comes that we are both single I might ask her out." 

Going into the Summer of senior year of college I was sitting at the desk at one of my summer jobs and my phone rang, it was April. Naturally I thought April was calling to say hi, but she had other intentions. She asked if I wanted to grab drinks, saying she had broken up with her old boyfriend, and then it hit me, whoa she was asking me out!

We went for drinks in downtown Mystic and had a great time. When it was time to go back to college she asked me if I felt something between us, I said yes, but we are going back to school, and you just broke up with your boyfriend. You should go back to school, go on some dates and if we still feel the same way at Thanksgiving break, lets see what happens. I don't think she liked that response, but I was so focused on finishing college and honestly didn't want to do the long distance thing at that moment in time.

The Fall of senior year of college came and went fast, April and I didn't talk to much, but once we came home for Thanksgiving break she told me she went on some dates, they sucked, and still wanted to date me, I felt the same. So our love story began again! During the last six months of college we spoke all the time, I called her my girlfriend to all my college buddies and we even made a point to go see each other when we could at each others schools. Graduation came and I knew I was going to be working at ESPN within a month of graduation back in CT and April was going to find a teaching job in Connecticut. I had no clue what the future held, but I knew I wanted her in it.

April eventually landed a job in Waterbury CT, just by dumb luck it was about 20 minutes from Bristol, CT where I was living and working at ESPN. She got her own place and we would spend time between the two. We would spend every moment we could together (I had a crazy schedule at ESPN). Our love grew stronger every day and eventually we decided to move in together. Our first apartment was actually my apartment. We lived there for about six months in what was an absolute shoebox of an apartment for two people until we had enough money to get a bigger place in near by Southington. That apartment in Southington will always be the place that I realized I wanted to marry April. We had some serious ups and downs at that apartment, not between us, but just life. Work, life in general, you know, all the shit your parents warn you about adult life, but don't care to listen to until you in it for yourself. That apartment is actually where I started my business. We had the best of times in that apartment and the worst of times but in the end I knew deep down in my heart I wanted to marry this girl. 

It was a two year process of looking for a ring and finally asking April to marry me. Truth is Aprils sister got married in that time, and with all honestly I wanted her sister to have her moment and put off asking April for a year. It was all good, we moved back to the shoreline and I left my job at ESPN to run my business full-time, and it just never felt right asking her during that time anyway.

Let me tell you looking for a ring was stressful, I looked at every major, local, and online jeweler and could never really find the right ring. Funny thing is I started at Tiffanys Co. and ended up there in the end. Any man looking for a ring I feel your pain, it's a lot harder than it needs to be, the 4 c's, greedy jewelers, and overpriced dreams. In the end just go with your gut, if the women you are asking truly loves you, the ring is just the symbol of your commitment and she will love whatever you pick out. 

All this brings us to present day, April and I always planned on moving back to the shoreline, we are from the shoreline and always wanted to come back. I knew I wanted to build my business here, our families are here, and honestly it's home to us. We now rent a great house in the cute little town of Niantic, CT within walking distance of the beach and just a short drive from a lot of our lifelong friends and our families.

It was a rainy Saturday in December and I headed out to Tiffanys Co. to finally buy the ring I always wanted to get April. Kim at Tiffanys was awesome, she didn't try to sell me on anything I didn't want (other jewelers I'm look at you), Kim showed me the ring I had in mind and honestly made the whole process fun! I knew I would not be able to keep a secret so I decided I was going to ask April at the house later that night. I made a nice dinner, hid some champagne in the basement, and waited for April to get home from work. Once home, we had dinner, a drink or two and were just our normal selves. I grabbed the ring from my office and asked April to come into the living room. I had her close her eyes, and I put that blue box in her hands and told her to open her eyes. April knew right away what was up! I asked her to marry me and that was it, she said yes! We drove around the next day telling all our parents, friends, and family we were engaged and as my grandmother said "THANK GOD, IT'S ABOUT TIME". Yup, that about sums it all up. 

Seven years later April and I are about to go down the same fun, exciting and at times stressful path that my clients have gone down when it comes to getting married. I can't say enough about the women I'm going to marry, and to try to write down my emotions is impossible. All I will say is this "I love you April and can't wait to marry you and to start the next chapter in our own little love story."

Since I love to blog I will be documenting our wedding planning process over the next seven months leading up to our wedding in July 2015. So stay tuned for more April and I wedding blog posts!

Connecticut CT Wedding Photography | Bunnell Farm Wedding | Jess & Matt

Back in August I had the opportunity to capture Jess and Matt's wedding at Bunnell Farm in Litchfield Connecticut. Jess and Matt are both awesome tattoos artist and I knew after our engagement session together in May, their wedding was going to be a good time. Also, being fellow creatives we were a great match for each other!

I loved the ring bearers hat! 

Jess and Matt are such free spirits and had a ton of fun on their wedding day, this was just the start!

I loved their choice of wedding favors! 

Just before the party started I made time to take a quick portrait of both the ring bearer and flower girl. They totally needed their own portraits! 

I always love the first dance!

I got a good laugh out of their cake topper, and who doesn't love cupcakes!?

Moments like this one of Red and his Grandmother are why I love what I do!

It was such a lovely night for a reception!

Jess and Red it was a pleasure capturing your day and like you I had one heck of a good time doing it! 

A Weekend Off With The iPhone 6 Plus

This | Is | Me

Last weekend was the first weekend in a while that I didn't have anything on my schedule that I needed to do. Sure, I could have found something to work on (the work never stops as a small business owner, and honestly sometimes it's hard to disconnect) but instead I decided to spend time with the people who mean the most to me. My girlfriend and my parents. April and I spent Saturday at the corn maze, picking pumpkins, visiting a winery, and making dinner together. Sunday, Mom made a delicious breakfast for all of us and Dad and I hit up the Rhode Island coastline for some surf fishing!

April and I about to enter the corn maze!

Being a photographer means that I'm always looking to create, but honestly sometimes I just get tired of carrying around my professional gear to create personal images.

Enter the iPhone 6 Plus!

Anyone who has followed me on Facebook for a long time will know I loved my iPhone 4! In fact I loved it so much, I did a year long project call the iPhone picture of the day in 2013. While it was challenging to create a new image everyday for a year, I found that project actually made me a better photographer. It made me focus on the everyday and create images of what we tend to overlook on a daily basis. Sadly about as soon as the project ended my iPhone 4 took a nasty spill and the camera lens got so scratched that for about nine months taking a half way decent photo with it was impossible. Then last Thursday I got a call from Verizon telling me my iPhone 6 Plus (yup, the one that supposedly can be bent) was available for pick up! With a new iPhone in hand I decided to capture some of my weekend off to share with you.

I will say the camera in the iPhone 6 Plus is pretty amazing! For anyone like myself who likes to capture life in front of them with minimal gear the iPhone 6 Plus is the point and shoot camera for you. It's almost too easy to use, and the images, well, they are down right amazing!

All the images below were edited using Lightroom Mobile.

Enjoy

One of the first images I took with the iPhone 6 Plus.

Love the Fall!

An old barn on the way to our house.

Corn Maze!!!

You know, sometimes you find chickens chilling out when you're in the maze..lol.

The pano mode on the iPhone is pretty awesome!

I love the beams of lighting sneaking through the clouds.

hahah

Pumpkins!!

Anytime is a good time for wine right?!

Pano of a beach in Rhode Island

The sky was to die for on Sunday!

A random surf fisherman.

Yup, Summers over....

Tracks...

Lobstah anyone?

I found a pretty good third party app that lets me do long exposure images with my iPhone. Safe to say I can't wait to test it out some more. 

Beautiful end to a weekend off!

Lake of Isles | Foxwoods | North Stonington | CT Connecticut | Wedding Photographer | Amanda&Brandon Teaser

Earlier this week I I had the pleasure of photographing Amanda and Brandon's wedding at Lake of Isles in North Stonington, CT. The weather was perfect and the foliage was to die for! Check out some of my favorite images so far. Full blog post coming soon!

Hammonasset Beach | Madison CT Connecticut | Intimate Elopement | Wedding Photographer | Mariah&Scott

In July I had the opportunity to photograph Mariah and Scott's intimate seaside elopement at Hammonasset Beach in Madison, Connecticut. It was an absolutely beautiful night for them to share their vows!

Lenses | The Other Side {Five Simple Tips For A Great Engagement Session}

Lenses | The Other Side

Engagement sessions, I love them! Just like a wedding day there is a lot of planning involved in making any engagement session a successful one. For many clients this is one of the first times they’ve had a professional photographer photograph them.

Five Simple Tips For A Great Engagement Session

Location

One of the most important parts of an engagement session is location. While I have a list of locations that I know are perfect for engagement sessions, I always ask my couples to pick their engagement session location.

When choosing a location for your engagement session I suggest making it personal. Pick a location that is special to you and your fiancé. The location could be where you got engaged, where you had your first date, or a place that you love to go on the weekends. No matter what location you choose make sure it’s a place you love. Not only will you love the images more, you will feel more comfortable at a location that is special to you.

Time

From a photographers perspective the best time to shoot is the hour before sunset into the actual sunset. This is what we call the golden hour in the photography world. All that means is the sun is lower in the horizon; this position of the sun creates softer more golden color light that is perfect for creating great images. Photographers like myself can work in any lighting condition, but I promises if you plan your engagement session around the “golden hour” you will love, love, I mean love your images!

Hair and Make Up

Go ahead and pamper yourself a little! Having a professional do your hair and make up will make you feel great and look even more stunning then you already are!

Need help finding a stylist? Just ask. There are plenty of stylist that love working with photographers and I can help you find one.

What to Wear

I always tell my clients to wear clothing they're comfortable in and love! If your comfortable in your clothing you will be more comfortable posing and being in front of the camera. Secondly, you will love the way you look in your images if you wear clothing you love. For colors I always suggest fairly neutral colors, but as long as you’re not wearing super bright colors like all hot pink, most colors look great on camera! 

Feel free to bring two outfits as well. If you would like to bring a change of outfits, I say go with one look that is casual, and one that is more night on the town. This will give you options for your save the date cards and two different feels to your engagement photos.

Clean That Ring!

I suggest having that beautiful engagement ring cleaned before your engagement session. Just like you, you want your ring to look it’s best in your photos. Not only will it sparkle a little more in photos with your fiancé, but will look great in the close up images I will create with it!

Have A Good Time

My number one tip is to relax, have a good time, and be you! Engagement sessions are tons of fun and low stress. They are all about capturing the excitement of being engaged and the love you and your fiancé have for each other!

There you have it, five simple tips for a great engagement session. I’m game for pretty much anything. When the time comes to plan your engagement session ask me anything. Props, crazy fun locations, and unique ideas are always welcome!