Dessert

   I love the new dessert trend! There's a wide variety of post-dinner delicacies served either as a substitute or in addition to the traditional wedding cake. It started with a cupcake tower, and now we're seeing so much more!

   Here's some "dessert-spiration" to whet your appetite... mmmmmm......
Among the below are: Slow Bake Meringue with Summer Stone Fruits, Berry Crumble, Petits Fours, Lemon Sorbet Cones, Chocolate-Covered Strawberries, Cotton Candy, Truffle Oil Popcorn, Marshmallows for S'Mores, Watermelon Balls, Chocolate Eclairs, Hot Cocoa, Pecan Pie, Apple Pie, and Pumpkin Pie!

 

 

 Second and last shots by Sandy Soohoo for Charlotte Jenks Lewis.

Winter White

 As I'm sitting in my little house, with snowflakes coming down all around, and my little dog and baby huddled-up inside, I think of the beauty of a white winter wedding. I've never shot a wedding in the snow (although I would love to...) but I have shot a fair share of weddings with a winter white theme. This lack of color is not lacking anything at all. It is clean, classic, and can be thoroughly modern. I loved this bride's fur shrug (Oscar de la Renta) and minimalist table scheme. 
 This wedding ran in Martha last spring. Both of these images are shot with my Contax 645, Portra 400 film.

Sweet Little Boy

Little boy in a big suit. Isn't he just the cutest?!

Cutting the Cake

 I was recently sifting through old images and came across this lovely cake-cutting shot. I love the graceful bend of the bride's arm. It resembles the long neck of a bird leaning down to snatch a bit of cake.
 I'm sure I would have passed over this shot in my initial edit. It's such a quiet image that one might not notice it right away, but it carries with it strong sentimentality and romance.
 This was shot with my Nikon 35mm, 3200 speed film, probably at f2 at 1/30th.

Engagement Portraits!

 I love it when I have the opportunity to shoot engagement portraits for couples, because it gives me a chance to get to know them a little bit better. And even more importantly, it allows them a chance to become more comfortable with me! Here are some of my tips for getting a great engagement portrait:
1. Dress to impress.
I'm partial to white, but any cute feminine dress will do. Colors are good too, but avoid loud patterns.
2. Wear makeup.
Get your hair done, put on some make-up, whatever you need to do to look like you but... better! When I was pregnant, and doing a self-portrait every two weeks, I realized after the first one or two that I needed to put make-up on. I will never make that mistake again.
3. Wait for good weather.
If possible, when scheduling an engagement portrait, I schedule a shoot date and a rain date. It's not your wedding day, so it doesn't really matter what day you shoot it. I can always make rain work, but if you can, it's worth waiting for a pretty day.
4. Shoot at sunset.
Go for the gold. Wait for the best light of the day.

6. Oh, and be prepared to practice your first dance... possibly in a public park;)

My Big Family

 This was an ambitious family portrait, to say the least! My mother had been talking about doing something like this for the last few years- "more lifestyle-y", she said. "Just everyone hanging out," she said. So, when we were at my sister's house in Massachusetts over Thanksgiving, I set the camera up on a tripod, gave everyone their designated locations and activity assignments, and shot about 8 frames on a timer.

 We may not always be sitting down in one room together, but hanging out playing cards, playing Scrabble, reading magazines, and chit-chatting, is all pretty true to form!
Clockwise from the left is: Brett Hartmann, Hurley Lewis-Hartmann, Amanda Lewis, Elizabeth Lewis, Candy Lewis, Tom Springer, Lou Lewis, Annabel Springer, Will Springer, Jim Guest, Andrew Guest, Lilly Springer, Claire Guest, Heath Hartmann, and Charlotte Jenks Lewis.
This was shot with a Nikon 35mm, 3200 speed film, f4 at 1/15th of a second. On tripod.

Annalynn & Tyler's Wedding on Style Me Pretty

Annalynn and Tyler's lovely, sweet wedding is on Style Me Pretty today! I flew down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina to shoot this wedding- a part of the country I had never been to before. It's a beautiful area, characterized by grassy dunes and surfboards.
My favorite design element of this whole wedding, though, was the old church pews they used as the ceremony seating. So unique! And added so much character!
The majority of these shots are taken with my Contax 645, but quite a few are taken with my antique Rolleiflex.