Merry Christmas

Christmas, at least the magical part, is about the little ones. In our case, we have a 1 year old granddaughter to dote upon. She has now been initiated into the madness that is Christmas at our house. Gifts and paper everywhere, not to mention plenty of good food and drink.

The Princess Turns 1

My granddaughter Ruby turned one last weekend. A great excuse for cake and ice cream, not to mention breaking her in to the tradition of opening gifts. It was a lot of fun.

Baby Parts

Back a bit we had a nice baby session with Kevin. Mom was interested in a "baby parts" composite. Here's what we came up with.

Let's go for a drive

My wife Besty and I hit the road this afternoon to bring my UNH-attending daughter her bicycle (and half of the rest of the house.) We decided to make an afternoon of it, and went to Portsmouth for a little while. It was a picturesque New Hampshire autumn afternoon.


After Portsmouth we aimed the car towards Durham. As we were driving along, Betsy looked to her left and saw this scene. I ran across the highway to grab a couple of shots.


Once we got to Durham, my daughter wanted to show us where she and her new boyfriend had picnicked on their first date. We missed the turn, but it was fortuitous. We spied these mute swans and took a few minutes to check them out.

Alvirne Homecoming

Nik and Sara, finally dressed for homecoming (according to the moms). Tonight is the Alvirne High School homecoming dance, where Nik and Sara are even now just beginning to have fun. A couple of quick shots before they left to document the occasion. Cuties, huh?

Patriots Pre-Game

Matt returned today for his location session, just prior to the Patriots game. We had brilliant sunshine all morning, and most of the afternoon, until it came time for the session. Then the sun played peek-a-boo, and disappeared. We managed a fun and useful session nonetheless. Finished just in time for the Patriots game, which was a bit of a nailbiter. Thank God the good guys won!

Fun session this afternoon. Got some good ones, I think.

Meet Matt

Matt came over for a studio session yesterday after being unimpressed with the images from the contract photographer. I have to say, lackluster photos from the contract photographer are good for my business. LOL. Matt was supposed to have his outdoor session yesterday, but inclement weather pushed it to today. We'll still get it done in time to watch the Patriot's game! Go Pats!

Here are a few from yesterday's session.

Another baby session!

This little sweetie is my granddaughter, Ruby. Today was the day for her 9 month session, and she was such a good girl. We had a lot of fun in the studio and out in front of grandma's fall display.

Baby Session

This little fella came over to the studio today for a 6 month session. He was so cute! And so well behaved. This couple is truly blessed, and we sure had a nice session.

Fall Family Session

Sunday brought sparkling weather to New Hampshire, and in addition to the Patriots hammering the Dolphins and the Red Sox advancing to the World Series, there was photography in the air. We had a fun family session in the bright sunshine. Here are a few examples:

Fall in NH

Fall colors are late this year, owing to some unseasonably warm autumn weather. We're finally in a peak weekend color wise. Spent some time yesterday scouting a spot for today's family session, and brought the camera along, fortunately. Got a few decent shots at the place, but then on the way home, it started to rain. And there was a gorgeous rainbow. Sadly, I didn't have my wide angle lens on, so I couldn't get the entire thing in one shot, but did manage a few of the rainbow nevertheless.

Songs at Alvirne

Yesterday I had the pleasure of visitng my daughter's school and photographing two singing groups: the B-Naturals and Treble Choir, of which my daughter is a member. These are groups that you need to audition into, consequently the talent level is quite impressive. These groups also have the good fortune to have Liz Beaton, a talented musician in her own right, teaching them. And they certainly seem to be responding.

After photographing the students, while we packed up, we heard them warming up and practicing. They are good. And not just a little bit. Treat yourself to a performance; you will not be disappointed.

One of the fun things was showing the girls some of my work, and listening to their responses to some of the senior guys that I've photographed this season. Some of the boys have fan clubs, let me tell you. :)

Mini-Monday: Intro to Lightroom

Monday night I spoke at Dachowski Photography Studio in Manchester for an NHPPA mini-monday program entitled "Intro to Lightroom". Lightroom is a new program for photographers which is designed to streamline the photographer's workflow. It combines an image database, a superb RAW converter, along with output tools such as a slideshow generator, print module and web gallery software. All rolled into one. Yes, it rocks!

I introduced the software to an audience that varied in experience from those just thinking about using it to those who are reasonably well accomplished. While I had been concerned about having enough material to speak for 2 hours, in truth my issue was quite the opposite. I easily had sufficient material to fill a 4 hour program, consequently the slideshow, print and web modules were merely skimmed over. It's a very powerful program, and has completely transformed my workflow. I'm loving it.

You can download my program presentation here: IntroToLightroom.pdf

Training. And more training.

Finally catching up here. It's been a jam packed week! Monday night was Jackie Haggerty's Hollywood Glamour workshop. From posing to lighting to post-processing, she covered it all. Terrific program, providing many details that are sure to add to any photographer's arsenal. Great Stuff.

Tuesday began bright and early. Well, maybe not so bright, but plenty early. Our photo safari, conducted by Keith Howe of North Platte, NE was nothing short of amazing. How to find the light, how to make the light, how to harness the light. Posing. And a gaggle of fun and beautiful models. But don't take my word for it, see for yourself.

Special Guest Appearance

It's great to know talented photographers from all over the country. This is going to be a very special week indeed. Photographers from various parts of the country are converging on NH for a special week of education, exchange, and conviviality. As a special treat, Jackie Haggerty from Studio J Photography in Normal, Illinois visited MarksPixels for a special hands on tutorial with your humble scribe along with the lovely young ladies Nik and Kaitlyn. Jackie does a great job with natural light whereas I tend to rely on off-camera flash to provide on location lighting.

It was great working with Jackie, as I could see how she'd find light and locations where I would have been inclined to walk on by. Additionally, watching her pose the subjects was really helpful. She also demonstrated that when you don't have the right light where the furniture is, you can actually move the furniture into the light! Who'd have thought? I look forward to employing the new techniques in my own work. Here are some of my favorites from the session, straight out of the camera.







Tomorrow night we travel to see Jackie's '40s glamour mini-monday, which will be conducted at Dachowski Photography's studio in Manchester, NH. It promises to be a terrific program, and she is presenting it to the Maine PPA affiliate today.

Artsy Girl, take 2

I'd looked forward to Sam's location session since the consult. The idea was to create some images that were original, if not idiosyncratic. Sam has a great look, one that's all her own, and it was a blast photographing her this afternoon/evening. We started at the Barrett House grounds, until we were chased from there, and ended at an old cemetary on Main St in New Ipswich. Here's a sampling of what we came up with. Enjoy! We sure did.