...ah...jasmine...

What a treat to photograph Jasmine for her upcoming Quincenera (sweet 15) party.   She was definitely sassy with her cowboy boots mixed with her formal gown.  What a delight to capture her spirit as she stretched her wings, soared...and even danced!  I can't wait to photograph her big celebration in a couple of weeks.

the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

It  had been many years since my husband and I had been to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.  So last Saturday we ventured out for a visit.  The collection wasn't as lovely as I had remembered and the exhibits were overcrowded with pieces of art, textiles, furniture, and bric-a-brac.  I felt like I had been transported back to the late 1800s to watch an episode of "Hoarders."  Mrs. Gardner took a controlling role in not only building the museum, but also arranging and displaying her many pieces of art and artifacts that she had collected over her years of extensive travel.  When she passed away in 1924, she left a $1 million  endowment with stipulations for the support of the museum including that the permanent collection not be significantly altered.  This woman as a patron of the arts, was also somewhat of a control freak.  I think her photograph reveals some of that personality.  When my husband and I were reading the history wall, we both simultaneously started humming the song from the Wizard of Oz when Almira Gulch (as played by Margaret Hamilton) came on her bicycle to the Gale farm with an order from the sheriff to confiscate Dorothy's dog, Toto.

The museum does have a lovely enclosed courtyard that is quite remarkable.  I can imagine how wonderful it would have been to the people of Boston to come here in the middle of the cold winter and enjoy the greenery and peace of this space.  The flowers remind us that, yes, Spring will come!

the art of the wedding album...

I love wedding albums.  Maybe it's because as a kid, I loved looking at my parents' wedding album.  There were probably only 12 pictures -- all 8x10's on individual single pages in black and white and hand colored.  But I cherished each page.  I loved reliving my parents' story of their "happily ever after" and feeling all warm and fuzzy to know that I was now a part of that.

For my bride and grooms, the wedding album experience goes something like this:  After the wedding photographs are posted, I have them choose 50-60 of their favorite images.  Even though I have my "favorites" from an artistic/photographer point of view,  the wedding album is not my story to tell...it is their story and so it is important that they choose the images to illustrate their voice.   I then take those photographs and organize them in an artistic sequence.  I really love the graphic side of the wedding experience.  As a matter of fact, if I hadn't chosen to be a photographer, I probably would have been a graphic artist.

Here are a few pages from Scott and Katrina's album that I just delivered.  They are double page spreads bound in a beautiful leather album.  They tell the story of their day, their love, the beginning of their eternal family.  I wish you could hear Katrina's wonderful Australian accent!  You'd fall in love with her, just as I did.  Here is a text message string I received from her:

"Hey Jen!
     We wanted to thank you again so very much for all of your hard work and time.  You were one of our favorite parts of our wedding.  We're so grateful to you."
     "We just received the wedding album now, and we love it!!  Thank you so much!!! : D"

Honestly, nothing makes me happier then knowing I've given my clients an heirloom keepsake, and that one future day their daughter will turn these pages and relive their love story.