I’m hoping that Heather and Mark love their engagement pictures so much that they ditch their current photographer from Hawaii and take me instead….what do you say guys? Ha ha…I know…not happening…but a man can beg can’t he? I absolutely love how these shots came out and I’m really hoping you guys feel the same. Heather’s smile is absolutely infectious and the connection these two have together made choosing my favorite images close to impossible. Here’s their sneak peak if you missed it the first time.

Enjoy your images guys and good luck with everything in Hawaii!

Click below for their slideshow!

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Hello friends…
It is time for all you silent bloggers lurking in the shadows of no-blog-land to become active and enthusiastic blog participators. Almost every time we talk with a couple that knows our work they say the same thing: “I’m on your blog everyday but I never leave a comment.” Well, hopefully that’s about to change. We want to hear from YOU….yes, all of YOU.

To get everyone in the commenting mood we are officially starting the “Super-Cool-Nothing-But-Awesomeness-2008-My-Wedding-Is-Cooler-Than-Your-Wedding-Race-For-A-Rad-And-Delicious_Canvas” competition. Here’s the low-down:

- The couple that receives the MOST comments on their wedding post wins a FREE ginormous fine-art canvas of their favorite wedding image
- The winner will be announced at the end of the year when all the comments have been tallied
- People can NOT comment more than once. Every time someone makes a comment an IP address is sent so we’ll know it’s the same person even if the name changes. If this happens than the comment won’t count and we’ll delete it
- You have two opportunities to win since every wedding gets two blog posts: the sneak peak & the slideshow
- The post with the most comments (either the sneak peak or the slideshow) will be counted as your “highest score.” So, the posts will not be combined
- Engagement sessions do not count

Ok….I know what you’re thinking (especially Meghan, Jay, Jill, and Nick) - what about the weddings that already occurred? Well, it still counts. Feel free to forward the blog post to any friends and family that never made a comment and you’re back in action, cool?

So far, Amanda and Frank are in the lead (barely) with 20 unique comments. So I have one question to all my lovely couples out there: who’s going to win?

(Image courtesy of Simply Canvas)

This was the first time I had actually met Jacquie & Mark as we ended up only discussing her wedding over the phone and working out all the details electronically. Jacquie originally grew up in New Milford and moved to Florida after she received her degree in Marine Biology. That’s when she first laid eyes on the handsome Mark….it was love at first sight. The couple lives in St. Petersburg right now but are getting married at Hopkins Vineyard in October. Luckily we found some time the other day to shoot their engagement session while they were in town to attend another wedding.

I had such a fun time with you guys and I’m really looking forward to the wedding. Hope you love your sneak-peak!

Jackie & Drew did such an awesome job braving the scorching heat today for their engagement session in Essex, CT. Jackie only had one question for me: can you photoshop sweat?? No problem….I was probably the hottest of the crew and oh yeah….I laid in duck poop while taking pictures. Nice!!

Thanks for the iced tea guys and hope you love your images as much as I do!

I met Ellie & Matthew back in April when they were both in Jill’s wedding at Amarante’s in New Haven. Their mom Karin loved the pictures so much she gave me a call to spend the day with them while they hiked through Bull’s Bridge in Kent. Danielle had taken so many pictures of these two (how can you not, right?) at Jill’s wedding that I thought for sure she would change her mind after she saw how many pictures they had from the wedding! I’m glad that didn’t cross her mind because I had an absolute blast hanging out with them at their beautiful home in Pawling, New York and then hiking through Bull’s Bridge. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and we had the best time.

Stay tuned for your slideshow and hope you guys had fun at the races!

We’ve had so many requests for boudoirs lately that we decided to host the First Annual Boudoir Marathon. It’s an easy way for you and your friends to save some $$ by booking all on the same day. We already have a few tentative dates lined up with a few eager participants so shoot us an email if you’re interested. the411[at]rawphotodesign[dot]com I don’t think I need to go over the benefits of a shoot like this again but here’s a recap:

- your man will be so ridiculously happy you won’t be able to wipe the grin off his face
- you’ll be so ridiculously happy you won’t be able to wipe the grin off your face
- some people say that the camera “adds 10 pounds” - well Photoshop drops 10 pounds

Here’s what ya’ get:

- professional makeup and stylist
- as many outfit changes (that you bring) as you’d like
- unlimited number of photos and poses taken
- image retouching
- password protected gallery
- lots of options for final images including CDs, coffee table albums, or flush mounts

Even if you’re just thinking about it or curious, shoot us an email and ask us to send you our testimonials. Heck, we’ll even let you email our past clients and ask them all about their experience.

My buddy, Justin, and I go way back to the high school days. I actually have pictures of him dancing with a mannequin at a party in my apartment in Baltimore….haha. I’m going to have to scan that one in for his and Lauren’s full slideshow post!! We had an awesome time shooting their engagement session today at Tarrywhile Park and Molly Darcy’s in Danbury. We also spent a lot of time at Engine 26 in Danbury since Justin is a firefighter for the city. If that doesn’t make him and Lauren the coolest couple on Earth, he’s also an Iraq War veteran and she’s a PhD student at Fordham….that’s about as rad as it gets if you ask me. Since Justin and Lauren are good friends they get a diesel 4-picture sneak peak post!

On top of the fire truck….

HOOOOOOOOT!!!!!!

I had a radtastic time with the fabulicious heather and mark in New Haven for their engagement session. We also hit up the beach in west haven but you’ll have to wait for the slideshow for those shots! Heather heard of me through a referral from the knot (thanks Jenn!!) and when we talked about possible locations she said, “something grungy.” Well….grungy is right up my alley! (pun intended) We took all the shots below in a cool little nook near Union Station. I had a blast guys, enjoy your sneak peak!

like I said…..grungy…..

Heather has the cutest smile ever and it NEVER goes away!!! (which is a good thing of course…)

How cute are these two??

Here’s a little recap of my morning yesterday: 4:00am - alarm clock rings. 4:30am - load gear and hop in car to drive to Branford. 4:35am - stop to get coffee. 4:50am - coffee kicks in and I think to myself….I’m not really starting at 5:30 am I?? 5:30am - meet Cassie and start shooting her makeup session….

Here are a few sneak peaks at some of my favorite images of the day. There are so many more awesome shots so stay tuned for the slideshow. And to all of Cassie and Max’s family and friends: don’t forget to leave a comment and wish them luck!

So, it was an early wedding to say the least, BUT it was an absolutely GORGEOUS sunrise ceremony overlooking the water at the Owenego Inn in Branford, CT. Cassie and Max were absolutely awesome and Cassie looked breathtaking in her gown. (Max didn’t look half bad himself!)

Meet Cassie:

Meet Max (and his best man, Chris):

The day was much different than other weddings I’ve covered before. First, was the ceremony at the Owenego overlooking the ocean. Here’s Cassie walking to meet her groom, looking as beautiful as ever:
A shot of the elegant ceremony in the beautiful morning light:

Then it was time for some portraits….

Then we headed to the Pine Orchard Yacht and Country Club for a ferry tour of the Thimble Islands.

After the ferry tour, the reception was held at the Pine Orchard. All of the details were absolutely gorgeous.

Ok….a little background info on the next two shots. In case you haven’t noticed yet, Cassie is a triathlete and is in top athletic shape. I, however, am the opposite of a triathlete and spend more time exercising my computer muscles than anything else. As the reception was wrapping up I challenged Cassie to a duel. I told her that if she can beat me at arm wrestling all of her wedding coverage was on me. “You’re on,” she replied. The stage was set and we assumed our battle positions…Cassie had 50 people in her corner and I had my assistant in my corner secretly hoping Cassie would win….

The starting gun was fired and we battled it out. After a grueling 5 minutes (felt like an hour) I was able to beat her. BUT, I strangely felt at the end that she had let me win. And after looking at the picture below it is pretty obvious that I’m in the middle of having a hernia and she’s barely even breaking a sweat. I had to convert these to black and white so no one would see my purple complexion as well. It was such a good time and I have to thank Cassie for letting me win….I don’t think my manhood would have handled it.

To Cassie & Max: Thank you so much for inviting me to document you’re phenomenal day and I wish you all the best in your new life together. Have fun on your honeymoon!