connecticut

mommy love.

So I have been wanting to get the ball re-rolling on my blog, but was sort of waiting for the re-launch of my website. Unfortunately I have run into some icky technical issues that I have yet to resolve with that(I am not a super techy gal), but I just HAD to post this session. These images are so full of love it's crazy. I actually get all warm and teary eyed when looking at them. We have all heard it before, but there is something to be said for a mother's love. The gooey, messy, silly, unconditional love of a mother is what makes the world go round, and just melts my heart.

I can't even begin to express how grateful I am that I was lucky enough to photograph these three on the beach last week. The love and laughter that they share with one another is incredible and I hope that these images will always bring them back to this time in their lives.

2013-11-20_0001 2013-11-20_0002 2013-11-20_0003 2013-11-20_0004 2013-11-20_0005 2013-11-20_0006 2013-11-20_0007 2013-11-20_0008 2013-11-20_0009 2013-11-20_0010 2013-11-20_0011 2013-11-20_0012 2013-11-20_0013 2013-11-20_0014 2013-11-20_0015 2013-11-20_0016 2013-11-20_0017 2013-11-20_0018 2013-11-20_0019 2013-11-20_0021 2013-11-20_0022 2013-11-20_0023 2013-11-20_0024

Kristina, may you and your boys always be as silly, crazy, and loving as you were this day. Thank you for sharing this time with me.

xo Jennifer

behind the bridal scenes.

This is the part of a wedding day that not everyone gets to see, or even experience. This is my favorite part. It is intimate, exciting, stressful, and fun. It is emotional. It is a bonding time between friends before the big moment. It is mom's last few moments with her daughter before she watches her walk down the aisle. It is the girl time. It is hair and makeup and nails and princess dresses and flowers and champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. It is the recount of embarrassing college memories that only these girls will ever know about. These are the last moments before the BIG moment. This part is important, and I am so grateful to have been able to share in so many of these moments with so many brides over the years. Jennifer Casserino-Misciagno and I had the honor of dressing all of the hair for this gorgeous wedding at the end of August in Hartford, CT. I brought my camera along to document the hair for our personal portfolios, and just couldn't help myself in-between styling girls.. I had to sneak a few shots of everyone. This group of ladies had such a positive energy about them, (not to mention that they were all adorable). And my multi-talented friend Meaghan Ryan picked up the camera for me at the very end to grab a few shots of me styling the bride, which was amazing!

These are the kinds of images I love the most; the ones that feel like there was never even a camera in the room. These are the images that tell the best, most truthful stories.

2013-09-12_0022 2013-09-12_0003

2013-09-12_00082013-09-12_00062013-09-12_00072013-09-12_00022013-09-12_00262013-09-12_0012

2013-09-12_0010

2013-09-12_00092013-09-12_0023

2013-09-12_00132013-09-12_00182013-09-12_00152013-09-12_00202013-09-12_00162013-09-12_00252013-09-12_0024

hair: Jennifer Marcuson: the artist and Jennifer Casserino-Misciagno of Strand Salon CT

makeup: Laura Clement of Naomi's Studio and Salon in West Hartford, CT

sometimes, the biggest, strongest, most beautiful things come in the smallest of packages.

Don't underestimate her strength because of her five-foot height, her gentle demeanor, or her beaming ear-to-ear smile as she greets you for the first time. Kirby is a kick-ass massage therapist. I know first hand. I have known Kirby since she was a awkward pre-teen with braces and pigtails. I remember going over to her house when I was about 14. I was in a 'band' with her older brother, and she would come down into the basement to watch us play awful covers of Hole and Babes in Toyland. She adored her big brother, and still does. From music, to motorcycles, Kirby has been strongly influenced by her brother. I think that relationship opened the door for her to realize her inner strength and power as a woman. She always wanted to be one of the guys, and was never put in a corner and told she was too small to ride that harley or too weak to hike that mountain, or too fearful to train that bulldog even after he attacked her face, leaving a permanent scar along her cheek bone. She pushes all resistance aside and forges ahead, all with this sense of gratitude and incredulous positivity.

A few years back, I had wanted to buy a massage for Mathieu for Christmas.I knew that Kirby was practicing massage, so I messaged her and she had some time available just before Christmas when we were going to be in Connecticut. So I booked him a 90 minute massage, and surprised him with it when I dropped him off at her private studio. I came back an hour and a half later, and waited about another 15 minutes for him to come out. He walked out the door of her studio, and I could just see in his face that it was amazing. He got into the car and said, 'Wow. She is really good. That was hands down the best massage I have ever gotten.' Mathieu had been to massage therapy school, so I knew that he was a tough critic. Well, I was sold at this point, and had to book her for myself for the next time we were down! And he was right. She is amazing.

I think what makes Kirby such a great massage therapist is not only her love for what she does, although that is a huge part of it. I mean, she loves her job. She will tell you how lucky she feels to be able to do what she does for a career. Just having a conversation with her about it, you can see the excitement pouring out of her! She is continuously educating herself on different techniques and she wants to share everything she learns with her clients. But what REALLY makes her good at what she does, I think, is that she isn't afraid of it. She is a beautiful, brave, and incredibly strong woman who is able to deflect the negative energy in her life. This alone puts her in a position to excel at what she does. One of the reasons Mathieu decided not to do massage for a living was that he said it was so physically and emotionally draining. He said that you need to be able to deflect that stress and toxic energy that you are working out of each person as you massage them, and that for most of us, this is a really difficult thing to do. Thankfully, for Kirby(and  all of her clients), it just comes naturally.

Kirby is currently practicing out of ANEW You skincare and spa in Avon, CT.

72dpi-1571IMGP1535-2IMGP1543-2

IMGP1545-3IMGP1548IMGP1564IMGP1590IMGP1592IMGP1601-2IMGP1608-2IMGP1613IMGP1626-2IMGP1657IMGP1642IMGP1686-2IMGP1714-2

into the woods.

I am not a 'photographer', although I love photography, and taking pictures. And I love taking pictures of people. Since I can recall being able to pick up a pencil and draw, all I ever wanted to draw were people. Faces. Dancers. The human form. It is just so beautiful and interesting and perfectly flawed. Recently, my aunt asked me to take some pictures of her and her family. I was honored to do so, and yet a little intimidated. I had never really been asked to take pictures for someone before, and I had never attempted shooting this many people all together. Let me just say that my respect for family/group portrait photography went up quite a bit after doing this.. It's not easy!! But I took the challenge, and we met up just before sunset in the woods in West Hartford.. And thankfully I had my talented friend Jason Langevin there along side me second shooting so I wasn't so nervous about not getting enough shots.

Needless to say, this was quite a learning experience for me. So much goes into this craft, there are so many things to consider; creatively and technically. And I have so much more to learn. But I am grateful for each one of these moments for they are the moments that allow me to grow as an artist. This is when I gain appreciation for not only the so very talented artists who inspire and educate us on a daily basis, but to people like my Aunt who believe in art, and the artist. People who encourage the learning process by taking a chance on the amateur. This is what makes art. To you all, a huge huge thank you.

(above image shot by Jason Langevin) 

(above image shot by Jason Langevin)

(above image shot by Jason Langevin)