I’m sure every photographer who has a dog says this but, I think Emma is the most photographed dog on the planet!

I took the stones to Heather and she came up with the most awesome design! It’s not finished yet, so you won’t see any photos until it’s done. hehe

Heather holds an MFA in Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork and Jewelry and gets commissioned to make many wedding bands, engagement rings and other wedding related accessories. If you want something unique and not the plain diamond solitaire, you must go to her. She also teaches jewelry making classes during the week! Can you see why I love her?!

I ask a lot of questions whenever I meet crafty people like, “what’s this for? what do you do with these? How do you cast things? you use these cool colored powders for what now?” and Heather is happily ready to feed my curiosity, I love that!

I went to her studio this weekend to check on my piece and I had to have a pair of her earrings, so I got one pair for me and one for you! Here are some photos of Heather in her studio and I have a pair of her Bright white enameled copper Cherry Blossom earrings swing from fine sterling silver hoops to give away! (I got that description from her Etsy shop)

All you have to do is leave a comment and I’ll use a random number generator to choose a winner on Sunday, March 7th. Please limit to one comment per day.

Heather Wang Jewelry: Website
122 Western Avenue, Studio # 319
Lowell, MA 01851 USA

UPDATE: Jess is our winner! Here is the random number generator screen shot to prove it:

Thank you everyone for participating. Jess, congrats girl! You deserve it because you commented every day, too xoxo

Since they both love to travel and I am usually a “go big or go home” kind of person, I had arranged for us to shoot at a small airfield in Norwood, MA for a portion of the day. I have a lot of people to thank for helping me make this happen. I knew that I wanted to try to get a prop plane for the shoot, but how? TSA people are jerks most of the time and I knew that if I just called the airport, it wouldn’t work out. I called on to my friend Nathan, who is in the Air Force and asked him, “what do you think the odds are of me finding a plane for a photo shoot?”. With no hesitation he replied, “Just call a flight school, they are so proud of their aircraft that I can bet you they will 100% say yes.” That is what I did! Actually, I emailed the people over at Horizon Aviation basically a novel about who I was and why I wanted to use a prop plane for a photo shoot and being really nice. I got a reply in about 10 minutes from Chris, who apparently specializes in flying upside down, with an “absolutely!” response. No way! Ok, so he said yes, now it’s time for the scheduling nightmare with my couple! Janice and Chris were completely open and willing to work it into their day and so was Horizon, double no way! – Thank you Nathan, Thank you Chris P, Thank you Janice and Chris.

Enough story, on to the images!

Here are a select few from the airfield:

After we were done playing in the airfield we went to the couple’s apartment where we were able to incorporate a few objects that are special to them. Along with that, we did a little story board that illustrates how they met, fell in love, all of that beautiful stuff.

I am so so excited and honored to me shooting their wedding in May!

I’ve decided I really like 1 year olds. Their cheeks are so. darn. pinchable! And those little shirts and cargo pants, I eat it up! This shoot is so special to me. This is the woman who gave me a chance in the wedding biz. After months and months of trying to get something, *anything* to get my foot in the door and a portfolio going Audrey needed a second shooter. I sent her my flickr page with zero portraiture but she saw potential in me. When we met the day of the wedding, I felt like I had known her for years and we got along so great. It’s because of her that I am where I am less than 6 months later! Thank you Audrey! xoxo

Here is her son, Dante, with *insane* cheeks! ( SIDENOTE: my boyfriend, Danny, wants me to find him this shirt in his size. )

But I don’t like Valentine’s Day. There. I said it. And that’s what this shoot is about.

While I was telling someone about my idea for this shoot, they asked me if I was doing this just because I didn’t have anyone to celebrate the holiday with. I thought to myself that people must think they’re supposed to buy expensive gifts for their special someone because someone told them to. We celebrate Valentine’s Day every year by going to Bukowski’s annual “F*** Valentine’s Day” bash in Back Bay. If you haven’t been, you should totally check it out, regardless of how you feel about Valentine’s Day.

I hate how the holiday makes my single friends feel. Nobody likes to feel left out. Yes, everything is what you make of it, but I don’t like seeing how it makes my single friends in their late 20’s feel. And my friends who are in a relationship get stressed out about what they’re going to get their significant other for the holiday. That’s no fun to watch either.

Luckily for me, I found someone who feels the same way I do about V-Day. Just how nice is it really when you wait until some holiday tells you to do something nice? If you do random nice things throughout the year, there’s no reason to have to go all out for V-Day or any other holiday! Maybe I’m just a simple person that enjoys the simpler things in life.  We sprinkle our own special days with love throughout the year and they mean more to me than some day that people are forced to see as “special”. So, Danny, this is my public Valentines Day card to you! xoxo.

I know half of you probably didn’t read the text above. This is after all a photo blog. So on to the photos!

Meet Kate and Sean – they hate Valentine’s Day, too :-p

So relieved that Kate too hates Valentine’s Day, the two enjoy a drink together. This is what love actually looks like, without all the frills of forced holidays. Much nicer

I had such a blast doing this shoot. I had my awesome assistant, Rob, to help me make pompoms the night before and he helped with lighting/prop recovery during the shoot. Thanks Rob!

I’ll leave you with one last shot of this gorgeous couple:

However you celebrate, Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

xoxo

Meanwhile, here are a few photos from a recent shoot on the esplanade that I love.

I love trees. If I am in a hurry and sprinting to make it somewhere on time and I happen to pass an cool gnarled tree, I will most likely stop to gaze at it.

Thank you so much for checking out my images. If you like me, you should tell me so in a comment. If you hate me, you should also tell me in a comment! I love to hear from my readers, it makes my day!

In the next few weeks expect to see an insane photo shoot involving fire and the setting of things on it =) Doesn’t that sound fun? I am also going to have a giveaway, but the details of that are a secret right now! I am going somewhere fantastic to shoot my first destination wedding in just a few months, and I am so excited about it! I can’t wait to share the details of that, either!

Until then, enjoy these pretty people and trees!

xo

You are the ones who help me grow and get better at what I do. Leave me a comment, I’d love to know what you think!

You can see the rest of the gallery here.

xoxo

If you are a wedding vendor, you can find a link to send your submissions of real weddings in Boston on the site. I can’t wait to see all the unique wedding ideas that people in Boston have.

Enough of my talking, go see for yourself!

I’ve met so many great people in this short time and I am so excited to see what 2010 brings. For me, I want 2010 to be a year of me trying new things, busting out into a whole new world of photography that is currently unfamiliar to me. I kicked off the new year early by getting some friends together and doing just that.

I am typically more of a “natural light” kinda girl but I really wanted to take advantage of the season’s outdoor lights and try a portrait session with some off camera flash. I don’t learn very well from going to workshops and having someone show me how to use my gear or watching video tutorials. I need to go out in the field with some patient friends and just tinker with my camera until I get something I like. I have enough of a photography background where I know my equipment well, but when it comes to new ideas, nobody can teach me how to create what is in my head. That’s up to me!

Thankfully, I do have some really great friends who were willing to stand in the 20 degree weather here in Boston and let me shoot them and a kick-ass boyfriend to hold my light stand. This is Christina and Rob. Rob was one of the first friends I met when I moved to Boston 3 years ago and Christina is his lovely wife. They are from Texas!

Thank you to everyone who has helped me get to where I am today and it goes without saying, but I wouldn’t be here without your help.

xoxo