[Marissa and Matt, the engagement]

winters in buffalo can be a tricky thing...some years it is warm all the way through November, and then *BAM* it is suddenly Antarctica during the Katabatic Winds.  Imagine this as the backdrop for Marisa and Matt's engagement shoot.....ok, I am exaggerating....but damn was it cold!!  Somehow, Marisa and Matt both managed to look warm and sweet, despite the fact that our eyeballs kept freezing in our skulls.

I met with them in their hometown of Niagara Falls, where they met back in high school.  We started out with a few shots at home with their 3 doggies (!) and then continued to Hyde Park, where they plan to get married this summer.
















Matt and Marisa met while they were students at Niagara Falls, and they were also the last class to graduate from the old building.  Since then the building, still in much disrepair, has been turned into an arts and cultural center.  They wanted to visit the old school and take some photos there as well....







Inside, we wandered all over, and ended up in the theatre....an amazing bit of architectural history with its bent wood seats and art deco chandeliers....Matt and Marisa were both into drama when they were students, so it seemed fitting to end up here.






Hopefully my next get together with Marisa and Matt will be a much warmer one :)
Happy holidays, and I will see you in January with my first wedding shoot of the year!

[the Carroll Family]

I may have mentioned a couple of weeks back that it didn't get much better than photographing Laura and Greg's wedding at Park Country Club.....what is pretty darn close is getting to work with Laura's sister Kristen and her beautiful family.  Little Cameron was all sorts of sweetness with his cooing and smiling...I wanted to eat him for brunch.  Some of my faves....

[Andrea and Andy]

It's hard to believe that this is my last wedding of 2010...granted, my next wedding isn't too far away but looking back I can't believe that I'm here.  I love looking ahead to the season, getting excited to work with all of the wonderful people I have briefly met and seeing new venues and fresh ideas.  Then, suddenly, it all breezes past and the cycle begins anew.  
Andrea and Andy's wedding was one that I took very late in the season, and I have to admit that I was tentative, as the weather in Buffalo in November is usually pretty lousy (happy to say that this hasn't been too much the case thus far!)  Mother nature proved me entirely wrong and the day was magnificent, complete with a trip to the Butler Mansion in Buffalo for some pictures before the reception, and a new venue for me, the Timber Lodge in Akron.  And the two of them were as happy as any couple I've ever seen...I was so thrilled to be a part of it!

cutest baby boy ever?

So the church was actually built by Andy's relatives of long ago, who had come to America through a bad storm...they prayed that if they made it, that they would build a church....they made it!

sweet, sweet. My favorite of the whole lot!

My photography professor back in undergrad would make us print, print and reprint to get the image perfect....this would definitely NOT please his aesthetic sensibilities, but I just adore the light and the crazy things it does.

So  I say goodbye to the wedding scene for a bit....but I will definitely be around blogging some mini shoots!

[Stacey and Tom, the engagement]

There are days that I feel like I have never done anything but teach....I feel like I remember every student I ever had, and now many of those tiny little sixth graders I had once long ago are actually beginning to get married.  (How old does that make me feel?)

That's beside the point......Stacey was one of my first students that I taught when I was still in the middle school, and to date probably one of my most creative artists.  She would make "paintings" out of toilet paper and masking tape and all you could do was to marvel over the depth of the surface and the imagery.  She was always taking risks....a trait not seen too often at any level.

Now, she is all grown up and working as a graphic designer, and she's getting married.  And best of all, she asked me to photograph her wedding.

 This weekend, we got together for her engagement shoot with Tom, her fiance (whom I think might be feeling a little left out here, but what I can say is that he is an awesome complement to Stacey!)

[the Misterkiewicz family]

Over the weekend I was finally able to a small break from weddings and work with two wonderful groups of people.....one of whom was Gina, Scott and their two beautiful children.  Gina had been in Karen and Mike's wedding last September and wanted to have her family photographed this fall....Vincent and Liliana were so much fun to work with and just the happiest kids!  Here's a little peek-