It always seems to me that spring is the most fleeting season here in New England.  Sometimes its almost nonexistent!  But this was that rare spring day with sunshine and trees in bloom….Glorious light and sunshine for an outdoor ceremonyCupcake Cake in the Willowbend dining room!First DanceTable dancing!Sunset on the Golf Course…

I love this black and white portrait of LouiseLouise and BridesmaidsGreat image of the wedding party in the processional by my awesome second shooter Mark McCall!

Louise is a photographer, so she stopped to take a photo before the ceremonyGroomsminiWedding Portraits at Azalea Garden across the street from the Asticou InnLaughter during the toastsRainbow Cake!Not your typical father daughter dance

Great lighting for the party by Ambience Event ServicesSperry tents..glowing in the moonlight

All in all an amazing wedding, coordinated by Alison Events

If you’d like to read more of the details, check it out on Martha Stewart Weddings!

And here’s a quick peek at their rainbow palette:

I’ll post more of my favorites soon!

The First Look…the first moment the bride and groom see each other on their wedding day.

Lovely light in the Mezzanine Gallery for their ceremony

Michael loved her bouquet from Jardiniere

We made some lovely images at Strawberry Banke, which was followed by a wedding dinner for family and friends at Mombo.

7:00  First beautiful thing that greets me when I get up in the morning to make coffee.  100 year old stained glass window from my parents’ home. now in our kitchen…

9:05  The square in downtown Portsmouth.  I do love my hometown.

9:15  Yoga.  Without which I would surely go mad….

11:30  The Friendly Toast, our go-to place for lunch downtown.  A repository of bad art and kitsch that almost never disappoints.  I’m having my regular, one giant blueberry pancake (with real maple syrup).  That’s my husband Jay behind the steaming cup of coffee.

2:30 A wedding client’s finished album arrives from Italy.  This is probably one of the highlights, for me, of the process of creating images.  Many hours have gone into production, and its a great feeling knowing that I have created something beautiful that will become a part of someone’s family history.

3:30  Reading the latest news from Corriere della Sera and preparing my notes for tonight’s Italian class.

4:30 Preparing and eating dinner.  Early bird special anyone?  Unfortunately, I have to eat dinner early, and alone, on Tuesdays as I teach 2 Italian classes tonight…from 5:30 to 9pm with a 20 minute break in between.  If I don’t eat now, I’ll be too tired to eat when I get home tonight!  On the bright side, I used some tomatoes from our garden to make a quick and delicious sauce.  So, tonight’s menu: salsiccia di pollo, fagiolini, e polenta con sugo di pommodorini.   And I treated myself to a very small glass of the world’s greatest wine.  Tobin James’ Ballistic Zin.

5:30 Finish the day off  where I teach Italian at Traip academy in Kittery, Maine, just across the river from Portsmouth.  Some of my students very kindly allowed me to photograph them.  You can see from the image that using your hands is integral to expressing yourself in Italian!

Allora, Buona notte!  Now head on over to Meg Hamilton’s blog to see what her day was like!

Ceremony took place in the Garden Ballroom at the Wentworth.  Loved the kids at this wedding!

The bride and her junior bridesmaids and flowergirls, all with their own charming personalities!

We found a shady spot in the Wentworth Garden for a quiet portrait

 Some more great images of the bride and groom with gorgeous autumn light…

 Wentworth Ballroom, elegantly decorated with candlelabras and flowers by Jardinere

 Romantic first dance, then more fun with guests and kids at the reception….

Molly and her attendants, waiting in the house till the guests are seated in the garden….

Love this image as Sam sees Molly coming down the “aisle”…

Just married and coming back through the garden path…

Scuppers, the ringbearer….

Beautiful afternoon light…

The sunflowers came from the family farm in Rhode Island…

Family Portrait: Molly, Sam & Scuppers!

Just before Aaron sees her for the first time, dressed for the wedding…

My favorite romantic photographs of the day!

Some beautiful moments from the ceremony at the Taj Hotel…

This is one of my all time favorite First Dance images!  Their friends were clearly enthusiastic and impressed with their skills on the dance floor…

First, I think we can all agree that what make a business special is the person behind it…here is POTG’s proprietress Assiah Russell, photographed at last month’s Fashion Night Out Portsmouth. This is clearly a woman from whom it would be very wise to take fashion advice. Disclaimer: Assiah and I are not related, though I wish I shared some of those fashion genes

Here are some images from a recent evening…helping a customer make a great selection, then making sure she had the right fit with the aid of some hat tape!

Inviting store window with new Fall Items….

And my question for Assiah:  What’s your favorite fashion accessory?

“That is absolutely an unfair question to ask of someone who owns a shop featuring jewels, hats, handbags, & accessories I love them all and so believe that accessories are what make every outfit memorable. I have many pieces of jewelry that I love to wear…some of it very sparkly and vintage-looking like Sorrelli, and then other simple pieces of oxidized sterling with some of my favorite semi-precious stones… labadorite, garnet, and rubies. I have recently fallen in love with little leather clutches…such a tiny little accessory that makes such a statement.  But I must say, that I never am without a hat nearby…gorgeous straw hats with a trim of botanicals or feathers for summer, and a Lillie & Cohoe hat from Canada with it’s little hidden ear flaps for winter glam and coziness”….Assiah

And if you’re in the Seacoast Friday the 19th from 5-9pm, stop by the Fall Forward Trunk Show, where you can meet the artists and share in some drinks and nibbles!  Good, clean & classy fun!

Now…if you’d like to continue to find out some more great places in NH, check out photographer Jennifer Bakos’ blog here!

Water has ruled this summer. The drought of 2012 is in the history books. As much as I feel so very clever for having purchased 4 water barrels to collect rainwater, I somehow feel less so when carrying sheetrock buckets of it out to the garden on an 80 degree morning. I know there must be an easier way, yet the drip irrigation hoses just don’t seem to work. The upside: fabulous tomatoes and melons that we have been enjoying this week. And a real appreciation all the hard work farmers do to get us our food.

Professional speaking, weather is an obsession for photographers who work outside. I’ll start projecting for every event with the 7 day forecast (Matt Noyes hour by hour forecast on NECN is my favorite), then its a roller coaster ride of good news and/or bad news till the day of the wedding. Then I just start watching the sky to tweak my shooting schedules and locations.

For the record, an ideal weather forecast for me: Wake up to beautiful blue skies with puffy clouds on the wedding morning; high clouds come in for an afternoon photo session, then thin out for a gorgeous sunset. Rain showers after midnight (for the garden).

Please head on over to Kristen Reimold’s blog for her take on this month’s theme!