If you photograph weddings long enough you're bound to photograph some of your friends getting married. These become unforgettable and truly mean a lot. 

My good friend Eric had let me know that he was going to be getting married in California to his now wife Maria and I was thrilled. I had met her and she was just wonderful. She was patient and warm and they truly had a wonderful relationship. So of course when he asked me I agreed. Living in Massachusetts I found it so exciting to be doing a wedding in California.

I've known Eric and his family now for almost 26 years from back when I was living in Maryland. We played soccer together and shared other interests as well. Around high school we went different paths, but we still stayed in touch.

The wedding was fantastic at a great venue and an amazing reception which her family had setup for the big day. I haven't been to a similar wedding since. But, maybe that's more of a Cali thing. In any case I'll always remember this beautiful wedding and how happy my friend Eric was to have found his soulmate in Maria.

​Congrats again bro!!!

If you're reading this post you're probably curious as to why my prices are so low.
Am I a beginner at weddings? Do I not have good gear? Do I just not understand how business works?

That is not the case at all. I'll be very honest here because I believe being transparent is a great thing when it comes to working with clients. I've been doing weddings for the last 7 years most as a primary shooter and some times as a secondary shooter. I really enjoy capturing weddings and the skill involved in doing it well. And, of course, I like to constantly be learning. 

But for the whole time I've had a full time job and I did weddings and portraits on the weekends. A "weekend warrior" I think is the term used there. Many photographers do that for years until they are ready to jump into photography full time.

At this point in my career I'm not sure if I want to do photography full time as it will be very demanding and possibly become "work" where right now I take on as many weddings and portrait sessions as I want without over-doing it.

And that is why my prices are so low.

I don't have much overhead and I also believe good wedding/portrait photography should be within reach for all budgets. Eventually perhaps my prices will go up if my costs increase or if I do change my mind and decide to go full time, but for now I'm content with where they are.

Thanks again for visiting my page/blog. 

This is a session I did late last year. I briefly flirted with Nikon equipment again and decided to set up a quick photo session. So, we headed to Buffumville Park in Charlton to get some photos out of my Nikon gear (D750 and the 85mm 1.8G).  I've always loved that lens for its subject separation with the background and the nice compression.

Here are a few photos, enjoy!

Note: A month after this session I did in fact jump back to Fuji. Its just my ideal camera system.

Looking back at another super fun wedding on the blog today.

When I spoke with Rachel and Erik they let me know they had booked the White Room at the Crompton Collective. I was pretty excited about that as it was a new venue and it turns out theirs would be the second wedding hosted there ever. I'd been to the Crompton Collective many times and its a must visit if you're in the area. You'll find a wide variety of neat things for your home.

So, on the wedding day we had fabulous weather and we started at the Holiday Inn close by for some of the getting ready photos. Once again I worked with Deirdre Rakus Photography. We are a pretty good team!

From there we all headed to Green Hill Park to get some formal photos. The weather was still amazing!

From there we headed to the White Room, but we got a couple couple photos before things got really started.

What a fun wedding! They just danced and danced and everyone had a great time.

​Congratulations again!!

Yesterday I was trying to decide where to go for today's photo walk. I was either going to go East bound or West bound. I made the decision to get West bound given all the foliage changes going on this time of year throughout the state. So, I hopped on RT 2 which follows the Mohawk Trail. If you search online you'll find that it's a popular scenic route to enjoy the fall foliage. I've driven that way in the past before, but not to look at foliage so I was curious how it was this time of year.

I picked up Rt 2. in Leominster and then kept heading west. I did make some stops here and there to places I'll definitely have to visit again, but I enjoyed the ride. It wasn't until I reached Greenfield that I realized Shelburne Falls wasn't too far away. So I made the decision to keep going on Rt 2 and make it my final destination before turning around. I had visited there in the past with my dad almost 4 years ago when we ventured out to Western MA to sight see a little. So, I was looking forward to visiting again. I highly recommend taking route 2 to get there versus the pike and then Rt 91. There is a lot more to see and not much traffic as you go through all the small towns along the way.

I headed out with my Fuji X-Pro2 and my 35mm 1.4 lens. I wanted to make it a point to get more use out of this focal length. It's not super wide which I figured I'd need to get some amazing photos, but all in all I think it worked out quite well. Being outside I was often able to back up more if I needed to.

Note to self: I need to do this trip again!
​Enjoy the photos!

I stopped at a couple parks in Orange. Lots of parks out that way, so I'll have to check out more on my next trip.

I really liked this water tower surrounded by the foliage. On the other side I grabbed some lunch and saw this other angle which I also really liked. Which do you prefer?

A little further down the road on Rt 2 I came across the French King Bridge in Erving MA. The view from there was amazing. Plenty of parking there to be able to hop out and walk on the bridge to enjoy the spectacular view. It is a must see location and I'd be interested to see it in the winter and possibly mid summer. 

Then I continued on and got to Shelburn Falls!!

Just really liked this car.

On my way back I stopped at the famous bridge again and took a photo of the view on the other side. Not as amazing, but still really nice.

I really enjoyed the trip and the Fuji 35mm f1.4 worked well for me. 
Looking forward to another photo walk maybe next week. Who knows where I'll end up.
​Hope you enjoyed the photos.