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Maresa and Derek are getting married on Nantucket this coming Labor Day weekend and I am their photographer thanks to the Audra and Tripp connection. I had met with Maresa and Derek in Boston earlier this year and we decided to do an engagement session on Nantucket this spring. They are a wonderful and beautiful couple (as illustrated above) and were very easy to work with as we made our way around the village of Siasconset on Nantucket's east end. I think it's a great idea to work together before the wedding so that we can get to know each other a little and it enables them to see the process of not only the shooting of the photographs, but the way to view them and order them. It also gives the couple a less formal portrait which is great to have in their new home or to give to parents and friends or to use for the "Save the Date" card.

I love my "job"!

Sam was born with craniosynostosis, the premature closure of suture lines in the skull. He had surgery to correct his condition when he was 9 months old. Often, kids with craniosynostosis have issues with their eyes and Sam had eye muscle surgery at 14 months because he was not seeing binocularly. His new specs help to strengthen his eyes. His mom says, "Phew! I think we're almost at the end of this long road and have such a healthy and happy little boy!"

We are blessed here at our studio to have photographed Sam since he was in utero and throughout the milestones of his young life. He is Mr. Sweetie Pie to me and one of the most endearing kids I've ever had the pleasure to photograph. Thanks Megan and Bert for sharing your story and having us chronicle your son's many milestones.

I just love kids! I also love our new little CKP "stamp" designed by dear friend Melissa Murphy. This stamp is to brand our photographs and also to inhibit people from using them straight off our web site which is actually copyright infringement.

The above image was shot very much the same although we switched to a 105 mm, 2.8 macro, another one of my favorite lenses for details and portraits. Here the depth of field is a little larger due to the fact that the lens only opens up to 2.8 and the given the distance to Julie. Her nose appears sharper than in the first image.

Homework: Shoot and shoot on manual mode and have fun and play and come back with images and questions! Great to see all your familiar faces and to meet the few new ones!

PS. Does this mean I'm a teacher??!!

My daughter's kindergarten class, with the help of earnest fifth graders and yours truly, held a studio portrait session during TV Turn Off Week at Nantucket Elementary School last week. We are talking wild! I brought in the above shown soft box which the kids all wanted to crawl into until they realized it was a very important and very giant flash in which my Nikon SB900 resided. As you can also see from the top picture Angelina is using the Nikon remote wireless system to fire said flash unit while the apprehensive Claudia presides. The camera I brought in was Nikon's D90 which Nikon so graciously has loaned me for these purposes and for my upcoming basic digital photography class and when I can get it out of my teenage son's hands then we are good to go. The kids took all these shots and did an amazing job of focusing and the other day I brought them the jpegs shot straight out of the camera (which where gorgeous, btw) and we edited them and made a little slideshow to Bye Bye Baby by the Baycity Rollers. That was just for class because of course we use all licensed music for our slideshows.

After the class we were asked to return to hold a mini workshop for TV Turn Off Week, so between the student vs. faculty basketball game and the icecream social we got some very energetic upper classmen's photography. Go here to see more!

First of all I was extremely honored to be included in Bill Hurter's new book Master Posing for Wedding Photographers published by Amherst Media. Bill had called me months ago to see if I'd "allow" him to use an image that had been previously published in top industry magazine Rangefinder (where Bill is the editor) and after happily agreeing I honestly forgot about it. That is until the other day when an unexpected box arrived and there were two copies of Bill's new book. What a fun surprise that made my day. I am included along with many of the world's top wedding photographers and the picture Bill used was taken of Marie Soverino on Main Street, Nantucket!

Secondly, I wanted to mention that we are moving into our season with a very solid year of bookings despite the economic downturn. It gives me a renewed hope and faith in the importance of photography, professional photography I should say, that our clients are choosing quality and consistency and talent over many cheaper options. You can never go back and have your wedding or your child's unique stage in life shot again in a better economy, so it's important not to skimp on what's important to you. After being in business now 15+ years it is important to constantly remind myself that I have clients who really care about their pictures and are willing to invest in me for them. This says it all to me and I am continually grateful for this.

Saying that, I also want to very excitingly add that we do have less expensive options in our studio here on Nantucket. If you haven't already please check out our second photographer, Libby Greene's portfolio and keep her in mind if you are on a budget for your wedding or portrait session. While Libby has less experience she makes it up in a fresh and passionate mind frame and she is a delight to have working here in the Nantucket studio full time. Libby is the eye behind the innovative and unique album designs this past fall and winter and she continually astonishes me with her new and fun designs. She has an ever growing portfolio on our website.

Lastly, if you have not booked your summer Nantucket beach portrait please do so as my schedule is rapidly filling up (thank God for that!). I have decided not to travel at all the last three weekends of August so that I can be available during our heaviest portrait month on Nantucket. Please call our office to book before May 15 and receive one free print size 8x10 or under with your first order. If you have not seen the new portrait slideshow please take a look here

Thank you to all my clients, my dedicated staff, all my colleagues, all my friends and to my family for making this season ahead so strong. Wishing you a great summer!