Award Winning Boston Wedding Photographer

Award Winning Boston Wedding Photographer serving Boston, Cape Cod, Newport and New England. Celebrated for her empathetic understanding, meticulous organization and impeccable time management, Deborah brings a distinctive collaborative approach to her craft.

A Preview of Pat & Liz's Wagon Hill Farm Engagement Session (Squeals and All)

"I like it when Deborah squeals!" exclaimed Liz. I was lying down in a gravel trail covered in brown dust, camera in hand squealing at something wonderful my couple had just done. Should I have been embarrassed? I probably should have been embarrassed by the entire afternoon. I seemed to be on my proverbial A game that day. "Give me your best JQ" I explained to Patrick. Blanks stairs in my direction. Or how about the time a tick climbed up on Liz's foot and I then made her check my hair to make sure I was safe. Dramatic shivers and all. Or the time I ran around the property to move a bag or when I told Liz and Patrick to give the car passing by a show... I am pretty much guaranteed to make a complete fool out of myself while working with my couples.

But here's the great thing. I wasn't embarrassed. In fact we laughed together at my mishaps. I ran around, cracked jokes, triped over myself, stumbled over words, talked with my hands. Oh and squealed a lot. It's who I am, and no matter how hard I try to be this calm, cool, collect person, the crazy always makes it way out.

That excitement I have photographing happy couples in love, squeals and all, tell my couple that what they are doing, who they are together, is beautiful. Because when I squeal, or scream or make a complete idiot out of myself I give permission for others to be themselves. Permission that they too can be comfortable in their own skin, in front of the camera and with me. With each annoying and loud squeal I am telling my couples I'm so glad to be photographing you! Rock it out!

On Saturday I spent the afternoon with Liz and Patrick for their engagement session at Wagon Hill Farm in New Hampshire. And despite the blustery wind, chilly temperatures and one squealing photographer, they created some amazing images! I can't wait to share the shoot in it's entirety on Thursday! For now enjoy their sneak peek!

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Ask Anything : What's In My Camera Bag?

Originally my thought for this Ask Anything post was to WRITE all about what's in my camera bag. But honestly, I talk a lot faster than I type and somehow being able to visually go through my bag was easier than making a post about it! Check out the video below to get look inside my camera bag, what I bring with me to weddings and how I use that gear on a wedding day! By the way, that thumping you hear? Yea that's my dog... I TRIED getting her out of the room but she wouldn't have it! Also, *palm to forehead* -- I DIDN'T SHOW MY CAMERA! For those of you who are wondering, I shoot with the 5d Mark II. I have my list of equipment listed below as well!

Here's a quick overview of the gear I bring with me on a wedding day

Camera Bodies: (2) 5d Mark II, (1) 50d

Lenses: 35mm 1.4, 100mm Macro 2.8, 50mm 1.2, 85mm 1.2, 70-200mm 2.8, 24-70mm 2.8

Flash Gear: (3) 580 Ex II, (3) Pocket Wizard Transceivers, (2) Battery Packs, (1) Video Light, (1) Reflector, (2) light stands, (1) umbrella

Camera Bag: Shootsac, Think Tank Airport International V 2.0 Rolling Bag

Misc: batteries, flash cards

If you have any questions about my gear or how I work on a wedding day, please feel free to ask away in the comment section below! I'd love to hear from you!

Jon & Diana's Fenway Park and Back Bay Engagement

What do you get when an optometrist and psychologist meet? ONE HOT COUPLE! Despite any nerves these two may have had before their engagement session they were like seasoned pros in front of the camera! Add in the beautiful backdrop of Boston and it's the makings of one amazing session! These two describe themselves as each others best friend, and it's completely true! I loved watching them as we walked around Boston. That smile never left Diana's face as Jon lovingly held the hand of his bride to be. There's just something about a couple in love, it makes everything else around them seem so much brighter. And that's just how it is with Diana and Jon!

We started their engagement session in the Fenway neighborhood where Diana lived in college and ended our time together in the Back Bay. It was the perfect afternoon: a beautiful city, a beautiful day and a beautiful couple. What more do you need?! Thanks Diana and Jon for letting go and being yourself (and bringing your model faces;))! I loved watching you enjoy each others company, laughing together, and just loving one another. I can't wait for the big day in September, it's going to be simply amazing!

To view more of Jon and Diana's images and to sign their guestbook, click here.

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When Jon proposed he gave Diana a beautiful engagement ring. Afterwards, he decided to get his own ring! If everyone was going to know that Diana was taken, he wanted to the whole world to know he was spoken for too. And all the girls let out a collective "sigh."

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Many thanks to The Music Bed for providing the music for Jon and Diana's slideshow. "Make It Right" performed by Riley & the Roxies.

Jon & Diana Engaged

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A Fenway Park Engagement Session

What do you get when an optometrist and psychologist meet? ONE HOT COUPLE!

Despite any nerves these two may have had before their engagement session they were like seasoned pros in front of the camera! Add in the beautiful backdrop of Boston and it's the makings of one amazing session! These two describe themselves as each others best friend, and it's completely true! I loved watching them as we walked around Boston. That smile never left Diana's face as Jon lovingly held the hand of his bride to be. There's just something about a couple in love, it makes everything else around them seem so much brighter. And that's just how it is with Diana and Jon!

To view more of Jon and Diana's images and to sign their guestbook, click here.

Many thanks to The Music Bed for providing the music for Jon and Diana's slideshow. "Make It Right" performed by Riley & the Roxies.

April Self Portrait & Ten Things You Never Knew

I've got to admit that this self portrait series has been a bigger challenge that I originally thought. I mean, how hard can it be taking your own portrait? It's not that its HARD per say, but rather incredibly inconvenient. Because in all honesty, I wear yoga pants and puffy sweatshirts ALL.DAY.LONG. It's rare that I do my hair or even bother to put on make up let alone get dressed properly. I mean I work from home, there's no one to impress unless you count the dog, and quite frankly she really doesn't care! So the self portraits. It means I have to stop what I'm doing, go put on make up, try to make my hair look semi managed, and dress myself in something other than my pjs. Then I have to actually take a half decent image of myself! After this one, I immediately wiped off my makeup, put my hair in a bun and crawled back in my sweatshirt. Pretty sure you don't want to see that picture though;)

All sarcastic comments aside, I still truly enjoy the challenge. I try to use different lenses each time (the 35mm for this one) and put myself in different scenarios. It's growing me as a photographer and pushing me out of my comfort zone. I think that's worth the inconvenience of putting myself together;)

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Part of the reason why I started this series was because I wanted readers to get to know a bit more about who I was by seeing pictures of me! (Crazy red head anyone?;)). So when I brainstormed about what to write with April's self portrait I came up with my top ten. Behold, the top ten things you never knew about me. (You're on pins and needles I know;)) Ok, here we go!

Top Ten Things You Never Knew About Me

1. I'm an only child. Yep, it's just me. Every year though I begged Mom and Dad for a baby. They gave me a doll.

2. I was born two months early. Kind of crazy to think about now. But today would have actually been my birthday. If I wasn't so impatient and all;)

3. I have size 11 feet. I think I was supposed to be taller. I have the feet and hands of Micheal Jordan.

4. My nickname is Goose. Aka Goosie. Yes after Top Gun.

5. I secretly (oh gosh I can't believe I'm admitting this!) used to be obsessed with Star Trek. *Hangs head in shame*

6. I was on the weight team in High School. I was the girl that threw those frisbee looking things (discus) and those heavy balls (shot put). I kinda stunk.

7. I was a Girl Scout. I even received my Gold Award (equivalent to the Boy Scout Eagle Award). But don't look to me to start a fire or build things out of twigs and leaves.

8. I'm absolutely terrified of flying. You really don't want to hold my hand if sitting next to me one a plane.

9. I saw Titanic (when it first came out) five times in the theatres. Remember when Leo was a teenage heart throb?!

10. I made up my own dance move called the Debbie Butt Wiggle. It became a signature move during college. Don't hate, I've got mad dance moves.

Those are ten things you never knew about me. What's one thing people don't know about you?!

A Preview of Jon & Diana's Boston Engagement (And Note To All My Brides)

Boston engagement sessions, what's not to love? A beautiful couple, a beautiful city, a beautiful afternoon. All ingredients for a PERFECT spring time engagement session downtown! Of course there will be LOTS more to come of Diana and Jon, so make sure to check in on Thursday to see the rest of the images from their engagement! When I first met up with Diana and Jon, Diana quickly asked me "You're going to give us direction right? I have NO idea what I'm doing!" It's a typical statement I hear from brides who often feel nervous in front of the camera. Usually this is the first real amount of time that they've been in front of the camera and so naturally they are unsure of what to expect or how to act. I completely understand this nervousness! Being in front of the camera can be really intimidating!

I gave Diana the same piece of advice I give to all my couples their first time in front of the camera: there is no right or wrong with me! I don't want couples to feel any pressure to have to perform or do things a certain way. Usually that just ends up with people looking awkward, afraid to move and do something "wrong." That doesn't sound like a fun afternoon to me! I want couples to ENJOY being with each other (and with me too;))! If you want to hug your fiance, make out or move that hand precariously near their butt, then by all means go for it! Some of the best photos I've taken are of couples who do something unexpected then burst into laughter for it!

I always direct couples during the shoot to capture their natural beauty. But at the end of the day, what makes photograph sing is when a couple is just THEM in front of the camera. That's exactly what Diana and Jon did as we walked around Boston together. Once they knew they could basically do whatever they wanted they let down their guard and had FUN! With a little help of my crazy antics (making a scene when I thought I was falling off the curb, when it was just a bump on the side walk anyone?) and a happy couple, we made some beautiful images I can't wait to share!

If you're feeling anxious about your upcoming engagement session, just remember there is no right or wrong! The engagement session is an excuse to spend the afternoon with your fiance, have fun, and make beautiful images along the way! So get ready to smile, laugh and maybe you'll see your inner model shine through!

An Update on 101 in 1001

Hard to believe that we're already HALF way through the fourth month of the year! I feel like 2012 is FLYING by and I can barely keep up! Every day seems to go faster than the next, but that's life I suppose! It was for this exact reason that I started my 101 in 1001 list. Life just goes by so quickly and without some planning or goal setting the days turn into years and suddenly you find yourself wondering why you didn't accomplish the all things you wished you had!

When I first sat down to write out this list I never thought that I'd cross off some of these goals so soon! This is after all a multi-year goal list! But, I suppose, that is the power of writing it all down. There is an accountability in it and it's a huge motivation factor for me! If you haven't started a 101 in 1001 do it today! Even it's something as simple as five things you'd like to achieve in the next five months, don't be afraid to write it down!

Here are some of the fun things we've done already this year:)

12. Revamp The Bookworm Club. started on 1.18.2012

19. Purchase a new used car, preferably a CRV !!completed on 3.07.2012

44.Make a Date Night package for each month for a whole year for Dave:) completed on 1.1.2012

64.Become an LLC. completed on 1.1.2012

75.Go on a Cruise for the first time.completed on 4.1.2012

77.Upgrade my second camera body (either 5d Mark II or the Mark IV) completed on 1.31.2012

80. Sell or give away old equipment I'm not using. completed on 1.16.2012

89. Spend the weekend at Church Landing in Meredith, New Hampshire.completed on 2.12.2012

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A Tour of My Meeting Space and Home Office

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Welcome to my home office and meeting space! I've been working on this space for over a year now and it's still not finished. I have a lot of tweaking to do here and there but I thought now would be a great time to share the space as it is with you! It's come a LONG way since we first moved in. Below are images of what the space looked like before. Those brown chocolate walls made the space feel so small and uninviting. It took us almost two years of living in the house to finally change the paint color but I'm so glad we did!

Flash forward three years later (and numerous trips to Home Goods) and here is my in home client meeting space and home office. It's truly been a labor of love and I've worked hard to make it a space that not only represents Deborah Zoe Photography but me as well! A few years after Dave and I were married and several years into my career as a news photographer, I started to get the itch. I knew deep down in my heart that I wanted to be business owner and run my own photography business. So I took baby steps here and there to making that dream come true. One of those steps was buy a desk. We used the points I had accumulated on a credit card to buy a big fancy desk from Pottery Barn. I had no plans of leaving my then current job, no clients, no business and most importantly no office. But I knew that someday I would. It took us several years and a house to finally start to see that dream come true. Here I am today blogging about that very office and business I had dreamed of!

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Everyone asks me where I got the pink chaise. It was a splurge at Urban Outfitters. Originally I was unsure about the bright pink color, but now I can't imagine my office without it!

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My office is certainly NOT easy to photograph. There are so many angles and areas for shadows to develop. It was quite the challenge to make an evenly exposed image!

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As you probably know I love books, especially business books! I try to keep them out so I can quickly reference a book at any time. Finding a way to creatively display them has been a challenge!

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One of my favorite parts of the office is my thank you card holder. I love looking at it and seeing all the cards and save the dates from past and current clients!

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The desk that is my pride and joy! While I wish I had purchased it in white all those years ago, the brown does just fine:)

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People, especially new clients, ask me all the time where I meet with my couples...well, this is it! I'll often hold client meetings here (complete with treats from the Danish Pastry house and a bottle of wine;)). It's a great spot to entertain clients in and I really enjoy being to have a space that's all my own! I'm so grateful for this home and all the opportunities that it affords me as a small business owner. Having a space that is "rent free" and that I can make my own has been amazing. And though it's still a work in progress I'm proud of this space and what it represents: a dream come true.

(I'm so thankful for a husband who fully supports me and gives me my own space! After all, this could have been his man cave. But he graciously gave it to me. What a guy! Don't worry, he has a cave all of his own...Our basement!)

Wedding Love : The Wedding Questionnaire

As the months wind down leading up to your wedding things can get, well, stressful. There are so many last minute details to plan that it can be hard NOT to get overwhelmed with all the tasks at hand. As a former Bride I completely understand! Trying to balance wedding planning and still living your normal life is a challenge. For all those currently planning your wedding, my hat is off to you! I remember what it was like to be in your shoes and all the pressure and responsibility you feel as the planner of a such a major event! As I sat down to plan out the workflow for each of my wedding clients I kept coming back to this thought: How can I make the lives of my bride and grooms easier in the final stages of their planning? Enter the Wedding Questionnaire.

Two months before your wedding I send out a Wedding Questionnaire with lots of questions related to your wedding! It's a place where you can store all the vital information related to your wedding in one place. It's easy to access and easy to make changes to as necessary. Here you'll provide all wedding related information such as contacts, locations, times, and vendors you are working with. There is space to list family combinations for family portraits and specific images you'd like me to capture on the big day. You can write down anything you'd like me to know about your wedding. With all this information collected I have a complete picture of what your day will look like. I can better serve you as your photographer knowing that we're both on the same page!

I asked former bride, Abby, to talk about how the Wedding Questionnaire helped her leading up to the final stages of planning. Here is what she shared:

"The Wedding Questionnaire was very helpful - it provided me with a "checklist" for "day of" wedding details. Knowing that Deborah would be taking pictures of all the details reminded me to collect them all and have them in one place - such as the invitations and special mementos from our engagement. I found it especially useful because our engagement and wedding were so far apart - there were things I had forgotten about, but wanted included in our special day. Over all it was really nice having the Questionnaire to keep me on track. Everything becomes so crazy as the wedding approaches, and you lose track of what to do or even where to begin - it helped keep me accountable!" -- Abby, married in February 2012

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In addition to the Wedding Questionnaire, I also provide Family Portrait and Timeline consultations. Basically we discuss the various family combinations that you'd like from your wedding day and we create a master list that I will work off of. We do the same thing with your timeline, working together to create a timeline that reflects your needs and wants for the day (including photography!!)

The Wedding Questionnaire serves as my way of saying that I'm here for you. As your wedding approaches, if you find yourself overwhelmed or wondering what to do when and where, please don't hesitate to ask me! I'm here to help your day flow as smoothly as possible and to make it a day to remember! I want you to walk into the big day knowing that everything has been taken care of, especially your wedding photography!

Nicole and Jason's Engagement at Elm Bank Horticultural Society. Sorta.

Last week a group of photographers came together to pull off a styled shoot at the Elm Bank Horticultural Society (you can read all about it here!) Part of the afternoon of shooting was a mock engagement session! Friend and fellow photographer Nicole along with her beau Jason posed and played for the camera as twenty other photographers directed them along. It was fun to see another photographer behind the camera and I think all that experience paid off! They rocked it out!

I had so much fun with these two naturals and the beautiful location of Elm Bank was the perfect backdrop! Enjoy Nicole and Jason's "faux" engagement!

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A behind the scenes glimpse at the craziest that was the afternoon!

Wedding Love : The Family Formals

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Ick. Could there be a worse name for this? Family formals. It just sounds so, well, BORING. And that's the LAST thing family portraits on your wedding day should be! Think about it. You've gather all your loved ones from around the country if not the world to join with you as you marry. It's a day of celebration, happiness and excitement and your family is a HUGE part of that! Why then would you want a a stiff collection of family formals? Shouldn't your family portraits be ones filled with joy!?

But it's hard being in front of the camera. People often tend to stiff up. They are unsure of what to do and just look, well, awkward. And that really is not the best scenario for relaxed and natural images! Over the years though I've learned that are a few things you can do to ensure that your images are more like the kind you envision: joyful, happy, and fun!

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1. Communicate. Simply put, tell your family it's ok to relax! Communicate with them the vibe and feeling you want to achieve in your family portraits. Make sure they know that they can let loose, have some fun, joke around, and just enjoy each others company! Your family members should feel free to be themselves in front of the camera. As your photographer it's my job to help people feel natural, but having the right attitude to start goes a long way in creating fun and memorable family portraits! This is especially important for the older family members. They are used to more posed and stiff photography so communicating with them beforehand will help them envision what to expect on the wedding day!

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2. Organization. Stress can be a huge factor in how successful the wedding portrait time is. Part of what can make this time stressful is lack of organization. It can be hard trying to rally up 30 plus people for your family portraits. Being organized ahead of time can go a long way to ensure that you are stress free and that your family knows exactly where to be and when on the wedding day. I send out a questionnaire to all my couples as well as consult with them before the wedding day. This helps to start the organization process early and gives them the tools and information to communicate to their family. The less you have to think about, the less you have to worry about!

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3. Relax. People are going to feed off your energy. If you're happy and relaxed, then most likely those around you will also be happy and relaxed. But if you're stressed, well, guess what, that will unfortunately translate to those around you as well. It's all in your attitude. Allow me to take care of gathering people together, organizing the groupings and directing people. It's your job to just ENJOY yourself and hug and kiss your family! If you do find that you're starting to get anxious then, take a deep breath, remember that you love your family and remember the purpose of the day: each other!

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4. Numbers. Family formals take about 30 minutes. Because we've communicated before hand there are really no guessing games as to who will be in what groupings and generally people know where to be and when. I try to make the family portraits quick and fun so that everyone can get back to what they really want to do: PARTY! That being said, I always advise couples to be aware of the amount of combinations that they TRULY want. Organizing and gathering people does take time. Allowing people to relax takes time. The more people we have to photograph the more time it will take to do so. And that means the less time you have to enjoy the day! So as your planning out who you'd like photographed on your wedding day, remember to be realistic as to how much time you have and how many people you want in your portraits.

Below is a basic combination list that I start with all my couples. Of course every family dynamic is different so this list will often change. Couples can add or remove combinations from this list and we work together to create a family portrait list that fits their needs as well as their timeline!

Bride and Mom

Bride and Dad

Bride with Mom and Dad

Bride and Groom with Mom and Dad

Bride and Groom with Mom and Dad (add siblings)

Bride with Mom and Dad (add siblings)

Bride and Groom with Grandparents

Bride and Groom with both sets of parents

Bride and Groom with both sides of families

Groom with Mom

Groom with Dad

Groom with Mom and Dad

Groom and Bride with Mom and Dad

Groom and Bride with Mom and Dad (add siblings)

Groom and Bride with Grandparents

Groom with Mom and Dad (add siblings)

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In all honesty, family portraits don't require a lot of creativity. But to me family portraits are not about being artistic and creative. It's about documenting family units. It's about documenting the bond that each family shares. It's about preserving family history. Being able to watch families have fun together and capturing that that in an image is what I love! Ultimately I want you to enjoy the time with your loved ones and to be able to remember them through your wedding day for years to come!

Patriots Day : A Day of Distractions

It's Patriots Day here in a Massachusetts which means most people have the day off, including my husband. And I've got to be honest, it's totally put me off my game! It's just so weird to have him around when I'm trying to work. Clearly I'm one for structure and schedule because I'm so distracted! He's doing lots of yard work today too which means there is a lot more noise and he keeps coming inside to ask me if I want to know what Bobby Valentine said about Youk. Needless to say I'm not getting a lot of work done today! I'm determined to hunker down though, knock some things off of my to do list and then enjoy a BEAUTIFUL afternoon with Dave. It's a rare treat that he is home like this so I'm making a decision to turn the computer off this afternoon and enjoy it together! I have lots of stuff I want to share with you these last few weeks of April and so I thought for this Monday of distractions instead of trying to write a proper post, I'd give you a sneak peek of what's coming your way!

- A vlog about what's in my camera bag. Can you handle more of me "live?"

- A wedding love all about the family formals. Who knew they could be this exciting?!

- A sneak peek into my home office and client meeting space. I've been so hesitant about posting these but I finally feel like it's becoming a space I'm proud of:)

- An April Bookworm

- An update on my 101 in 1001 list

- An April Self Portrait - wasn't it JUST March?

- A bunch of amazing engagement sessions, including:

- A beautiful mock engagement session at Elm Bank Horticultural Society. I'm definitely swooning over these!

I hope you enjoy this beautiful spring day. Even if it's just for five minutes, get out there and breath in the fresh air. Distractions or no distractions embrace the day!

Elm Bank Horticultural Society Wedding Photos

Several months ago I got the itch. I wanted to do something creative, experiment and just PLAY. Often I get so caught up in the day to day tasks of running a small business that I don't take enough time to just enjoy being a photographer. I knew that if I didn't make the time to spend a day just shooting that I never would. And I knew that if I felt this way, that there had to be others who did too. So I put something out there expecting that maybe one or two people would want to join me for an afternoon of fun. Instead over 40 people responded saying they wanted in too! Wow, I was blow away. One thing led to another and a few days later I was putting together a styled shoot, organizing vendors, locations and what the day would look like. We all pooled our resources, connected with other vendors and worked together to create something really special. When Monday finally came, I couldn't believe what we had accomplished together!

That afternoon, we had FUN. There was no expectations, no right or wrong, just a time for us to get behind the camera and work. And that's exactly what we did. We enjoyed an afternoon focusing on what we're passionate about: making beautiful images.

I have to thank the amazing people who worked diligently behind scenes to give us amazing details to photograph. I'm so grateful to each person who lent their time, talent and creativity for this shoot! (Their information is listed below if you are looking for some fabulous vendors for your wedding!)

Finally a HUGE thank you goes out to Jenn and the crew at the Elm Bank Horticultural Society who graciously allowed us access to the Elm Bank event facilities and property. They let us take over for the afternoon and gave us the space to host the event. Without them there would be no shoot! They were amazing and I'd HIGHLY recommend Elm Bank if you are looking for a beautiful and romantic venue around the Boston area!

If you're feeling discouraged or that you're just going through the motions as a photographer, get out there and work! Make some time just for you. Block it out on your calendar. No distractions, just you and your camera. As artists it's so important for us to do this, to reconnect with what we love about photography. It could be as simple as photographing your dog. Whatever it is, that time spent shooting for FUN will take you leaps and bounds in your craft. So get out there and shoot!

Without further adieu here is our labor of love, a styled shoot at Elm Bank!

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The fab group of photographers who helped pull together an amazing event!!

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Bride and Groom | Stacie & Tim

Bride’s Shoes | Franco Sarto & BCBG

Bride’s Bouquet and Boutonniere| Valley Flower Company

Bridesmaid Bouquet |French Bouquet Florist, Inc.

Make-up Artist | Amanda McCarthy Beauty

Hair Stylist | meghan.jones5@yahoo.com

Table Settings | Counting Sheep Antiques

Gowns | Chantilly Place

Invitations & Place cards| Requesting Your Presence

Love Grows Stronger

Having been married for almost six years (in July, what what!) Dave and I have learned a thing or two about marriage. But one of the major themes that I have noticed in the last few years that keeps coming back and back is: love grows stronger. When Dave and I were married six years ago, I never imagined being able to love him more. I thought I knew him deeply and I couldn't fathom how that could grow any more. HA! I was oh so naive.

Because that is exactly what marriage does. It grows your love, it matures your love and it deepens the relationship you share. The more life Dave and I have experienced together, good and bad, the more I have known him. And the more I know him, the more the intimacy of our relationship deepens. And the more intimate our love is, the more it grows.

It's hard, I think, at times to fathom spending a lifetime together with the same person. How could you possibly love one person for the rest of your life? And that statement is partially true. How could you? How could you continue to love the same person for the rest of your life if your LOVE for that person never changes? If my love for Dave stayed stagnant, in the same place that it was six years ago when I said "I Do", we would never grow and our relationship would suffer. It would never acknowledge the history and experiences that we have shared together and it would never be an accurate reflection of our current relationship. Love only grows stronger because we change and grow together

On our wedding day, when I thought I couldn't love him more, I had no idea what the future held for us. And make no mistake these past years have been work. We have worked diligently to grow and mature our relationship. Sometimes fighting for it. Today I'm so thankful for that work.

Looking back makes me excited for the future. Because honestly I can't imagine loving Dave more. But we still have many more years of life to go. A house full of kids, college tuitions and grey hair. How will that grow us, change us, shape us and mold us? How different our love will look? How much more filled will my heart be looking back on a life shared together? What a great day that will be when we are old and grey, seeing the grand picture of how our love has changed and grown and shaped who we are.

Love only grows stronger.

Featured : Style Me Pretty, Heart Love Weddings and Love & Lobster

It's getting closer!! Wedding season is almost in full swing. If I were being completely honest, boy how I wouldn't mind another month or two before things get started;) I have so much I need to check off my to do list before that happens! Here's hoping for a productive April! This lead up to the start of wedding season has been a busy one! I've been working furiously behind the scenes to get everything together to run smoothly in the coming months. I've also had the pleasure of sharing several engagements and weddings from last year with a few wedding blogs. I'm so excited about these features below so I hope you take a a few minutes to check them out! Here's to wedding season!

Brian and Deb's adorable Boston Public Garden engagement featured on Heart Love Weddings.

Steve and Tracy's beautiful fall wedding at The Riverview featured on Heart Love Weddings.

Patty and Justin's coastal Maine wedding at Linekin Bay Resort featured on Love & Lobster.

Nick and Stephanie's Harvard Square engagement featured on Style Me Pretty.

And finally Jamie and Jon's beautiful spring wedding at The Endicott Estate featured on PreOwned Wedding Dresses.

Practice Makes Perfect at Elm Bank

Last year I heard another local wedding photographer, Binita Patel, speaking about putting in practice hours when it comes to our photography. Something really connected with me in that statement; the idea of continually trying to improve my craft through hours of practice and experimentation. I decided that if I felt that way, then there must be others out there who also wanted an opportunity to practice and experiment. So a few months ago I made an announcement in one of the photography forums I belong to seeing if there was interest to put together something. I was completely overwhelmed with the response of other photographers who not only wanted to participate but who connected us with vendors, models and props! Yesterday everything came together for an afternoon of fun! The beautiful venue of Elm Bank graciously allowed us to use their facilities to host the event and it went off perfectly! 20 or so photographers gathered together to have fun and enjoy what we are passionate about: photography! I can't wait to share more from this shoot with you later this week but for now enjoy this sneak peek!

Happy Anniversary Ben & Liz!

One year ago I had the honor of standing next to Liz as she promised her life to her best friend Ben during a beautiful ceremony in New Hampshire. Over this year I've watched as Ben and Liz have grown into their own as a couple and as they've dreamed for the future. Dave and I are so incredibly blessed to call these two our dear friends and I'm so excited to see what the next year has in store for them! I wish you two a wonderful anniversary! Here's to many more years of love and laughter together!

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Travelogue : Caribbean

Last year Dave's parents gave us a call. They asked if we were interested in going on a family vacation with them to the Caribbean. We had thought they might ask (getting things like luggage and snorkel gear for Christmas are little giveaways;)), so of course we said yes! Since the trip was so far off in the future we didn't really give much thought to it and since we had never been to the Caribbean or on a cruise, I have to admit that we really didn't have any expectations. All we cared about was time with the family and lots and lots of sunshine. And let me just say, our trip delivered! It was so relaxing, rejuvenating and fun! We loved our time with family and being away from "work" for a week. It's a miracle that neither Dave nor I did ONE bit of work that week. We just soaked up every minute together! A bit of fair warning, this will be a long post! But there's so much to share from our trip, I really didn't want to split it into several blog entries. I hope you enjoy a recap of our fabulous time together!

We started the week off in San Juan (new San Juan) while waiting for our cruise ship. As Dave and Stephanie waited in line for our room, they served free champagne! It was a great way to start the week and gave me a good chuckle when the lady next to them though Dave and Stephanie were a couple;)

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Our first port was the US territory of St. Croix. It kind of reminded me of Pirates of the Caribbean. This was one of the less inhabited ports that we visited. It was quaint and quite lovely. We look a bike excursion in the morning down the coast of the island, had a imaginary competition with a few Canadians;), and then enjoyed the afternoon wandering Fredrikstad.

Our ship was HUGE. Look at how tiny the people are!

This house's foundation was made of our ballace brick, brick that was used to help balance ships as they traveled to the islands from places like England.

Sorry Elaine, I hope you don't mind me posting a picture of you enjoying a glass of wine! It makes me smile and giggle every time and reminds me just how much fun we had together!

Our next port was St. Maarten, my absolute favorite port we visited. It reminded me a lot of Key West: laid back, lots of bars and restaurants, and of course t-shirt shops:) We docked in Phillipsburg, which is on the Dutch side of the island.

In the morning we hit up the beach and in the afternoon we wandered the streets of Phillipsburg. And in fairness to my mother in law above, yes that is a picture of me eating THREE desserts at dinner.

Following St. Maarten we headed to Antigua, an interesting little island with lots of British influence. We spent the morning with our taxi driver who took us all over the island on our own private tour! Below is Shirley Heights, with sweeping views of Antigua!

Our cabby was really excited to tell us about the camouflaged house on the rock cliff below. It's home to Eric Clapton, can you see it?

Shirley Heights was an old British fort that protected Nelson's Dockyard, in the harbor below. The dockyard once housed the British Fleet.

Impressive huh?!

We ended the day with beers at Cheers in the port. I love this picture of me and Stephanie, Dave's sister. I often joke that I married Dave for his sister and I'm so grateful they were a package deal;) Love finally having a sister!

Our fourth port was St. Lucia. We spent the morning wandering downtown and trying to avoid the relentless vendors:(

I was SUPER excited about St. Lucia, mostly because I've always wanted to visit since watching the Bachelor! (HAH, yep I just admitted that;)) While the port itself was not that fun, we were able to take a snorkel tour to the Pitons, which was pretty amazing. The boat ride up and down the coast was a highlight of the trip for me!

Our last official port was Barbados. Since we spent the ENTIRE day at the beach (Dave got sunburned HEAD TO TOE lol) I didn't bring my camera. This is one of the only pictures from that day. It was one of the prettiest beaches, ever!

On the last day, our cruise re-docked in San Juan and since our flight wasn't leaving until later in the afternoon, we spent the day exploring Old San Juan. Old San Juan is just one of the coolest places. Little nooks and crannies are every where with an abundant amount of places to explore. I truly loved this place!

Thanks so much for taking a journey back with me! And an even bigger thanks to my wonderful in-laws who made the trip so amazing.

I hope you're starting to feel that warm sea breeze blowing in! I'm just going to keep looking at these images until it's 80 degrees again! Hurry summer!

The Importance of Your Wedding Album

I have to admit that when Dave and I got married six years ago, we didn't have a wedding album made. We were the "shoot and burn" couple who grabbed their DVD of images and never did anything with them. But being a photographer, there was always something in the back of my mind telling me that I needed to have a wedding album made. But days turned into months, months turned into years and we still didn't have a wedding album. Our images still continued to live on a DVD and on negative strips. Eventually I decided I had to put in the hard work of creating an album. It took several months to save up for, edit, design and order the book. And after I hit purchase I could barely contain my excitement to finally hold our wedding album in my hands.

When the album arrived I quickly ripped open the packaging and immediately started to poke through. There I was with my mom as we got ready. There Dave was as I walked down the aisle. There were all the memories of our wedding day.

Then it happened. As I stood in our kitchen I unexpectedly burst into tears. It had been several years since we were married and so while I expected to enjoy having a wedding album, I never expected to feel all of the emotions and happiness that I had felt on that day come flooding back.

Our joy, our excitement, our love. With each page, more emotion overwhelmed me as I let the tears fall onto the kitchen counter. Dave and I wrapped each other in our arms and allowed ourselves to relive not just each moment, but each emotion of the day. How I felt the moment I put on my wedding dress. How Dave felt the first time he saw me. How happy I felt dancing with my Dad. How joyful we felt to be surrounded by friends and family.

I never expected our wedding album to have that effect, but now every time I pick up our album to leaf through it's pages, immediately I am transported back exactly how I felt that day.

To me that was worth all of the pennies we saved and all of the work we put in to create our wedding album. Yes, it's a way to display our images, but it's so much more than that. It's a time machine that takes us back to July 21, 2006. Our album will be shared with our children and grand children and will be treasured for years to come. And as our children leaf through it's pages, we'll be able to share with them the joy we felt on that day. That, that right there is precious and meaningful. To us, that is worth everything.

If you have yet to order your wedding album, I'd love to hear from you. Currently I am running a 10% off special on all album purchases made before the end of April 2012! Feel free to email me directly at deborahzparker@mac.com to get all the details!

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Travelogue : Caribbean Cruise

Today required a BIG cup of coffee! We returned from our family vacation cruising the Caribbean to a full inbox, a Facebook account that had exploded and go figure, tons of snail mail at home! Lots to get caught up on today, so I'm going to leave you with a sneak peek of our trip that I'll be sharing with you in full on Friday! I'm missing the 80 degree temps and abundance of sunshine already! Can we go back now?... Check out our home for the past week! It was B.I.G.