I’m not going to lie, this annual post of the behind the scenes of the past year is one of my favorites that I post! I love to show what it takes to photograph all those pretty pictures and the team that helps me. As much as I try to be a one-woman-show the truth is I need as much help as I can get. So enjoy the fun, hard working, and surprising shots from 2018 that sum up the BTS of photography.

This year as I dealt with a lot of health issues (You can read more about them in my 2018 Review.) my husband, Ben, really stepped up as my assistant at weddings, engagement sessions and family sessions. I’ve also trained him to shoot (he may be an engineer by trade, but he also has a creative side) so when he wasn’t assisting me he did have a camera on him to grab some extra shots.

I also used him as my pack mule and his height was beneficial. 🙂

What most people don’t know is that Ben is my secret to any sessions with kiddos and dogs. He’s the one that gets them to look happy and chases them around and brings them into the frame at just the right time for me to take a picture.

This is our niece, but Ben has also been known to watch kiddos while I snap a couple quick shots of just the parents.

Kid wrangler and bag holder extraordinaire hahaha.

And when I make the kids cry (not on purpose), Ben is there to try and get them to smile again.

As much as Ben hates having his picture taken, he will be my model when I need to test the light…

so I have lots of shots of him 🙂

And sometimes I say I need to “test the light” just to get a picture of my cute hubby.

As much as I’ve talked about Ben, I really could have not have shot my weddings this year without my second shooters. Devin, Keri, Rosemary, Mekina and Yumi were amazing this year! I relied so much on them this year as well.

If you’re my second shooter I will use you to test the light as well. The sillier the faces, the more fun we have 🙂

I also second shot for Mekina Saylor!

 

I left my camera at home one day and helped my friend Kate from Kate & Co. Events as a wedding planner.

And I second shot for Ashley Mac a couple of times. (Who knew it would be so hard to untangle a sign?)

And this is what my office looked like at the end of a wedding. (Before the bags exploded and equipment was everywhere being charged or cleaned.)

Styling the details is one of my favorite parts of a wedding day. I usually find a spot by a window and spend about an hour shooting all the wedding and bridal details for the day. It’s also a great time for me to get warmed up and ready to shoot for the rest of the wedding day. (Sometimes I have to get creative and use the bridal dress garment bag as a reflector.)

I will shoot the details wherever the best light is…. even if that’s in the middle of all the bridesmaids stuff.

I usually become pretty close with my brides and I’m not afraid to get in there and fix the corset of a dress or put more bobby pins in hair. I’ve even been known to put the veil on the bride or help her get into her dress and then of course take pictures after.

However, I am thankful when a wedding planner like, Kim, from Kimberly Paige Events is there to help.

I don’t know why, but once my flash is on my camera this is how I hold it when I’m not shooting.

You might not see me, but I promise I’m capturing everything with my camera!

And sometimes I can’t help it and I get on the dance floor 🙂

Something I never thought I’d become a pro at… showing couples how to cut their cake.

Our reward after a long day of shooting, some dessert (we wait until all the guests have been served) to give us the 2nd wind to drive home.

These are some behind the scenes from Spark’s free workshop Ignite! It’s always fun connecting with friends!

Our calligrapher, Penned by Alice, and our florist, Keri Patel, working on all the details for the workshop’s styled shoot.

This sounds liked a funny skill to need, but when you’re photographing groomsmen it really helps. I learned how to tie a bowtie from Mekina at the workshop and worked on it at home to perfect it. Now I just need Ben to let me practice on him.

I like overhead table shots 🙂 And look at our youngest photographer at the workshop! Sophia is taking after her momma, Nadine!

I couldn’t let all that cake and sprinkles go to waste from the styled shoot. Real life, on the way home from the workshop I got a Frosty and spilled it all over my lap and my car floor.

These two images don’t go together, but their two things that make me happy. I got to help shoot an event for the Ronald McDonald House of the Greater Hudson Valley.  And then one of my brides actually gave us a place card!

In June I celebrated 5 years of business and gave away a free engagement session on Instagram.

I randomly picked a couple that entered and Lexi and Zack were the sweetest!

This was a pretty epic old Maine fort that I shot a friend’s maternity session in. You could only reach it by boat and at certain times in the day depending on the tide!

I have such a bad habit of not looking where I’m walking when I’m shooting. It often results in me tripping or stepping in mud. One time I even stepped in a cow patty. 😝

I do often make friends with kiddos when I shoot family sessions. It helps when you have a whole platter of cookies to bribe them with 🙂

Newborn sessions are fun because I also get some baby snuggles. Big sister, Hailey, got jealous and wanted to pretend that she was a baby as well while we did newborn pictures.

This year I tried my hand at floral arrangement for an anniversary session. I even used some flowers from my garden.

I feel like I’m alway fixing hair or veils. Our friend Tyler caught Ben in a selfie during his and Janelle’s anniversary session.

This fall I tried mini sessions for the first time!

Besides it being cold, I thought it went well! We had 4 families come out and brave the cold.

Since this was a tougher year I started a tradition after each session that I don’t think Ben minded, we got a treat at the end to reward ourselves!

At one of the weddings I 2nd shot at they had a pizza truck! Do you see what my life centers around? hahaha And then when I delivered my last gallery in 2018 I celebrated some champagne!

Even though owning your own business and shooting on a lot of the weekends during the spring, summer and fall can be stressful at times. I wouldn’t trade it for anything! I love capturing  and being there for such special moments for couples and families! All of these BTS pictures are just getting me excited for what will happen in 2019!