Jackson?

We've tried out a ton of names over the last few days, but as his personality blossoms the names don't stick! Pinny, the name given by the shelters, is not quite strong enough. Today we're calling him Jackson, and it seems to be a good fit. What do you think?

A partial list of names we've rejected, so far:
Bruski
Harper
Moby
Pendleton
Booker
Truman
Gunnar
Bode
Bud
Marley
Herschel
Minor
Penn
Rockport
Rocky


PS - that's a photo from my cell phone... poor puppy suffers from 3rd child syndrome... he's been home 2 days and we still haven't taken a real photo of him!

Joanne and Josh

Josh and Joanne had a beautiful wedding. Everything took place at the Temple Mishkan Tefila which seems to have a great layout for managing a crowd's "flow". Our favorite kosher caterer Andrew provided the food - ALWAYS quite delicious and beautiful, and his catering staff are the nicest we've ever met. Josh and Joanne's thoughtfulness and elegant taste was apparent in all the details of the day, from the unique woodsy floral arrangements to the fill-your-own-bag jelly bean table that guests passed when they left the party. Congratulations Joanne and Josh!

Big Things Happen in Threes

Super exciting news from the Grazier house!!!

1. We're moving... just a few miles away to a big lovely house in Roslindale. We can't wait to have people visit our new office! The whole third floor of the house will be dedicated to our business.

2. Ollie and Will have a new baby brother... no, it's not what you think! Our new DOG came home with us on Sunday. His shelter name is Pinny, and though we've still got grand ambitions to change it the name is starting to stick. (he didn't know his name when we got him, so it shouldn't be hard to change it if we can figure out what to call him!) The dog currently known as Pinny is really wonderful with the boys - very attentive and gentle despite being a playful puppy himself. When you visit our new office we'll introduce you to him.

3. This may be the most exciting of all... we have a brand new AWESOME studio manager! Her name is Abby, and if you are one of our wedding or portrait clients, or another photographer I'm sure you'll get the joy of speaking with her. We're going to do a fall photo session with Abby and her family, so stay tuned for fun pictures!

We've been so busy with our 7 September weddings that we don't have ANY pictures of the above 3 big super exciting changes, but we promise to share soon!

And if you're a guest or family of one of our September weddings THANK YOU for your patience! We're putting finishing touches on these events right now, and they will be ready for viewing soon.

Becoming a Better Guest... errr, I Mean Photographer

The Wedding Photojournalism Association just published their newsletter and in it is a great article about how guests can take better pictures at weddings. We love to share tips - many of them are the exact same tips mentioned in this article - to guests who come up to us to chat photo during downtime at the reception.

Read the article here, and let us know what you think!

3 Award-Winning Images!

The Wedding Photojournalism Association just posted the winners in their most recent contest and we were excited to see our names included in the winners' list! Matt placed in the Action and Engagement categories, and I placed in the Portrait category of the Artistic Guild.


Since WPJA has strict guidelines about artistic enhancement of images, they have a separate guild and contest for members who do extra photoshop work on some of their images. I did enough retouching on this image to bring out the light and color as well as darken the trees that it's hard for me to consider it a straight "photojournalistic" image, so I felt it was more appropriate to enter it in the Artistic Guild competition. What an honor to place 2nd in an international contest!

What's that sound? It's a Baroque A

My grandmother Helen sent her cello out to me this summer, and I've been anxiously awaiting a chance to start learning how to play it... last night was my first lesson! I'm starting with a group class, and it will be a great group - everyone comes from a different background, they are all eager to learn, and the teacher is really good at organizing everyone. We learned how to hold, transport, and tune our cellos last night, as well as how to hold the bow and a few basics about reading the bass clef. Our teacher commented that I have a "nice warm" voice, and I felt very special. :) My homework is to practice feeling my arms being heavy.

On my way back to the car after my lesson I passed a group of people discussing f-stops. It was a beginning photography class... ah, those were the days. Isn't it remarkable that we humans can learn so many things, and that we're capable of - once we learn technique - expressing ourselves through those skills. I hope I'm able to express myself with the cello some day.

PS - As for the Baroque A... did you know that our notion of the musical scale is going UP? In the Baroque era the note A was almost a full tone lower than what we call an A today! In the 1930s people were concerned that the standard A was creeping up the scale, going higher and higher, so a conference was held and it was agreed that A should have a universal standard of 440 hz. Even so, A is still creeping up, and the Boston Symphony's A is 442hz! Who knew!

Back By Popular Demand: Portraits In The Park

I'm so excited to be doing our annual Portraits in the Park sessions again this year at the Arnold Arboretum! We have 6 mini-session time slots available. These sessions are perfect for family, child, and baby portraits for this year's holiday gifts. Call or email us to reserve your spot!

BBC Boston has a few spaces left!

Don't forget to register for Business Boot Camp! We're hosting this workshop taught by the fabulous Liana Lehman December 4-6. Get ready to take your business to the next level!