Favorite Photos from 2012 – Lifestyle

Gathering photos for our end of the year recap is not an easy task. It involves searching through each and every shoot, wedding and personal folder to gather some of our favorite images. When I first started, I had gathered over 700 images. Narrowing down from there was not an easy task, so rather than [...]

Gathering photos for our end of the year recap is not an easy task. It involves searching through each and every shoot, wedding and personal folder to gather some of our favorite images. When I first started, I had gathered over 700 images. Narrowing down from there was not an easy task, so rather than relentlessly selecting *just the right photos* I decided to adopt the mantra “done is better than perfect.” So, you’ll be getting not one, not two but THREE separate blog posts today categorized into three types: Lifestyle (see above), Engagement and Wedding. We’ll post all three today – so get ready for a lot of photos! It’s been an incredible year filled with photography, so we hope you enjoy a small recap of the hundreds of thousands of times we clicked our shutter this year. The above photos include many personal projects (from Paris to Guatemala to the Badlands of South Dakota) and also a few snippets from the senior, family, baby and head shot clients we get the honor of photographing each year. The majority of these photos were taken on film, which is our preferred method of taking personal photos since it forces you to slow down and think carefully before you take the photo – something you don’t always get the luxury of on a wedding day. We hope these photos make you as happy as they make us!

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Editorial with Whim Events

Even amongst the busy season, it’s refreshing and fun to do an editorial shoot. The timeline is a bit more relaxed so it gives us vendors a little creative playground to try out new ideas and work together. For us, that included shooting film (which we do some of on wedding days anyway) and shooting [...]

Even amongst the busy season, it’s refreshing and fun to do an editorial shoot. The timeline is a bit more relaxed so it gives us vendors a little creative playground to try out new ideas and work together. For us, that included shooting film (which we do some of on wedding days anyway) and shooting in inclement weather. Of course the fabulously organized ladies from Whim Events didn’t plan the rain, but it happened so we all went with it and I’m convinced that the shoot wouldn’t have been the same without it! When Natalie from Whim Events told us the concept for the shoot was as though ‘the beach herself was throwing a party’ we were intrigued. They used the soft palates of sand and sea to influence the shoot as though it were a small elopement on the beach with the couple’s nearest and dearest. Add in furniture rentals from New England Country Rentals, dresses from Flair Bridesmaid Boutique, makeup by Julie from The Stylish One, a swoon-worthy print collection from Hartford Prints!, ingenious flower design by Moria from Whim, tasty Oysters from Island Creek Oysters, wine from Framaggio Kitchen and coordination by Natalie from Whim – and you get an amazing result! We were floored by the organic elegance that was achieved when all these elements came together and felt honored to be able to tie them together through photography with such a talented bunch. Now, any of our brides out there want to throw caution to the wind, abandon their wedding plans and recreate this as your wedding? I’ve got just the team for you. :)

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Six One Seven Dance Collective Underwater

We thought you might enjoy taking a peek at a personal project of sorts…not that looking at couples in love ever gets old. Kendra has a Dance Company in Boston called Six One Seven Dance Collective and they are preparing for a show in June. We decided it might be fun to do a non-traditional [...]

We thought you might enjoy taking a peek at a personal project of sorts…not that looking at couples in love ever gets old. Kendra has a Dance Company in Boston called Six One Seven Dance Collective and they are preparing for a show in June. We decided it might be fun to do a non-traditional photoshoot for their upcoming show, as well as cross off a personal photography goal of ours: shooting underwater. Special thanks to the pros at LensProToGo out in Concord for mentally preparing us to trust the underwater camera housing that we rented from them especially for the shoot. (that thing looked like a submarine!) Since Kendra also dances in the company, I (Matt) was the primary photographer for this shoot. For any photographers looking to attempt this in the future; be sure to bring along ankle weights, good goggles and a lighting rig to shine into the water. We did this in an indoor YMCA community pool, so there was very little natural light. Also be sure to check out Kendra’s company and come to their show in June!

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Recent Features

While wedding season is still a few months away, we’ve had a busy winter this year and seem to be filling our time with all sorts of projects and smaller shoots. One of the more exciting parts of this business admin time are the wedding blog features that we’ve had the last two months. If [...]

While wedding season is still a few months away, we’ve had a busy winter this year and seem to be filling our time with all sorts of projects and smaller shoots. One of the more exciting parts of this business admin time are the wedding blog features that we’ve had the last two months. If you haven’t been following along via our Facebook page, have a look at some of the blogs that have featured our work recently.

First up we had Lauren and Neil’s wedding featured on the adorable Love and Lavender:

Then we had our Whimsical Wellsley Editorial Shoot with Whim Events on the creme’ de la creme of Wedding Blogs, Style Me Pretty Massachusetts!

Following that, Ly and Kieran’s charming New Hampshire Wedding was featured as a two part post on Rustic Wedding Chic (with the second part here!)

Marie and Mike’s stunning New Haven Wedding was next up on the appropriately fitting, Le Magnifique blog:

Then we took a little journey down memory lane to the land of swizzles and beautiful beaches when Carolyn and Sean’s Bermuda Wedding was featured on Jete Fete Destination Wedding Blog:

Next up was Katie and John’s Harvard Mass Wedding on The Sweetest Occasion….such a fun blog for weddings AND other fun events in our lives!

Jessica and Shaunt’s Hurricane Irene Wedding is sitting pretty on Boston’s very own Wedding Blog, Beantown Bride!

And finally, our Milk and Cookie’s Editorial Shoot we did with Prairie Fair wayyyy back when was featured on the lovely 100 Layer Cake on Valentine’s Week!

Wow! We’re floored. If you’re looking for some wedding planning inspiration, or just a great way to avoid folding the laundry, check out these lovely blogs to get your wedding eye candy fill!

And speaking of Wedding Blogs….you may or may not see our own little wedding coming up on a major wedding blog in the next couple of days. Hip Hip Hooray for Weddings!

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2011 – In Review

2011 has been a truly amazing year. I think we will always remember this year with great fondness, as we ate, breathed and slept all things wedding. With the early part of the year leading me (Kendra) into the transition of being a full time wedding photographer, to the middle of the year when we [...]

2011 has been a truly amazing year. I think we will always remember this year with great fondness, as we ate, breathed and slept all things wedding. With the early part of the year leading me (Kendra) into the transition of being a full time wedding photographer, to the middle of the year when we got married ourselves (which has given us SO much more to truly relate to our clients and know exactly how they feel) to the end of the year when we shot 26 weddings, 42 engagement sessions (amongst other non-wedding related work) and got to meet the exciting bunch of 2012 Summer Street couples. With all of the wedding talk, gorgeous rings, adorable proposal stories and sweet moments, the funny thing is that we still can’t get enough. There is something deeper than just a ‘wedding’ that keeps us artistically motivated. It’s you. Getting to know our clients and having the honor of telling their stories makes us tick. We’ve never felt so at home. We say it a lot, but we truly feel blessed to have this job. Here’s to each and every one of you who ‘liked’ something on our facebook page, commented on a blog post, encouraged us in our buisness, and trusted us to document your event. We are nothing without your support, and we can’t wait to share 2012 with you!

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Editorial Shoot with Whim Events

If this day wasn’t already exciting enough with our new site, photo shoot giveaway, and the super cute engagement session we posted earlier we thought it would be fun to end the day on the highest note possible. A few weeks ago, we had the honor of shooting an editorial shoot with the ladies from [...]

If this day wasn’t already exciting enough with our new site, photo shoot giveaway, and the super cute engagement session we posted earlier we thought it would be fun to end the day on the highest note possible. A few weeks ago, we had the honor of shooting an editorial shoot with the ladies from Whim Events – set inside a whimsical garden. Natalie and Moria were amazing to work with and the shoot (and weather) could not have been more perfect. Styled shoots are an excellent way for vendors to work together since at real weddings it’s often chance of who we get to work with, and even when we know them, their process doesn’t usually involve us until the day of the wedding, so this gives us a bit more time to control the environment of a shoot and just have fun doing what we love.

We had a great time and left with a feeling of absolute gratitude. We feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to work doing something we love, and on top of that, with people that are downright awesome. Being a photographer can be a lonely life, editing in front of the computer most days, but having opportunities to work with such great vendors and clients always leaves a smile on our face, and for that we are blessed.

The bride’s and flower girl dresses were provided by Flair Bridesmaid Boutique, hair and makeup were done by the amazing Ashley of Ashley Brecken Hair Styling & Make-up Artistry, located at Salon Marc Harris, the birdhouse escort card design was done by local artist Jill Hoy, the venue was Weezie’s Children’s Garden at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, floral design, styling and coordination by Whim Events and photography by us.

 

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New Website!

  Welcome to the all new Summer Street Photography website!!! We’re delighted you stopped by, and we hope you take a moment to explore all of the new parts of our virtual home. It’s still the same Matt and Kendra, but we’ve been working with some personal trainers of sorts to get our new site [...]

 

Welcome to the all new Summer Street Photography website!!! We’re delighted you stopped by, and we hope you take a moment to explore all of the new parts of our virtual home. It’s still the same Matt and Kendra, but we’ve been working with some personal trainers of sorts to get our new site looking like a total and complete makeover. (psst….You’ll want to read all the way to the end – there is a surprise down there as well! )

Let’s start at the beginning. Meet Melissa and Jonathan, the master minds behind the Brooklyn based design firm, Makewell. They are getting married next June at her step-dad’s farm in New Hampshire, and guess who gets to photograph it? Yep. That’s us. Check out this too cute for words photo that Jonathan’s brother took:

Photo by: Jordan Motzkin

Aren’t they cute? When they contacted us this summer about shooting their wedding next June, I couldn’t help but notice their work title line on the very bottom of their e-mails. Graphic designers you say? I clicked into their site. And fell in love.

And so it began. Our site was in need of something a little more cohesive and professional. A little more, ‘design-savvy’. So We hired them. Well, actually, we hired each other. We started working on the new site in July, and now, almost four months later to the date, we have a new baby. A new, virtual baby that is. Melissa and Jonathan were amazing to work with.  We got to help with the fun stuff, but they really were the masterminds behind the entire site. We love that the website is now much more technically fluid and functional; incorporating our portfolio alongside our current work as well as has handmade details like Melissa’s calligraphy in our new logo and other parts of the site.

In short, we couldn’t be more happy. Read on for a few new features, and then go see them in action! (p.s. if you’re my mom, remember these images below are just screen shots, and you’ll have to go into the main site to see them in action).

Here’s the home page. Happy.

Oh hi. It’s us. Bet you didn’t know Matt does Karate. Venn Diagram for the win!

Jessica‘s dress and Abena‘s perfume. Part of the Portfolio sections. See that little portfolio icon to the left of our logo? Let you mouse rest on that and a drop down menu of various portfolio goodies will appear for your choosing.

More portfolio. Claire. Pretty, pretty Claire.

The new blog! We’ll still be posting all of our recent work here, so this part of the site will be constantly updated with our new work. See those cute little handwritten links on the side? All Melissa. If you click on categories, a little genie will show you the various post categories. Nice and tidy.

The thing we’re the most excited about with our new blog is the ‘See More’ feature. We’ll be posting a single image from our shoots, and then you can click ‘See More’ to see the rest of the shoot. If you want to ‘See Less’ you can, with a click of a button. Also, something that we really really wanted was the ability to expand and collapse the posts without leaving the main blog page. On most blogs, when you click ‘See More’ or ‘Read More’ you’re redirected to a new tab or window, and then you need to hit the home button or the back button to go back where you were. Not here. You can expand and collapse as many posts as you like without leaving the page. Amazing. Totally amazing.

Our contact page. Pretty self explanatory. This is how we get most of our inquiries, so now we’re comforted by the fact that there is a nice photo of Jay and Lauren in a field instead of just text. win win.

So fun huh? We are head over heels in love with this new little baby. To celebrate the new website’s arrival we’ve decided to do a GIVEAWAY!

We will be giving away one photo shoot to a random lucky recipient! If you win, here’s what’s in it for you:

-A 1 Hour Photoshoot with Summer Street Photography

-You’ll receive 50 edited images on a high resolution disk with a photo release to use the photos for personal use

-Can be used for an engagement, newborn, maternity, head shot, senior, pet or fashion photo session. If we are shooting your wedding in 2011 or 2012, you can also enter to win an additional hour of photography coverage on your wedding day. Don’t want to be in front of the camera? Gift your sister a maternity session! Win an extra hour of photography for your friend! You can gift your prize as well as use it for yourself. Shoot must be in the Boston area – but we will also be in Minnesota and South Dakota this winter, so if you’re out there, you’re eligible as well. As always, if you live in France, just fly us out and we’ll shoot all day for free.

-Here’s how to Enter:

-Like Our Page on Facebook, or invite three friends to ‘Like” Summer Street Photography on Facebook. Once one of the three people you invite follow through, you have your golden ticket. Then those people can enter the contest as well.

-Leave a Comment here telling us what your favorite part of the new site is

A winner will be drawn at random and announced next Friday November 18th – or when we reach 1000 likes, whichever comes first.

Now go explore the new site! And come back this afternoon, we’ll be posting two more fun posts!

 

 

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