I love senior photo sessions. I truly do. There is something so special about capturing young adults as they transition from childhood to adulthood. Zoe's senior session was a blast since it was clear that she is truly ready to spread her wings and do amazing things in the world. Her energy was bursting with excitement and joy, and let me tell you, the best guarantee for good photographs is JOY. Zoe lives in Texas but we were able to meet up in South Dakota while we were traveling in June to shoot her session. I never get tired of shooting in South Dakota. Many photographers say the light is best in Southern California, but I think the flat prairie does pretty well for itself. The vast expanse of fields and farms makes for a stunning backdrop and can we just talk for a second about the HORSES in her photos?! As we were brainstorming ideas for Zoe's session, I kept returning to a vision of photographing her around horses (she does ride after all). I casually mentioned it to my Dad, who simply called up some friends of his and asked if we could swing by to take some photos with their horses. I kid you not, they said "Of course! See you in an hour!" And just like that, we jumped in the car and met Rosie, the supporting star of Zoe's session. A *huge* thank you to Jim and MaryAnn for their generosity on last minute notice to use their horses in this shoot. They represent the type of people that make the community I grew up in so wonderful.
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 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!
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 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!
Lindsey
I remember the day Lindsey was born. I was eight years old, playing baseball in the yard with my brother, and my mom came outside and said, “It’s a Girl! She had a girl and her name is Lindsey!” I jumped up and down. I now had TWO female cousins, which practically seemed like getting a string of pearls since the rest of my cousins were energetic and rowdy boys (God bless them). Lindsey will be graduating from high school this year so when she asked me to shoot her senior portraits, I was flattered. I love shooting senior sessions. I had the privilege of being in South Dakota a month or so ago, and while the wind blew it’s mighty force upon our time together, we made the best of it and explored the little nooks and crannies of the town I call home. Lindsey is clearly a natural in front of the camera, and I enjoyed spending time with my not-so-little anymore cousin. I love you Linds! You’re going to go far in this little thing called life.
