Optical Illusions

I love that my kids dig art - I really do! I think it's amazing when a 6 and 5 year old get excited about "seeing it" in a picture (painting/drawing/photo)!

Our new topic is optical illusions. Evanthea (my 5 year old) and I poured over photo after photo - she begged me for more after figuring it out. It's no surprise - her favorite artist is Salvadore Dali and she wants to be a photographer (and a dentist...practical idea, if you ask me).

I mentioned to them that I thought it would be cool if we tried to do the Rubin's vase photo with the two of them. They really wanted to try. I explained it would be hard to do - they were willing to sit still to get it right. We came close (photo above) - I still want to try it again when we have time to slick their hair down and get it right...but I believe things happen for a reason - we were destined to do that photo shoot because I got my favorite shot of them as sisters (see next photo)!
And here's just a silly outtake! Evanthea (right) said she can make a better vase by scowling! :)
We're going to try again! Hopefully soon! :)

Family Portraits ring in the new year!

Happy New Year! January is off and running!! I started the new year off with a family portrait session!

I enjoyed spending the morning with Nancy and her siblings, spouses and niece and nephews! I think they enjoyed watching Avatar more than getting their photo taken on New Year's morning! But I like to think it was the photos! ;)

Happy New Year!! Thanks for sharing your morning with me! :)

My Year in Review 2010 - Diane

2010...has come and gone. I remember thinking that this year is not going to be good. I have little superstitions about how my business year is going to be. One of which is the date of the first wedding of the year: the earlier the date, the better the year. I panicked when I saw May 8 as our first date....May...not January, not April...nothing, nada, zilch. First time in I can't tell you how long that I started so late.

But that just opened a door for me. I took the leap and went to my first WPPI Conference in Las Vegas. I spent one week away from my family and soaked up everything imaginable to the wedding and portrait photographers' world. I met some wonderful new friends from different parts of the country, participated in some really fun shoots, and even won Kevin Kubota's alphabet challenge.

Here's Kevin Kubota during closing ceremonies (yes, I was in front row of 2000 photographers!):These are some shots from the Trash the Dress sessions in Vegas:



Wow...that's not a bad way to start off the new year!

"Maybe 2010 will go against my usual superstitions..." I mused.

It did!

Thank you to everyone who has touched our lives in 2010! I have taken every experience as a learning experience - whether it was good, bad, or indifferent; I feel like I have grown considerably this past year! Everyone that has crossed paths with me this year has done so for a reason and I have learned and grown from all of our experiences - thank you to those who have stayed in my life and probably a bigger thank you to those who have moved on, I learned many lessons this year.

2010 also brought a new addition to the Parsons Photo "family" - we built a studio! We now have an awesome studio so we can accommodate many of our sessions and requests! It's been so popular, we haven't had a chance to officially welcome everyone with an open house! :)

Here's my wrap up, award winning style! ;)

The Most Talked About Wedding All Around - Scoring the most comments on their engagement session at Max's Oyster Bar and both ceremonies (JP ceremony and reception at St Clement's Castle and Muslim Nikah at Hartford's Downtown Marriott) - Melissa & Kevin!

Best Food at an Event - Hands down - Dave, Jess and I are all unanimous on this one! Toni & Jim's Wedding at Salem's Cross Inn. We actually sat down and finished our plates...and even thought about how we can score some more! ;) Excellent food! (They rank #2 in all over...Pooja & Will's Indian Cuisine still ranks #1...sorry!)
THE Couple We Want to Fold Up and Keep in Our Pockets - Dava & Seth...they're just toooooo darned cute! Separately, they take on opposite personalities but together they become this amazing personality! LOVE!!! :)

My Favorite Bride - Brooke...because she's normal, beautiful, sexy, and trusts me when I tell her that!Best "Force Diane Out Of Her Comfort Zone" Shoot - Lake Compounce media photo shoot by far! I loved having to think way the heck outside of the box and shoot commercial - it's not a career I would pursue, but I enjoyed it for the day! (still can't post photos from the actual shoot, but here's one of my kiddos ENJOYING the roller coaster!!)
Photographer Lookalike - Toni's brother, Mike and my hubby Dave! :)

Coolest Prop At A Wedding - Marie & Jere's 3rd set...they had bridesmaids, groomsmen, and Mustangs. What more can I say about photographing a bunch of Mustangs at a wedding? :)Coolest Serendipitous Moment - Photographing the 250th Engineering of the National Guard's return from Iraq. I had so many connections to this Unit, it was awesome! Read the full story with all of the connections here.
Best Wedding - and I know she's scanning the entire post looking for her name...and she knows it's her wedding...Amanda & Todd's Wedding. I have to say that their wedding was our favorite because Amanda put me through all sorts of torture with her checklist - but I took her challenges head on and came up with some really cool shots! So, we thank her...even though I had to shut her up! ;) We still love them!Most inspiring moment - Joe McNally's seminar on lighting. Didn't know it at the time - but after I sat and chewed over it...I had my "a-ha" moment. Thanks Joe!

Greatest Tearjerker - Hands down, Toni & Jim's wedding. Sobbing...we were sobbing. Toni lost her father and brother in a car crash and the way they were honored at the wedding....let's just say I'm surprised any photo was in focus I was bawling so hard! Here's Toni with her brother Mike during their brother/sister dance honoring their dad:

My greatest gift - has been a gift from Bert Fonseca, of After Hours DJ Entertainment. He introduced me to Jess, my right hand (she's not just my right hand gal, she's my right hand...I wouldn't be able to function without her...well, maybe golf since I golf left handed...but you get the point). Jess has been invaluable to me this past year - thank you, Jess for helping me in a pinch, remembering my cameras, keeping me in line, being my light model/meter, taking flack, stepping up, being an amazing photographer, and just being an awesome friend!
Best Reactions from Spectators Shoot - Opening Day at the Coventry Regional Farmers' Market. Three of our brides Trashed their Dresses! We had so much fun showcasing the fact that brides can shop local (we found some great favor ideas) and then we used only local items for the trash the dress portion. It was a lot of fun!Best Reaction to A Boudoir Shoot - Kevin...hands down. Fortunately, Dan caught his real reaction on video and it went along something like "forget the ceremony, let's get back to the hotel..."! ;) Love it!!

Most Popular Prop - DOGS! This year dogs made it most in our shoots! Check out some of these!

Most organized (albeit a little bit crazy) Bride - Kate and her BINDER of checklists! ;) I love Kate and her organization skills - she's one of my favorite brides and I probably would have hired her to work with me as a wedding planner! But as a photographer, she sent me into a little panic attack with a binder! ;)But we love Kate and Dane and their amazingly beautiful wedding! They still get a big 2010 shout out! And I'm also going to rank them with the largest bridal party of the year...and the MOST cooperative! Thanks guys! :)
Thank you everyone who helped make 2010 amazing! I wish I could put you all here but I would be writing for the entire year again! (Check out previous posts for more details!)

Happy 2011!!

Inspiration through a broken arm

Odd post title, isn't it?
Well, some of you may know, my 5 year old daughter recently broke her arm. We have been visiting the orthopedics's office quite regularly and Evanthea decided she wanted to go for X Rays by herself - so I waited in the room and started flipping through a magazine.

Real Simple magazine to be exact. I stopped at this page and stared. I love it! I love the intricacy and the simplicity at the same time. So I grabbed my phone and snapped a shot of the page to ponder...
I wanted to do something like it. But who brings a flamingo to a wedding? Or where can I get one in Coventry?

So I did the next best thing - I used the concept and applied it to my hot boudoir session last night! I think this is my favorite boudoir shot ever. Thank you Real Simple magazine; thank you to the creative photographer who thought of it (wish I could give full credit - but it's the November issue of Real Simple); thank you Dr. Bissell's office for having this magazine in the office; and I guess this is the silver lining to the weekly X Rays! ;)

National Guard Homecoming

Please click here for the story of how I was given this amazing opportunity to photograph this emotional homecoming!

Press play below to view the slideshow - link to the proofs is at the end

Summer Photo Challenges Part 5 (Diane's last one!)

This is my (Diane) final post on the summer photo challenge! I couldn't resist this one - my kids picked out touchable bubbles from the Mystic Seaport gift shop. I figured it would be fun...I just didn't know how much fun!All of these photos were taken with my Canon 7D and my 15mm Sigma fisheye lens. The previous and next photo were taken with available light only.

Here's Evanthea looking at me through the bubble
Alexandra wanted me to add some light. Quite honestly, I was a little lazy to grab my flashes so I wanted to see what the dreaded on camera pop up flash could do. All of the remaining photos were shot with the pop up flash...not bad for something every photog (present company included) frowns upon!!

Alexandra also likes to push the bend of the fisheye - she likes that "what??" warp! :)
I was trying to teach the girls about perspective. Sort of an abstract concept for a 4 1/2 and a 6 year old...so we played around an got this shot. They get it now!!
Hope you enjoyed my series of interpretations - Jess will get hers up soon! ;)

Summer Photo Challenges Part 4

For this part of the summer challenge, I dragged my kids to the Mystic Aquarium...ok, so I didn't drag them per se. ;)
WAITING for the Belugas to wake up!!
One of their favs, the sea lions!
Practicing my macro with a hermit crab!!
Evanthea was afraid to touch anything, but thought she could fake it for the photo! Modeling future, I'm thinking!
Shark petting!
One of my favs - they loved watching the rays and I think the rays loved watching the girls!
Evanthea is obsessed with jelly fish (I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that she's been stung more than once...). This was her fav exhibit - she's trying to look like a jelly fish...or so she said!!