Aimee & Ben – 5/19/12
Another absolutely gorgeous day for a wedding yesterday (5/19/12). Aimee and Ben got married at the Whittemore Robbins House in Arlington Center. I had never worked at this stage before, so I went and checked it out the day before the wedding. The grounds are quite beautiful with winding brick paths, a reflecting pool, flowering bushes and tall elegant trees. Needless to say, I was excited to give it a go with the bride and groom the following day. We stopped by briefly at the JR Burke salon across the street where they were just putting the finishing touches on Aimee’s makeup, and then went back to the estate where she got into her dress in one of the beautiful upstairs rooms. The Whittemore Robbins coordinator Vicki was extremely helpful and accommodating. She even helped me slide a huge plant away from one of the windows on the second floor so that we would have a perfect spot to photograph the bride once she was ready. And it was a beautiful spot to work with her. I will post a couple pictures here. Note that, by request, none of these images will be posted on Facebook, only here on my blog. I had a good amount of time to work with Aimee at the beginning of the day. And despite all the usual chaos of people coming and going, I think we got a good variety of beautiful pictures of her. Meanwhile, my assistant Bob was working with Ben and his family. They also got some really good shots outdoors while I stayed indoors with Aimee.
The ceremony by the reflecting pool was an elegant and heartfelt event. From the photography standpoint the lighting was a bit tricky. There was doubtful light coming through the trees on the guests and on the walkway where host of the people were processing. I ended up using some flash for these subjects and constantly keeping my finger on the shutter speed for the differences between direct sun and shade. The bride had a much longer procession then the rest of the processors. She took a nice long walk along the brick path at the far edge of the lawn and then walked straight across the lawn to the aisle and up to the front. This gave me a lot of time to get pictures of her procession and I think it paid off. The ceremony itself offered lots of different angles for us to shoot from and we made good use of that. I will just put a couple images from the ceremony here, but their friends and family will get to see the whole wedding once it is up. After the ceremony there were some brief congratulations from the family and then we got to work taking pictures of the bride and groom. It was about 6:45 by this point. Still complete daylight, but I wanted to take some photos where you can see direct sunlight on the background, and in some cases on the bride and groom as they walked. So we went across the lawn and found the one strip of grass where there was still direct sunlight and have them do some walking, leaning against the tree etc. These shots came out really nice, and I will include a couple of them here. The family was hoping to go to the cocktails, so we took a break from writing group pictures and did all of the family portraits in front of the reflecting pool. Then I get a few more photos of the bride and groom hanging out by the pool and sitting on a stone wall. After that the bride and groom received each of the guests into the house from their cocktails on the lawn. I managed to get some nice candids of each guest coming into the house.
I believe there were about 60 guests. The Whittemore Robbins House was not built as a function hall, and probably has a maximum of around 60 for a sit-down dinner. But for that size group it was a beautiful setting. Live jazz music, some nice toasts by members of the family, excellent food and exquisite desserts. There was no dancing at this event, but it definitely didn’t seem like there was something missing. People were having a great time chatting. A really nice energy all evening. There was also a tour of the upper floors given by Vicki which several guests went on, as well as a slideshow of pictures of Aimee and Ben from throughout their lives. The guests were clearly enjoying themselves.
Congratulations Aimee and Ben!
David Barnes
http://www.davidbarnesphotography.com
Read MoreJen & Greg – 5/12/12
We had a gorgeous day for Jen and Greg’s wedding on 5/12/12, absolutely perfect weather! After a few quick pictures of their preparations, my second shooter Robert and I joined the bridal party on the bus to Marsh Chapel at Boston University for the ceremony. There was a lot of excitement on the bus ride over, and when we got there, I brought the groom and guys over to the cloisters outside the chapel for some pictures. The cloisters offer terrific photographic opportunities – very architectural with pointed arches and stone steps and pillars. I definitely recommend using this area for pictures if you are getting married at Marsh Chapel. The guys were pumped for the show, and it was easy to get some fun and natural looking shots of them together. We got a few pictures featuring their matching orange socks, which actually went quite well with their khaki suits. All of the guests arrived in 2 buses and the ceremony got started right on time. Marsh Chapel is a beautiful place to get married, and it was a heartfelt ceremony. The lighting there is perfect.
Afterwards we went back out to the cloisters and got some fantastic shots of the bride and groom as well as some family groups and of course, the bridal party. Some of my favorites of the bridal party were after I got them walking through the cloisters when they stopped at the bottom of the steps. I was up on the steps above them and they were standing in a perfect configuration, so I kept them there for a few shots.
 
 
 
 
After that we all got back in a minibus and headed to the Holiday Inn on Beacon Hill for the reception. If you have ever been to this hotel, you know that it is no ordinary Holiday Inn. The views from the reception room are fantastic, overlooking Beacon Hill on one side and the Charles River on the other. And in the late afternoon, the sunlight streams in like crazy through the windows of the reception room. So we got some great shots of Jen and Greg on the dance floor before the guests were invited into the reception room, as well as pictures of them over by the windows with the view of Beacon Hill. Then they were ready for some refreshments. The food at this Holiday Inn was also excellent. I talked with Paul, the coordinator, and it was clear that the excellence of their food was a high priority for him. He was interested in possibly using some of the pictures from Jen and Greg’s wedding for his website, so I will follow up with him shortly. Jen spent the second half of the cocktail hour getting her dress bustled. It was one of the most complicated bustles I have seen and the bridesmaids were clearly struggling a bit to get it right. But once it was done it looked perfect. Once the reception got going, the energy level was very high. The band was great, and everything happened right on schedule.
 
 
. I managed to take Jen and Greg up to the roof of the hotel just in time for the sunset. We got some terrific shots of them up there. I will include one or two here. When the band got rolling after dinner, it was clear that the guests were more than ready to get on the dance floor. It was instantly hopping. I was a little bit worried about pulling everyone off the floor for the parent dances, but it took very little encouragement to get them back right afterwards. And things were crazy right on through the night.
 
Congratulations Jen and Greg!
- David Barnes
http://www.DavidBarnesphotography.com
Read More
