Sundays are for resting..

Hey all! I just had a very busy yet successful weekend. Friday night's wedding party was a lot of fun and I had so many requests for my business card from guests, so exciting! After a couple hours of sleep that night, I drove out to CT to assist a wedding. It was quite possibly one of the hottest, most perfect days of summer so far, and the bride and groom were AWESOME. The bride was adorable, with a full sleeve of tattoos, and the groom was the iconic J. Crew club member, and such a sweet guy. 

I had some time to kill before friday night's event, so I did some shooting down at the boardwalk. Here's an ideal kids moment at the beach I'd like to share:

Goodbye Franklin County! Hello Phase 5!

After being home in RI for a few days, Tuesday I took a one-night trip back to Turners Falls, MA to load up another carload of things. My house was borderline empty and I don't think I had ever felt so lonely in my life the night that night I stayed there. Wednesday evening before I left town, I hopped over to Greenfield to go to Poet's Seat Tower one last time. For those of you who don't know, it's just a big look out spot on a mountain overlooking the Green Valley. It was one of the first places I visited when I moved to go to Hallmark, as I'm sure many of you fellow classmates did. I took in all the scenery and dwelled on how life-changing the past 10 months were for me perfectly. In 10 months I think I have felt every emotion humanly possible. It is so hard to leave so many people and things behind that have grown to mean the world to me, and I will always feel an emptiness for the experiences I had there. My heart is in a million different places now, and I don't see that changing for a while.

On a completely different lighter note, I have my first job as a graduate tonight! In about an hour I will leave to drive out towards a beach near Boston to shoot a wedding party. It ends around midnight and I'll drive back to Rhode Island, get a few hours of sleep, then head out again to assist a Hallmark Grad of 10 years ago (Katie Malone Smith) with a wedding out in New Haven, CT. I'm so excited to finally be working! The full-time job-hunt is still very much underway though. Can't wait to tell you how this weekend went!

A goal was reached!

I am officially, a Hallmark Alumni!! Graduation was last friday and it was a terrific ceremony. The rain held out, the speakers were great, the tears came at certain moments, and there was lots of fun with everyone to be had. [After parties were amazing with everyone one last time, too! ;) ] A friend notified me this morning that one of my pictures is on Hallmark's site, which means I FINALLY met my year-long goal of getting a photo up there! I knew I always loved that one of Kyle more than some of my others, and its comforting to know others agreed!

Got my Nikon D700 and an 80-200 2.8 lens yesterday. Today getting lots of other fun stuff, including another lens, flash and accessories, OH BOY am I lucky. I did not expect to have any of these things for a LONG time after working, but my dad worked out a loan with me and he's AMAZING. Its so moving to have parents believe in your dream so much.  I am privileged for sure.

Well, back to job searching for the 'real' world. To all you new fellow HIPster alumni, good luck with everything, and I will miss you greatly! To everyone else, stay tuned :) In the process of moving back home to RI, so southeastern New England, lets get busy with shoots!

Today.

Graduating. From Hallmark today.. talk to you all when I'm a professional! =]

The final days of school!

Tying up all my loose ends is finally done! I've spent as much time as I can at school these past few days, because after tomorrow, it will no longer be available! Luckily I came into some unexpected money, so yesterday I made some purchases on software, a tablet, and other various things that I'm so excited to receive! Next week I will hopefully be getting my new camera (Nikon's D700) and a bunch of gear to go along with it! Next weekend on the 26th I am shooting a wedding out near Cape Cod and then the 27th I am assisting Hallmark alumni Katie-Malone Smith with a wedding out in New Haven, CT. Along with a few trips to move back home, I have so much to look forward to! Enjoy this silly picture of Dane and I from our lake house trip this past Memorial Day. You can laugh at my sunburn, its okay ;) 

Relay for Life!

Yesterday after class, me and about 19 other Hallmark students volunteered our first half of the weekend to Franklin County's Relay for Life event. It was a 24-hour event and I didn't get home till about 4 o'clock today but it was an AMAZING time. We built some studios and photographed tons of teams who were walking to raise money for a cure for cancer, as well as took general pictures of the whole event. I got no sleep, hardly anyone did, but it was such a fun time. I would highly recommend getting involved in Relay for Life, where-ever it may be for you, because it was a moving couple of days for me. My area's event raised $285,000 for the American Cancer Society, so incredible! :D

In other news, my final portfolio went up for review at school this week, and I passed! Congrats to everyone who's portfolio has already been, or is yet to be, ACCEPTED !! :) Graduation is next friday the 19th, and then I am officially a "professional". EXPLOIT ME! Which reminds me that my new website was launched at the beginning of this week, too! A new wedding gallery was added as well, go check it out!

Okay it's late, my body is tired but I can't sleep and I feel like I'm rambling so I'll leave you with a couple snapshots of todays beautiful weather at the event.

Wedding slideshow!

I have somehow been staying SO busy even though school has slowed down. If you want to see my favorite pictures from my final portfolio for school, check them out here! In more recent and exciting (in my opinion) news, Dane helped me make and upload a slideshow from my first paid wedding! The first of many hopefully :) I used to think the last thing I'd want to do is run my own business but after job searching for a while, it is becoming more and more appealing. Who knows what's in store for me! Check out my wedding slideshow HERE. Do it ! And stay tuned..