A few months ago, I received a super sweet email from an actress named Jenna asking about a headshot session.  It was the height of wrapping up one of the busiest wedding months of the year, with family sessions quickly filling up any empty spaces I had available, so when I emailed back letting her know that my next opening was about a month out, I thought for sure I’d be passing along some names of my awesome colleagues.  So when Jenna’s response was, “that’s great, I’ll take it!”, it completely made my day!  I was even more happy that the rain that came through the area that day just barely held off long enough to fit Jenna’s session in.   Jenna is the sweetest, most easy going actor I’ve worked with to date, and throughout the session I saw flashes of some great actresses like Anne Hathaway, Julia Roberts, Tina Fey, all wrapped up in this one beautiful face!  I can’t wait to see the great things Jenna has in store for her career.  Thanks for an awesome session, Jenna!

I love seeing my clients grow up.  I first met Jen when she was just a wee freshman a few years ago, when my good friend Noel signed her up for a test shoot with me back in 2011 (check out how amazing Jen did in her masquerade shoot in my models portfolio!).  Since then, we’ve met up a couple of times when I needed a model, so I was thrilled when she asked me to take her senior photos for her at Duxbury Beach.  There’s not much to say, Jen’s beauty speaks for itself!  I mean let’s be honest, those EYES, Jen!

This one is probably my favorite shot from our session.  We waited for that perfect post sunset light, and blocked a few cars for this shot, but it was worth it!  There are only about 3 minutes in a day that look this perfect (if you’re lucky), so when I had Jen out on an old wooden bridge in those three minutes, it made me one happy photographer!

Thanks for a wonderful shoot, Jen, you are destined for great things!

Happy Friday, folks!  This week I was able to spend a glorious Sunday evening with the J family, because their superstar, Miss Mackenzie is two!  And despite this little beauty’s small stature, she has a giant personality.  I am pretty sure that we managed to keep the notion that this was actually a photo session a secret from Mackenzie, even though I was the crazy lady with the camera.  To Mackenzie, this was just a fun evening of running, peeking, dancing, spinning, and flowers, all rewarded with a well earned trip for ice cream with mom and dad!    

After some fun swinging, we told Mackenzie there was a doggy in my camera.  I love her look of genuine concern for the poor puppy stuck in there!

Mackenzie knew better that something was going on behind her!  

This toddler is filled with sass and style – watch out, dad!

These three images just crack me up.  They were my last three frames of the evening, and Mackenzie was ready for her ice cream trip.  We said ok, just a couple more, and we’re all done!  Mackenzie looked dad straight in the eye, said “Ok, just one more, Daddy.”  She looked at Mom, for confirmation, and whipped out the sassiest smiley face at me for our last shot.  With that, it was a wrap.  Thank you for being the sweetest little girl, Mackenzie, and thank you to Mom and Dad for having me spend time photographing your beautiful family for an evening!

Happy weekend, folks!  I figured I’d kick it off with another headshot session before I fill the blog with all things wedding throughout the rest of the year!  This headshot session was with the tallest actor at Blue Man Group in Boston, Brian Tavener.  (I’m not tall by any means, but I barely reach Brian’s shoulders, and he still has height on me even with my step stool!) Brian has, quite possibly, one of the most calming demeanors about him out of anyone I’ve ever met.  While we meandered though the streets of Harvard Square in Cambridge, I was struck by how genuine and open Brian was to everyone we came across.  And on top of all of that, he is just amazingly easy to photograph.  But you don’t have to take my word on that, see for yourself!

When I asked Brian what it’s like for him being a Blue Man, he explained how for him, it’s not really acting at all, and that the blue “mask” really essentially gives him the unwavering permission to be able to be himself, and be curious about everything, without caution.  After that, I took notice of just how curious Brian was about everyone we met, and even the sounds of Harvard Square itself, including dancing a bit to the sounds of a crosswalk signal (which totally put a smile on my face).  “I’m a Blue Man right now, it’s just me.  Sometimes I forget that some of this stuff is weird when I’m not blue.  I don’t really care though.”

I’m not sure what I said here that was funny, and this most definitely wouldn’t be considered a headshot, but this really does sum up Brian’s personality.

Amidst all of our conversations, Brian mentioned how he absolutely loves to juggle, so naturally, we took a few shots of him rocking it out.  I have true admiration for anyone who can juggle.  I’ve tried, and it’s probably for the best (for everyone’s safety!) that I stick with photos…

This series makes me smile.  Brian mentioned how being so calm probably wasn’t making for as fun of a session as some of the other guys (which is totally false, for the record!), so he decided on catching me off guard with popping out a model face, duck lips and all!

Brian, thank you for an awesome shoot!  Have a wonderful time on tour!  For those of my readers who haven’t seen the show and may not live near Boston, check out the Blue Man Group North American tour page, and see Brian (and Mike!) on the road!

It’s time for another headshot session!  This time, I spent a bit of time with Mike Brown, another actor that I met during my time over at the Charles Playhouse with Blue Man Group.  We spent a very chilly afternoon over at Larz Anderson park in Brookline, one of my favorite places to shoot.  After getting to know Mike outside of being blue for about five minutes, I knew this would be a fun shoot.  I asked how he ended up as a Blue Man, and his response was “I saw the show, and pretty much freaked out.  I was totally one of those people that I’m just a little bit afraid of now!”  And from there, we had fun with it.

Right when I started shooting, to loosen up a little bit, Mike looked me dead in the eye with the most serious look on his face and said “Tell me a joke.”  I admit it, I totally choked!  I had absolutely nothing.  I can only imagine the look on my face while I ran through my mind coming up with a total blank.  I’m pretty sure that look was funnier than any joke I could have come up with, so Mike told me one of his own instead.

What did the detective say when the Eskimo was found guilty of murder?

Inuit!

I may not have come up with a joke right away, but I think I did a pretty good job at keeping Mike laughing!  (Or maybe he was totally entertaining himself with his own facial expressions and “smiling like a real boy”, but I guess you’ll never know…)

This series cracks me up.  Mike smiles.  A lot.  It’s really hard impossible to not be smiling around him.  I told Mike to give me a nice strong stance and stare, and when he did, naturally I told him he was doing great!  This affirmation immediately triggered a smirk, to a smile, to full blown excitement.

But enough behind the scenes, and on to Mike’s actual headshots.  Throughout the whole session, Mike rocked his brand new glasses.  They suit him very well, don’t you think?

Next time I’m shooting someone who wants to hear a joke, what should it be?  Leave yours in the comments below!  Best joke wins a $20 Starbucks gift card! (Congratulations to Leah who already won, but feel free to keep leaving jokes, they’re great!)

Thanks for a wonderfully fun shoot, Mike!  Keep on smiling!  :)