Sing along with me to this tune from Vince Vance & the Valiants, won’t you?

Take back the holly and mistletoe
Silver bells on string
If I wrote a letter to Santa Claus
I would ask for just one thing (any guesses? anyone? Bueller?)

I don’t need sleigh rides in the snow
Don’t want a Christmas that’s blue
Take back the tinsel, stockings, and bows
‘Cuz all I want for Christmas is you

I don’t need expensive things (well, this is a teeny bit expensive)
They don’t matter to me
All that I want, can’t be found
Underneath the Christmas tree (because it’s on my kitchen windowsill already)

You are the angel atop my tree
You are my dream come true
Santa can’t bring me what I need
‘Cuz all I want for Christmas is you

Poinsettia

You may recall that I was the photographer when our JessaLu got married back on 10/10/10. I had fun but being a wedding photographer is stressful. You want the photos to be perfect for your friend but you are dealing with diverse personalities and timing issues and lighting difficulties. You have to work fast under pressure and you don’t want to miss a single shot. I was happy to do it for Jess but I told myself I’d never do it again. You know what they say about famous last words, right?

A few months back I got a phone call from my dear college friend, Chrissie. She excitedly told me that she was engaged. She said that she and Tony were so happy and he was the one and she was finally taking the plunge and getting married – for the first time, I need to point out. And then she went on to tell me that they were having a very small wedding and the guest list was limited to immediate family only but she had figured out a way to have me there.

She wanted me to be her photographer. There was no way I could say no.  I could not imagine her getting married without me being there and I knew this was something I could do for her that would be another milestone in our lifelong friendship. And so, a few weeks ago Dale and I traveled to Connecticut and I photographed the wedding of Chrissie and her Tony.

She got married at night, despite my best efforts to talk her into a wedding that would allow me to take photos in natural light, so all of my photos are taken with flash. I was so nervous about that since my flash experience is pretty limited, but I think they look just fine. Sit back and relax because I have a lot of photos to show you.

We’ll start with an obligatory shot of the dress. I’ve seen those custom made hangers on so many wedding photography blogs that I just had to get one for Chrissie. I really just wanted her to feel like a bride.

I love this shot of Chrissie’s  mom and sister zipping up her dress. It shows nice details of the beading on the bodice but I also think there’s something so intimate and special about a bride being helped into her gown.

Chrissie was, of course, a beautiful bride. Her dress was simple and flattering and her bouquet was elegant.

They opted for a first look, thank goodness. I know it calmed Chrissie down and it meant I could relax a little about portraits after the wedding. Tony, on the other hand, was completely relaxed the entire time. Men.

The centerpieces were beautiful and seasonally arranged in large green pumpkins. Understated elegance was the theme of the day and it really shows in these arrangements.

The ceremony was short and sweet and made me cry. It’s really moving to see you dear friend profess her love not only for her new husband but for his children as well. I might have blubbered a bit but I still managed to get a shot of their first kiss as husband and wife.

Formal portraits are not really my thing but I managed to rise to the occasion and we got some great shots of their families and friends. It’s funny to think of Chrissie as a stepmom now and I know firsthand that it’s not always an easy role. These kids are great, though, and I can already see the love and affection they have for Chrissie so I think they will do just fine.

Speaking of love, there’s an amazing amount of love between Chrissie and Tony. They are always laughing and touching, kissing and hugging and it makes my heart glad to see my friend so happy.

Chrissie’s parents, Lucille and Jack, are wonderful people. They welcomed me into their home so many times when we were in college. They are kind and generous and I love spending time with them. When Chrissie first asked me to be her photographer and I told her how nervous I was that I would let her down, her mom made a special point of telling me what a great job I would do. It meant the world to me to have her confidence – it was like having my own mom there to support me.

Chrissie’s grandmother was there as well as her brother, her sister – who was her matron of honor – and family. I love this shot of the wedding rings of Chrissie, her mom and her grandmother.

Once the portraits were finished we enjoyed a fabulous dinner. And this is the part where I tell you about the very generous thing I did. Back in October, Chrissie asked me if I had a shawl she could borrow to wear during the reception as she was afraid she would be chilly. I told her I had my featherduster shawl and that it was off-white and warm and that she was welcome to borrow it. I considered knitting something special for her but I knew that my time was short and Chrissie insisted that borrowing something was absolutely fine. It really did look fabulous with her dress and she kept telling me how much she loved it and so, at the end of the day, I gave it to her. I can always make another one but she will only have one wedding shawl and she deserved to keep this for herself.

All in all it was such a special night. There were toasts in Polish and Italian. There was laughter and kissing. There was cake and chocolate sauce and an abundance of love and happiness for Chrissie and Tony and their newly combined family. My wish for them is that they always cherish these moments and that the pictures I took help them to remember the happiness of their wedding day.

Fall.

Sunday afternoon during the half time of the Patriots game Dale and I went out into the yard and threw a football around. This might be standard half time behavior for lots of people but it was a first for me – - – not only had I never thrown a football but I’d never caught on, either. Don’t mock me, I only started liking football last year.

Anyway, I had the camera with me and suggested that Dale pose for a photo or two. He was wearing his Patriots jersey and I thought it would be fun to take some “action” shots of him with the football. I didn’t have to ask him twice – - – this man loves to play to the camera.

First he just stood there with the ball.

And then he pointed at me and held the ball as if he was about to throw it.

He spent some time throwing the ball up in the air and catching it. I tried to capture the action of him actually catching it but that was tough. I do like how you can see his hair moving in this one.

Finally, he posed as if he was hiking the ball. Yes, that’s a sneer on his face.

Have I ever mentioned that my husband is a ham?

A week or so ago I noticed a beautiful field of sunflowers on the way home from work. Last Wednesday I finally remembered to bring my camera with me and I asked Dale to stop so I could take some photos of these yellow beauties. I had to traipse my way through corn and weeds and other growing things but I think it was worth it.

I will say, though, that I was disappointed in my ability to capture the entire field. I brought my wide angle lens and wanted a shot of the rows of sunflowers but I couldn’t get close enough to get the depth of field I wanted. I am not entirely satisfied with this one but it’s the closest I got to the picture in my mind.

I am infinitely happier with the close ups, however. The clear blue sky is the perfect contrast to the flowers and I could have stayed there shooting for a good long time.

I read up a bit on sunflowers in order to write this post and I learned that even though we think of the sunflower as one huge flower, it is actually made up of hundreds of tiny flowers called florets.

The yellow petals are not petals at all but are protective leaves that cover the center of the head while it is growing and the brown center of the sunflower is a mass of hundreds of flowers, all growing individually, and from where each sunflower seed will originate. Pretty cool, I think.

I’m sure you’ve all seen sunflowers before but I think it’s hard to judge just how big they are unless you’ve stood in a field of them. These guys were taller than me by about a foot and their stems are big and sturdy.

I  love that sunflowers are just as pretty from behind as they are from the front. I think there’s just something so beautiful about the sharp points on those green edges and the way they curl around to protect the flower petals.

Even the sunflower buds are beautiful.

I love finding opportunities to photograph the things around me, especially when it’s as simple as pulling the car over on the way home from work.

The Thursday Challenge for this week is Yellow. I just so happen to have some yellow summer squash.

We’ve been getting lots of awesome vegetables in our CSA share each week. We’ve had sweet corn and lettuce, beets and peas, green beans and zucchini, potatoes, blueberries, summer squash and much much more. Picking up these vegetables each week makes meal planning fast and easy – I just add some sort of meat or fish cooked on the grill and we are good to go.

Fresh vegetables from our CSA is just another reason why I love summer.

I think it’s awesome that Macro May happens just when all the flowers are blooming because I love me some macro flower shots. I take one almost every day, in fact.

I take them of columbine.

And peony heads.

I take them of tulips.

And geranium blossoms.

And I take them of lilacs.

Lots and lots of lilacs.

I can’t bring them inside due to allergies so I have to enjoy them this way.

How are you celebrating Macro May?

It’s Project Spectrum time again, thanks to Lolly, and the color for the month of May is red. I may have mentioned a time or two that I love red. It’s my favorite color, in fact, so I couldn’t be happier about starting Project Spectrum in this way.

I’m participating by knitting red socks.

The yarn is Kim’s, the color is Scarlet Devil, and the pattern – don’t fall over now – is Cable Rib Socks. That’s right, I’m knitting a patterned sock.

Okay, it’s a pretty simple pattern but I do love the cable running down the sides of the leg.

It’s also, thanks to Maryse, Macro May. I’m participating by taking macro shots with lots of red.

Like this one of my crab apple tree blossoms.

And this one of my wee sock stitch marker.

Hooray for Project Spectrum! Hooray for Macro May!