I love having a chance to shoot at some of the amazing farms in my area.  And, every once in a great while, we luck into a truck!    Today was one of those lucky days.  Yes, sometimes we make arrangements for these sorts of awesome props weeks ahead of time; but, today we had not.  This was just pure luck!  I could not have parked it in a better spot for lighting, etc.  Really, this was one of those shoots that just sort of felt like the whole universe was in harmony in making it perfect.  Mom didn’t want “posey” pics and these boys wanted to horse around a bit.  And, yes, there just HAPPENED to be a tire swing.  I came back a little dirty (as is common when I do a farm session) and happy.  Thanks to their Mom for wanting something a little more fun and laid back.  Your boys were amazing – and I LOVE the images.  They make me want to go hang a tire swing!!!!  Well, maybe in the Spring! 

It really can’t be said enough, how much I love my job!  Yes, I love everything about being inspired to pick up a camera and create an image.  Yes, I love weddings.  Yes, I love shooting families and babies.  BUT, beyond that, what I really love about my job is that as a photographer, I often become a family historian. And, in the case of Baby Lily, this is true as it was just a couple of years ago when I photographed her mother and father’s wedding.  Then, the most precious newborn session….. some sessions in between, and now,  unbelievably, it is already time for her first birthday!

Lily is a beautiful little girl – very mellow and sweet.  One must be a pretty mellow little person to allow their tiny bottom into a wicker bicycle basket!  Love how her feet stick out!  Thanks to my friend and neighboring business owner, Karen at So G Coffee (insert – BEST COFFEE EVER!!!!!) for letting us stop her in the middle of her bike ride to use this bike!!! 

Congratulations Lily and happy birthday!
 

WOW! Time flies. I feel like I just spent a wonderful time with Lauren and Jos on their wedding day and now I get to see their first born turn one!. I truly feel privileged to have had the opportunity to photograph Luke’s first year.

Happy Birthday Luke!!  You are one of the happiest babies we know!

LOVE this hat!

I LOVE that “X-man” is so crazy and that Emma is so sweet and mild-mannered…. always makes shooting this family fun! Sheri and Kris, thank you for sharing your beautiful kiddos with me again!

Today was the first day since Irene hit New England that we have had all of our services and utilities at the studio.   The power is on.  The network is back up and running.   Our phones finally work again!  And, despite the fact that we are now desperately behind in our post workflow, it was one of the first days that I just really don’t care!  I can care tomorrow…. and I will.  But, today was reserved for my family.  After all, today was supposed to happen days ago as we waited for the schools to get their power back.  We have all been waiting anxiously for our first daughter’s first day of kindergarten. 

I knew that I would cry.  She knew that I would cry.  In fact, we have been talking about how I was going to cry for weeks – I didn’t want to scare her so I had her prepared for mommy’s “happy tears” that she has seen before.  As the bus rolled up, my eyes welled, my hands shook as I kissed the palms of her hands (if you have ever read The Kissing Hand, you know why….) and off she stepped into that big yellow bus and into the rest of her life.  And, as it drove away, it was as if I could hear the cheers of the crowd as she threw her cap at high school graduation, as if I could see a quick glimpse into the future of Bob walking her down the aisle….. Really, I was overwhelmed with a visual reminder of just how quickly life with these little people goes by!

So I spent the rest of the day wearing sunglasses and trying to occupy my mind.  Her little sister would not take her nap because she was worried she would miss Big Sister’s homecoming.  So, hours later, we walked to the bus stop to greet our little Kindergartner.  She stopped to humor mommy with a photo before she bounded off the bus and into my arms.  Little sister SQEEZED her and said, “I mist-ed you.”  And, off we walked home.  I was swinging my camera and took a random “grab shot” at our shadows and have a new favorite family portrait….. one that marks a new era and the daily arrival of that yellow bus.  I assume that as some point, I will stop crying when I see it pull up?!?!?

To my little K – You are full of life and energy and laughter.  You are probably the most passionate child I have ever met!  You have an amazing future in front of you and I am proud to be your mommy.  Life has never been boring since your arrival.  I love you with all of my heart – and “til the stars turn into popcorn.”  

 My mom had sent some photos of me from my first day of school back in 1979!  So, once K saw them, she specifically wanted to take a photo in a tree like her mommy did on her first day of Kindergarten.  How cute is she?!?!? And, hey Mom, that dress you sent me off to school in was pretty darn short!!!!!!!!!

 And it is about right…… now……. that I start to break down!

 Now going to pick up Big Sister from the bus stop….

 And she is home…. and my eyes well again….. 

 And my new favorite family portrait……

Theresa and Steven’s wedding is right around the corner….. for the second time!  They originally planned to be married in July of 2010 – but instead, ended up being blessed with a beautiful baby girl, Eva, just a little earlier than expected.  Now, this beautiful family is about to “make it official” in 2011.  And, as they celebrate Eva’s first birthday, they will also be celebrating their marriage.

How about this for a beautiful family?!?!?!  Seriously!!!!!!  Thanks to you, Theresa and Steven, for being open-minded when I suggested doing your family photo in a dark alley!!!!

How gorgeous are these two!!!!?!?!

We LOVE photographing little people in the studio.  But….. things don’t always go as well as we hope they will……

As a mom, I really LOVE this photo because it is very, very REAL!!!!  But, as a photographer, I am left with the question, “How the HECK am I supposed to get something out of this session!??!”  Waaaaa Laaaaa!!!!!  I adore this next photo…. thanks for being so fussy little one!  No one can see you cry from BEHIND!!!!!  I win!  :)

We have had the pleasure of working with student “shadows” from RHAM High School over the years.   If there is a student interested in photography, we get a call from a career counselor at the school.  And, we welcome the student in to “shadow” us for a day, for a shoot, etc.  We had Brendan to the studio to participate in a studio shoot for a business client of ours.  And, before we knew it, or could resist it, he became one of us!!!   Last I knew, the Carrie Draghi Photography logo/sticker made it onto Brendan’s Mac!  :)  We are honored!!!  BTW, nice photo with the candy cane!!!  :)

Brendan’s plans are to finish high school, formally study film and begin a career in the arts.  As you can see from this little promo piece he made “for fun” from two of our winter family photo shoots, this guy has talent!

To Brendan – Thank you for sharing your talent with us!  Thank you for going out of your way to put this together for us.  I know you said  you were just procrastinating for mid terms, but we feel very blessed that you procrastinated!

To Brendan’s mom and dad – WOW, what a great kid you have raised!  You must be so proud.  Thank you for letting him hang out with the ladies at CDP!  He is always welcome here!

We have been nutty here in the studio in our “Off Season.”  We are still wrapping up our final weddings from 2010, making changes to our internal processes and workflow, trying to find the studio in the snow, meeting great new couples at the bridal shows…. whew!  Not to mention, we are all training for The Warrior Dash in June www.warriordash.com (more details on that to come!)  All I can say is OUCH!

It has been a great start to 2011.  We were honored as a Top Pick in The Knot Best of Weddings for 2011 – our third time in four years!  And, we were also chosen for Wedding Wire’s Bride’s Choice Awards 2011.  Both of these awards are so meaningful to me – as they are essentially given to us by our couples.  THANK YOU!

We also have some fun things coming up on the blog (because my new year’s resolution is not to be a crappy blogger!!!)  And, now that I have stated my resolution out loud, Colleen, our amazing Studio Manager, is going to hold me accountable!  Actually, I have always struggled with prioritizing blogging…. if I have 10 shoots in my editing backlog, I feel badly taking the time to put together a good blog post.  And, what happens, is that nothing gets blogged!  However, thanks to Colleen and our dear photographer friend, Richard Esposito, we believe we have created a systematic way to blog without slowing down our workflow.

So, I had to put together a little slideshow of recent work for a local business meeting…. It is a little bit of all that we did this year…. and I know that it happens fast!  So, grab a cup of coffee and don’t blink…. here is a crazy trip through some of 2010…  We have some wedding-specific slideshows and things to come.  Please come back and visit!

Who could ask for more fun than this beautiful family!  Did I EVER love Mom’s suggestion to dress up and do the shoot on the family farm.  And, no shoot on the farm would be complete without including all three dogs!  Actually, the setting reminded me a little bit of where I grew up in Southern Colorado which made it extra fun for me.  It was DUSTY!!!!!  Our feet were black when we finished – but, it was worth it.  Thanks to you guys for trying something a little bit out of the ordinary.  I am really happy with how they came out.  I applied a little bit of a “vintage” feel to these in post production – it just felt right for the subject!