The “Off Season”…
It would likely be described by a New England photographer as something like this…. “The period of time between wrapping up the wedding season and holiday card season and the beginning of the next “season” of shooting which is typically consistent with a new, and arguably better season of weather!!! It is a time designated for projects…. LOTS and LOTS of projects!”

So what the H.E. (double the hockey sticks) happened to this off season?!?!? Oh yes, of course….. we were snowed in!!!!! This year it was snow, last year it was something else. In a nutshell, there is always something about the off season that prevents us from making it through that darn “off season” project list.  So we decided to focus on not just the studio’s projects – we came up with some very serious personal projects:

Seeing how much coffee we can drink from our “neighbors to the North,” So G Coffee Roasters…. answer, it is a lot!!!!!

Debating the merits of Sweet Potato fries vs. Regular fries from  our “neighbors to the South,” South Tavern.  It remains a split decision…. Carrie and Molly vote Sweet.  Helen and Colleen vote boring (Carrie wrote this)!

My way-too-time-consuming project/obsession with finding cool Converse Chuck Taylors… and Colleen and Bob having to reign me back in….. After all, how many pairs of Converse does one woman need?  Answer….. just wait…. I will show you!!!!!!

Preparing for our interview with Better CT – which is airing tomorrow at 3pm on CT WFSB Channel 3….   We are very excited and honored that they contacted us to do a feature on the studio.  (Be warned, they interviewed me in the morning, pre-coffee (see note above) so I can’t even remember what we talked about!!!!!).

Training for the upcoming Warrior Dash in June (please see our training video below… Warning – it is VERY hard core training and not for the faint of heart!).  Also, please keep in mind that we are professionals and that these stunts should not be attempted at home!

So, we are getting to our studio to do list slowly but surely…. but the above projects are far more fun!!!!

And we are excited to be kicking off our 2011 shooting season in just a couple of weeks with Laura and Lowell’s awesome Boston wedding!  We can’t wait!!!!

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!

It isn’t every day that I get to post a wedding the day after it happens.   However, Juliana’s dad arranged for a special surprise for his beautiful daughter – a slideshow of their wedding images to be able to share with their family at today’s brunch.  Juliana, your parents love you!  Your dad and your mom did such a great job helping to coordinate your wedding while you and Chris finished up at the Air Force Academy.  I know you have some special family visiting – so please enjoy the day with them.  And, as you and Chris head off to serve our country only days after your wedding, it is my pleasure to share these images with you on July 4th.

So, here is that slideshow – along with some of my favorite images from your wedding day.

How pretty is Juliana?!?!?  :)  We took some getting ready shots in the hotel – then moved outside for some family shots and one of my favorites – the dynamically lit one of Juliana in front of the barn in the back of the Windsor Marriott.

And then the handsome groom, Chris…..

I think I should hire Juliana’s mom!   She had her camera with her everywhere!  This photo made me chuckle….. I imagine this will be me when my daughters get married one day….. a very LOOOOONG time from now!!!

We went to Juliana’s parents house in Windsor for photos.  Though the really strong sunlight prevented us from utilizing every part of their beautiful yard, we wanted to capture some shots by the fountain.

Then, thanks for trusting me when I suggested going to the train tracks for some photos…. I really love how they came out.

And I have to add another shot of Juliana – I think this will be one of Chris’ favorites!

Then off to a fantastic reception with great music and lighting from Tony from After Hours.

And, I loved this photo of Chris and his guys smoking cigars.

The first wedding of the 2010 season, and what a special one it was!  Shannon and Helen are so wonderful together – they are the best of friends.  And, proof positive that sometimes we have to go through difficult times to find our true path.  Congratulations Shannon and Helen.  And, thank you for having me be a part of your special day.  Here is a little slideshow preview of your wedding photos and a couple of my personal faves: