Spent a beautiful, cool morning with Karla and Ben in Boston as they celebrate their engagement and get busy planning their February 2011 wedding-- we can't wait! Thanks Karla and Ben; can't think of a better way to spend a spring morning!

NYC engagement session wins award

Recently I (Laura) entered some prints and folios in the Professional Photographers Association of New England Competition where I earned a couple of blue ribbons and and some reds as well. All my entries can be viewed here.

Of the entrants, the most notable was the folio entered in the group category which won for the best group folio of the competition. Ted and Matt live in NYC and are getting married this July in Manchester, VT. It just so happened that I was going to be down visiting my family in Brooklyn on a weekend that they were home so we coordinated their engagement session to be done at Central Park.

Thanks to Ted and Matt for being such great clients and we look forward to the big event in July!!

New Hampshire Professional Wedding Photographer's Annual 2010 Print Competition

We recently attended the annual New Hampshire Professional Photographers Association Convention. Like last year we entered the annual print competition. It's such an exciting opportunity as all of the entrants are being judged by some of most accomplished professional photographers around.

Marilyn earned two blue ribbons and three red ribbons! Fuji agrees that her image, entitled "First Light" was outstanding as it won the Fuji Film award for the best illustrative image of the competition! This image was taken on her well-deserved vacation and even when she's on vacation her creative mind and eyes are always at work. Congratulations to Marilyn for such an achievement. Marilyn also entered several client images from her thriving new business, Marilyn Dillon Photography in the center of Hampstead, NH, which earned her three red and one blue ribbon.





For Laura, "Let's party," a fun image of a joyous couple dancing to their party after the portraits earned her a red ribbon. Her love of antiques prompted her to take her door off the hinges and photograph this beautiful old brass door knob. They just don't make doors like they used to! This image, called "Turn to the Past" earned her a blue ribbon. Also entered was an illustrative photograph from her vacation called "Mountain Crossing" which also earned her a red ribbon.



In print competition a white ribbon represents an average professional photograph and a red ribbon represents an above average professional photograph. The blue ribbon is representative of "deserving of a merit" which at the national level are accumulated and and put toward a Professional Photographers of America photographer degree.
Most of the images are now off to Professional Photographers of America for their international competition. Stay tuned!
We hope you enjoy looking at our work!

Natural Expressions Wedding Photography, LLC Teaches Day Long Seminar

This year, we were honored to be asked by the New Hampshire Professional Wedding Photographers Association (NHPPA) if we'd like to teach a day long seminar on wedding photography to other professional photographers. We accepted and were among seven other courses offered to the NHPPA by the NHPPA in a series.

We taught our class at Marilyn's studio in Hampstead, NH and had a field trip to her house where Laura, one of our beautiful brides from this season and three of her friends so graciously staged a pre-wedding scene. The attendees of our class were able to see what it's like arrive the day of the wedding when the girls are all getting ready and photograph the moments and create portraits of the bride.


Other highlights of the program included the importance of “branding” your business and explain how using graphic design to create your wedding business identity has benefited them. We discussed the importance of planning ahead and shared our team coverage approach. We concluded the day by sharing the efficiencies of our editing process, showed the benefits of adding Adobe Lightroom into the editing process, as well as some time-saving automation tips in Photoshop. The day was wrapped up with a review of our creative design process for our award-winning albums.

Special thanks to Dennis from Avalon Editions for sponsoring our morning break, Maria at Freshwater Flowers for creating the beautiful bouquet and of course Laura and her friends for volunteering their time to be our models.

To see more photos from the day you can view our album titled Photofestival "Wedding Days and Beyond" March, 2010 at our facebook page.

Bridal Tips for a Picture-Perfect Face

Photographed above is Kris and her makeup artist who is among one of many talented artists at the M.A.C. counter at Macy's in Salem.

Whether you are hiring a professional makeup artist or thinking about applying your own makeup, below are some tips that should be considered for your wedding day makeup. We read this wonderful article in this month's issue of Professional Photographer Magazine and wanted to pass along these important tips that will have your skin look it's very best in your wedding photographs.

1. Blend, Blend, Blend. You can use your everyday makeup, but use more than you normally use every day. Many makeup professionals use airbrush makeup, the method of choice for high-definition TV, because it’s lightweight, waterproof and gives flawless coverage.
2. Sometimes Less Is More. Use less makeup for a day wedding and more for evenings. You can get dramatic with eye makeup.
3. Don’t Skimp On Concealer. Use a moisturized concealer on the thin sensitive skin under the eyes. If your concealer isn’t moisturizing, blend it with a natural or over-the-counter anti-inflammatory, then cover with concealer.
4. Do A Makeup Trial Run. It’s the only sure-fire, stress-free way to make certain your makeup will look beautiful.
5. Not All Mineral Makeup Is Created Equal. Titanium dioxide, a chemical used as sun block, can reflect flash, giving the bride a ghostly appearance. In 2009 makeup artist Annie May launched a line of mineral makeup especially formulated for photography called Advanced Mineral Makeup. May promises it won’t white-out the bride under a flash.
6. Use Waterproof Makeup With Staying Power. You don’t want to spend your reception in the bathroom reapplying your makeup. Foundation, eyeliner and mascara all should be waterproof. And in case you cry (and you probably will), have a tissue or handkerchief handy to gently blot your tears right at the eye.
7. Keep Your Lips Moisturized And Colored. Dry lips look dreadful in photos. Have someone carry your lipstick for you to touch up often. Matte and gloss lipstick both photograph well, and be sure to use blended lip liner for enhanced definition.
8. Don’t Forget The Groom. If the groom is red faced due to too much sun (or drinking), a little powder can help. That goes for shiny heads, too. And it’s a good idea to slip a tube of Chapstick in the groom’s pocket for his dry lips, as well as a handkerchief to dab well-wishers’ makeup smudges off his suit.
9. Don’t Sprinkle On Glitter. In photographs, it tends to look like little white spots, as if there’s something wrong with the camera.
10. Remember to apply foundation and powder to your neck, shoulders and décolletage – you want your head to look like it belongs to your body!

Published with permission (article written by Lorna Gentry in Professional Photographer Magazine, March 2010 edition).

Open House: This weekend!

We are hosting an open house this Sunday, February 28th from 1-4 pm. If you are planning your wedding and still need a photographer, we'd love to meet you and learn more about your wedding! Details can be seen here.

We hope to see you there!

New Hampshire Wedding Magazine 2010 Expo

We had such blast taking part in the New Hampshire Wedding Magazine's 2010 Expo at C.R. Sparks in Manchester, NH. We met some wonderful people who and had fun designing and setting up our unique booth! Here is a photo from the event:)