My New Website! This is now the "old blog".

If you are visiting this page, or are a subscriber to my blog, you can now find everything about Cristen Farrell Photography over on my new, all-in-one website, www.cristenfarrell.com. This will be the last post on this Blogspot site, though it has served me well!

www.cristenfarrell.com

I am so excited for my new site and have been working on it for several weeks. It combines both my portfolio site and my blog in one location (all of my old posts have been imported), and I feel it reflects my brand much better. The photos are also larger, Facebook is fully integrated, and there is even a dedicated "Client Area" where clients can access important documents as well as my proofing site.

Important: If you are currently subscribed by email to this blog, and you still want to receive updates on posts, you need to go over to the new site and subscribe there! 

Just go to www.cristenfarrell.com, and click on the slider tab on the left that says "Subscribe"(see it in the screenshot above!). Enter your email address there and you'll be set up! Otherwise, you'll no longer receive my email updates and you might miss announcements of special promotions or other fun posts in the future.

So, thank you for following me here, and I hope you will join me over on my new website!

Happy summer!

Cristen

Sweet Light -- Andover, MA Family Portrait Photographer

I always tell my clients that the best time of day to shoot is about and hour and a half before sunset. Some days it doesn't matter that much because the clouds are in the way, but when things are just right -- wow -- that end of day golden light is gorgeous.

Add to that this beautiful family and you get one amazing photo session! I loved how excited they were and how much fun the girls were to work with. From formal portrait shots, to casual and fun, we got it all!

Not Your Average Intern

Today is my kids' last day of school this year and they will be unleashed up on me for the summer! So between them and my business, I've got my hands full. But for the last five months, while they've been in school, I've been interning one day a week with an awesome and talented wedding photographer -- Krista Guenin of Krista Photography. At this point in my life, I didn't expect I'd be back as an intern again, but as I was embarking on this new business venture, I knew that it was exactly what I needed to do.

Back last fall I saw Krista's blog post announcing her search for a studio intern -- Her work is fantastic (she is so great at what she does!) -- and when I realized that her studio was just ten minutes from my house, I knew it was meant to be. So I sent her an email telling her all about where I was with my photography and that I'd love to come and work with her and learn a little something along the way.

So every Wednesday since January, I've been going into Krista's studio -- my tasks varied from uploading wedding photos to her Flickr account to reorganizing her office to filing and even, yes, putting together furniture. But as I worked on those tasks, I'd take mental notes on just about everything else going on and pepper Krista and her assistant CoCo with questions (trying not to be TOO annoying) when they popped into my head. She and CoCo (who I just love and whose name is fun to say) were so great to me, and patiently answered my questions and gave me advice whenever I asked for it. 

The bonus was that I had the opportunity to assist Krista at a wedding back in March, and got to see her and CoCo in action. It was great fun. I got to shoot most of the day, and learned a lot about the hard work of wedding photography in those ten hours. (I'll soon post a recap of the day with some of my photos too!)

On top of being a great opportunity to learn, I really think it was a great lesson to my girls. For the life of them, they could not understand why I would want to work for free for anyone. Grace even went so far as to say she told her friends at school about it -- incredulous that I would do such a thing! But I explained to them that this was surely the best way to learn. I may not have been paid in dollars, but I was paid in knowledge! Like free school! I'm still not sure they get it, but I know they'll understand in a few years. 

Meanwhile, I did learn a TON. In addition to answering all my questions, CoCo walked me through her culling and editing process, and Krista spent an entire morning going through my portfolio and website with me. She also walked me through my images from the March wedding and gave me a wealth of tips and advice. It was great.

But now, as summer is upon us, duty calls, and I'm responsible for entertaining and caring for two not-so-small people for the next couple of months. So last Wednesday was my last day with Krista and CoCo. We went to Five Guys for lunch, and I insisted on paying. Krista reminded me that I had been working for free and that she should buy lunch, but the truth is, what I learned over the last few months was invaluable to me. So buying her a burger and fries was the least I could do. : )

Thanks again to Krista & CoCo for a fun and truly rewarding experience!

Meanwhile, it feels weird to have a blog post without photos, so here's one that just says summer to me... 

Brotherly Love - Andover, MA Family Portrait Photographer

When the mom of these three boys first contacted me, she was hoping to do a winter photo session in the snow! We kept waiting and waiting all winter, and the snow never came. So we decided we'd just wait until Spring and we finally got together last week for a family session. I loved seeing the love in this family! The difference in age between the oldest and youngest is about six years, and it was so sweet to watch them all together. We got a beautiful night for light and had a lot of fun in the Park in downtown Andover.

A Beautiful Day for a Wedding

Anyone who has been following the progression of this business of mine knows that a huge turning point for me came last October, when I attended the Substance photography workshop given by Jenna Walker and Katie Thurmes of Jenna Walker Photographers in Colorado. During my weekend in Boulder I made new friends and enjoyed the beauty of Colorado, but more importantly, was given a gift by Jenna and Katie -- the belief that I could do this. For real. The advice and encouragement that they gave to the nine of us who attended was invaluable. When I came back, I bought a logo, made myself a website, and set off down this path with a confidence I never thought I would have.

As luck would have it, Katie had a wedding booked out here this May (because she's just so awesome that someone from Massachusetts would want to fly her out here to shoot their wedding!) and was gracious enough to allow me to tag along as an "assistant".  She confessed to me a couple of days before that she doesn't actually use assistants, but she would gladly have me carry her bag/cameras as needed during the day. (I offered to fetch her water, but she declined.) At dinner the night before she drew me a little map of the ceremony setting on a napkin and gave me tips on where to stand and what to look for.

I knew that this would be a huge opportunity to watch her in action and learn a ton. And I did. And I got to do a whole lot more than carry her bag. I shot the entire day, except for some corralling of family during formal time. What a joy. What a great experience. What fun.

And an amazing wedding it was -- a family with four beautiful daughters, celebrating this wedding at their home. They were oozing love and joy and fun the whole time. It was great. And to top it all off, on this Saturday in early May (which as you know, can be a crap shoot around here in terms of weather), the sun was shining and the sky was blue. Perfect all around.

So here are a few of my images from that beautiful day. Enjoy! And thank you Katie for a fun and amazing opportunity!

A Visit From Grandma - Andover, MA Family Portrait Photographer

I love photographing Grandparents with their grandchildren so I was excited when I was invited to join this family for photographs while Grandma was visiting from England. We even got Surf, the dog, in on the fun!

Two beautiful girls and their Grandma.

This photo makes me laugh. Surf had to be picked up because he was a little too close to his electric fence!

A little more comfortable now that we were at a safe distance from the fence!

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Baby Ella - Middleton, MA Portrait Photographer

Eight month old babies are generally pretty cute, but this little gal was SO adorable. Love her round face and happy smile. This is a great age to photograph a baby because they are sitting up and have little personalities of their own. We did Ella's photo session at home in her beautiful pink room and out by her pool one sunny morning last week. I'm looking forward to a beach portrait session with Ella and the rest of her family later this summer!

And this adorable baby has an adorable dog too. Meet Charlie.

He was seeking a little shade from the hot sun!