2011 - In Review

2011 has been a truly amazing year. I think we will always remember this year with great fondness, as we ate, breathed and slept all things wedding. With the early part of the year leading me (Kendra) into the transition of being a full time wedding photographer, to the middle of the year when we got married ourselves (which has given us SO much more to truly relate to our clients and know exactly how they feel) to the end of the year when we shot 26 weddings, 42 engagement sessions (amongst other non-wedding related work) and got to meet the exciting bunch of 2012 Summer Street couples. With all of the wedding talk, gorgeous rings, adorable proposal stories and sweet moments, the funny thing is that we still can't get enough. There is something deeper than just a 'wedding' that keeps us artistically motivated. It's you. Getting to know our clients and having the honor of telling their stories makes us tick. We've never felt so at home. We say it a lot, but we truly feel blessed to have this job. Here's to each and every one of you who 'liked' something on our facebook page, commented on a blog post, encouraged us in our buisness, and trusted us to document your event. We are nothing without your support, and we can't wait to share 2012 with you!

The J Family

Since our new site launched, we've been experimenting with not including text into our blog posts. Our thought behind this was mostly to create a viewing experience where you guys could learn about the couple through images only. Since we are photographers, and we tell stories through photos, we wanted to try this out for a bit to see if it might be a good fit with our business. We did a little facebook poll and asked a few of our clients for their thoughts on this, and it was an overwhelming consensus that you guys like our text! So we're back....in written word. Like I told the previous few clients whose sessions were bloggged without text, it wasn't that we couldn't have gushed about them, it was simply an experiment.

We couldn't think of a better session to start writing than this one. The J family is expecting a fourth addition this winter, and we decided to take advantage of the final warm sun of the fall and capture their life before their new baby girl comes into the world. We met Mendy and KJ at Sarabina and Andrew's Wedding and enjoyed chatting with them during a few free moments at the reception. We were immediately drawn to their warmth and love they shared for each other, their little girl Jordyn and their excitement for little girl number two to enter their lives. During the family session I snapped a few photos of Mendy with her ultrasound photos (couldn't resist the black and whites for this series!) and then we jotted down the street to the elementary school that Mendy attended as a child where Jordyn played hard to get photograph until the last few moments where her true personality came jumping out (literally!).

The J family was an absolute pleasure to work with, and we can only hope that you'll be meeting their newest addition here on the blog after she's born (wink, wink..Mendy).

New Website!

  Welcome to the all new Summer Street Photography website!!! We're delighted you stopped by, and we hope you take a moment to explore all of the new parts of our virtual home. It's still the same Matt and Kendra, but we've been working with some personal trainers of sorts to get our new site looking like a total and complete makeover. (psst....You'll want to read all the way to the end - there is a surprise down there as well! )

Let's start at the beginning. Meet Melissa and Jonathan, the master minds behind the Brooklyn based design firm, Makewell. They are getting married next June at her step-dad's farm in New Hampshire, and guess who gets to photograph it? Yep. That's us. Check out this too cute for words photo that Jonathan's brother took:

Photo by: Jordan Motzkin

Aren't they cute? When they contacted us this summer about shooting their wedding next June, I couldn't help but notice their work title line on the very bottom of their e-mails. Graphic designers you say? I clicked into their site. And fell in love.

And so it began. Our site was in need of something a little more cohesive and professional. A little more, 'design-savvy'. So We hired them. Well, actually, we hired each other. We started working on the new site in July, and now, almost four months later to the date, we have a new baby. A new, virtual baby that is. Melissa and Jonathan were amazing to work with.  We got to help with the fun stuff, but they really were the masterminds behind the entire site. We love that the website is now much more technically fluid and functional; incorporating our portfolio alongside our current work as well as has handmade details like Melissa's calligraphy in our new logo and other parts of the site.

In short, we couldn't be more happy. Read on for a few new features, and then go see them in action! (p.s. if you're my mom, remember these images below are just screen shots, and you'll have to go into the main site to see them in action).

Here's the home page. Happy.

Oh hi. It's us. Bet you didn't know Matt does Karate. Venn Diagram for the win!

Jessica's dress and Abena's perfume. Part of the Portfolio sections. See that little portfolio icon to the left of our logo? Let you mouse rest on that and a drop down menu of various portfolio goodies will appear for your choosing.

More portfolio. Claire. Pretty, pretty Claire.

The new blog! We'll still be posting all of our recent work here, so this part of the site will be constantly updated with our new work. See those cute little handwritten links on the side? All Melissa. If you click on categories, a little genie will show you the various post categories. Nice and tidy.

The thing we're the most excited about with our new blog is the 'See More' feature. We'll be posting a single image from our shoots, and then you can click 'See More' to see the rest of the shoot. If you want to 'See Less' you can, with a click of a button. Also, something that we really really wanted was the ability to expand and collapse the posts without leaving the main blog page. On most blogs, when you click 'See More' or 'Read More' you're redirected to a new tab or window, and then you need to hit the home button or the back button to go back where you were. Not here. You can expand and collapse as many posts as you like without leaving the page. Amazing. Totally amazing.

Our contact page. Pretty self explanatory. This is how we get most of our inquiries, so now we're comforted by the fact that there is a nice photo of Jay and Lauren in a field instead of just text. win win.

So fun huh? We are head over heels in love with this new little baby. To celebrate the new website's arrival we've decided to do a GIVEAWAY!

We will be giving away one photo shoot to a random lucky recipient! If you win, here's what's in it for you:

-A 1 Hour Photoshoot with Summer Street Photography

-You'll receive 50 edited images on a high resolution disk with a photo release to use the photos for personal use

-Can be used for an engagement, newborn, maternity, head shot, senior, pet or fashion photo session. If we are shooting your wedding in 2011 or 2012, you can also enter to win an additional hour of photography coverage on your wedding day. Don't want to be in front of the camera? Gift your sister a maternity session! Win an extra hour of photography for your friend! You can gift your prize as well as use it for yourself. Shoot must be in the Boston area - but we will also be in Minnesota and South Dakota this winter, so if you're out there, you're eligible as well. As always, if you live in France, just fly us out and we'll shoot all day for free.

-Here's how to Enter:

-Like Our Page on Facebook, or invite three friends to 'Like" Summer Street Photography on Facebook. Once one of the three people you invite follow through, you have your golden ticket. Then those people can enter the contest as well.

-Leave a Comment here telling us what your favorite part of the new site is

A winner will be drawn at random and announced next Friday November 18th - or when we reach 1000 likes, whichever comes first.

Now go explore the new site! And come back this afternoon, we'll be posting two more fun posts!

The S Family

It’s not all that often that we get the privilege of taking family portraits. Like most of our work, we try not to take these sessions too seriously, especially when there are kids involved! Maybe our approach is relaxed due to the church directory family photo forever stamped along the wall of my parents house…me with overgrown bangs slicked back with more jel than the early 90s deserved….my brother, bowl cut and all, with one eye almost blinking…. Yep. That’s probably it. Those formal photos can be nice, but let’s be honest….kids look their best when they are in their element. The S Family has plenty of energy to go around with two spritely twin second graders and one adorable little brother.  We enjoyed a summer saturday morning together at one of our favorite parks enjoying some croquet, swings and the good ole game of tag. It started sprinkling rain as we were wrapping up, which we think just added to the fun.