Rachel Kate Photography Blog

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of my good friend Bob Pattison‘s company as I shot the wedding of Lindsey and Justin on a rainy (in a way that couldn’t have been more perfect) kind of day.  Lindsey and Justin now live in CT but they came up here for their beautiful wedding at the Saphire Estate in Sharon.

The rain threatened and eventually poured but when we really needed it, the sky and clouds hooked us up and we got some beautiful memories for Lindsey and Justin to have of their pretty wedding day.

I got to Lindsey’s mom’s house early to get the stuff that makes me happy, all of that beginning anticipation…

 

So pretty, and so like Lindsey. Cool as a cucumber.

 

While the girls were getting it together at Lindsey’s the guys were gussying up at a hotel where Bob met them to get some beginning stuff of his own.

No rain yet and we got to take advantage of her parent’s beautiful lawn for some portraits of the girls.

 

 

 

And then we were off in a trolly to go get married.

 

The skies opened, rain spilt and Lindsey and Justin said “I do” to the craziest mix of brilliant sunlight and pouring rain.

Bob got this next one and I’m not above admitting that I am jealous.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I loved how tightly Justin hugged his mom after their dance. It  just touched me.

The band was AWESOME. Plain and simple. And the dance floor was PACKED the whole entire night.

I love this image of Lindsey’s mom. Something about it makes me happy.

 

 

And because I think he is the master of all ring shots here’s Bob’s handy work that night:

 

Thanks guys! It was a beautiful day and I love that I got to be a part of it. Hope that Hawaiian honeymoon was as good as it sounded!

xo, Rachel

So, these two kids and their mom have a special place in my heart. No, we don’t go way back and there is no long history of shoulders cried on and milestones celebrated together but they are there nonetheless.  Hannah and Joseph were some of the first kids I photographed that I had never met. In essence one of my first “jobs” and their mom, Dawn, is one of the first people to believe in what I was trying to do and supported me all the way.  It feels like so long ago that I met this great family but looking back, it really wasn’t.  I loved photographing Hannah and Joseph last year.  They are some of the most well-behaved kids I have ever met (a credit to their mom and dad) but their love of life and being silly and most obviously each other stand out in my mind when I think of these two.

When Dawn called me to schedule a shoot I was psyched and we met last week at the Grist Mill in Sudbury where Dawn and her husband actually had their wedding photos taken.  Today as I sat down and began to edit I was struck by how these two kids are everything that I strive for when I shoot.  I strive to capture kids being who they are, not what we try to make them into in the quick snap of a shutter.  I strive to give real memories to their parents so that when looked upon in 20 years the photos that we take today remind them of their uninhibited personalities, before that self-awareness creeps in and takes over.  I strive to produce images that capture the little things that we take for granted and think we, as parents, will remember forever but rarely do.  Hannah and Joseph helped me reach those goals and if there were any two kids to help me share this lesson today, it is them.

This post is a little different in that I am going to show you what we tried to get (and got and I love those) but also what happens in between the shutter snaps when kids are being their real selves, the ones we want to remember.

 

Yup, grandma will have the 5×7 posed on her mantle and she will love it, but Dawn will have an album that is priceless and true and in 20 years she will hopefully, just by looking at these photos, be able to remember the sound of her kids laughter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is no before and after for this one. It’s just precious so I put it up:)

Hannah and Joseph- There will be a day when you are fighting over how long Hannah is in the bathroom getting ready or that Joseph gets the car keys again.   I hope that these pictures will take you back to a time when you were each other’s best friend and truly just got a kick out of being in each other’s company. You guys are awesome and you make me happy.

Dawn-Those are pretty amazing kids you are raising. Thank you for all of your encouragement and support. It means the world to me.

xo, Rachel

Love him. Love this little guy who was my first baby shot in the new studio (which by the way is done and I can’t even stand how much I love it, I’ll post pics of that later).  Lucas and his mom and dad are up visiting from D.C. and they came into the studio for a quick session that actually yielded some pretty awesome stuff (based solely on the fact that he is ADORABLE and his mom and dad are so great).  Lucas is the nephew of one of my favorite people in the world, Jeanine. Her brother Dave and his wife Regina are owed some payback for the Flat Stanley love they sent our way when Aidan was in Kindergarten. Have you heard of Flat Stanley? It’s a project where the kids all send him to people that live in different parts of the world and then the recipients of Stanley, if they are indeed good recipients, might take a picture of Stanley chillin with, say an adolescent cousin in the backyard of some non-descript house in Iowa.  That is a good recipient. What we got when we sent the little guy Dave and Regina’s way was Flat Stanley with the White House in the background.  Flat Stanley at the Lincoln memorial. Flat Stanley with the POPE for God’s sake, scooting by in his bullet proof golf cart thing. When he came home he was also accompanied by a 13 page hand written report on his outings and experiences while he traveled with his adoptive parents around our nations capital. Needless to say, Dave and Regina were more than good recipients.

And because I am the loser I am and probably  thought 10 or 15 times that a thank you note might be in order but never actually sent one (LOSER) I figured that it’s better late than never and I threw a little studio love right back at them.

Here is their beautiful little boy Lucas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Really? He’s not right.

 

 

 

Have I mentioned that I LOVE my studio? Not sure if I mentioned that to you guys…

Thank you guys, not only for the above and beyond Flat Stanley love but for allowing me to photograph that perfect baby of yours. He’ll always be the first little guy I shot in my studio (which by the way, I really, really like:).

xo, Rachel

I’m not sure how I actually snagged Lynette and Josh. Well, I actually DO know how they got my info and how the initial contact was made.  The super cute Meg half of my favorite  Meg and Will couple is Lynette’s cousin.  Contact was made and a meeting was scheduled.  The meeting was for 11:00 am on a Saturday morning when I was still bartending on Friday nights. No problem, on my best day my body won’t allow me to sleep past 8:30am even after resting my head on my pillow after 10 hours of work at 3:00am.  11:00am? No problem. Of course that was the day my considerate husband took the boys out of the house for the morning giving me some much needed rest. I yawned, stretched, rolled over and looked at my clock. 10:58am!!!! What the….??? So awful. I pride myself on being prompt and this was crazy, the first meeting? Great first impression…

Lynette and Josh were great and very understanding (I can only imagine what was said about me after I left the meeting, but to my face they were very sweet:).  So, you can see why I am slightly surprised that I snagged them at all.

We went down to Nantasket last week to shoot out practice run and this is what we got.

 

 

 

By now you might be wondering why there is no actual beach in the photos. That would be because none of us even had the notion to check and see when high tide was that day. Guess when it was? I truly don’t think that I have ever even seen a tide so high. Really.

What we did come across was an eccentric woman who was more than happy to share her crayons and her canvas. Holla…eccentric lady, thanks a million.

 

 

 

 

Thanks guys! Not only for a good time but also for having faith:)

xo, Rachel

Before I ever had kids I believed that I would be the mother of a little girl. When I was pregnant with Aidan I knew she was coming. Big brown eyes and pigtails.  Had to be a girl. Of course I was having a girl.  The tearing of an envelope  to reveal a little yellow sticker that said “boy” changed that vision instantly and now I can’t imagine anything except my blue eyed boy who made me a mom.   The little girl I always pictured to be mine actually belongs to Alison and her name is Lucy. I got the PLEASURE of photographing this angel not too long ago and fell in love.  Alison and her mom were too funny, struggling into the park where we met laden with 15 outfit changes, a pottery barn chair, various other props and their incredibly great personalities.  Lucy’s dad even made a surprise appearence and the shoot went great.

Here she is. So adorable.

 

 

This one makes me laugh. She was very busy clapping and almost lost it altogether. She didn’t and recovered beautifully.

 

 

 

 

Peek-a-boo anyone?

The tounge. Love her.

 

Thank you girls. I had so much fun and it was nice to finally meet the imaginary little girl that I’ve known forever!

xo,Rachel