My son’s kindergarten teacher got married today.

It was SO sweet of her to invite her students to attend the ceremony!

The children were enamored of their teacher-turned-princess.


Isn’t she beautiful? (And he’s not so bad either!)

She’s especially beautiful here, when she sees all the children gathered in the back pews!

They were married at St. Matthew’s on a day of changing weather. Here, the afternoon sun streams through the stained glass, creating a beautiful glow inside the church.

On Saturday morning, it had been pouring rain, but the clouds swiftly blew away just in time for the wedding.

And a little while later, a rainbow appeared. What a wonderful gift for a wedding day!
Congratulations Mrs. J!

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As a mom with two sons myself,
I simply adore this mother/son moment. So sweet.

And the father/son moments are sweet too!

The father/daughter moment…

…and the mother/daughter moment completes it.

Ok, TWO mother/daughter moments.

The family picture is far from perfect, but hey, the little one is actually IN the picture AND smiling instead of on the other side of the yard playing with trucks! SUCCESS!

Click here for the slide show!
Love those eyelashes and freckles!
LOTS of beautiful lashes in this family!



This family did a great job coordinating clothes for their shoot!
I’m LOVING the colors!


This shot is SO cool in high res on my big 23″ screen!
Ok, this is weird. Two photo shoots in a row, I’ve had kids chasing after some rabbit that suddenly came running through our “set.” You can’t really see the rabbit in this shot; it’s that brown blur off in the distance. It’s so funny that these rabbits keep showing up, as if on cue. (Note to self: Child is sure to loosen up in the presence of any bunny. Send check to Watership Down.)

This is an awesome shot too. Left to right or top to bottom:
Oldest. Middle. Youngest.
The oldest boy wasn’t sure about this whole photo shoot thing at first. But we had a little chat and a few seconds after that, he was hugging his mom and throwing the ball with his dad and having a great time. At one point, I gave him my camera and said, “One rule: there has to be a PERSON in the picture.”

Check out the GREAT picture he took of his mom! WOW! I LOVE the framing!
She is simply adorable.
Loves the camera, and the camera loves her!
I wasn’t quite sure this one trusted me.

Oh! It wasn’t ME, it was my CAMERA he was interested in!!

Ken and Gwen were SO much fun to photograph! What a fun family!
Time to go home now.

Slide shows are so much fun!
(OSP Photographers: let me know if you’d like the timing template!)

In case you haven’t checked out the Tree Grower’s Diary lately, I’ve been having a lot of fun photographing the fall colors in my yard this week!

I took this one today. I love how my neighbor’s window frames the dogwood leaves. Fall is my favorite time of year!

Here’s a link to my all-time favorite nature slide show. I watch this when I need to take a minute to relax and remember that life is constant renewal. I am so grateful for the opportunity God has given me to take part in documenting the beauty of nature.

Even though it was only somewhat chilly, there weren’t many people around. Nice and quiet, that’s how I like the beach.

I love fun family pictures that don’t look posed. One of these days I’m going to have some of these done for my own family!

Click here for the slide show.

I live in New Jersey, have a son named Bradley, and never went to Bradley Beach before last Sunday! So fun! Wish I had a t-shirt! All the little shops are closed for the season, it seems. Being a Carolina girl, I can’t imagine beaches that close in fall.

But it wasn’t so “fall” that the girls couldn’t put their feet in the water.
Can’t wait for next summer!

Saturday, October 7th, was a big day for me. Not only was that the day I photographed my first wedding, it was also the first public appearance of the Tree Grower’s Diary, which was scheduled long before the wedding opportunity came my way. Thanks to Mike, Bradley, Kathryn, Elaine and Gregory for helping me pull all this off.

Mike, especially, because he not only manned the Tree Diary most of the day, he also dropped by the wedding for a while and got some great shots for me. The bride, Maryellen, is the captain of the Edison First Aid Squad; she arrived to the wedding in an ambulance. How totally cool.

So, here’s the thing. Who knew that my first wedding would be SO emotional? The bride’s mother was a nurse for a long time, much beloved by the community (just like my own mom). Nine years ago, Maryellen’s mom had a stroke, and has been bound to a wheelchair ever since.

When the mayor asked, “Who gives away this woman,”
she stood, and alongside her husband, said, “We do.”

I don’t imagine there was a dry eye in the congregation. It was all I could do to hold my camera. Plus, Maryellen and Trey have an amazing story of hardship and fate that brought them together through the internet. I won’t go into the details here, but suffice to say, the song I chose for their slide show is perfect for this couple. So perfect, in fact, that when I asked Maryellen a week or so before the ceremony if the song would be O.K., she responded by saying, “That’s our wedding song.”

See the slide show here.
On Sunday, I was rushing around all day trying to organize wedding pictures from three cameras, and, that was the day of Gregory’s birthday party.

He had a great time, and I took pictures so he could send each child a personalized thank you card. Since the rule was that he couldn’t open another present until he wrote the thank you card for the one he just opened, we spent the better part of the night processing pictures and making and writing cards.

On Monday, the thank you cards went in the mail, and I got a major cold. No wonder, considering how hard I’ve been pushing myself.

But as I was putting together Maryellen and Trey’s slide show, I kept thinking about Maryellen’s mom, and the triumphant moment when she stood. Maybe it’s the cold affecting my head, but every time I watch the show, I cry like a baby. I feel blessed to have such a full life, and to have been a part of Maryellen and Trey’s wedding.

A special thanks to my friend, Brad, for telling Maryellen and Trey about my photography, and I thank them for having faith in me. It was truly a pleasure to document their special day, a day I will never forget.

Maryellen and Trey

Just wanted to give a little teaser from my first wedding.
Maryellen, you are beautiful!
Check back soon for the preview slide show!

I can’t help it. I’m in love with Lia, or maybe it’s that she’s in love with my camera. In any case, that baby is one cute baby.

Love those bubbles too!

So peaceful.

Can’t wait for your 6-month shoot, Lia!
I wonder if you’ll have teeth by then?

And if you do, will you show them to me?
Lia’s slide show is one of my favorites.

I used to go to parades, watch the boy scouts and shriners and marching bands, waving my flag, and never really thinking about what it all meant. This changed a few years ago when I started working as an event photographer. As someone charged with capturing the story, it became my job to find out what drove the organizers to go to all that trouble. In some cases, there’s a financial benefit for some big company or chain store. Other times, it’s just an excuse to close off the streets and throw a big community party.

In the case of Raritan’s big parade to honor John Basilone, the story behind the organization of it is far bigger than the event itself.

A hometown hero and Marine Corps legend, John Basilone — Manila John — won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions during World War II at Guadalcanal, virtually annihilating an entire Japanese regiment. After a few years rallying the home front on the medal circuit, he felt compelled to return to the front lines to be with his men. He died on Iwo Jima, Feb. 19, 1945, but not before achieving an impressive list of accomplishments there, including single-handedly destroying a hostile strongpoint and aiding an allied tank, guiding it to safety in the face of intense hostile fire. For his skill, courage and devotion to his comrades, he was posthumously awarded The Navy Cross.

Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone is the only enlisted man to have won both the Congressional Medal of Honor and The Navy Cross. And he is the only Medal of Honor winner to later return to combat, ultimately sacrificing his life.

My photographs do not tell his story. But I hope that in some small way, they show my gratitude to a man who gave his life in the name of freedom.

The 25th Annual John Basilone Concert & Parade: A Slide Show
Turn up the volume.

For more information about John Basilone, visit the parade Web site:
www.basiloneparade.com