wedding: lauren and josh...

I shot Lauren and Josh's wedding this past saturday at the Lake of Isle and had an amazing time. They both have such awesome families and made me feel very comfortable which is always nice!!!

The day started at Foxwoods where we did some prep shots and attempted to take some shots on the gaming floor before we got promptly shut down and threatened to be escorted to see the 'powers that be' for attempting to take photos on the gaming floor. Such excitement so early in the day!!!

The ceremony was in Stonington, before returning for the reception at the Lake of Isle which was amazing!!! 

Here's a few quick shots from the day....

Enjoy Aruba guys...see you soon!!

Turkey Day.....

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! 

Enjoy your day; don't eat too much!!!!!

engagement session: lauren & josh...

I met up with Lauren and Josh to do their engagement session a week or so ago for their wedding at the end of this month. I hadn't seen them since last year and it was great to catch up with them again. If there was ever a pair made for each other, they are definitely it!!

We started off with some killer coffee and tea, then headed off to shoot.

Below are some of my favorites...I'm looking forward to their wedding at the end of the month at Foxwoods and Lake of Isle.

a little vacation...

Well, I'm off with my wife and baby to Florida for a week. My cousin who lives down there is getting married at the Plaza Resort and Spa in Daytona Beach and this is the first wedding I get to go to in about two years that I don't have to work at!!!

I'll be returning emails/calls when I get back on the 13th.

See ya' soon!!

the most wonderful time of the year...

Football season is here again!!! Hip-Hip-Hooray!!!!!!

david jay & jasmine star...

So yesterday I got to go see David Jay and Jasmine Star in Boston on their Free to Succeed tour. It was a great night and I got to meet both of them and talk for a bit with a lot of other great photographers as well. Usually I stay over for the night when I go to seminars or workshops in Boston, but this time for whatever reason I decided to drive home afterwards.

The show ended by 11:00 and I hopped in my SUV with my Red Bull all ready to go.....Well I learned two things about myself on the drive home last night.

1. Red Bull doesn't keep me awake.

2. Red Bull makes me sick.

It was a rough ride home to say the least but after 1 hr. 45 min. (and a nasty traffic jam on I-91) I ended up at home, kissed my son and put him in his crib, then crawled into my bed and crashed.

Be sure to check out my buddy Kenny Kim's blog for pictures of the night and this shot he took of E.T. hanging on my bag!!! Good stuff!!

bridget & aaron

Couple: Bridget & Aaron
Venue: Branford House in Groton
DJ: Lightning Sound
Video: Bob Bachman Video

This weekend I shot Bridget and Aaron's wedding at the amazing Branford House in Groton. They probably had one of, if not the nicest, saturdays to date this year for a wedding. The weather was awesome!!!!


We had a rockstar line-up of vendors as well with Lightning Sound and Bob Bachman videography. We all hit it off well and had a blast covering this wedding.
The sunset was one of the best I'd ever seen and Bob and I were stoked about the shots we were getting!

Below are some of my favorites...


p.s. and a big shout out to Amy at the Branford House!!! She's striking it rich on ebay selling all her old 'Cure' memorabilia. Email me Amy let me know what the current tally is!!

christi & sean...

Couple: Christi & Sean

Venue: The Riverview - Simsbury, CT

DJ: Marty Q.

I had two weddings this weekend, the first was the ever popular 8/8/08 date. This was Christi and Sean's wedding at the brand new Riverview in Simsbury. It rained for a lot of the day, but cleared out just before the ceremony which was awesome. I met a lot of great people as usual including the extremely talented, super nice DJ 'Marty Q.' This guy did it all...sing, play music, play instruments during dinner....it was quite entertaining. 

Some of my favorite images are below...

genny & ben..

I shot genny and ben's wedding this past weekend up in the Litchfield Hills. I had never been up that way to shoot a wedding and it was really a nice ride up Route 8. 

We had an exceptional day with some fabulous lighting and locations. 

And of course I met a ton of great people which is always awesome!!!

         

Below are some of my favorites...

its official.....

Well its official...after my PC crashed again, I've made the switch to become a Mac-based business. I only wish I'd done it sooner. Apple makes some amazing products and I'm very excited to be using some of them. I've been busy upgrading my new MacBook Pro with all the necessary software I need from various companies such as Adobe, etc... 

I'm loving this new life and not missing my PC yet....actually don't see that happening anytime soon!!!

cha-cha-cha-changes....

Well now.........isn't it funny how life can change so fast!!! My wife and I were blessed a week ago with the newest arrival here at Oceanview H.Q. (And, no it wasn't a new lens, camera, computer or piece of gear...)

This has been the big news I have been talking about, and I had planned on posting some images from my wife's maternity session that we did, but the little guy showed up a little earlier than we thought!!! It was an awesome experience and my little boy is the most amazing thing ever!!

I apologize for being a little late returning emails/calls, but I'm finally all caught up ( I've got plenty of time when he's up all night!!), and excited about this newest chapter in my life. So without further ado.....

Born July 2nd at 4:27 a.m. -
Measuring 19 inches from head to toe, and weighing in at a lean 6 lbs. 2 ounces.....

'Aiden Patrick Akoury'

love ya' buddy!!!

birthday (not mine)...

Today is my wife's birthday and I just want to wish her the happiest birthday ever! She is without a doubt the most amazing woman in the world.
Happy birthday baby!!!

sweet new lens....

I just got one of my new portrait lenses in the mail the other day from B & H. This baby is a dream...Its sharp as a tack and is great for shooting in low light.

Below are the technical specs....

Nikkor AF lens

50mm f/1.4

If you're not sure what any of that means, trust me its good!!!
I love getting new toys!!!

christi & sean engagement session...

I met up with Christi and Sean last week for their E-shoot down in Guilford. Our night started with drinks and appetizers at the Chowder Pot in Branford, then progressed to the Guilford Fairgrounds. After that we headed over to Jacob's Beach in Guilford for quite a bit. A huge thanks to Steve for giving me the lowdown on these two killer locations. We ended the night in Wallingford shooting against the wall in the last photo. I've been eyeing that location for months and Christi and Sean were up for it. I love how the colors and the angles in the photo really pop!!

Below are some of my favorites...

Also, stay tuned for a rather 'big' announcement later this week. I've been keeping this a secret but can't anymore. It's just too exciting!!!!!

memorial day weekend...

My wife and I took our annual Memorial Day weekend trip to Portsmouth, N.H. this weekend. Once again it proved to be my favorite place on earth (after Home Depot). We ate friday night at the Black Trumpet Bistro which was a great choice. I tried some wine from New Zealand which turned out to be some of the best wine I have ever had. I strongly recommend the Bell Bird Bay Merlot!!! After dinner we visited our engagement spot and I got to take some shots of my favorite bridge in the world!!

We met up with our friends Heather and Chuck on saturday morning for breakfast at the Friendly Toast. We all then crossed the bridge into Kittery, Maine and spent a few hours shopping at the outlets. I hit up the Banana Republic store for quite a few new bags of clothes.
After lunch at BG's Boathouse we finished with dinner at Poco's Bow street cantina. Just a great weekend all around....

I hope everyone out there had a great weekend as well!!

My favorite bridge in the world!!

You gotta love any ice cream shoppe that offers
'High-Fat' Sundaes instead of the boring 'Low-
Fat' no taste sundaes!!

I love these mini-cars!!!!

Haven't had any Dos Equis since our cruise last
October in Cozumel.... Quite a beverage!!

A night shot of the bridge our second night.

grillin'...

I've been playing around with figuring out how to make my images appear larger here on the blog and I've finally got it. Now ya'll won't have to squint to look at the pictures!!

So anyways, last night I was out grillin' chicken for dinner along with sampling a bottle of new zealand's finest merlot wine and I saw a pretty cool sunset. I love the sky after a storm, because once the clouds start breaking you get some killer colors and textures. I got so sidetracked watching the sky I almost burned the bird...

church retreat....

The first weekend in May I went to my church's annual retreat with my dad, uncle and brothers. Its a great time for the guys to get away and this year is rained pretty much the whole time. I always like venturing off by myself and taking pictures down at the lake...this year there was this awesome fog rolling off the lake and it was insanely moody!! It was also cold!! I mean real cold! After about an hour my hands were shaking so badly I couldn't even hold the camera steady anymore.
Some of my favorites are below including the one of what reminds me of Sherwood forest from Robin Hood.