For all the beautiful weather we've had, I feel as if we've spent too much of it indoors. It's surpisingly fitting; we New Englanders complain about the cold all winter and then spend half the summer in front of the air conditioner. Fortunately Julie and Tobey came along and gave us an excuse to go the beach for a few hours!

I can say in all honesty that we don't typically get kids as quick with a response as Tobey was. There was really no fooling or leading him - we more or less just followed him and let the shoot happen (while managing to squeeze in a number of PR shots for mom when he wasn't looking). He also has quite the fashion sense; keep your eyes peeled in the next ten years and you'll probably see him modeling the latest trends while telling you exactly how to feel about his clothing line.

So not only did we have a blast and get some great images, we also got to do it out of the office - thanks to Julie and Tobey spending some time with us!

There was no stopping little Alex last weekend - if you put his two feet on the ground he was off. Most kids around that age are loving their new freedom of moving upright, but I can say with confidence that he would put most kids to shame. We slowly made our way through Salem towards the common where we ended with a few sets of him crawling around in the grass... even on all fours his enthusiasm had him crawling right out of the frame! We had a wonderful time Alex - we hope you and your folks did too!

Brusier, pictured below... well, there isn't much we need to say about Brusier. We were lucky enough to spend an hour or two with him last week as well. He's probably the cutest Boston Terrier we've ever seen. We're sure you'll love him too.

This past Wednesday was the ribbon cutting with Kim Driscoll, the mayor of Salem! Thank you for those who were in attendence - we didn't really know what to expect since we've never done this sort of thing before. The only downside was that Rob was on vacation in NY and couldn't be here for the cutting with us - although, as we joked with the mayor, I think any one of us would have been glad to be in his position (minus the sunburn).

Check back soon - we're going to attempt to photoshop Rob into this picture - if the result is aesthetically pleasing, acceptable, not horrific, humourus we're going to post it up. Hope you all had a nice 4th!

At long last, welcome to main street! While our lack of involvement in our blog over the past few months may have indicated that we dropped off the face of the earth, we've actually been moving ourselves piece by piece to downtown Salem! Our gorgeous new space boasts two huge windows showcasing our work and the entrance to our brand new spot - not to mention, we rest on the main vein of Salem ( you can feel the train to Boston rumbling beneath us as proof). If you're looking for a tour of Salem, follow the Heritage Trail around downtown and when you're done make sure to follow it right to our doorstep!

Fresh from Florida, we got to show the Taylor family our new studio just days after it opened. It's been a few years since we'd seen them and this time they brought along a fourth addition: Jackson. We had a blast running around Salem with the little ones - check out some of the images below.

Check the site soon as we plan on adding a section that describes how exactly to park in town and get to us - see you soon!

Ah, March. We're lucky we still have power to work on our imagery given the current state of things on the East Coast. As of Monday there were still numerous towns just north of here and in Southern Maine and New Hampshire without power for the fourth day in a row. Just the other day a friend of ours mentioned that he had resorted to charging his cell phone off of his laptop battery. I think I'll start backing up some our recent work to DVDs when I'm done here.

Pictured below are a few of the layouts from a new Boudoir series we're going to be offering for Valentine's and brides-to-be! A gift that is sure to be uniquely yours, our "Sassy N' Classy" series of books is sure to bring a coy smile to your companion's face. Along with this endeavor has come a new contact which will hopefully allow us to provide our clients with an on-sight MUA (Make-up artist/hair stylist)!

Lastly, February's bridal show went over extremely well - see us next at New England Bridal Affair's Bridal Show on the 21st! We'll be at the Radisson in Chelmsford all day with a selection of our newest work so prospective brides should definitley stop by - we hope to see you there.

Happy New Year! We've been busy as can be over the past few weeks. Our most recent undertaking has been volunteering for the Northeast Animal Shelter in Salem. If you've been looking for any four-legged friends you owe it to yourself and them to swing by the shelter and see all these adorable animals for yourself. One of New England's largest no-kill shelters, NEAS has been around since 1976 and has placed over 90,000 dogs and cats in loving homes. Although we can't claim credit for every image on the site, we do our best to lighten the load for the rest of the volunteers and get some images taken and posted online. Please pay them a visit at www.northeastanimalshelter.org .

We'll also be making an appearance at Salvatore's in Lawrence, MA for an upcoming Bridal Show hosted by the New England Bridal Affair. Stop by on February 21st and say hello! More information coming soon.

As I sit at Starbucks sipping my Mocha doubleshot I feel like returning to my fine art college roots. Then again, most of my fine-art colleagues wouldn't be caught dead paying more than a dollar fifty for coffee (read: starving artist). I guess the yuppie culture absorbed me before I had the opportunity to fully embrace poverty.

On a related note, some of my fine art work can be found hanging at the North Adams Regional Hospital's current exhibition now through April of 2010. The seaside landscapes are a derivative of my thesis work from the Maine College of Art. I'd tell you more, but I'd rather you go see the show and read my artist statement there. The images are hanging on the 3rd floor next to the administrative offices for those of you who have the time and means to get there. For those that don't but just can't pass up on an opportunity to read about my work you can always email me here for more information.

Lastly, as much as I would LOVE to post the images from our Christmas card sessions, I just can't until everyone has had time to send them out and allow relatives to be surprised by what they see. Maybe if all you dedicated blog readers are good this year that will be our Christmas gift to you.

Below are some of the images from the gallery showing at NARH.

I can't really say we've photographed a wedding in which the bride and groom finish their first dance with glow stick performance reminiscent of a club rave. Or with a full bridal party paying homage to a "Superstar" movie moment in which questionable dancing is made more interesting by a healthy application of "The Robot." I also can't say I've been to a wedding that has gotten me as chocked up as this one.

Family in Indiana just seems to have a more intimate feel. There was an almost palpable sense of love in the church as the father of the bride tried to get through a prepared speech, only to frequently pause so as not to lose his composure (as seen below). While it's always our job as photographers to record these moments, we're sometimes lucky enough for it to also be a privilege.

I'm pretty sure that we scored the last nice weekend in September to do this beach shoot - granted we had a significant amount of wind, but we stuck close to the sand dunes. The real trick was trying to get Mitchell to calm down and pay attention for more than a few seconds. Apparently close family members refer to him as "The Ballistic Mitchell." It's fitting!

Lately our thoughts have turned more to the cooler temperatures inhabiting our evenings out here on the North Shore. We'd love to shoot outside all year round but the climate is slowly but surely forcing us indoors. If you're looking to do something outside we're certainly willing but need brave clientele.

Speaking of the cool weather, I'd suggest getting a hold of us soon to book your Family Christmas Card session - I'll have another update shortly with some examples from last year. We've got some fun new things planned as well so stay tuned!

After going to school in Maine I was surprised to find that I hadn't been through this particular portion of York: Tim & Kate Estey tied the knot at the beautiful Dockside Guest Quarters on the fifth of September. Given the weather this month, the two were blessed with a rare weekend of clear skies and beautiful summer weather more indicative of July than September. After a touching toast, we were lucky to catch a glimpse of a slightly less traditional mother-son dance that defied the sometimes stuffy tradition of the slow dance. Microphone in hand, Tim proudly boasted, "What can I say - my mother and I roll in the same circles," after the applause died down. We hope you enjoyed your honeymoon in Sonoma Country; it was a pleasure photographing your wedding.

Over the weekend we were finally able to catch another break in the clouds to photograph Becca's senior photos. Touring through downtown Salem we certainly didn't miss much. The evening ended in the Salem Bay next to the Willows for a "Trash the dress" session that was backlit by a beautiful north shore sunset. Not a group to be deterred by the brisk September air, the group of us descended into the surf and had a blast. Thanks for being such a trooper Becca, the images look great!

Nothing like a little walk in the park - even if allergies are present and the humidity is off the charts! We had the good fortune of playing with Alex, Jackson and Carly late last week and got some wonderful shots down in the Willows; those kids are troopers. What started off as a stroll in the park (seen below) ended up in the shallow water next to the Salem Yacht Club. We even brought along our talking duck, as shown in the last image in this update. We go to that length for you.

Also seen below is the adorable Isabell - we couldn't take a bad picture! This wee one was all smiles from the minute she came in the door and showed her daddy girl colors by smiling for dad for the better part of an hour as we easily took a hundred pictures of her. Great job Isabell!

Well the CultureFest was a blast! We met quite a few people and made a ton of contacts with local artists. It's only their third annual festival so if you missed it this year I would certainly consider checking it out next July. Up next on our public activities roster is the Jazz Fest in the Salem Willows. That'll be happening the weekend of August 15th - if you missed the last one, you owe it to us to come stop by! Not to mention that five lucky guests to the Culturefest won a free session with us!

Below are a few images from a prom that we shot a few months ago never quite made it into the updates - just wanted to share them with you. Also keep your eyes open for an update including a number of the selected images being submitted to the North Adams Regional Hospital gallery showing. It'll include a bunch of landscapes from the Gloucester/Rockport area.

We hope to see you at the Jazz Festival!

Just a quick notice to let you all know that we can be found at this year's CultureFest in the Salem Common this weekend. Join us this Saturday from 10 AM to 8PM or Sunday from 10 AM to 6 PM to view some of our latest work and for a chance to win a free session with us! Plan to make a day of it; there's going to be plenty to do!

If rain on your wedding day is good luck then Katie and Riverton Pires are going to have a long happy life together! As shown in the images below, the weather was certainly not on our side this past Sunday - but as the DJ will attest to, the Pires/Doucette family was not going to let a little rain ruin their party.

You've never seen anyone hit the dance floor like these folks did. Four hours into the reception the dance floor was still packed. Congratulations Katie & Riverton - we wish you all the best in everything yet to come!

We'd like to take a moment to congratulate Karma and Matt on their recent engagement! It was a blast doing their engagement photography and, as seen below, we certainly had some unique locations for imagery! You'll be seeing shots from their wedding right here in just about four short months!

You can also look forward to seeing more of our personal work hanging in the North Adams Regional Hospital later this year! Our images of the ocean caught the eye of their local curator and they've generously allowed us the opportunity to hang a fairly large collection on their walls! We'll keep you posted.

A bit hectic lately, but still time to catch a sunrise or two over the ocean. The image below was taken at the Willows in Salem Easter morning around 5:45 AM. I think it's one of the few times that the east coast of Boston is as calm as the small town of Peru that Kendra calls home. One of the nifty things about water is that if you take a long exposure of it (in this case, about thirty seconds) it records more like mist on the image.

Speaking of Peru, (in Indiana) the puppies below are a brand new litter that Kendra's mother raised. These miniature pinchers are adorable, and each one certainly has a personality all its own. The little guy in the red collar at the bottom of this update only gave Kendra a split second to photograph him before leaping out of the barrel and sprinting torwards his brothers.

For more information on the puppies shown below, please visit www.sunrisepuppyacres.com .

The layer of frost no longer forming on our cars should be a clear indication that spring has finally arrived; if that weren't enough, Kendra is insistent upon unleashing "spring cleaning" in our studio. This may also have something to do with me hiding in our office and updating our blog - but I digress.

In the spirit of spring renewal we are updating our website with a few more sections that will help clarify what we do here and what to expect upon coming in. However, we are only human and there may be another portion that better explains our credentials and allows us to toot our own horn.

Pictured below is one of the images we'll be posting in our "What to Expect" section. More coming soon.

Who would have thought that advertising could be so expensive? Work on our Hospice benefit continues in the background this month as we search for affordable avenues for marketing our effort.

Fortunately for us word of mouth has worked out quite nicely - and how could it not with an adorable little girl like Scarlett in front of our lens? Scarlett is one of those children that makes everyone smile; mostly because she never stops smiling herself. She was up for being photographed in everything from the tutu pictured below to her father's chef coat. Not every child can make it through forty-five minutes of pictures without breaking a sweat, but she certainly took it like a champ.

We also kicked this month off with our first Senior Representative shoot of the year! It can certainly be said that the male photographers of this studio didn't have half the style that Amber has during her high school years. Dubbed the "Ed Hardy" pants, the outfit below worked perfectly with the industrial site used for the outdoor portion of the shoot. Talk about some fantastic images.

Stay tuned for the next update to see what else we've been cooking up the first quarter of this year!

Happy Valentine's Day! Preperations for the Hospice benifit have been moving along nicely. Below is an exert from the promotion that will be hitting the printing press within the week:

During the month of _____, Lightshed Photography Studio will be
offering a special discounted photography package. All proceeds
from this promotion will be donated to Hospice, in loving memory
of one of our proprietor’s grandfathers, Matthew Czarnik.

“We cannot begin to mention each of the caregivers who came
to our home, for fear of inadvertently excluding someone. We can,
however, recall each and everyone and their personal impact on
dad’s life as well as our own. Every day was a unique experience
for us and personalized in a way that made us feel as though we
were the only family receiving services. We learned so many
things along the way, both practical and spiritual. We learned that
it is OK to assure a dying family member that he is never, never
alone. Most importantly we learned that we could have a positive
impact on the way that a loved one leaves this world”.
-Cynthia Mendel, Daughter

Participants in our fundraiser will receive a forty minute portrait
session and an 8/10 print in exchange for the donation of $100.
One-hundred percent of this money will be donated to Hospice.
Please contact Lightshed Photography Studio at (413)281-0123 or
email info@lightshedphoto.com. Your donation will ease the
suffering of those who are experiencing their final hours.

In other news, Shana (pictured below as Ms. June) is surprising her boyfriend with one of our custom 8.5 x 11 calendars for Valentine's Day. Twelve months of Shana is sure to put a smile on his face - check back at the end of 2009 for a series of special promotions we'll be running that is sure to nicely supplement the usual Valentine's routine of flowers and chocolate.

We are dedicating this entry to Dan's grandfather, Matthew S. Czarnik (1926 - 2009). Words cannot express how deeply sorry we are for his loss. A man of many talents, Matt spent his time working on everything from engines to plumbing to woodworking. After coming home from WWII, he focused on his family and raising his daughter Cynthia who would in turn eventually raise the young boy shown in the photo below. Dan and his grandfather were extremely close while he was growing up and while he will be greatly missed, Dan hopes to someday pass along the love and nurturing he received to his grandchildren.

It's certainly worth noting the value of what our studio does in the image below. As professional photographers we are all challenged with the task of pricing our work to enrich the lives of others while providing us with a means to make a living. Although Dan has had this image for many years, it's value today is truly priceless.

Please keep an eye on this site as we are currently putting together a fundraiser in his memory.

When you're young you believe that grownups call the shots - you wait years until you finally have the ability to tell someone else what to do. We believe you're allowed to do this for a brief period of time until you have kids and realize that sometimes the little ones make the decisions. A few weeks ago we truly learned what it meant to let two newborns run the show. Layla and Hannah came into our studio with their own plan and you've never seen so many adults in one room working around an infant's schedule. Although young ones can be fickle with their decisions to play nice for the photographer, we certainly got a chance to capture many moments of these beautiful young girls. We hope they can look back on these images years from now and realize how truly loved they are.

Happy Holidays everyone - may you be as blessed as the many families we've photographed over the past few months.