www.marydougherty.net

Is my new blog address! I’m packing up from this place – well I’m actually going to leave it for now – but I’m moving so make sure you come to right place and visit me over at: www.marydougherty.net

Behind the scenes.

I’m one of the people in a play who wears all black and moves the set around in between acts. Well, it’s kind of true except I’m working at my computer on lots of images… and I’m not wearing all black. We all know that my website went by the wayside this summer as I was busy traveling around to weddings and moving. The time has come, however, to change things around so I’ve been busy getting organized. I’m looking forward to sharing everything with you soon – there should be some kind of party of big debut to celebrate, don’t you think? Hmm… please suggest party ideas – or favors for that matter :]

Until then, sit tight and hold your horses… and enjoy this lovely fall pic of Norah who you’ll get to see more of soon!

baltimore half marathon

Matt and I had a great time in Baltimore today – running the half marathon and enjoying a bit of the city. Overall I’d give the whole event a good rating – let’s say 4 stars – although it was my first half so I don’t have much experience on the 1/2+marathon circuit. We only had our phones with us, so here are a few pics of – the harborview from our hotel, us after the race, and the delicious cap’n crunch french toast I had after the race. We had to walk pretty far to Blue Moon Cafe for the french toast after the race but it really was delicious and quite the experience. Baltimore as a whole seems to be on the eclectic side – but it’s a great city and it’s always fun to have an event that brings you to a new place.

//Vince + Kim’s wedding//

To say that Vince + Kim are fun… doesn’t do them justice. Of course if you know them, you know what I’m talking about – but for everyone else I guess I’ll have to let the pictures speak for themselves. Actually I’m going to help them out by giving them a sound track. Go HERE and let this play while looking through the photos, since this seemed to be the theme song at the reception. I documented their Buffalo wedding on a beautiful – and thankfully not too hot – summer day and it really was great to be a part of.

Things started off at the church where everyone made the final preparations in getting ready before the ceremony began. The guys arrived first and I met them as Pete was making the important decision of whether or not to wear leather pants.

Chad was a helpful best man and made sure everything was done right on Vince’s tux. Kim and the girls showed up and then they went to work helping Kim get ready as well as putting finishing touches on everyone’s hair an makeup.

Kim’s dress was gorgeous, and hanging in front of the huge window showed it off in the light. Thankfully Kaylan was at the wedding to assist me and had the difficult job of standing on a chair that was on a table to get this up there. So the answer is yes, don’t be surprised when I suggest hanging your dress in front of a window, off a chandelier, etc…

It was finally time for things to begin, and after the guys took their places Vince rolled the aisle runner down to prepare for his bride!

The beautiful ceremony soon was over and Kim and Vince walked out husband and wife. People gathered outside of the church to give them a send off with bubbles… which were a hot commodity with the kids.

We then headed out to UB’s campus for a change of scenery for some photos. I can’t help but make this group into a panoramas and this first one has so much personality. Everyone is doing something different so you really need to see it closer.

how’s that for excitement? Vince and Kim, I would recommend using your print credit on a canvas of this… but it’s up to you guys. Next it was time for just some photos of the bride and groom… and if I could give advice to anyone planning a wedding, it would be to set aside time for something like this. You often don’t realize how long it will take to leave the church, get the reception, and take pictures in between so it’s important to plan ahead. Of course, an easier way is to do a “first look” where you see each other before the ceremony, but I understand not everyone want’s to give up the “shock value” (as a friend of mine put it :] ) that you get walking down the aisle.

anyways, Vince and Kim had enough time to take some great pictures at these columns on the UB campus which were some fun architectural elements to work with.

They then met up with the bridal party and celebrated with their “something blue”

When they made it to the reception, it was time to celebrate and everyone was ready to do so.

After cutting the cake they sneaked a little more because it was so good! haha I love it.

Vince and Kim warmed up the dance floor and it just kept getting hotter.

I can hear everyone belting “living on a prayer” when I just look at these photos… by the way, how is the song doing for those of you who added it as a soundtrack? To Kim, Vince, their families + friends – it was great to be a part of the wedding and I hope you enjoy looking back at the day through the photos. To see the complete set, register at my proofing site with an email and username – and the password will be the couple’s last name.

wedding packages

So, I know I mentioned before that I was making some changes to my business – reviewing what I’ve been doing and making plans to move ahead. One of the first things I’ve started with are my wedding packages. I’ve adjusted the hours included in each to allow for more time overall at each wedding. Before I was starting with 6 + 8 hour options but I know there is so much that goes on in a wedding day and I wanted to be there for more of it. You can still add on hours to the packages but overall I think it’s a better starting point. Also, engagement sessions are the same across the board since they usually include a few locations and require a bit of time to be fun and successful.

The main thing I really changed around is what is included in packages in the way of products. I wanted to make it easier for people to choose other products that they would automatically have in their package. This way there’s hopefully less question of “what to use my print credit for” after the photos are finished. I think if you are going to choose the print credit, it’s the perfect way to add an album in to your package and you can do so at a lower price if you include it to begin with. Now, this is where it might get a little complicated, but as you can see in the “additions” section you are able to add any of those in your package for a lower price than if you decided to buy them afterward. So, there’s lots of room for customization. There are more pages to this document which talk even more about print, album, and canvas prices and give a much more in depth look at what your options are.

So, to celebrate the new packages, the first person to comment on this post who also books me as their photographer will receive 10% off their package price – not including travel. let the commenting begin!

**fireworks**

It ’s been a long week that has gone by fast. It’s okay if that doesn’t make sense it’s almost 1 am and I’m going to roll with it. I’ve spent a week in NY doing several portraits shoots, a wedding, and some college photography for Houghton which included covering homecoming, which took place today. The weather was beautiful and such a change from yesterday which I’m so thankful about.

I had a great time being here for everything – and honestly can I admit that I think this was the first real homecoming at Houghton I’ve experienced? Not because I’m coming back from another place- but the fact that I was around for the whole day was a first. I was always at xc meets so it was fun to be a part of the activities… even if I was mostly watching. The pictures are going to be worth it, and I’m not sure if there will be some kind of gallery up for people to view what I’ve shot but maybe I’ll look into that.

For those of you who don’t know Houghton is where I went to school and actually worked there for a while as the graphic designer after graduating. It’s been fun to be back to visit and see lots of people – even those that I saw but didn’t get to talk to if you’re reading this – hi! Recently I’ve actually been meeting lots of different people who have mentioned that they’re blog readers which is great because I love to know who my readers are…. so once again, you should all leave me comments to let me know that you’re stopping by. I’m off to bed to get ready for more photos tomorrow so sleep tight.

re:structure

This week I’m starting the process of evaluating where my business is at and regrouping to move forward. So many changes have happened in the past year and in order to make sure I’m doing my best it’s time to take a look at everything. So for anyone waiting to hear from me – thanks for your patience! I’m not sure how much will be changing at this point, but I will keep you updated an introduce you to what’s happening. My main goals are to improve my organization (behind the scenes), create some new materials for my clients to have the best experience, and update the presentation of my business. So much to do – so I’m off to work on that :]

Don’t you love the morning light in Sara’s photo above? More on that soon.

yesterday’s wedding

Stef and Nate had a wonderful wedding yesterday and I’m so happy for them – it’s also Stef’s birthday today so a special HaPPy BirTHday shout out to her! I had to give you a little something to show you what a gorgeous couple they are – honestly they rocked their photos and it didn’t even matter that it rained a little. It was so fun for me to be a part of the day and see so many people I know as well. It’s always hard to talk when I’m working so “hi” to everyone I didn’t get a chance to talk to.

So if you didn’t know, New York is significantly colder than Virginia. I’m sure it’s pretty obvious, but the whole summer we’ve been in Virginia there hasn’t been too much of a change when I’ve traveled for different weddings to Canada, New York, and Michigan. Now that it’s fall the difference is very apparent and I’m looking forward to a milder winter. Of course I miss the fall up here because it really is beautiful. The leaves have already started turning quite a bit and there are the kind of days that make you want to pick apples and drink hot cider while sitting by a fire…. or something like that.

That’s the update for now- I can’t wait until I’m able to show you all of Stef + Nate’s photos. First I’m going to finish the weddings of:

• Vince+Kim
• Brendan+Stephanie
• Matt+Becky
• Paul+Maretta
• Jeremy+Abby
• Matt+Lisa
• Jon+Heather

Sounds like a lot – and it is, but I’ve been working through them pretty quickly these days and should be able to speed up my editing process in the future. I’ll let you know how that goes – enjoy your Sunday for now, I’m off to get ready for church.

Derek and Marianne’s 4th of July wedding

I was privileged to spend this summer’s fourth of July with Marianne and Derek on their wedding day! They had a gorgeous wedding, a beautiful day and tons of family and friends to celebrate with them. New York is beautiful in the summer, and if you haven’t been to the finger lakes region you should definitely go some time. Derek and Marianne’s story actually begin way back in kindergarten (they really have know each other for a long time) but it didn’t really begin until they had parted ways and met back up. I love when that happens.

So, even though they’ve moved down to South Carolina, they came back up to New York for their wedding and celebrated at the beautiful Heron Hill Winery overlooking Keuka Lake.

Marianne’s something old: a handkerchief that has been passed down the family, originally making it’s debut at in 1883. I would say that qualifies as something old!

After final preparations, it was time to go to the church, where guests were arriving and soon the ceremony began.

The stained glass set the scene for a beautiful ceremony in the church. After a receiving line and an exit complete with bubbles outside, I headed over to Heron Hill with Marianne and Derek – taking the long way to stop for some photos.

This truck was completely restored by Marianne’s dad and he had it back in high school, I can’t believe how amazing it looked. They remembered him with the truck and Marianne also carried a small photo of him in her bouquet. In fact, all of the bouquets had different charms for each bridesmaid which was a great personal touch.

I love the photo above – the sky is ridiculous and there was so much color! I almost want a big canvas print of this to hang in my house and I really think they should get something large from this series to hang up! We made our way to the winery and met up with the bridal party for group photos before joining the reception.

The reception took place in a tent adjacent to the winery, and was beautiful decorated with of course a wonderful view of the lake down below.

I love the “time capsule” where they collected predictions on what they would be doing in years to come. Hilarious I’m sure! Red was the main color of the wedding and made it’s way onto the cake in these lush roses.

After dinner and speeches, Derek and Marianne made their way to the dance floor for a beautifully choreographed  first dance… and then they invited the bridal party up to break it down!

After that the dance floor opened up and was packed the rest of the night! Marianne’s grandparents took home the prize for the “generation dance” being married for the longest time, and showed their stuff on the dance floor.

I love these pictures and have to show you the ring bearer – a before and after. At the start of the wedding, he wasn’t too sure if this was going to be fun. He made it too the reception though and definitely had a good time – how can I tell? I’m going to go with the punch stain around his lips – love it!

It was time for cake cutting and Derek and Marianne brought it. I love the silhouettes and the emphasis on the action.

the party continued, and there was quite the guys went all out to get the garter. It’s not the best action shot, but I think you can get the sense that there was leaping and a mid air catch that finally took it home (the guy on the left has it in his hand). Sometimes people dread the bouquet + garter at weddings, but that was not the case at all and it made it so much more fun!

The night ended with sparklers and fireworks in the distance – a perfect 4th of July… and that is how they began their life as husband and wife. Congratulations again!

seriously

Today I working on some off camera flash – and being my most available subject I took some self portraits. Honestly I don’t know why I’m so serious, I guess I’m not used to being in front of the camera much… or it could be that tricky self timer – you never can be ready. The lighting definitely made it a more interesting portrait and besides that I wanted to put a picture up so win win win. Hold on – I have to tell you I can tell that it’s late because in that last sentence, I typed “sure” instead of “more” before changing it. I know that happens to some of you too though – don’t lie to me.

Anyways, this post is to let you know what I’m up to. Adventurous traveling this past month has prepped me for sickness this week – and even though my bad day was last thursday I’m still feeling it today. It’s mostly sinus type stuff, but is no fun when it keeps you up at night (which is part of the reason I’m delaying right now and blogging). I think I’ll be through with this thing by the weekend, however, which is great because I’ll be going to New York for several photography jobs and staying for the week to avoid travel back and forth for the weekends. I’m sure you knew that though, since I posted below.

The first weekend I’ll be doing an adventure bridal session with Sara and shooting Stef and Nate’s wedding both of which I’m really looking forward to. During the week is when I with have some time for portrait sessions – and I know you haven’t even thought about it – but if you’ve considered getting photos done for Christmas or want to give a session or the pictures from a session as a gift, this would be a perfect time to do so. Since it’s nice and early there will be plenty of time for me to get prints, cards and albums to you so that you have everything on time. I know, I’m sorry for bringing that up – it’s not October yet – but honestly last year I had all of these Christmas plans that I started too late and had to wait until next year… so it’s next year and I’m on top of it.

Back to the schedule – in two weekends I’ll be doing some college photography, which I’m very excited to be doing this fall, winter and spring. It actually won’t be that much of a departure from my other work since I’ll still be focusing on capturing people, places and relationships in distinctly creative ways… of course there should be less kissing going on, but we’ll see. I’ll keep you updated of course since I’m sure some people are wondering what college photography even entails – just wait for the pictures ;]

Well there’s lots of work ahead for now but I’m looking for more weddings spring and summer 2010 so if you know of anyone who needs a photographer of course, send them my way! have a great night

here are 2 more from today. ps do you like my rolled jeans? trying something new… at least for me since doing it in 2nd grade doesn’t count.