Lorenz Photography

I'M OUT!

2010-08-27T13:21:00.000-07:00

New blog, gang! Go here to check it out: www.abbylorenzphotography.com/blog

And because it's no fun to do a post with no pictures--here's Kate being awesome at Jon and Emily's wedding. Hooray!

See ya later, blogger!

Boston Wedding Photography: Lydia and Tom's backyard pig roast reception! Yeehaw!

2010-08-03T08:58:00.000-07:00

I've been SO EXCITED for Lydia and Tom's wedding ever since we met up with Lydia for coffee in Concord a few months ago. Lydia, bubbly and bursting with energy and excitement about pretty much everything, was planning a backyard wedding (always love) with a pig roast reception.

A pig roast reception.

Have I mentioned how awesome my job is? HAVE I???

(Fair warning--there are pictures of the pig post-roast included in this post, so to my vegetarian or otherwise sensitive readers, consider yourself warned!)

This was one of my favorite elements from the day: If I understood the story correctly, Lydia and Tom had these wooden farmhouse tables made special for their reception by her uncle. They were PERFECT to continue the feel of this rustic but elegant backyard wedding.

There was so much booze!

It's also worth noting that this was the coolest tent (Sperry Tents) I've seen at a wedding--not just a plain white tent, but it had these beautiful star cut outs and really fun flags waving. The support beams weren't just metal beams that needed to be covered with fabric to make them pretty, instead they were rich wooden posts that were just beautiful on their own--it made the whole event so special and unique.

Lydia and Tom--thank you so much for inviting us into your amazing, personal unique wedding.

My job rules.

Boston Wedding Photography: Maura and Josh at 319 A Street.

2010-07-20T11:35:00.000-07:00

Maura and Josh. Kablamo. There's really nothing else to say about this super awesome, super chic, super fun, super stylish wedding with this super hot couple.

(Snort. Corn Palace. Awesome)

How much do I love this woman, by the way? Her hair, her make up her dress, her posture; absolutely stunning. She probably thought I was a weirdo 'cause I kept taking her picture.

This wedding was frought with really really really ridiculously good looking people. Including the lead singer of Groove Authority, a band I have had the pleasure of working with twice now (the other time was at Nate and Sarah's wedding at Gibbet) Laya has pipes that made me weak in the knees and shivery in the shoulders. That compounded with the band's super funky, very awesome sound made the night so, so so fun.

Look, guys! It's Katie and Manny!

Giant massive enormo thank you to the above mentioned Katie and Manny for sending Josh and Maura my way! And equally enormo thank you to Maura and Josh for choosing us to be their photographer. SO FUN. Thanks, guys!

2010 Christensen Midwest Pilgrimage. Holga Stuff.

2010-07-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

What some of you may not know is that my back round is actually in black and white, Zone system photography. This is a method of photography developed by Ansel Adams which, to put it simply, allows the artist to achieve as much or as little detail in both shadow and highlight areas of the image by taking specific light meter readings and adjusting your exposure and development according to one's specific vision. While roll film can be used, it's potential is really maximized with large format sheet film. It sounds wicked complicated, but it's actually ridiculously simple in practice. I became obsessed with it during my second year at NESoP and dedicated my graduating portfolio to it.

Because of all of this--I never really bothered with color film after first term "color experience" class. For me, it just didn't have the potential for creative control that I craved so desperately in black and white film.

When I was out to dinner with my good friend Jon a few weeks back, he mentioned that his Holga is one of his favorite photographic instruments because it has gotten him out of so many creative ruts. The Holga, in extreme contrast to say, a 4x5 camera, affords the artist almost NO control whatsoever. Really--a holga has one shutter speed and two apertures: "cloudy" and "sunny". I'm serious. While I always loved the idea of Holga, and I loved looking at my peers' Holga work, and heck I even own a Holga--I never really felt like it was for me. Just the notion of the lack of control in a Holga made me nervous to think about. However, as I haven't done any serious black and white work for a couple of years, and I've been craving to just play and have fun and not worry too much--I decided to dust of my Holga (which I had used like, twice before), and load it up with not black and white, but color film (Kodak 400 VC 120). I was nervous that the images wouldn't be "right" (whatever that means), or that they would "cool" but in a lazy way (a trap of many Holga users--the images look "cool" because they're captured with a Holga, but they're otherwise boring, uninteresting pictures), but I decided that it had been long enough since I'd tried something wholly new and experimental for me--so I went for it. I figured our annual Midwest road trip would be a perfect place to try out my venture...so try it out I did. And here's some of the results:

I think this one is my favorite of the bunch: bean fields on the edge of town in my mother's hometown of Gowrie, Iowa:

Boston Wedding Photography: Karthik and Jessica at The Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center!

2010-06-22T09:59:00.000-07:00

The pressure was on for Karthik and Jessica's colorful, spirited wedding on Saturday. For one--I didn't actually meet them in person until last Thursday, so that's always a bit nerve racking. But secondly--Karthik, the sweet, wonderful and excited groom that he was, told me several times about how freaking pumped he was that I was going to be photographing his wedding, and that he had been sending my blog around to all his friends and bragging about me.

Oh great. No pressure or anything!! As if I'm not already nervous enough as it is before ANY wedding--now I've really gotta bring it....

This was the second to last picture I took of the night, after which I took a GIANT sigh of RELIEF that I pulled it off :)

Thank you, so much, Karthik and Jess, for inviting me into this incredibly awesome, fun, personal, spirited affair!!

Boston Wedding Photography: Jon and Emily on Bailey Island Maine: Part 2

2010-06-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

So, I've said before that one of the hardest parts of the job of photographer is actually editing: that is, selecting images that best represent your work. It's so hard because you are emotionally invested in each and every picture, and you really want your client/viewer to see exactly what you see.

Add to this the fact that you are shooting for a couple of dear friends--and all editing skills go completely out the window. The result is the most gratuitous few blog entries I've done yet. And you know what? I'm okay with that....

And that, ladies and gentlemen...is that.

Thanks again to Jon and Emily for putting their trust and faith into me to be their wedding photographer. I really can't express what that means to me.

Cool weddings are the coolest.

HC-B

2010-06-07T21:21:00.000-07:00

The always observant Mr. Lee was insightful enough to point this out to me:

Heh. Thanks Jon :)

Boston Wedding Photography: Jon and Emily on Bailey Island Maine: Part 1

2010-06-07T11:54:00.000-07:00

A few months back, Emily left me a sweet message on my Facebook fan page that said something like "Abby! We want you to photograph our wedding!" and I thought Aw that's nice...but they wouldn't actually hire me.

Why? Because I'm insecure :) No actually it's because I know Emily's husband Jon from NESoP where he totally ruled at everything: Advertising (he actually assisted me on my first studio shoot at Decordova), Fine Art Color and Documentary. Guy was selected by his class to represent them as their speaker at graduation last year. Jon teaches photography. He's also mind-meltingly smart (with a masters in Psychology) and knows so much about art and photography it makes me want to run and hide. Jon hire me? Yeah right.

Yeah. Right? Right! I've said it a hundred time leading up to this wedding, but the fact that Jon Lee asked me to not only be at his wedding but be his official photographer was...to say the very least, humbling. It's ALWAYS flattering when anyone asks me to be their photographer, but when someone like Jon, who I hold in very, very high esteem asks me....well, it's an incredible feeling.

Even better--this was no ordinary wedding. Oh no--this was a Jon and Emily affair. And by that I mean: incredibly unique, personal, colorful, beautiful, creative and spiritual. In deciding what kind of wedding Jon and Emily wanted to have, it turned out that many elements of the traditional Korean wedding coincided with their views on marriage, love, family and community. After doing extensive research (according to Jon, the traditional Korean wedding pre-dates our grandparents' generation), Jon and Emily crafted this incredibly special wedding, blending Jon's Korean back round with Emily's Italian and English back round. Not only was the wedding itself beautiful (on Bailey Island, Maine, no less), but the coming together of two families and a variety of cultures and traditions to not only celebrate Jon and Emily, but to come together as one family--cooking, drinking, laughing, and loving. It was, in the truest sense of the word--a beautiful day.

Look alive for Part 2, probably tomorrow: Korean Barbeque, Jon's mom throwing chestnuts at Emily (yes, actually), and much much more celebration.

Boston Wedding Photography: Maggie and Kenny in Cambridge!

2010-06-03T19:12:00.000-07:00

Oh man you guys. I admit it: I was wicked nervous for this wedding. There I said it. I was nervous. Wedding photographers are not picture machines--we are living, breathing, emotion having anxiety fighting human beings. And I was nervous for this one...

Why? Really I was mostly nervous because this is my first wedding since November and I was worried I would be rusty. To fight the nerves, I packed my bags and charged my batteries extra early and made a big checklist so that I wouldn't forget anything. For some reason list-making is comforting for me. I packed my stuff, hopped in the car and we were off.

What I wasn't nervous about? Working with Maggie. I met this little peanut last fall for brunch and she was so lovely and gracious and happy and energetic. She really trusted me and my work, and I cannot tell you how important that is--when a client really trusts me, I feel totally free to do my thing and I feel so much more confident about my process and my work. I don't waste time worrying if the bride is going to like my work, I just get to pour all my brain power into getting inspired and being creative.

Funny thing: I just started swimming again after a 9 year hiatus (yes, believe it or not, this beer drinker used to be a competitive athlete). Damnedest thing: I hadn't swam a lap in years and I dove in and swam 1200 yards (remember when that used to be our warm up?). And it felt great. My body just snapped back into swimmer mode. My hips were up, my chest was down, I rolled through every stroke--and I just glided (glid?) through the water. My body just remembered what to do and I was just sort of along for the ride.

Turns out taking a few months of of weddings and jumping back in is pretty much the same thing :)

Maggie thank you thank you so much for inviting me into your day, and for your enthusiasm and trust in myself and my team. You were a freakin' doll to work with.

Sneak Peek: Beautiful Maggie in the Garden....

2010-06-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

Lorenz Photography: Lydia and Tom on the Farm in Acton!

2010-05-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

Oh Lydia and Tom. Where do I even begin? I guess with pictures...

Lydia and Tom are the embodiment of my favorite thing about being a wedding photographer: making real, true genuine connections with people, through photography. From the minute Lydia walked into the cafe in Concord to meet with Caleb and me, it was on. It was so on. Poor Caleb sat there for an hour trying to squeeze a word in here and there, which was a mostly futile effort as Lydia and I did not. stop. talking.

So when we went to their house in Acton for the engagement shoot, and Lydia warned me there would be cocktails aplenty, I knew we were in for a good time. Adorably, Lydia and Tom are a lot like Caleb and me. She's outspoken and full of talkative energy and has so much to say; Tom is a little more reserved, satisfied to kick back and sort of take everything in, but not at all shy to jump in when he's got a zinger. These two are so in love, and I'm so gosh darned excited to not only get to work with them, but to know them.

Also, slightly off topic: Have you ever been to Idylwilde Farms? That's where Tom works, and because Lydia and Tom are awesome and share our love of delicious food and drink, after we were done with the shoot they took us to the farm and treated us to some delicious champagne mangoes, fresh spinach and fantastic brie.

A drive out to the country, running around in an orchard and on a farm at dusk taking pictures, cocktails, cheese, a patio and new friends: That's what I call a pretty rad day. Thanks Tom and Lydia.

Oh, and yes, tequila and sparkling limeade will now be my new summer time drink. Sorry gin.

Watertown Portait Photography: The Wherrys in Medford!

2010-05-15T14:03:00.000-07:00

Remember Katie and Manny and their fantastic wedding at the Fuller Craft Museum? Well apparently I made quite the impression because Katie's sister Deanne asked me to come by to do a family portrait session with her husband and two kids, Audry and Loren (I must say I rather like the spelling of Loren's name). Audrey rather reminded me of myself when I was five--running screaming, running, screaming drawing smiling running yelling. Loved it. The dynamic between Audrey and her older, more subdued sister Loren was really lovely to watch--they were very much each other's salt to their pepper. Or pepper to their salt....

As much as I resist playing favorites with my pictures, I have to admit, this one is my personal fave of the day:

Deanne, thanks for inviting me back for some Pickett/Wherry love :)

Vote For me in PPA's 2010 Cover Contest!

2010-05-12T07:07:00.000-07:00

Okay Gang,

Between the comments both here and on Facebook, as well as emails and personal conversations, you all decided on this fantastic picture for me to submit to PPA's 2010 Cover Contest. As I mentioned in my first post about it, even though this picture from Sena and Jovan's wedding is one of my all time favorite images I've ever made, I wasn't sure if it was right for the cover contest because I would have to crop it to a vertical, which to me, changes the whole feel of the picture.

However, I just went and checked out some of the other submissions, and there's all kinds of horizontal pictures! I don't know if this will lessen my chances, but I'm just going to submit it as a horizontal. So there.

So, here's my final submission!

Still works, right? Right!

NOW GO VOTE FOR ME! HERE'S The link: PPA Cover Contest

If you vote for me I'll give you hugs and kisses and candy and lots and lots of love. Lots of love. So much you won't know what to do with it all. Go vote for me.

Love,
Me

Boston Baby Photography: Aiden in Somerville!

2010-05-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

Watertown Baby Photography: Elsa in Cambridge!

2010-05-06T10:23:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I had the pleasure of crawling around on the floor with Elsa, my friends Julie and Eric's 1 year old girl. As a very German Midwest girl I have a very special place in my heart for little girls with names like Elsa with white hair that only comes from Minnesota born parents...

As you may have noticed I'm experimenting a bit here with doing some dyptichs and tryptichs. I tend to get overhwelmed with this kind of thing as there are so many options and so many pictures I constantly second guess myself and whether it looks good or I'm doing it right. So today I decided to just get over myself and give it a shot. Thoughts??

Photos for PPA Magazine's 2010 Cover Contest

2010-04-14T09:23:00.000-07:00

Okay. So.

If anyone out there is a photographer or even amateur photographer, you can all attest to the fact that one of the hardest parts of our jobs is editing. That is, narrowing down your pictures to a cohesive body of work that represents you as a photographer, and expresses your vision. Seriously, this is one of my big weak spots as I feel so emotionally attached to everyone of my pictures.

I decided that I'm going to enter PPA Magazine's 2010 photo cover contest, to which you can submit one (ONE!) image. One? Really? C'mon. Really? I have 21,000 files in my "wedding photography" folder in my Lightroom catalog. One? Crap.

So I obviously can't do this alone. So I'm enlisting you, dear readers, fans, clients, friends, and family. I went through and picked out a handful of my favorite images and I'm posting them here. I want your feed back. I want your ideas. And if there's a picture here you don't see that you know of that you think I should consider entering--tell me!

These are pictures that are my favorites, but also, in my opinion, represent my vision as a photographer--fun, wild, colorful, cheerful, happy, exciting. These are also the pictures that I think a national magazine might actually be willing to print on their magazine unlike this one and this one which, while they are both a couple of my favorite pictures I've ever made, I have a hard time believing PPA would print them on the cover of their mag. Anyway...this is the group I picked:

These first two from Sena and Jovan's wedding are what I would consider my "signature" images. These images totally represent the way I see, and the energy and excitement I bring to my wedding photography. Really, this first one is my first instinct to be my submission, except that it's a horizontal image. It could be cropped to a vertical for a magazine cover but I think that would make it an entirely different picture completely.

So? Have at it--write me your ideas in the comments or on my Facebook Page (where you should add yourself as a fan!). Again, if you can think of another picture of mine that you know you like but I forgot about here--tell me which one. Let's hear it!

This Photographer Will Work for Food.

2010-03-22T14:47:00.000-07:00

Subtitle for this blog post: Abby is reminded that she has the greatest job evar.

A few months back a new Italian Specialty food store/restaurant opened up around the corner from us in Watertown. Literally, around the corner. I had shyed away from going in because I'm clearly not cool enough, cultured enough or sophisticated enough to take up oxygen in an upscale food store like that. Eventually my curiosity overcame my shyness and I decided to pop in and take a look around....

What I found was not a stuffy, pretentious food shop like I had imagined in my head, but a warm, inviting little store with an incredibly friendly staff who welcomed me upon entrance, inquired if I needed anything, but otherwise let me just poke around on my own. (Side note, this is one of my favorite things about living in Watertown--friendly people! Customer service! Huzzah!) I spied, in their prepared foods case, a dish of Tiramisu that looked like no other Tiramisu I've ever seen...it looked so--soft, dense--not like usual Tiramisu which retains it's shape in a stiff little square. The woman who helped me said that the way the owner makes it is more like a pudding. I was skeptical because I'm not a huge fan of pudding, but I asked for a taste.

Oh. My. God. Seriously. Omigod. And I believe that was the exact phrase that I not just said, but shouted, loudly upon the spoon touching my tongue (This is why I don't go into fancy stores...I'm obnoxious). And as I cried out in amazement and surprise and deliciousness, the owner, Ana, happened to come out from the back room and SHOUT back at me "That's what I like to HEAR!!" And we got to chatting....

So, do you have a website? Nope not yet. Ah, well, I'm a photographer, and I love this shop--I'd love to do some work for you if you need it? Absolutely! How about we exchange a quick photo shoot for dinner for you and your friends? Um...OKAY.

Friday I went in and spent a couple hours ~~drooling over her food~~ photographing Ana in her shop preparing food, and of course, 10 or so of her dishes. Having grown up in Nebraska I'm not terribly well versed in the ways of traditional Italian food, so I was pleasantly amazed to see all of these beautiful dishes she kept bringing out to me: stuffed cabbage leaves, chard wraps, blood orange salad...did you know that meatballs were never eaten with sauce until they came to America? I didn't! And that's how Ana prepares and serves her meatballs (which you will see below): instead of swimming in sauce, they are served as is, warm and with a shot of fresh lemon juice. Beautiful!

What follows is a sampling of Ana in action, her cozy store, and her beautiful food:

Drunken Pears: Pears cooked with clove and poached in red wine (we had some of these at dinner and they were incredible!)

stuffed tomatoes

Traditional Meatballs

Chicken Breast Stuffed with spinach and prosciutto (we had this with our dinner and it was fantastic!)

Chard Wraps: Chard wrapped around walnuts, prosciutto and gorgonzola. Holy Hell.

Stuffed Cabbage leaves. Not sure what's in these but they looked amazing.

Fennel Salad with bacon. This salad looked SO yummy but unfortunately fennel is one food that I just really really can't do. Pity--it looked delicious!

Wonderful, cozy rustic details around the shop...

Timbale

Blood oranges with red onion and olives.

So Pretty!

Homemade fresh pasta!

That's right. Ana whipping cream by hand. This lady does it all.

And she makes it look so easy!

And so began, what I hope to be, a long lasting friendship between Lorenz Photography, and La Romangoli and Son....

How was dinner? Wonderful. Simply wonderful. Ana prepared for us a traditional Lasagna, a vegetarian Lasagna and an eggplant parm. Everything was so fresh and clearly made with love. It was by far the best lasagna I've ever had--and what's great was, it wasn't amazing because it was done in an unusual or fancy way. The exact opposite--it was simple, rustic lasagna, made with fresh ingredients and perfectly made pasta. It was simple, and done right.

If you are located in the Boston area, La Romangoli and Son is WELL worth the trip to Watertown (the 71 drops of literally in front of the shop). If nothing else, come out here, poke around, chat with Ana and her friendly staff, and just take some of that Tiramisu with you.....

Oh. Mah. Gahd.

2010-03-13T12:12:00.000-08:00

Okay, before we do anything, I must insist that the following post be accompanied by the below music. Because it pretty much says it all. Please press play now.

They day started off...with the door bell. Then things got good. Really good:

That's right folks. My new 27" iMac. This thing is not f-ing around. I don't even know where to begin. I have never felt like such a grown-up or a professional. I'm so excited to have this amazing machine at my disposal for all my creative/professional work. And yes some screwing around too.

So yeah, 27" high def screen with a ~~mighty~~ MAGIC mouse!! This awesome little wireless mouse with no rolly ball thingy for scrolling...you just run your fingers around on the surface and it scrolls! Up, down, back, forth to, fro, round and round...the possibilities are endless!

Needless to say the house has been full of screeches today. Like "CALEB!! OHMAGAD! THERE'S A LITTLE VIDEO ABOUT HOW THE MOUSE WORKS!" and "Caleb! OHMAGAD! It automatically transferred the WiFi network AND password!" and "CALEB!! OHMAGAD! It transferred EVERYTHING from my old MacBook!! EVERYTHING is HERE!!" That's right...for the last few days, I've been chewing my nails about getting all my programs and files transferred over to my new iMac. But oh no...no worries with Mac. It just does it all for you. Just connect the computers with FireWire or ethernet, and away it goes. Took about an hour, and then poof--everything was there. My FireFox with ALL my bookmarks, all my documents, but most importantly to me--it reinstalled my Lightroom, and my Lightroom Catalog. No transferring, no reregistering. It's just...there. I told Caleb that it's like the concierge at the Four Seasons: "Oh! You need all your Firefox bookmarks? I'll take care of that for you madam...Oh...you need your catalog transferred, my pleasure!" I feel so special!

I would like to thank my dear friend...my 13" MacBook, for all your hard work and loyal service over the last 3 1/2 years. I've cranked SO much work through you, and you have almost never failed me--well except for when the battery croaked, but even then Apple gave me a new one for free :) You can now retire from professional work, and live out the rest of your days as my lappy...cozied up with me on the couch, looking up meaningless trivia on IMDB, reading Jezebel for hours and G-chatting. That's the dream...

So, yeah, now if you'll excuse me, I've got some hard core photographering to do here. WAHOO!!

Vendor Spot Light: Artists for Humanity in the South End, Boston

2010-03-03T11:54:00.000-08:00

Calling all urban brides!! Last July I had the pleasure of photographing Sena and Jovan's colorful, spirited, BEAUTIFUL wedding at the amazing Artists for Humanity in the South End. This venue was a dream: white walls creating lots of beautiful soft light, but covered in art! So much art! No need to worry about bringing in outside decorations because your wedding is decorated with the original art work of all these talented young Boston teenagers. So so so cool. It was great because the day of Sena's wedding it was oh, say, 95 degrees outside and WAY sunny, so photographing outside would have been problematic, to say the least--but this place has seemingly endless space and places for us to shoot--we found this huge open gallery space on the 4th or 5th floor (where they were already setting up the cocktail hour!), that was huge and open, and covered in art. Perfect. We did all the group photos up there, and then I shooed everyone away to do some pictures with just Sena and Jovan. I had so much to work with inside it didn't even occur to me to do more outside. I can't wait to work here again!

Here are some of my favorite shots that I feel highlight the venue:

Oh and I forgot to mention one of the most fun parts: that huge glass industrial door that you saw in the first few pictures opened up for the ceremony: so after a hot hot July day, the air cooled off, they opened up the door, and the party spilled out onto the terrace outside the building. SO FUN. I wasn't there for this part, but Sena told me that later in the night after we had left, it started raining, and everyone was dancing in the rain...I can't imagine a more spectacular celebration!

To all photographers reading this: this place is a photographers DREAM to shoot in. As I mentioned the place is mostly white with HUGE windows everywhere, creating this incredible soft ambient light for every picture. I think I shot at about 400 or 800 ISO for most of the day and only used flash during the reception when it got dark--and even then, with all the white walls bouncing was a cinch. I love venues in which I can really take advantage of the natural light because then I just get to focus on the subject matter and the actual photographing, and not worrying about if my flashes are set up right, if they will see each other etc...I just can't be bothered.

Anyone out there getting married here? Call me. Hire me. Please.

Bwah! Oldies but goodies...

2010-02-24T11:22:00.000-08:00

So you know how when you try to clean out your house, you always come accross stuff you hadn't seen or thought about for years, and your whole project gets held up because you wind up ooh-ing and aahhing over t-shirts and pictures, and random junk?

Well...turns out it's the same thing when you're trying to clean our your hard drive...

I did these pictures in my first year at NESoP...I believe this was for our speedlite assignment from Steve-O's 2nd term digital class. Since college I've been obsessed with film noir and I've had it in my head since becoming a photographer that I would do a project about fear in the style of film noir...this was my first and sadly last attempt. Not for any good reason of course--I have this weird fear about my creative endeavors: I get these ideas that I'm really excited about, but I never really do anything about them because I'm too afraid it will be dumb or the pictures will suck--perfectionistic tendencies, blah blah...it's very annoying, if for no other reason than I've got all these images in my head taking up space and nagging me....I think that to really do these right, I would have to do them in at least medium format black and white, if not 4x5.

Anyway--the pretty lady to my right on the couch there is my dear friend Jess Stambaugh, with whom I graduated in the Fine Art Black and White program in 2008. Lovely lady...awesome photographer, killer bartender and champion whiskey drinker.

FUN!: Free portrait shoot to the person who can correctly name the movie that this picture is referencing....(And I know I've already told some of you--so you don't count!)

What I look at every morning...

2010-02-23T08:19:00.000-08:00

Hey gang...

Not much to post on this wet Tuesday morning. Call me weird or whatever, but I do love the rain. So much. Makes me feel so cozy.

No new work to show right now, so I thought, just for funzies, I would share with you the picture I have as the wallpaper on my laptop: Jerry the Cow.

And yes, she is mid-moo.

This is a picture I did last year on a contract job for Decordova Sculpture Park and ~~Mooseum~~ Museum. As a small-town Iowa girl, I can't tell you how much fun it was to watch all the city folk positively GAWK at the sight of a real live 1400 pound Holstein Cow. It was like a mix of childlike awe and horror.

I've had this on my desktop for over a year and it makes me smile every damn time I look at it. I really like animals and I REALLY like big BIG animals. It's humbling, to say the least, to be in the presence of a creature SO huge, and so powerful, but yet so innocent.

So--here's a big dumb, beautiful cow to brighten your day. Moo.

Part One: Karen and Jason (And Aidan!)

2010-02-15T11:23:00.000-08:00

Things that inspire me:

Stripes
Candy
Red Dresses
Vintage Chairs
Voluptuous Women (Christina, Crystal...)
Paul Thomas Anderson Movies
Francesca Woodman
Gin
Wine
Pasta
Cookbooks
Fall

and...

Love:

More to come....

Stuff and Junk. And Lots of Pictures.

2010-02-09T10:35:00.000-08:00

Hey Gang! Okay I know it's been a bit quiet 'round these parts lately. Believe me it's not because I've been kicking it on my favorite couch watching Sopranos and drinking gin, although that does sound pretty awesome. No, it's partly because since wedding season ended I haven't had a lot of new work to show--but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. With what? Well...

Like making my awesome new portfolio!

One thing I know I've been missing is having a clear concise way to exhibit an expanded portfolio when I meet clients in person. Most photographers show sample albums, which is a nice way to kill two birds with one stone (ie, showing both your album samples and samples of your work in one place) and I will certainly do as well...but I liked the idea of having an actual portfolio to show clients. This thing is sweet--it's a big, huge 12x12 hardcover book with full images on the front and back and a bright yellow spine. I think it Screams LORENZ PHOTOGRAPHY! I love love love book-making. I love designing the book, I love ordering the book I love checking FedEx tracking every 5 minutes to see when my book will arrive--and my favorite part--I love opening the book for the first time, and flipping through all the pages. I love the way new books smell and feel and it's especially great when that new book is full of your work. So, yeah--yay :)

What else? Well, ordering products for clients, like my new proof books!

This is an example of a hard cover (left) and a soft cover (right) proofbook. I love my new books because the design options for the cover and the inside is so much more extensive, allowing me to really customize each book for each client. Different fonts, different lay out etc....here's a few more examples:

This is Katie and Manny's 8x10 hardcover book.

And this is Sarah and Nate's Soft Cover Proof Book

Real books--not spiral bound magazines. They feel great in your hand and are an awesome way to have a hard copy of all your pictures in one beautiful book. Yay!

What else? Well...making friends with Photoshop!! Well, sorta. One of the big changes here at LP is that I'm switching to a new lab and moving away from Pictage. For me, Pictage was a great way to help me get started as they take care of everything for you. And I mean everything: They make your proofbooks, they fulfill orders and print, and the thing that I liked the most was that they had album design software, which meant that I didn't have to screw around with Photoshop. And while Pictage is a great company, and many established photographers use them, I recently decided that I needed to move away from them. I feel like I've really gotten the hang of almost every service that Pictage offers (ie, print fulfillment, proof book automation, etc...) except for album design. As I've mentioned before I have a pretty rocky relationship with Photoshop (it tends to make me cry using only it's words), but I decided that if I'm going to make this work, we're going to have to set aside our differences and learn to get along. My first challenge: to design stationary for my new Baby and Maternity Service, Over the Moon Imagery (Blog coming soon!). You remember Theo, right?

See?? I did it! No crying or anything. The font on the back wound up a tiny bit off center because I got confused about the cut-off lines, but it's barely noticeable. The cards look BEAUTIFUL and they're printed on really pretty watercolor paper. Hooray! (Big thanks to Ruby Hazzard, Erin Carey and Caleb Cole--there was a lot of hand holding involved here...)

I also just finished a new album for Sarah and Nate, which I designed completely freehand in Photoshop, and I don't think it's too shabby if I do say so myself. Once we get their design finalized I'll be sure to post it up here as well!

Other than all this fun card/book business it's been a lot of behind the scenes biznezz. I've been trying to set up an engagement session gallery for my website, been corresponding with some really awesome vendors with whom I worked last summer (that's a whole separate post!), and busily chatting away with clients about their wedding plans. I'm getting super excited for what's to come in 2010--and even though it's been a bit quiet around here, I have such hugely high hopes and expecations for this year. I know it's going to be awesome.

So, in the meantime, I have a favor to ask of you dear readers, fans, friends, family or whatever the heck you are that brought you here: Blogging material. I needs it. Give it to me. What do you want me to write about? What do you want to know about me, my business, my process? Any pictures you want to see more of? Or do you want me to just shut up and go away now?

Until next time...muahaha!

Luna, Harry and Juniper in Lincoln; Part 1

2010-01-11T11:35:00.000-08:00

"Bob...Bob...hey Bob...Bob...Bob...hey, Bob...Bob....."

I adore this picture of Harry, who is painfully shy and has lots of anxiety. It seems to me that this is his safe spot in the house, and he is very much married to it. I love the way the light is coming in from the west, but his face is hidden in shadow. I'm also obsessed with that soft curve of his lower back and the smushiness of the blankets...

Bob and Erica are, if nothing else, Dog Lovers. As I mentioned above, Harry is extremely shy and is plagued with some extreme anxiety issues, with which Bob and Erica are lovingly and patiently helping him. Luna, on the other hand is a total ham, who kept running at me full speed and shoving her deflated soccer ball in my camera lens. These two are so fortunate to have Bob and Erica as their people. Even better--Bob's brother and sister in law live next door with their lab/golden/shiba mix Juniper. Throw Olive into the mix and it was a DOG PARTY. It was 20 degrees and I had my coat off after about 5 minutes, chasing the four of them around the backyard. SO FUN!

Once again...thanks Bob and Erica :)

Harry on the couch

2010-01-11T10:11:00.000-08:00

Sneak Peak: Luna, Harry and Juniper (and Olive!) in Lincoln!

2010-01-10T16:21:00.000-08:00

Shy Harry, here with lovely Erica....

More to come!

New Website New Website! Hooray!

2010-01-06T19:36:00.000-08:00

Okay for those of you who haven't gotten my email....

Or my Facebook status update...

Or my Facebook Link....

NEW WEBSITE!!! SO excited. I have been really pumped about this for months, when I first decided to revamp all of Lorenz Photography. I got my logo (Thanks, Dave!), brushed up my blog, got new business cards, etc....but the one thing, the KEY thing to this whole operation, my website, was still hanging in the interwebs balance. I've been nitpicking over everything--which any creative professional should do--but I was starting to get overwhelmed and afraid of the whole thing (I scare easily). Finally, after a business meeting with Caleb (ie, he and I sitting in our pjs drinking coffee on the futon in the office), I decided that I just need to get over myself and finish this damn thing so I can really start marketing more aggressively. Next step: brush up Google Ads....

So for those of you wondering, no I did not build the website myself; it's a Bludomain template site. A LOT of photographers use Bludomain and a LOT of people really look down on it. Bludomain is great in that your template is very customizable and very easy to change at a whim (which I like because I change my mind every week on just about everything) and also pretty affordable. What's not great about it is that if you're not careful, you can wind up with the EXACT same website as someone else out there. This actually happened with my last website. I was just browsing different Boston photographers' websites and stumbled upon one that was literally the exact template. Even weirder, the photographer was a NESoP grad. I had always felt like to be a wedding photographer in this Region you had to conform to a certain look--in this case I was sharing a website with someone else. Not okay (Don't get me wrong, her work is lovely, but it just freaked me out...).

So I decided to go bright, go fresh, go bold (ie the awesome logo made by Dave Scott) and just put myself out there. I'm pretty happy with it, but there are a couple of things I need to straighten out (like the fact that my logo can only be like a fingernail big...blerg), and I still need head shots for our info section. Also I think I need a couple more songs, as if you were to go through all the galleries, the music will start over before you're done browsing...

Which is another issue--the edit. For any of you who know me photographically, you might know that editing is not exactly my strong suit. I really tried to pick my true favorites and not get caught up in what I "should" show...unfortunately I had like, 140 images which for any visitor might result in a head asplosion. I asked Dana Smith, an instructor here at NESoP to take a look, and he put it so well: I need to trim the fat, and get rid of anything that is not the best of the best. He said that some of the strongest images were just getting lost in the mediocre ones. So even though I LOVE that picture of the uncle doing oyster shooters because I was there and it was SO FUNNY and such a GREAT experience, the fact is, it watering down the overall collection. So--out went some of my "favorites" and what remains is, (I hope) the best of the best.

It's not perfect, and I know it never will be, and I have to be okay with that. I would love to hear any feed back you've got--ideas for pictures that I could pull, problems loading (A friend said that it was absolutely not working on his computer at all, but it works fine on every other computer I've tried...) etc.

Thanks to all of you who take a look! And as always, please feel free to spread the Lorenz Photography love around to anyone and everyone you think might also enjoy it. Thanks friends!

Experimenting....

2009-12-17T09:17:00.000-08:00

Okay so I'm terrified of Photoshop and do most of my processing in Lightroom, but I'm realizing that this is becoming rather limiting...I'm switching over to a new lab so I will not have the convenience of the Pictage album designer, which means I'm going to have to make friends with Photoshop, if for no other reason than to be able to make album layouts. I was messing around the other night and put this lil baby together:

I'm not trying to save lives with my compositions here--I want to do some basic, minimalist layouts that showcase the images. It's intimidating with all this talk of album contests and "professional album designers". I want to concentrate on making designs that really show off the images as much as possible, not on having the cleverest album layout. I figure if people are paying as much as they are for their books--I want to make the pictures fill the pages as much as possible. Ya think?

Huzzah!!

2009-12-16T19:18:00.000-08:00

I did it! For the past few months--well I guess as long as I've had this damn thing, I have been struggling with my image sizes--I feel like they come up really small, and when I would try to set them to "Extra-Large" they would get cut off vertically. I tried resizing the image manually before uploading, but no success. Blargh!

So then I decided to start digging through the Blogger help forum, which I figured would be anything BUT helpful, as those FAQ's and forums usually are, and lo and behold, someone was having the same issue. The solution: PICK A NEW TEMPLATE. D'oi. So...finally...a nice big image to stimulate your little eyeballs.

Mac: aka: Mac Attack; aka: Macadoodle (that's mine); aka: Tutes (?); aka....The Old Man.

2009-12-10T12:29:00.000-08:00

Oh Mac...where do I begin?

Mac is the beloved extended house guest of my dear friends Molly and Rager--Molly found him as a scrappy little stray running about the streets of Watertown, and has since been her resident guy-on-the-couch for the past 10 years.

Mac is getting up there in years but you might not tell by the ADORABLE fluff-ball puppy face of his. Despite his age, this senior citizen continues to live life to the fullest, engaging in a wide variety of activities and hobbies, including but not limited to: using his doggie steps, groaning to be helped down off the couch, eating his food one morsel at a time, and peeing in the kitchen (it's okay he's got a pretty small tank). He's also an avid exercise enthusiast, who maintains a strict daily regiment of jumping for Cheezits and walking circles in the bed every day. Cheezits are also a big source of activity and interest for the old man, who enjoys all Cheezit related activities such as eating them, begging for them and of course, jumping for them!

Ahh Mac...everyone's favorite dirty old man. Thanks Molly and Rager!

Theo in Cambridge!

2009-12-08T12:15:00.000-08:00

So, I haven't done a lot of baby photography. Part of it is because babies generally scare the crap out of me. However, my good friends Ben and Katie have this little mushball named Theo and our mutual friends Emily and Adam hired me to do some family/baby photos for them.....so here we go....

I think in general what typically freaks me out about doing baby portraits is the pressure get them to do something, or pose or smile etc, on the spot. Which is why I was THIRLLED when Katie said "Hey, come over for soup on Sunday afternoon and you can take pictures of Theo while we decorate the tree." Soup? Made by Katie, who's vegetarian cooking can satisfy the most vehement of meat eaters (including this one)? Tree? Add some Mimosas by us and we were in business....

All rise for his Highness Theo, King of Lunch!!

ZZOMG ~~PONIES~~ ELEPHANTZZ!!!1!

My Sock. I has one.

My personal fave of the day:

Theo was fantastic--no crying, no tantrums, just this bouncy giggly ball of ham-dom who loved looking/grabbing my camera. Roast Squash Soup + Mimosas + Happy Baby Boy=WIN!

Rory!!

2009-11-30T11:39:00.000-08:00

Today I got the pleasure of romping around at Danehy park with one of my favorite dog park regulars: Rory (Or Rorschach, when he's being full-named by his person, Zach). This big, gorgeous wall of a dog is a Catahoula Leopard Dog (yes)--as you will see from these here pictures, Rory has the most bizarre and beautiful markings, not to mention the enviable one blue eye one brown eye thing (LOVE that).

Rory is my first attempt at dog photography--something I've been toying with for a while, and after a few of my dog park friends asked me to take pictures of their dogs, I decided I should start experimenting. I'm just so obsessed with dogs to begin with, I don't know why I didn't think about this long ago!

The other reason I did photos if Rory today is also as a favor for Zach, who has made a very difficult but thoughtful and responsible decision to put Rory up for adoption. Rory is one of my FAVORITE dogs at the park and he and Olive are best pals (as you're about to see), so anything I could do to help out was all my pleasure. If you or anyone you know is interested in adopting a dog and you like the looks of Rory, just shoot me an email and I can put you in touch with Zach. Zach will be keeping Rory until he finds him a proper home.

So, without fruther adieu: RORY!!!

The black one here is my Olive.

See, they're best friends!!

Comments and feed back on my first dog shoot is welcome (please!!) And also--if you are interested in Rory, please email me directly for more info and to talk to Zach. I meant it when I said that Rory is one of my favorite dogs at the park; Olive goes absolutely bananas when Rory and Zach show up.

Thanks, everyone!!

And last but certainly not least...Sarah and Nate in Groton, MA

2009-11-09T18:33:00.000-08:00

As I writer I feel immense pressure to verbalize the experience of each wedding I post here. And as cliche as it is to say "Oh there are no words..." the fact is--nothing I say could really do this beautiful, personal, and incredibly heart-felt wedding justice. So...I guess I'll let the pictures do the talking :) Enjoy.

ZOMG CHEESE CURDS!!! The real deal.

To Sarah and Nate: A thousand thank you's for inviting us to be a part of this incredibly intimate, emotional day. It was an honor in the truest sense of the word.

A couple that knows how to move together...

2009-10-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you take a Danish neurosurgeon, a Southern belle gone New England city girl and put them together with her huge Southern Family in a big ol' church? You get Julia and Thorkild's fantastic, sophisticated, urban, Beacon Hill Wedding!

This church--the Church of the Advent on Brimmer Street in Beacon Hill--was breathtakingly beautiful. A huge old Episcopalian Cathedral, the architecture was so visually stunning. I also had me trembling in fear for the lack of available light. My technique went a little something like this: Deep breath in, one, two three, exhale, click. Thank you Canon 5D and ISO 1600!

It got wicked cold by the time the ceremony was over so our plans for group pictures on the front steps of the church fell through, and we had to improvise locations for the group pictures during the cocktail hour. I found this fun staircase in the Commandants House where the girls were freshening up. I think I pulled it off!

Hence the title of this post....

I really loved the idea of a neurosurgeon preparing to cut his wedding cake...I bet it was done, if nothing else...efficiently

Sorry, Julia...I had to put this one up. It's just too...perfect.

Big thanks to Ben Gebo for shooting along side me for this one!!

We're all mad here....

2009-10-12T16:19:00.000-07:00

This Past weekend, Katie and Manny got married in one of the most beautiful settings I have yet to encounter: On the terrace of the Fuller Crafts Museum in Brockton. With the beautiful Autumn colors serving as a backdrop to the whole affair, Katie and Manny's wedding was one of the most personal, unique and special events I have experienced.

For starters, Katie got ready in one of the craft rooms in the museums--random stoves, ovens, clothes pins, hardware and lots of spilled paint. Fun!

Oh my how I love fall

One of my favorite special touches: As part of Katie and Manny's Alice in Wonderland themed wedding, her nieces read passages from the Lewis Carroll Story. The readings were printed out and adorned with these lovely ribbons...very ethereal...

I love funny little wedding snafus: Katie's officiant/godfather accidentally skipped the "I do" part of the ceremony, and went straight to the kissing part. After a brief moment of confusion, Manny took it upon himself to enthusiastically declare his intent: "I DO!!"

Finishing touches: to further emphasize the Alice theme, Katie and Manny provided their guests with little take away boxes for all the desserts and candies, and labled them "Eat Me." A delicious way to wrap up the night!

Give me a shake and shout Hooray!!

2009-09-22T08:19:00.000-07:00

Hey All! As promised, here's a few more highlights from Adam and Stephanie's charming, rustic, detail-oriented, rainy day affair in Peabody, from last weekend. So fun!

Stephanie's lovely, minimalist 30's inspired sheath gown perfectly fit in with the minimalist, understated feel for the day.
Not to mention her long blong hair, which she wore down, clean and straight for the day. Lovely...
Since it was rainy, I had to get creative in finding a good spot to do the reveal between Adam and Stephanie. I found this funny little room in the back of the carriage house full of old antique hunting equipment. There was this steep, rickety landing up above that I crawled into to get some birds-eye shots of these two seeing each other for the first time. I had never done an angle like this before, so I was a little nervous, but I thought it would be fun to try something different. I think it worked out!

I was obsessed with this little girl's face. There's just something classic about her dark eyes and round cheeks...I felt like this was the face of children in old photographs or something.

In lieu of confetti, rice or bubbles, Stephanie found this charming little tamborines which were distributed to each of the guests, to coax them down the aisle...
Each table cloth was different--Adam and Stephanie's table had this fabulous, brightly colored retro-floral little number. Love love love.
To serve as both table numbers and favors, Adam and Stephanie made homemade candied citrus peel, and gave each guest their own jar, complete with colorful fabric covers and hand-typed name tags!
Because of the rain, the ceremony was moved into the reception area at the last second--I was a bit worried about the light as the barn has very high, dark ceilings. But as you can see here--the light was more beautiful than any photographer could hope for...ahhhh....cloudy window light...

Love these little details--Adam's tie in this old fashioned plaid print, and the bright yellow dahlia boutonniere was just perfectly punctuate Stephanie's vision for her rustic wedding.

(More portraits of Adam and Stephanie below...)
Squee!! Little wooden cake toppers dressed up like Adam and Stephanie!

It happens to the best of us...

Adam and Stephanie in Peabody--quick preview!

2009-09-17T13:48:00.001-07:00

Call me Crazy Pants...but I really think rainy days are just lovely..

More to come from Adam and Stephanie's charming, rustic wedding in Peabody!

Jean and Rick in Sharon, MA!

2009-09-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Jean and Rick got married at Spring Valley Country Club in Sharon, Ma. Jean was such a relaxed, fun loving bride, and had an equally energetic, happy family to boot! Here are some highlights....Mmmmm....hydrangeas....

Brother/Sister Dance Off!!
It's a good reception when the bride is leading the conga line...

Happy Anniversary!

2009-08-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, our good friends Bob and Erica celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary! To celebrate, they invited some friends and family to join them on a private Harbor Cruise aboard a pirate ship style yacht! Things started off with cocktails at the private Dining Room of Barbara Lynch, then a two hour cruise complete with BLT Sliders, Grey Goose and Limeade Cocktails (Helpful in pacifying my irrational fear of sailboats...), then back to the Dining Room for a 10 (TEN!) Course Tasting for dinner. If I had to summarize the whole event in three words I would have to say: Oh. My. God.

Here are some highlights!

An a-list event deserves some paparazzi photos...

This party was in many ways the real-life version of a J-Crew catalog where everyone just happens to be just perfectly coordinated :)

Off to the boat!!
I have to admit my stomach dropped a bit when I saw that the boat was not a cruiser like I had imagined, but a big huge sailboat. With masts...and sails...and ropes...errr....

Couldn't have picked a more beautiful day!

BLT Sliders. Yum!
Cap'n Bob.
Cool guy Adam.
Beautiful Erica...

Wheeee!
I love catching couples being all in love about it...
Back to the Dining Room...

My personal fave of the night: Individual Corn Lasagnette with Chantarelles and Truffle...o.m.g....
The main course: Sea Bass in Fennell Puree. I ate Fennell! And went on a sail boat! How's that for facing your fears??
The other main course option: Pan Roasted Quail in a Wild Mushroom Ragout.
Love Birds...

Thank you SO much, Bob and Erica, for inviting Caleb and I to be a part of this fabulous, stylish amazing celebration! Much love and best wishes :)

Leesa and Scott in P-Town!

2009-07-29T17:06:00.001-07:00

Things I loved about Leesa and Scott's P-Town wedding this past Sunday:

Beach wedding means fun, laid back, affair
A very enthusiastic tight-knit family with so much love made for an incredibly fun and exciting reception!
I got to wear flip flops and run around barefoot. At work!!

First of all, this was the view from the deck at the reception. Swoon.

Little kids in gauzy shirts and sunglasses
Dolce, Leesa's Briard, was one of the most well behaved ring bearers I've ever encountered ;)
The chuppah...
The clouds made for such a romantic backdrop...

A sophisticated, but causal family affair on the beach...
A couple with a great sense of humor who laughed a lot and had fun during the ceremony...
Bare feet!
Have I mentioned how much I love cloudy, breezy weddings?!

A couple who is truly, genuinely in love...
This beautiful family...

Raw Bar!
Oysters...
+ Vodka...
=Oyster Shooters!

Nom!

Wheeee!!
This...
Leesa's costume change!!
This woman, who I couldn't stop photographing...

This:
And this:
And this:
And her, again...
Oh and this, too:
When things got a little nutty...
a couple that has a blast at their own reception...
And, best of all, how fun these people made my job!

Sena and Jovan!

2009-07-19T14:17:00.001-07:00

So, Do you all remember Sena and Jovan?:

This super stylish (not to mention so friendly and FUN!) couple got married last weekend and I got the honor of photographing the whole affair. Sena, who grew up in the South End (in one of those cool, old brownstones that I, being from Iowa, think of as the movie idealization of Boston) chose to have the wedding at Artists for Humanity, an awesome non-profit whose mission is to provide underserved youth with the tools for self-sufficiency through paid employment in the arts. The whole building is covered in the artwork of young, local artists and created one of the most dramatic backdrops I've ever seen for a wedding. Not to mention, the building itself has been totally redesigned to be 100% renewable energy green facility--one of the most ecologically correct buildings in the nation. It was about 85 degrees outside on July 11th, and it wasn't until Sena's dad, Stephen pointed it out, that I realized how breezy and cool it had been all day inside the building, without air conditioning!

Some highlights from the day:

Apparently Sena just carries an angelic glow around with her wherever she goes...
Sena, a fashion designer, had a really colorful aesthetic planned for her wedding day, dominated by saturated hues of yellow...as they say, it's all about details....

I'm really not into posing people for their "formal" portraits. For these pictures, I crawled up into the loft of the studio space, and asked Sena and Jovan to practice their first dance before the rehearsal. The light streaming in from the huge windows on either side of the studio made for the most lovely soft light...

I may be a black and white photographer, but...OMG COLOR!!!
Homer, a family member of Sena's played the underwater music from Super Mario Brothers as people were being seated!

Wink!

Grilled Yellowtail. NOM.

Just in time for Harry Potter!!

For more info on Artists for Humanity Please visit their website.

2009-06-22T09:35:00.000-07:00

Many brides' biggest fear for their wedding day is rain. The dreaded rain. But Nicole and John's rainy Sunday wedding in scenic Groton, Mass proves just how beautiful and romantic those moody grey and white clouds can be....

The sun came out just in time to do wedding party pictures!!

By the way....turns out that was an electric fence. And yes, I figured that out the hard way. At least it was me and not Nicole!!

Banned in Boston 2009

2009-06-17T08:48:00.000-07:00

For the second year in a row, I was asked by my good friend Jamie Ullrich, Program Coordinator for Urban Improv, to photograph their annual benefit, Banned in Boston. Urban Improv is a fantastic non-profit organization located in Jamaica Plain, that works with at-risk inner-city youth to teach them conflict resolution and non-violence. It really is an amazing organization, and once a year, Jamie disappears of the radar as she prepares for this huge event, which brings in a couple dozen four-star Boston restaurants to serve hor's deurves and local celebrities to perform a number of hilarious comedy sketches before the UI Donors. It is a truly fantastic and FUN event!

This year the show was at the House of Blues in Fenway. I was a bit apprehensive as the House of Blues is very dark, with very high ceilings, and I am NOT a fan of using direct flash. But I think I worked it out! Here are a few samples from the cocktail hour and from the show:

Of course my favorite part of the whole affair is the fooood....

Click or Clack? or Klick or Klack??
Tom Hamilton rehearsing the finale song with Carol Fulp.

Delicious Salmon with Horseradish cream...

Mayor Menino as the spirit of Abraham Lincoln.
My favorite act of the Night: Tom Hamilton dressed up as Queen Elizabeth and singing "I touched Michelle" to the tune of "I Kissed a Girl." I do believe this was the highlight of the night!

The big finale song at the end of the show

You can learn more about Urban Improv, Banned in Boston, and see my pictures on their website here!

Lorenz Photography Presents: BRANDY AND JOHN!

2009-06-16T11:49:00.001-07:00

My cousin Brandy got married a couple weeks ago, a I got the honor of photographing the whole affair! I had SUCH a fun weekend, being back in Nebraska (I'm grew up in Omaha), drinking beers with my cousins and meeting my new little baby cousin Will (Tyler and Lana's new bubs). I love my family so much, and any time I get to spend with them is never quite enough.

In the meantime, Brandy has been having kittens waiting for the pictures, so while I'm waiting for Pictage to do their thing, I thought I'd put up a preview of some of my favorites! Enjoy:

The first few here are from the rehearsal and groom's dinner.

The Man:

John helping himself to the bar at the Schuyler Country Club:
Brandy looking more like Louise than I have ever seen....

Lana is by far the coolest new mom ever. I asked her to hold her baby in a way that made him cry and she laughed at him. Brilliant.

Nebraska sun is SUNNY.

Thank you everyone for a fantastic day!! I love you all.

I'm Alive!

2009-06-16T11:44:00.000-07:00

Alright alright alright! It's been OVER A MONTH since my last blog post, which is not good. I've actually been pretty busy--I've done a couple of weddings, a bar mitvah (my first one!) and some fantastic event shoots at Decordova. One where I got to photograph a 1400 lb holstein cow outside the museum, and another where I got to photograph the Lincoln Minute Men marching up the stairs and then firing their muskets. It was pretty intense. Anyway, I will be updating this here blog with a bunch of new stuff over the next couple days, so keep your eyes out!

New Albums!

2009-05-20T10:45:00.001-07:00

I'm so excited to be offering Kambara albums as part of my product lineup now! For a while now I have been searching for a modern, stylish matted album option to add to my album lineup, which proved to be a little bit tricky. Many matted album companies tend to be a bit old fashioned (gilded edges, super thick faux leather cover, not a lot of design option). But these Kambara albums are the perfect marriage (har!) of the classic matted book, with clean modern style. All images are permanently mounted inside the windows, and are presented in this lovely satiny slipcover bag, nestled inside a larger, magnetic drop-front box. The final product makes for an imposing, handsome statement on your wedding photography.

This sample album here is an example of the ebony leather/cognac ostrich cover combo, with black mats. The images you see are from a wedding I did last spring for Mike and Lonna. I just presented it to them and they loved it!

And yes, that is my coffee table. It has many scratches on it...