Image of the Month for February

Our image this month is of a lovely young child whose name is Prudence. It was taken during the wedding ceremony of a really fun couple we had the pleasure of photographing on their wedding day, George & Heather. They were married at the Radisson Hotel & Suites in Chelmsford, MA. This hotel featured wonderful twin staircases cascading down from the second floor and was a great place to hold a wedding. (See some more of our images from this wedding at jpbrandanophoto.com .) The staff could not have been more helpful or pleasant .

Prudence, Heather and George's daughter was a delight to photograph and be around. During most of the ceremony, she stayed at her assigned place. However, at a certain point, she must have missed her parents because all of a sudden, she walked up to her mom, took hold of her hand and stayed there for the rest of the ceremony.

I took the image at this perspective for two reasons. First, to emphasize her size and second because like most images including Prudence, it was hard not to focus on her. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did taking it.

Enjoying a Weekend in Wintery New Hampshire

Phyllis and I (as well as everyone else in the northeast) have had enough of the snow and freezing temperatures this year. Unfortunately, it is only February and we have more months of potential snow and cold days ahead. It can be very challenging to enjoy a weekend night, but not this past weekend. We were lucky enough to be invited to photograph and listen to one of our favorite local bands, Bobby Fosmire & the Sharptones (http://www.bobbyfosmire.com/).

Bobby has been performing for over twenty years in many of the top venues in New England, including opening for Three Dog Night at the Boston Hatch Shell on the Charles River. Bobby performs almost every weekend in the New England area. This past weekend he performed at 'Nan King', a Chinese Restaurant in Hudson, NH. Bobby, as usual, was sold out and put on a great show.

Photographically, the low lights made it a challenge to find good images. Shooting with flash, I had to shoot at an ISO of 2000 or better . Even at 3200, it was a challenge to freeze the action. If you visit our web page's gallery (jpbrandanophoto.com) and click 'family events', you can see the rest of the images. A night of great music, dancing and a good meal made the cold temperatures a little easier to manage. Whenever Bobby & the Sharptones perform near you, you should make a point to see them. We guarantee you'll have a great evening, freezing temperatures or not.

Announcements/ Upgrades

Phyllis and I are happy to be making announcements about upgrades that will be taking place over the next few weeks. The first such announcement is that in an effort to improve the viewing experience for our clients online, we have changed our hosting company. We have signed up with Smugmug and we will now use their interface to post our images.

This change has a few advantages. First, Smugmug offers a larger image size which makes viewing easier and hopefully more enjoyable. Also, we have more control over the images. We are now able to keep our images posted online for longer periods of time in order to showcase a particular gallery or change the content to keep the galleries interesting. Another advantage is that we can now offer a much wider selection of products and image sizes for people to purchase. This product line includes images printed on canvas, or coffee mugs and many other surfaces. The last and best advantage is that we are able to offer the same high quality while keeping the prices lower. This means we can offer prints at a lower cost to our clients. We will keep trying to improve our products to give our clients the very best possible experience. We will keep you informed of other announcements as they happen. Have a great day!

Image of The Month

We at JP Brandano Photography wish everyone a Happy New Year! A new feature we will be showing is the Image of the Month. Each month, we will pick an image that we enjoyed making and viewing. We will try and explain what was taking place and share our thought process.


Our first image is from a wedding we photographed this past October: the wedding day of April and Edwin. This was a really fun couple to shoot and if you view the images from our galleries, you can see that they really enjoyed their day.


In many weddings, the first time the bride and groom see each other just seconds before the ceremony, can be very emotional. In this image, April is being escorted by her dad, Joe to where Edwin is waiting. As April and her dad reached a point where she could see her future husband standing there, it started to happen. When April saw Edwin in his tuxedo waiting for her, she started to react. Looking through the eyepiece of the camera, I could see her reaction clearly. First, she had a slight smile then her eyes started to fill with tears. (I focused on April and kept shooting).



Then the moment happened. Overcome by the enormity of this wonderful day in her life, April became overwhelmed and in trying not to cry but loosing the battle, thrust her bridal bouquet in front of her face. I remember thinking what a great image to tell the story of this moment. Normally, I would be upset at not capturing the bride's facial expression, but not this time. I think we can all tell what April was feeling at this moment.

ICE STORM 2008

After putting together some images from a recent wedding, we were going to update our blog this weekend but nature changed our schedule. On Thursday, December 11th, we'd just gone to bed when the electricity went out. At first, we thought no big deal, we'd been through this before. There was a storm outside and we thought that when we woke up, the power would be back. We were wrong! Using a flashlight, Phyllis got ready and left for work. While waiting for the power to come on or the sun to come up, I laid in bed listening to the loud cracking noises coming from outside. Soon these sounds were followed by large thumps.

By seven o'clock, the sun was bright enough for me to walk downstairs and look out the front window. What I saw was amazing! Our yard looked as though a hurricane had swept through. The driveway was blocked with large tree limbs and branches. A twenty foot tree limb snapped from our birch tree was sprawled across our front lawn. Beside our garage, another birch tree standing twenty-five to forty feet was covered with huge amounts of ice. From the weight of the ice, the tree's highest branches were stretching to the ground. The weight was so heavy, the old tree's roots stuck up from the ground. Where there was once flat ground around the base, the lawn had been pushed up a foot.

By the time Phyllis came home that night, we needed to move to a hotel. We still had no heat, no water and no way to cook but since there was no damage to the house, we managed the minor inconvenience. We stayed at a Holiday Inn in Salem which is about twenty minutes from our home. Phyllis went to work each day and I checked on the house and our two cats, who were more comfortable staying behind. It was a little cold at forty-eight degrees but I kept lighting a fire in the fireplace to take out the chill. By day three, the temperature was in the fifties but we were still at the Holiday Inn. According to the authorities, we were one of 322,000 customers who were without power. It would be a while.

Every day, I would check on my laptop from the hotel for updates on when the power might return. I found a very useful site called the "Londonderry Home Town News". It was the one place that posted current updates all day long.

By Monday, the fifteenth, many people were still without power so restaurants, hotels and gas stations were all extremely busy. The power company called for additional help from as far away as Canada to assist their employees working twenty-four hours a day to clear the roads and replace lines in an effort to supply power to the people of New Hampshire. On the fifteenth, we learned that our street was scheduled for restoration in two days. On the seventeenth, I went to the house and waited and waited for the power to return. Nothing happened!

By six o'clock, Phyllis and I went to dinner at the local 99 Restaurant and then checked the house one more time for power. Nothing! We returned to the hotel, relaxed and around ten o'clock started getting ready for bed. Preparing to shut off my cell phone as I had done for days, I dialed the house one final time. Immediately, I heard Phyllis' voice on the answering machine not the automatic voice provided by the phone company. (I actually redialed the number to verify it and let Phyllis hear). We were really excited!

Within thirty minutes, we were back in our own home . The temperature was reading fifty-five degrees and climbing steadily and once again all was right with the world. We were extremely surprised that although the house had been without electricity for six days, the temperature had never gone below forty-four degrees. Even the refrigerated and frozen food for the most part could be saved. We knew we were luckier than some but we learned a valuable lesson. We have a generator being delivered on Friday. We have attached some images from our yard that first morning. Of course, I had to take pictures lol.

Kathy & Jason's Wedding Day!!

In the future, we will discuss our most recent weddings but since this blog is new, we thought we would mention some of the weddings we've photographed this past year. In our experiences, we've met some really great people. One such couple was Kathy & Jason, who were married this October. From the start of the engagement day, straight through to the wedding, you could tell these two were in love. Although it wasn't far, it was our first destination wedding. We drove to New York the day before the wedding and stayed at the Hotel Marriott that Kathy and Jason reserved for us.




We drove the day before, for a few reasons. First, you don't want to get stuck in traffic or have car problems on the day of the wedding. Can you imagine that phone conversation telling the bride you were not going to make it? The second reason is that we like to attend the rehearsal. It is really a good idea to see as much of the wedding ceremony as possible, especially if it's at a place you've never been or a style of ceremony that you've never seen. This way you know what to exspect during the service and can be prepared to be in the right place at the right time to capture those special memories.





The rehearsal went well and we were invited to the evening dinner being held at a terrific place called Shadows. Shadows sits right on the Hudson River with a great view of the George Washington Bridge. This location had a really large venue for groups. There were two sections: one, a restaurant/sports bar and the other, a function hall. Inside the sports bar, we found ourselves looking at the largest tv screen we had ever seen. That night the Red Sox were playing Tampa Bay but the Red Sox eventually won the game. (We couldn't believe we were watching a Red Sox game in the middle of all the New York fans). We had a great meal and were able to meet the members of wedding party and both families of the bride and groom. This is another advantage of attending the rehearsal. Not only do you meet more people but they get used to having you photograph them.

At 9am the next day, we gathered at Kathy's parents' house to photograph the preparations for her big day. Kathy's mom and dad were great people and a lot of fun to be around. Besides them, we were able to photograph the bridesmaids getting ready and interacting with each other. One of the bridemaids, Ashley did Kathy's makeup and worked like a professional. The two of them had great fun and gave us lots of good images to photograph.

After Kathy finished dressing, we decided to take some pictures on the front lawn. When we began photographing Kathy and saw her mom and dad wearing sunglasses, an idea came to us. We asked if Kathy had a pair, too and all three of them wore them. We captured a very funny moment which we're sure they will remember fondly.

Kathy and Jason hired a driver with a vintage Rolls Royce to transport them during the wedding. When the Rolls arrived, we left Kathy and her dad at the house while we took pictures of Jason and the best man at the church. When we finished, there was time plenty of time to photograph Kathy arriving with her dad.

The ceremony took place in a small but quaint church in Fishkill, New York. The service went smoothly and we captured many fine moments to share with friends and family.

After the ceremony, we drove to Mills Mansion to photograph the formals. It was a wonderfully sunny day with the warm colors of the foliage shining in the background so we were able to shoot many of the sets overlooking the river. We also took a couple of images from the front of the building which allowed us to spread the wedding party out among the columns. These images were some of our most favorite and received high praise from the families.

When we finished the formals, we drove to the Villa Borghese in Wappingers Falls, where the reception was being held. This facility had everything a bride and groom could want. There was an expansive hall, colorful landscape with a lighted gazebo and amazing food. It was truly exceptional and made for a memorable day. If you ever have the chance to be part of an event here, we know you'll enjoy it. The reception was truly entertaining with the best congo line we have ever seen, led by an enthusiastic gentlemen. The wedding party surprised the bride and groom with an archway of light sabres that they ran under to get to their table.

The father and daughter dance was very special and showcased what Kathy's relationship with her dad is all about. There was much laughing and smiling through most of it but near the end the emotions of the moment took hold of the both of them. This image conveys that emotion quite well.


This wedding had many laughs and funny moments. It was a

very successful wedding event for everyone and Kathy, Jason, their families and friends all had a great time. As did we!!

Engagement Days

You might be asking yourself , "hmm what are engagement days" , let me answer that question.By the way it is a great question. Engagement Days are when the future Bride & Groom, accompanied by a photographer, (hopefully one from JP Brandano Photography) take a trip to some destination in which they feel connected and celebrate their engagement. The place can be a busy downtown area or a place by the sea. It may even be the place where the groom proposed or where the couple's first date took place. It is a romantic and fun day with many memories and we strive to capture them. The days are important for another reason. It gives the Bride & Groom a chance to see how the photographers work. It helps build a relationship of trust between the photographers and the couple which helps the couple feel more comfortable so the wedding day photographs look more relaxed & natural.

We photographed two engagements in the month of October. Kathy & Jason (pictured below) and later April and Edwin. Surprisingly, both couples chose Portland, Maine as their location.

On the way to Portland, April & Edwin stopped at a local farm stand and picked out a pumpkin.

Both couples enjoyed a beautiful day with blue skies and warm temperatures. If you're not familiar with Portland, it is a great place to spend a day or the weekend. It has great scenery on its coastline, some really great restaurants, many well known hotels and a very nice ice cream parlor, which Jason appreciated!!!!

Both couples were a joy to photograph. They both had a great sense humor and truly were in love, as I'm sure the pictures show.

If you're planning your wedding, try to include an engagement day or night. As a special offer during the months of November & December, an engagement day or night can be booked for 2009 at the 2008 price of $125. This includes a cd of all images.