Riley Photographic

Last week I spent some time with this very cool couple at one of my favorite spot near the coast. We had some fun, laughed a little and got some adorable photos of the two of them. I’m super psyched for their wedding next summer!!

Comment Contest: Here’s the time when all you friends of Jake and Elise get to send them a little love!! Post a comment about them, or what they mean to you. If they get to 25 comments by Friday I’ll send them an 11×14 of my favorite image from the session.

A couple weeks back I ventured down to the big city to meet with Lisa and Jason. I like Boston a lot, I however despise driving in Boston and the fact that there was a major movie production going on downtown with just about 1/2 of all the streets shut down in the center of town only added to my driving angst. After managing to pick my way through the chaos I was lucky to get a great parking spot and find Jason and Lisa. They were pretty chill and quickly defused my driving anxiety. Lisa was excited, Jason was a bit suspicious. We kept it light, we kept it fun. We laughed a little, we talked about life, I made corny jokes, and got them to laugh at how dorky I can be. Hey… whatever it takes!! After about 25 minutes the camera became an after thought and we had some fun. We even got a handful of fun photos. Thanks guys – can’t wait for the wedding!

Comment Contest: Okay folks here’s the deal. Add a comment to the blog post. Say something about how cool these guys are, what your connection to them is, or how excited you are for their wedding… whatever.. put it out there. If they get 25 comments before Friday I’ll send them a free 11×14 of my favorite image from our session. Show these guys some love!!!

One of the things we offer for all of our customers is an engagement session. Not everyone has the ability(due to location) to take advantage of the offer, but for those that can make the trek up to Portland or Augusta for a few hours it always proves to be a lot of fun. This particular session had some special meaning because I have known Chelsea since she was about 13 years old. At 13 she was a cute kid that I saw on the ski mountain every weekend as she was tearing around on her snowboard. Between her and her sisters they were no shortage of teenage girl energy when they were around; I always had a lot of fun bantering with them and watching them grow up. Fast forward 13 years and she has grown into an accomplished woman with a great legal career ahead of her and she’s found a great guy to spend the rest of her life with. I had a lot of fun with these two last Friday and I’m excited for their wedding at Point Lookout next summer!!

Comment Contest for all their friends and family: Post a comment about these guys and if they get 25 before the end of the day on Wednesday I’ll send them an 11×14 of my favorite image from the session. Come on you guys – show these two some love :)

Laura and Dan actually got married this past weekend at Migis Lodge.  (blog post to come about the wedding soon).  As life would have it doing an engagement session in a “normal” time frame wasn’t really an option for them.  However they still really wanted to get together so that we could get to know each other before the wedding and have a chance to make some images of them.  So,,, last week on the Tuesday before their wedding we met down at Cooks Lobster House in Harpswell.  I spent an hour or so taking photos of the two of them and using the great surrounding of the little peninsula that Cook’s occupies.   Afterwards we shared a classic Maine lobster dinner together and enjoyed great conversation over a long dinner.  I’ve fallen in love with these two!  They are fun, sincere, insightful, and so incredibly in love with each other.  They are the whole package!!  It doesn’t hurt that we have a lot in common as well.  As I said – more to come about their Migis Lodge wedding, but for now here are a few of the images from their engagement session.

I really love getting to know my customers.  I try to shoot no more than about 20-25 weddings a year, so it’s kind of important for me to get to know the people that I’m working with on a personal level.  I do an engagement session for most all of my customers.  It’s harder with the destination customers, but I’m often shocked at how willing they are to make the drive up to Maine to have a session.  Caitlin and Robb made the trip up to Maine a couple weeks ago and we got to spend a few hours together.  Robb is in the Coast Guard.  As a sailor and licensed captain I have a ton of respect of him and the work he does.  I also came very close at one point to chasing the “Coastie” lifestyle, so it was especially fun to talk shop with him and hear about the different things he does.  Caitlin just graduated with her degree in Marine Bio – so we already knew that we shared a love of all things oceanic.  I had so much fun with them,  they are fantastic together.  We fell into great conversation almost immediately and within a shockingly short period of time we were past any formalities and sharing embarrassing stories and making jokes.  I can’t wait to work with these guys on their wedding day!  Here are just a few images of our time together.One of the other things that I’ve been playing around with is adding a little bit more of a personal story to these sessions.  Separating the individuals for a few minutes and talking to them about their story is really fascinating.  It’s not something I’ll do with everyone, but if the situation presents itself it can be a lot of fun.  I tried a different approach than ever before with Robb and Caitlin and the stories were nearly identical, but each had their own subtle differences and takes on certain events.  The photography is my real focus for sure, but this is a lot of fun and adds a unique element.  I hope they enjoy it.   Click HERE to see hear a little more of their story.

I have the coolest clients, REALLY!! I’ve always thought that I was blessed to have generally very cool people as customers; I was proved right this past week on a huge level. The last week has been insane. It’s the off-season and I am busier than ever bouncing from place to place, meeting to meeting, shoot to shoot, etc. etc. I’m not complaining, but this is supposed to be the mellow season. Last Friday I had a commercial shoot, went home and packed for a huge photography convention, and spent the last hours of the day with my 2 boys.   With a scheduled departure of around 2 the next day, I wanted to get in a morning shoot that had been canceled twice already due to weather and crazy schedules. It couldn’t have gone more perfect. I arrived to meet Gus and Alicia around 10 am down by the water in South Portland; it was the perfect spring morning. In 10 minutes we were talking like old friends and sharing stories that only friends can appreciate. I’m so impressed by these two.  If for one second anyone out there reading this thinks that they have had a tough road leading up to their wedding – ya got nothin! Gus and Alicia take high honors for what they are dealing with and even more so for the way in which they are dealing: heads held high, arms tightly wrapped around each other, pushing forward and mowing down everything in their path that even resembles a hurdle. My hat is off to you both!

I hope you had fun and thanks for taking the time to chill and share a bloody mary together!    I’m really looking forwad to next weekend!

Last friday I had a shoot with Heather and Tom(a client for 2010). To be honest I showed up at the shoot with low energy and my creative juices were struggling. This doesn’t happen to me but once or twice a year, but when it does I can always dig deep. This past friday was the end of a long week that culminated with a memorial service for a long time family friend. I simply wanted to sit back on my couch with a glass of wine and watch a movie or do something mindless. I showed up at one of my favorite places to shoot and they were there waiting for me. Cliche as it sounds it was like that little yellow beetle they drove up in was full of sunshine and goodness. Heather and Tom were ready to go and were in such good spirits that I couldn’t help be affected positively. We spent the next hour cruising around the park and creating photos of the two of them. They were up for just about anything I could come up with, and even better, had a bunch of really great ideas of their own. At the end of our time together this couple had unknowingly found my “reset” button. My “chi” was dramatically improved and I had formed a great bond with an upcoming client. Oh yeah – we made some cool photos together too.
Thanks you guys!!!!! – my whole weekend started on a positive note because of the two of you!!!

Let me just start by saying that we have the best clients in the world! Thats right… THE BEST!

Skye and Josh are getting married this fall at Nubble Light House and so it seemed almost too perfect to take them to Portland Head Light for their engagement shoot. Skye is from Maine and yet, she had never set foot on the grounds of the world’s most photographed lighthouse, until yesterday.

In December I will be photographing the wedding of Anne and Joel in waaayy northern Maine. This will be my last wedding before Ella is born and Anne and Joel are the perfect couple for me to end my crazy 2008 season.
On this sunny fall day I got together with the two of them for what was going to be a “trash the dress” shoot. These guys would have walked in water, rolled on the sandy beach or done anything to trash the $20 wedding gown they got at Good Will. But…. The late afternoon sun was

just so special I

was having so much fun with them that I forgot to get the dress “trashed.”
Below is a slide show of a few photographs taken at this shoot. A few of the images were taken by Jeff, my assistant at this shoot and a studio owner in Chicago. Nice work Jeff!
Cheers
TimCheck the slideshow below or this link for the rest of the photos.
Image Link