My sister Ashley married the love of her life, Josh, in August, 2007. I had the privilege of photographing their wedding. Some days, I still have a hard time realizing that my "kid" sister is not only grown up, but married and now living out of state.
I was talking to her one day earlier this spring and we somehow got on the topic of "Trashing" her wedding dress. I asked her if it was something she would be interested in doing. Her response was something along the lines of "HECK YES!" We finally figured out she would be around Memorial Day weekend and we would do it then. Now the biggest question of all was where to go.
Friday morning came and we still didn’t have a plan in place. I called Ashley. "I have too many ideas for locations. What do you want to do?" We talked for about 45 minutes and finally settled on shooting at Duxbury Beach on Sunday night and go into Boston on Monday morning. We would start at the fire house on Boylston, hit Newbury, use an alley or two, and then go to Fenway.
Sunday arrived. It was nice in the morning, but then the rain came. Intense thunderstorms were carpeting the South Shore. What do we do now? We kept a close eye on the forecast which said there could be a break in the weather near sunset. My experience with this kind of weather had been that you either end up getting great light or no good light at all. We decided that Ashley and Josh would pick an outfit that they wouldn’t mind getting completely wet and we’d pack the wedding dress just in case it cleared.
As we were leaving, the sun started breaking through the clouds. I ran out to try to find a rainbow. I knew there had to be one somewhere, but I couldn’t see it. We jumped in the truck and headed for Duxbury. Ashley was the first to spot the rainbow. My right foot anxiously pressed the accelerator. I couldn’t drive fast enough.
"I feel like we’re storm chasers!" Ashley commented.
Knowing George had the 14-24mm lens, I quickly called him. He said he would meet us at the beach. When we passed his street, the rainbow was still visible. I called him again. He was almost to the beach. He could see a double rainbow. Awesome!
"Faster!" was all my brain was saying.
A few minutes later, we could see the rainbow starting to fade. We weren’t going to make it to the beach for the full arch, but I had another plan.
"Quick Ashley, put on your wedding dress!" I stated anxiously.
"Are you serious?" she replied.
"Very. Hurry!" I retorted.
"Bet this is the first time you’ve had a bride put her wedding dress on IN your truck." she chuckled.
"And probably the last." I responded.
We arrived at Bay Farm Conservation Area in Duxbury with a great view of the rainbow and a freshly soaked sea of green grass. We snapped a few shots as more people pulled in to photograph this promise from God.
We only spent about ten minutes at the field and then continued to the beach. When we arrived, George was excited to tell us that he made it there before the rainbows were gone and captured an image with two full rainbows. Awesome…literally!
There was still a piece of rainbow in the sky and the tide was out, so we quickly made our way to the water’s edge and captured some incredible reflections in the glistening sand. We wandered around the beach for a while and gave Ashley a chance to try out some of the cool jewelry she brought specifically for the occasion. The funniest moment was when Josh started dancing around behind Ashley. She couldn’t contain her laughter and neither could George and I for that matter.
The beauty of Duxbury Beach is that it has the ocean on one side and a bay on the other so it is the perfect place to shoot at sunrise or sunset and get colors reflecting in the water. Once we finished playing on the beach, we headed over by Powder Point Bridge and snapped a few more shots before the sun fell below the horizon. After it vanished, the waiting game began.
"What are we waiting for?" Ashley inquired.
"Twilight!" George and I responded simultaneously.
"How long do we have to wait?" she followed-up.
"About 40 minutes or so, but it’s up to Mother Nature." I explained. "It will be worth it. I promise!"
And it was. At twilight, Ashley was frozen and we were all starving hungry, since the last time we all ate was about eight hours earlier. But the sky didn’t disappoint and we captured one of our best shots to date. Glad I bought that umbrella stand at E.P. Levine a few weeks ago!
We departed, unintentionally taking half the beach’s sand with us in Ashley’s tulle. We stopped at a Thai restaurant in Kingston and got our "to go" order in five minutes before they closed.
The next morning, we met up in Quincy for a solo session with Ashley. Her friend Megan did her hair. I bought a bouquet at Stop & Shop (really nice and only $35!), we got all the sand out of the dress the night before and hung it out to dry. It didn’t even look like it had been to the beach. It wasn’t until Ashley, George and I got in the truck that Ashley said, "What smells like fish?" George responded candidly "Your dress."
Our first stop was the fire house on Boylston. The firefighters were incredibly accommodating and we promised to be out of their way in two seconds flat if a call came in. They even let Ashley hold an axe and don a helmet. They went so well with her red heels!
"I was SO not meant for manual labor!" Ashley concluded while wielding the axe.
We then strolled down Newbury Street and found a wonderful door that needed paint and had ivy growing up next to it. Perfect!
After that we wandered through an alley between Newbury and Boylston. We didn’t find much, so we headed to another alley where George had recently shot near St. Cecilia’s. There was barely a spot on the walls that hadn’t been tagged by some street artist. What a contrast with Ashley’s white dress.
Our final destination was Fenway Park. I took Ashley to her first Red Sox game for her birthday back in the early 90’s. We’ve been going together ever since. One night after a game, we got to meet Pedro Martinez and get his autograph. We met a lot of players hanging out after the game and were always excited to go home with a baseball covered in autographs.
We spent some time shooting in front of Gate A, grabbed an overpriced hot dog, and then headed home. The color of the gates was incredibly complimentary to Ashley’s blonde hair and complexion. My dad saw one of the shots and said, "Is that Ashley?" He could hardly believe that his little girl could look so grown up. I guess that’s what I have to look forward to in 20 or so years when Lily Grace grows up.
Our bonus destination was an old church on Berkeley Street. While we were waiting for Josh to pick up Ashley, we had her pose against the backdrop of beautiful stone and iron work. Some of the shots we took there ended up being my favorites.
Ashley – as my sister and friend, I can honestly say you’re one of the most beautiful subjects I’ve ever photographed. I’m still trying to figure out how you got all the good looking genes. Love ya kid!
Anyone gotta wedding dress just lying around? I have an idea…send me an email!
Below is a sampling from our six hours of shooting. More to come!
And last, but definitely not least…possibly one of our best portraits yet…
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