more of you know who...

We have weddings and engagements to post! All of a sudden this is The Kira Blog! By popular demand I'll continue to add photos to our public Facebook photo gallery of her here: Kira's Album and some of the really good ones may (will) make an appearance on our blog here and there (or every hour)

Kira day 2!

I promise I wont turn into one of those parents who need to show every picture ever taken of their child - but look how cute she is!!! I think she looks just like her beautiful mother Melissa but i think this batch has one photo where she kinda looks like daddy...

kira shaun mahoney

Open Photo Contest - 1st & 2nd place!

Exciting news! For me at least. I enter photo contests every now and then to see if anyone else thinks as highly of my images as I do (or my mom). It's also a good way to see which images are marketable. I was fortunate enough to win 1st place in the "animals" contest and 2nd place in the "wedding details" contest. The first image is a lone periwinkle in the surf leaving a path behind and the second is a ring shot with the bride's bouquet of calla lillies. The great thing about the Open Photo Contest is that anyone can vote - 4 random images show up onscreen at once and you click your favorite then another 4 show up and so on. Cheating is nearly impossible as the image selection is completely random. There are no stuffy judges on power trips - just random people, mostly photographers, clicking their favorite images. And a nice boda bag for me!

Memorial Day 2008

I am home sitting here blogging safe and sound. I am thankful for the men & women who have served and protected this country throughout history and especially during World War II. I thought I'd post some images I captured in Washington DC and France to help honor those who haved served and are serving. The first one is Omaha Beach - Normandy, France. It's unreal to think about what happened there on June 06, 1944 and how peaceful it was in 2005 when I took that photo.

Graduation!

We have officially graduated from child birth class! Here is the diploma to prove it! With this piece of paper we are ready for anything parenting can throw at us. I know our little girl needs to be wiped front to back, melis knows how to candle breathe (which solves everything), and all we need to do is sleep when she sleeps - we should be all set. And here are our versions of some maternity shots. We went on a little tour of some of our favorite places so our little girl has a record of it!

How can you not love this commercial??

This is the best ad I have seen in a long time. I love the Discovery Channel! Boom de yada!

Rusty and Cooper - Cat vs Dog

Who needs the UFC?? I could watch these guys go at it all day! Melissa's sister's family have a cat and a dog that wrestle and chase each other all the time. Here's one of many title bouts:

Christmas Jersey Style

We visited my family in New Jersey this weekend. Of course it had to snow the day we left and now our driveway is a frozen sheet of snow 4 inches deep. But our friends took us to see this CRAZY house all lit up. And it was ALL LIT UP, probably enough to see from space! It was below freezing out so I didn't take too many shots as my eyes were freezing over. Check these out:

Let it snow! You could be famous...

Ok, so in 1996 I was on the front page of the Boston Globe! Crazy! I was traipsing around in Scituate during that insane storm taking photos with a disposable camera (maybe the beginning of my career...) And a photographer from the Globe was there and I was the only fool outside so he snapped my picture and the next day I'm on the cover! Here it is: (the story continues)



That is me in a Navy issue hood my uncle gave me. I still have those gloves. So... Melissa and I were in Borders book store and she happened to pick up this book to check out:



And lo and behold there I am on page 8, full page! Of course they don't have my name but they had it in the paper. So my 15 minutes of fame lives on! At least in my head.

Our Christmas Ornaments

Melis always does a crazy good job of putting up the tree and decorating it. This year is no different. Here's a bunch of our ornaments that decorate our fake tree. Just a little something to put you in the holiday spirit if you didn't go to the mall in October to see the Christmas stuff already out on the shelves. Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas!

Milty and his new home

We had a wedding in Milton last week and the center pieces were goldfish bowls. So at the end of the night we were packing up our gear and there sat this lone goldfish in a bowl on top of a piano. I set up our monitor for the "day of photos" slideshow on the piano right next to his bowl so I really couldnt tell if people were crowding around to look at our photos of the wedding or to watch Milty cruise around his bowl. But he was unclaimed at the end of the night and Melis and I decided to adopt him and save him from a possible flushing. Here he is in his new, spacious pad. I think he has Ich but I treated him for it right after I snapped this fisheye shot of him. I've always wanted to take a photo of a fish with a fisheye lens! Long live Milty!

Escapees from Bongi's

Look who stopped by our front yard! If I was able to "shoot" them with a camera someone may want to deep fry them! It's November! what are they doing?? GO HIDE!! The next day we actually watched them fly up into trees in our backyard to sleep for the night. Pretty cool.

Halloween 2007 with the family!

Here's a quick slideshow of some Halloween fun! It was the perfect fall night for trick or treating with our niece and nephews.
Who gives out pretzels on Halloween?? C'mon people stick with the candy bars!

what the???

We have lots of amazing wedding photos to post but I had to blog this. I'm not sure what part of candid, emotional or artistic this covers but it sure is funny. Melissa called me over to the clothes dryer to show me something that makes you say how the heck could that happen?? Her bra strap got caught around the latch that holds the dryer door closed while it was spinning! Look how many times that thing got twisted! We had a ball of laundry attached to her twisted bra. Like a laundry bomb with a bra fuse! Maybe that was an old school drying cycle where you wring the life out of something until it's dry. Has this ever happened to anyone??

Apple Picking at Honey-Pot Hill Orchards

How much more New England can you get?? Apple picking in Stow, MA in the fall! It was more like summer - it was at least 85 degrees out but look at how much fun we had. How can you not have fun with our niece and nephews? Everywhere we go it's like a photoshoot for some magazine! Someone will discover these kids! And don't forget the goat - check out that goatee. Wait til mom sees the apple Mason was eating... We won't mention that most of the apples we picked were not ripe. I guess the roped off parts that say "Do not pick - not ripe" are actually true. I was wondering why we were the only ones around that section.

Marshfield Fair 2007 - The Clown Gets Drowned.

If you live in Marshfield there are 2 things you do without fail every year. Go to the beach and go to the Marshfield Fair. We live in Marshfield so here we go - it's Fair time again. We have been going every year since I moved here in 1994. And every year I get an ego boost when the clown berates me publicly and then gets his ass sunk. Twice! I always seem to sink him right after he lets a great insult fly. Perfect timing. I sink the clown for everyone who has ever been made fun of by a clown. Every year he calls me Pointdexter. Every year he gets wet.

Luminaria along the Scituate coastline

I have some blogging to catch up on! Melis and I went to Scituate Light early to stake a spot at the end of the jetty for the Luminaria show. The whole town gets into lighting candles along the coastline and it looks so nice at dusk. I managed to get a couple of decent shots. Some candles are lit in bags with sand but these were inside milk containers. We also went to the Shark Weigh-In at the Scituate Town Fishing Pier to see some Great Whites or Makos or anything. Nothing. Not one shark was caught in 2 days. I guess our waters are safe! Or just overfished.

Wacky video of the week - Thriller (at a prison)

I remember watching the original Thriller video on MTV with my younger sister. She was probably 4 or 5. I will never forget the utter terror that took over her when Michael turned into a werewolf. She was shaking and screaming in terror and for years I couldn't listen to that album without terrifying her. I used to threaten to play it when she was annoying me. Nice huh? Hopefully this version won't send her into a trembling relapse:

Nantucket - Our 10 Year Anniversary!

Melissa and I just celebrated our 10 year anniversary in style in Nantucket. The weather was perfect and so were the mojitos! She is the love of my life and it was awesome spending time there with her. It was a nice escape from the crazy busy wedding season we are having. Now we are back and refreshed ready for all our bride & grooms! Here are some images from one of our favorite islands (check out the shrimp nibbling my toes):

Feeding the ducks in Scituate Harbor

Melis and I had some fun feeding... or trying to feed the ducks the other day. Those geese are crazy!

July 03, 2007 - Fireworks in Rexhame!

I love the 3rd of July in Marshfield! There's nothing like being on the beach watching amateurs set off their fireworks. Every neighbor tries to outdo last year and each other. It's such a great tradition and the show is better than being in Boston because there is always the risk of getting blown up. Plus you can get real close for some great shots...

South Shore Living magazine cover photo!

My nephew's Kyle and Kelsey are famous. Kind of. A photo I took of them jumping into the North River off the Bridge Street bridge is on the cover of the July/August issue of South Shore Living! It is also used across a 2 page spread inside the magazine. I am honored that they asked us to use the photo. I originally entered the photo into a contest for the magazine and the Audubon Society along with some great photos from others that are also featured in the magazine. And yesterday was my birthday so I decided to jump. It was 100 degrees which was also incentive. It's like the fountain of youth - I feel so much younger and alive after jumping. It is so much fun. The tide was low so this was easily the highest jump I've done. Melissa filmed from the shore and I held onto my new waterproof Olympus 770 and filmed on the way down. I'll be doing this on every birthday. We also want to offer a FREE engagement session to any bride & groom willing to jump while holding hands. Any takers?? Take a look:





And here's the video from both angles (you can see me trying to smile for the camera - warning: it gets loud when i'm underwater...):

Standish Humane Society

Melissa and I went to the Standish Humane Society in Duxbury today. They are a no-kill cat shelter and adoption center. I volunteered to photograph the cats they have up for adoption so they can use them on their website. I think photos that show how beautiful and cute these cats really are will help find them new homes. There were plenty of cats but they had a nice big house to roam around - they weren't all lined up in tiny cages. We met Julia, the Shelter Director, and she introduced us to all the cats. They were so friendly and they all need loving homes. So if you would like to have a cat as a pet - go to the shelter first before you go to the pet store and take one of these adorable cats home! Here are just a few of the ones we met:

Memorial Day Weekend!

Finally a holiday weekend with great weather and no weddings! Melis and I relaxed, went to a cookout, went to an arts festival, ate too much ice cream, visited Scituate Light for the 1000th time, and cut the grass twice because it was so long... Here are some random images from our weekend.

Chicago! - Pictage Partner Conference

Melis and I just got back from a Pictage member photography conference in Chicago. What a town!! We made plenty of new friends and we met Denis Reggie - perhaps the greatest wedding photojournalist alive. He photographed the JFK Jr. wedding among others. The guy's a genius and very inspiring. Hopefully we took some of his wisdom home with us.
We took a windy city tour with some of our fellow wedding photographers from across the country. Sangria and Tapas! You can't beat that. Take an online photo tour with us below...

Lens Baby 3G in Scituate Harbor!

Melis and I took a nice long walk today in our old stomping grounds - Scituate Harbor. I brought my camera and new lens with me. It's a Lens Baby 3G. It has a sweet spot of selective focus and everything else has a cool, funky blur to it. To me it makes things look like they have been miniaturized somehow. Everything is manual - the focus, shutter speed and aperture. It's very cool and I will be breaking it out at weddings for some funky shots soon. In the meantime enjoy some Lens Baby shots from Scituate Harbor!

real signs of spring!

Weatherwise here in Marshfield it has been tough to believe it is actually spring. The last few days changed our minds. It was so nice outside! Melis and I went for a walk at the North River Wildlife Sanctuary and then over to Scituate Harbor. The frogs were belting out tunes and the beach roses were ready to bloom!

Easter Sunday

This year was our turn to have the family over. It was cold but still sunny. We had a successful egg hunt and threw in a game of tag to boot...

friends from jersey!

Our best friends from New Jersey came up to visit us for the weekend before our busy wedding season begins. That's one thing about being a wedding photographer - your weekends during the summer are booked! So when we have time we like to see friends and family as much as possible. We had one nice day this weekend and we squeezed in some wiffle ball!








Then the kids discovered the Photo Booth software on the iMac...

the north end

Melis and I were craving some chocolate chip cookies from Mike's Pastry so we decided to take a ride into town. It was a pretty nice day on Sunday but still a little colder than we hoped. We walked around and took a little photo tour before we waited in line at Mike's for 30 minutes. The cookies are worth every second.

chinese checkers

Melis and I always play Chinese Checkers after dinner and she always beats me. Tonight we had some homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, some milk, a warm fire and the best 2 out 3. Melis beat me in 2 straight. Our macs were tied up burning DVD's for a bridal show Feb. 11 at our favorite place to shoot weddings, the Red Lion Inn in Cohasset. So I took a few shots - one of the board and another of our cat enjoying some left over milk.

chopper day

I went to a motorcycle show today with my nephews and their dad at the Bayside Expo Center. What a place to go for visual stimulation! The artwork and design on some of those bikes is unreal.

A rafter visits the studio...

Every once in a while we have some wild turkeys show up in our yard. This was the biggest gaggle... umm... rafter... we've seen yet! They weren't so brave in November...

This was taken right through our kitchen window...




Moving down to our studio for a better view... That's the top of an easel you see on the left. Of course being the stealth wildlife photographer that I am, I knocked over the easel and broke a framed print.




This was right after the easel fell and about half a second before they bolted for the woods.

Melissa Mahon-etzky

This is what we do when we don't have a wedding in February...
(video)