Mary Dougherty Photography l New York Wedding Photographer » custom wedding + portrait photography

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May 24, 2013

Iced Coffee

In our house it’s always a revelation. Summer comes, and along with it iced coffee season. It takes us a little while to remember that in order to have the perfect iced coffee we need to make coffee ice cubes. It never gets watery and makes us feel extra fancy, which makes up for the fact that we live far from the rest civilization. Seriously, the other day friends drove to our house for the first time and thought they were lost because they kept passing Amish homes on the way. Note : it’s actually a sign that you’re getting closer! Hope you have a long weekend in store to commemorate + celebrate Memorial Day. I begged my boss for the day off and she finally relented. Hooray!

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May 24, 2013 - 9:48 am

Alice G Patterson - What a nice boss you have :-) Love this idea and love the photo just as much… totally going to get on this!

May 23, 2013

Carnival Engagement : Rachel + Brandon

Cotton candy, balloons and carnival rides were everything Rachel and Brandon had pictured. After winning the engagement session giveaway we started planning their session and I was thrilled to shoot it a few weeks ago. After scouring for nearby fairs and carnivals that would fit the bill they settled on a small one in near by Holland, NY since there was just a small window Rachel and Brandon had to make the shoot happen. We spent the evening walking around and having fun : taking a spin of the merry go round and lamenting the broken ferris wheel. I’m not sure how much convincing they needed for the fun slide… but from what I can tell it lived up to it’s name. Besides enjoying the creativity afforded when photographing at a carnival, it was so nice to get to know Rachel and Brandon. I know everyone will have fun at their fall wedding and I can’t wait to see the photos from that… until then enjoy these images and follow me here to see more recent work!

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May 23, 2013 - 9:23 am

Alice G Patterson - These are so cute… you did a great job!

May 23, 2013 - 3:19 pm

Sarah K - Love all of the colors! This looks like it was a fun one:)

May 21, 2013

Ruzena | portrait

This little one year old has grown so much. She is on the cusp of walking, always following her big brother, and scientific in her discovery of the world around her. Ruzena is a doll, and I loved photographing this milestone of one year along with portraits of her family. With shades of ivory and cream, yellow, and light blue this family put together a perfect ensemble. In the end clothes got a bit dirty… and wet, but it was worth it to go in the creek! I appreciate that their parents weren’t afraid to let them play, and I think it made the session even more fun. Take a look!

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May 21, 2013 - 2:41 pm

Alice G Patterson - These are both beautiful and precious!

May 23, 2013 - 3:20 pm

Sarah K - Aw! This looks so serene for a family shoot! I love the spring colors and those EYES! Gosh, adorable:)

May 20, 2013

planning a wedding day

I don’t know about you, but planning the schedule of a wedding day is hard work. What time should we finish getting our hair done? When will the flowers arrive? How long do we need for family photos? They questions easily pile up until they overwhelm you and you abandon them to be answered another day. For those of you working with a wedding coordinator, you can sit back and relax as they do the work for you. If you are doing the planning yourself, then read on!

Take a step back and ask yourself some bigger questions before you get down to the details. What’s most important to you on your day? How do you want to experience the day – and how do you want your guests to? I’ve written posts in the past about wedding day schedules, and featured different weddings to show the order of events for that particular day. This time I have something different for you.

Recently I put my first wedding photography guide together for clients. I know, it only took 5 years and the pressure of less time due to a baby for me to get my act together. I’m more productive under pressure, which I think works well with being a wedding photographer. In that guide I made a list of the typical events on a wedding day : bridal party photos, ceremony, cocktail hour… the list focuses around events because that is how I approach them as a photographer. There are average amounts of time that people use as well as spaces to include the time each person would like to devote to each area.

The goal is to break up the day into smaller portions so it’s easier to see where your time is spent and make sure you spend it how you want to. I think it’s safe to say that everyone wants to enjoy their wedding day, but not everyone schedules it so they can do so. If you want to see the list I wrote up take a look here and feel free to download and share. However if you copied it and used it as your own guide that wouldn’t be cool. If you look at the document and think – wait so you’re saying I only need 6 hours for my wedding – that’s not exactly true. All transition times need to be added in between each event. Also, this sheet is just a bare bones version of a wedding day distilled from those I’ve encountered and once clients take a look and see what to expect, we still talk through the day and make sure it flows the way they want. It’s not perfect but maybe with your feedback it will be! You’ll have to let me know what you think!

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May 17, 2013

Leesburg Engagement : Kate + John

It was a set up. Well, that makes it sound too staged and this story unfolded more organically. What really happened is Kate started a new job and there met Judi, the wife of John’s best friend. She could tell they would be perfect for each other, so in between work conversations John was always brought up. Sure, Kate thought it was a bit strange that she was always hearing about John, but before she knew they were all getting together for dinner and games and having fun. Soon they were off on what they would later call their first date – Kate didn’t know it was a date and John still jokes that she showed up in gym clothes.

They began dating, basking in the afterglow of a new relationship, when Kate was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. She didn’t know what would happen to their 4 month relationship, but John stayed by her side the whole time. Their relationship grew through the testing and trials and they emerged stronger. He kept her smiling, and together they would dream up what they would do once she was better. On the top of their list was to dress up and go to a nice dinner at Lightfoot in Leesburg. It took around 7 months to actually make it happen once Kate was better, so it wasn’t a night that seemed out of the ordinary. However when they came home, John gave Kate a white orchid and tied between the stems of the flower was a ring. He got down on one knee and asked her to marry him.

People always have more to their story than what you see. Not only do I think Kate and John have a relationship that will last, I think they’ve worked hard to get there. When I was in the DC area we meet in Leesburg for their engagement session, walked by Lightfoot and talked about their upcoming winter wedding in Rochester, New York. Full of life is how I would describe Kate and John, and I hope I’ve captured that in these images… enjoy!

 

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