When you decide to make an improvement to your business, it's always nice (dare I say, crucial) to have those trusted, longtime clients to play the "guinea pig" role. Luckily for me, I have quite a few who I know I could call at a moment's notice with one of my crazy ideas and they would be all-in. And that's exactly what happened with Lauren, who just so happened to be due with her third baby any day. What is the improvement, you ask? Well, if the post title didn't give it away, then here it is... HWP will now be offering professional videography as an add-on to family, newborn and children's sessions. No, I am not a videographer. Not in the least. But I happen to be working with one of the most talented in the area - Mary Boland of Anchor Hitch Media - and she is just plain awesome! 

As a mother of three myself, I can honestly say there is nothing comparable to the first 48 hours with your new baby. Throw in the fact that you have two older siblings anxiously awaiting the first meeting of their sister, and it's just that much sweeter.

Mary and I arrived at the hospital just 24 hours after sweet baby Elizabeth was born and immediately came across Lauren practically skipping down the hall to get her own water. Yep, she is just that kind of gal. We quietly set up while Lauren's mom snuggled baby (and, like any good grandmother, promptly made sure we both washed our hands). It was pure authenticity and I couldn't have asked for a more organic opportunity to capture this family becoming a fivesome. I will never forget the smiles on those two boys' faces when they walked into the hospital room for the first time!

Thank you Lauren for letting me capture you and your family through the years. And for agreeing to have an entourage hang in your hospital room the day after your baby girl arrived. I could not be more honored or more thankful! Images and one-minute video clip below. Enjoy!

A constantly-falling-out barrette to tame unruly hair, super-cute hand-me-down dresses, a snack in hand (always), bare feet, whatever left-over toys her brothers aren't playing with anymore, a timid smile, a runny nose and teething gums AND a heart of GOLD. 

It's that time of year.... the days are long, your skin is kissed by the sun and you're preparing for your final year of high school. Let Harmon Weston Photography capture you in all your pre-senior-year glory by booking a late summer session now. Break the boring-yearbook-photo mold by commemorating this special time in your life with
a lifestyle session that celebrates your authenticity. Wear your favorite jeans or little black dress, visit your favorite spot in the woods or your go-to beach location, play your favorite instrument or belt out your favorite song -- just have FUN! Your session can be completely styled ahead of time with a wardrobe consultation and professional hair and makeup or we can wing it, whatever fits you. As long as you are enjoying yourself, we will get great photos you will love, your friends will want and your parents and grandparents will cherish. More info? Contact Rebekah here.

How lucky is this girl to have such a creative {and organized!} mama to throw such great parties? Kelsey and I met almost a year ago after bonding over being transplanted to New England {both of us kicking and screaming a bit} from the south {me} and midwest {her}. We found out we have much more in common than missing the sunshine and big cities, though. Kelsey loves to throw parties and has a penchant for the details that make an event really come to life! And {big surprise here} I love photographing such parties! Here is the latest from Kelsey, a "Just Dance" themed party to ring in Kate's fourth birthday! Check out her blog at WeHeartParties.com. Enjoy!

It's always bittersweet to move away from a beautiful place... especially when it involves leaving behind the ocean. But, I am thankful the Brown family chose me to spend some time with them at one of their favorite beaches -- Plum Island -- just a couple of weeks before they packed up to head out. Even if it did mean doing a couple of u-turns and a little bit of pleading for a parking space! Best of luck to this sweet family on their next adventure!

When we found out our third little one was a baby girl last fall, most people assumed that I wouldn't be able to wait to shop for clothes -- dresses, hairbows, frilly-bottomed bloomers, etc. Truth is, while I was excited about all of those things, what I looked forward to most was decorating her nursery! I know, she's the third child (and our last), so why bother going all out? But after years of khaki, navy blue and the occasional green or yellow, I was ready to inject some serious girl color into our decor!

I was fortunate enough to meet one of the owners of Adorn Interiors right around the same time I was widdling down which shades of turquoise I wanted to use. (Who knew aqua, turquoise, ocean and surf could mean VERY different things?) Erin Johnson and her partner Meghan Santos were chomping at the bit to design a nursery, and to be honest, my third pregnancy wasn't panning out any better than my first two, so I was happy to enlist help! 

And that meeting couldn't have ended in a better match! Over the course of the six months leading up to Sawyer's arrival, the three of us (we kindly left my husband out of this one!) worked together on choosing furnishings, accessories and linens all while incorporating the items I already had that I knew I wanted to remain staples in the room. (The mustard and ivory rug that served as color inspiration and the beautiful antique dresser I found at Flukes and Finds a couple of years ago.) Meghan enlisted the help of an awesome seamstress who hand-made the crib bedding and curtains when we couldn't find exactly what we wanted in stores and Erin picked right up on the boho-chic style I was going for by adding a selection of quirky (read: super cute!) accessories. Of course all of the fabrics came from Zimman's. But really, is there any where else to shop for fabric?

And since no post would be complete without debuting photos of our beautiful baby girl, thank you to Sharon Reiley of Bittersweet Books for not only spending 16 hours with us cooped up in a hospital room on the day of Sawyer's birth, (as promised, birth story photos coming soon!) but also capturing her at home in all of our completely mundane normalness a week later. 

To the people who know and love me, I am an open book, perhaps a bit too much so. I will vent to you, I will do my best to listen without judgement and I will share, and share and share some more. I aspire to be my true self, but with the general public, my clients sometimes included, I can be a bit more reserved. That's not to say that I'm some sort of phony -- no, I am honest -- but I tend to filter my oversharing a bit more, if only to give my clients the best version of myself {and of course, there's the whole professionalism thing}. 

But, these last several months, I have been amidst a struggle and I feel it necessary to put it all out there. I owe it to the clients who have become friends, the ones who have trusted me with their babies, their moments and their family memories. I owe it to you because you have trusted me and I want you to know that I trust you too.

To put it simply, my husband and I decided to expand our family and will be welcoming a baby girl {yep, we will no longer be an all-boy family} in March. We are so, so excited for this next phase of our lives to come to fruition, and the boys couldn't be more anxious to meet their sister. That being said, I am struggling with the thought of trying to do it all once she is here. 

The past nine months have been no walk in the park... I spent the first five sick, bed-ridden and being compared by hospital nurses to Duchess Kate {without the palace staff of course.} I found myself getting regular IV treatments to keep hydrated, battling cellulitis in my foot {for some unknown reason} that led to IV antibiotics and taking round after round of anti-nausea meds, Tums and Mylanta (heartburn), stool softeners (yep, THAT's been a problem too), and iron supplements. I had to undergo a three-hour glucose test {a first for me}, two 24-hour urine screens due to my significantly high blood pressure and weekly blood draws and ultrasounds. 

Okay, rant over. I KNOW this pales in comparison to what many people go through healthwise on a daily basis, so who am I to complain? I am growing a healthy baby and am so proud of my body for sticking it out when it clearly wants to give up. The best news is, that at 37 weeks, my baby girl is scheduled to make her debut a week early and I am confident that my body will quickly regain its composure! 

Fast-forward to how this relates to the business I have spent the past four years pouring myself into. Well, because chances are, when you're pouring yourself into a newborn and two very active little boys, you aren't going to have quite as much left to pour into your business. And I want to do it all. 

When I was so sick the first five months of my pregnancy, I was utterly panicked that the busy season (typically August through late November) would pass me by. But by some miraculous turn of events, I started feeling better just in time for mini sessions and a very busy fall. {Okay, I admit, I did throw up behind a tree during a family session at Maudslay, but I think I was discreet. If you were that family and I wasn't, please don't tell me!} I was able to squeeze in almost all of the clients who got in touch and I had a blast shooting at Maple Crest Farm {a big thank you to the Elwell family} in West Newbury for holiday mini sessions. {See some of my favorites from those sessions in the slideshow below.}

This was proof to me that things just have a way of working out... During sessions when I wasn't feeling my best, clients offered to carry my chairs and blankets, they agreed to reschedule on those really bad days and they supported me despite having the opportunity to look elsewhere for their family's holiday photos. I finished 2014 better than 2013, which is something I couldn't have imagined at the beginning of the summer. {Crazy kudos to my husband as well, who not only has taken care of me and everything else the past nine months, but didn't bat an eye when I was ready to dive back into work and needed him even more -- he's quite simply the best supporter on the planet!}

Despite continued ups and downs with my pregnancy {I am now instructed by my doctors to do very little so to keep my gestational hypertension under control}, I continued to shoot a limited number of newborn sessions through the winter. It has been the perfect way to ease into maternity leave and gear up for what I am anticipating to be another busy summer and fall. Although I may show up to a session with a dollop of spit-up on my shoulder or a little bit of extra concealer under my eyes, I can assure you that I am dedicated to you and your family and I do not take my responsibility to document your most precious gifts lightly. 

While I had to miss one of my favorite opportunities for continuing education, support and inspiration {Inspire Photo Retreats} this month and had to postpone a newborn workshop I registered for back before I was pregnant, I did purchase {another} new camera and lens and have no shortage of goals for the year swirling around in my head. I am extremely excited to be expanding my high school senior offerings, and look forward to continuing to work with local businesses and families to produce images that you will be proud to display in your home or place of work for years to come. 

Until then, I look forward to being on the other side of the camera as I will be welcoming a photographer friend into my hospital room to document the third addition to our family. I can't WAIT to see what she captures. And in the spirit of being an open book, I will share {some of} them with you!  

Thank you for all you do to support HWP! I am one lucky mom, wife and photographer!

In the past, when I would get the question - "Do you shoot weddings?" - I would answer with a resounding "no!" Not that I haven't ever photographed a wedding, but those were more as favors for friends when I was just starting out on my photography journey. And if I'm being honest, I probably wasn't justly-equipped for the job. {Scratch that -- I know I wasn't!}

Fast-forward about three years {and a ton of practice later}, to the day I read a post from fellow photographer Elizabeth Clark Photography, who was in search of a second-shooter for a couple of summer weddings. Not only do I really enjoy Elizabeth's work and completely respect her as a photographer, but the day I went down to her Cambridge studio for my "interview" we chatted like fast friends! I just knew as I pulled away that we would be working together. And thank goodness I was right...

Despite the constant motion, the aching feet and the growling stomach that comes along with shooting a wedding, {you literally don't get a second to breathe} I couldn't have been more thankful for taking the leap into a new kind of shooting for me. And I don't think I could stop smiling the whole day!

As a second-shooter, you're almost always relegated to the "boys" while the primary shooter takes care of the bridal party and portraits of the bride; I was happy to oblige. This crew of groomsmen and the "best man" who was actually the groom's beautiful sister was a ton of fun to hang with, and even offered me a "tiny Coors Light," their uber-sophisticated drink of choice while getting ready. 

In addition to this great group of groomsmen, I couldn't have been more delighted with how laid-back the bride and groom were. As the primary photographer, Elizabeth had taken care of all the pre-wedding logistics, meetings, timelines, etc., so the wedding day was my first time meeting the couple. Stephen and Elizabeth {yes, the bride's name is also Elizabeth} were so sweet during their first look and genuinely just so excited to have fun with their friends and family. 

I think this shot of two of the groomsmen after Stephen and Elizabeth's first look is one of my absolute favorites!

Due to rapidly-changing light and some time constraints, Elizabeth asked me to continue working with the guys through some of the formal shots. If you can't tell, Stephen's sister Rachel is bursting with personality and made every shot that much more fun! 

Many thanks to Elizabeth Clark Photography for having me along and trusting me to just "do my thing." I hope I did you proud and I look forward to working together again very soon! 

Congratulations Stephen and Elizabeth -- because of you, my answer to the "do you shoot weddings?" question just might have changed!

For those of you who know me well, you know that I love it when a plan comes together... When the Community Health Foundation at Anna Jaques Hospital had a vision for its ad campaign to raise money for the renovation of all 12 patient rooms in the birth center, they called me to help make that vision come to fruition. (To say I was honored is an understatement!) Trouble is, I was leaving for vacation four days after the phone call and they needed the finished product before I left. Yikes!

But, somehow, I knew I could make it happen. Thanks to the ever-informative, always-comes-through-for-me online forum of the Greater Newburyport Mothers and Families Club, I was able to locate a pregnant couple within hours, schedule a shoot the next evening and edit and hand over my images before embarking on my 24-hour road trip to Florida. (That's a plan that didn't come together quite as nicely, but we'll talk about that another time!)

I absolutely love the finished product and am thrilled to play an ever-so-slight role in helping this tremendous community hospital meet its goal of providing new, more comfortable and aesthestically-pleasing rooms for new mamas and their little ones. While I haven't personally given birth at Anna Jaques (I had my boys in FL before we moved), I have held the tiny hands of many of my friends' newborns during their first hours of life sitting in that hospital and I know it holds a special place in the hearts of many of my clients and friends. 

                This is a photo of the postcard that the Community Health Foundation mailed out featuring my image.

Lucky for me, I also met a fantastic couple that evening. They brought a huge smile to my face when they told me they had planned their evening around meeting up with me, grabbed an early dinner in downtown Newburyport (ahhh, life before kids!) and were so excited for just a "couple" of photos after we finished up the ad shoot.

The couple quickly learned that I don't really have the ability to take a "couple" photos.  Especially when we had such a gorgeous evening. I literally think they wanted me to stop... Oops! 

Thanks you two for helping my plan come together! And thank you to the foundation for trusting me with your project!