Love and Laughter = The Best Medicine

     She was getting ready with her best friends and family for one of the happiest days of her life. Some shots and PBR may or may not have been involved, but they didn't need it to have a great time together. They already knew the second August 11th, 2012 started that it was going to be unforgettable. They stopped to pose for silly pictures and got all sassy (because those make for the best Facebook profile pics), they talked, laughed and made finishing touches while they waited for their time to begin the ceremony.

Deb & Mike

    Perfect weather and gorgeous sunlight poured through the church's tall windows. The ceremony was short and sweet. Happy laughs and applause rang throughout the audience and bridal party as they sealed the deal with their first kiss as husband and wife. And finally, it was time to love, laugh, and celebrate once more. Even as it started to down pour, not one of them stopped laughing and smiling.

Thank you Deb and Mike for letting me be a part of your special day. And most of all thank you for all the laughs, you guys were a lot of fun! Congratulations and best wishes for the future!

Super Sassy

They were such a FUN bridal party!

This was their cake topper! 

See what I mean? Nothing but laughs :)

The Calm After the Storm

Everything was set up and ready to go. They stood around, made finishing touches, pinned on boutonnieres and made small chat with close family as they waited for their time to go...

Then the clouds rolled in.

It was thundering, lightening and pouring rain. The stress set in.. "what are we going to do?"

In all the chaos, they knew exactly what to do- Adapt. They had to adapt to their situation, they had to adapt to the rain- just as we spend our whole lives doing. We adapt to our surroundings, our jobs, the climate, we adapt to change and most of all we adapt for the people we love.

Once adapted, everything ran smoothly. Everything else went just as planned and in the end, it did not matter that it was raining on their special day, because everyone they loved was there no matter what the circumstance. And it reminded me... love always prevails.... even through our rainiest of days.

Heather and Jenna

Heather and Jenna were married on a hot, humid and a previously sunny saturday in August. Despite the rain that rolled in, friends, family and a few adaptations made for a perfect day. Not to mention, after the storm, there was BEAUTIFUL summer sun and a gorgeous haze from the rain and humidity that made for perfect lighting!

Thank you Heather and Jenna for including me in your special day and most of all thank you for showing all of us that no matter what life throws at you, the people you love will always matter most.

Here's a little sneak peek from the day and that gorgeous lighting I mentioned ;)

This little stud was cracking everyone up! :)

Gorgeous light, right?

Simple life, Simple love, Simple Happiness.

My life right now: Packed into boxes, suitcases, and contractor trash bags (because I have WAY too many clothes and shoes for one small 5'3" person). With the hustle and bustle of moving all of my stuff home from my apartment I have come to realize... I keep WAY too much crap. Not just silly knick knacks or cards from best friends from last year... I mean straight up CRAP.

As I deal with my room currently looking like it came straight out of the show Hoarders on A&E, I realize... it's time to cleanse. I have been attempting to clean out every nook and cranny of that small square room of mine in my parents house. It's hard. It's time consuming. I feel I have other important priorities. Then I also realize, it's all so symbolic of life in general. We let so many things stack up in our lives over time- we hold on to issues too long, we put too many negative memories in that filing cabinet in the back of our minds, and too often we (or I do anyway) hang on to negative people. So in this process of cleaning out years of useless stuff in my room, I realize that I need to cleanse out of my life, too. Keep the important things, people, and ideas... keep it simple. Simple= Happy.

Rich and Melanie:
A couple weekends ago I photographed a wedding for two wonderful people who are SO in love. Being there and witnessing their love only proved that my theory of needing to clean out my life (as well as my god forsaken bedroom) needed to happen. At this wedding there were no extra bells and whistles; no extravagant cellist, no crystal chandeliers or grand staircases- extra things that most people feel they need to be happy. By watching the two of them though, you would have thought they were getting married at the Taj Mahal. They were in true paradise with one another. They didn't need all of that extra, useless stuff that most of us feel we need... their wedding reflected their love- simple, easy, and oh so beautiful.

As I sat back and watched through the eye of my camera, I realized that this is how every day life should be, even if we have to clean out all the extra stuff to get there. Make your life and love simple. Less is ALWAYS ends up being much more.

Thank you so much, Rich and Melanie, for letting me be a part of your day and reminding me that life and love don't have to be anything more than simple, easy and above all, beautiful.




Here are a few pictures from the day so you all can witness the love that I saw :)

Aren't they adorable?!

The silly groom and Maid of Honor

Thank you again, Melanie and Rich! You guys rocked it! Congratulations and remember to always keep it simple.

<3 Meghan

Meghan Lately.

I haven't felt much like writing since my first and last post (I don't usually feel like writing, who am I kidding) But, I just didn't have much to write about and I've been a little down and out.

I DO actually feel like writing today, though. Maybe it's this crappy weather... or a full moon or something.

An update on my life:

I didn't get the job in NYC... actually, I never heard from them so I can only assume they didn't want/need me. I emailed them on multiple occasions but I never officially heard back. So I emailed them for a final time and basically told them never mind and that I have other opportunities I have to give an answer to. No hard feelings though... I'm actually okay with it... and if the position needs filling sometime in the future... I'LL BE AROUND! ;) haha

On a lighter note... I'm going be home and enjoying my summer! I have plenty of things happening  that I would be bummed about missing if I was moving to NYC. I have a bunch of weddings that I am photographing (YAY JOBS AND $$$!), I plan to visit my roommate Maddy and fist pump all the way to the Jersey Shore and get my Snooki on, My family and I are going to Florida for a week in July, and I have plenty of country concerts to attend, including the beautiful Luke Bryan *drool* (Don't judge country if you've never actually given it a chance! haha) SO! I AM excited about aaaalllll o' dat :)

In other photography news, I passed my Final Portfolio Review here at Hallmark Institute of Photography! It was reviewed by a panel of prestigious photographers: Greg Heisler, Simon Alexander, Lois Greenfield, and Grant Peterson. I'm very lucky that I got the opportunity to experience that and receive wise words of photography wisdom.

So this means, I graduate next Friday. I can't believe how fast these 10 months have gone by. Unreal. I don't want to say goodbye..... or grow up and live in the real world for that matter. I am going to miss everyone SO MUCH. And if any of you Hallmarkers read this: I am so proud of each and every one of you! We have all come so far and you are all going to kick life's big round ass! :)

Well, I guess that's it for now. WAIT... I guess this is a good time for some marketing...

Be sure to check out my Website: mhumephoto.com for some updated work! and head over to my facebook photography page and give it a "Like" if you haven't yet! Then share it with your friends, and your friend's friends, and your family's friends ;)

Okay that's enough. G'day!

Blogging is to Bloggers, as Meghan is to....NYC?!

Hi. I'm Meghan and this is my first blog post in the history of my entire 22 years of existence. Im not quite sure how to write a "good" blog post. (Is there a way to write a "good" blog post?) who knows. If you like it, you like it. If you don't, you don't. ...Right? 

Hi. I'm Meghan and I'm a photographer. I've been told that blogging is something I have to start doing to market myself and get some followers..... wait,

Hi. I'm Meghan and I DON'T write about myself. It's weird to write about my life and have people read what I feel is pretty boring. Nothing really happens to me that's worth sharing with everyone on the entire world wide web. Until now.

I actually feel like I have a lot to write about today... something I actually feel like sharing... WITH ZE WOOORRRLLDDD! So, ummm.... here it goes!

Hi. I'm Meghan and this has been MY LIFE... (this week)

This past week has been a crazy one for me. I've been cramming my schedule with photoshoots, wasting a lot of gas, spending hours editing, worrying about my life and where it's headed until...

BAM!

I get an email from Shelley, the Director of Admissions at Hallmark Institute of Photography (where I go to school), asking if I knew where I was going after graduation. HA! *in my head* "Back to the lovely town of Athol, Massachusetts to work at the lovely Athol Memorial Hospital making 11 dollars an hour, still trying to figure out my photographic career...."

I read on... 

"Because I have a job opportunity for you in NYC".

Wait..... WHUT? the Big Apple? no, no, no. I am NOT a city girl. Holy crap, the city? Where half of my class is dying to live after they graduate but I'M getting the opportunity??? ....SO, I go see Shelley in her office to talk about this opportunity (I'm already turning it down in my head, because I get that way about everything scary.... I'm trying to quit) and apparently 2 other Hallmark grads from 2010 are working for the company PhotoOp, a high end portrait studio in NYC (photoopnyc.com, if you want to check it out) and are looking for other Hallmark students to come and work with them there. 

Shelley- "I need an answer by tomorrow."

Me- "=0!!! ahh!"

My head is buzzing. I'm not really sure what to make of this situation. It doesn't hit me until I'm driving to a friend's apartment that "OMG.HOWCANITURNTHISDOWN.IHAVETODOIT.THISISHUGE!"

          My face --->

SO! I have an interview in New York City on Friday, May 4th at 2:00pm. I'm excited, I'm stressed, I'm worried, and slightly confident. There is so many things going on in my head, I don't know how to process them. I guess I won't know how to really feel until I'm there. AHH! we'll see. 

On another not so stressful note, but just as exciting... My fellow students and I had conferences with some teachers this week about our work so far for our last final of the year and they were very happy and impressed with my 10 pictures so far. It was great to hear genuine praise. It made me feel a lot more confident about what I'm creating. Now, 17 more pictures to go by June 1st. AHH.. the stress is never ending. 

Sooooo, that's all. I'll try to keep posting about the experiences to come as soon as I can. 

Here's a quote.... because that's what you do on blogs, right? :p

"Change is important whether good or bad. Everything happens for a reason. Embrace change rather than complain about the inevitable."