The Wednesday Wrap (aka The Deets on the Tweets), Vol. 5, Part II (End of the Year Edition)

Every few Wednesdays, I pick a trio of my recent tweets, and go beyond brevity to give you a few more deets. More work for me, more love for my blog. Earlier today, I posted Part I of the final edition for 2009 of the Wednesday Wrap. Part II, which features some of the many kind words I've received from my clients and their families this past year, is below. As always, you can read more about why I do the Wednesday Wrap here.

•Wednesday, September 16 at 12:26 p.m. "35. Yeah, 35! That's the number of times "love" was written before "the images!" in an email I happily received today from a bride&groom."

I blame the tortured artist that lives within (hey, she's already blaming herself), but no matter how well I work a wedding, I always beat myself up to have been better. Instead of admiring the angle I took, I see advantages in the ones I didn't. Rather than congratulate myself on the composition, I challenge myself to have checked another. And I always get mad over a moment missed, rather than the many memorized by my camera. Since I am always so hard on myself, it's nice that my clients are not.

At all of the photography workshops I've attended, debate has broken out as to whether you shoot for yourself, or for your clients. I am not just pandering when I say this, but I always shoot for my clients (after all, it's their wedding). While I know I can always be better, and will be, they know they now have a photograph of their grandmother singing Sweet Caroline alongside their fraternity brother, or their husband, looking at them -and only them- just like the day he did when they first met in that crowded bar. I know this pressure I put on myself makes me a better photographer and while I'll never be completely content with the day's captures, luckily, my couples and their families and friends always are. If they're happy, then I should be too! In addition to the aforeTweeted compliment, here are nine others that made me (momentarily) proud in 2009.

From Nancy and James (Sullivan/Hancock, Maine wedding in August)"Love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love the images! Major happiness as James and I spooled through just now. In essence, we were brought back to the excitement, warmth, love and joy of that day (and previous evening)! Thanks ever so much!"

From Meghann and Brad (Laconia/Lakeport, New Hampshire wedding in July): "Greetings from our foggy bay of SF! Did we tell you yet how fabulous you are?!?! We not only got the coffeetable book w/note and CD in the mail, but we were BLOWN OUT OF THE WATER with how well the pictures came out and look in our book. We are BEYOND pleased. Your services EXCEEDED our expectations and we're elated to have met you! Rock on! From the photos to how helpful you were as I was getting ready... Sam, I just (we just) cannot thank you enough. You're brilliant! We send our best to you, dear Sam! Enjoy those pretty autumn colors we'll miss! Love, Meghann + Brad P.S. You come with my 10 star recommendation to all friends and family getting married. Even my bro! Woohoo! Let's hope!" (It should be noted blog readers that said bro is only nine.)

From Gail and David (Kennebunkport, Maine wedding in September): "You bring such a nice touch to what is a stressful day but such an exciting and special day. You were like one of the family (but you take much better pictures!)"

From Meredith, the mother of Courtney of Court and James (Scarborough, Maine wedding in August): "Hi Sam... I wanted to write (now that it is Friday and so many days have passed) and say that we all were over the moon about the pictures. Phil and I and the girls have watched the slideshow over and over and over and sent it on to relatives and friends who were just amazed. You did such a beautiful job with that--perfect selections, conveying (with music!) what a incredibly happy day it was for all of us. We were so blessed to have such a gathering of family and friends and love reliving it ---plus seeing so many things we missed! It is just wonderful to have so many beautiful beautiful photos of Courtney and James to pick from. I think their favorites are by the barn---some so sweet they bring tears to my eyes. And I particularly love the close-ups of them at the table when Lizzie is telling her prom story---they are amazing--you truly captured the moment there! And for Phil and me the sequence you did of our girls (after I think you called Caroline out on watching America's Top Model---ha!) was SO much fun-----we will treasure that. Thanks so very much for everything. I can't image how exhausting that shoot must have been in the heat and with all those family gatherings, etc. But we are thrilled with the photos---you are the best! Hope to see you soon, Meredith"

From Lizzie, sister of Courtney of Court and James (Scarborough, Maine wedding in August): "Hi Sam, I vowed I would never be one of those people who start med school and didn’t get the little things done she really wanted to…and this is a reminder I CAN’T let that happen! I have been meaning to write you since the photos came out from Court & James’ wedding – they are BEAUTIFUL and have brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion. You did (and do!) such an incredible job of capturing just what couples – and Court and James in this instance – are all about. And of course, like my mom, I am partial to the GORGEOUS sister photos! They are by far the best photos of us I have ever seen. I just read the blog (been checking it all the time, of course) and again found myself teared up in lecture rather than paying attention…but no doubt this IS more important! With both your words and pictures you described the wedding and C&J so accurately. And I thought I’d pass on that other students sitting around me right now are in awe of both your photos and the fact that you put so much care and intimate detail into what you do. THANK YOU THANK YOU and please know how much we love the photos (I am not kidding when I say watching the slideshow has been my constant study break for two weeks now…!)Many, many thanks and Happy Wednesday (!), Lizzie"

From Mandi and Rob (French's Point, Maine wedding in August): "I wanted to let you know everyone at work thinks I'm completely insane. I'm sitting in my office when I checked my email and all of a sudden I started crying! Everyone runs into my office because they think something horrible happened to one of our clients... I'm like no, it's just our wedding pictures! I can NOT believe how amazing they are. I always knew you had a gift for capturing emotion but when it's your own, it's totally different. My phone has been ringing off the hook on how breathtaking everyone said they are!! I've been giving out your name left and right! I have dreamed about this wedding day since I was a little girl and you captured all my dreams come true :) You're absolutely AMAZING!!!! I can not thank you enough for helping to make this the best day of our lives!" Mandi and Rob"

From Robert and David (Mount Washington Resort, New Hampshire wedding in October): "What can I say...You have left us both speechless!!!! These are so wonderful you have no idea how happy I am right now. You have done an outstanding job on everything. We sat and watched all photos last night and it was truly special! I can’t seem to get enough of them and you really did a great job capturing the day, with the tender and funny moments that happened randomly. These photos are more special than I had thought they would be and I want to thank you once again! You are a very talented photographer. Also, there were so many people that were talking about you saying how wonderful you were and how much they liked you. We were very fortunate to have someone like you at our wedding!"

From Alison and Mike (Stow, Massachusetts wedding in October): "You really did such a great job on the photos! We've had so much fun going through them together. It's so nice to be able to remember what exactly happened that day. With the adrenelin and lack of sleep, some of the details were a blur, but the photos bring it all back!! We love so, so many of the photos that it was really tricky to decide on what to include in the album (I'd include them all if it were possible). The dancing photos were the hardest. They're all so funny! You did a great job narrowing them for us! I don't know where we would have started if you hadn't."

From Amy and Mark (Thornton, New Hampshire wedding in July): "I hired Sam through a recommendation of a friend for my outdoor wedding at a personal residence. I knew I was looking for a non-traditional wedding album without the cheezy hiked up groomsman pant leg "posed" shots. I perused her website and was impressed instantly. After setting up a "get-to-know" you meeting suggested by Sam, I knew without a doubt I had made the right decision to hire her. I decided from the beginning that the photographer would make up the majority of our conservative eco-friendly wedding budget and knew it had to be someone special with talent and very reliable. I hold most of my close friends, family, and co-workers to high levels of accountability. Sam did not disappoint. In fact, she makes you want to continue a relationship with her and her husband long after the wedding is over. If you are planning on getting married anywhere within the New England area and have not considered Sam as your photographer, muse, wedding day coordinator, or instant friend you are making a grave mistake!"

And last, but certainly far from least, from Carly and Al (Portland, Maine wedding in September): "Hey! I can't believe I didn't check my email last night.. If only I had known that our pictures were sitting in my inbox just waiting to be viewed!! Although, it was an awesome surprise to wake up to! I just looked through the slideshow and the gallery (multiple times each) and I can't wait for Al to get home from work so I can show him! Sam, you did such a great job with our pictures!! Wow, they are wonderful!! I especially love the ones by the water.. soooo beautiful! I'm not sure how you turned those moments into such amazing images.. It's funny how a different point of view changes everything. I mean, Al and I were just standing there laughing and talking.. but by taking advantage of different angles and viewpoints and the beautiful scenery, you were able to create such romantic and beautiful images. I love the ones you took while crouching in a patch of wildflowers. I have to admit, I saw some pictures from a similar perspective that you did for Jason and Diana's wedding and I lovvvvved them. I was secretly cheering inside (during our shoot) when I saw you find a patch for us! I'm definitely happy that we did all the family and wedding party pictures at the church. The background was perfect, and the brick what not at all what I was picturing it to look like. I'm so happy you found that spot with the beautiful pine tree. It's SO Maine! My mom is already planning to use our family picture for her Christmas card this year. :)

All of the other pictures are wonderful too! I don't have enough time or space in this email to gush about every single photo, but I would if I could! It is nice to see our wedding from an outside perspective so we can catch all the things we missed at the time. As for the slideshow.. LOVE it! The picture that is on the cover is my favvvvvorite! Before our wedding, I told Al not to forget to kiss me on the forehead for one of our pictures, because it's something that he does all the time and I love it. Well, he didn't forget, and I LOVE the way that picture turned out! I love the way the veil shows in it too, because I had borrowed it from a good friend here in Hawaii that was unable to make it to our wedding.. It is just an extra special pic! ..oh hang on, Al just got home for lunch so I have to show him everything asap, be right back..

(a few hours later)

Ok, so Al and I went through all the pictures together and we are so excited! He loves them so much too. We must look silly because our eyes are glued to the computer screen and we have huge smiles on our faces, making sound effects like, "awwww", and "haaa!"...its so much fun to play everything back! but anyway I better get going because my sister is on the phone and wants to talk about how much she loves the pictures too! :) haha, its an exciting day for us! THANK YOU!! Carly and Al"

I'll be sharing the deets on the tweets early in the New Year, as well as the great news and views from the 2009 weddings I've yet to blog. In the meantime, you can follow me here on Twitter, and friend me here on Facebook. Happy New Year!