We are excited to present for your ocular pleasure, the engagement session of Nicole and Colin! It was a joy to photograph these two at Nicole’s parent’s beautiful home in Bartlett, NH. Though the weather was less than ideal (read torrential), we had more than enough to work with given our lovely setting and couple. Nicole chose as one of her outfits, an amazing yellow dress that once belonged to her grandmother and it fits her perfectly. So beautiful!

We want to thank them and Nicole’s family for warmly welcoming us. Can’t wait for their July 4th, 2012 wedding which will be held at the home as well, in the surrounding fields. It’s going to be stunning! Happy engagement guys… :)

If ever there were two people who would surely be amazing parents, it would be Melissa and Matt. We had the great privilege of documenting this wonderful and anticipatory time in their lives last month! It is a bit chilly these days for baring a belly out of doors and they live not too far from us so we took the party to their house. We love incorporating the element of “home” into a shoot like this. Especially knowing it will soon hold a new, tiny family member. Fun fact: Melissa and Matt still have their first stuffed animals, who are snuggled comfortably in the nursery..surely very excited about their new friend. ;)

We had so much fun with them. Melissa and her beautiful belly were a joy to photograph. And Matt deserves an A+ for enthusiasm… he was working it!

Just a few days ago, little baby Grant was born and I’m sure, already profoundly loved! Congratulations Matt and Melissa!!!!

“…..and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart, i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)” – e.e. cummings

We’re excited to present our latest offering, which is Jessica and Justin’s chilly but lovely Newburyport, MA engagement session! They were so much fun and laid back and willing to let us have our way with them (photographically speaking). So, we all braved the cold January day and wandered our way through the town to see what we could see. Newburyport is so charming…crackly cobblestone, weathered brick and widow’s walks kind of charming. And full of history. It has much to offer in any season! And of course, the element of a wonderful couple makes things even better. We’re eagerly anticipating their beautiful May wedding. Thanks for being such good sports guys, we had so much fun!

And now, the fruitage of our wanderings….. :)

So as it turns out, 2010 has been a very good year for us and Birch Blaze. Our break-out year, if you will. Oh yes, we’ve had our usual share of ups and downs just like everyone else—missing an entire year of living in our own home thanks to a never-ending remodeling project has to top the list—but we have many things to be thankful for…. A year filled with wonderful people to photograph, working with some great fellow professionals on some fun project shoots and having our work featured in 3 regional wedding mags, to name just a few. We’re very excited to see what 2011 brings. We’ve already met quite a few awesome couples that we’ll have the honor of capturing their wedding day, and look forward to these and other adventures!

Here is our little Best of 2010 offering, in random order. If you haven’t tried it on either of our portfolio sites, click the button on the slideshow nav to watch in full screen (click the icon again to switch back). Mouse over the “stage” to pop up the nav menu. Enjoy!

Apples and pumpkins and hay bales, oh my! We had a fantastic time with brothers Dennis, Andrew and Adam and their beautiful families. We met up at MacKenzie’s Farm in Milton, NH for a very energetic afternoon of apple picking and by the end of the day, these little ones had us thoroughly and completely captivated!

We started a little riot on the hay ride. Not sure if these guys knew what they were screaming about but they were having fun!

…and before you ask, no, the children were not caged at any point during the session!

We’re very excited to be launching our new Senior Rep program, and psyched to have 2011 senior, Jori, on board as our first 2011 Lakes Region Senior Rep! Birch Blaze Senior Reps represent us to senior high school students—that is, next year’s senior class—helping us spread the word and in the process score some pretty cool stuff. We love photographing seniors (school age and yes, otherwise…) and there are SO many great locations in our area. Right now, early summer of this year, through October is prime time for senior portraits. If you or someone you know is going to be a senior next year in the Lakes Region or sea coast areas of New Hampshire, the Mount Washington Valley and even into southern Maine, get in touch with us to book your senior photo session today! If you’re interested in becoming a senior rep, sign up here (limited positions available).

First of all, here’s a peek at Jori’s super cool Senior Rep card that she was excited to have in hand today (we obscured her last name for privacy)…

And now on to the rest of our photoshoot with Jori….

We are very excited to announce the launch of our brand new portraiture Website: http://portraits.birchblaze.com! Over the winter months, Taylor and I have been busy planning how best to serve our extended stomping grounds—places like the Mount Washington Valley, Lakes Region and Seacoast areas of New Hampshire, as well as Southern Maine—with our brand of natural, lifestyle portraiture. What is “Lifestyle” portraiture? Here’s our take on it, Quoting from the Q&A Page on our new Birch Blaze Portraits Website: “We believe that a portrait should be more than just a picture of a person (or people). It should give you a very real feeling about who that person is, capturing the essence of their personality. More and more, the trend in photography has veered away from traditional studio, posed portraiture. Traditional studio portraiture can have a stiff, unnatural feel to it, lacking that “realness.” Lifestyle portraiture focuses on capturing that realness.” Tay and I have always had a passion for expressing ourselves creatively, and in particular, through the lens of a camera. We believe in what we do, and are very thankful that we can now make our living doing it. Even though some degree of natural artistic ability definitely comes into play, we have also worked very hard to ensure that we are using professional, state-of-the-art equipment and are up on all the latest technical methodologies so that our finished product matches our own creative vision and real life. Read more about our philosophy and process below this screensnap of the new Site…

   Our view of being photographers is not, “We do photography,” but rather, “We are artists.” The last thing we want to do is sound like snobs, but with the invention of digital photography and processing, it has become very easy for almost anyone to buy a digital camera, download a copy of Photoshop and call themselves a photographer. Now, there are endless discussions online about when and for what reason you can call yourself a “photographer,” but ultimately, a person’s photography speaks for itself. We encourage anyone who feels a passion for photography, or even someone who just wants to take better photos to absolutely go for it. Give it your all. We would never deny anyone’s right to pursue their passion, their dream. For us personally, we set our own bar very high. Not only because we present ourselves as professional photographers, and people invest trust and dollars in us for that reason, but also because we pursue excellence in every image that we produce. It’s a matter of artistic integrity.

How Does it Work?

   We have adopted a process already in use by many premier photography studios around the world. It’s very simple, really. If you like our art and would like to commission us to photograph you and/or your family, get in touch and we’ll schedule a pre-consultation at your home. During this time, we’ll get to know each other, something that’s vital to capturing relaxed, natural images during the actual portrait session. We’ll answer questions and discuss what your expectations and goals are, as well as which of our products will best suit your decor, wall space and overall style. Of course we’ll also schedule your session and discuss location, wardrobe and any other questions or concerns you may have.

   Next, the photo shoot. We’ll meet you at our predetermined location, which might be your home, a park, playgound, grassy field, woodland trail, the beach or an urban landscape—places that hold special meaning for you and your family or simply compliment your unique personality. Sessions will typically last about 2 hours, but could be shorter or longer depending on which session you have chosen. Newborns and young children’s sessions will usually run longer. We’ll spend the first few minutes or more scouting out the location, getting our gear dialed in and shooting a few warm-ups to get us all in the groove. After that, we’ll take lots of shots of the interactions that highlight the special relationships and moments that make you and your family unique and beautiful. We’ll likely do some comfortable poses and perhaps some more traditional ones. We’re also always up for fun and unique ideas and we hope you are too, but whatever you’re comfortable with. For family portraits, it’s fun to plan an activity that you can all enjoy together; baking cookies, playing in the back yard, taking a walk, etc.

   The fun continues… after your portrait session we’ll schedule your viewing/ordering session. We’ll come to your home and you’ll get to enjoy your images in a larger-than-life slideshow set to music! Then, in the same format, you get to choose which images you’ll have made into prints, storyboard collages and gallery canvas wraps for your wall. There are lots of great new products that will showcase the beautiful art we’ve created together, complimenting and enhancing your home decor at the same time. During your viewing session we’ll guide you through what’s available and how it will best work with the images you’ve chosen and fit your home. You’ll receive your portrait art 2 to 4 weeks after placing your order.

   It’s important to us that people notice our deep commitment to producing photographic art that holds beauty far beyond any other artwork you could display in your home. How so? Because it’s art created from the most precious people in your life, your family. We want to thank you for taking the time to read through this information and we think you’ll enjoy viewing our new Website and our galleries. We’d love to hear from you and apply our creative process to you and your family’s history. We are centrally located between the White Mountains, Seacoast and Lakes Region of New Hampshire. We regularly visit and photograph in the communities of Wolfeboro, North Conway, Jackson, Meredith, Laconia, Gilford, Rochester, Dover, Portsmouth, Newington, Rye and Hampton, New Hampshire as well as Southern Maine. Visit our “Hello” Page and we’ll get started!

What a great time of year for photography! We love the way the sun drapes the New Hampshire hills, mountains and woodlands in late summer, early autumn. The golden tones of an August evening set against the lush greens that the oft-lamented rains have gifted us this year.

Alexa and her family are good friends of ours, and we had already talked about getting the oppotunity to photograph her, when we were asked to do her senior portraits. It was a beautiful day last week and we enjoyed shooting at some great locations near her home including a gorgeous mountain meadow, and a swift, rocky river. Alexa’s hair and makeup were styled by her Mom, Jen. With experience as a former model, Jen was great to have along, though Alexa was a natural and didn’t need much coaching! We all had a great time, and Taylor and I are so pumped about how these photos came out. One of our best shoots to date. thanks Alexa!

This next one has such a Peter Pan quality about it. Love it!


We were blessed with SO many keepers. I don’t envy Alexa and her family choosing their favorites, what are yours? –K&Tay

Ok, folks, I know, I know… yes, it’s been a while…So sorry about that, really. It might have something to do with the major remodeling project we have going at our house right now (as in, completely ripping out our floor, right down to the dirt!). But anyway, we have still been shooting and this post is proof! Rhonda Demone is a photographer from Nova Scotia who contacted us a few months ago and booked a shoot to coincide with her Family’s vacation in North Conway. We got together with Rhonda, Brian and the kids last week for the shoot and had a blast! The kids were awesome and thanks to mom being a photog, were used to being in front of the camera. We had a great time and want to thank the Demone’s for choosing Birch Blaze! Here are some of our favorites from the session…

Here’s one of those shots that was kind of like an inbetween shot, but with this treatment I think it takes on a very poetic feel:

What a beautiful and fun family! We had a great time and hopefully, one of these days we’ll drive up to Nova Scotia and say hi. Thanks again Rhonda, Brian and kids, and your image disc is on its way!