Remember yesterday’s blog post about my girl, Kathryn the Event Designer? Well, besides the wonderful flowers and tablescaping, her family was celebrating her mom, Betty’s 60th birthday.

SURPRISE!

It was such a fun and happy energy that filled the room as Betty walked in and saw all of her closest friends and family there to celebrate with her.

And to top it off…as if 40 of your closest compadre’s wasn’t enough… her twin sons flew in from California to surprise her! Every mother’s dream, a beautiful family together again.

Happy 60th, Betty… (I hope I look that good when I’m 60!)

Peace, Love & Surprises,

April K

Meet Event Designer, Kathryn Yee.

(Below with her Dad)

This tablescaping & flower design mastermind was the influence behind the flowers & tablescaping at my wedding AND the visionary behind Kathryn Yee Design.

What is tablescaping you ask?

Tablescaping is the aesthetic layout of a table (usually weddings or parties) including the centerpiece, color of linen, napkin folds, china and flatware, etc. This has become an ever growing wedding trend around New England and beyond.

When I was planning my wedding I was really concerned with flowers and how the centerpieces were going to look… yes I know, I didn’t even have invitations picked out and all I could think about was centerpieces. I was scouring every wedding blog and pinterest and I had the general idea of how I wanted it to look. I met with one florist who just didn’t get it, I was so frustrated. After meeting with Kathryn and explaining what look I was going for,  she cleaned up my idea and added the extra details it needed.  Kathryn has the gift of visualizing extravagant and beautiful arrangements that will liven up even the most mundane situations. I highly recommend her for any wedding or event.

Here are some detail shots of the surprise party she planned for her mother, Betty at the Harvest in Cambridge, MA. From colorful invites to soft yet vibrant flowers to flags and cupcakes… she covered everything!

Peace, Love and all things Visually Delicious!

April K

When I started my first post about the US Burton Open I didn’t realize I had so much to say about the weekend! So I broke it out into 2 portions. My last post focused more on Nokia Connects and my experience with them. This post focuses more on the awesome-ness of snowboarding and why it goes hand in hand with creative photography.

The word to focus on in both instances (photography and snowboarding) is the word, PROGRESSION.

Let’s start with Photography and it’s progression from film to digital.

Since I am a mostly self taught photographer, this is certainly not the gospel. I started my photographic journey on black and white film. I learned to process the film and how to navigate the darkroom. As much as you’d think being in a dark room can only be so fun… it is absolutely one of my favorite places to be (or at least it was in college). In the past the stakes were higher in terms of exclusivity and the learning curve was a longer period of time because there was no such thing as an LCD screen to check your exposures.

Since the introduction of digital, more and more people have the ability to capture the world as they see it. I think that’s great, however, in talking with some old school photogs, they’re a little bitter. I get it, they learned the hard way and the “right” way. But this progression of digital (digital dark room/post processing included), just over the past 5 years, has been astounding. Photographers are now, more than ever, trying to differentiate themselves and evolving to be more unique. It’s more popular to challenge the “rules” rather than follow them and photogs are really pushing each and every lighting situation to create their own unique and emotional masterpiece.

Snowboarding is very similar to the progression of photography, in regards to the evolution of equipment as well as creativity. While Burton was making snowboards out of his barn in 1977, the US Open started in 1982 in Vermont…Half pipes were introduced  in 1988 and in 1991 many riders threw inverts for the first time in competition. Snowboarding was then introduced into the Olympics in 1998 (Nagano) and in 2002 dominated the scene (booya).

This sport is so new and progressing so swiftly because of the creativity involved. See, the snowboarding community generally agrees that snowboarding is a form of self expression… therefore making it an art. For the most part you teach yourself to snowboard and develop your own style (much like photography) and then you take a few lessons to tweak your weaknesses (if you want, I never have taken a lesson – oops). Creativity is strewn across the parks, jibs and all sorts of other crazy quirky tricks they can come up with. One thing I respect most about the Burton brand is they do it for the riders. In 2007 Burton ran a “Poach For Freedom” campaign. The contest let riders submit videos of themselves poaching the four mountains that didn’t allow snowboarding at the time.

Jake Burton is the name and face of one of the world’s largest snowboarding and snowboarding equipment manufacturers. During this interview (where above picture was taken) Jake was talking about his rise to bringing snowboarding mainstream. “It was a lonely trail for a while but it got better as snowboarding was more accepted”.

Lonely is right! I think I get lonely sitting in my office on days I don’t meet with clients… Psh, at least I have Skype, facebook and twitter to keep me company! Can you imagine how hard it must have been, with no social media, and no acceptance of the sport at most mountains, to build a company and have it be this successful?! Wowzers.

So enough of my rambling… here are some more photographs of the weekend… starting with my favorite moment as you climb the stairs to the base of the mountain… and see all the happiness that is a ski resort

This is Bruce, I met him while I was waiting for Kate to arrive (I didn’t even ask I just started snapping away… the scene, his mooostache and all… it was so Vermont). We got to talking and he turns out to be the most connected man on the mountain! He introduced me to Hubert Schriebl, Stratton’s mountain photographer since 1968. He is the neatest old man on skis that’s for sure! He had his D700 around his neck with an old school 85mm on along with his vintage ski outfit. Hubert is pretty awesome and was the recipient of the Paul Robbins Ski Journalism Award which is the most kick@$$ award I’ve ever heard of!  Siiiick. The award recognizes a Vermonter who performs his/her skill in written, broadcast, or photo journalism with ethics, humor, good taste and always with the promotion of Vermont skiing and the larger skiing community in mind. This is a lifetime service award… um… Ski Journalism, that exists? Can I get that award!?

My set up for the day… Burton Camera backpack (complete with mtn camera equipment) + my board + glades = true love

I saw this frame as it was happening (right before she was sizing up the challenge ahead of her) and the thought of Courage popped into my head… I don’t know why, and then I snapped this picture. I thought the two went hand in hand.

And she’s off!

Peace, Love & Shredding,

April K

As some of you may already know by my constant Tweeting, Instagram and Facebooking, Nokia Connects sent me to the Burton US Open this past weekend. What an experience it was. First of all let me educate you a little about a few things.

Nokia Connects – Nokia is a Finnish company who specializes in making phones and devices for communication. Nokia Connects is a fragment of the company who specializes in the human interaction of all Nokia business and making it more personal.

Why is Nokia at a snowboarding competition? They have another fragment of the company dedicated to progression, check out the open forum on Nokia Push Snowboarding. Their goal is to team up with Burton and riders and creating a kit capable of providing insights into what’s happening both physically and mentally to snowboarders – making visible what until now has been invisible.

Burton always does a great job with pushing for creativity in the progression of snowboarding. This year at the Open, there was a big push on progression of ramps and parks. There was a competition between all of the jump builders, whoever had the most creative ramp wins $700 in cash.

This was such an awesome experience from start to finish. Waylon aka Hype Man and I got hooked up with tons of fresh Burton shwag, a new Nokia Lumia 800 and VIP passes that got us everywhere with no questions asked That’s what I’m talkin’ bout.

My favorite part of this shoot was definitely when my friend Kate and I went into the glades to rip it up and to take some product shots. The Glades are the most peaceful place to me, the snow on the trees makes it virtually sound proof and you can lay there, resting and listening to the snow fall.

I am no longer booking weddings for the 2013 season as I have reached my client maximum.

NOW BOOKING WEDDINGS FOR 2014

I know that Wedding Photography is both a luxury and an investment, my goal is to make your experience with me the best wedding planning decision you make.  I promise to bring passion and professionalism to each meeting and photo shoot. I promise to be loving, warm, conscientious and energetic. I place a very high value on individuality, which makes me very passionate about getting to know and making a connection with each client and making sure you have the best Wedding Photography experience possible.

Coverage begins at $4,200 and always includes the following:

• Two photographers for your entire wedding day {April K & a talented associate for 8 hrs}
• Pre-wedding planning session with April K
• Password protected online gallery to share with friends and family for viewing and ordering prints
• Every image has been developed with AKP’s signature style and is print ready
• All high resolution digital negatives provided for you on a sleek USB

Other options we offer:

• Prints
• Couture Heirloom Albums
• Coffee Table Books
• Photo Booth
• Engagement Session
• Engagement Sign In Guestbook {for your wedding day}

Get a better feel for how I work  - April K On the Job

Newborn sessions start at $500 and always includes the following:

• Password protected online gallery to share with friends and family for viewing and ordering prints
• Every image has been developed with AKP’s signature style and is print ready
• All high resolution digital negatives provided for you on a sleek USB
• Assistance with choosing which prints will go best in your home

in Simplicity… plain and simple, that’s how I like to keep things. I guess some would call that a minimalist, I just call it “I hate feeling cluttered”. From my closet to my living space to the art I create, I live by KISS {Keep It Simple, Stupid}.

in the Inspiration of Nature. I’m an outdoorsy type of girl who loves to play in the dirt. I love being in/around mountains, they make me feel like a spec of dust and in turn make my little “problems” feel like a blip on the map. I love hiking up mountains in the summer and I love speeding down mountains on my board in the winter. I love water too, frozen or not, I love it all year round.

that LOVE makes the world go round. Yup, as cliche as that saying is, it’s true! I believe in love…100%. Above money, your career, your fancy car…the relationships you share are the most important thing in your life. Life is all about the love you share.

it’s important to be yourself, 100% of the time. If it’s one thing I heard day in and day out while I was growing up from my father “if they don’t like me it’s their problem”. Ha! My dad is one of a kind, but that saying still rings in my head and I wish more people learned this at a young age. I don’t want a friend who is a carbon copy of what they were told is the perfect way to be. I want you, in all your quirkiness. Acting how you want, wearing what you want {even if you look like Punky Brewster}, speaking what you believe, and being comfortable to just be yourself. Be your own kind of beautiful…

Wow, did I just do a time warp through February? It sure feels like it.

Ah, it’s good to be back after a nice two week honeymoon on the island of Kauai. Justin and I really soaked up the sun and sites of the dramatic landscape. We hiked 8 miles along the Na Pali Coast, watched beautiful natural water falling into pools you can swim in, whales breaching, dolphins jumping, vibrantly colored fish playing and laid on the un-touched secluded beaches…Does it get any better?

See, Justin and I have never been on a vacation ALONE, this was our first time. It was so amazing having him to myself for that long. We both brought our camera’s with us, however, I left mine in the room most of the time. We rented a Jeep Wrangler and you can un-zip the windows, I didn’t feel comfortable leaving my $$ camera equipment in there. Instead I brought along a little point and shoot that has decent video quality. So a home video is what I have in store for you today!

Peace, Love & Sunshine!

April K