After several months of hard work, the Bello blog is finally up and running. Its launch coincided with our new Bello Photography website and we are excited to introduce you guys to our new look. We will be posting super-sized images of our fabulous Bello couples, from their engagement session to their wedding day. We might even add a slide show or two! Through our blog, we will also introduce you to some of our personal projects and provide a glimpse of what makes us tick. So browse through the posts, check the archives, leave comments, and SPREAD THE LOVE!

Chris & Andy

While it certainly seems hip to “go green,” that wasn’t what inspired our recent post about plastic bags.To be honest, I just got really frustrated one day when I tried to grab something I needed from underneath the kitchen sink and couldn’t because I had to fish through a sea of plastic bags.

I’ve always felt too guilty just throwing them out after emptying the contents I bring home from the supermarket. So, I stuff them under the sink and we reuse them when we can. Lately, though it’s not just the bags under our sink that drives us crazy. Driving down the highway or walking through the city it’s hard not to notice those little polluters covering the ground like a rustling plastic blanket or snagging like forlorn ghosts on bare tree branches.

One day at the beach last summer, we noticed a few bags stuck in the tall beach grass, and even one in the water, floating like a drunken jellyfish. So, we took a few photos. And then we thought, hey, let’s post these on our blog, thinking to ourselves, “I wonder if these bug anyone else as much as they bug us?” And then, when it seemed we weren’t the only ones annoyed by plastic bags popping up in places they shouldn’t be, we decided to hold a “Down With Plastic Bags.”

We asked you, our faithful blog readers, to submit photos of plastic bags you saw in places where they shouldn’t be. We admit, we didn’t get quite the response we had hoped for, but a few of you did submit some images and we wanted to give you props for your efforts, so, we thought we’d post the photos we received.

Here’s where we need your help again…

We’re asking you to take a minute to vote on your favorite photo using the comments section below. The entry that receives the most unique votes will receive a complimentary Bello portrait session here on the Cape. Don’t worry, we won’t make the winner pose with plastic bags!

So, please let us know what you think. Voting will end on Saturday, May 24th and we’ll announce the winner on Memorial Day. Only one vote per computer will be counted, so no cheekiness please!

Reusable bags rock! They hold way more stuff! Check out these cool sites: Reusable Bags and One Bag At A Time.

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Sadie made here way home on Thursday. My sister, Kim, and her family couldn’t be more excited, and simultaneously scared silly! Here’s an e-mail Kim sent around after settling in:

“The day has finally come! Our sweet tiny Sadie Abigail was finally released from the hospital 10 weeks, 5 days, 12 hours and a few minutes after she came into this world. She is now 6lbs 12oz and is just utterly divine. Her big brother Cal came around after he declared that he, “Needed to be alone for a while,” and headed upstairs quietly to absorb all that was upon him. It’s almost surreal to have her here now but we are so ready to enter this new exciting phase of our lives.

We will be laying low for a while due to her weakened immune system but when she’s ready we hope to reconnect with each of you. We say this with all sincerity, we could not have gotten through this without all the love and support you’ve provided.

With much love,

Kim, Eric, Cal and sweet Sadie

Xo”

Here’s a little collage we put together using photos Kim & Eric sent us from Sadie’s trip home. Pretty great photos, don’t you think! I’m not sure we could have done any better!! Enjoy! And thank you all for your love and support! I am convinced that all of that love being spread really helped get her home early, and most importantly, safely! So, thank you!

Okay, so I don’t have a photo to post with this, but I just got a call from my sister and the hospital has released little Miss Sadie Abigail! She is on her way home as we speak! I’m just so excited I’m beside myself! I’ve asked Kim to take a photo and e-mail it to me…her first moments of freedom. I’ll post it as soon as I have it!

YEAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you to everyone for your loving well wishes…I’m sure they’ve helped get her home so quickly! And for those of you new to the blog, Sadie is my niece, who was born Feb 22, 3 months early at just 2.5 pounds. She has had a bumpy road, filled with weeks in intensive care, being hooked up to oxygen & feeding machines, several blood transfusions, a spinal tap and painful eye exams to check for retinopathy. But, today, she is 6 pounds 12 ounces. She is free of all machines. She is heading home in the loving arms of her family. And all is right with the world!

Ashely & Patrick are the kind of people who you just want to be around. And be around often! Aside from being really sweet individuals, they are also an incredible couple…kind, loving, funny and with a gentle easiness about them that instantly makes those around them feel completely comfortable.

We recently had the pleasure of spending the day with Ashely & Patrick in Boston’s North End. Patrick is a huge Red Sox fan, and we had initially planned to shoot our engagement session around Fenway Park, but with it being Marathon weekend, we decided to hit the other side of the city and started out at Christopher Columbus Park. These two claimed to be a little nervous, but in no time at all they were looking like pros in front of the camera, letting down their guard and really having some fun with it!

Here are some of our favorites from our time together:

Walking through the narrow streets of the North End…If there had been laundry hanging between the buildings and an orange, white and green flag instead of the ol’ red, white & blue, I would have sworn we were in Italy!

This is my favorite shot from the session. We saw this sweet little old man, who reminded me of my grandfather…tennis balls on his walker and everything, and I had to get this shot of them walking past with the old boy watching them as they went by. Seriously, check out the Members Only jacket…that’s only going to mean something if you were old enough to remember the 80s! Classic!

Dancing in the streets…awwww, are they cute or what? Okay, okay, I admit it…we asked them to do that. But, tell me they don’t look like they’re loving it!

We found this killer blue garage door to use as a backdrop. It surprised us a couple of times and opened…which actually helped get some great reactions…

You don’t find many cobblestone streets here on the Cape, so we had to take advantage while in Boston…

A great big thank you to Ashely & Patrick for being so much fun and for being open to try anything. You guys ROCK and we can’t wait to be there with you on your special day. We have a feeling there is going to be a lot of love circling around you both and you can’t find a more perfect backdrop than than for great photos! xo Chris & Andy

Earlier this month, I watched Diane Sawyer’s Primetime special, which featured Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch and the story of his “Last Lecture.” The interview highlighted Randy’s inspirational story of hope in the face of his own death. After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and being given just a few months to live, Randy chose to use what precious little time he has left to really live and in so doing unexpectedly inspired others to do the same. His Last Lecture, given at Carnegie Mellon on September 18, 2007, has had nearly 2 millions hits on You Tube.

This incredible man has been in my thoughts a lot since the show and I thought some of you might also find inspiration in his story. The video below is just a snippet of the entire Primetime interview. If you have time, I encourage you to check out the entire interview.

Life can be difficult, but as Randy says, it’s how you chose to live that makes all of the difference. Sometimes, in the stress and chaos of everyday stuff, it’s good to be reminded of what is really important. Thanks for the reminder Randy!

To watch Randy’s “Last Lecture” go to his home page. Oh, and Randy recently passed the 8 month mark since being diagnosed with cancer. Go Randy!!!

One of our favorite Cape wedding reception spots is the picturesque Willowbend Country Club in Mashpee. So, when we were asked by the management to do some photos for their website & brochure, we were honored and also excited at the prospect of doing something a little different for us.

We met the club’s very sweet and very talented head chef, Chef Paul Cunningham, who whipped up some of his new signature dishes for us to photograph….staring at these tantalizing tastebud treats made concentrating difficult. We were also there to capture members enjoying an evening at the club’s Grill Room. It was a fun change of pace for us and we even got to sample some of the delights from the kitchen. Next month, we’ll be doing some photographs for the club’s real estate division and fitness center.

We’d like to extend a big thank you to Randy VanTassel, Banquet Manager at Willowbend, and Catering Manager Ann Marcotte for making this happen. And, our thanks wouldn’t be complete without a big thank you to Chef Paul for filling our bellies so joyously!

Here’s a few of our favorite shots:

Chef Paul

Signature dishes….be warned…if you’re at all hungry, you may want to skip past these; they could put you over the edge!

Club members enjoying dinner in the Grill Room:

Willowbend at night:

Last summer, at the ridiculously fun Willowbend wedding of Molly & Guy, we had the pleasure of working alongside Hyannis-based make up artist Vanessa Lees. Vanessa recently asked us to take some headshots for her to use on her new website and in some marketing materials. While weddings are really more of our thing, we’re happy to help fellow wedding vendors, particularly ones as nice as Vanessa.

The session took place at Salon By Design, where Vanessa works both as a make up artist and esthetician. We had a great morning together and got some fabulous shots. During our time together, we came up with some ideas for a cool 5″ x 5″ tri-fold card/brochure, which is a product we also offer our wedding clients as unique Save-The-Date, Thank You and/or holiday cards. This was the first commercial product we have done and the results are pretty cool so we thought we’d share them:

That’s Vanessa’s face on the front of the card. Open it up and you see the pink page on the right, and the “Making Dreams Come True” page on the inside of the front cover. Open it up all the way and you now see a photo of Vanessa with her bio and contact info and all her pricing info is in the center spread…pretty cool, right?

And here are Vanessa’s favorite photos from our session together, both of which were used in the brochure.

Thank you Vanessa for being such a fun model!!

Here are a few scenics we got on our last day in the city, including a few stop-you-in-your-tracks reminders of 9-11. We actually got married the weekend before the planes hit the towers and sat in horror in front of our televisions as we watched the second plane hit live. It was such a surreal experience there in our living room with family and friends all around watching this unbelievable and pivotal moment in history unfold before our eyes. Crazy!!

We hadn’t been back to the city since, so seeing this really brought the memories of that time flooding back. The Ground Zero shots were all taken from the Millennium Hilton, located right in the heart of the financial district.

This one is actually three shots sewn into one…there are some issues with the overlays, but if you look quick you can’t tell…pretty cool nonetheless:

Here’s a shot of a classic New York style pastrami sandwich from the infamous Katz’s Deli. Now, I love pastrami. I grew up eating it and it’s hard to find a good sliced pastrami like I remember. So, I was very excited to check out the NY pastrami scene. Gotta be honest…the sandwiches made us feel kind of sick afterwards…and even while eating them if we’re being completely honest. I don’t know if it was the slightly old tasting pickled cukes and tomatoes or the seemingly raw and ridiculously thick-cut pastrami…but it wasn’t good. Definitely a downer and certainly not worth $15. Kind of a funky place, definitely a landmark. But, I don’t think we’d go back.

Here are just a few street scenes. Only in New York can you get charged a fine for honking…love that!

Taking a cab ride around town

More cool architecture.

This guy could crank out a pretty funky painting in less than 5 minutes using nothing but spray paint and pieces of paper to help guide where his paint went…very impressive. The best part was that he was playing the Baz Luhrmann’s “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)” speech/song that was really popular in 1999…I loved that song!

Lastly, a shot from one of the top floors at the Hilton Millennium, facing the Brooklyn Bridge. Such a cool city. Let’s hope we don’t wait another 10 years before we go back!

While In NYC, we also got to hang out with our Bello friends Mollie & Ben, who coincidentally, live just a couple of blocks from Andrea & Will and who are also getting married here on the Cape later this summer. It’s such a small world.

We arrived in the city pretty early in the day, and the weather was incredible…almost hot and the sun kept poking out through the clouds…a far cry from the weather forecast, which for days leading up to our session was calling for rain, clouds and possible thundershowers. We got so lucky as the weather was perfect for picture-taking.

Mollie & Ben were kind enough to take us on a mini tour of the city, hitting some of their favorite spots, including the Brooklyn Bridge, where Ben proposed…awww, so sweet.

Here are a few photos from our time together:

It seems appropriate to start with the spot where it all began…

I love this one…Mollie looks so serene!

Gargoyles…so cool and definitely not something you see very often on the Cape. Cedar shingles, yes. Gargoyles…not so much. NYC offers such amazing architecture and fabulous details on its buildings….and we just love all of the brick!!! Takes Andy right back home to England…So fun!

How much do you love this mural? LOVE IT!!! We had such fun with this…here are a couple of our favorites:

More brick….love the brick…throw in an old rusty door and/or some graffiti and we’ve got a party!

Thank you Mollie & Ben for being so much fun, for putting your trusting us, and for making our time in NYC so thoroughly enjoyable and such a refreshing change of scenery! Can’t wait to see you both again and be there with you when you say, “I do.”

Big hugs,

Christine & Andy xo

We feel pretty lucky to live where we do and have Cape Cod as the backdrop for our Bello love stories. But, every now and then, it’s fun to leave this little slice of heaven and find inspiration in places unfamiliar. Such was the adventure we had when we met up with our friends Andrea & Will for their ridiculously fun engagement session. We had such a great day with them, exploring some of their favorite spots in the city, getting some gorgeous images and ending with a fabulous dinner at their favorite neighborhood restaurant, The House, in Gramercy Park. Mmmmmm yummy is all we can say about that.

Andrea & Will thank you so much for putting your trust in us, for being so open to trying new things and for generally just being a lot of fun to be around. And a giant thank you for that amazing dinner! We can’t wait to see you both again here on the Cape later this summer when you say, “I do!” We feel so lucky to have met you both and luckier still to have been invited to share in such a special day in your lives.

Here are just a few of our favorite images from our time together. Enjoy!

Here’s the happy couple outside of their favorite restaurant

Will’s favorite NY building is the Chrysler Building…so we had to take this shot!

And here are a few more street shots…I love how Andy captured the rushing traffic and classic yellow taxi in the first one below! Nice one honey!!

I love this one because despite all of the busyness around them, Andrea & Will look like they’re the only two people in the world the way they’re looking at each other.

We found this great old bank-turned-theater in Union Square and just loved the columns. Here’s a few of them getting snuggly:

This one is my FAVORITE from the session. While I was focusing on more classic composition, Andy stole this amazing moment!

Love those Louboutins Andrea!!!

Are you two cute or what?

Takin’ the train home…

Thank you again you two for being so much fun! We can’t wait to see you again at your wedding here on Cape Cod!!! Remember, dinner is on us next time!

Big hugs, Chris & Andy