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

For the second year running an Eastern Screech Owl has taken up residence in exactly the same tree hollow as it did last year. The difference being that last year the tree hollow was occupied by a family of four; Mom owl, Dad owl, and two little ones. I was fortunate enough to see the little ones take their first flight out of the tree. A very sketchy affair that was! These owls are usually monogamous and remain together for life, so i am hoping that the owl pictured below - not sure if it’s mom or dad - is one of the pair from last year coming back to have more kids!

Look at him/her peeking his head out!

And here he/she is -taken last year. What do you think? The same owl?

 

It’s hard to believe we’re into mid-April already, but here we are. And with the start of spring comes Earth Day. It seems Green is very in right now, and that’s definitely not a bad thing. We’ve always been big fans of recycling and hate waste.

Not long ago, we became obsessed with the abundance of discarded plastic bags that we kept noticing everywhere…on the side of the road, stuck in trees, blowing across the street, even in the ocean. One day at the beach this summer, (the only day we actually made it the beach without a bridal party in tow) we whipped out our little point & shoot camera we carry with us everywhere…the big guns only come out for big events…and took a few shots of some bags. While we were having fun with our little self-imposed project, we started thinking it might be more fun to see what other people might come up with. So, we decided to solicit your help and ask for submissions of photos of plastic bags in some really bizarre places, or anything related to the subject (we’ve already got a couple of cool shots of reuseable bags).

The plan is to put all of the photos we receive on our blog and have you vote on your favorites, with a prize going to the winning entry. The last day for entries is Tuesday, April 22, Earth Day. To up the ante, we’ll reveal that the prize for the winning entry is a free portrait session….maybe a trash the dress session for one of our existing clients…or how about an engagement session for a prospective client who wants to try us out. Family session anyone? We do babies and maternity sessions too people!!!

The contest isn’t limited to clients, so get out there and start shooting. We know there’s plenty of material out there! Here’s a shot we took a couple of weeks ago from along the edge of a supermarket parking lot in Cohasset. This is why we hate plastic bags.

And here are a couple of entries we’ve received to inspire you!

So we did have a whole bunch of beautiful tulips in our back yard. Not anymore! Now we have a whole bunch of green stems! All the heads are missing! We have a daily visitor that particularly enjoys this flower. I am not happy about this at all, but how can you get angry when you look at this cute little cottontail trying to hide in the grass! Bless his little cotton socks!!!

This week has been gorgeous spring weather - mid 50’s and 60’s - but it seems the nights are still chillingly cold. If you don’t believe me take a look at the state of the cranberry bog near our house. Taken early this morning. Brrrrhh!

Thank you everyone who has sent well wishes for Sadie. Now, in her 8th week of life, still about a month shy of when she was expected to be born, she is doing really well…weighing in at just over 5 pounds. That’s twice her birth weight! Yeahhhh! Her breathing tube has been completely removed, though she still has “spells” from time to time. Her feeding tube is still in, but she is breast feeding and taking bottles when mommy isn’t there.

We were in NYC this past weekend, so I haven’t heard from my sister about when she might be able to come home, but the hope is that it won’t be long now. Here’s the latest photo from my visit last week. She looks soooo good. Such a difference from when she was first born. She really looks like a baby now! And the older she gets the more she looks just like her big brother! It’s those sweet little bags under her eyes and that delicious little button nose. Judge for yourself…

 

 

So, this might be a tad cliché…okay, no, Andy just informed me it’s VERY cliché…but I thought it was funny. Amid packing and researching restaurants and fun shops, I managed to grab this quick photo with our little point and shoot in honor of our trip tomorrow to NYC. We’re going there for a couple of photo shoots and we’re so excited to get off Cape and hit the big city!

We haven’t been back to the city in several years, since before 9-11, so no doubt a lot has changed. We’ll put some photos up next week to share NYC with you, as seen through our eyes! For now, I’ll leave you with this tasty snack…

Even though spring was officially here over three weeks ago, it is hard to believe that living on the cape! Until yesterday! We’ve been holding tight to the hope that temperatures will soon rise and the sun will warm our cold winter bones. Yesterday our hopes were realized. The thermometer on our house read 66F and visual signs of spring were everywhere….Here are just a few: Crocuses, Daffodils, and Squill popping their heads up to say hi.

Of course, this could be a big tease! We’ve had snow in April before! Well let’s hope not, bring on the warm weather. I’m ready for flip-flops!

A great big THANK YOU to everyone who has sent well wishes little Sadie’s way!!

Just to update all of you, we visited Sadie this weekend to celebrate her one-month birthday. It’s so strange to think that if she wasn’t so eager to join us, she’d still have two months before her due date. She has had a few set backs along the way, including two blood transfusions and a case of sepsis, a pretty serious infection. But, a spinal tap came back negative, so things are looking up. She was also taken off her breathing machine today and put on a low flow breathing tube. Apparently, the headgear needed to hold the breathing tube she had in place had caused a pretty nasty bruise on her head, so they wanted to let that heal and switched to something less cumbersome. The change is a little scary for her mommy & daddy since the previous times they’ve put her on the smaller breathing tube Sadie has had “spells,” which is a nice way of saying she’s stopped breathing. Preemies apparently often have trouble breathing because they’re lungs aren’t fully developed and it’s all so new to them they sometimes forget how to breath on their own.

The good news is that Sadie now weighs 3 pounds 10 ounces, that’s a pound more than she weighed when she was born…yeahhhh!!!!

When Andy & I arrived at the hospital, birthday cupcakes in tow (can’t hurt to butter up the hospital staff, right? Want to make sure they take good care of our little lovebug!!!) my sister, Kim, was holding Sadie. Kim & Eric, her husband, take turns as they’re only allowed one two-hour holding session per day. Here’s a photo of Sadie on her mommy’s chest. The necklace she’s reaching out for is one I had made for myself and my two sisters after our mom died. I designed it after a necklace she used to wear all the time growing up. It’s the symbol for Capricorn, my mom’s star sign. It just struck a chord with me that Sadie seemed to be getting comfort from touching the necklace. Kimmy says she often holds it….so sweet!!!

So we are back from our brief, but very enjoyable trip to Las Vegas, where we attended the annual Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) trade show and convention! It is the largest convention in the country, drawing thousands of photographers from across the country and around the globe. We met a couple from Singapore in the elevator the day we arrived. (And we thought we had a long trip.)

This year’s turnout was massive and we had a blast, attending talks by some world-renown photographers, socializing via late-night dinners and Vegas-style Penthouse parties with friends old and new. Oh, and of course, there was a little gambling…okay, penny slots, but still, it was Vegas, baby! The only bummer of the trip was discovering that the slot machines no longer take coins. Instead, they now take bills and you get credits, which if you win…didn’t see too many folks doing that…you hit the “cash out” button and out comes a credit slip that you can redeem at an ATM-like redemption machine. The change-over to credits has made the casinos a lot quieter and not nearly as exciting in our opinion.

If you’ve never been, Las Vegas really is a town like no other. The nightlife is what it’s all about, with all the neon lights and people everywhere. When you are inside the casinos, you have absolutely no idea what time it is, and this is by design. There are no windows or clocks to keep folks gambling at all hours. Inside the Paris Hotel & Casino, there is a mall-like section with restaurants, shops & casinos, and the ceiling is painted bright blue with white fluffy clouds. The lighting gives the impression it’s day time in Paris…very strange, but very cool! Another mall down a little further down the street must have hired the same artists to paint the ceiling, but they took it one step further and had lights and a sound system installed that provided an eerily realistic thunderstorm every hour on the hour. They even had rain that fell from the ceiling into pools in the center of the mall.

We were also introduced to the Fremont Street section of Las Vegas, known as old town. The casinos are smaller and definitely feel older in their architecture and interior details, but in a very cool Rat Pack kind of way. A portion of the street is covered by a ceiling of light panels that at certain times each night display a crazy light show that can only be described as pure Vegas.

Here are a few photos from our trip.

Directions to the convention from inside the hotel Paris. Most of the programs were held at Bally’s Hotel, but the trade show, which was like nothing we’ve ever seen, was held at Paris. We couldn’t resist and bought some new gear that we’ve already started playing with…so fun!

Family fun watching Bellagio’s incredible water dances.

There is new construction right at the heart of the strip. Some of the locals we chatted with said it will be called “City Center.” Even with just the bare bones of construction showing, it promises to be the biggest hotel in Vegas, and organizers plan for it to offer everything visitors could ever need with several hotels surrounding at least two casinos. Estimate cost? Around $12 Billion! Madness!!!!

And of course it would be rude not to photograph Vegas at night! Here’s a few of our hotel, The Flamingo. We just loved this sign welcoming visitors to the casino. That’s Andy’s poker face…..thus, the penny slots for us!

The strip at night. How would you like to pay that electric bill?

Las Vegas Boulevard with Paris’s Eiffel Tower in the background.

And the Eiffel Tower during the day. We’ve never seen the real one to compare, but the Vegas tower is pretty impressive and we definitely weren’t the only ones photographing it.

Chris having a nap in the glorious sunshine outside Bally’s. Our last day it was about 78F…ahhhhh, dreamy.

Advertising Vegas style…

 

Since I was a kid, I have been fascinated by the Rubik’s Cube. I had a mate that could complete it really fast, and he always made it sound like it was no big deal. I was so impressed. It helped that I didn’t know anybody else that could complete it without removing the stickers or taking the cube apart!

Anyway, after walking around Restoration Hardware this winter while doing a little Christmas shopping, Chris and I saw a Cube for sale. I guess there has been a Rubik’s Cube revival recently. Well, guess what I found stuffed in my stocking? Yep, you got it. Since then, I have been dedicated to trying to learn how to complete this frustrating toy!!! Well thanks to the internet, and in particular YouTube, there are a whole host of tutorials available. And it really isn’t that hard to learn once you get the hang of it. I now have it mastered!! I am no world record speed cuber, but i feel quite the sense of achievement that i can now do it. Here’s my tribute to the cube!!! Check it out….

So i was wondering how many people out there can complete the cube too? Can you?