Rachel Halsey Photography ~ Photo Blog

Joe and Christina are such a fun couple!
Abbie and I had so much fun meeting up with them in Prescott Park in downtown Portsmouth
for their engagement shoot a couple of weekends ago.

Christina is so gorgeous and is basically a fashion/design genius.
She has so many amazing ideas and such a great eye for all things beautiful.
Joe is hilarious and keeps Christina laughing and seeing them together puts an instant smile on your face.
Joe and Christina are so evidently in love and perfect for one another.

These two are planning a vintage nautical wedding for memorial day weekend and I could NOT be more excited to shoot their fairytale wedding.
I absolutely love their easygoing style and how easy they made my job… Best laughs ever!

Christina and Joe, thank you so much for allowing me to be the one to capture this beautiful time in your life.
I am so excited about your big day and I know it will be more beautiful than I can even imagine.
I wish you both all the happiness in the whole world.
Infinite x’s and o’s!

Mini Sessions are some of my favorites! It’s a fairly quick, painless (haha), and affordable option to get some quality family photos that you will cherish for the rest of your life.

You can see some of the photos from our fall mini sessions here.

Email me to book your spot – spaces are filling up fast!

rachelhalsey@gmail.com

One of my favorite families is back! Matt, Rachel, Anna, and introducing…. Lydia!
Well, technically Lydia will be gracing us with her undoubtedly adorable presence next month… But I am super excited and can’t wait to meet the newest baby Tolley :]

Rachel and I had been planning this maternity shoot for forever but kept having to reschedule because it would NOT stop snowing! I seriously think it was 3 or 4 times (if not more!) that we scheduled and rescheduled. Oh boy.
That’s New England for you… Is everyone else as ready for summer as I am? ;]
Needless to say, we finally made it happen. And it was wonderful.

We met up in downtown Dover and walked around a bit… It was sunny and a little chilly but we all had a great time.
Rachel is one of those people that just pulls pregnancy off beautifully. She is so adorable and always looks so cute. I know she’s probably the most ready to meet Lydia…. but Rach, I promise – you look AMAZING.

Anna, as always – was a delight and a half. This kid cracks me up. She is so full of personality and has the sweetest manners I’ve ever seen. I’m sure she is going to be such an amazing big sister.

Oh, and we knew it was our lucky day when we made it to Harvey’s right at closing time and they sold us some Petit Fours anyway ;]

Tolley family, thank you again for allowing me to capture your precious family. I can’t wait until Miss Lydia is here and we can take some updated family shots… Maybe it will be warmer then, too ;]

xoxo!

A few weekends ago I had the opportunity to photograph Valerie of Skincare by Val in Dover.
I met Val through Cyndi when she did the makeup for Cyndi and her bridesmaids. She did SUCH an amazing job and she is just the sweetest person. She was so thoughtful and professional while remaining a calming presence throughout the entire – usually stressful – getting ready process :]
I absolutely adored working with her, and I truly wish I had known her in 2008 when I tied the knot – I would have LOVED having Val there on my weeding day. And um, how fabulous would it be to take your bridesmaids for a calming facial before the big day (hint hint future brides)?!

When Abbie and I photographed Val (she works out of Timeless Salon and Spa), she did a facial (which I’m not going to lie, looked like the most relaxing and wonderful thing in existence!) and also two different makeup applications.
It was great getting to watch Val work and document the process for her. If after looking at these photos you start daydreaming of a facial (or another type of beauty service – just look at all she has to offer!), not to worry, you can book an appointment with Val here. You can also check out her Facebook page here.

Val helps with all kinds of skincare needs – from facials and waxing to makeup application and products – she’s got you covered!

Also, if you are currently unemployed and want Val to do your makeup for a job interview, she will do so completely complimentary. Seriously, we need more people like this!

Val, you are wonderful! Keep up the amazing work… you are making people feel SO beautiful and you deserve a gold medal for that. Also, I’m coming to see you soon for MY facial! ;]

xo!

Laura and Purujit live in New York. They hired me to shoot their June 2013 wedding before we ever met, but I knew even then that I was lucky to be working with these two.
Laura described to me the style she was looking for, the feel for their wedding day, the location, everything.
She described friends and family and lots of laughter and love.
She described northern New Hampshire, a secluded spot with an amazing group of friends and family who will be joining in the celebration of these two and the greatest gift in the entire world: love. These two have found it, and every word describing their beautiful life and story and plans for this celebration, were just filled with love. I was beyond excited that Laura had contacted me.

Laura and Purujit actually already had a wedding celebration this past December – in Bangladesh! How amazing is that?? Laura showed me some of her wedding photos and they were absolutely stunning. As you’ll soon see, these two are pretty ridiculously photogenic. I love that they are having multiple celebrations so that they can share this amazingly joyous occasion with as many friends and family as possible. I love being married… marriage is such an awesome thing – shouldn’t it be celebrated as many times throughout our entire lives as possible?

Laura has the sweetest laugh in the whole world and Purujit looks at her as though he’s never seen anyone more beautiful (I mean, look at her – I’m not sure I have either!). They are so in love and it is so undeniable. I wasn’t feeling too well the day of our shoot, but watching these two left me with a perma-smile on my face for the entire shoot. They are just too perfect.

We met up at Odiorne State Park (in Rye) for this shoot, and it was one of the best locations ever. The last time I shot there was in the spring, and it felt like a totally different place. I love when that happens. Also, I love that these two prefer their beverages out of adorable anthro mugs, and that quilt? Laura said she’s had it since she was little. I know, it pretty much can’t get any cuter. This is it, people ;]

I want to add, I normally choose a more equal ratio of color to black and white photos for the blog… but for this shoot, I was so in love with the colors! Laura’s sari and Purujit’s punjabi were a photographer’s dream! I absolutely adore the colors against the winter backdrop. Thank you to both of you, you guys made this shoot so personal and so fun and I can’t wait for your big day in only a few short months! xoxo.

These images are some of my favorites.

~

I don’t dedicate nearly enough blog posts to the photoshoots that take place for the clients closest to my heart – my family. More specifically, my sweet sister and her husband and their itty bitty sunshine girl, Clara Grace.
Abbie and I have always been closer than close… but her having a daughter has made me realize even more so how lucky I am to have her in my life. She is such an amazing mom – Clara Grace is seriously the luckiest little girl on the planet. But Abbie and Nick lucked out quite a bit too – because Clara Grace is definitely the cutest and most hilarious baby in all the land. She has such a sweet personality… I can’t believe how much she’s changing and growing every single day…. And that nose crinkle she does when she’s extra happy – ah! My heart!
Your little family makes me SO happy and I am just so honored that you’re not only MY family – but I get to photograph you too! It’s really just the best kind of deal.

I also need to publicly thank Abbie – she is my second shooter at 99% of my shoots and seriously – I couldn’t do it without her. She is the peanut butter to my jelly and life is so much easier on me because of her. Taking family photos for her when I can somehow seems like THE VERY LEAST I could ever do to repay her for all the love and support she gives me on a daily basis. But – she knows she has a lifetime of free photoshoots to use up, so I will continue letting her think that this somehow makes us “even” ;] Love you Abbie – thank you so much for being such a huge part of my photography business. Maybe it’s about time to start talking about “Tolsey Photography” – ha!

~

Well, 2012 wasn’t my year for blogging… but what’s new? ;]

As I look back over the past twelve months I am extremely overwhelmed – mostly with extreme gratitude.
2012 brought a lot of new changes… and a lot of things have stayed the same…
I am still working full time while juggling a growing photography business.
I am so excited to think that one day I will be able to devote 100% of my day to my business. This past year has been another year of growth and promise and I’m happy to think that I am one year closer to doing photography full time.

Thank you to my AMAZING friends and family… but especially to my wonderful clients.
I couldn’t even think of following this dream without you… Your patience and understanding are invaluable… and your trust in me is amazing.
As I was looking through my sessions from this year, I was so overwhelmed with thankfulness for the amazing clients I have had the experience of knowing and working for. I look through your photos and I am reminded of memories and relationships – it really does feel like looking through photos of dear friends.
I guess in a way, that’s exactly what it IS.
You have made it possible for me to follow my dream and I am so grateful that I am the one who has gotten to preserve these precious memories for you.

My hope is that years from now, when you or your children or your grandchildren look at these photos of you – they also will be overwhelmed with gratefulness. Gratefulness that there was such an abudence of love – and also that it was important enough to be documented. This gift will live on forever and we will never know what kind of impact it will have.

So thank you again. I wish you all the happiest of New Years and I hope that 2013 brings even more love, laughter, and great memories to you and your loved ones.
I hope that this year will be filled with even more photo sessions… more love, more weddings, more babies, and more family… This life we’ve been given is such a gift.
Let’s document more of the love in our lives so that we can stop time for just a moment…. and we can be thankful.

And now – some of my favorites from the year….

Families:

Couples:

And last but not least, we experienced some pretty amazing weddings in 2012!

Of course, individual blog posts of all these amazing sessions will be coming… some day ;]

Until then, continue keeping up with me by visiting my Facebook Page.

Exciting things are coming… I am already in the process of putting together a plan for another day of mini sessions this winter… I am a firm believer that there should be more photos of families playing in the snow together!
If you are interested in recieving more information about these mini sessions, please email me at rachelhalsey@gmail.com or leave a comment on my Facebook page.

Lots of love to everyone… and a very happy 2013, too!

I really do want to be better about posting my personal photos on this blog. It’s so easy to get caught up with client images and deadlines and this or that, etc. but when I think about all of the reasons I got into photography, I think about Christmas.

Let me explain.

In 2001, I was twelve years old. It was this Christmas that I asked for my first 35 mm SLR camera – A Minolta Maxxum 5. I loved that camera with all of my heart. I remember how excited I felt when I opened it up… I put that first roll of film in and the rest is history (as they say). I can honestly say that this is one of the biggest and earliest events in my life that absolutely shaped the way I saw things. From that Christmas on, I preferred looking at things through the viewfinder of my camera. Capturing something on film was empowering to me – I could turn something ugly in to a beautiful piece of art work (“beautiful” of course being up for debate). I could freeze time. Forever. I really do believe that even at such a young age, I “got it”. This is what I was supposed to do for the rest of my life.

This Christmas, I opened up a beautiful 50 mm 1.2 portrait lens from my generous sister and sweet husband. My heart immediately remembered that Christmas half my lifetime ago… Who would’ve thought I’d be here? I certainly didn’t… but boy, am I thankful.

Christmas is my favorite time of year. It’s a time of family and love and hope and wonder… and I always get so excited about capturing those things so that I can re-live them year after year. Ever since my brother and sister have had children, I have viewed Christmas even differently than before. Christmas has become somehow even more exciting and magical and I look so forward to seeing the huge smiles on those tiny faces that I love more than life itself.

~

I met up with Kayla and Eric on York Beach on a sunny (but chilly) afternoon back in November. Their wedding is going to be taking place this coming June and I feel like I’m already counting down the days. In case you couldn’t tell, wedding season (aka SUMMER) is my favorite time of the year :]
Eric and Kayla are such a fun couple. They were so open to my suggestions and just super go-with-the-flow kind of people. I love that their shoot felt casual and relaxed… never posed or stiff or unnatural. There was so much laughter, too. I love that Kayla is a laugher – it makes my job even easier.
We had fun walking up and down the beach… stopping to climb on rocks (totally normal, I promise) and we even managed to get a little bit of downtown York in the session too. All in all, I had a fabulous time with these two and loved spending such a sunny fall day with them on the beach. I love the colors of the day and the evident love that these two have for each other. I can’t wait for their wedding day in June!

My dear friend, Matt, is working on a new music project and asked me to take some promo shots for him. Matt is super talented and I was so excited when he asked me to do this shoot for him. I loved working with him because although he already had a vision of what he wanted the shoot to look like, he was very open to all of my suggestions and ideas. In the end, I think this was the perfect collaboration. I can’t wait until I have more info from Matt about this project that I can share with you! Stay tuned!