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!

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.

~

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 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!

“I’m going to be better about blog posting” she repeats quietly to herself, over and over and over…

I really do think about blogging all of the time – that has to count for something, right??

For those of you that follow my blog and check for updates (do those people exist? haha. I think I’m flattering myself…) I’m sorry that I keep disappointing! Please be sure to like my Facebook page here. I post previews there a lot more often than I blog here – but I really am trying to do better!

So the week before their September 2nd wedding, Tim and Jenna met up with Abbie and I in downtown Dover for a quick engagement session. It was so great finally getting to talk with Tim and getting to know him a bit more after hearing so much about him from Jenna.
[sidenote: Jenna and I have known each other since... Hmm... sophomore year of high school? Is that right? Whitley would know... She's the one that introduced us ;]

Jenna and Tim are obviously so in love – you can tell from the way that they look at each other… The way they get all excited just to be holding hands and crossing the street…

I am so glad that my friend is so happy.

Thank you, Tim and Jenna. Thank you for letting me be a part of your story by documenting it for you. I loved our time together and I can’t wait to share your wedding as well.

We met up with Chris and Cyndi at the Newcastle Commons in Newcastle, NH.
It was breezy and oh-so-sunny and basically – we couldn’t have asked for a prettier day.

Thanks for being such a good sport, Chris! And Cyndi – you are beautiful! I can’t wait for your big day in October!

Eoghan and Danah are the sweetest and most adorable couple you will ever lay eyes on.
They are so in love and just so precious.
We photographed them by the ocean… with their “big dog”… on a windy, beautiful day.
These are some of my favorite images ever.

Such a fabulous engagement session!

This is my first post dedicated solely to my adorable sister, Libby, and her sweet boyfriend Mike.

Libby and I grew up as built in best friends… there are three years between us but I swear that there are days where it feels like a day – if that.
When Libby and Mike started dating, I was as hesitant as any older sister would be.
Mike quickly proved that he was the coolest cat around and he treats my sister like a princess.
Melt. My. Heart.

We went to a spot down the road from my parents house that is especially special to them… enjoy :]

Allison and Ben are the cutest, most fun, adorable couple you could know.

Their love is so evident and beautiful and I feel so honored to have been the one to capture these photos.

I’m so excited for their September wedding!