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Very Brainy Conference

Jan 29th, 2012
by kpikephoto.
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This past week, I photographed the annual 2-day wellness conference for VEHI(Vermont Education Health Initiative) VEHI runs the health care plans for all Vermont’s school employees and at this annual event, over 500 wellness leaders come together in either the southern location (the Killington Grand) or the Northern site (Stoweflake Resort) for a day of great information, lots of fun AND to learn more about “BRAINSTORM”, the new PATH adventure, which they will bring back to their schools across the state.

PATH (Planned Action Toward Health) is the awesome amazing company- co-founded by my equally awesome and amazing wife, Gillian Pieper- that has redefined work site wellness with their innovative and dynamic health management programs.

Each year, PATH puts out a new 10-week “adventure”, which is a web-based, self guided journey to some interesting place. It is a kind of virtual world action plan that promotes walking and physical activity, community involvement and team building. The new adventure, ready to roll out Monday morning to 12,700 Vermont school employees, is called BRAINSTORM and it’s my favorite one yet ( ok, I do love them all!) Above, VSBIT health promotions specialist Shevonne Travers and Gillian Pieper channel their inner Wayne and Garth in something they called “Brain’s World.”

To celebrate all things “brainy”, presenters included (photo below, clockwise starting from the top left): Psychology professor Kim Nolan, pleasure and addiction specialist Mike Nerney, BCBSVT health management consultant Tracy Gallo, Vermont master dance teacher Karen Amirault, nutritionist and an owner of the Vermont Country store Gardner Orton, and Plymouth State Univ. physical education professor Lynn Johnson.

Below, Gillian looks at the history of nutrition and social norms regarding fitness. As always, she had her audience giggling throughout the presentation!

The day included lots of both physical and brainy challenges!

Here’s a fun recap of the 2 days, accompanied by a medly of a couple of brain-related showtunes! Enjoy!

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If you want more information on PATH and the adventures, definitely check out their website: PATH or their Facebook page: PATH on FB

And, if you are a Vermont, Maine or New Hampshire school employee and you aren’t involved in this great program, find the PATH coordinator at your school and GET BUSY!! You will be so happy you did!

Party on, Garth!

Posted in: Photo Potpourri.

Kelli & Mike’s E session

Nov 20th, 2011
by kpikephoto.
2 comments

Kelli and Mike are planning their wedding for next October, after being together for about 10 years (off and on since high school!) We took advantage of this year’s gorgeous foliage and did their engagement portrait session last month at Shelburne Farms. I loved watching their easy going nature with each other, and their level of comfort and familiarity that comes with having been together for so long. And they both love to have fun!

Kelli and Mike even walk in sync! How sweet is that…

I love making slideshows for couples and finding what I think is the perfect song to fit both their relationship and mood of the portrait session. For Mike and Kelli, this was easy: You’re My Best Friend by Queen:

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If you’d like to see all of the photos from Kelli and Mike’s ‘ll need to get the password from the couple and then click HERE

Posted in: E sessions, Portrait Sessions.

Rob and Michael’s Wedding

Nov 17th, 2011
by kpikephoto.
2 comments

Rob and Michael’s wedding brought my 2011 season to a close and it was the most perfect celebration to end with. I love this couple so much and I was thrilled that they picked me to photograph their day. Theirs is definitely a love story to be told in pictures and I hope I did them justice!

It was a destination wedding for the Maryland couple and about 40 friends and family members also traveled with them to the tiny town of Brookfield, Vermont for the event. Their church ceremony was held in Randolph and then the reception back in Brookfield at Ariel’s Restaurant (one of the state’s best kept culinary secrets!!!) The dinner was extraordinary, as were the entertaining and heartfelt toasts by friends and the amazing after dinner acoustic trio Bow Thayer and Holy Plow.

Michael and Rob rented “Ye old Forkshop“, the coolest 1815 guest house–across from the equally as cool Green Trails Inn-so I had a ball shooting all of the memorabilia hanging on the walls. The house actually sits on the lake, right next to the famous Brookfield “floating bridge.”

The couple had to leave their German shepherds back in MD but they brought them in spirit by way of their suspenders and socks (as well as their cake topper!)

Their rings were gorgeous, designed with apple trees on the outside, to symbolize the ever growing nature of their relationship. It was the central theme of the whole wedding and all of the details were special lovely.

The best part of Michael and Rob is that they definitely like to have fun AND they have a great joint sense of humor…

Try not to smile through this recap of their day, to Ray Lamontagne’s You are the Best Thing:

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If you’d like to see all of Michael and Rob’s wedding photos, contact them for the password and then click HERE

Posted in: Weddings, same sex wedding, video slideshows.

Ryan and Aileen’s Harbor wedding

Nov 16th, 2011
by kpikephoto.
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Ryan and Aileen were married on a perfect fall Saturday at the eloquent York Harbor Reading Room<in the coastal town of York, Maine. I’m not sure it gets much better than this–gorgeous foliage, breathtaking ocean views and loads of LOVE and romance. It was a memorable wedding!!

We did some stunning portraits along the coast, stopping the private trolley at some famous local spots, including the Wiggly bridge and the Cape Neddick Lighthouse . Then it was onto the Reading Room for an amazing dinner and dancing to a great Boston band, The Rhythm Dogs. Definitely check out the slideshow below to see some fun moments from the reception.

The men looked timeless and oh-so-cool in their suits and striped ties and the women totally rocked in their purple bridesmaids dresses!

I love how Aileen can’t stop smiling and looking at Ryan throughout the ceremony!

And how could I resist taking this!?!

Congratulations, Ryan and Aileen!! Here’s to a lifetime of memories as sweet as your wedding day!!

Enjoy this fun recap of the day’s festivities, to the Sara Bareilles song, The Light:
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If you’d like to see all the photos from Aileen and Ryan’s perfect day, click HERE (wedding guests receive the secret password. All others must contact the bridal couple)

Posted in: Weddings, video slideshows.

Hillary and Kate’s Monday afternoon wedding

Oct 28th, 2011
by kpikephoto.
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My Double Header Wedding Monday continued and I headed to Plainfield, Vermont to photograph Hillary and Kate and their ceremony-for-two at the Comstock House, a lovely B&B with gorgeous views, run by Warren Hathaway and Ross Sneyd.

Hillary and Kate came to Vermont for their Civil ceremony, after having a large spiritual wedding at their home in North Carolina. Justice of the Peace Olivia Gay officiated and guests included just the sheep that grazed in the picturesque fields behind the inn.

What a gorgeous spot to do portraits. I loved every minute with this adorable couple..

I had fun trying to make this ring picture, until I dropped one of the bands and momentarily couldn’t find it in the leaves! Ahhh..

If you’d like to see all of the photos from Hillary and Kate’s Monday afternoon wedding, please click HERE and dont forget to get the password from the couple!

Posted in: Weddings, same sex wedding.

Tracey and Susan’s Monday morning wedding

Oct 28th, 2011
by kpikephoto.
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I recently had a Double-header Monday, with one couple getting married in Burlington in the morning and then another tying the knot in Plainfield in the afternoon. What a happy way to start the week!

Tracey and Susan came to Vermont from Atlanta and had their intimate wedding ceremony at the First Congregational Church. It was officiated by wonderful Rev. Adrienne Carr.

The 10 minute service and Rev. Carr’s blessing (and signature on the marriage license!) made the new “Mrs. and Mrs.” soooo happy and it carried into the fun and romantic portrait session which followed. It was a gorgeous Vermont Fall day, just overcast enough to make the color really pop!

After our first stop on Spear Street to show them the view from Overlook Park, I found out that Tracey and Susan shared my affinity for hay bails so we headed off to another of my favorite outdoor Fall portrait studios!

And everyone loves a bright red barn!!!

If you’d like to see all of Tracey and Susan’s wedding day photos, please click HERE (password provided by the couple, of course!)

Congratulations, Tracey and Susan!!!!!!

Posted in: Weddings, same sex wedding.

Ron and Cris get engaged

Oct 20th, 2011
by kpikephoto.
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Ron and Cris live in Ottawa but their Vermont connection centers around Ron’s family cottage in the Champlain Islands, where he has loved spending time ever since he was a boy. For Ron, proposing to the woman he loves and then planning a wedding could only be done in this most special and sacred place.

The couple met while both working in the Pool and Hot Tub industry and they had to keep their affair under wraps. The chemistry was too great, though, and their relationship blossomed into a full blown romance with wedding bells ringing in their ears. Now they are planning their celebration for next June, with a lakeside ceremony on the pier at the North Hero House and I am so excited to be their photographer!

We recently spent some time together at their Alburg retreat and then at North Hero House, where Ron re-enacted their proposal (so Cris could share the photos with her mother!) It was a beautiful afternoon and the Vermont foliage was in fine form for the engagement session. I can only hope for weather that nice next June at their wedding…

I hope you enjoy this fun and sexy little slideshow of Ron and Cris’s photo session (to the Andrew Allen song, “Loving you Tonight“):

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If you’d like to see all of the pictures from Ron and Cris’s Engagement session, please click HERE (but make sure you have the password from the couple to enter the gallery!

Posted in: E sessions, video slideshows.

Cheryl and Michael’s Wedding at Baldwin Creek

Oct 15th, 2011
by kpikephoto.
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With just weeks to go until their wedding, Cheryl and Michael decided that they wanted their celebration professionally photographed. The couple has been together for years, but now, after finally making it “official”, Cheryl wanted to make sure they had at least one good picture of them in their wedding attire. When we met at my studio in August, those were my instructions from Cheryl: “Just get one good picture of Michael and me and I’ll be happy!”

Of course this made me laugh. And I hope, after the couple looks at the 500 plus photos from their wedding, they will find at least one that they like!

The wedding and reception was held at the beautiful Inn at Baldwin Creek, with about a hundred of the couple’s friends and family members gathering for the event. The ceremony was officiated by Rev. Adrienne Carr, with musical accompaniment by Vermont singer/songwriter Mary McGinnis.

Gotta love a singer who plays the uke!

The bridal party takes flight:

Chef Doug Mack’s food was yummy and pretty (as always!):

It was so sweet when Michael’s son leaned over and gave his dad a big kiss on the cheek!

The couple had a little giggle with their guests, taking their first whirl on the dance floor to Nat King Cole’s “Too Young” (“They try to tell us we’re too young–too young to really be in love…”)

The amazing and talented Jenni Johnson and the Jazz Junketeers kept the party in full swing with her combination of jazz and blues! Any wedding with Jenni is a P-A-R-T-Y!!!

These two guests cracked me up:

How often do you get to say… “Here Come The JUDGE(S)!”

I love this slideshow set to Phil Collins’s gorgeous rendition of “The Way You Look Tonight”

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If you’d like to see all 500 plus pictures from Cheryl and Michael’s wedding, please click HERE (but you’ll need the secret pass code from the bridal couple!) Congratulations, Cheryl and Michael!! May you always treasure your young love!

Posted in: Weddings, video slideshows.

Protected: Sarah and Kate’s GRAND wedding

Oct 2nd, 2011
by kpikephoto.
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Posted in: Weddings, same sex wedding, video slideshows.

Heather and Robin’s wedding in the meadow

Sep 22nd, 2011
by kpikephoto.
1 comment

I have such a huge crush on Robin and Heather! They are both lovely and sweet and nice and they are SO SO SO in love! I was (professionally) smitten with them within minutes of our first meeting–skyping from their home in Austin, Texas.

Traveling to Vermont along with their two attendants, their “best person’ and Heather’s mom, the couple rented the barn at Fielder farm in Huntington for the week. I’d never been there before, and it has to be one of the prettiest Vermont settings I’ve ever seen. Heather and Robin scouted the property and decided the ceremony should be in the middle of a meadow, surrounded by Jersey cows and with the most gorgeous vista imaginable in the distance.

And I could have stayed in that cow pasture for days taking pictures of this stunning couple.

The night before the wedding, Heather made garland from hand cut paper hearts and decorated the barn. Then she made cupcakes and set the table. There was so much love put into all of the details for this intimate wedding, you’d think they were preparing for 100 people. But they were preparing for the only people that mattered-themselves. And it was perfect.

The ceremony was officiated by Kathryn Blume and witnessed by many Vermont Residents (as seen in the photo below). Afterwards, I let the couple just enjoy their surroundings and the results couldn’t be sweeter.

I love every single image in this slideshow, so I hope you all enjoy it, too–set to K.D. Lang’s ballad, “Extraordinary Thing”.

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If you’d like to see all of the pictures from Heather and Robin’s celebration, please click HERE and dont forget to ask the bridal couple for the secret password to the gallery.

Posted in: Weddings, same sex wedding, video slideshows.

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