Tag exeter

Jakobi & Juniper 07.01.11 | NH Children’s Photographer

I’m a suc­ker for good sur­pri­ses, par­ti­cu­larly of the birth­day variety. Love to plan them, love to be the inten­ded sur­pi­see, just love them. So when Jac­que called me to see about having some pho­tos taken of her chil­dren, for their father, for his birth­day, it was a resoun­ding YES!

When I arri­ved to my play date, Jakobi was all about sho­wing me the pho­tos from their recent pet­ting zoo visit — hor­sies! hor­sies! do YOU like horsies!?

Once the sli­deshow por­tion of the after­noon was over, we moved on to book club. We read, we chat­ted. The only thing mis­sing were the brow­nies ;)

Jakobi just became a big brother! Miss Juni­per was an abso­lute peach and snoo­zed away the whole time.

I’m com­ple­tely ena­mo­red with this photo. I couldn’t really tell you why, but bet­ween the art­work, the lilt, and the pinky fin­ger it just melts my heart every time.

Juniper!

We’d hoped to get a few of the two of them together, but Jakobi’s ver­sion of being gentle and loving on her loo­ked eerily simi­lar to smothe­ring her and poking her in the eye. ;)

And so we took our play­date outside to the back­yard where I got a com­plete tour of the swing set.

This is their sweet family dog. Such a love. My brain howe­ver, spat the name out and won’t let me recall it. Still deser­ves some blog lovin’ though!

Jac­que is an exce­llent mother. She reminds me of the per­fect 1st grade teacher — just sweet and cal­ming, full of patience and love. She makes it look easy.

We pla­yed some base­ball. We tal­ked about the red sox (they were worth tal­king about then) and we coun­ted one, two. one, two.

a toe-​headed, striped-​button-​down wea­ring, blue-​eyed, little boy in crocs pla­ying in the dirt. what could be better?

patty cake patty cake, baker’s man, make me a carrot, as fast as you can!

Once the dirt was intro­du­ced I was quickly repla­ced. Mom snuck in there though and pla­yed trucks with him in the dirt. This may be on of my favo­rite ‘boy’ shots ever.

Thank you Jakobi for such a won­der­ful play­date! I enjo­yed mee­ting your mum, and Juni & gran (who was there hel­ping out) — and I’m so thri­lled your dad loved his sur­prise! .. Sorry about the Red Sox, Tim. Maybe next year! :)

Hi Melissa! I just wan­ted to let you know that we cele­bra­ted Tim’s birth­day a little early and he’s seen the pic­tu­res. He said it was the best birth­day pre­sent he’s ever been given! ALL of the pic­tu­res are ama­zing and beautiful…we’re going to have a REALLY hard time choo­sing which ones we want to purchase. I’ve sent the link to our family mem­bers, so they will be orde­ring pic­tu­res, too. I just wan­ted to let you know how ama­zing you are and how thank­ful I am to have wor­ked with you. I’m sure we’ll be in touch soon with ques­tions about orde­ring. ~ Jacque

I hope to see you all again, real soon!

much love <3

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Owen turns 1! 06.19.11 | Exeter, NH Family Photography

The amount of times Elton John and his Circle of Life run through my brain as I look at my pho­to­graphy career astounds me. I love where my life has led me!

Raina & I knew of each other in High School — that was a lot of years ago, and aside from the occa­sio­nal friend of a friend ‘frien­ding’ her on face­book, we’ve had no con­nec­tion since. Now, I can’t remem­ber if she said she was AT Sam & Josh’s wed­ding or just saw the pho­tos after and loved them, but either way, she emai­led me about taking pho­tos of her little boy, who has the same birth­day as my (very not so little) boy! There’s only 10 years bet­ween them! wha­te­ver, I’m not old ;)

I was thri­lled when she wan­ted to come back to Exe­ter for the shoot — I really do love my little town <3

They’re just the swee­test family! Owen is a miracle baby, and he cer­tainly knows how to play up the cute­ness angle!

Wal­king and smi­ling at the same time! Even I have trou­ble with that some­ti­mes ;)

Raina brought his birth­day out­fit inc­lu­ding this cus­tom fel­ted crown, which I ado­red. This one reminds me of “where the wild things are”

Let the wild rum­pus begin!

He’s well into his adven­tu­res of being one at this point — when last I spoke to Raina she had to run because he was get­ting into something or the other, and I bet he still is!
In bet­ween adven­tu­res, Raina wrote me this abso­lu­tely touching email -
Hi Melissa,
We chec­ked out the pic­tu­res and they are beau­ti­ful!!! We can’t thank you enough. It was actually very emo­tio­nal for us to look at them and see how lucky we are to be a family of three now. We are still pinching our­sel­ves every day that he is really here and all ours. You cap­tu­red that fee­ling for us and it crea­ted quite a moment when we were all (my parents inc­lu­ded) loo­king at the pic­tu­res and I could see that each of us had tears in our eyes. 
Also, my sec­ret con­fes­sion is that I hate pic­tu­res of myself and I do not feel like I am very pho­to­ge­nic ever. I’m always the one dele­ting pic­tu­res of myself on other people’s came­ras and hate when I see someone taking pic­tu­res. I’m just never happy with them and that can make pic­ture taking very stress­ful. Somehow, magi­cally, you made me feel very rela­xed and took pic­tu­res that I love and am so proud of. I can’t say enough, I’m just inc­re­dibly happy with them and so glad that we found you. Is it too soon to hire you now for the rest of our family pic­tu­res in the years to come?? :)
Thank you from all the Webbers!!
Hope you had a nice 4th, ~ Raina
Thank you Raina for see­king me out and allo­wing me to meet your won­der­ful family! I look for­ward to pho­to­graphing you all for years to come! :)

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Paul 05.20.11 | Exeter, NH Casual Head Shots

Paul emai­led me on a Tues­day hoping to get some head shots for net­wor­king and beyond before he moved to New York City.… on Sun­day. Head shots in a hurry? no pro­blemo! :D And although the weather see­med to be refu­sing to coö­pe­rate, we plan­ned to meet up Fri­day mor­ning in Down­town Exeter.

It was over­cast and misty but it was per­fect for what we were loo­king to do. Rela­xed, casual, head shots. The clouds dif­fu­sed the sun per­fectly and the mist kept us cool ‘vegas mist @ the fla­mingo’ style. We wan­de­red around for half an hour tal­king and laughing. Paul is super easy going in front of the camera.

He reminds me of James Van Der Beek - and seeing as how I’ve watched the entire series of Dawson’s Creek (twice ;) ! (And I do <3 Daw­son, but in my heart I’ll always be a Pacey & Joey fan) and Var­sity Blues (more than twice) — that’s not a bad thing at all.

These next two are my favo­ri­tes — I said it as soon as I took them too, after asking him to “you know — crouch down like boys do…” hence forth named “the boy crouch”

“the boy crouch with brick” :D

Then we took a quick ride to NYC to grab a few more with a hint of authen­ti­city. What? no? ok fine — but we wal­ked 15 feet and got a little more urban up in this piece. ;)

Con­gra­tu­la­tions Paul on your move to the Big Apple! It was great han­ging out with you on a dreary Fri­day morning!

I’m having a lot of fun with this new area of MKP and would love to help you or your busi­ness with a pro­fes­sio­nally rela­xed image revamp! 1/​2 hour, whole hour, or many hours + high res ima­ges on dvd for your use in adver­ti­sing and promotion.

If you’re loo­king for pro­fes­sio­nal head shots with out the stuffy feel, please be in touch!

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Business of the Year Awards 03.24.11 | Exeter, NH Event Photographer

I really enjo­yed myself at last year’s Busi­ness of the Year awards, I was exci­ted to shoot this years’. I was even more exci­ted, and hum­bled, to be a nomi­nee as well! While I didn’t win, I had a lot of fun put­ting together my entry.

From the Cham­ber Press Release: The Chamber’s 2011 Busi­ness of the Year Awards Pre­sen­ta­tion & Cock­tail Recep­tion pre­sen­ted by Com­cast was held before a sell-​out crowd on Thurs., March 24 at One Liberty Lane Office and Con­fe­rence Cen­ter in Hampton.

An enthu­sias­tic crowd enjo­yed hors d’oeuvres and cock­tails from Galley Hatch Cate­ring and cele­bra­ted as this year’s win­ners were announced.

One Liberty Lane loo­ked amazing!

Ven­dor booths were set up pro­vi­ding the hono­rees and guests an oppor­tu­nity to meet and chat with some of the areas business.

The eve­ning star­ted with a few words from Cham­ber Pre­si­dent Mike Schidlovsky

And then Kellie Farrar from Coaching+, one of last years reci­pients, took over as the head of Cere­mo­nies and intro­du­ced each cate­gory and rea­sons why the win­ner was cho­sen before revea­ling who had taken the title.

Real Estate/​Construction/​Engineering: Ema­nuel Engi­nee­ring, Inc.

Manufacturing/​Technology: Northeast Lan­tern, Ltd.

Education/​Non-​profit less than 25 emplo­yees: Exe­ter His­to­ri­cal Society

Education/​Non-​profit 25 or more emplo­yees: Sea­coast School of Technology

(you may recog­nize this place.. I talk about it some­ti­mes.. I also took a lot of the pho­tos he used in his sub­mis­sion. haha) Tourism/​Hospitality: The Tavern at River’s Edge

Retail Who­le­sale: TIED – Coo­kies by Design Exe­ter and Cor­nu­co­pia Wine & Cheese

Health Care: River­Woods — My favo­rite part of Cathy’s accep­tance was the heart­felt thanks that some of the resi­dence of the faci­lity gave to her when River­woods won.

And the winner’s of the cate­gory I was nomi­na­ted in were the well deser­ving Busi­ness & Trade Ser­vi­ces: F.W. Webb Com­pany

But I had him in my cor­ner — and that’s way more than I nee­ded. That post-​it says “I vote for Mom

In addi­tion, the Chamber’s newly esta­blished Lori Breard Achie­ve­ment in Lea­dership Award was pre­sen­ted to Exe­ter Bow­ling Lanes and Shooter’s Sports Pub owner Robert Ficara of Exe­ter. Ficara, an active Cham­ber mem­ber, was pre­sen­ted the award by Pam Came­ron and Breard’s daugh­ter Hallie Estle.

Robert Ficara was awar­ded the honor for his many attri­bu­tes that epi­to­mize the ins­pi­ra­tion and exam­ple set by Breard. They inc­lude: a high level of pro­fes­sio­na­lism, lea­dership, inte­grity com­bi­ned with a down-​to-​earth approach to life; a posi­tive atti­tude; and active men­to­ring. Also, Ficara is a strong busi­ness lea­der and active com­mu­nity member.

Ficara is an active mem­ber of the Cham­ber for many years, volun­tee­ring on a host of com­mit­tees over many years inc­lu­ding: the Ulti­mate Sports Tic­ket Raf­fle, Small Busi­ness Show­case, Sweeps­ta­kes, Fall Fes­ti­val, Bruins Alumni Bene­fit Game and Cham­ber Children’s Fund. Hos­ting net­wor­king events, spon­so­ring annual events and ser­ving at one time on the board of direc­tors have also been part of his Cham­ber par­ti­ci­pa­tion. His con­tri­bu­tions to the com­mu­nity extend well beyond the Cham­ber, from annual fun­drai­sers to ope­ra­ting two well-​loved local businesses.

Rob was so genui­nely touched and unsus­pec­ting I don’t think there was any one in the room that wasn’t a little emo­tio­nal at the ama­zing per­son Lori was, and that her daugh­ter Hallie embo­dies, and how deser­ving Rob is of this award.

Con­gra­tu­la­tions to all this year’s award recipients!

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Blue Moon: Evolution! 02.16.11 | Chamber of Commerce Event Photography

If you haven’t eaten at Blue Moon Evo­lu­tion in Exe­ter yet, I sug­gest you do so as soon as humanly pos­si­ble. The food is exqui­site, the atmosphere is so cozy and wel­co­ming you never want to leave, and the staff is warm and friendly.

This table’s for you so just do it, treat your­self to something exceptional.

On this occa­sion howe­ver, they were hos­ting the monthly Exe­ter Area Cham­ber of Com­merce Busi­ness After Hours event. They had a great loo­king (and tas­ting) fruit plat­ter and other nosh…

And some FINE bar­ten­ders & drinks! One of my favo­ri­tes… Beet­nik After Dark: Orga­nic Beet Infu­sed Tequila, Lillet, Coin­treau, Freshly Squee­zed Lemon and a Splash of Agave Syrup. SO GOOD!

Time to get down to busi­ness — the busi­ness of win­ning! I even won a gift cer­ti­fi­cate to Tran­qui­lity Spa which I used towards a nice pedi­cure before my trip to India­na­po­lis in April. Trip? What trip.. more on that later ;)

Thank you Blue Moon — for evol­ving — I’m so glad Exe­ter has you!

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cousins! 11.20.10 | Exeter, NH Family Photographer

More Novem­ber family good­ness! One of the neigh­borhood moms emai­led me about taking pho­tos of ‘the cousins’ — 3 fami­lies each with 2 beau­ti­ful chil­dren — half a dozen fan­tas­tic grandchildren!

We met up down­town and wan­de­red around the the Swa­sey Park­way, gig­gling the whole time! I did a really good job lear­ning the names of the other 4 girls, and kee­ping all 6 of them straight. alas, that was a long time ago now and I’m get­ting older every minute, so.….. :( .

Names or no names, their per­so­na­li­ties were inde­li­ble and these pho­tos make me SMILE!

The ‘girl next door’, and her brother ‘mr. easy going’ — the only boy and SO good about it.

The youn­ger girls, ‘little miss sassy pants’, and her sis­ter ‘the protector’

The older girls, both sweet as can be, but one a little more clas­sic, the other a little more modern.

Snacks were used for bri­bery for the litt­lest one, but she still star­ted losing inte­rest towards the end ;)

Just before we finished up, it was leaf thro­wing time and ever­yone was exci­ted to get in on that!

I had SO MUCH FUN han­ging with this gang!

~melis­sa­ko­ren

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Morgado Family Photos 10.31.10 | Exeter, NH Family Photography

I have been known to donate gift cer­ti­fi­ca­tes to a few of my friends who are invol­ved in various cha­ri­ties. Jess won one such cer­ti­fi­cate in a breast can­cer fun­drai­ser last spring. I was exci­ted to meet her and her family for some awe­some fall pho­tos down­town Exeter.

I’m pretty sure her boys didn’t want to dress up as models for hallo­ween, but they were the BEST lis­te­ners and great fun!

Of course, it’s easy to have fun when there are mounds and mounds of lea­ves around.

and then the lady with the camera tells you to go ahead and throw them RIGHT AT HER. He looks so deter­mi­ned.. and SO plea­sed with himself!

They really were the cutest little goo­ber munchkins!

Thank you Jess for your sup­port in the fight against breast can­cer, and for sha­ring your ama­zing family with me!

~melis­sa­ko­ren

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