Could you ask for a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon?

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of shooting with my pals from Shootstyle at the Renaissance Hotel in Downtown Providence RI. As you may remember from past posts, Shootstyle is a group of leading New England Wedding photographers that I along with the other founding members, Earl Christie, Stacey Doyle, Jeff Newcum, Michelle Turner, and Alicia Williams formed a couple of years ago. Our goal with Shootstyle is to get together as often as possible to grow together as atrists, push the boundaries of our skills, and have fun doing it.

Sunday’s shoot was our most ambitious project to date. First off, it was a full blown production with dresses custom designed for the project by Julie Ebel and her girls at Juliana Designs. Julia is best known for her beautiful, custom designed irish step dancing design company, but has recently begun to branch out into couture designs for select clients. She also happens to have a space in the same building where my galler/office is located. When we told her our idea for a winter themed shoot, she jumped right onboard, custom desinging two beautiful dresses just for the event.

In addition to Julia, we hired professional models and a makeup artist, the talented Jenny Dimucci from Providence. When I arrived at the location the suite was buzzing with activity as the models were being made up, the wardrobe gals were making last minute alterations to the dresses, and the photographers were checking and rechecking their equipment. OK that last bit was a little fib. We photographers were mainly standing around and eating doughnuts…

But as soon as the makeup and wardrobe were ready, we were off. And what a location we had! The Rennaissance Providence is one of those hotels tht makes you feel cool when you walk through the lobby…like you’re a VIP at one of the “it” places in town. The decor is modern and hip, and funky…the perfect backdrop for the unique dresses. 6 hours of shooting went by like a blur.

But enough blathering - on to the photos!