Our meeting was held Tuesday December 9th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.
Presentation
Our presenter was Brian Aquadero talking about wedding photography and some of the challenges and solutions inherent in it among other topics.
“Naturally beautiful photos no matter the mood!”
A husband and wife team, we founded Aquadro Photography just over ten years ago, turning our longstanding love of photography as a hobby into a business that has since served over a thousand clients from New York City to Massachusetts to MDI. Laurel originally found her way into photography as a way to preserve memories. Loving the challenge of 35mm black and white film, she was fascinated seeing her vision come to life in the darkroom. Brian got into landscapes as a creative outlet between deployments while in the Marines and as a way to document his travels. Traveling with a camera in hand was something we bonded over early on, and we began photographing families and weddings together in 2015.
We now work with hundreds of clients a year in more than three dozen locations from the streets of NYC to the summits of Acadia. So much of a session’s success depends on our communication with our clients ahead of time. By the time a session starts, we’ve already discussed their goals for the photos, which times of day and weather suit them best, how far they’re willing to hike or travel from the car, which clothing they’ll feel most comfortable in, what the tide and light will look like at certain times, which locations have footing that fit their abilities, and any other considerations we can take into account. The more we think through ahead of a session, the more likely we are to greet relaxed and happy clients, which always makes for the most beautiful photographs.
Along with families and weddings, we focus on planning surprise proposals in lesser-known locations where a couple has never been. It’s in these surprise sessions where Laurel’s love for considering every minuscule detail and Brian’s experience in ambush planning really shines. Preparation, flexibility, and connection with our clients is what enables us to go from a sunrise summit proposal to a cliffside family session to an intimate half day elopement through the park, capturing beautiful photographs and making sure each client has our full attention..
In this MDI Photo Club presentation, we walked through how to work with a disagreeable 2-year-old, how to plan a proposal when one partner doesn’t even know the other was in Acadia, and shooting a wedding with the weather changing every 30 minutes. For each session, we covered how our planning ensured we were prepared and minimized surprises and how we make the most of whatever Mother Nature gives us to deliver the best images possible despite fluctuating moods, light, and weather!
Assignments
Our Assignment for this month was “A Day in the Life”. Taking what we learned and saw from David Lubarsky’s November presentation we should shadow a person, or a pet or other animal, and produce up to three “environmental portraits” showing our subject in different locations or performing various tasks that illustrate their typical daily routine.
The December 2025 Gallery of Photographs
Critique
The following images were submitted for Critique, a supportive conversation among members to help a photographer achieve their vision.
Assignment
The assignment for the December meeting was “A Day In The Life of …” (Environmental Portraits)”
Share
Members shared these additional images.
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