Mount Desert Island is such a beautiful place to consider when planning your wedding! It held a special place for Josh and Brit, since they have already spent some of their 11 years together there. As I do for some of my farther away weddings, I came up and spent the night before with my wife in Northeast Harbor and The Asticou. If you're ever up that way, be sure to also check out their beautiful gardens! It was such an amazing place to walk through and relax the day before.

Ok, on to the main event, Josh and Brit's big day! Ironically, the day before and after were forecasted to be a cool high of 60, while the wedding day was a high 82! It was a little warm, but the skies were clear, and the views were breathtaking. After the girls finished getting ready, I joined Josh and headed to Eagle Lake where they were set to have their first look! Being memorial day weekend, the carriage roads were packed with bikers, but thankfully we were able to grab a few moments alone for some nice portraits. Afterwards, it was back to the Bar Harbor Inn for the rest of the day's celebrations! The ceremony took place in the oceanfront backyard where Josh and Brittany were surrounded by their closest friends and family. As part of the ceremony, the ancient Celtic ritual of Handfasting was observed. This involved using a series of cords and knots to signifying their bond and "tying the knot". The rest of the day was filled with friends and laughter as everyone danced the afternoon away at the reception. Toasts were made, batons were passed on, the cake was cut, cigars were smoked, tender moments were seen, and the happy couple left to continue their life's journey together. I was honored be there and help capture these memories for them, and I hope you enjoy!

-At the end of this blog post is a link to the full wedding album and ordering gallery-

Thank you Josh and Brittany!

- Vendors -

Photographer: James Flachsbart
Venue, H&M, Catering, Cake: Bar Harbor Inn
Flowers: Cottage Flowers
Dress: Madeleine's daughter

Want see the rest of the photos or make orders? Click the link below to see the full album and make orders for a limited time! Also, tag and share the photos on Facebook by clicking here!

FULL WEDDING ALBUM LINK

Never before had I entered a photo into any sort of competition, so why not start with a professional photographer's competition, right? As most of you know, my primary focus is wedding photography, it's what I really love to do. What you may not know is that it is less likely for those types of photos to score as high in competition. My main goal with every client is to provide them with the very best images that I can produce, however what makes a great client image isn't necessarily cut out for a professional competition.
The Professional Photographer Association's judges follow strict criteria for what makes a merited/blue ribbon image. Most entries are planned/stylized shoots to which their photographers have given lengthy amounts of time to plan out and then execute. Now put these well thought out images up against ones that are often shot on the fly - with little forethought - during the middle of a wedding day! You can see why it becomes so challenging to score high on any of the many technical elements required of this profession.
All that being said, I was very excited to have one image earn the honor of being a merited/blue ribbon image! The remaining four scored only two points under blue ribbon, but were still red ribbon worthy! The entire process was a very humbling, nerve-racking, and vulnerable experience, but it also turned out to be a very encouraging and heartwarming one, as I received much positive feedback from both fellow photographers and the presiding judges. This culminated in being presented with the "First Time Entrant Award" for having the highest scoring average among all of the first time competitors! A special thank you to all of my amazing clients who put their faith in me and for the support of my friends and family. I could not have done it without you all, and look forward to doing this job for many years to come!