Michelle Gardella Wedding Photography

Shannon + Matt // A Preview

Michelle — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 03:48:24 +0000

We spent the day with our incredible family visiting from Portland, OR and as we drove away to head to tonight’s engagement session I thought, “Today couldn’t get any better.”

Wrong.

Sunshine + rain + the craziest sky I’ve ever seen + the biggest double rainbow I’ve ever stood under (no, but for real. In that image down there, the couple is the tiny dot on the left!) + the ocean + big beautiful trees + the sweetest love in the whole wide world…

This. THIS is what it’s all about.

Stephanie + Rick

Michelle — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 12:49:07 +0000

Earlier in the day there were children running along the beach, chasing waves, laughing wildly. When their guests arrived it was the clinking of glasses and the hum of pleasantries. Once the band began to play, the horns and drums and guitar took over, throwing their music to the sky. But out here, tucked away and hidden, it was only this.

Sometimes the silence makes the most beautiful sound of all.

That Time In the Rain

Michelle — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 14:43:28 +0000

Remember the engagement shoot that had this as their next day preview:

Well, since it’s been such a rainy few days, I thought I’d share a few more. I love that they ended the day with cozy snuggles and warm tea…

Hot Mess

Michelle — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 16:12:57 +0000

Sometimes I hear people say, “I just really want the perfect family picture!” And I totally get it (no, really, I do) but I have to share these two images and just say:

I had this brilliant idea that us jumping on the water trampoline together would make the best pictures EVER. And then I looked at them, and they were ALL a hot mess. At one point someone might have even gotten punched in the side of the head by accident.

(Can’t believe I am even sharing them on here!)

But as imperfect and awful as they are, they make us all laugh so hard every single time we look at them (bahaha Poor Lily! Look at Braedon! Why is Mom doing karate in her own world?!); and they really ARE the perfect family picture because we are kind of a ridiculous bunch together.

I guess what I’m saying is, these pictures are nothing like I had imagined, but they are exactly what I needed and sometimes it’s not about a perfectly pretty planned picture.

I can’t wait for B and Lily to share these with their kids and belly laugh at them together, too…

Family Camping Session

Michelle — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 22:15:57 +0000

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity…”
― John Muir

Yesterday, the Neff family invited me to their home for a camping session. And I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.

What if your photographer arrived in jeans folded up to her knees and immediately challenged your kids to a barefoot race up a hill to go catch polywogs? What if her only goal was to capture your little one’s spirits being as wild and free as possible, under a canopy of trees and wide open sky. Grass stains and muddy cheeks a requirement. What if, after all of that playing, she set up a tent and built a campfire and brought bags spilling over with marshmallows and chocolate bars and graham crackers. I’m so ready.

Yup, family camping sessions have stolen my heart.

Thank you, Michelle and Hans, times a million.

His Arms

Michelle — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 05:11:10 +0000

I stepped out of the Airstream tonight after a mentoring session and found Lily fast asleep in her Daddy’s arms, warm and glowing by the light of the campfire.

When I bent down to kiss her, her hair still smelled like the lake.

Lauren + Jack // Next Day Preview

Michelle — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 13:44:57 +0000

Normally I post one frame for the next day preview, but yeahhhhh, there’s no way I could choose between all of this beauty…

Lauren made the most timeless and stunning bride in her Sarah Seven dress from Everthine, and this private estate wedding in Woodstock, Connecticut was beyond a dream to capture.

L + J // One Frame From Today

Michelle — Fri, 24 May 2013 01:21:19 +0000

Whenever it rains you will think of her.
-Neil Gaiman

BRIDES Magazine Feature

Michelle — Wed, 22 May 2013 01:05:52 +0000

Being a wedding photographer is such a huge honor.

Leaving behind images of love everlasting as part of my creative legacy is a dream come true. And when those beautiful love stories get shouted from the rooftops, for thousands of people to see, well, then, I pretty much almost pass out with gratitude.

There is so much not-so-beautiful news out there, and to have my images of real-life-love shared in the midst of all of that, well, it kind of makes me feel like I’m doing my part in my own little way.

Not only was this wedding featured full-color in the Summer print issue (I need to get my hands on one to photograph it! They don’t sell BRIDES in the middle of the woods!), but it also has a 25-image spread on the landing page of BRIDES Magazine today.

Pinch. Me.

That Time There Was A Rainbow Around the Sun

Michelle — Sun, 19 May 2013 00:26:00 +0000

The changes we dread most may contain our salvation.
― Barbara Kingsolver

Today, as I was making the beds in the camper, I got a text saying that there was a giant rainbow around the sun.

I dropped the pillows and dashed outside, looked up, and then lost my breath.

I am aware that this image looks like nothing special. It kind of looks like a camera flare. But it’s not.

It’s a full-circle rainbow halo in the sky around the sun.

I laid on my back in the grass until it faded completely out of sight.