Connecticut Wedding Photographer : Alissa Dinneen Photography

My Vacation in the Southern Caribbean

The past two weeks I was lucky enough to travel the Southern Caribbean (with my boyfriend John) on the Caribbean Princess cruise ship. I was at sea for two full weeks, visiting San Juan, Aruba, Bonaire, Grenada, Dominica, St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, Virgin Gorda, and St. Johns. 

My favorite part of the trip was The Baths at Virgin Gorda, the cruise stopped at Tortola however I had heard so many wonderful things about visiting The Baths that I had to take the ferry over to check it out. The Baths are huge boulders that form a maze, from one beach to the next. In the maze there are grottos, ladders, and ropes along the way. 

  

My favorite travel items that I could not live without were; my Canon SD950IS PowerShot point and shoot camera (I do not care to lug around my gear on vacation), the dedicated underwater camera case for my PowerShot, and  Frommers Ports of Call book. The underwater case was wonderful, my favorite picture from the cruise wouldn't have been possible without this handy gadget.

CLICK HERE to view a slideshow from my vacation.

To view last year's cruise slideshow, click here.

www.alissadinneen.com

Connecticut Bridal Expo: Hartford Expo Center

This weekend is the biggest bridal expo in New England, The Connecticut Bridal Expo. The show is on Saturday and Sunday 11am-5pm. I recommend coming early, there is a lot to look at, and wearing comfy shoes. I'll be in booth 709, so make sure you stop by and pick up one of my bookmarks (this year's new marketing piece, which I'm very excited about!). 

Next weekend (Sunday, January 25th) Jeff will be working the Women's Health, Beauty, and Bridal Expo at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods in Ledyard, Connecticut. This will be a great show to bring the guys to, who could say no to a trip to the casinos?

In other exciting Alissa Dinneen Photography news, I recently did a little updating to my website. I now have a Press page--which I'm soooo excited about! I also changed out some of my home page slideshow images (which I now can do myself--which is amazing being able to change the pics on that page whenever I want! Thank you livebooks). The next update that I'm waiting on is my testimonial page, I'm adding more testimonials, and changing the navigation to be more user friendly).

That's all for now, I hope to see some new and old faces this weekend. 

www.alissadinneen.com

I just can't get enough, I just can't get enough...OLYMPICS!!!

If you follow my blog, and haven't seen anything new lately, there is a reason...The past two and a half weeks have been super busy taking images, now I'm working on processing them all. Keep your eyes out for new images, they're a coming soon! 

In the past few evenings, I have to admit that I am addicted to the Summer Olympics in Beijing.  I love hearing the Olympic song, once I hear it I'm glued. And there is so much coverage to watch, who has that kind of time? I heard that they're covering 3x's more than they did in 2004. NBC has 80 high def cameras on the games, and is taping some 3,600 hours of the games! 

Did anyone actually know that synchro diving was a sport? That was totally new to me, I'm floored! Apparently it's first Olympic appearance was in Sydney in 200. At first, the dives look pretty basic, but then I realized to do them in synchronization with another human being has to be incredibly difficult. 

I'm a big fan of Time's online images. Check out the opening ceremony images, they're beautiful! Another place to check out some awesome pics is Sports Illustrated. I can't believe I'm recommending a sport site, I'm normally not a sports person at all. The Olympics brings out the sports fan in me.

 Click here for the schedule and results.

Seattle

This past March, I got a chance to visit my friend Sarah B who just moved from Boston to Seattle. Since I was in the area, I figure why not visit.

Seattle was great, I went on a bus tour to five of Washington's five hundred wineries. I also saw Pike Market--where they throw the fish around and where the original Starbucks is located. I didn't get a chance to go to the top of the space needle, there wasn't a clear enough day for it--I did see it from afar. Apparently, if you can't see the mountains then it's not worth it. Maybe next time.

Here are a few pictures from the trip. Enjoy!

NKOTB Reunion Tour

Oh, how I love to reminisce of my youth. What I'm about to share with you brings back many found memories of stone washed jeans, jelly bracelets, “hot” colors, big hair, and kickball at recess...I recently found out that the New Kids on the Block (later known as NKOTB) are going to have a reunion tour--okay I totally just giggled! :) My favorite was Joey, I asked Jeff today and he confessed to liking Donnie!

I was in third grade I saw them OPEN for Tiffany at Lake Compounce. Now I wouldn’t mind seeing Tiffany open for them, or even better Color Me Bad (CMB) open for the old new kids. As a side note; I still have somewhere my VHS taping of 90210 featuring CMB.

Pictures from NKOTB website. Yes, I went overboard with the paraphernalia, but that's what fans do, right? The song Cover Girl (video below) use to be one of my favorites.

WPPI: Las Vegas 2008

This past March I traveled to Las Vegas for the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International convention (WPPI for short). The convention was held at the Paris and Bally's hotels. It is my fourth year going to the WPPI convention, and it was another great year! One of my favorite things is the new camera that I purchased, I already posted some pictures that I took with it last weekend--check it out if you haven't seen them yet.

I'm slightly delayed with posting these images, it was on hold for a few weeks. I was super home sick after a week of being in Vegas--I'm not really a Vegas kind of gal, at all. Here are a few of my travel pics...enjoy!

Alissa's Vacation: Cruising in the Southern Caribbean

This past week I spent vacationing in the Southern Caribbean, cruising on the Crown Princess to Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Thomas, and Tortola. It was awesome, much needed rest and relaxation.

My favorite beach was in Antigua where they have 365 beaches. Castaway beach was the name of the beach, which is a part of Jolly Beach Resort. I would love to go back someday.

In my dizzy state, I can't seem to shake the feeling that I'm not on a boat anymore, I can't help but put together a slideshow of my trip.

Bigger Viewing of Slideshow

Website Updated

I am so very, very super excited to announce that I've added several slideshows to my website.

Recently Added Slideshows:
Dave & Diane: The Engagement Session - Up in a Fire Truck
Amy & Kuthair: The Fox Hill Inn
Kristin & Adam
Lisa & Gary: The Waterview
Jennifer & Jamey: Country Club of Darien

I am planning on adding more slideshows to the site and updating the website soon.

Shannon & Erik: November 10, 2007

Note: I am a GUEST at this wedding, not the photographer :)

Shannon is a good friend of mine from high school who is always so much fun to be around. I have many memorable nights that include Shannon, and this is one not to be forgotten.Yes, the image below of the bride laying down on the dance floor is a picture of Shan "breakdancing," which I have NEVER seen before.

My friend Sarah and her husband Barry were there, my friend Darlene and her boyfriend Eric were there, and I myself had a hot date, John.

Here are a few of my pictures from Shannon and Erik's wedding...

Christening Invitation: Emersyn Grace

I just finished creating my best friend Sarah's Christening invitation for her daughter/my God Child. It's so cute, I just have to share with you all!!

This is a Press Printed Product, 5x7, semi-gloss finish, created by Alissa Dinneen/yours truly.