team
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| staff biographies |
| emilie sommer, owner/ principal photographer As a photojournalist and picture editor for USA Today and The Washington Post, Emilie flew aboard presidential airplanes covering George W. Bush and Al Gore, documented the first 24 hours of a new Miss America’s reign, and photographed the head of the CIA. The details of that last assignment are top secret, but if you ask she will gladly share what happened when she photographed Oprah. First captivated by photography as editor for her high school yearbook in Hollis, NH, Emilie earned her photojournalism degree at the prominent Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She spent a semester studying with a National Geographic photographer in London and was recognized by Kodak as an outstanding photography student. After photographing her cousin's wedding in Maine in 2001, Emilie was taken with the joy of documenting such a momentous rite of passage, as well as with the seagulls and salty ocean air, and returned to start her own wedding photography studio. Today, emilie inc. is her life’s work, a calling that blends her photojournalistic talents with her passion for entrepreneurialism, obvious since childhood when Emilie played office, complete with a Rolodex of imaginary clients. She also dedicates many hours to Pink Initiative, a nonprofit she founded to unite wedding industry professionals in the fight against breast cancer, Roots Workshop, a yearly photojournalism retreat on Cape Cod she established in 2008, and Love and Lobster, emilie inc.’s New England wedding planning and inspiration blog. Emilie is now a mom to little son Will with her husband J, and her white lab mix Dakota. She loves the local food scene, walks on the beach with her family, the guilty pleasures of reality TV, and visiting Lake Winnipesaukee, where she grew up spending her summers at the foothills of the White Mountains. Emilie’s all-time favorite wedding reception song is Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September,” no matter the season. • • • • • • • • whitney j. fox, principal photographer Whitney joined emilie inc. as a principal photographer in 2008 after coming to Maine to delve into intensive photographic fieldwork at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland. The city grew on her, and she found she couldn’t stay away after earning her master’s degree in photojournalism at Boston University. Whitney’s background also includes work at Aurora Photos, a local yet nationally reputable stock photo agency, as well as freelancing for clients in the publishing and nonprofit fields. Whitney’s extensive travels have taken her to India for study abroad, to the Great Barrier Reef for snorkeling and to Gibraltar for an unforgettable New Year’s Eve celebration. Just as exhilarating were her experiences parasailing and performing tricks in an open-cockpit biplane. Raised in Massachusetts, Whitney now makes her home on Peaks Island off the coast of Portland. With several summers behind her spent working as a deckhand aboard the ferries that crisscross Casco Bay, Whitney now indulges her passion for the outdoors on the mainland, hiking, cycling and skiing through all of the New England seasons she loves. Growing vegetables and learning to surf are among her latest endeavors. • • • • • • • • denise farwell, principal photographer Denise picked up an old film camera to shoot for her college newspaper at the University of Maine and has never looked back. After graduating, she went on to photograph political candidates, sporting events and everyday people as a photojournalist at newspapers in Maine and Vermont, collecting a number of photography awards and adding weddings to her repertoire along the way. After Denise’s own wedding on the Maine coast in 2006, she and her new husband packed up their car for a cross-country road trip to Portland, Oregon, where Denise photographed a professional sports team and other assignments for a local newspaper. While she still holds a soft spot for the “other Portland,” she was drawn back home, and now lives just outside Portland, Maine. Denise came on board at emilie inc. in 2010 as an image manager handling the post-production for all of our weddings, and spent two seasons as a second shooter before becoming a principal photographer. In addition to photography, her other passion is horses. She loves to combine the two, taking photos of her Thoroughbred, Henry, and other equine subjects in her free time. Denise also has a travel bug, and welcomes suggestions for her next international adventure. • • • • • • • • megan swann, studio manager/photographer Studio manager and photographer Megan is a native New Englander with a fondness for the West Coast. Born in Maine, she was raised in Seattle and spent her summers returning to the Northeast to visit family. Megan came back to the East Coast for undergraduate studies at Maine’s Bowdoin College, and later attended the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in New York. She now lives in an old brick building in Portland’s West End with a fabulous kitchen. Megan adores the fall foliage and snowstorms of New England, but still gets a little nostalgic for Seattle when drizzly weather rolls in. Back in Washington, Megan worked as a professional photographer for a portrait company with several West Coast locations. She joined emilie inc. in May 2011 as our studio manager, and couples come to know her well during their wedding planning process. Megan also serves as a photographer, and thrives on the emotion and excitement unique to each wedding day. When she’s not consulting with clients and keeping the studio organized, Megan enjoys cooking, eating and running along Portland’s scenic Back Bay. She also devotes time to tutoring high school students who speak English as a second language. • • • • • • • • jason sandifer, photographer J started his photography career on the ski slopes, shooting from atop ski lifts all over the country for Sharpshooter Spectrum after graduating from Indiana University. He later moved from Lake Tahoe to LA, embarking on a career with internet wedding startups, including Pictage, which markets online image hosting and sales to wedding photographers, and liveBooks, where he helped wedding professionals develop top-notch websites as the company grew to become a leader in its field. Also in LA, J opened his own wedding photography studio. After meeting Emilie, his future wife, at a Las Vegas photo convention, J transplanted to Maine. Abandoning the West Coast to follow his heart to Portland, J soon found himself exhilarated by the coastal air, scenic mountains and the ability to make an impact in Maine’s small but diverse community. J brought his entrepreneurial spirit with him, founding Tide Creative, a marketing firm serving wedding industry clients, and he continues to document couples’ weddings days. He’s also a new dad to little son Will, but still finds time to hit the slopes when the snow is falling, and play golf and surf during the warmer months. In the off season, he and Emilie love to travel to faraway locales for destination weddings, especially to St. John, the Caribbean island where they were married. • • • • • • • • stephen davis phillips, photographer As a photographer in New York City, Steve documented subjects ranging from the iconic Macy’s Day parade to celebrity chefs and Carnegie Hall concerts. His television work led him to the set of a National Geographic Channel reality show, as well as to the TV kitchens of famous Food Network chefs. But frequent trips between Manhattan and a much smaller island, the Isle of Springs, near Boothbay Harbor that Steve describes as his “favorite place on this earth” convinced him to make Maine his home. Accessible only by boat, the island has been his family’s retreat every summer for four generations. Steve settled in Portland, where he now lives in a converted barn on Munjoy Hill. Originally from the Boston area, Steve takes full advantage of Maine’s outdoor activities, snowboarding, bicycling and hitting the water for boating and kayaking. He realized a love for the visual arts while filming a short documentary at college in Boulder, Colorado, and seeks out fleeting, unexpected moments in his work. He’s also an avid bicycler, and invented a handy key chain bike accessory called The Bullet. • • • • • • • • alina mcginty, graphic designer Alina cultivated a passion for art and design early in life, studying photography, offset printing and other forms of visual communication in high school. She later earned a fine arts degree from Plymouth State University in New Hampshire, graduating in 2005. At emilie inc., Alina works closely with clients to craft custom album designs, as well as creates logos, branding materials and wedding invitation suites as manager of the emilie ink design studio. She composes weekly inspiration boards and illustrations for Love & Lobster, emilie inc.’s wedding planning blog. Alina also works for Pannos-Winzeler Marketing in Bedford, NH, designing branding and marketing content for clients in various industries. A newlywed who planned and designed her own homemade wedding, Alina is a stepmom of two. She loves local food, yoga, sewing, hiking, and road trips in her VW bus. She makes time for community service, and runs in Maine’s famous Beach to Beacon 10K charity road race. • • • • • • • • jackie farwell, writer Always a lover of language, Jackie decided to become a writer as a student at the University of Maine. After earning her journalism degree, she went to work for her hometown newspaper in Bangor, Maine, which sent her to Mississippi to cover local efforts to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. She later attended the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland, learning the art of creative nonfiction, before a spontaneous move to New York City, where she reported on the daily workings of the country’s financial markets for The Associated Press. But the rush of city life wore off, and Jackie returned to Maine. She now pens regular features as the lead writer for emilie inc.’s wedding planning blog, Love & Lobster, and continues to work as a journalist. Jackie lives in Gorham with her fiancé, just down the road from her twin sister, emilie inc. photographer Denise Farwell. She loves crosswords, drinking tea and planning her honeymoon in Greece. • • • • • • • • lindsay heald, intern Lindsay, a student at the University of Maine in Orono, became part of our team in May, helping to post content and images to emilie inc.’s Love & Lobster blog. Originally from Litchfield, Maine, Lindsay will graduate in 2013 with a degree in new media, and has her sights set on landing a job as a newspaper photojournalist. Aside from her studies, Lindsay works as a resident assistant in her dormitory, as well as at Bull Moose, a local independent music and video game retailer. She spends her free hours keeping in touch with close friends she made while studying abroad in Scotland and while volunteering as an Upward Bound counselor in Vermont. Lindsay also loves yoga, conducting impromptu photo shoots with pals, and hatching plans for the next concert she’ll attend. |