Wedding: Melissa + Brian

I knew through all my conversations with Melissa that she was a very special person. She has this integrity about her that is apparent in your first contact with her. Not only did she hold a special place with me as my 2008 wedding photography contest winner, I felt like her and I could easily become friends. I knew that Brian must be a great guy to be with someone like Melissa.

Its not hard to tell that these two are crazy for one another. They are one of the few couples I've ever photographed that I didn't have to tell to kiss one another during the romantic portrait session. We had so much fun at their event and I have literally been sitting here for hours trying to pick out the best shots to show you guys. I finally narrowed it down to my top 27 images. :-)

Melissa's dress was gorgeous! I loved her shoes too!

My assistant Joshua Ott got to hang with the guys while they were getting ready. Brian doesn't even look nervous!

I LOVE the detail here! You can actually see the glitter dust on Melissa's eyes and cheeks!

The final touches. I thought when taking this photo (and still do) that Melissa looked like an angel. She was such a beautiful bride!

I asked mom and daughter to take a picture together and was almost responsible for ruining their makeup before the ceremony. The moment they looked at each other they started getting teary eyed.

The ceremony was at the Rusty Pelican overlooking the city of Miami.

I love the emotion here between Melissa and Brian as they say their vows.

Melissa and Brian wanted a group shot of all their guests!

*secret* there's a bridesmaid under that dress. ha ha. One of Melissa's bridesmaids was trying to bustle Melissa's dress and made Brian hold the train. I just couldn't resist the photo op!

he he he... this photo needs no commentary!

Now I must give a shout out here to my awesome assistant, Joshua Ott! This cake shot looks awesome with the sky and city in the background!! One of my favorite images of the night!

Melissa's sister wanted a picture of her and her boyfriend in front of the skyline at night. Aren't they just the cutest couple?

I must say I didn't see the actual "child bunting" in this photo take place (AKA holding on to mom's leg and not letting go). This series was taken by my assistant Josh. *Note: No child was harmed in the making of these images.*

Let the dancing begin!

Even mom was getting down!

I absolutely LOVE this!

Now this is what you call a happy accident. I was testing the lighting right before we started shooting Melissa and Brian' nighttime romantic portraits and I captured this. I told you these two loved each other!!! You can see it all over their faces!!

Every girl should be able to lay her head in the lap of the man she loves while he plays with her hair! :-)

These two were troupers! There we were in the middle of the restaurant with everyone staring at them, and they didn't even seem to notice! Melissa said one of the tourist even asked if they could have their picture taken with her!

Gotta have a right shot!

I love the unseen tension in this. It's right before the groom takes the garter off his bride!

The guests kept taunting him to go higher. She was playing along... at first! ha!

I can personally tell you, that cake was delicious!! Lily from Edible Creations did a great job!

Now THIS is a cake shot! *Note, I originally told them to stick their tongue out, and instead they kissed! Its the first wedding I've ever had to get onto the couple for PDA! And I'm a PDA kinda girl! Well.... maybe I should rephrase that...*

A little birdie told me that a couple of party girls stole some of the waiters and made them dance. ;-)

Everyone partied so hard that these little guys were worn out! We found them sleeping like logs! All the strobes going off didn't even wake them!

And they lived happily ever after! What a wonderful wedding!

I must say, I had so much fun! I absolutely love my job! I can't believe how blessed I am to be able to share in the happiest moments in your lives! My clients rock!

I must give a hats off to Leah Igel from Leah Beth Events. She did a great job coordinating the day! I can't wait until she gets her website up. I'll definitely have to update you guys with her info! She gets an A+!

And lastly to Melissa & Brian: Thank you so much for the honor of choosing me to be your wedding photographer! You two really do have a special place in my heart, and I do hope that despite living across the country, you'll keep in touch! I am so glad I got to photograph your wedding!

OK, OK, I just couldn't show you only 27 images from a wedding this fabulous! SOOOOOO.... I put together a quick slideshow for your viewing pleasure. :) Enjoy!

***Click here to go to the slideshow.***

Sneak Peek: Melissa & Brian

Wow. Just Wow. Melissa & Brian's wedding was SO much fun! What a great couple! As some of my blog stalkers may remember, Melissa & Brian were the couple that won the 2008 wedding photography contest which was blogged about here and here. So not only are they a great couple, they are also well loved by all the family and friends that tirelessly voted for them! :-)

Now I tell you, picking out a photo for a sneak peak of this wedding was tough! There are just so many great images! The bride and groom are going to have their work cut out for them picking their favorites!

This is one of mine. I love taking photos at night!

Look out for more totally awesome photos to come! I am super excited to show them to you later this week!!!

Wedding: Jodi + Roland

Roland was the perfect picture of calm. He was hanging around the guys, laughing, smiling, cracking jokes. From the first glance, you almost wouldn't realize that he was getting married today if it weren't for the tuxes.

I am always amazed when two people can get ready to make one of the biggest decisions of their lives with such calm and elegance. It just shows me how convicted they are in their decision to love, honor, and cherish one person for the rest of their lives. Roland and Jodi both showed this confidence on their wedding day.

I shot this event back in April with Abby Liga. Abby is a super fabulous photographer out of Orlando, Florida, and it was an honor to get to work with her. Here are a few of my favorites from the day!































































Roland and Jodi, thank you so much for the honor of sharing the joy of your love for one another! Another big thanks to Abby Liga for bringing me along as a second photographer to help capture the event!

An Emergency Second Shoot with Elizabeth Antunes

One thing I think that most people don't know about the photographic community is we are very tight knit. I am very proud to say that I am good friends with most of my "competitors". I love this about photography! It's great that we can all be confident enough in our art to share secrets (and referrals) with our colleagues. I have always been one to help out both those just starting out and my fellow veterans in the community.

So when Elizabeth Antunes called me on Good Friday back in March frantic because her second shooter had bailed on her last second, I was more than happy to fill in for her. The amazing thing is, I was supposed to be out of town that weekend, but had been hired on last minute by the church for some promotional work, so I happened to have a few hours available Saturday evening to squeeze in a wedding.

This wedding was at Deerfield Estate down in Miami. The surroundings were absolutely beautiful...
Can you believe they just had orchids growing like this all around the property? I just had to grab a shot or two!

Unfortunately it rained almost all day! Fortunately for the Bride & Groom, superstition says that this is supposed to be good luck! :-)

One of the things I love about second shooting is I get to hang out with the guys for a change!

Not that I don't LOVE hanging out with the bride, sometimes the guy are... well... interesting!!
See, I told you the guys knew how to cut lose!

Granted, that drink in John's hand may be part of the reason too. I don't recall that being water. ;-)

Because of the rain, they had to make a last minute change and have the ceremony in the reception hall.

It didn't matter. Look at how beautifully decorated everything was!

It all looked so elegant!

The bride was stunning! She radiated happiness as she walked down the aisle!

:-)

After they said their "I do's", I think they were oblivious to everyone around them. These two were obviously in love!

I love this shot! Right before the kiss! I strategically used the videographer's light as a hair light. See the nice glow around their faces!

Such a happy bride!

And her dress was just gorgeous!

The one bad thing about the rain is we didn't get to take as many pictures outside as we had hoped for. I caught a quick shot of the bride glancing out the window to see if the rain had stopped.

We didn't let a little rain stop us from getting some killer shots!

Another thing I love about being a second photographer... I get to take all the fun artsy shots! I am in love with this shot of the cake!!!

The party was rocking! Everyone was having a great time! I'm loving the little bit of "flash flavor" the off camera lighting adds to this shot!

And most importantly the bride & groom were happily married!! :-)

Again I say, don't you just love love??

*le sigh* I love my job!

My Clients Friggin Rock!!!

I was out of town this weekend in Orlando (more on that later), and was surprised by the sweetest email from Nackia about her wedding photos. She told me it was OK to share with everyone...

Melissa,

Again, thank you! The pics are awesome. There are soooo many too. Thank you, thank you, thank you. As I said, you exceeded our expectations. You have a true talent. I am happy we are getting it next week. We leave the following week.

I am happy I chose you. We almost did not hire a professional photographer but one of our bible class members encouraged me to do it because we would never have this moment again.

Thanks and have a great weekend!

Nackia

I am so touched by her kind words! I am so happy Nackia and Keron made the last minute decision to hire a photographer for their special day. Photography is one of the few things you get to keep from the event. People often don't realize until after the day is over how important it is to have a professional there to capture all the happenings and emotions of the day. I feel so honored that Nackia and Keron chose me to be the one to do just that!

Yeah, as I've said before, I have the best clients in the world!

Vow Renewal: Keron + Nackia

As he sat alone quietly waiting for his bride, I quickly snapped a few frames from the window. He had a faint smile on his face as he reflected on the day. Moments alone don't come often on your wedding day, even if you and your bride have already been married a couple years. Keron looks up and sees me taking his picture. His smile widens as he laughs. I go out to greet him.

As I'm standing next to him, I start composing my shots. I make small talk. "So why did you decide to renew your vows?" I had asked him.

He looks down at the veil he's holding for his bride, smiles, and looks up at me, his eyes full of love and says, "Because I wanted to give her the dream wedding she's always wanted."

My heart melts. Don't you just love love?

Keron and Nackia have definitely been blessed with lots of it. Btween their love for each other, their love for their son, their love from their family, and their love from their Church, they are surrounded by it. They are the kind of couple that give you that warm calm when you are around them. They are so comfortable with who they are. They are truly a joy to be around. This is evident upon first meeting them.

When I first got to the ceremony site, the first thing I saw was Keron and a few of his friends waiting on the last few guests to arrive.

Everyone was dressed in their finest, ready to see the commitment of love to take place.


Every detail was taken care of.


And the cake was beautiful!


As the guests arrived, they signed a mat framing a photo of the couple.

The anticipation was evident. Everyone was very excited.

The bride was beautiful. My assistant Josh took this rocking picture of her!

Family and friends gathered, and the ceremony started.

I love the look on Keron's face right before he read his vows.

Pastor Scott from Church by the Glades performed the ceremony.

Just look at the love on his face. I love this moment!

Exchanging of the rings.

I love the symbolysim of the two colors of sand becoming one that cannot separate.

woo hoo!! Look at the happy couple!

I love shadows!!

This was a FUN wedding party!

I told the ladies to give me some attitude! :-)

Keron is a self confessed "Momma's boy" so we had to get a picture of the three of them!

Portraits would not have been complete without a crazy picture of the couple with their Bible Study friends!

When you're little, its hard to stay focused for pictures. Nackia gave Josh her flowers and he started using them as a sword. Boys will be boys I suppose! My assistant Josh did a great job capturing this!

Josh wouldn't smile for anything!

I absolutely LOVE this!

OK, couldn't resist! Another picture of the beautiful bride!

A shot of me working. Sometimes I wish I was just a little bit taller!

I love this series! I told Keron to kiss Nackia on the neck and the look on her face as she started laughing was just priceless!

It was VERY windy, and Nackia's veil kept blowing all over the place!

FINALLY! We got Josh to smile! :-) Such a cute picture with his dad!

This was the initmate moment Keron had alone. The joy just radiates from his face!

The handsome groom!

I caught Josh eating cookies!


The happy couple! Nackia and Keron, thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of your special day! I am so glad I got to share in all the joy and love you have for one another! God truly has blessed your lives!

Sneak Peek: Keron + Nackia

Where has this week gone? It is possible that it is already almost time for the weekend again??

I've been buried under lots of things lately. There are some big changes getting ready to happen. I mean BIG changes, HUGE changes, EXCITING changes. They've kept me a little tied down as I am still in the planning process. Add on wedding season to that, and yeah, well, I have no life and no time.

Poor Nackia! I must say, I wanted to get her a sneak peek well before Thursday. Nackia and Keron had a vow renewal in North Lauderdale this past Saturday. I was honored when they contacted me just two weeks before the ceremony and asked me to be their photographer.

More deets and photos to follow, but here's a little morsel for your viewing pleasure...



Now in conjunction with the craziness in my life right now... I am headed down South tomorrow! Yikes! Lots to do and not enough time, but I've had this little jaunt down to Key West for my birthday celebration planned for awhile. Expect lots of pictures and lots of exciting stories upon my return. I may be able to find time for a little blogging while I'm down there if the Sheraton stays true to their promise of a free high speed connection.

More to come...
-Expect more fabulous images from Nackia and Keron's vow renewal
-Look for great stuff from a emergency second shoot I did at a wedding down in Miami
-Yet more awesome images from another second shoot (although not a last minute one) from a wedding in Plantation
-Of course, see photos of the craziness that will be going on from my weekend in the Keys.
-And finally, I was recently tagged by a super fabulous photographer from Central Florida. More deets to follow!

I know. I'm a bad blogger. I'm so behind. But think of all the things you have to look forward to?? ;-)

Easter Weekend 2008

What a weekend! I am totally exhausted!!

Here's a little slideshow I put together from the festivities at the church for your viewing pleasure:





If you are having problems viewing the above slideshow, please click here for the full page version.


Be sure to check back for the promised post from Elizabeth and Franks engagement session and the wedding this past weekend in Palmetto Bay.

Meet Judy: The Easter Elephant

Not the Easter Bunny, but the Easter Elephant. That's right. Judy is a 9,000 pound Indian elephant. She came to visit Church by the Glades this weekend to hang out.

So, yeah. Judy is pretty awesome! So, I know you're probably thinking why in the world would a church have an elephant on Easter weekend??? Well, the series they kicked off this weekend is called "Relationship Rehab". This weekend's topic was on Denial: Denying the Elephant in the Room. So, basically, the whole point of Judy being there was to ignore her.

Fred Uhl is one of the pastors at CBGlades. Him and I are blogging buddies, so one of his requests was that he HAD to have some pictures for his blog of him with the elephant!

Of course we had to get some fun pictures. I thought the sign I made him hold was very appropriate given the topic.

Then Pastor Tom got in on the action. He's not a blogger, but was volunteering as my "human light stand" for Fred's photos, so I made him take one too.


They have signs up all around Judy with different saying denying that there's and elephant on the front lawn.

My parents showed up to get a look at Judy. I made them get their picture taken. They probably are going to be mad at me for posting this, but I just couldn't help myself.

If you don't have any plans for Easter, come see Judy!! You can find out more info on the Church by the Glades website.

-----------------------------

So yeah. I'm pretty behind on posting. My life has been insane lately. There hasn't been a single day this week that I've gotten in bed before 1AM. Most nights I've been up until about 3AM. I still have some awesome images plus a slideshow from Elizabeth and Frank's engagement session to post for you guys.

I have a wedding this evening down in Palmetto Bay, so expect some awesome images from that.

Also, tomorrow I will be covering the Sunrise beach baptism at Church by the Glades, plus all of the Easter services Sunday morning! Expect a lot of posts coming up!

More Lumu Goodness

I'm telling you. I'm LOVING the images fromt his weekend. I've been editing and posting images online all night long. I've gotten some great feedback on flickr. Let me know what YOU think!!

LUMU Rocks!

Wow! What a freaking awesome weekend!! Lumu was awesome and I got a TON of awesome shots. Here are a few that I edited. I'll post more later this week.





Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Awesomeness!

For those of you that couldn't make it out to the concert, you missed a great show! Backstage Riot and Slim2None were awesome! Here are a few of my favorite shots from the night!!

George Strait and Little Big Town in Tampa, Florida!

For those of you who don't know, my grandfather has worked for George Strait since I was a baby. He started working for George when I was just 6 weeks old. My grandfather lives forever away in my hometown of Canyon Lake, Texas. Canyon Lake is a small Texas town located just outside of San Antonio. It is right in the heart of the hill country and a LONG way from South Florida. Because of the distance, I don't get to see my grandparents too often, so anytime my grandfather is in town on tour, we always go to the show.

Since almost my entire family lives in Florida, there were a lot of us there. It was almost like a family reunion! ;-) So on with the pictures! Warning, there's a lot of them!!


When we got to Tampa, the first thing we did was check into our hotel. We stayed at the Intercontinental West Shore near the venue (Go to their website at www.intercontampa.com to check them out). The rooms were super nice!


My sister, brother-in-law, and my nieces came too and before the show, we were all messing around with each other by taking pictures. They took pictures with their cell phones, and I took pictures of them taking pictures with their cell phone. ha ha! You can tell that my little Ashley is going to be just like her Auntie!


My sister and I started taking pictures of each other. Sandie wanted a picture of me for her address book.


Then Ashley just HAD to have her picture taken.


And then again. She's such a little ham! She loves having her picture taken.


My turn! Such a silly little girl!


Of course I couldn't forget baby Natalie!


"Memaw" kept teasing Nat with her pacifier. Natalie kept just belly laughing!


Finally time to head to the show! You can tell how thrilled my brother-in-law, Ryan was. He was waiting on all of us. He is VERY much a type A personality and is always waiting on us. lol. He married into a very laid-back family.


Ashley is just like her father, and is always way ahead of the pack as well.


On the bus! We always hang out on my grandfather's bus before and after the show(can you believe he has his own bus - ok, he shares it with other people too, but the back Suite is his!)


My grandpa with his great-granddaughter.


I just love her!


And then the back stage passes got passed out. Even Natalie got one!


Her mom is a smart one. She put the pass on Natalie's back so that she couldn't peel it off.


We got free tickets to the show too! Grandpa always gets us GREAT seats. This year we were on the fifth row!


Little Big Town was awesome! I love their song "Boondocks"!


Ashley LOVED it! She kept jumping up an down and singing even though she didn't know the words.


Nat was a little overwhelmed I think.


Then George came on...


It's amazing how well he can still sing after all these years. Not only does he sound the same, but he looks the same too.


We slipped out of the concert early and went back stage. Its way too crazy to try to leave right as the concert ends. There's way too many people. I took a picture of George's bus.


When we got back to the bus, the little ones were tired.


very tired!


My sister and I. People always say we look alike. What do you think?


I took a photo of the buses lined up. Can you believe George has NINE buses?!? When my grandfather started working for him, all he had was a van and a trailer they pulled with all the merch.


The next day when we woke up, our view from the hotel was GORGEOUS! That's Tampa Bay in the distance.


On our way home, we passed a parade! Sorry for the through-the-dirty-car-window photos! ;-)


The pirate ship was my favorite!!

Overall, it was a great weekend! It was fun to see everyone again!! I can't wait to go back to Texas this summer for Anna and Justin's wedding! Its going to be a blast!!

Party on the roof and cell phone pics!

I was invited to go to the topping out party for the New Trump International Tower in Fort Lauderdale hosted by Stiles Corporation. I had never been to one before so it was an exciting experience. A topping out party is held when the last steel beam is put into place. They had painted the last beam white with red letters containing the name of the company and of the building. Everyone at the event got a chance to sign the beam before it was put into place. Everyone was on the roof of the building enjoying a glass of wine and socializing before they put the beam in place. After everyone had got a chance to sign. we all went inside and got on the balcony to watch them raise the beam with the crane. Silly me, I didn't think to bring my camera to the construction site, so I snapped a few pics with my cell phone (what would we do without cell phones??). Anyway, the event was really fun and it was awesome to be able to stand on the balcony and look at the beach as the sun was setting.

Mr. & Mrs. Lucas - The Slideshow

Jenea and Toby recently ordered a slideshow in addition to their package and I just had to share! I love slideshows! How awesome is it to be able to pop a DVD into your DVD player and watch your favorite photos all over again?! Congrats again Mr. & Mrs. Lucas!! :)

The Wedding of Jenea and Toby

Nothing is more rewarding as a photographer than for two people to let you in on the most intimate moment of their life, their wedding day. There is something magical about every wedding I do, and Jenea and Toby's was no exception. What a wonderful couple! James and I had a great time capturing their day! And with the love glowing between these two, they made our job really easy!! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the event.