Ashley & Dustin

I had an engagement shoot today with a couple from Georgia. Dustin plays baseball so, appropriately enough, we took some photos on a baseball field! They were so cute, dressed up in matching outfits and willing to do whatever I suggested! It made for an awesome shoot. We hung around the field for a while before heading over to a park with a fountain. Some angry teenagers were wading around in the water smoking cigarettes but I managed to crop them out of the shots!

Kimberly

My best friend from 4th grade came down from NYC over memorial weekend for some good 'ol fashion fun in the sun Florida style. While at the beach we solicited help from friends and took some photos.


Kim photographed beautifully. If it weren't for her modesty (we had to hike down the beach until it was deserted), I'd encourage her to model up in NYC. Regardless of a creepster or two who walked by rather close, it was a fabulous care-free shoot. The photos are fresh and it was so great to catch up with old friends.

Fire Dancing

Matt's little brother is a fire dancer! We drove down to Sarasota over the weekend to join his family in celebrating his graduation from USF. During the party Blake, & some friends, performed their latest-greatest skills. The show was fantastic so I snapped some shots with Matt's beast of a camera during act two. Here's what I came up with.

Melissa & Brad

Canadians rule!


Melissa & Brad were our 2nd international couple to book us for their Floridian "destination weddings". I think it takes a certain type of bride to rock the out-of-town to-do's because the reality is they can't have as much control over all the details if they can't be there to plan it all. Melissa and I had talked only through e-mails and snail mails before she landed in the sunshine state but, I knew she was going to be a pleasure to work for.

It's always a treat to work for genuinely laid back, fun people. And now that Matt has heard about glaciers off the coast of Newfoundland we have another item added to the list of "things to shoot". Smatt has some serious traveling to do!

So, I'm obviously going through an editing phase where I'm REALLY digging these high contrast, almost cartoonish photo alterations. My big inspirations at the moment are David hill (www.davehillphoto.com) and Jill Greenberg (www.manipulator.com)

Tara & Keith

Matt and I get to the Dr.Phillips house on Lake Lucerne, my new favorite location by the way (so CHARMING!), and we split up like usual. I go up to the attic to shoot the girls and I can hardly make it up the stairs. I'd pulled out my neck the night before, and luck would have it that it's not only a wedding day but it's getting worse with every step. It was like a charlie horse in my neck, some of the most excruciating pain of my life. I felt so awful for this couple to get a bum photographer, but I pulled it together as best I could and shot my way through. It's 3 days later and my neck is still sore, but I can move it around better now.

Anyway, more about the wedding! So, after the ceremony Matt and I shoot together again. After our group shots, he points out a guy we'd sat to eat with during a wedding back in November. So not only do the two couples have mutual friends, these friends came down from Alabama for the wedding, they don't even live here! It's a small world. And wait, it gets better. The couple from Alabama had also been married at the Dr.Phillips house 4 years prior, and it was during THEIR wedding that OUR wedding couple had met. How romantic to get married the place you met?

So, beyond my pain I took some awesome photos! It feels like Matt and I get better with every wedding. We're getting more and more excited, determined, and confident. Over the past few days, we started experimenting with some new editing techniques and I thought it would be fun to alter some of my new wedding photos in this style. So, here they are! Enjoy :)

Jax Models

I drove to Jacksonville Beach last night to shoot some models in a penthouse. Being one of seven photographers was a change of pace. It was interesting to meet some other artists, to see how they worked and what type of equipment they use. I'm also looking forward to seeing their images as they worked with the same girls in the same location and yet I expect we will have all come up with something totally different.











My goal was for my photos was to look like they belonged in a men's magazine, like Maxim or FHM. I prefer those magazines to Cosmo or Vogue anyway. Still mindless drivel, but much funnier and less adverts. Anyway, over the course of the night I shot a variety of girls. Some had experience, but most hadn't been to a photo shoot before. This made for a lot of work, but like any challenge it was a learning experience. The more practice behind the camera the better!

Rachel

I shot another color yesterday! My rainbow is slowly but surely gaining spectrum. :) Rachel was red and her prop (symbolizing her years of dancing) was an old pointe shoe. Rachel shows up in my portfolio a lot because she is always fun to shoot with. I met her years ago at my FIRST EVER fashion photo shoot. It doesn't feel like that long ago but my cut out from the newspaper is already yellowing so it must have been some time now.



After we finished with the shoe we had a little impromptu shoot! (the lights were already out right? why not!) Somewhere between our days hanging with Poetic Rage and today, Rachel had to have heart surgery. Her heart problems held her back from physical activity for a long time, but she's made it through; strong women always do! :) Now that it's all over she's embracing her reality, and her scar, by being thankful for her life. We commemorated this with a few photos showcasing the scar.