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Baby on the Way!

2010-08-23T21:15:00.003-04:00

I had the opportunity to photography pre-baby photos today for Jean Paul and Michele. Their wedding was three years ago and now they are expanding their family unit with their first child. In one month their life will never be the same and I'm so thrilled for them. Congratulations!

Myers Family...Elizabeth is the Star of course!

2010-07-23T14:29:00.003-04:00

This morning was a fun day doing baby photos for Jeff and Ursula's new baby girl, Elizabeth. I photographed their wedding two years ago on 8/8/08 in Sanibel Island and it was a great time. Hard to believe two years have passed and now they are beginning a family. Elizabeth you sure are cute!

Melissa & Steve @ The Royal Crest Room - St. Cloud

2010-06-28T17:14:00.011-04:00

Melissa and Steve were married June 26 at the Royal Crest Room in St. Cloud. Yes, it was a beautiful wedding and, yes, it was HOT!!! Peddles provided the flowers and the entertainment was done by Phil from Soundwave entertainment. We had a really nice time and Melissa and Steve enjoyed their moment in the spotlight together. Thank you for the opportunity to celebrate with you both, even if you are Miami Dolphins fans...go Packers! Here are a few photos from the day.

Orlando Wedding Professionals Cover Photo

2010-04-29T18:28:00.005-04:00

This is the cover shot, my first one, for the Orlando Wedding Professionals new bridal directory. The shoot took place at The Mission Inn in Howey-in-the-Hills, a beautiful location for weddings. After the shoot they did a runway display for the bridal show later that day. We had a really fun time with all the models and they were great to work with. Flowers were supplied by Lee Forest Design, thank you Lee for the beautiful arrangements. Missie Lopez from Studio 4 Graphix is the magazine designer. Pick up a new copy of the magazine as they are now being delivered to locations across Central Florida. If you have any questions about the magazine contact Phil Joeckel, the publisher of the magazine. Thanks Phil for the opportunity to work with you and represent your first class publication.

3 Days, 3 Weddings, 3 Sunsets

2010-04-15T18:30:00.005-04:00

Thursday April 1st Jason and Elyse were married at the Omni Champions Gate, Friday April 2nd Dustin and Alison were married at her home in Oviedo, and Saturday April 3rd Brett and Lauren had their wedding and reception at Timacuan Country Club. About the same time each evening we got some really nice sunset shots. This is one of my favorite things to do and the results you get with just one vivitar off camera flash are consistently amazing. The colors just pop. Thanks for the fun weekend to all three couples.
The other three shots were from the lobby at Champions Gate and Timacuan Country Club. They were some of my favorites and struck me as fun, memorable shots.

Shanna & John

2010-03-26T22:44:00.012-04:00

Shanna and John met me at the Sanford Marina Riverwalk this evening for an engagement shoot. This is another school teacher and Shanna teaches the 5th grade. God bless our elementary school teachers. I could not do what they do and they deserve all the accolades and recognition they can get. It was a bit windy this evening to start, but once the wind died down we were able to get some really fun photos and capture the essence and playfulness of the couple.

Elie'se and Mitchell

2010-03-24T19:51:00.005-04:00

What a difference a week makes in health and sky. Last Tuesday I had a 102 fever and had to cancel the shoot. Well, a week later I felt much better and the evening was gorgeous...beautiful sky, cool temps, and a very fun couple. Elie'se and Mitchell are getting married in June and we were able to photograph their engagement photos at Crane's Roost Park. Even with all the people out walking it felt like we were the only 3 people there. We can only hope for a sunset like this on their wedding day as well. We achieved these gorgeous sunset shots with one vivitar, pocket wizards, and a nikon D300/D700. Thank you for a memorable evening Elie'se and Mitchell and I look forward to your wedding day.

Shannon and Grant

2010-03-17T13:43:00.004-04:00

Shannon and Grant were married at Paradise Cove, a gorgeous spot for a wedding in orlando. We had a picturesque day and they were so easy to work with. Aloha productions did all the catering and it came complete with a show of hula dancers and fire twirlers. How much fun! As you can see they had wonderful time and we had a beautiful sunset to cap the evening off. Also, a shout out to my buddy Kevin Keelan who helped me with the shoot tonight. Thanks Shannon and Grant for the pleasure of celebrating your wedding with you.

Amie and Lee

2010-03-17T13:23:00.003-04:00

Another former student of mine, Amie Cox, just married Lee Holtzman on March 6th in San Antonio, FL. I never knew there was another San Antonio other than Texas. The wedding day was absolutely gorgeous and the couple had a great time with the entire day. They got married at St. Anthony's and the reception was at her grandparents amazing home, which you can see in the photos. Edmund from Rhodes Studios joined me in doing all the video throughout the day. It is always special to celebrate a wedding day, and what an extra honor to do so with a former student. Thanks Amie and congratulations to you and Lee. I am also unveiling my new logo for the first time on the blog. These were done by a very talent graphic designer, Jason Simpson.

Perfect Wedding Guide Bridal Show

2009-06-14T18:30:00.005-04:00

I just returned from the perfect wedding guide bridal show this afternoon and they once again put on a great show. Thank you to all the brides, grooms, parents, and friends who stopped by to say hi to us today. It was a pleasure speaking with all of you and congratulations on your weddings. My wife Tara helped me set up the booth with her artistic touch and I hope you all enjoyed the display. Also, a special thanks to Melissa Mercado who helped me with the booth. She and Chris, her husband, were married last February at the Royal St. Cloud Country Club. She volunteered to help me today, and as a former bride did a wonderful job explaining the process of how to approach a wedding. I look forward to meeting with some more of you as time permits. Please let me know if I can be of any other help to you along the way.

A Princess and Her Prince

2008-10-22T23:17:00.010-04:00

Monday was a beautiful day in Florida and Melissa, Tanner, and I arranged to take some very special photos in Disney World. My eldest daughter loves all the Disney Princesses so this was a great idea. We went into the magic kingdom to meet Aurora(sleeping beauty), Belle, and Cinderella. My girls 3 and 1 were very excited, yet shy about the meeting. Aurora and her prince are to be married soon so this was a chance for them to get some photos along with my kids. We had a great time and my eldest girl, Roen, keeps asking to see the princess pictures now that we are home. You can see Aurora with her prince and Melissa and Tanner together as well. Melissa works at Disney so this was a special time with her prince in a variety of settings. Thanks Tanner and Melissa for a special day with my girls at the park and for introducing us to Aurora. I hope your wedding is a magical day and I know it will be happily ever after for the two of you. Okay I know it is cheesy, but weddings should be fun, exciting, and have some magic to them right? See you both again real soon.

24 in 4

2008-09-27T15:51:00.002-04:00

I don't know about you, but sometimes I just do not have time to update my blog. Life seems to come fast and too many other thing get in the way of posting new weddings on my blog. As the title of this entry says. I have been privileged to photograph 24 weddings in the past four months. All of them have had their own special moments from fun getting ready to crying at a ceremony to a brother or sister singing with the band, I have had a blast with each couple, but is has been a bit crazy. 11 of those 24 came in the month of May. I don't remember May very well, other than I was finishing up school, while shooting, while editing, while trying to be a husband and father to three beautiful women in my life. As time has past I am caught up on editing, discs and albums delivered and I am enjoying a much needed rest break. It is a blessing sometimes to be off to recharge the creative batteries and be with family. I have to learn how to say no, but when a couple loves your work and I'm available, I can't help myself. I want to be a part of their special day and capture it on camera. Every laugh, hug, kiss, tear, family song, first dance, and special toast, it is why I love being a wedding photographer. I think my favorite part of the day is after all the formals are shot and I'm with the bride and groom taking photos of just them before the reception begins. It is a special honor to be alone with a couple just minutes and hours after they have become one. Those times are sacred and the ones I love photographing. They are tremendously in love and filled with emotion at that moment and preserving that emotion is what I am called to embody in their photos. What a great honor and tremendous responsibility. As in love as they might be, my prayer for each couple is that is that very moment in time they love each other least. For with each day I pray their love grows as they get to know one another better over the next years of their life. I'm going to post several images below and list where they are. These weddings have been from Portifino Bay to Disney wedding pavilion to Rollins chapel to a destination wedding in Cancun with Jennifer and Erik. What a blast that was! Over then next couple months I'll reach a new high in weddings for the year and I'm thankful to God for all the blessings He has given to me through photography. Enjoy and I'd love to hear back from you if you have taken the time to read this and view some of the photos.

Champions Gate Resort

2008-09-27T15:45:00.003-04:00

It was a beautiful day at Champions Gate Resort with Jeremy and Rachel Bastacky. We had a great time and got some "wow" photos. The night time sunset would never happen without off cameral flash. That vivitar 85HV was perfect.

Military weddings in back to back weekends

2008-09-27T15:35:00.005-04:00

Jaye and Emily had their wedding at Patrick Air Force Base in Cocoa. It is indeed a special time to be a part of a wedding with our military men and women. After the wedding we stopped at the beach and the rain was just about to pour down. Look at the really dark clouds over the air force base water tower.

Army Wedding - Kevin and Hillary had enough time to have their wedding and then drive to duty in Washington State. Kevin is a former Oviedo High School alum and he and the guys had a great time. Hillary you look fabulous.

From New York to Walt Disney

2008-09-27T15:25:00.005-04:00

Robert and Melissa are from New York, but their first date and engagement both happened at Walt Disney World. It was only appropriate that they get married there so they did. Along with family and friends they arrived at the Magic Kingdom during the week of tropical storm Fay. They had a great week despite the rain and the wedding was indeed a magical time. One of the best parts of the evening is when Melissa's brother got on stage and sang with the band. It was was really cool to see everyone gathered around as he sang and the couple watched in great enjoyment. You can see the dancing was alot of fun and the 5th avenue band had them dancing all night. Great job guys. Thanks for allowing me the honor of being with you on your wedding day.

Celebration Country Club in May

2008-09-27T15:23:00.003-04:00

Celebration country club with Joey and Katie. They are such a fun, nice couple. Kevin Keelan and I shot this together and we had a blast with them then entire day. I really enjoy being with couples like them.

Cancun with Jennifer and Erik in June

2008-09-27T14:03:00.007-04:00

Below is Erik and Jennifer in Cancun and then the morning after we did a trash the dress on the beach. Thanks for having me along guys, this was an amazing adventure.

Former Oviedo HS athletes get married!

2008-05-07T21:29:00.007-04:00

Sometimes life comes full circle and you get a special gift as a photographer. May 3, 2008, last weekend, was one of those special moments. As my profile says I am also a teacher at Oviedo High School and have been for the last 12 years teaching chemistry. In that time I also have coached our girls soccer team for 11 years (8 as an assistant and 3 as the head coach) and the boys lacrosse team for 5 years as an assistant. Ashley (soccer) and Tyler (lacrosse) were two of the athletes that I had the privilege of coaching during this time. I remember Ashley making the varsity team as a Freshman, working with her for 4 years and then her sister Baily came as well for 4 years. I developed a special bond with them and now cannot believe Ashley is married off. Tyler take good care of her and vice versa! They are two quality people and I was thrilled when Ashley asked me to photograph her wedding, what an honor to be a part of that. It is always a wonderful thing to participate in a wedding ceremony with couples, but this one was extra special for me. Their wedding was great (reform theological seminary in Oviedo) and the reception will be remembered by everyone for a long time. It was a ton of fun at the history center in Orlando. I wanted to put the photo of Ashley in her beautiful gown with the soccer ball earlier, but was sworn to secrecy until after the wedding. I love all these shots, but the soccer ball and wedding dress will definitely be a special one for me for a long time. Congratulations!!!!

Royal St. Cloud Golf Links

2008-04-05T00:18:00.005-04:00

Thursday of this week I worked with a wonderful new wedding venue to produce some imagery for them. What an honor to work with Bill and Karen Filson at the newly renovated Royal St. Cloud Golf Links. They have poured their entire selves into making this facility top notch unlike anything else in the greater Central Florida Area. This will be a coveted place to have a wedding or special event and photographing there for them was truly an honor. Edmund from Rhodes Studios and I went to St. Cloud and photographed Christina around the golf course. As you can see the course and the bride were gorgeous. I'm looking forward to playing golf here very soon I hope. Christina was amazing to work with and together I think we captured the essence of the course and showed the uniqueness of the surroundings. Whether you are a bride and groom looking for an amazing wedding location or a golfer on a mission to discover something truly one of a kind you have to check this place out. You will not be disappointed. Thanks to the entire staff at Royal Crest for the pleasure of photographing your beautiful golf course and I look forward to working with you in the future.

Vegas Wedding

2008-01-29T16:51:00.001-05:00

The first weekend of the year was a whirlwind in Las Vegas. It was my first trip there and I went to photograph a wedding..."The Wedding" of the decade from the mother's standpoint, right Cindy? For those of you who have been to Vegas you know what I mean by it being amazingly huge. Everywhere you look is a hotel and it could take you 20 minutes to walk from one end of a hotel property to another. We had a great time and Tim and Ashley's wedding was beautiful. Their family and friends, over 50 of them, all made the trip to enjoy the long weekend together before school started back up. Friday night was the rehearsal dinner at the Venetian(see photos below), which is beautiful by the way, and then the ceremony/reception was at Caesar's Palace. The property is sooooo huge, wow. Everything about the weekend was great, the wedding and reception went off without a problem, thanks Erica for your wonderful coordination to keep things going and keeping Cindy sane, and it was fun spending time with friends and to be allowed the privilege of photographing their beautiful day. I will go back to Vegas someday and I'll look forward to winning some of my money back. I did leave with more than I came with though so that is a successful outing for my first time trying my luck at things.

Trash The Dress

2008-01-21T00:42:00.002-05:00

Having not posted in a while I want to wish everyone a happy new year. This year started with a bang going to Las Vegas to celebrate a wedding with Tim and Ashley Swander. I'll post some images from their wedding in a couple of days...I hope. Then comes the trash the dress session we did this afternoon with Kimberly and Wayne. What a fun experience and they were amazing. It was really cold and windy today and the mud and water was freezing, but they had a great time and we got some amazing photos. Kimberly's parents, Wayne and Bug, from Ebinger Photography were with us as well as Edmund Rhodes from Rhodes Studios Videography. I will post a video of the shoot once Edmund is finished editing the footage. Also a special thanks to their friend Carson who took he to the mudding hole and lent Kimberly and Wayne the 4-wheelers. The location is somewhere near I-95 and 520 around the Cocoa Expo. We started with some basic shots and progressed into the riding and playing in the mud. I'll let the photos speak for themselves and I'd love to hear your feedback on the images. I sure had a great time with everyone today who went and I hope you all enjoyed yourself as well. If you would like to see all the images go to my website and the proof section. The username is trash1 and the password is 8905. The online gallery will be available until April 21, 2008. Enjoy!!!

Downtown Orlando - Church Street with Jeni and Justin

2007-10-24T22:20:00.001-04:00

Saturday, September 29th, was a great day with Jeni and Justin. I started out with Jeni at her home in Clermont. After we met the guys at St.Luke's Methodist on Apopka-Vineland Road for a beautiful ceremony. The reception which is seen here(other than the overhead shot of Jeni at her home) was at Church Street Station in downtown Orlando. We had to go out and play with the train and the tracks a bit to make some memories together. Also included are some reception photos with some background mood type lighting using the second light. Fun stuff. The silhouette photo on the dance floor with a light showing through the chandelier was taken by my good friend and 2nd shooter that evening, Jesse Clements...nice stuff Jesse, very creative. The 5th image again shows how a second light can make your table shots pop! No way to get this detail and 3-D effect with just on camera flash. Every image posted in this section used a second light somewhere in the photo. Tryout the second light if you haven't done so yet. If you want to learn more about it go to a Kevin Keelan K2 on the go lighting workshop for a killer seminar on 2nd lighting.

God's Color Palette October 5th

2007-10-06T21:13:00.000-04:00

Trevor and Janell had a wedding gift on Friday night with a most spectacular sunset. This a was special wedding shoot as I have know Janell and her family for over 20 years. They celebrated at Gulfview resort in Clearwater right next to Sand Key where we took these photos. Thanks to the Haberling and Stultz families for having me as a part of their special day. Trevor and Janell I hope you treasure these wedding gift photos from God. Skies like this on a wedding day are rare. We started with a few shots on the ceremony location then went over to Sand Key where the sun was beginning to set. As it did the night sky lit up with some amazing colors. One off camera light and my on camera dialed down a bit preserved the color of the sky and Wow, let the images speak for themselves.

Eagle's Crest CC, Albany NY Sept 22, 2007

2007-10-02T20:01:00.000-04:00

Travel anyway for me a is a wonderful experience so when my friends Jean Paul and Michele asked me to go to NY for their wedding I was thrilled. They had a beautiful wedding in Albany, NY at a really nice golf club, Eagle's Crest. The outdoor wedding was beautiful and all their family and friends had a great time throughout the day. Thanks JP and Michele for having me as a part of your special day. Here are some samples from throughout the day.

Life Savers

2007-09-18T23:06:00.000-04:00

Labor Day weekend on Sunday I spent a beautiful & HOT day with Tamara and Michael Stone. I titled this "life savers" because that's what they do every day. They both are paramedics and it was a pleasure to photograph their wedding at Leu Gardens. I used a fisheye on the ceremony shot to bring in everything and the other two were both with a 70-200 lens with a vivitar well placed once again. I love how the light makes this look like portraits...amazing stuff.

I also spent Saturday with Patrick and Kim, another wonderful couple. We stopped at Baldwin Park in Orlando on the way to the reception and these are two of my favorite images from the 15 minutes we spent there. Thanks guys for having some fun.

Cocoa Beach Engagement Shoot

2007-08-10T00:17:00.000-04:00

I spent the evening with Beckie and Richard at Cocoa Beach and the shoot was a blast. They are alot of fun and I'm looking forward to their wedding in November. It was 7pm and sun was directly on us so a single vivitar was all I needed to pull out the beautiful blues of the sky and ocean. Without the extra flash the background could possibly be washed out. I wanted to keep the colors vivid and even try make them look better so I pumped in some extra light to make the background pop. I love how they are separated from the background and look almost 3-D. My daughter Roen also enjoyed the shoot because she played in the ocean for about 45 minutes.

My two girls!

2007-08-08T00:08:00.000-04:00

This is Roen my oldest (2 years) and Reis the newest addition (3 months). Roen is beginning to love on her sister alot and she was lying down next to her today and I couldn't resist this shot. I had to get it. Those of you with children know they capture your heart like nothing else.

Starbuck Wedding - Leu Gardens

2007-07-24T00:23:00.000-04:00

I'm still amazed at what two small lights can do to add depth and light to a photo. These were all shot in a dark reception hall and if I only used on camera flash by itself I would never be able to acheive the look these easy to use flashes produce. K2 on the go lighting from Kevin Keelan, check out his workshop to learn more. For all your techie folks, they were all shot at f/4 and 1/100 to 1/125 and iso 400. The results are so sweet, fun, and easy to acheive. Before using these extra lights I would photograph receptions at 1/30 to 1/60 at 2.8, would get good and occasionally very fun shots, but I would never be able to use my 70-200 sweet lens because it was just too long for dark rooms. Now it very rarely gets put down, and I have so much fun at receptions with it. These techniques can be used anytime anywhere to get consistently good images in all lighting situations. Thanks Shawn and Teresa for having me celebrate your 10 year reception renewal. It was wonderful.

My first post and many thanks

2007-06-28T15:12:00.000-04:00

The past 3 years have been a whirlwind of activity. Two children, running a photography company, building a new home, and making room for family activities all have been a blessing and a challenge. As photographers know, we take solace in the times we can be shoot and be creative. It is everything else that happens between shoots which makes a company successful. There are many to people to thank in my first post. First, Jesus Christ, who gives me the strength and ability to do what I do. My beautiful wife Tara, the backbone of our home, who raises the kids while I'm off photographing weddings. You inspire me to be the best I can be. All the photographers who have had a hand in helping get me started in this amazing career, John Gaudette, Richmond Gibbs, Richard Coad, and Mike Gibson, thanks for the hours of conversation about the trade we love and lending your years of experience to a newbie to the business of photography. You all provided valuable advice from equipment to pricing to clients to a photographer wanting to explore not just taking photographs, but running a business. Those who have continued to help me in my creative approach and given me invaluable wisdom along the way, Kevin Keelan...K2, you will forever be "the man" who revolutionized the way I view light and you will be a friend for the ages. Jeff Hawkins for your mentoring in shooting with excellence and being top notch in all aspects of photography. Jesse Clements, thanks for the fun times on shoots and challenging one another to get the best shot possible. You possess creative talent, keep using it. As I launch this new website special thanks to Chris, my former student and webmaster who built my first site. Thanks for producing a great product which helped lauch my business to the web. With a new look and a new site, thanks to photoidentities for making an incredible flash product for photographers. You guys know and understand the needs of photographers. I am excited about the canvas you provide to display my work. Thanks for the great customer service. To finish my first post...there are many things to say, but as most of you know who want to start or have been blogging, less, most of time is more I will leave you with my motto...work hard, play hard, rest hard, live life with no regrets and make the most of your opportunities. Keep searching for that perfect photo!
Grace and Peace.