St. Augustine Photographer: 2011 Round Up

Summer and Fall of 2011 was such a whirlwind that my blog has suffered from lack of attention. We added a new little one to our family brood, photographed 7 weddings and 20 or so family portraits, and moved our photography out of our house and into a studio space! Whew!

See I told you we were busy!

Here is a round up of some the best of images from 2011. We were so blessed with wonderful clients this year and can't wait for all of our events here in 2012!

St. Augustine Photographer: Winner Best of St. Augustine 2011!

Thank You!!

We feel so honored to be voted Best of St. Augustine for two years running! And we couldn't have done it without you!

Lots of amazing things in store for 2011/2012! Stay tuned for news on portrait marathons for the holidays, photo classes, and much more!

St. Augustine Photographer: Instagram Addict

Have you played with Instagram? I have become obsessed with it. It is a great way to share photos with other photo minded people. I find inspiration in what others come up with in their everyday lives. I have noticed that a lot of my "friends" on the photo based social media site take pictures of their food. Not sure if that means that we all just love to eat or what?

If you have an iPhone, you HAVE to check out this app. It doesn't have as many filters and bells/whistles as Hipstamatic which I kind of like. The down side is that the built in camera in the app doesn't create a very big file so if you are wanting to print your Instagram photo later, it probably won't go very well. Although, I just got a note from Blurb books that they have an upload program to instantly make a book out of your Instagram photos.

Here are some of my Instagram photos from the last 2 months. I even took some photos at a friend's wedding where I was a guest. Definitely makes you think out of the box when all you have is your iPhone to make a great photo at a wedding!

Enjoy!

St. Augustine Engagement Photographer: The Gorgeous Hannah and Derek!

St. Augustine Wedding Photographer: Featured on Pictage homepage AGAIN!

So pleased to be honored again on Pictage's homepage. I submitted this image for their latest contest titled "Faces". This is Robert and Betsy Hagerty. I photographed them a couple of years ago while Betsy was going through treatment for breast cancer. She loved her bald head and wore it like the badge of courage it was. They wanted me to photograph the two of them as well as their daughter Ariel before her hair started to grow again.




I have had the pleasure of photographing their family since, last year during one of my portrait marathons I held in Phoenix.



Thank you to the Hagerty's for letting me be part of your family and allowing me to share this image among other great photographers and their clients.

Matt & Carrie

Here is a sweet little slideshow of Matt and Carrie's wedding at the Lightner Museum. Enjoy!

St. Augustine Wedding Photographer: Photo Shoot with your Bridal Party

Erin and DJ wanted to spend their time after their May 7 ceremony on a limo cruise with their bridal party to do on location photo shoots, away from their ceremony and reception site.

This is becoming more and more common with our couples. It really makes the photo shoot as part of the celebration of the day instead of a limited time between the ceremony and reception which sometimes is rushed.

Some things to think about if you think you want to incorporate this into your wedding day:

1. It usually works best to have just your bridal party along for the ride. Trying to coordinate family too is really tough.

2. Schedule your reception to start at least 1.5 - 2 hours after your ceremony. That way you won't miss out on the party and your guests won't be wondering where you are.

3. Rent a limo, shuttle or trolley to take your bridal party from place to place. Make sure it can fit everyone and leaves space for the photographer and maybe their assistant if needed.

4. Scout locations with your photographer before the big day. No sense trying to figure out where to go on the fly and your limo driver will appreciate the heads up.

5. If you and your bridal party would like to indulge in a little liquid cheer in the limo(champagne,etc), try to stay away from drinks that stain like red wine or other dark liquors.

Here are some of my favorites from Erin and DJ's photo cruise. We hit the jackpot with this abandoned train station and the life-like soda fountain sculpture, both in downtown Wichita, KS.