Sounds like an ideal engagement session, right?!

We just ran around Winter Park and snuck in to a few back alleys, nooks and crannies for some cute little moments! It didn’t seem terribly hot when we started, but oh man – the sun in Florida is brutal! Deb and John stuck it out with me, though. We ended the session with a delicious lunch from Briarpatch and Ice Cream! It’s always really cool to just hang out and grab some lunch with my clients after their session so we can talk a little more about their plans for their wedding. Deb and John are having a small intimate ceremony at Leu Gardens in late November, surrounded by their close family and friends and a private reception at a fabulous Winter Park restaurant! I’m so looking forward to their wedding, which will surely be beautiful and romantic

I wanted to thank the incredibly talented Luisa V for her amazing skills making Deb look gorgeous for her session!

The Results!

I suddenly feel like I should have hosted an episode of  The Price is Right! Come on down (to Miami)!

Ok, but I know everyone is anxiously awaiting the results, so I’ll stop playing around.

After 6,812 total votes and 280 comments rooting along their favorite photographer – your friends, family, fans, and weird guy across the street, have joined forces and chosen a winner!

My poor Google Analytics almost had a heart attack with a whopping 44,000 pageviews this week.

The race got pretty heated in it’s final days, as first and second place flip-flopped more than … well, a lot.

So after checking the results and verifying the votes, I wanted to personally congratulate my first ever Photofusion winner…..

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It seems like just yesterday that Ella was crawling around my studio… now she’s walking! And little miss independent is all over the place! I love seeing how much she’s grown since her 7-month session in November. On Saturday, I met up with Michelle, Edman and little Ella to run around outside (and by “run”, I mean “walking with determination”). Tell me she isn’t just precious?!

She was offering me a leaf for breakfast.

The ramp was a new thing for her… and she pretty much loved it.

After a morning in stuffy tights and a cutie foo-foo dress, it was time to get ready for the drive home in a little red sundress.
So I couldn’t help but get a couple shots of her in it!

And while we’re at it….. eat the leaves….

For most shoots, I’ll jam to my iPod in the car on the way there… generally trying to match my selection of music with the mood of the shoot. So this morning, I found myself in a pickle.

I knew Josh was a country music singer and songwriter (and quite talented, I may add!), but the only country music on my very large, and nearly full, iPod was Garth Brooks (commence laughing… but I really love Garth!).

So I busted out some old “Live” favorites and sang all the way to Fort Christmas. Which, PS – I think everyone should have to shoot an engagement session dodging 1,000 elementary school children and random cannon-fire. Yes, cannon-fire. Holy steady hand. I wish I was exaggerating… alas, I’m not.

I was really excited about today’s shoot – not just to meet Mindy and Josh, but because I’ve just fallen in love with engagement sessions! (pun intended). I nearly always shoot way longer than I’m supposed to – but that’s ok, right? I’m just so inspired by love! Weddings can sometimes get a bit hectic, super schedule-oriented, and it’s a rare occasion when the stars align and you have as much time as you want to capture pictures of the bride and groom alone.

Eee! Ok, so anyways – let’s talk about Mindy and Josh!

I was “told” that Mindy was the goofball, and Josh was the serious one. What I found out, was that they both have an incredible sense of self,  impeccable style, devotion, faith and love for each other. Josh is also an accomplished musician and overall super sweet guy. I actually edited all the teasers today after their session to Josh’s CD (which has now been permanently saved on my ipod, so I officially have more country music than Garth Brooks)! I think I know every song by heart. Mindy is just an incredible person – beyond being absolutely beautiful, she is sincere and gracious – and I couldn’t imagine him ever finding anyone else more amazing.

Who saw the video from our session when he sang a song he wrote to Mindy for me and all my Twitter followers? Well, I guess he sang it for Mindy, but I’m going to pretend it was for us, and you can’t tell me not to.

I’m going to go ahead and post the photos under the slideshow, because I used one of Josh’s amazing songs for it – and it really adds the inspiration to the entire session. Music and photography go hand-in-hand for me, so I really wanted to share them together. He’s a beautiful singer, and writer – and I hope you enjoy his music as much as I do!

Josh’s Website |  Josh’s Facebook Fan Page

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I will fondly refer to this engagement session as “The Inspiration Shoot”. Allow me to explain.

Remember the first part of Christine and Micah’s engagement session from a few weeks ago?

When I first met with Christine and Micah to talk about their wedding, and the possibility of hiring me to shoot it – we talked a lot about inspiration. Christine asked me if she could see what photographers inspired me – and I excitedly showed her my favorite - Jose Villa. A few months before, he had done “The River Shoot” – an engagement session on a river, with beautiful light, an amazing couple, and a killer tree-rope-swing. I remember swooning over that shoot and didn’t hesitate to show them everything I loved about it.

When they called to tell me that they wanted me to be a part of their wedding – it was *somewhat* conditional… I had to promise to break their engagement session in to 2 sessions – one of which, had to be a River shoot. The thought of trying to recreate a visionary master’s shoot made me a little squirmy – but I never back down from a challenge… especially from a couple as cool as Christine and Micah!

Although they studied his shoot all morning, we abandoned all thought of re-creation and got lost in the beautiful river landscape. And where you may see some similarities, I’m hoping that I was able to put my own style to the shoot. I played with some new effects to try to capture the soft film feel, and washed out the colors a bit from my standard.

Carrying in to the “Inspiration” theme of the shoot this morning, we started with a shoot they saw in Vanity Fair from the “Twilight” cast. I’ll admit, I’ve never seen any of the Twilight movies, or read any of the books – but I’m hoping I captured the essence of the VF shoot

Christine may have known something that I didn’t. The challenge she presented made this shoot one of my absolute favorites! It didn’t hurt to have an awesome couple to work with, either! I can’t wait for their wedding in just a few short weeks!

First, the Twilight Inspiration

Below: one of my absolute, all-time, favorites.

Ha, lots of fun shooting this one!

Second, on to the River Shoot inspiration

Another serious favorite!

The river really is orange. I have no idea why…
I love how “off” this shot is. I love that she’s going to kiss him, and he’s not phased. It works for me, in this awkward kind of way.

I can’t believe they got in the otter-infested waters I hear those things are vicious!

This tree was so awesome. I had no idea they were such avid climbers!

LOVE this shot! Shortly after this kiss, they both tree-jumped into the murky river below.

After quite a few jumps in… we wrapped our session!