There are times when you work with couples that end up impacting you, more than you’ve impacted them.

August emailed me about 6 months ago while planning her one-year anniversary vacation with hubby, Kareem. They were coming down to Florida and wanted to get some post-wedding photos down near Disney! After all of her wedding photos were lost by her photographer (?! I know… right?!), she knew she wanted some memories to take back to New York, and I was more than happy to help! Little did I know that they would teach me to get back to the fundamentals of unrequited love.

The story of this amazing couple spans decades…. from the early 90’s when they first met, to their long distance relationship and in to the last few years – when August donated her kidney to save Kareem’s life. Yeah. There are times when I won’t even give up the last Root Beer for Anthony….

August and Kareem are just the sweetest, fun-loving couple! They were more than willing to trek around with me and visit some of my favorite spots!

I also wanted to post this amazingly sweet review that I noticed August wrote everywhere! I can’t tell you how much it helps my business when my clients review me! I REALLY appreciate it, and just wanted to share

I know many people provide reviews and when verified, they may not be all that believable. Well, I would provide my TELEPHONE NUMBER, if I could, along with my photo shoot portraits as a source verification as to the EXCELLENT work Kristen does! It’s NOT just the photo’s that made our session wonderful, although they were flawless; it’s her personality and demeanor during our session. She is an absolute pleasure to work with. And I really want to express my appreciation for Kristen Weaver. Kristen is the warmest and inviting photographer I have had the pleasure of meeting, and I have met a few! I am a very skeptical, “hard-to-please” individual, when it comes to pictures, and very particular about everything. My husband looks like a club bouncer, lol, with a very intimidating presence and an introverted attitude until he feels your personality out. Well, Kristen had the ability to not only satisfy my entire list of needs during the session but make my husband SMILE! I was amazed! He is not a “picture taker” and he was smiling and laughing and having a ball before the session ended. Before the session was half way through, Kristen had both our trust and comfort in her hands. I was so pleased I wanted to send my family out to Florida to take more pictures.

My previous wedding pictures were lost by the photographer and I was devastated!!  I explained to Kristen what I was looking for in my pictures, I was very nervous and skeptical as a “photographer seeker” for my “retakes” and Kristen simply made my “retake” dreams come true!! The action pictures, candid pictures and portraits were awesome! Her website is completely true and ALL that is encompassed in it!!! Every picture she took of my husband and I was phenomenal!! All I can say is Kristen Weaver is thee best photographer EVER! If I could recommend ANYONE to take photos it would be Kristen, hands down! She made our photo session very comfortable. She worked around our schedule and was extremely patient, accommodating and fun! We were visiting from NY and she provided not only pictures but a small tour of the Disney area during our shoot.

A huge thank you to the General Manager over at Celebration Hotel who graciously allowed us to use their gorgeous hotel for photos! The hotel has been undergoing some gorgeous changes, and in true Kessler tradition, their art gallery is stunning!

August’s hair and makeup was done by the oh-so-talented Jillian Caro!

Since August and Kareem had never been to Disney before, I decided to take them over to the hammocks at the Polynesian Resort, and then the Grand Floridian – for some true Disney elegance!

Celebration, FL.

Can I just take a quick second and brag about how I seriously have the most gorgeous couples that ask me to take their photos? I think I’m the luckiest photographer in Orlando! When you get couples like Faye and Derek, it’s not too difficult to catch the sweetest little moments! I’m really glad they chose Celebration for their session, because there’s so many adorable little nooks and crannies. I think this may have been my fourth couples session that I’ve shot there, so I had to steer clear of some of the usual suspects and give them some original places that they can call their own…. and that they did! I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone make mulch look so good

And PS – I really do have pictures where they’re not making out …. but those sweet little romantic moments are always my favorite to capture! They’re just too cute together!

Here are the teasers from Faye and Derek’s Celebration, FL couples session!

After a couple quick shots outside, we decided to jump over to the Celebration Hotel.

Gotta love a sexy elevator moment…

Yay, yay, yay!! Heather only has about 5 weeks to go before sweet little Aislynn gets here! If you missed her 6 month session, be sure to check it out here – and look how much she’s grown!

I can’t wait to see Aislynn for her newborn session next month

Here’s a quick teaser from yesterday’s session with Heather and Jason!

So how did you get your start in photography?

The long, and the short, answer to this is – Heather Johnson.

As the story goes, I had an assignment in my graphic design class to design a magazine cover. The assignment was to use an internet image for the cover (the focus was more on the text, design and layout). Searching random google images turned up a whole lot of nothing, when I thought to myself, ‘Even I could shoot a better cover shot than this!’. So I grabbed my little film Canon Rebel, and my best friend (who was also my Kappa Delta pledge sister and an experienced pageant princess), Heather. We went out to the Hollis Gardens near campus and shot my very first “fashion” magazine cover.

Which, come to think of it…. was 8 years ago. I can’t believe how fast time has gone. (!!!!) And that reminds me… don’t be too critical of these blast from the past photos. We all had to start somewhere!

The year was 2001, and I was shooting film. Thanks to Walmart for processing this for me.

Once everyone saw the pictures… my first stab at photography became a full blown business. I was booked 8 hours a day by sorority sisters, couples, parents, you name it. My fee? You buy the film, you pay for the printing, and I get the doubles! In case any of my previous “clients/sorority sisters” are reading this… yes, I still have the albums of ALL those pictures.

When it came to Heather, I had one rule when we shot together: I always get to wear the crown. Heather, being her humble, gracious self, always obliged

I went on to … well, to do what I do. Meanwhile, Heather went on to become Miss Tampa and Miss Central Florida…

2006, and I wish someone had taught me to edit back then…

and after countless shoots together…

Her engagement in 2006 to Jason Brooks

Feb. 2007 (when she introduced me to Model Mayhem… and a fashion photographer was born)

Aug. 2007

Nov. 2007 (I had just found the wonders that are Katie Russo, Nicole Beth and Jennifer Frances)

…her wedding in March of 2008….

…and her mom’s wedding in December of 2008…..

… I’m finally shooting her beautiful maternity photos (soon to be followed by beautiful newborn photos, and beautiful children photos, and beautiful family photos…. you get the idea)! My little Heather J is all grown up and having babies!

Heather is about 6 months along and still looks as radiant as ever. One thing is certain, their little one (name TBD)  is coming in to a loving family, with amazing parents, who have prayed for her and will love her with every inch of their soul. She will be absolutely perfect, in every way, and I can’t wait to meet her!

Favorite alert.

Thank you, Heather (and Jason), for the amazing journey you’ve taken me on. I can’t wait to meet your precious little one!

I’m the funniest person in the world.

No, really…. I am. At least according to my girl, Lacey. She came out to Disney yesterday with Chris to model for a “couples fashion not-quite-engagement session” (did you catch all that?) that I hosted. Who says you have to be engaged to have a good time and look great for a few photographers?

I really want to talk about the workshop, about how cool Khristen, Mariana and Khaled were, about how much fun we had and about how awesome Lacey and Chris were to work with – but I’ll leave that for another day! Tonight, I just really want to post a few of the amazing images I grabbed yesterday and let everyone see what they missed out on

This special Disney workshop session may become an annual holiday event, complete with a night out at The Boardwalk! I can’t wait to post all about it!

Come have fun with me, and learn lots! To schedule your own Photographer’s workshop session, email me at kristen@kristenweaver.com.

Favorite warning…. below.

I reminded Lacey that I’m the funniest person in the world. See? It works!

I’m a little behind on some editing, so coming up this week I’ll be blogging an awesome maternity session preview, full wedding and a couple portrait session teasers. Stay tuned!