Maternity Portraits: Jessica and Greg

Greg and Jessica are such a genuinely sweet couple. Jessica is a kindergarten teacher with a heart of gold and Greg makes any situation a ton of fun and always ends up making everyone laugh. Together, these two are just so enjoyable to be around. It took Jessica a split second to decide that she wanted to go to Honeymoon Island for her maternity shoot. Greg was happy to go anywhere that would make her happy... even if it meant swatting away the "no-see-ums" every couple seconds. Most of the maternity shoots I've seen have been done in studios or indoors, but this couple loves the outdoors and especially the beach, so we had to try it out. We ran into some interesting yet supportive people along the way, haha.

Jessica has about 6 weeks left to go in her pregnancy, so this was such a great time to capture her belly in all its glory! This was my first maternity shoot, but we decided to make it partly a couple shoot as well because we had to capture the future father's excitement too.

They are waiting until the baby is born to find out if its a boy or girl. It's going to be a great surprise no matter what, but I am too much of a planner to be able to keep it a mystery for that long. Anyone want to guess if it will be a boy or girl??

Wedding: Haley and Ted

Last weekend we were honored to drive up to Tallahassee and shoot a gorgeous wedding with our friend and super talented Tallahassee wedding photographer Mary Beth Tyson. If you are unfamiliar with her work, please check her out. She is one of our inspirations (you can find her in our menu above) and is definitely one of the best in the country. Her image quality is 2nd to none and she is so fun to hang around with. We enjoyed getting to see Mary Beth work her magic and always have a great time!

Haley and Ted got married at Ted's family's horse farm just north of Tallahassee and it was a scorcher of a day. Hooray for getting a sleeveless fancy shirt in time for this wedding. =) I found out later on that one of the THIRTEEN groomsmen almost passed out from the heat. It was still a GORGEOUS wedding scene to be at so we were excited to be there!

That's right, this was by far the largest wedding party we've ever seen! There were 12 bridesmaids and 13 groomsmen. Definitely needed the wide lenses to get them all in, but they were a blast to work with and be around.

Haley was such a gorgeous bride. We heard that she had been compared to Jessica Simpson, so we were really looking forward to getting some great shots of her and Ted. Mary Beth's bridal portraits made her look stunning and there was no let down on the wedding day. She truly is that beautiful. It was almost impossible to get a bad shot if she was in it. She looked absolutely flawless in her beautiful gown.





It's no wonder Ted got all teary eyed when his gorgeous bride came walking down the aisle toward him. It was such a great emotional moment.





Check out the cool country style home and huge front porch. It made a fantastic backdrop for the wedding.



This group had so much fun despite the hot temperatures. I mean, it's not every day that you see a group of groomsmen building a pyramid in their suits and ties.



And the lovely ladies.



I had a great spot up on the porch (hidden behind part of the wedding party) during the ceremony and I was so excited to get to capture some wonderful emotions of the bride and groom.



As always, we have to snag at least one shot of the other photographer in action. Here's Mary Beth working her magic.



I've seen this shot done by a few other photographers out there, so I thought I'd try it out. It is pretty cool if I do say so myself =)



Mary Beth took Haley and Ted back to the willow tree where Haley had her bridal portraits done to take some photos after the ceremony. While she was getting some great shots of the couple, I snuck up from the side and got this shot through the trees. These two were just too cute for words.



Mary Beth gets total credit for setting up this shot, and you can see more on her blog, but this was the moment when I was in total agreeance that Haley looks so much like Jessica Simpson! Do you see it? So gorgeous!



Then off to the reception we went. The party bus held 33 and had one seat free after the wedding party, Mary Beth, and I loaded on. After a 30 minute drive up to Southern Georgia we arrived in Thomasville. The reception was held at the gorgeous Glen Arven Country Club and everyone arrived ready to party. Ted is quite the dancer, so it was no surprise when the new couple rocked the dance floor during their first dance. Later on that evening there were multiple people tearing up the dance floor and even some break dancing! The band, Complete Desire, out of Atlanta did an amazing job and kept the party going all night long.



This had to be my favorite shot from the day, so props to Chris for this one! It really captures the emotion and happiness between these two!



Thanks to Mary Beth for letting us come and shoot with her. Hope to do it again soon!

New Toys!

Chris and I decided we needed a few more things to be better equipped for wedding season, so we picked up a few more "toys". After seeing the amazing color that my 5D produces, Chris was too jealous to not get one of his own. The colors that come out of this camera are incredible.

Next, the two new lens additions are the 24-105mm f/4L and the 135mm f/2.0L. Chris had been using the 24-70mm f/2.8L which is a great lens, but it just couldn't get in tight enough during a ceremony. I mean, I know we smell good, but we can't be all up in the bride and groom's face as they share their vows and first kiss. I am lucky enough to have the 70-200 f/2.8L IS which is my favorite lens for staying out of the way but getting zoomed in just enough. Actually, I'm pretty sure its my favorite anytime lens too. Both of the new lenses are great in their own way. The 135mm is incredibly sharp and when used on the 30D can get you quite a lot of zoom. And talk about bokeh (which is background blur for the non-photographers)! So Chris is going to keep that lens on the 30D and the 24-105mm on the new 5D during the ceremony. This way he can get some wide shots with the 24mm on a full frame sensor and get nice and zoomed in with the 135mm on the 30D.

I really like the idea of not having to change lenses. Since we shoot a good number of weddings and portraits on the beach here in Florida, it is nice to not have to worry about the whipping winds blowing sand in places that it doesn't belong. However for me, I'm going to tough it out because I just got a Boda Bag which I just LOVE! But more about that in another post. =)

The New Website is Here!

After a long difficult month of trying to get started on designing the new website, we are finally up and running! We just love the new design and of course it will continue to be a work in progress as we get deeper into wedding season. I really have to say that BluDomain has a really great product, although we have had some nightmares with customer service. Hopefully everyone enjoys it as much as we do! Here is a snapshot, but check out the new site here: Tampa Bay Wedding Photographers - Erin Chris Photography Website.

Portraits: The Hudson Family

This past weekend Chris and I took photos for the Hudson Family down at Fort de Soto Park. It was a beautiful weekend so the park was packed with people. The two little girls, Emma and Molly, had their bags for collecting seashells ready to go as we headed out to the beach. After the excitement of shell collecting wore off, we headed to some shaded parts of the park for some family photos.

We had such a great time with the whole family, and it was so funny how different the girls were. Emma was SUPER cute and had no problem being in front of the camera. She was really fun to be around and we got so many great shots of her. Molly, on the other hand, seemed a little scared of the big cameras. Every time she noticed the great big lenses pointed at her, she would take off running in the opposite direction. I guess that is the downside of the monster lenses (along with the carpal tunnel syndrome I see in my near future). We still managed to sneak a few cute shots of her in during the day.





I was so excited that we finally got to explore the historic fort that Ft. de Soto is named after! There were a few windows in the barracks that had big iron bars that the girls just loved. They were a little too excited to be behind bars, haha.



I think this was the first time that we actually got to see something other than the back of Molly's head.



Emma was super excited to be in front of the camera. She was looking forward to the shoot so much, she had been practicing her poses all week. From the looks of this smile I think she perfected it. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw Molly in the background of this photo. =)



The walls of the fort had the coolest texture. I'm not sure if Emma was posing here or if she was looking for the canons after getting her history lesson about the fort. Either way, Chris and I both love this shot.



What a great background for a family photo!



Then just as we were about to leave, Molly decided it was her turn to pose for the camera. She couldn't have been any cuter!



Thank you Jill and Chris for letting us capture a few moments in your lives. We had a great time!