Portraits - Palm Harbor, FL: Kara and Chris Maternity

It took a while for my good friend Kara to redeem the photo shoot gift I gave her for her birthday last year, but this year there was more motivation to get it done sooner. The reason: She and her husband have their first baby girl on the way! Here are a few photos of the expectant parents. Kara looks amazing for being 31 weeks along!

We took some photos at a park that hopefully they'll be spending a lot of time at in the near future.

And since they both love volleyball, they decided to be a little goofy.

I'm so excited for you guys and can't wait to meet your little girl!

Portraits - Safety Harbor, FL: Kara and Chris

Life has a tendency to get very busy. Kara is one of my best friends, and for her birthday back in March I gave her the gift of photos... family photos... of her, her husband, and their dog Kodi. The last time they had official portraits done was for their wedding over 4 years ago, and since then, their family photos have consisted of setting the timer on her camera and running over and hoping Kodi would cooperate in time for the timer to go off. It wasn't until this past weekend that our schedules FINALLY lined up and we were able to meet up and take them. Of course, it wasn't a bad thing that we waited until the scorching heat of summer had subsided down here in Florida. I'm so happy we finally made time to do this!

We found this cool old car in front of an auto shop and stopped in for a few fun photos.

These two are huge Gator fans so as much as it pained us to photograph, we had to capture a few in gameday attire.

Trash the Dress - Clearwater Beach, FL: Krysta and Justin

Right after their wedding, Krysta told me she couldn't wait to go in the water with Justin and get some more pictures taken in her wedding dress. This weekend we finally got the chance, so we headed down to Sand Key Park for a few more photos. Krysta wore her hair up in a formal style for the wedding, and I love that she wore it down in a more relaxed style for this shoot. We walked around the park for a little while and when it got too hot to stay dry any longer, she and Justin took the plunge. Here are some favorites!

Day After Session - Clearwater, FL: Maggie and Mike

I realize it has been a while since the blog has been updated... sorry about that! We've been quite busy with "spring cleaning" and getting our life and business back in order after a very busy spring wedding season. Summer is our off-season since it is so hot out, and not as many weddings are going on this time of year down here. It has been good to catch up on some reading and other things we had been putting off.

My brother and sister-in-law were in town this weekend visiting for the holiday and Maggie wanted to have a few more pictures taken in her wedding dress. She convinced Mike to take part as well, for a Day After Session. They got married about 4 months ago up in the DC area, and Chris and I were in the wedding so we weren't able to capture any images for them.

We decided to go out early in the morning to try and beat the Florida summer heat, but it caught up with us pretty quickly. Here are some of my favorite images from the morning.

We found this antique car sitting in the back of a warehouse and just had to take a few pictures with it.



The morning light was quite nice. =)











One last shot with the old car. This one felt vintage, and even though that isn't our normal image style, I decided to give it a try for this one. I really like the feel. =)

Engagement - Ybor City, FL: Corie and Thor

It all started at Starbucks... side glance here... quick look there... Corie was working for a local tv station where they would broadcast their morning show live near Starbucks. Thor and his colleagues from a local architecture firm would make their daily walk to Starbucks for a quick pick me up. Corie & Thor admired each other from a distance for months... until one day, their timing worked out and they no longer had to admire each other from afar, but instead, got to share time together... in front of Starbucks.

Corie and Thor met in Memphis, Tennessee and are planning their June wedding at the Sandpearl Resort on Clearwater Beach. It is going to be an intimate celebration with a small number of family and friends and we can't wait! Thor is actually a fellow graduate of the University of Tennessee so we're planning on seeing some other UT grads at the wedding as well. =)

Since Thor is big into photography himself, he and Corie encouraged us to try some new things during our engagement session in Ybor City. I am so excited to show you some of our favorite images. =)



Some our loyal blog readers have been asking to get some shots of us in action since we shoot as a team. Bobbi+Mike are some of our favorite photographers and they do this all the time, so we're going to try to add in a little more of setup along with the results. I was lookin' pretty good for this shot since I just got done lying on the ground for another shot... and I'm pretty sure I had some old gum stuck to my pants too. ;) It's okay though, Corie and Thor looked good enough to make up for us.



What I saw from my angle was nothing short of hot.











Yummy warm light plus happy good looking people = sweeeeeet.





Everybody loves a trolley! We hopped on for a few quick shots at the end of the shoot.



Corie and Thor, we had a blast shooting your engagement session. We can't wait to hang out with you guys again at the wedding!

Trash the Dress - Amy & Doug: Palm Harbor, FL

She knew she'd never wear it again so Amy was all about trashing her dress. She and Doug brought their adorable dog, Mango, to the park for a few final pictures in her wedding dress. We were happily surprised with the cooler weather as we walked around and found some unique spots for photos. This is our third time photographing these two, and we always have a great time together. We had hoped to get it dirty in the water, but there were signs everywhere warning us about the alligators... so we decided to find alternate means of trashing Amy's dress. =)



Down by the dock.





Gotta love this girl's shoes!



This was the only tree around that wasn't a palm tree so of course they had to climb it. =)



Then some fun on the playground. This totally brings back memories of when my brother and sister and I used to see who could swing the highest, and then jump off. =)



This bright red dump truck was great for a few photos... to really get us in the "trashy" mood. I just love this shot that Chris got.



At this point, Doug decided it was time to throw the dress in the trash... I guess he forgot that Amy was still wearing it.



And stuck.



And now, how the final trashing began.