We know that Thanksgiving makes you take time to really think about all the things you are thankful for. And we know that when you do that, the first thing you think of (okay, okay, maybe it's the second thing) is your favorite photographers. Then you become overcome by the desire to contact us or call us or email us to tell us you were thinking of us or to ask us questions about your photos or the weather or whatever else may be on your mind. We understand, believe me, we do. When we take a moment to stand still and think about all the things we are thankful for, you are definitely at the top of our lists too!

But for 24 hours we are going to fall off the "Studio222 Photography" grid. Yup, you heard me! We're vanishing! We're hiding out in our condo, cooking up a storm, relaxing with family and friends, and taking in all the cranberry and rosemary-scented goodness that is Thanksgiving. We are going to watch the Macy's parade, the Cowboys, and maybe Wall-E on DVD. We are going to hang Christmas lights on the porch and play board games. We are going to fill our condo with the smell of a savory feast and we are going to spend some quality time with each other. But we are not going to be working at the computers, checking emails, or taking work calls. Consider our office closed for the day. You'll be able to reach us soon enough!

In the spirit of the holiday, we decided to leave you with
The Top 5 Things We are Thankful For:

1. Having people in our lives that truly love us and friends that are unconditional.
2. Each other. "He's wonderful." "She's amazing."
3. Getting to work with fantastic people, and getting to be that couple that gets paid to do what they love to do.
4. All the little things that make life fun: vanilla scented candles, Snickerdoodles, Christmas lights, love letters, Monday night
football with nachos, red wine, happy text messages, finding the perfect pair of jeans, new camera toys, Chipotle burrito
bowls, and expansion packs for World of Warcraft (that last one was exclusively Nate's.)
5. Our iPhones

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

CELEBRATION, FL


Steve and Bonnie eloped in St. Lucia last week and had a gorgeous brunch reception at the Celebration Hotel yesterday followed by an after party at Firkin and Kegler's. The reception was breathtakingly beautiful and I cannot wait to finish the rest of the images to show everyone. Until then, enjoy these Featured Five

TALLAHASSEE, FL

Tony and Lynn had an extremely romantic wedding last night in Tallahassee and we were honored to be a part of it. We had gotten the chance to meet Tony earlier this year when we shot promotional pictures for his band. It is a huge understatement for us to say that we were excited to be a part the biggest day of his life. We've got many more beautiful images to come but for now, enjoy our Featured Five.

Oh hello! This is the last thing you see before I shoot you. ;)

MELBOURNE, FL

Pete and Katie had a gorgeous sunset ceremony on Bicentennial Beach followed by a romantic dinner and reception at the Yellowdog Cafe in Malabar. Lots more to come, but for now enjoy our Featured Five.

*Important Note:
We are happy to share these sample images here on our blog and on facebook, and we are more than happy to allow anyone to use these images online for their own personal use. However, it violates copyright law and our contract with the clients for anyone to alter or crop these images in any way. You are free to use them, but you must leave them as is.
Thank you,
Studio222 Photography


TAMPA, FL

When Brittany's mom called me to talk about the photography for her daughters wedding, she opened with something like, "You might not remember me but..." Her family is from my home town and, small world, I used to play with her daughter and son when we were toddlers. But that's not where my trip down memory lane ended. Brittany and her fiance husband are very active in a church that I worked at for a while in high school and I when I got to the wedding I realized that I knew about 50% of the wedding party. Oh, but it's not over, both my high school cheerleading coach and one of my fellow squad members were also in attendance, not to mention various other familiar faces. Instead of hiding in "photographer guy" anonymity, poor Nate had to put up with me introducing him to people from my past all night long.

My personal memories seemed to set the tone for a wedding flowing with familiarity. From the wedding location in a park encircled by gorgeous homes, to the practice dance the bride snuck away to rehearse with her dad (yeah, we saw you!), to the old home videos the bridesmaids were watching of the groom and their friends, this wedding was warm with love and family. There was no detail untouched by someone who loved the bride and groom and you could just feel the love enveloping everyone at this beautiful event.

Thanks Brittany, Shea, and family for allowing us the honor of documenting your day.

I'm not quite sure why, but "Feels Like Home" is the song that started running through my head as I was finishing up these images from Bonne and Steve's engagment session. The warmth of the buttery sun, the tall arching grass, the rows of gorgeous houses in the background, and two energetic puppies, all just made me feel like this was home. Home was wherever Bonnie and Steve were together, as a little family wrapped up in love.

We are shooting their wedding in a week but I wanted to share these images because they are all just too pretty to keep to myself. I think the reason the lyrics to "Feels Like Home" started running through my head is because looking at these images just makes me feel cozy. I am so happy that Bonnie and Steve decided to bring their puppies along because we really got to capture the love of their little family. We laughed as the small puppies pulled against their leashes and tried to pounce through the grass that was taller than they were.

Nate and I are definitely dog lovers and want to adopt a puppy so badly but we can't until we move from this condo since there is a restriction on pets. (Isn't that awful?) But I digress, this session just made me feel as warm as the buttery sunlight we caught in this session.

I've babbled enough, I will now leave you with the pictures and the lyrics from "Feels Like Home".

Somethin' in your eyes, makes me wanna lose myself
Makes me wanna lose myself, in your arms
There's somethin' in your voice, makes my heart beat fast
Hope this feeling lasts, the rest of my life

If you knew how lonely my life has been
And how long I've been so alone
And if you knew how I wanted someone to come along
And change my life the way you've done

It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me
It feels like I'm all the way back where I come from
It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me
It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong

November is very busy for us and as excited as we are, it does add a bit of stress to our otherwise boring life. ;) So what better way to usher in November than being robbed? Right? No? Yeah, we didn't think so either...

About 2 weeks ago we shot a really beautiful wedding in Tampa and got back home to Orlando around midnight. We unloaded all our gear and I backed up all our pictures before going to bed. The next day as we walked to the car to leave for brunch, we saw that it had been broken into. When I first looked inside I noticed that everything was disheveled but no token items were missing. My stereo was still there, as well as a bunch of clothes in the back seat, my speakers and the radar detector. Then I realized that I didn't have my purse and a wave of panic spread over me. (Ladies, you know the feeling I'm talking about.) I had put it in the trunk when we left the wedding and had forgotten to unload it before going to bed. I opened the trunk. Everything was tossed around but there was no purse. It was gone, along with all my cards, ID's, business cards, KEYS, and gift cards.

We started going through the process of calling all of our banks, getting new keys, etc. We've gotten the window fixed, Nate bought me a gorgeous new wallet, and my mom volunteered to replace my favorite lip gloss. I've been busy these last weeks trying to get new versions of everything that was stolen (which was hard since they took every legal form of ID I had. Note to self: keep something legal in the house!) It's just been very frustrating to say the least.

Why am I telling you all this? Because since I was without any ID or way to access any of my bank accounts, I got behind with various projects and mailings to our clients. I apologize if you are waiting for something. I finally have everything straightened out and am getting everything finished and in the mail this week to all of you. Thank you for your patience and understanding. We love all of you guys and are sorry for the delay.

I do have some good news though! Everything is on track for our snazzy new website launch mid-December. And it's quickly becoming so much bigger than just a website launch. We are revealing new products, new images, and a whole new structure as well. We're very excited. You should be excied too! Because today I heard back from some ridiculously talented vendors and artists who are donating some AMAZING gifts for us to give away the week before the big launch. Yup, you heard me right. FREE SWAG! You will not want to miss out on these gifts. I'm secretly jealous that I can't just keep them all for myself. So, make a mental note to keep checking in with us here as the date gets closer and tell your friends, your mom, your girlfriends, your fellow brides-to-be, the cute couple living next door, the pregnant lady at church, and anyone else you happen to bump into between now and then. ;)

Lastly, since I refuse to have a post without a picture, here is one of my favorites from our friend Heather's birthday party "photo booth" last week:

Yesterday was one of my very best friends' birthday. Happy Birthday Heather! She is an amazing woman who is ridiculously talented and oh so sweet. We had a little birthday party at her house last night. I love parties for photographers! She set up a photo booth and I just cannot wait to see what kind of hilarity comes from that, but Nate and I took a few snapshots of our own and thought we'd put them together in a Sweet 16* for her. So Heather, we love you, and we hope that you had a fabulous birthday!

*Sweet 16 Storyboards are available from Studio222 Photography via our online proofing shop. They are created using your favorite images from your session or event and can be printed at any size and even mounted or blown up as a gallery wrap. Contact us if you'd like us to create a Sweet 16 for you.

WINTER PARK, FL

Justin and Lindsey met us in a small coffee shop months ago. As Nate and I waited, we stared out the window wondering, "Is that them?" about every single couple that walked by the big glass doors. When Lindsey and Justin arrived it was instantly evident that we were going to have such a good time getting to know them better and documenting their wedding. Sometimes you just *click* with people from the start and these two were one of those magical couples.

Their engagement session began at Gurtzberry and ended there and I could not have been a happier photographer. If you haven't tried Gurtzberry you need to, TODAY! It's like heaven in a paper cup. But I digress...Their session was full of smiles as they joked with each other and with us and as we discovered that we were secretly being stalked by Lindsey's sister and her friend! And by secretly, I mean that they were hiding behind bushes watching us take pictures. HaHa, we love it! We are so excited for the wedding in January. Ok, I've been trying to avoid saying it but...

...Don't they look just like Ken & Barbie? Come on! You know they do! :)

I love this last one, it shows their personalities so well and pretty much sums up the entire shoot!