Celebration | Florida

A few months ago I had the pleasure of meeting Trisha Hay. We actually met because we had both contacted Liene Stevens and were trying to help her set up a workshop here in Orlando. (Which, if you are an entrepreneur, you should attend!) Trisha is an extremely talented graphic artist who's resume includes Disney, the Engage conferences, Sean Low, and soon... a new logo for us! ;)

In her spare time she runs the oh-so-delightful blog, Black White Bliss, bringing gorgeous design inspiration to the screen every week! When Trisha and I met up again for a local mixing of young professionals we knew we had to schedule a personal portrait session for her to get some new bio pictures for her website and blog. Her husband, who is talented architect (how cool are they as a couple? I mean come on!) also joined in to get some frames for himself. And since we did both their sessions at the same time, we forced them to take a few cuddly shots together. ;)

You can follow both of them on twitter here:
Trisha Hay
Brandt Hay

Black White Bliss ;)








Personal Portrait Sessions are a great and budget-friendly way for you to get some fun, professional updated photos of yourself for your business, website, resume, or just because without the price tag of our regular portrait sessions. Fill out our contact form at the top of the page to learn more to to book your own!

Matt Tucker is a phenomenon. (That's why I felt the need to use both his first and last names. Clearly.) I really have no other way to describe him. And if he reads this, I know he's going to smile and chuckle ("smuckle", if you will) and shake his head at me. Humor me, okay Matt? You are awesome.

Matt is one of the kindest souls I've ever encountered. I'm not sure I'll ever meet another person like him. His heart is pure gold and I'm not sure that there is any person out there, having met him, that doesn't instantly feel a sort of soulful kinship to him. We love Matt Tucker for many reasons, the least of which are because he uses direct address every time he talks to us ("Hey Becka, how are you today?") and because he looks directly in your eyes and nods along the entire time you're talking. For his birthday we promised him an epic personal portraits session. And now it's time to deliver on our promise.

This... just... happened:




It's bright at noon in Florida






Hottie




Love this...


Want in on the fun?

Only a few July dates remaining. Now booking pp sessions for August-September

I was just at a coffee shop last week with an old friend. We both were working on our laptops and chatting when a friend of his walked into the shop. He introduced me to his friend and then turned to me and asked, "When was it that we met? Freshman year of college?" I nodded in agreement and then laughed as I did the math. "I can't believe we've known each other for 6 years already!" I can't believe I haven't gone to a class in over 2 years. Oh my gosh- I hated classes.

Melissa just graduated from our alma-mater, the University of Central Florida- a university affectionately nick-named "U Can't Finish". (I say affectionately but that probably isn't true. I know a few people who are going on their 7th year of undergrad!) So when she contacted us to see if we could do a short portrait session with her to commemorate this time in her life, we were more than happy to ablige. Melissa also brought 3 pairs of ridiculously cute shoes that she switched out during our hour-long session and immediately won her way into my shoe-addicted heart! And although she said that she had no idea what she was doing while posing for the pictures, I think we can all see that she definitely knows how to work it for the camera. Plus we performed a little black magic portrait session dance right before the session to make sure the images came out HAWT. Not really. Maybe. You'll just have to book a session with us to find out. ;)

Work it out...


FAVORITE


...like a boss


Happy Graduation Melissa. Now go take over the world!

ORLANDO | FLORIDA

Lisa: "I've got balloons in the car. I wasn't sure if you would want me to bring them in"-
Me: "Oh my gosh, I'm so excited!!!"

I have been wanting to shoot a session with balloons for months and so to say that I was exited when Lisa actually brought some balloons to our session would be the understatement of the year. I'm sure I made a complete dork of myself as I flipped out about them. Just look at all the amazing colors she brought! Seriously, I think we may be soul mates. ;)

We're so blessed with amazing clients. We leave shoots all the time, get in the car, and say to each other, "I hope they liked us. I'd like to hang out with them again." And that is one of the best things about what we do, we get to meet such amazing people. Today we got to meet Lisa. Lisa is one of our "Recessions Suck" participants and we are just loving these little mini portrait sessions. Seriously, they are so much fun. And when you have people like Lisa, who are just absolutely stunning, it makes our jobs ridiculously easy. Thanks Lisa, for being so much fun today! We hope to see you again soon. And we'll be finishing your images in the next week or so but for now, here's 5 of our favorites...

My dear friend, Heather Ahrens just got a fierce new hair cut. It's sassy, it's summery, it's hot (while being oh-so-cool), and it was begging for some documentation. When she texted me the other day to ask if I'd take a few quick promo shots for her blog I was more than happy to help her out. This was an extremely quick session. These images were from a span of about 15 minutes in front of these amazing yellow walls near our condo. I shot this one by myself since Nate was at the Apple store. (I figured I'd throw that little fact in since he likes to tell people that he takes all the good pictures.)

Here's what can happen with 10 minutes, a yellow building, and a fierce hair cut...

We could fit a few more spots into April for our Recessions Suck promotion. If you want some fun, updated portraits likes these, drop us a line and we'll talk dates!

I'd love to go on and on about how awesome Eric and Silas are. I'd love to go on and on about how hilarious, creative, and smart they are as well. And I'd love to go on and on about how kick ass their upcoming project, "Let's Talk Film" is going to be. But, since this is just a sneak peak from our ridiculously fun promo shoot with them, I'll just tell you to stay tuned because when their new website launches, we'll reveal the rest of the images and all the fun facts on how awesome they and their project are.

ORLANDO, FL

Nate and I shot these portraits just for fun with our friend, Heather, waaaayyy back in October. She was helping us by modeling while we scouted out out some fun, new locations and I am such a jerk that I am just now getting around to finishing them. I figured that since tomorrow is her birthday (everyone say "Happy Birthday Heather!") I should finish them up so that she can see them. Especially since she was such an amazing model!

The funny thing is, I had edited some of these images back in October and when I looked at them I could instantly see how much my editing skills have developed in just in the past 4 months! I went in and re-edited them all and am so much happier now with how they look. This was a much more artistic portrait session than some of our others and I'm excited to keep heading in this direction with our portraiture.

Speaking of portraiture, we are going to be making an announcement about a special portrait event that will be happening this spring but you've got to be on our mailing list to get the inside scoop on it. So, if you're interested in having some portraits done and you are not already receiving emails from us...

Heather, thank you for being such a ridiculously amazing model! You gave us so much to work with and we loved your personal sense of style! We hope you have a wonderful birthday tomorrow and a happy Valentine's Day!






















A lot of clients ask us what to wear for their portrait sessions. We want you to wear whatever matches your personality. And bring a few different "looks" so we can switch it up during the shoot. Here are 5 very simple guidelines that we have created to help you in your wardrobe-selection process:

1. Above all, we want you to feel confident. So wear something that makes you feel amazing!
2. Show us your personality. If you like hats, bring hats. Wear scarves? Bring em! A cowgirl? Bring those boots! If you are a high heel woman, bring your most amazing pairs! And for the guys, dress up a bit. Even jeans can be dressed up with a slick top and nice hair. If you're a casual guy that's fine but try to make casual look stylish by being clean, pressed, and put together.
3. Forget the rules. If you have a patterned piece that you LOVE, then wear it! Don't worry about matching if you are a couple, just try to keep the level of dress similar between you both. Accessories are your friends. Accessories give us a lot to work with. Necklaces, scarves, ties, shoes, cardigans, hats, glasses, etc. If you ever wear them, bring them!
4. Ladies, wear a bit more makeup than you normally would. It will show up better in pictures. Even better yet, pamper yourself by going and getting your makeup done. The artists at the MAC pro store in the Millennia mall are especially talented.
5. Let go of your insecurities. You hired us because you trust us. Don't forget that! The more insecure you feel, the more it will show up in your pictures. So let go, move around, vogue, whatever helps you let loose. We'll bring speakers and an iPod if we need to. :)

SANFORD & ORLANDO, FL

Day one of enjoying the journey.

If there was ever a day for me to start really focussing on enjoying each day, today was the perfect opportunity. We had two sessions scheduled back to back pretty much taking up our entire day and they were on opposite sides of town. We got lost on the way to the first one. (Apparently google maps and the universe ganged up on me today to put my resolution to the test.) But I didn't let it bring me down. The journey is the journey, even if you have to take a few detours (both literally and metaphorically).

When we arrived at Anthony and Bristin's adorable home we were more than excited to begin our session with the two of them. Bristin had gotten her hair and makeup done and looked simply gorgeous. I had to ask her twice when she was due because I just could not believe that this radiating beauty standing in front of me was already 8 months into her pregnancy! She and Anthony gave us so much to work with during their couples shots and while the boys bonded over computer games downstairs, Bristin and I got down to business upstairs with a classy boudoir-esque mini session. Yes, you heard me right. A maternity boudoir session! And it was gorgeous! As we looked though the nursery closet, Bristin pulled out a Burberry onesie and my biological clock had a spasm so loud I was sure Nate would hear it downstairs. Did any of you know that Burberry makes baby clothes?! I'm in love!

Here are my two favorite images from their session. Don't they just make your heart flutter?

After saying goodbyes to our new friends we headed to photo shoot number two for Susie and her daughter Abbi. There is really no point in me gushing over how striking these two lovely ladies are. You can see for yourself. They laughed, poked each other, joked around, and pretty much worked it for our cameras all afternoon and I am so excited with all the beautiful images that they will have to pick from for their Christmas cards. Ladies, I'm warning you, it will not be an easy task! There is just something magical about the relationships shared by mothers and daughters. Every now and then we would catch Susie glancing at her daughter with eyes full of love and pride. It's in those little moments that we are inspired more than you can ever know.

Here are our favorites from their session...

ORLANDO, FL

We hung out with Heather the other day and snapped some great head shots and portraits for her. I was so excited to meet her since she had worked with Nate years ago and I had only met her once or twice around town. She is definitely a beautiful woman and so much fun to get to know. Plus, she hung out with us afterwards and watched a few episodes of one of our favorite shows, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia". You can't get better than that!

I know I keep giving you a bunch of "sneak peaks" and I promise you'll be getting the rest soon but until then,
enjoy our favorite five.

Who are your favorite photographers? Studio222? You're too kind!