Sebastian and Dillon's 7th and 4th Swamp Birthday: Davie, FL Birthday Photographer

I met this family at their cousin Mia's first birthday last year (she appears in my 2013 summary post here), and was excited to see them again to celebrate the birthdays of these brothers. I also found out that our older boys, along with some of the other party guests, had played on the same soccer team a few years ago, and attend the same Elementary School! I love "It's a Small World" stories.

I arrived to Tree Tops park, decked out with swamp decorations, with everyone dressed head to toe in camo. This is one creative mama! The guests were entertained by a climbing wall and bounce house and enjoyed the cooler South Florida weather. The highlight of the afternoon though, was a wildlife show with an exotic collection of animals, from an alligator and a snake, to an owl, porcupine, fox, lemur, and honey bear, to name a few.  And no, the fox does NOT say, “ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding”!

I had a hard time making the picks for this post, because I was able to capture so many great moments.  Here’s a glimpse into the fun that was had at this party. Happy birthday boys!

                         

Stephanie & David’s Wedding

I recently had the opportunity to shoot at a wedding with my photography role model and mentor, Ricky from Ricky Stern Photography.  You can read his blog post about the event and see the fabulous pictures he took here.  I learned a lot by watching him work and participating in the photo taking action.  One of my favorite parts was seeing how he scoped out portrait spots at the beginning of the night and made an ordinary space look extraordinary.  The venue was actually the same one where my husband and I tied the knot 10 years earlier, and the only portraits we have were taken in the hall where the ceremony took place!

These photos and this event gave me some equipment envy, and I upgraded my camera and flashes as a result!  To geek out on camera speak for a second, when shooting in low light (such as a dark reception hall at a wedding), a photographer has several options to capture more light in a photo, one of which is ISO.  This particular camera had higher ISO capabilities than mine did, and after seeing how well it performed, I upgraded.  I’ve enjoyed using my new camera, particularly for this maternity shoot, where I was able to capture photos that appear to have more light than was actually present as the sun was setting, and only had to turn on my flash at the very end when the sun had completely left the sky.  Awesome!

Here are some of the moments I was able to capture of the happy couple on their special day, which I was so honored to be a part of.  As always, click on any of the photos to enlarge.

                            

Kristin and Daimion: Hollywood, FL Maternity Photographer

Kristin is a friend of a friend who saw her friend's maternity photos on Facebook (you can see them here, liked them, and wanted me to take hers . I love that! And it makes me feel really special. It also made me really determined to deliver amazing photos.

We ventured out in Downtown Hollywood for some urban photos, and finished up at Arts Park for some nature. All along the way, Kristin and Daimion were as into getting great photos as I was. I feel like I'm starting to say that a lot, but when it happens, the photos just have that extra magical quality. And I have been frantically editing since, because I couldn't wait to post this magic!

It started getting dark, and we didn't have enough light for their third outfit change, so we scheduled a follow-up session in a few weeks. I'm looking forward to adding to the amazingness of this couple's maternity portraits!

        

Lily’s Newborn Shoot: Miami, FL Newborn Photographer

Lily's mom and I have a mutual best friend in common. I was Shaina's best friend from High School, and Sharon was her best friend from summer camp. So we grew up knowing about each other, all went to UF together, and have shared in the milestones of our friend as she's gotten married, and had babies of her own.

Last weekend though, it was all about Lily. Sharon and Brent welcomed this beautiful baby girl earlier this month, and I had the pleasure of capturing her newness on her 8th day, when she was being visited by both sets of grandparents!

I had studied up on my newborn poses and was all ready for a sleepy newborn shoot, when halfway through, Lily woke up! She was super alert for a while, so we were able to get a great mix of photos of her first dreams, as well as some of her first looks at her family and her home. Welcome to the world baby girl, and I'm sure I'll be seeing more of you as you grow!

    

Christina, Mark, and Ava: Hollywood, FL Family Photographer

I had an open session yesterday due to a cancellation, so I posted it on a mom's group I'm a member of. Christina responded, and I'm so glad she did! She told me this would be their first professional photo session as a family, which made me determined to take the kind of photos, and provide the kind of experience, that would make me their first and only family photographer!

My sessions yesterday were in Downtown Hollywood. I've done a lot of sessions at my local parks, which have been very good to me, but I was up for something new. We walked around and enjoyed the murals and urban setting, and captured a great mix of posed shots and candids of this adorable family. I can't wait till next time!