PASS is sharing…PASS is community…PASS is love!

We never imagined that our comments on a FB giveaway created by Zack & Jody from Gray Photography would result in receiving a FB message from them at 1 o’clock in the morning with the awesome news that we had won free tickets to attend Showit PASS Premier in Orlando later that same day! Say what?! An opportunity to meet this awesome photog duo that we respect and admire? NO WAY! Besides that, a chance to finally meet David Jay, a great entrepreneur, speaker, and one of  the individuals who has significantly influenced the photography community and heavily influenced the way we view our photography business. He is also the founder of  Showit, a web designing tool (which we’ve been using since we started our business) that helps photographers and business owners create their websites in a simple drag-and-drop fashion with the freedom to be as creative as their imagination allows.

We had already read a bit about PASS, a new product Showit is launching, but our curiosity was peaked and we didn’t really know exactly what is would do for our business and our clients. We just knew it would be something good, something VERY good! PASS basically replaces discs. Yes, you read that right. No more endless hours burning images to a disc. With PASS, your clients can experience instant gratification and share their images in an easier manner while keeping your photos credited. Win.Win. Simple. PASS is a tool that will make your clients LOVE you so much more! It’s an online tool that allows photographers to easily upload, manage, and share their images. Once you upload your images, you can choose to allow your clients to download their images right from their event PASS site and yes, you may even allow them to purchase a DVD as well. PASS has a ton of cool features!

The first speaker at the Orlando PASS event was Promise Tangeman. THIS.GIRL.ROCKS.OUR.WORLD. Seriously. As David Jay stated, she is definitely “creativity on crack!” Promise is an art director and an awesome graphic designer. She shared with us her passion, from the process of finding your business identity to designing your website and having a solid online presence. Focus. Style. Confidence. Basically, start with YOU and the rest will fall into place. I would love, love, love to work with Promise on our brand and design, and if Khaled doesn’t get our website up soon, I already threatened, ahem, assured him with taking our grocery budget and giving Promise a call. Ramen noodles for a year, anyone? In all seriousness, Promise is the best and I do hope to work with her someday! For now, we grabbed her e-course that she is offering. It is loaded with information and resources. Click here for more details. Promise and Brian, it was an amazing experience chatting and having some laughs at PASS! We hope to see you both very soon!

Every photographer knows that creating and designing wedding albums is usually a tedious and long process. At least, that’s what we thought! Kevin Swan, the second speaker for the evening and the KISS Wedding Books founder, presented a great solution for wedding album designing and the client ordering process using an online tool called S.W.A.T.  We were also enlightened with Kevin’s marketing insights and a quick demonstration of the software. Thank you Kevin for all your awesome advice and for introducing us to smarter and faster way to create albums!

Zack and Jody from Gray Photography, the sweet husband and wife photog team that made it possible for us to attend PASS! We are grateful beyond words! This couple is based in Nashville and are committed to serving couples and photographers and sharing their knowledge. They are super talented and have so much experience to share with the photography community. It is so inspiring to see how Zack and Jody’s genuine care and love are reflected in their interactions with their clients and peers. We had many aha moments and learned a great deal about what we want our clients to experience before, during, and after they work with us. We were truly blessed to meet such an amazing couple. Zack and Jody, thank you. We hope to have an opportunity to see you guys again, very soon!

All attendees received a PASS booklet full of product hook-ups! David Jay also gave away some PASS goodies- I got a cool PASS t-shirt  which was quickly snatched up by our daughter, Karina. I think she’s the youngest PASS promoter, what do you think?!

You can catch a glimpse of how much fun we had with the crew and the photo booth by peeking through our slideshow!  We made new friends and got to reconnect with old ones. Besides meeting great people, this event left us with so many ideas and full of inspiration. Thank you to everyone who is part of this tour and made this event possible!

You may remember Yomi and Matt from their sweet e-session at Pier 60 in Clearwater beach last winter. They met in 9th grade at Largo High. Circumstances were kind of difficult since Yomi wasn’t allowed to date until she was 18 and out of high school, a traditional Filipino family regulation. So, they remained friends, until Matt decided to ask Yomi to be his girlfriend, old-school style, on a piece of scrap paper! As she read his scribbled words “will you go out with me?” on that piece of paper with two boxes to check off [yes] or [no], her parents’ rule burned  in the back of her mind. Yomi had to say no; at least until she had the permission of her parents. It’s a Filipino custom for the man to visit the woman’s house and ask her parent’s for permission to “court” her. And Matt did just that–bucked up and asked her parents. So, she finally got to check off the [yes] box and gave it to him. They made it official on October 1, 2001.

Many miles and years later, Yomi and Matt chose Clearwater beach, Florida, a location dear to their heart and love story, as their destination to be wed. Yomi and Matt’s wedding day was gorgeous. The sky was a beautiful shade of blue, the wedding colors and the love in the air blended to make the perfect day for this couple to celebrate their unity. I must admit, I wanted Yomi’s family, especially her mom, to take me with them back to Canada! They are the sweetest, most lovely people I have ever met! It was such a beautiful experience to see Yomi and Matt’s families join together and pour their love on this young couple. Matt, an active marine, made a handsome groom in his striking uniform and I may or may not have shed a few tears as 10 hours played and Yomi, looking absolutely stunning in her elegant dress walked down the aisle, with her parents at her side.

Through the years, Yomi and Matt have endured living thousands of miles apart and having to be away from each other while Matt fulfilled his military responsibilities, but their love for each other has only made them stronger and they are embarking on a happy beginning of a beautiful journey as one. God bless them each step of the way.

Yomi and Matt, thank you for letting us be a part of your lovely wedding story.

We created this unique slideshow-website with some of our favorite images and included a little surprise for Yomi and Matt. Head over to take a peek!

Vendor credits:
Coordinator: Desiree Jacobs | Clearwater Beach Mariott Suites on Sand Key
DJ: Breezin’ Entertainment
Officiant: Tom Hudgins | Experience Church
Stationery: (Materials) Paper Place
Stationery Graphic Design & Print: Dave Jumaquio & Meg Lynch
Musicians: Bryant Balatbat, Dave Jumaquio, and Daniel Jumaquio
Flowers and Decorations: Muriel Pastor
Flowers: Brides & Blooms
Make up artist: Carmina Tupe
Wedding Dress: Sophie’s Gown Shoppe
Wedding Shoes: Moda MONTI
Wedding Cake: Queens of Cake
Caterers: Watercolor Steakhouse & Grille Marriott Suites

Oh Happy Day -one of the coolest blogs that I’ve come across recently (seriously, you could spend endless hours there) is giving away a trip for two to Paris! Cue the romantic music and daydreams of the Eiffel Tower, Lourve museum, and ultimate soufflés. The closest that we’ve been to Paris was when Khaled and I honeymooned in Vegas and dined in the Eiffel Tower restaurant on the Vegas strip! Actually, Khaled and I first met at a cute little French cafe that serve the yummiest crepes here in Tampa and I think it’s destiny that we finally sit at a real french cafe in Paris eating yummy crepes!

The trip is for seven days, includes round-trip airfare from the Continental US and hotel accommodations at a design-y boutique hotel in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, Mama Shelter (designed by Philippe Starck) Each room is unique and artistically different. Jordan, the creator of the Oh Happy Day blog will also personally host the winner for two days and take them around to her favorite spots in Paris. Jordan and her family are originally from San Francisco but moved abroad to Paris for a year. Talk about an experience of a lifetime! So what are you waiting for? Head over to Oh Happy Day and enter…if you win, remember to take me with you on your adventure!

All this talk about crepes and travel has made me super hungry and super inspired to pack my bags and view the world! Weddings in Paris, anyone?!

If you could just pack up and live abroad for a year, where would you go?

 

Photo credits:
First image from Oh Happy Day blog
Second image from google
Third image from our trip to Vegas-taken with a Nikon coolpix point & shoot
Image from our engagement session | Samantha Wacker

One of my favorite perks of living in Florida is the Summer weather almost year-round! Melissa & I shot these beautifully bold and feminine looks this past November and surprisingly, I never featured the shoot on our blog! Well, there’s no better time than the present to share, especially with Summer officially starting in just a few weeks! Holly Nazario of Collective Creations did Melissa’s gorgeous hair and make-up and I had the best assistant in the world that day-my daughter, Karina. Although, she’s never really volunteered again to hold reflectors, change lens, stand for hours in the hot sun, or ward off mosquitoes. Something tells me she likes helping out from the air-conditioned office instead. Either way, I love working with my little one!

This Summer is going to be an eventful one for Kismis Ink! We have unbelievably-great news that we’ll be sharing very soon, a new look, launching a much-needed intern search, a fun contest, and some new Kismis Ink goodies for our awesome clients! Stay updated with all the happenings on our Facebook and Twitter pages and if you just can’t wait to book your portrait session, engagement or wedding, contact us here!