You can’t live life stressing about what others think, if you do, you’ll never truly live.

I’m sure you’ve heard of destination weddings, but have you heard of destination senior sessions? Well, that’s exactly what Shannon did this month! She visited us from Maryland for a rockin’ outdoors senior session. Besides Cheerleading, listening to Barefoot Blue Jean Night by Jake Owen (Side Note: You can catch one of the first models we worked with almost 2 year ago, Lacey, in the video), watching The Notebook and getting her sugar fix with Sour Gummy Worms, this seventeen year old loves country settings!

We found the perfect location to shoot, but as mother nature likes to stir things up a bit, it was pouring the day of Shannon’s session. Since Shannon lives in Maryland, we knew, rain or shine, we could not reschedule the session. I was determined to make the most of what mother nature was offering! Thankfully, the rain calmed down to sprinkles and the foggy mist after the downpour actually became the perfect backdrop to many of the images. It was perfect.

Shannon may not know this, but I’m thinking about hiring her as my personal stylist…I loved every adorable piece that she wore to the shoot! We had a wonderful time getting to know this talented and independent young lady and we hope all her goals and dreams become realities very soon! Enjoy our favs from the day.

I just had to share one of Shannon’s favorite quotes to this post. Great advice, everyone should feel this way.

Mariana & Khaled are super talented and super sweet!! Thank you sooo much for the awesome work you do! We had sooo much fun! It exceeded everyone’s expectations and I’m sooo happy!!

You know that feeling when you meet someone and it’s as if you’ve known them forever? Yeah, that pretty much describes how I felt when I met Farida! She is one of the sweetest gals I’ve met and we soon figured out we have much in common! I may have said it before, but I really love when clients become instant friends- it’s one of the many perks of what we do!

Farida and Josh met while stationed at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. They were both on active duty in the Air Force. Josh was instantly smitten and if Farida had any doubts of his love, I’m sure those doubts were obsolete when Josh decided to stay with her versus following orders to head to Guam. Isn’t that romantic?! After a year and four months of dating, these two love birds tied the knot!

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, Farida wanted to do something extra special for her birthday. That’s where we come in! She scheduled her shoot for the evening of her birthday and we had such a great time with them! She loves the ocean, so it was only natural to shoot their sweet session at one of Florida’s beautiful beaches, St. Pete beach. We wandered over to the gorgeous Postcard Inn and headed to downtown St. Pete for a few shots too. Even though Josh doesn’t like being in front of the camera, he was a pro and it was so sweet that he was willing to do anything to make Farida’s day unforgettable! We had a chance to meet their close friends that were in town for the weekend. They even made a cameo in a few shots!

It was such a pleasure getting to know these fabulous people and we hope to hang out again really soon! Enjoy some of our favorites images from the session!

This week will be full of (last-minute) back-to-school shopping and enjoying the last few days of summer with the kiddos. We’ll be featuring a gorgeous couple’s session and rockin’ senior session on the blog this week too! You won’t want to miss either one!

We had a fabulous experience in Vegas and I can’t wait to blog about our adventures over the weekend. Hands-down this 2nd time in Vegas was even better than our honeymoon in ’09. However, I’m even more excited to share Kristin & Danny’s stunning new Mr. & Mrs. Session! For now, here’s a sneak preview. 

Being a business owner leaves little to no time to escape from the daily tasks, piles of emails, social media, and all the other important parts of running a successful business. As a professional photographer, I have realized that I spend more of my time in the business itself, than behind the camera. At times, I feel my creativity has to be put on hold, so that I can take care of the ‘practical’ side of my business. Well, I also realized I’m not willing to sacrifice my creative nature and appetite to grow as a photographer. I found a solution that works for me. I’m in the process of training myself to “take time away”. Take time to recharge my batteries. Yes, I will fight the feelings of guilt. I will understand that the emails will be there tomorrow and I will continue to set up strategies to maximize my productivity and time when I am “in the office”. But, on my “time off ” I will continue to practice and grow as a photographer. I will document where I go, how I enjoy my time and my experiences.

When Leslie, the inspiring editor of Vertical Magazine announced a Get Vertical Getaway to the Tradewinds resort in Ana Maria Island, I didn’t think twice and jumped at the opportunity. Leslie is awesome to work with and I consider her a dear and trusted friend. I knew whatever she was up to, it was going to be amazing! The getaway was a relaxing, inspiring, and the ultimate pampering experience! I was lucky to be one of the first to register, and receive a brand new Chevy Equinox from GM in the Southeast to drive to Ana Maria Island and back. Their customer service was beyond excellent. They brought the car to my front door, with a gorgeous welcome basket waiting in the vehicle and they picked it up the evening I returned home. If I had not just purchased a new vehicle in the beginning of this year, I would have totally contemplated purchasing from them. They were fantastic!

Sponsored by Working Women of Tampa Bay, the getaway kicked off with a beach chill out event where I met the other fabulous ladies, including my roommate for the weekend. After that, we headed to our beautiful cottages to change and hit the lovely shoppes at Pine Avenue. I bought the cutest little bag at Bella by the Sea, fell in love with everything at Pink & Navy, and had the yummiest cheese, sangria, and olive oil samples I’ve ever tasted at Anna Maria Olive Oil Outpost. Rhonda of Really Relish was a sweetheart and I can’t wait to go back and visit these fine shoppes very soon! We worked up an appetite after all that walking and shopping and had dinner at Gulf Drive Cafe . If you are ever in the area, stop by and try the grilled homemade blue crab cake sandwich, absolutely delish!

We spent the rest of the evening lounging by the pool and chatting about our businesses, goals, experiences, and future. It was such a blessing connecting with these women. I left Ana Maria Island the next day with buckets of inspiration, but not before the most amazing breakfast I’ve ever had! Seriously, the Island Creperie is a MUST if you are in the area. I had the “Big French Breakfast”…WOW.

Thank you Leslie and everyone who made this experience possible. Thank you for the opportunity to get to know more about my community, meet fabulous women, and get recharged and inspired! Much love to all of you. Looking forward to the next getaway in October, and to hear of all the continued success for each of these talented women!

Enjoy a few of the images from my experience!

We didn’t know what awaited in our future together. Our new journey as one. Khaled and I celebrated our wedding on March 14, 2009 with family and friends. It’s been an amazing two years, and we look forward to many, many, more. At times, it feels like it was just yesterday we were packing up for our honeymoon in Vegas; but today, it feels like it was forever ago.

I fell in love with Vegas the instant that I saw the mountains in the distance. I’ll never forget the feeling I had the first morning when we awoke with the most splendid view of the mountains and Vegas strip. I wanted to stay forever. Seriously, my heart longs to live in the west. I blame it on the fact that I was born in California, but my parents moved to Florida when I was two years old. I feel like something draws me back. Vegas gets me a step closer.

You can imagine the excitement when we received an inquiry in June of last year to return to Vegas for work. You mean you’ll pay me to do what I love AND visit one of my favorite places on earth? Someone pinch me.

Preparing for this upcoming trip made me nostalgic and I just had to share a few (from the thousands) of shots we captured during our honeymoon in 2009. We visited every hotel on the strip, the Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon (walked on the SkyWalk-well I might have been dragged out there kicking and screaming, don’t really recall the exact details…), the romantic gondola ride in The Venetian, ate at wonderful restaurants, including the Eiffel Tower Restuarant with the most stunning view of the city and Bellagio fountains, caught a magic show with David Copperfield at MGM and so many more memories. We had an unforgettable experience.

So this Friday, we are headed back to Vegas. This time we are going to have a rockin’ time with a fabulous couple, Kristin and Danny, and create some stunning images! Kristin is also a photographer based in Chicago and chose Vegas for her destination wedding. She’s one awesome chick and we can’t wait to meet them both!

Enjoy these images and keep in mind, this is before our business was born…before we had any idea that we’d be entrepreneurs…before we knew we could bring so much joy to others with our passion for photography…before we followed our heart and with every bit of faith, took a plunge to make our dreams come true.

(Photos taken with a Nikon D60 and Nikon Coolpix)