I think the title ‘professional wedding photographer’ should be changed to ‘miracle worker just in the nick of time while being hit with every obstacle imaginable!’ Most of the time, I feel more like the latter! I read a very thought-provoking article last week on the “new wedding guest” and it truly helped me appreciate our individual creativity and uniqueness even more. Reading the article actually made me want to work harder! The knowledge (or challenge) that we offer our bride and groom (and their guests, family and friends) something that 50+ guests’ cameras can’t provide, brought me much excitement! Instead of seeing obstacles during a wedding as a burden, embracing these obstacles to develop our skills, experience, and to demonstrate our professionalism is one of the most rewarding choices.

Here’s a sneak peek of our gorgeous bride and groom this past weekend at the Marriott on Sand Key. Completely obstacle-free. The sneak peek, that is. You don’t see the not-so-perfect hotel lighting conditions, the busy and crowded elevators to the left and right of the couple, the hotel guests all around, staring and offering their sweet advice on how to capture the moment, the limited time we have to put the camera in the right settings for this creative shot and the time to take the shot because the groom is hungry, the bride is a bit uncomfortable in front of all these people, and people are impatiently waiting to pass by.

What you do see is that loving moment between the wedding couple, captured perfectly within seconds, despite any and all obstacles. I love being a wedding photographer, ahem, I mean, a ’miracle worker just in the nick of time while being hit with every obstacle imaginable!’ : )

Sandy Puc and Jerry Ghionis are extremely talented individuals and it was a pure blessing to be in the same room with them. The energy, the great advice and experience they share is priceless. This event brought out many of my  dormant thoughts and ideas to light and motivated me to commit to them and see them through to fruition. Jerry helped me further understand the importance of genuinely connecting with your clients and he shared posing techniques to play up the beautiful and unique qualities of each individual. Sandy shared great marketing strategies and emphasized how important education and pricing correctly is for your business and for the entire photography industry. Sandy feels so strongly about education for photographers, that she has pledged to help 1000 photographers get certified!

I highly recommend catching these two gems at the next Power of Passion event! I had a great time and it was so much fun seeing lots of familiar faces and catching up with some local photogs from my area!

A huge THANK YOU to SMUGMUG for making this event happen for me! Candice, their marketing diva, was a tremendous highlight to my night! She has the most infectious laugh and I literally wanted to jump on the bus and tag along for what seems to be an unforgettable experience!

Cameras weren’t really allowed at the event, but I was able to snag a few photos with Candice, Jerry, and his amazingly-sweet (and did I mention, gorgeous) wife, Melissa! They were recently married, so be sure to check out Jerry’s blog for their out-of-this-world stunning wedding images!

I literally was staring out of my third floor window waiting on the UPS delivery guy when my phone rang and I read on the caller id, Graphistudio. Talk about fantastic customer service! Kim wanted to confirm that our albums had arrived and like magic, minutes later, Mr. UPS was knocking on our door. When I opened up the packages, it felt like Christmas! I couldn’t help but stare, touch and salivate. The albums smell like pure elegance.“Can albums smell like pure elegance?” YES! I admit, I never expected to have such a cosmic reaction to albums. Utterly gorgeous. Now I know what our clients feel when they are able to touch and hold these beauties. Seriously, you can not truly appreciate photography until you can actually touch it. I am ecstatic about booking client meetings just so that I can share these beautiful albums!

Our 2010 Collections Studio Albums sizes are: 16X20, 8X12, 4X5

We wanted to share with the online world, although to have the full stunning effect, you need to see these albums in person! We can’t wait to order from Graphistudio again, for each one of our amazing clients!

December is a very exciting month for Kismis Ink! It will mark a year that we have been in business (more on that in a following post) & we have lots going on!

Later this month, I will be headed to Watercolor, Fl to join Lara Casey, Christie Meresse, Alexandra Beauregard, Lauren Grove, and many others for the Making Things Happen Intensive & Weekend Reunion! I might not know these women personally yet (minus Lauren, who is as amazing virtually as she is in the flesh) but I can’t wait to meet them and everyone else!! I never expected I would be able to attend one of Lara’s intensives, and it is still hard for me to believe (pinching self now) but I am excited about what God has planned for my life and business and I embrace all the blessings, changes, struggles, and tests with open arms!

I am also thrilled to be planning our last editorial shoot this year, and it is going to be GORGEOUS! We are collaborating with Brenda Maille from one of my favorite wedding blogs and we are excited to have many awesome vendors contributing their talents to create an EPIC shoot! If you are a vendor and would like to join us, email me at mariana@kismisink.com.

In January, I’ll be headed to Imaging USA in San Antonio, Texas and I am happy to announce I will be volunteering as well. I have never been to Texas or Imaging USA before, so I am looking forward to it!

We are completely booked for the rest of the year and we are now booking portrait sessions, events, and weddings for 2011! Our pricing will be updated after February 1st, so be sure to book now to catch our current packages!

And lastly, as I was going through my archives this evening, I ran across this FUN festive shoot last December. It was one of our first creative projects and we had a blast! It reminded me of how important friendship has been in our lives and our business. If we didn’t have the support and love from our friends, we wouldn’t be where we are today. Additionally, if it wasn’t for friendship, old & new, we would not enjoy our business.

Thanks to you to each of our friends, old & new, near or far, you are always in our hearts and we appreciate you very much.

P.S. And for a little festive entertainment, we made a special little video for you below! Happy Holidays! ♥

My head is spinning, my heart is racing…so much inspiration, new ideas, hopes, and goals for our business! Breathe Mariana, breath… it’s all in God’s time. That is just a part of how I feel after returning home from my trip to New York & New Jersey last week. What a phenomenal week! Fortunately, I was able to mix business with pleasure and I spent a few days with my brother and his family. In between flights, trains, crowds, noise, city life, beautiful scenery, pumpkin farms, fall colors, delicious restaurants, family love, and much, much, more- I was able to tune out all of life’s obstacles, negativity, doubts- and simply…focus.
I had no idea that I would be coming home with more knowledge (a lot more) and determination to succeed in the art and business of photography. The GoingPro2010 BootCamp was exactly the bucket of cold water that I needed! Scott Bourne, Tony Corbell, and Skip Cohen are beyond talented and gave so many valuable resources, shared priceless experiences- that I can guarantee that every photographer there went home with more than what they expected to get!
On top of all the information, meeting & networking with other photogs, learning about some fabulous new products from vendors such as: WHCC, AsukaBook, Marathon Press, and other cool vendors-I thought it just couldn’t get any better! Boy, was I wrong!

Scott Bourne is well-known for his twitter give-aways (hint: if you are currently not following him, do so asap! And, if you don’t have a twitter, get one of those too!) Well, after a few prizes were given out throughout the day, Scott announced that he was giving away a Kubota Starter Pak (these bad boys are about $400!!) My inner voice was screaming, “me, me, me!” But, never would I have imagined that his next question would be, “Now, who’s the person that said earlier they came all the way from FL?” The rest is a bit blurry but I know it consists of me jumping up and down and a few seconds, if not minutes, of embarrassment! But, it was SO worth it and I am extremely thankful for a wonderful experience!

Here’s a little preview of the day. I will most likely post a part II so that I can share some fun images from my time with my brother and family. It was amazing to me how NY could be so busy and full of buildings & minutes away in Jersey, you could find yourself in a picture-perfect country scenery! Look for that later this week!

Below are a few random favs from my time in NY! I think I need to live on Fashion Ave & the view from the Empire State Building was breathtaking!