Family Beach Shoot

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you’ve probably discovered that I don’t post a lot of family shoots. Mostly because I don’t do a lot of them, but also because I am not one for posting photos of people all lined up (large group posing just isn’t my forte). But after shooting this session, I knew I had to blog it. You might recognize two familiar faces, Amanda & Adam are a bride and groom of mine from earlier this year. Amanda’s mom contacted me about doing family photos at their beach house this summer and I happily obliged. I always love to work with past clients. We discussed clothing options, and the “white shirts and jeans” option came up. Personally, I’m not a fan of this look. Its too… blah. So I encouraged them to go a different route. The girls wear pinks, purples and yellows, and the guys wear greens or blues. Perfect. Its bold, colorful and much more origianl that white shirts and jeans. This way everyone can pick something that works within their style and body type. Not everyone dresses exactly the same or looks the same! I am only posting a few shots from the session, I am extremely tired of being in front of my computer today (I’ve been here since 9:30am…oiy!) but these photos perfectly capture their session and their family. Enjoy!

This one is my favorite. This ocean kayak provided the perfect little seat

And a little detail shot I loved, shells collected from the beach during their trip.

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

**Don’t forget about the Holiday Mini Sessions!! The spots are starting to fill up, so please make sure you reserve your place!

Stephanie & Avery : Styled Travel Engagement Session

I have been trying to put off showing this shoot as long as possible, I have so many other things I need to blog! But I can’t take it a minute longer. I am completely head over heels in love with Stephanie & Avery’s engagement session. When Stephanie contacted me about her engagement photos, we talked about the different ideas for the shoot and in the conversation she told me that she and Avery love to travel and have been to Paris together. My mind started reeling about the possibilities and we set her plan into motion. My next door neighbor is a pilot so I asked him one day if he knew of anyone with a vintage plane that we might be able to shoot with. He directed me to a friend of his who was so extremely helpful and willing to let us do whatever we wanted. I scoped out the plane and it was perfect. Absolutely perfect. So Stephanie & I set up the shoot, worked out the details, and prayed that we wouldn’t have any rain.

Finally the day came and the weather couldn’t have been more amazing. I was so excited for the shoot, and also to meet Stephanie & Avery! We had only ever talked on the phone, their wedding is in Georgia this fall, so we never had the chance to meet up. I actually did Stephanie’s hair and makeup for the shoot and I was quite please with myself how it turned out:)All of those years of theater and stage makeup paid off. And Stephanie did not disappoint with her props that she brought. She thought of absolutely everything! Since they had traveled to France, her dress was the colors of the French flag, one of the suitcases belonged to her Grandfather, and the globe was one of Avery’s family heirlooms. She brought a vintage book titled “The Search for Amelia Earhart” , had a small bunch of real peonies, a passport with their date stamped in it, aviator glasses, and Stephanie even wore a compass necklace. And, a bonus was that inside the plane there were aviation maps, and a awesome pilot’s headset. I could have shot them for hours, I had the most wonderful time with these two and I am beyond excited about their wedding. It was obvious to me that Stephanie leaves no details undone, and I know that their tiny wedding (only 30 guests!) will be just perfect.

I hope you enjoy these images as much as I do, they just make my heart so happy. And, to be a little cheesy, I made a slideshow set to Michael Buble’s “Come Fly With Me”. This is the first song I ever heard of his and I used to listen to it on repeat back in high school. I just love him!

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How cute is this?? She just thought of everything!

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“The Search for Amelia Earhart”

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One of my favorites! Stephanie made all of these little planes out of maps. It was just adorable
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*music will play at start of the slideshow, please turn down your volume if you’re at work!;)*

From one of my grooms :)

I was looking through my Google Analytics for my blog the other day and came across a linked site that I didn’t recognize. So I looked it up and did a search for my name. Well, the blog happened to be a personal blog of one of my groom’s, Brian (of Bristen;)). I was reading through the post when I got to this part and I just cracked up. Its probably one of the best compliments I’ve ever received from a groom. Brian, you rock. And I am so excited for your wedding in October:)

Next up…wedding photographers…one of the most important aspects for Kristen. She wants our wedding to be well documented. I want her to have what she wants (“AWWWW”), but come closer and I’ll let you in on a little secret…


Little closer…


Closer…

I don’t care that much about the pictures. Just not really my thing and that’s saying something since I shoot video for a living. But, this is different. This is a person that follows you around for five hours, taking 1500 pictures and you’ll buy maybe fifty of them. And you’ll never look at them.

Fortunately, this is how I used to feel about wedding pictures until I met Ashley McCormick of Mount Dora. Kristen found her on The Knot (Her electronic BFF the first month of our engagement), they met in person and she’s loved her ever since. Every time she gets on her website: ashleymccormickphotography.com/blog, Kristen becomes starry eyed and says, “I Just Love Her”. If we turned those four words into a drinking game every night, I’d constantly call in sick the next morning due to Hangover-itis. It’d be an epidemic in my world.

A week and a half ago, we took our engagement pictures. They took three hours and she shot more than 600 pictures. Amazing. Kristen may leave me for her. I wouldn’t put it past her.


And just so Kristen knows how much I love her, I’ve had this little gem on my bulletin board right between a polaroid of me and my hubby and my grandparents when they were young;)

(please excuse the terrible quality, its an iPhone photo)

Survey : And a Free $15 Gift Card!

I have been thinking about doing this for a while, and when I saw the lovely Jasmine Star post this on her blog (with a great survey tool!) I decided to give it a whirl. So, dear Readers, I would love to know a little bit about YOU! And as a reward for participating in this short survey (only 8 questions, that’s pretty easy!) one of you will win a $15 iTunes or Starbucks gift card:D

So if you would, please fill this out *and be honest!* I would greatly appreciate it. I just want to know a little more about you so that I can direct my blog in the proper direction for my audience. If you choose to add your email, it will only be used for the contest purposes.

Thank you so very much!:)

UPDATE:: The survey doesn’t seem to show up in Safari. Please use either Firefox or another internet browser to take the survey. Thank you so much!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world’s leading questionnaire tool.

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And because every post is better with a picture, here is a sneak peek into what’s been going on recently:

*WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON SEPTEMBER 3rd, 2010*

Holiday Mini Sessions

This year is just flying by. I am still in shock that my summer weddings are all over, and soon approaching is the busy fall season. And with that comes Holiday photos! This year, due to an extremely busy schedule, I will only be offering 10 mini sessions for holiday pictures and cards. A mini session is for families or couples who are just wanting photos for Christmas cards and gifts. They aren’t a typical full session with multiple locations for 1.5 hours, but are rather in one location for 20 minutes. I will be only offering these sessions on 2 days in October, and once they book up, that’s it! I really will not be able to take ANY MORE holiday sessions other than this due to my schedule. So here are the details on the mini sessions:

1st Session Date:
Date: Friday, October 8th, 2010
Times: 4:30-6:30pm – 5 sessions available (sessions will be scheduled on the hour and half hour)
Location: Downtown Mt. Dora (details given at booking)

2nd Session Date:
Date: Sunday, October 17th 2010
Times: 4-6pm – 5 sessions available (sessions will be scheduled on the hour and half hour)
Location: Rural Mt. Dora location (details given at booking)

Session Details
- 20 minute session
- online gallery with 10 images to choose from for cards or gifts (please note: digital files are not included)
- 50 flat press-printed 5×7 holiday cards with your choice of photo(s). Envelopes included
- (1) 11×14 mounted print from the session (note: not a canvas print)

Price:
$264 + FL sales tax. $50 deposit due at booking. *Mini Sessions are discounted at 20% off their a la carte price*

If you would like to book a holiday mini session for you or your family (or even a friend as a gift!) please contact me asap. These dates will fill up quickly! My email is ashleymccormick4@yahoo.com

All clients that have had photos made this year, you are welcome to take part of the Holiday Cards with the photos from your session or wedding! All past clients will receive 15% off their cards with a discount code. Email me for more details.

Now for the adorable cards! Check out these 5 designs below. You’ll get to choose from one of these below for your holiday cards. Aren’t they just sweet?

PHOTO GIFT CARDS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE FOR HOLIDAY GIFTS

photos courtesy of designaglow

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