Pretty in Pink

So last weekend I had a shoot with Jenny Mercado, a very talented hair stylist. We met when she did hair on a LipGloss magazine shoot for me. She showed up in bedazzled shoes and an awesome pair of parachute pants. I knew I had to shoot her. Her energy was amazing! I was really excited when we set up a time to shoot together. We didn't have really a set concept, I just knew I wanted to do some portraits that would hopefully catch some of the energy that crackles around her. I have to say, I LOVE what we ended up with.

My trip into the fairy tale woods...just a warning, they're full of mosquitoes.

So today I took a trip to the Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg for fairy tale like shoot. I bought a donkey mask a while ago for a shoot and didn't get to use it. I finally got a chance to today. I wanted to do a modern day spin on the beauty and the beast. I had it planned out. There would be flowers and this crazy romantic and ethereal vibe. Instead, we got mosquitoes from HELL!! Add the humid heat and it was a recipe for disaster. Luckily for me everyone in our party kept in good spirits and made a day that could have miserable, pretty fun. :) I'm about five pounds lighter, and sporting a few bites, but I really love the shots and that pretty much made it worth it. :) Shout out to Chantel, Elinka and Jathaniel, along with my hubby for being so awesome and such a good sport. I'm sure after a good soak in Benadryl, we'll all feel better. LMAO! Here are my favorite images from the shoot:

I shot a wedding...and survived!

Anyone who knows me, knows I pretty much intensely dislike weddings. (Trying to teach my son not to say hate. Gotta practice what I preach. ;) ) Anyway, weddings are very stressful, and you have to LOVE them to be a great wedding photographer. Notice I said great. Some photographers love everything about weddings, and you can really tell in their pictures. Me...not so much. I think that my girly gene failed me on that note. The whole process freaks me out. I just hate the thought that I could make a mistake that could cost a couple their entire ceremony. Plus, I'm a ball of nerves when I have to shoot people one on one. Put me in a room full of strangers and I'm chewing antacids like m&ms. (Ya'll know I'm shy. lmao!) Ok, I exaggerate, you couldn't pay me to chew an antacid. Just the thought of that just made me gag a little. But I digress.

So I'm the kind of person that doesn't necessarily hold a grudge, but I don't forget a slight. Nor do I forget a favor. When Jessica wrote to me and told me she was getting married, I was so excited for her. When she asked if I would shoot her wedding, I heard the needle scratch on the record sound. LOL. Then I thought about how awesome she was when I first started shooting. She was one of the first 'models' I'd ever worked with. It was hard to find models in those days and Jessica was always down to shoot. It was really a godsend. Especially when you're just starting out, and having to teach yourself everything. Photoshoots were a craps shoot in those days. Sometimes it was successful, sometimes you wanted to bury the film into the farthest reaches of the earth's core. :)

It came as a HUGE relief to me when she said the wedding would be small. Not that it was any less stressful for me, but I could handle small. She didn't really want any shots of the ceremony. She mostly wanted shots of she and her husband at the beach, after the ceremony. I could handle that. I was on pins and needles throughout the whole thing, and nearly fainted with relief when I was done, but...I did it. I made it through a wedding without a my hands shaking too much, and without any crazy un-fixable mistakes. I think I did a good job. I love the shots, and most important, Jessica loved them.

Here are some of the shots. I thought I'd include some of the earlier shots I took of Jessica back in her modeling days. Haha, bet you forgot about these, Jessica. And I bet you wish I had. :)