I love doing engagement portraits for all of my couples. It gives me a chance to spend time with them, get to know them and hear their stories.

This session started out casual walking on the beach where they loved to spend time together and ended on surfboards at sunset. YOu will see that image later.

One of the benefits of spending the entire wedding day with the couple is being there for the special moments you cannot schedule. In the middle of a hurried time of preparation Nilsa stopped for a moment as she put on her grandmother’s earrings.

Al and Melissa had an amazing wedding at the Florida Aquarium. This image is based off another image in my portfolio that Al fell in love with during our first meeting together. He had to make sure we had an image like this for their album and a large Metalic Art Print for the wall in their home.

This is a graphic image I created during the wedding to use as a background for one of the page designs from the reception. These images are wonderful ways to show more detail from the wedding day. I love the story telling options that are possible today with digital imaging and the variety of album options. Making a wedding truly custom based on a bride’s personality is so powerful for communicating the emotions and style of the wedding day.

I wanted to do something unusual for this ring shot. By reversing a lens I was able to get this extreme close up of Melissa’s beautiful wedding ring set.

Just before leaving the hotel in St Petersburg to go the the Florida Aquarium in Tampa, Melissa is double checking the details of her hair and makeup. I love being part of all these moments and including them in the wedding album. My primary role is to capture the emotions and relationships of the wedding to preserve them for generations.

I love the Florida Aquarium. It is an amazing venue, the staff is fantastic and there is a sense of wonder about the whole venue. While Al and his groomsmen were getting ready in a classroom area filled with amazing creatures and colors they had a very special visitor with very similar attire. The penguins also come out during the reception for a visit with the guests.

Every engagement session is different. I have used this location so many times over the years because of the variety of settings I can create within a short walk. This was by far one of my most passionate couples as they kissed and rolled and played in the waves with the sunset as their backdrop.

The pace of a wedding day is really quite surreal. There is so much going and so many details to attend to that these moments of quiet are so very powerful. Others in the room were attending to the details and Amy caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and saw herself in her veil. For that one moment everything in the world stopped for her and it took her breath away.

I really love what I do. Being a part of these moments and saving them to share for generations is such a high calling for me as a photographer.