If this is what it looks like in the winter, I would love to come back in spring. The drive wasn't bad, the food was southern and amazing, and scenery absolutely inspiring. I returned home swamped with work, yet rejuvenated by the the beauty and charm of Charleston. This spring, I may not make it back to South Carolina, but I will explore several southern gardens and estates in Georgia. Nevertheless, I'll be in South Carolina again for a wedding in September, so I'm sure it won't be long before I make it back to this quaint and fascinating city. 
Cosley Lake
The thunderous sound of rain and hail against the tent kept us awake, but didn't bring down our spirits. In the morning, the rain dissipated, yet clouds drifted in and out of the distant peaks to the south west. A local volunteer told us the rain would clear, but as we approached our next campsite only 1.5 miles away, we got word that a supercell was heading our way with 50 mph winds and several inches of rain… The fun was only beginning. The rain, wind, frigid temperature, and soaked boots turned an amazing day hike it to one of most memorable experiences of my life. My only regret is that I left my camera behind.
Every step of the journey, is the journey.- Zen Saying
Sarah + Joe :: Bella Collina Engagement Session
You might be wondering if I traveled to Tuscany for this engagement session... I wish, but it's still really exciting that there is a venue this phenomenal just outside Orlando called Bella Collina. What's even better, Sarah and Joe will also be getting married at Bella Collina in April! As I told them several times, the only problem I will ever have with this venue is that there are too many places to shoot! It's true that I would be tremendously excited for any wedding at Bella Collina, but Sarah and Joe have been such great clients already and I can't wait to spend a whole day with them on their wedding day. In the mean time, I hope you'll enjoy this very selective preview!
Elise + Stephen :: Engagement Shoot
It's obvious, these two have style. Just a quick fact about me, I'm always jealous when someone wears a bow tie when I'm not wearing one... I can only imagine how beautiful their wedding will be at the Vinoy in St. Petersburg this coming November. That awesome 65' mustang... That was Stephen's grandfathers, and made for not just a fun and awesome addition to the shoot, but a sentimental one. There was no shortage of amazing images from this shoot. There wedding can't come soon enough!
Meghan + Andrew :: One & Only Ocean Club Wedding
As a photographer, I have a short "bucket list" of venues I hope to shoot at in my career. The One & Only Ocean Club was near the top, and I can't believe I already got to cross it off my list... Shooting there was a dream, and staying at the resort for three days completely changed this Floridian's mind of what a tropical experience could be. The beautiful and photogenic venue was matched only by the most gracious and amazing clients. Meghan and Andrew and their wonderful families went above and beyond to ensure that all the vendors were treated like family, including every member of the hotel and catering staff. In the words of her father, "Meghan has always been very very kind, very gentle, talk about words like elegance..." I could not agree more. From their engagement session in St. Louis, to their elegant and intimate wedding at the One & Only Ocean Club, I could not be more thankful for the experience. I'm so happy Voila Cinematic was there shooting beside me, because they truly captured the essence of the day in this gorgeous film.Special thank you to Julie Brewer for being a phenomenal second shooter.More images featured on Style Me Pretty's Main Page
Top 12 of 2012
Going in to 2013, I’m asking myself the question - Can I possibly top 2012? To be completely honest, most of December, I was almost accepting that 2013 would be good, but couldn’t possibly top 2012. Through aggressive planning and goal setting for 2013, I’m slowly setting my sights higher and higher, and my outlook for 2013 just keeps getting better.In 2012, my goal was 33 weddings - I ended with 38. Of those, 4 were destinations and 4 were for photographers. While traveling so much and working with so many clients can feel overwhelming at times, the best goal I set for 2012 was to only work with clients I had a genuine connection with, and clients I was truly excited about working with. The result, I hardly ever felt like I was working.Before I move forward, I want to take a moment to reflect on an amazing year.So, here is my top 12 of 2012… (I made a list of 30)
In May of 2002, I read an issue of Adventure Magazine titled, Secret of the Great Parks. For Glacier National Park, a singular quote has stuck with me ever since – “The Milky Way up here is nearly as bright as the moon is elsewhere”. Needless to say, for more than 10 years, I dreamt of the day I would experience Glacier National Park.
The morning after viewing the most incredible stars I’ve ever seen, we began the journey to Ptarmigan Tunnel, which would become our first glimpse of the high country of Glacier National Park, on the clearest day I could possibly imagine. We opted to trek as far as we could to the tunnel… There was snow and the last mile or so was quite precarious, but if I’ve learned anything… The most valued journeys almost always require risk. Upon returning from this epic climb, we returned to base camp to meet some of the most amazing people from a place I knew nothing about, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 
Lake Superior is the biggest and cleanest of the great lakes, and has a gorgeous color, dramatic cliffs and dunes, and even has beautifully colored pebbles and stones along the shore. But there’s more, the miles of pristine shores have a certain personality, a certain untouched and unspoken beauty. In a town like Marquette, you’ll find 30,000 permanent residents full of pride that live at a slower place, and don’t take a single summer day for granted. I mean how could you, when the beautiful weather only lasts a few short months (I’ll argue that their snowy days are beautiful, but I’ve never lived in frigid temperatures). Those who live in the Upper Peninsula are fully aware of what they have; yet somehow they manage to keep the Upper Peninsula one of the best-kept secrets in America. This summer, I got to visit the Upper Peninsula twice; it was only toward the end of the second trip that I really began to understand. 
Six years ago, I traveled to a place beyond my wildest imagination. A national park where in one day, you can be among the towering sea stacks along the Pacific Coast, then a temperate rain forest with giant Sitka Spruce and Douglas Fir trees covered in moss, and finish the day off with Glacier covered peaks in the Olympic range. This September, I was fortunate enough to return, but this time, I ventured in to the backcountry. In the rainforest, we heard Elk bugling, we saw a black bear cross the Hoh River right near our campsite, and we trekked through a place where we felt small, but feeling small wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. The ranger apologized to us as we entered the rainforest because she knew we wouldn’t see a cloud or drop of rain the entire time we were in the rainforest.
After spending an incredible night camped beside the Hoh River, we left the river valley and rainforest to make the grueling but epic climb to where the Hoh River originates, the Blue Glacier on Mt. Olympus. To reach the next camp, we climbed more than 2800 ft and traversed a rope ladder across a portion of the trail that was washed way by an avalanche. We turned in early, and rose at 4:30 AM to face a seemingly endless vertical climb. The entire climb, the rocky trail kept the glacier field and the peak of Mt. Olympus hidden. We persisted, and just as the sun broke the plane of the horizon, the most epic of views burst upon us. On the ridge, we saw the warm morning light gracefully illuminate the very tip of the peaks, and the steady wind reminded us of the temperature. We were close enough to actually hear the glacier creaking as it slowly carved its way beneath us. Time moved as slowly as the glacier itself. The only thing that took us away from the view was the 17-18 mile day ahead of us.
Destination Wedding
Never would I have dreamt of working with such gracious and amazing clients, in such a gorgeous and romantic setting. All that aside, this was officially my first international wedding. While it was just across the water in the Bahamas, it marks the accomplishment of a goal. If this is a preview of things to come, I cannot wait for my weddings in 2013. These clients went above and beyond to ensure that all the vendors were treated like family, including every member of the hotel and catering staff. The full blog post is coming soon.
This shoot also marked another accomplishment; this image alone received 238 likes, 14 shares, 23 comments on Facebook, and also shattered my previous record for visits on my blog. I’ll admit it; I’ve seen the notebook quite a few times… The last time I saw it was just a few days before I met with Courtney and Paul. Maybe they saw it on TV as well, because we had the same ideas for the engagement session… I had the perfect location to fit the shoot, and they had the perfect outfits.
Nothing says nostalgia like the single coated lens of an old Rollei and a Black and White film with high silver content. And nothing excites me quite as much as experimenting with new cameras and film. While I’m always pleased with my current film work, looking through a waist level viewfinder, shooting square format, and composing with a “mirror image”, are all things I’m unaccustomed to, and forced me to look hard, think long, and only then press the shutter.
I started shooting film again more than 2.5 years ago, yet I never took the leap of shooting 100% film for a wedding. If any client was going to understand the beauty of film, it was my right hand, Carissa. It is an absolute honor that she would choose me to shoot her wedding after so many hours of shooting and working together. I look forward to continue working together in 2013
Toyota Prius
Ever since I was in college, the conservationist in me wanted the Toyota Prius. In the past year, I was enticed by other vehicles, but in the end, I loved the redesign of the body, and I knew I would love getting 50 MPG. I also knew that always competing to break personal fuel efficiently records would make me a safer driver. So far, my record is 54.5 and 56.5 MPGS over 50 or more miles.
Every year, I pledge to shoot more personal work, yet it always seems to be put on the back burner. Starting in 2012, I started a project that is very close to my heart, modeled after one of my favorite books, the Secret Garden. In 2012, I tilled the soil for this personal project, and in 2013 I hope to see and photograph many blooms.
Out with the old, in with the new. My old personal and nature website, dated back to 2006. While many of the images remain the same, the new website offers a simpler and more beautiful place to showcase my work. So the new site has my newest images as well as old, and will have information on a 1 on 1 workshop, business consulting, and new and exciting print options.
2013 plans include a summer trip to Zion National Park, a Colorado trip in autumn, a continuation of the garden project, and hopefully more destination weddings and engagement sessions. I plan to make things happen this year.
Chelsey :: Bok Tower Gardens
Going back 10+ years, Chelsey was one of the very first people I ever photographed... Mostly on Kodak Tmax 400. So many years later, I've returned to my roots, but this time I shot medium format, and different films. However, the result was the same, I walked away with portfolio worthy images of Chelsey. The amazing thing is, it's pretty effortless for her. I love everything about her style.
Shannon + Billy :: Powel Crosley Estate Wedding Photography
Every day I feel fortunate to make a career at something I truly love, but when I work with clients like Shannon and Billy, I know I must be doing something right. I just want to be best friends with them. I'm fairly confident that you can see Shannon's sweetness in every image, and Billy is class act and a man after my own heart (anyone notice the Allen Edmonds?) From a super sweet first look, to those amazing film cameras, their day was so perfect, and they definitely deserved it. One more album that I'll love designing.Venue :: Powel Crosley EstateWedding Planner :: Melissa Vu - The Jubilee CompanyFlorist :: An Exception FloristCaterer :: Fete CateringDJ :: Jonathan CortezHair/Makeup :: Beauty Brought Out
Carissa + Michael :: Vinoy Wedding Photography
Not many can say they are just as good in front of the camera as they are behind the camera, but that is certainly true for Carissa. If you're one of my clients, you might recognize her as my right hand at weddings, but she's also my right hand behind the scenes. The nice packaging... I wish I could take credit for that. So thank you Carissa for making me look good in so many different ways, and thank you for allowing me the opportunity to shoot entirely in film. I could not be happier that you found such an amazing husband. It is an absolute honor that you would choose me to shoot your wedding after so many hours of shooting and working together. I loved meeting your families and I'm excited to see what the future holds in store for you.Bridal Gown Boutique :: Malindy EleneCeremony + Reception Venue :: Renaissance Vinoy
