5 reasons to have a military wedding...

Laura and Ryan were married on Saturday, and I was blessed to be apart of it. Laura and I have known each other for about ten years, and she is just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. Ryan is wonderful himself. I do have one complaint about the wedding - They both promised that I would meet my husband there, and I'm still single. Ha!

This was also my first military wedding to photograph, and I just love the details that it added. I mean, who doesn't want to get introduced as CAPTAIN and Mrs. Keaton?

There's more, too, that I loved about this military wedding, so I've made a list of my top 5:

#1. Who doesn't love this tradition with the saber bearers?

#2. I had built-in assistance the entire day, and these guys were always willing. The best part, too, was that I rarely had to ask. The groom or one of his groomsmen would find a man in uniform who wasn't busy to hold the umbrella for me. Okay!

#3. No offense to all my other weddings, but these guys were definitely attractive. And, I think it's nice that the guys who held my umbrella were also attractive themselves!

#4. I love that without even trying, the groomsmen photos have more excitement. And, automatically!

#5. Details, details, details. I don't think I even have to elaborate!

I can't wait to share even more of this wedding! And, another special thanks to Amanda Pair for dealing with the weather disaster right along-side me!

A Beautiful (Rainy) Wedding

If the above picture doesn't make you forget all the rain that came down today, I don't know what will.

Ryan and Laura were married today, and it was beautiful. I'd be lying if I didn't say that it was a very rainy day, but it was a fun, laid-back, beautiful wedding.

There were so many neat aspects that the army men brought to this wedding -- so many that I even think I will devote an entire blog post to it in the next few weeks!

I love the classic emotions in the shot above and below.

A few times today Laura said, "I am just so happy!" I think she has many reasons to be happy!

OOh... I am in LOVE with these few we got on the lake. Thankfully, the rain cleared for about 10 minutes and let us have a short portrait shot.

The new Captain and Mrs. Ryan and Laura Keaton...

Ryan and Laura, thank you for letting me be apart of your life. I am grateful to have met your friends and family - and to have had the ability to document your day. I hope that your honeymoon is nothing short of fantastic and that your life together will be full of happiness, joy, and love.

Oh, and a HUGE thanks to Amanda Pair - thanks for not letting the rain stop you. You are the best!

the bahamas... indescribable

I am going to attempt the impossible... I am going to attempt to put into words the incredible trip that I just took to the bahamas with two really great friends. As I'm sure you can imagine from the above image, we had a fantastic trip.

This was the shot flying out of Atlanta early Friday morning...

And this was the shot flying into Miami Friday afternoon... Tell me: which one do you prefer?

We got on the ship Friday afternoon and did a lot of ship exploring, laying out, and eating until Saturday morning. We arrived at a private island called Cococay, owned by Royal Caribbean. Below is the shot as we were heading towards the island of Cococay Saturday morning.

We did some exploring around the island. We were the first group of people off the boat, so it was nice to explore without people being all around.

When the clouds started looking like the photo before, we decided to head back in. It was a great idea! On a side-note, can someone please tell me how something that huge can just sit on top of the water? I am amazed.

We spent the rest of the afternoon up on top of the boat, lying out by the pool. As I'm sure you can tell by the background, we really weren't at a loss, were we?

The view: not edited at all. That was literally the color of the water.

We went to formal dining 2 out of the 3 nights and really had a great time. Our head waiter, assistant waiter, and table guests were really fun to be around.

Remember those fun dinner table guests I was telling you about? Well, we went to the poolside party with them and had a blast!

By far, the greatest experience was our snorkeling. I wish I had photographs from being under the water. It was marvelous. I was literally in awe each time I put my mask and snorkel under the water. We were able to snorkel where they filed "Into the Blue" and "Flipper" and "Jaws." On the last stop, we swam with these sharks. Yes, I got into the water with these guys:

We survived and actually made friends with 2 couples who were vacationing in Nassau. We ate lunch with them after the snorkeling adventure. Here are Mio and Satu from Finland:

And here is Moreen and Josh, who live in West Palm Beach. She is originally from Israel, and this picture does not do their attractiveness justice!

We just had to document the fact that we DID eat native food from a VERY high waiter!

This was the scene walking back to our cruise ship in Nassau. I could have stayed there all day, I think.

And, of course, all good things must come to an end. I took this picture the morning as we docked into Miami.

It was sad to leave, but I will say that it was the best vacation I've ever been on. I will (hopefully) be going back soon... I also want to give a shout-out to Royal Caribbean and to Stuart Cove's Snorkeling. Those two companies made our weekend nothing short of extraordinary!

Easter

Remember my post last week about how much my mom loves her granddaughter? See above. :)

I'd have to say that I love them about as much as they love each other - maybe more.

I am striving to love better and be grateful for life more often. My sister gave me a frame that says the following; I think it's rather important:

Live well. Laugh often. Love always. Live simply. Speak kindly. Care deeply.

If I could write out the way that I would wish people would describe me - it would be as the above. I have a long way to go!

Spotlight: Amanda Pair

(first 2 images taken from www.melissajill.net)

Amanda Pair. The fact that this incredibly talented photographer and myself are friends is random, but I am so glad that we are. It all started when this incredibly talented photographer asked me to come assist her at a Houston wedding:

That photographer was the ever talented Melissa Jill, and the coincidence is that while Melissa and I were planning to shoot together, Amanda was planning to attend one her 2-Day Workshops. The meeting began with a Twitter photograph, then progressed to an e-mail, a lunch date, drinks over dinner, and (finally) a wedding together.

We started out with a bang, and I cannot wait to put my images together with hers. If I could be so bold, I think Maria is going to absolutely die when she sees her slideshow, gallery, and album design. The following are some that Amanda took that really, truly impress me. The beginning of my photography career was spent as a second photographer, so I feel that I have more respect for photographers who can "second" well. Amanda can really do anything well, but this particular day, I was in awe of her skills. Check it out!








Thanks, friend. Let's do it again soon!