a graduation themed shoot!

My friend, Kim, and I had been contemplating, bribing, bartering, thinking... trying to plan a shoot with Grant for a LONG time. When she mentioned a shoot because he was graduating kindergarten, I didn't know the extend of the fun plans she had in store! She's like a super mom.

He's pretty cool himself. This was the first shot I saw of him in the car. Needless to say, I wasn't too concerned for the day.

Yay Grant!!

We roamed around and explored Tannehill State Park, also known as a diamond in the ruff. I cannot believe that I had never been there... There are some incredible old buildings, trails, and scenery - so well kept up, too!

The photo below is Kim's favorite, and I don't blame her. Look at those eyes!

Of course we didn't get through a shoot with a 5 year-old without some little faces:

If you know me, you know that I am practically drooling over the beauty of these black-and-whites!

And, finally... I am not usually one to play around with weird editing, but man, I love this!

Kim, thanks for introducing me to Tannehill and for staying on me until we did this shoot. I must say that I am more than glad we did it. I love the desire you have to document these moments in Grant's life - He will love these one day, and you will, too.

Edit: How did I forget this last one?

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!