This is officially the last post on this blog.  Please go check out our NEW blog
to see what we are up to now.

Please leave lots of comments! the new blog is at http://www.candidlyelegant.com/blog

So Friday night, our new website went LIVE.  It has a texture in the background making it cool to look at.  It has a menu on the left in a vertical position because I also think its cool.  It has more pictures with easier navigation.  You can take your mouse to the corner of it and make it any size and the website will adjust to the new size.  Go ahead, try it, I know you want to. 

Please check it out and tell us your thoughts. 

Nicole and Mike's wedding started out at Double Tree Grand in downtown Miami.  I was able to hang with Mike and the guys while they got ready.  Mike was cool as a cucumber and ready to go.  We all got in a huge Excursion limo and had a blast joking around until we got to the church in Lincoln Rd.  These guys are just awesome to hang with.  Just to the left of Mike's ear is...Mike, also known as MJ.  He's marrying Nicole's sister in June, so watch out for those pictures coming in the next few months.

This is my Reservoir Dogs shot.  Totally natural and un-posed!  They're just that cool.

Nicole got out of the limo looking radiant!  I quickly asked her to give me a twirl and show off her veil.  She too was pretty relaxed before the ceremony.  That helps so much when taking pictures.

I love this shot of Nicole and her mom walking down the isle. The lighting from the left side is so beautiful.  Her mom's face just glows with happyness!  Mike did get a bit teary eyed, but I won't show that picture since I have to stick with the boys.  I cried during my wedding like a baby, so I'm with you Mike.

Being in Lincoln Road gave us access to so many cool places to shoot after the ceremony.  This was inside a restaurant.

You gotta love the view at the Double Tree.  Thanks to the D3 (I brought it Nicole!) I was able to get this beautiful portrait in almost zero light.

Again, Nicole's mom delivered one of the most moving toasts I've ever heard.  If there was anyone listening without a tear in their eye, I swear they have a heart of stone.

Thank you Nicole and Mike for an awesome day.  Cant wait to show you the album design I'm working on.

I did this e-session by MYSELF, with no help from Shaleen and we still rocked it!!!  Yes!  Okay, so its so much easier when my wife is there since she's so good at making people laugh and get relaxed, but what can I do, she can't work being 7 months pregnant.  Nicole and Mike are so down to earth.  We decided to shoot at Del Ray beach which is their home town and favorite hangout.  The downtown area is so cool. 

I am so happy that I've been able to shoot at new places for the past couple of weeks.  For those of you that want shots at the beach, I love it too, but sometimes its nice to work someplace different.

Lately I really like to get sun flares in camera.  Eventhough it does retinal damage, I can't help myself, I just love those flares!  In filmschool I once went blind in my right eye for about 20 minutes while shooting at the sun.  Don't do it folks really.

 

So we did end up at the beach afterall but only for a few minutes and I made them get all wet to punish them.  Just kidding.

We found this uber cool wall under a bridge that changes colors.  This picture feels like I caught them in a private moment. There's something about it I really like.

Once we were done we stopped at their favorite hangout for a drink.

Nicole and Mike I can't wait for your wedding NEXT WEEK!!!  (this was a pretty late e-session)

On Saturday, Alex and I shot a truly fantastic engagement session with Monica and Brandon. We really loved this evening for so many reasons - the fact that they are a super cool couple is just one of the highlights of the night. We shot on the Las Olas Riverfront in Fort Lauderdale. That's a new e-session location for us, and that is ALWAYS a good thing. New locales just enhance creativity. We walked all over the Riverfront area and also stopped for everyone to have a drink. You would think that I would be used to enjoying a Sprite while everyone else has real drinks...but I'm not. As an update - Alex and I have just two and a half months until our son, Caleb, is born! They have really awesome pictures - here are our favorites: We started out shooting at a historic house there in Fort Lauderdale

Monica was wearing such awesome shoes. We knew we had to work them into some shots, and THEN, I saw the Herman the monster graffiti and I had a vision -

After a quick outfit change we were back to business.

While we were shooting at that awesome red door, Monica's mom pointed out the sign that they were posing next to - it was too funny - I can't believe that none of us noticed initially!

We are in the process of building a new snazzy looking website, so if you see everything change in the next week or so, don't freak out!  We're still here.  The new site will showcase more of our current work and it will be a better reflection of the top notch photography we offer.  I hope you all enjoy it.

Okay, this is the last wedding of the 2008 season and I'm glad it was with a really cool couple like Jeff and Yvette.  I am exhausted, but happy with all the work we've had and more importantly, the quality of work we've had.  Its so nice when a couple feels totally comfortable with each other and you can just capture their personality without effort.  Jeff and Yvette laugh hysterically when around each other and they light each other's faces. 

Since we were in South Beach it only made sense to walk across the street and get some shots in the sand and in the surrounding area.

Thanks guys for such an awesome day and thanks to Jose and Linda from 2007 for recommending my work.  That's it no more work for 2008.  A few weeks off and then we'll hit 2009.

Most people, excluding actors and professional models, feel somewhat awkward in front of the camera for the first few minutes.  Most of my pictures are candid anyway but I just wanted to show how natural Magela is in front of the lens.  Doesn't she look like a pro?  These quick portraits literally took about 5 minutes and I just love the attitude in the images.

The ceremony and reception took place at the Spanish Monastery, which I was really excited to shoot at.  When I worked in the motion picture industry about 7 years ago, I was a grip for a music video that was filmed here and ever since then I saw the potential it had for great images.  There's something about those centuries old stones and arches that give it a timeless feel.  The decorations really take it up a notch as well.  The flowers were just beautiful, provided by Landy's flowers by Gerardo.

The weather was perfect for an outdoor reception and the whole event was just a blast.  Thank you Magela and Eddie.

Aintzane, which I just found out on Saturday is pronounced An-sa-neh (I'm so embarrassed I've been miss-pronouncing her name for months) got ready at the oh-so nice Conrad Hotel in Brickell Ave.  There were so many family members and friends in that room that you couldn't help but feel how important this day was for everyone.  I'm talking a lot of people, 5 bridesmaids including her sister, one mom, one grandmother, one brother, one aunt, two ladies doing the hair, a very talented make-up girl and towards the end one happy dad, not to mention Shaleen (plus baby Caleb inside) and me!!!  Yes, I'm still making my pregnant wife help me.  It was a rocking good time!

 

gotta love that 14mm lens to catch the whole view.

Best friend prepping speech.

Mom checking out the dress.  Look at that lacing!

Getting stuck in the back of the head by the pins in the veil.  Ouch!

Aintzane looking radiant on one of the Conrad's uber modern couches.

Love those burnt sienna colors for fall weddings.

I love the anticipation of this shot.  The doors open and the flower girl just waiting her cue to walk down the isle.  it makes me jittery just looking at it.  Shaleen actually took this shot.  I'm so proud of her, because its just full of the moment. 

This was a real special treat for us because Shaleen and I got married in this church just over three years ago.  I wanted to see how my shots would compare to the ones we have of us.  Its a real interesting experience because in a way you are remembering your own wedding but with other people in it playing different parts.  I just love this job.  Watching every family member interact in a day packed with so much anticipation and energy just gets me excited.

You can almost hear dad breathing in and out can't you.

Miami has such a nice skyline at nighttime.  Full of color and warmth.

The reception took place at Jungle Island.  Marylen Exposito (e-mail=marylen@theweddingplanner.bz), the coordinator, planned everything to perfection.  Everything ran right on schedule and beautifully.

Ubi's music (305-220-0450) provided music and here you can see the happy groom dancing for the first time as a married man!  Aintzane and Marlon, thank you so much for including me on this special day.

This was a destination wedding set in Captiva Island off the coast of Florida.  What a beautiful place!  Although Shaleen and I shoot beach weddings often, this felt totally different.  I don't know if it was the easy going vibes of everyone in the island or if it was that there is nothing to do there but to relax and enjoy the gorgeous scenery.  Probably a mixture. Captiva was certainly different than the big city feel of Chicago which is where Renee and Will are from.  The island was the perfect compliment to their personality.  They were both so generous and relaxed that I saw them fitting better in that environment than in Chicago.  Chicago rocks too, I'm just sayin'.

They opted to see each other before the wedding because they wanted some portraits before it got dark.  We drove all around the island hopping off the car to shoot whenever we saw anything cool.

Renee's veil was so elegant.

The ceremony took place in the private beach of a huge house.

I added a texture to this picture of the flower girl.  I love how she's looking down and the focus is on the petals on the floor.

This is a shot of the house against the Captiva night sky.

Pat Slater was the coordinator at the event. Anyone getting married in Captiva or Sannibel should contact her to make sure everything runs as smooth as this one. She can be e-mailed at: psweddings@embarqmail.com

The West Coast sunsets are just spectacular.  To get a shot like this in Miami we would have to do it at sunrise.  I wanted them to be almost sillhouetted against the sky but still make out the faces.  This was my favorite shot of the day.

Renee and Will, it was awesome working with you guys.  Thanks for being so inviting and welcoming to us.  Your wedding was really special.

What do an elementary teacher and a progressive club promoter have in common?  Love.  These two are a really unique couple.  They are edgy yet organized.  Their wedding was so smooth.  They had great vendors taking care of all the details from top to bottom.  Mary Acosta coordinated the event and made sure everything ran spectacular.  Make-up was provided by Amy Palma from South Beach Make-up Studio. 

Amy's make-up is put to the test by tears!

I love the way Michelle looks at Larry.  The ceremony took place in St. Brendan's Catholic Church. Luis from Utopia did an awesome job with the video, documenting everything with an artistic eye.

Of course with Larry's connections in the night scene, he had awesome music and even breakdancers to kick off the party which was held at the Dadeland Marriott.

Michelle and Larry, thank you for letting us be a part of your day!

Last Saturday, we shot the wedding of Ana and Javier - it was such a blast. You may remember this couple from the 'Youth Fair Photo Shoot' - which was one of our all-time favorite shoots! Here's a blast from the past:

We started with getting-ready photos at their GORGEOUS new apartment on Brickell and then the day got rolling fast!

We literally had about 3 seconds to take this portrait of Ana in the lobby of her apartment.  For 3 seconds I think that's a nice looking portrait don't you think?  She was so nervous the poor thing, yet she struck a diva pose ultra-fast!

Sorry it took a while for this post.  When I stepped outside this morning and felt the much needed cool weather, it is a no brainer why people love to get married here in November.  This of course means we are slammed, with back to back weddings until mid-December. 

Magela and Eddie decided to do their e-session in Matheson Hammocks.  It is the fourth time there this month, man that place is busy!  (some of the shoots were not blogged about, in case you're counting)  Its gorgeous there so its always a good place to shoot.  Magella was so comfortable in front of the camera, I didn't have to tell either one of them anything.  Its fun to just capture people just sharing moments.

Thank you Magela and Eddie for being so relaxed during your shoot. We look forward to your wedding.