Tampa backyard wedding Photographer | Jenilee & Brian

August 24th, 2010

I photographed this backyard wedding back in June and am just now getting it up to view which is how i work. I do tons of photo shoots all the time. Weddings, Engagements, Bands and other event photography. I have so much stuff happening and a ton more blogs I’ll be getting too eventually so keep in touch here and leave me a message from time to time!

Jenilee and Brian are a really fun and extremely cool couple. I didn’t meet them till the day of the wedding! Jenilee’s mother Cindy, called me months ago (which is always the best thing to do to book your wedding vendors) and told me she and her daughter loved my photography and wanted to have me photograph their wedding. I suggested a meeting as I always do but they were set and she asked how to book me and where to send the check? I love getting right to the point! As the title says, It was a backyard wedding kinda near Tampa, at a beautiful house on a private lake with little islands in the middle of it. The lake bottom was made of a different type which caused the water to be perfectly clear and blue! They also had their own little beach in the back yard – pretty cool! Backyard weddings are replacing the ballroom wedding because they are more intimate and a bit less expensive and it allows friends and family to be themselves in a familiar environment. I arrived a little early – say,.. an hour early! I really don’t like being late and brides don’t want you to be late either so I always do my best to make sure the bride isn’t stressed about that too! I took some detail pictures as Brian and some of the guys set up the entire wedding scene in the back yard. They did a great job. There Is always some pride to be had in setting up your wedding for you bride! I’m pretty sure that might be attractive to the bride as well! I never found out where the flowers came from or the cake! Cindy, if you happen to look at this leave a comment and let us know! Here’s a few of their awesome wedding pictures!

View the full wedding Here

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Chea & Billy | Clearwater wedding photographer

August 18th, 2010

Chea & Billy are a wonderful and slightly reserved couple! They were such a pleasure to hang out with on their wedding day. I arrived at the church a bit early as I always do to see what sort of pictures i can get of the wedding venue before everyone gets there. I happened to arrive about an hour early! It took a good bit less time than I thought! guest started arriving as I was looking for the groom and even the bride. I finally found Billy in a back room talking to the priest. He asked if I had seen Chea yet? I said no but I heard she was soon to be there. We waited around for a bit as guest filled in the seats and I kept going back to the front of the church keeping a look out for Chea. She was running a little behind schedule but was still on time. Billy and I joked the we hoped she will show up and I had photographed all the groom, anticipation pictures I could ever get. I made my way to the front door of the church to inquire about Chea. Unbeknownst to us at the church, Chea was having dress problems!  I was at the fron of the church when the priest comes up to me and asked if I heard/knew anything of the brides arrival time? It had been about 15 min after the ceremony was supposed to start and a few people were a little nervous!  Chea finally arrived a bit flustered but looking stunning! We had the wedding and the rest of the day was a dream!

This post is in no way meant to reflect badly on Chea or to point out how much i think Billy looks like Tom Cruse. Just a reminder to check your details and time lines and know something might not go according to plan. The main thing is you are marrying your very best friend and you have soo many more days to spend together! Handle it with grace like Chea & Billy and cherish every single memory, even the ones that might seem bad at the time. You can laugh at them later as you reflect on all you have experienced together!

I am so blessed to do what I do and love and appreciate every single couple I get the honor to photograph their wedding. Thanks to Chea & Billy for letting me experience your love of life, friends and family!

Chea & Billy were married at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church and their reception was held at Cove Cay Country Club. Cove cay is a wonderful site for a wedding and wedding reception. The staff is very friendly and willing to do whatever it takes to make your day as smooth as possible.


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North Carolina Vacation Photography fun | Tampa photographer

August 6th, 2010

Every now and then we get to go to the most awesome place in the world….. North Carolina! We go every year as much as we can. My wife’s ( Wendy ) parents have a cabin in Maggie Valley surrounded by beauty! I always take pictures on vacation but never do anything with them. I don’t even print them to have around the house! Wendy always asks me to but i get too busy and forget or I just get too LAZY! I figured this is the next best thing to it and I get to share some of the beauty we see from my point of view. We have yet to make it up there during the right time of the year when all the leaves change and show God’s beauty, but I’m sure we will one day.

This summer we FINALLY talked my parents in to coming and they had the best time. They have never ever, ever been there. My mom likes to shop! LOVES to shop! and what better place to do it than in a place that has all the cute little shops you could possibly find. I happen to love shopping too but my shopping is usually for coffee, chocolate and the best restaurants around! I introduced my mom to the Chocolate bear in Waynesville, She loves it now too!

Wendy LOVES North Carolina and wants to live there one day. She is the cutest thing when she gets up there all bundled up in her blankets with a hot cup of coffee on the front porch. While we were there this time I ended up photographing a wedding in Chimney Rock Park for an awesome couple which will not be in this blog but is coming soon! I also ran across a couple just out in nature that wanted some family pictures so i shot some family pictures for them right there on the creek. Pretty fun.  We pass a place on the way up called Goats on the roof but never stop. We stopped this time and I took a few shots. There’s so much to do up there which is why we like it so much.  NC which is right outside of Maggie Valley. There’s soooo much i could say here but I might bore everyone so I’ll show some pictures and be done. Thanks for coming by. Leave a comment!

Goats on the dang roofCryptoniteRelaxation
Family funGod bless my wife!The other family we found to photographNature
My night photo version of Thomas Kinkade

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Wish they all could be california girls | Carl & Sutton

August 2nd, 2010

It’s not often I get to venture outside the Tampa wedding photography world, though I sure would welcome any opportunity. I AM cruising to Jamaica in October to photograph a wedding there! Pretty excited about that! I photographed a wedding for some friends of mine ( Mike & Mary – View it here! ) about a year before Carl and Sutton’s. Carl happens to be Mary’s brother and Sutton happened to love my pictures. She liked my pictures enough to fly me all the way to Santa Barbara, California! I can now proudly say “I am a Santa Barbara, California Wedding Photographer! I do coast to coast wedding photography! It was actually Buellton, California, right near Solvang and Santa Barbara. I arrived on a Thursday and was able to hang out and see the beautiful area for a few days before the wedding. I would be happy to spend the rest of my life doing wedding photography in Buellton and the surrounding area! The wineries are beautiful, views are amazing and I really LOVE the area! We visited The Bridalwood and Firestone wineries and a few others i can’t remember the names to. Both Bridalwood and Firestone winery are beautiful places for weddings and i hope to have one there soon! For anyone from the area reading this and wanting some really cool, fun wedding photography with a crazy fun photographer – Give me a call! I would LOVE to! Back yard weddings are becoming more popular and Sutton was one of the first to create this new trend. Sutton also had the awesome help of friends and family to create center pieces for the tables and all the decorations for the day. As I arrived I saw one of the ladies putting the finishing touches on her bouquet! Sutton’s parents worked extremely hard to have the entire property looking awesome for the day. It was nice to see everyone taking pride in what they were doing to bring together this amazing day for Carl and Sutton. Their families were amazingly wonderful to be a part of for the week. With no ceremony and reception rental cost Carl & Sutton were able to splurge a little on some photography which is how I got there! Back yard weddings are intimate and beautiful and I would suggest them to everyone! They save you money and allow you to hire a photographer that’s worth hiring to capture your day! You spend so much time preparing all the little details for the wedding but what’s the point if you don’t have it captured in a picture to remember and show your family and friends for years to come. Always hire the best and most fun photographer you can, and you will be sure to get great wedding pictures you will always love! Here are a few pictures from Carl & Sutton’s Santa Barbara Back Yard Wedding! To view the full day go to the on line gallery here or at the bottom of the page!

Enjoy!
View entire shoot

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Day at the beach | Heather and Richard

July 30th, 2010

Heather and Richard happen to be two good friends my wife and I hang out with from time to time. We always have a great time with them!

Richard LOVES baseball and there isn’t much that can take his eyes off the game but this day im pretty sure his mind was nowhere near the game. Heather was looking awesome and Richard was too busy being blown away by her to notice much else and it totally shows in the first set of pictures I’m putting up from their wedding in the St. Pete, Clearwater beach area. The beaches in Florida are perfect for weddings and pictures. Since I’m here all the time I sometimes take it for granted. Many times i am looking to go to a destination for a wedding to shoot pictures and I forget we have a destination wedding spot right here! The white sand and beautiful weather is awesome. Heather and Richard picked a great time of year for their beach wedding. April is not too hot or too rainy but it does provide some good clouds to block the sun for photography. The day was relaxed and the wedding was great and my wife and son were a part of the wedding party so I got to hang out with them a little bit too! Here’s a few shots I like from Heather and Richards wedding on St. Pete Beach.

Heather & Richard were married at the Bilmar beach resort on Treasure island in St. Pete.

View entire shoot

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Florida is hot as hell | Taylor & Amanda

July 3rd, 2010

I never thought it would happen but my good friend Taylor asked his girlfriend Amanda to marry him! I happened to bring my camera to church with me and catch some pictures of it happening which can be seen on my really cool picture hosting gallery at www.12-1photography.smugmug.com

As the title says, Florida is hot as hell! and sometimes its a little difficult getting really awesome engagement pictures in the humidity but I had the amazing help of two insanely great looking models,…Taylor and Amanda! We tried to photograph their  engagement pictures Lakeland but it rained. We just couldn’t seem to shake the rain so we stopped for some lunch in the down town Plant City. It kept raining and we kept being bummed out but still had hope! We wanted to get some pictures in the hard rain later because that’s always really cool and romantic, but needed to get the regular ones first. It finally stopped! YEAH!! We went out in the extremely awesome heat and humidity that so often comes after a Florida summer rain. We walked around racking our brains for pictures that would show the least sweat and look really cool. I love the Look of really good looking people in slightly run down areas and Plant city has it, plus they have some nice places to shoot pictures too. We were at our first run down building on the front porch like thing. Old rotting wood, sheet metal and the smell of fresh rain. we started taking the first picture when a woman came out of the door and asked what we thought we were doing there! Oh, hmmm? We said “Taking pictures of-course” She promptly told us to leave and was quite rude about it so we left and found so many other cooler places to shoot. That’s the first time I’ve ever been kicked out of a place during a photo shoot. No matter, Ya can’t put a damper on LOVE! We had a great time hanging out and getting really great, awesome, cool pictures! Plant city is one of my many favorite places to do photo shoots. Taylor & Amanda are having their wedding at Hollis Garden in Lakeland. I’m pretty exited about that! I have always wanted to photograph a Hollis Garden Wedding! I’m also very excited about the yellow color theme Amanda has planned for her wedding! Here’s a few of the pictures we got during Taylor and Amanda’s fun Plant City engagement session! Check out the full shoot at www.12-1photography.smugmug.com

View entire shoot

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The new face of Engagament shoots! | Pon & Joe

June 10th, 2010

With the help of some wonderful new friends of mine (Pon & Joe ) we have created the new face of Engagement Photography in the Tampa, St.Pete area and possibly the world! We started talking about me photographing their wedding about 6 months ago or longer. In the process of wedding talk we started making plans for their engagement pictures. Pon and Joe both agreed they didn’t just want the regular cheesy engagement pictures of them looking at the camera or looking away from the camera in some sort of lovey dovey pose so I said lets go extreme with this. They agreed! They wanted to have some really cool engagement pictures to look back on years from now. We decided to tell a story of LOVE and tried to incorporate everything that could happen in a relationship within these few “engagement pictures”. Relationships have their ups and downs, their dreams, realities, break ups and make ups! Here’s what we came up with for Pon & Joe’s engagement pictures at a house in St. Petersburg.

View the entire shoot

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Vintage wedding in St. Pete with Nate & Cydney | Tampa, St. Pete Wedding Photographer

April 28th, 2010

All brides are beautiful, especially on their wedding day and Cydney was no different BUT she was! She was going for a 1940′s wedding feel and she pulled it off! This couple was insanely great to work with and knew exactly what they wanted for their wedding pictures. Nate & Cydney were married at the Mirror Lake Lyceum in St. Petersburg Florida. The Lyceum is one of the coolest places to host your wedding especially if you want a vintage wedding. The hallways, stairs, ceremony and reception hall all have the coolest old world look!  There were new places to shoot pictures around every corner! I definitely want to do more wedding photography at the Mirror Lake Lyceum!

The day started like this. Cydney had the awesome dress, shoes and flowers and Nate had his cigar!

As the girls got ready, the guys did what they do best – Smokin and Drinkin!

The boys eventually spruced up as Cydney finished her makeup.

The wedding ceremony was great and the bridal pictures we got afterwards were amazing! As said before, The Mirror Lake Lyceum has tons of beautiful locations for wedding and bridal pictures. Here are just a few more of the really cool vintage wedding pictures we got in St. Petersburg in the Lyceum!

One of my favorite things to capture – The private kiss as soon as they get out!

My favorite thing about Cydney is her ability to change the picture by the slightest change in her expression. She’s a master! Nate however is like me and really used to being behind the lens. But he ended up looking really cool! Good job Nate, Yeah! Don’t kill me for that comment.

The Mirror Lake Lyceum has the best locations for wedding photography in St. Pete Florida! If you don’t want a beach wedding go to the Mirror Lake Lyceum!

I really dig this set of pictures! What am i taking about, I like em all!!!!

The night ended with dancing and cake / cupcake tree. It was awesome!

View the entire shoot

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The guy with the eye part 2 | Jennifer & Bobby’s Lake Suzy Florida wedding

April 22nd, 2010

So it’s been a while since I’ve posted any wedding blogs. Not to say i haven’t photographed any weddings. I’ve taken pictures of 10 or 15 weddings, bands, families, maternity shoots..everything you could possibly take pictures of I’ve done lately. I’ve also move into a townhouse and done too many things to mention. It’s been in the 12-1Photography world! So now we calm down a bit and I can do a few blog posts about weddings and everything else. Though i do need to finish editing the last 3 weddings! I just had to take a break from editing so i don’t get burnt out while looking at this computer screen. I’ve been really blessed to have the amount of photography work i have coming in. I have been so blessed to be able to photograph some of the absolutely coolest people getting married in Tampa, St. Pete, Clearwater, Sarasota and many other places in Florida.

Here is a beautifully awesome couple Bobby and Jennifer. I met them a few years ago at my church through some other friends. I never expect to photograph everyone in the church for their wedding or family or whatever happens. Its definitely a happy surprise when i get asked to do it since there are a ton of wedding photographers in the TampaBay area. I was happy to take pictures for Bobby & Jennifer when they asked. I’m always a bit nervous every wedding i do because I want to give the couple the best pictures they can possibly get. I know i can do a good job but I want to do a GREAT job for every couple. Jennifer & Bobby’s wedding was no different.

I was excited with the view i saw when I pulled up to the Kingsway Country Club in Lake suzy, Florida right outside of Port Charlotte and Venice where we shot another wedding for Erin and Jared. I was even more excited to see that our favorite DJ mr. Ron Michel from Universal Music Entertainment was there! Yeah! We had a great time. The mood was fan and relaxed all day which allowed for some great pictures. A great attitude always helps to create great pictures and Jennifer and Bobby were Great!

Here’s some of favorites from their really great Lake Suzy / Port charlotte wedding. Jennifer and Bobby were both in high spirits!

I love the way the caught each others eyes.

The setting at Kingsway country club is beautiful.

Happily Married!

These are some of my favorites!

The Reception was fun and Ron kept the party going!

A good time was had by all. It was a great day at the Kingsway country club. If you are looking for a great all in one wedding and reception site in and around Port Charlotte, Venice, Florida or Lake Suzy the Kingsway Country club has it!

Thanks to Bobby and Jennifer for having us photograph their wedding!

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Tampa Senior Portrait Photography | Christina

April 13th, 2010

We’ve been extremely busy lately doing wedding photography, taking really cool pictures of bands and doing some really cool senior portraits in the Tampa bay area! We us usually run ads for Senior portrait photographers in the Tampa area, and it’s not often that we actually get to do pictures of someone that lives IN Tampa. Christina actually lives right in the middle of all that is Tampa!

We drove to her house in Tampa and picked Christina and her mom up with no ideas of what we were going to do. We literally drove around looking for a cool locations for senior portraits that would fit Christina. After a few minutes we found our first picture location! It was really cold that day and that made it hard to get out, but we braved it! Each picture place got even harder to get out of the car. We ended up pulling up to the last few places sitting in the car talking about the cool pictures we could probably take there before just hopping out and going for it. We had a lot of fun and hope to do a lot of senior portrait photography in Tampa and the surrounding areas this year.

Here are a few of our favorites from Christina’s Senior Portrait session in her home of Tampa!

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