April 19th: It was an absolutely gorgeous day to be getting married...the sky was blue, the sun was shining, and hearts were happy. Jen and James held their ceremony at the lovely Lake Receptions wedding facility in Mt. Dora. (If you've never been to Mt. Dora, it's worth a visit! Very small, quaint, full of bed-and-breakfasts, antique shops and lots of charm.) I was especially honored to be a part of their day because I've known Jen since high school! We actually sang together in our school's ladies ensemble my senior year. Oh, those were the days... :) And now she's married! Congratulations, Jen and James! I wish you all the best in love and life, always. Cheers!

What can I say about Jeff and Jess? They are just an amazing couple! Both are creative, talented, artistic, fun, a little sassy, sweet, anad full of energy and life! The last time I was down at Ft DeSoto it was cloudy, stormy, WINDY and about to rain buckets. (And we just happened to pull off an amazing shoot that time, too!) This trip was the complete opposite. It was a gorgeous afternoon with a bright blue sky and not a cloud in sight. There was a slight breeze to take away the heat, and the sunset was spectacular to say the least. My assistant, Scott, made lots of these shots possible...it's amazing what you can do when someone's there to hold a flash or reflector! So, thank you, Scott!! :) And to Jeff and Jess, I had such a great time with you guys. Thank you for the honor of helping to create and preserve memories of this time in your life! I'm looking forward to more sessions with you in the future. Yay! :)

Click here to view the slideshow!

This just might be my favorite image of this wonderful couple from their wedding day.

Hi, everyone! April has been such a busy month! But it's been completely amazing...I'm so grateful for the opportunities I've had lately. I can't thank Abby Liga enough for the opportunity to go down to Miami to assist her with Jodi and Rolando's wedding. What an gorgeous couple! Everything about the day was beautiful...from the home the bride got ready in, to St David Catholic church, to the reception at the Jacaranda Golf Club. Below is a slideshow of some of my favorite moments telling the story of the day Jodi and Rolando came together as husband and wife. I hope you enjoy it!

Please click here to view the slideshow!

I just have to start out by saying that I think this might be the first time I blogged about something on the day it happens! WOW. ;)

Today I met Jeff and Jess over at the beach for a laid back engagement session. I think Jess might have been a little nervous at first, but she quickly relaxed and we had so much fun just walking around and hanging out. (Well, taking pix, too!) Jeff and Jess are such a sweet, fun couple, and it was a perfect evening: low humidity, a slight and balmy breeze, blue skies and a gorgeous sunset. I felt like I was on top of the world when we finished up! I just love days like this! (Seriously, good weather puts me in the best mood. And today I was soaking it up.) I'm only gonna post a couple for now, but hopefully I'll get more up within the next couple of days.





Oh, and on a side note, I got a new lens in the mail today!! Soooooo excited! I was hoping against hope that it would come in time for our shoot tonight, but it came by UPS after I had left for the beach. Oh well. Guess what I'll be doing this weekend?! ;)

So I'm finally getting around to editing my photos from the LUMU workshop back in February...I know it's been a long time! (Eek, so sorry!) :) I'm gonna start off with a few of the beautiful and super sweet Erin. Enjoy!

Friday, March 21st, was the perfect day for a beach wedding. It was just amazing weather! Chris and Rita held an intimate and joyful ceremony on Sand Key Park in Clearwater. Erin and Chris were there to second shoot and give me a hand...they both rock! They are such a sweet couple, fun to be around, and fabulous photographers. Just had to say it! :) Back to the wedding...it was gorgeous! We had a great photo session on the beach after the ceremony before heading back to the Harborview Center for the reception. Everyone had a blast! I was even talked into a little dancing by some of the younger guests...and was of course exhausted by the end of the night! Here are a few of my favorite images....enjoy! Congratulations, Chris and Rita! I'm so happy I was able to be a part of your wedding...you are both wonderful!


































Erin and Chris in action!

So...it has come to my attention through my good friend Will that I've been seriously slacking on my blogging. My excuse was that I've been way too busy to blog, but he countered that his only gauge of how busy I am is by how much I blog. The more I blog, the busier I am, and the less I blog...well, I must be sitting at home in my bathrobe with the TV remote in one hand and a refreshing smoothie in the other, right? Riiiiiiight. :P

Anyway, I'm going to try my hardest to blog at least a couple times a week so that Will, and anyone else who might stop by, will know that I am actually up to something these days! I'll probably start back logging some to keep the events in order, so expect to see some entries pop up from days past.

For now I'll just say that things have been amazing lately, and my life is changing in ways I never dreamed. I feel so blessed to have the life I do, and I thank God every day for what He's doing! I'm busier than ever, but doing what I love and that makes all the difference. Cheers, everyone!

~Shem :D

Sorry for the delay everyone, I know you've been axiously awaiting this slideshow! There were too many great photos to choose from, it was hard narrowing them down...but I think everyone will see from these pictures what a fun and joyful family this is. They were so nice, in fact, that after our shoot was over, they invited me and Will to hang out and play "cornhole" with them! How cool is that!? I couldn't help but take a few shots of the family battling it out over beanbags...some of those are at the end of the slideshow. :D It was such a pleasure to spend the afternoon with them! Enjoy!!

P.S. In case you're wondering, I wasn't so good at cornhole, but at least I didn't actually hit anyone...ahem, WILL. Just kiddin'! :P

On March 8th I second shot a wedding for my good friend, Charley. It was a pleasure and honor, not only because I got to work with Charley, but because the bride is also a friend of mine. I was really hoping for some outdoor shots, but it was crazy windy that day! Check out the picture of the balloon man...I'm surprised he didn't get carried away on the wind! Despite the wind, everyone (and their hair!) made it safely through and had a great time. Congratulations, Jaime and Josh!!

(Back posted on March 26th)