We won Bride's Choice Awards for 2012!!!

I want to thank all of our amazing clients that contributed to writing stellar reviews about Pure Emotions Photography and won us this years Bride's Choice Awards for the third year in a row!!!

The artist in me would not be able to do what I do if it wasn't for the amazing couples that come into my life and entrust me with one of the most important day in theirs. I am so grateful to be able to do what I love more than just about anything else on the planet as my profession every single day.

2011 was filled with amazing things for us. We were published on Lemon and Lavendar. We were featured in Rock N Roll Bride. We were featured in 3 different spots in the inspiration boards for Grace Ormonde Wedding Style Magazine !! We recieved two print publications in Pin Up America Magazine, one of them a 2 page spread and the other, a full 4 pages!!! We recieved Bride's Choice Awards in 2011. And, we recieved a print publication in the Don Cesar Saint Petersburg Wedding Guide. There are many other smaller things we were also included in.

The point of mentioning all of these wonderful accomplishments is to say that I'm not comfortable here. I want to continue to grow and become even better. There are so many areas that offer room for improvement and I aspire to get better and more creative and more unique each and every year. My clients inspire me and I can't help but hope that I inspire them a little bit too.

Published!!

Happy Monday everyone! This morning, Lemon and Lavender, a popular and fabulous blogsite published Melissa and Nathan's fun IKEA engagement session!!! I am so happy that they got featured because as a photographer, this is one of my favorite sessions. It was fun and different and most importantly, Melissa and Nathan were completely in love and were able to fill all the inbetween moments themselves.

To see the feature, just click here!

Wedding Wire Reviews

Our clients leave the most awesome feedback for us! If you want to read some of the things past clients have had to say about us, you can find us on Wedding Wire!

Read all of our Wedding Photography Reviews at

Florida State Fair Contest Winners!

Hi Ladies! Thank you all so much for your entries. It was a pleasure reading your stories. I wish we could give away a session to everyone who entered because everyone had such great stories.

We had only one couple enter who was willing to wear their wedding dress and suit for the fair and this is what we most wanted so we have chosen Kori and Andrew to receive the free day after session at the State Fair. Kori and Andrew have had some tough times over the past year with our struggling economy and they're both total goofballs and we believe they'll have a great time at the fair and we'll be able to give them some great photos from their session. Plus, we shot their wedding recently and their ceremony was at night time so they didn't really get many shots of the two of them alone and we wanted to make sure they get those!

We also chose: Julie and Flo! Julie sent me such an awesome story and it sounds like her and Flo will be up for anything we throw at them. They're already married and will be renewing their vows after TEN YEARS in March. The love these two have for one another shone through the story that Julie sent me and I believe these two are going to let loose at the fair and have a great time. Every word she wrote bounced off of the screen and touched me and made me want to shoot them yesterday! So, I can't wait to do their couples photos! I hope all of my clients will love one another forever and stay together for a lifetime. Julie and Flo, after ten years, are well on their way and it doesn't seem like they're slowing down any time soon!

Thanks again to everyone who entered! We might be running another contest in the near future so be sure to check back on our blog!

Until next time...

Win a Free Couple's Shoot with us!

Hey everyone. I just realized I am all caught up with my engagement sessions for the season and I noticed that the Tampa State Fair is coming in less than 2 weeks! I've always wanted to shoot some awesome, fun, flirty, artsy photos at the fair and am ready to do it up!

This applies to: Engagement, Trash the Dress or Day After Shoot or simply a couples shoot if you're already married and don't want to get your wedding dress dirty.

Even if you've already done engagement photos or day after photos with another photographer but you feel like you'd be a good match for this shoot, you're eligible so go ahead and write us!

Whoever wins has to be a fun couple that would love to play some games together for great shots and isn't afraid to get on some of the rides for a few shots.

We might choose 2 couples depending on how many entries we get.

If you want to win a free session, email me at PureEmotionsPhotography@gmail.com and tell me why you feel you and your fiance/spouse deserve to win and what kind of people you are. Be sure to enclose a couple of photos of the two of you as well.

Also, let me know which of the following dates would work best for you:
February 6th, 7th, 13th or 14th. If all would work, please let us know that all of them would work.

The winner will get a free 2-3 hour couple's shoot with us and it will include a DVD of 40 edited images with printing rights. Value- $500

Important: You must pay for the admission price of the state fair and bring a little extra money for food, rides and games.

We will pay for our own admission tickets to the fair.

I'd love to get an already married couple who want to play in their wedding attire and an engagement style couple so it's very possible 2 couples could win the contest.

Good luck! I can't wait to get some AMAZING photos for the lucky couple(s).

Published on Rocknrollbride again!

Kat at www.rocknrollbride.com published us again today. This time, she featured Jennifer's amazing goth themed bridal session. (Featured below this post). We are so honored to be published there again as we totally love rocknrollbride and could spend hours on there looking at everything over and over again! Kat chose a ton of our images to feature so if you have a minute, head on over there and check them out. It's a blog and by tomorrow, we might not be on page 1 anymore so here is a direct link to the post on rocknrollbride so you can visit it anytime!

http://www.rocknrollbride.com/2009/10/happy-halloween-gorgeous-goth/

Hope you enjoy them. And thanks to all of my clients for being so fabulous!

Published and Featured!!!

I finally did it! So many of my clients have been telling me for so long to submit something of mine out into the world. I've been too afraid of the rejection and the criticism but I have recently started to grow in confidence about my abilities as a photographer. It doesn't hurt that I have amazing clients who always remind me how awesome they think my work is!

I've been following this amazing website.. www.rocknrollbride.com for what seems like forever now. I've always been so inspired by stuff that gets published on there. Being more artistically inclined in my own work, I've been moved by the off beat, awesomeness that the owner of the blogsite, Kat publishes on it.

I finally submitted something just a couple short days ago, Rebecca and Justin's amazing engagement session and Kat featured and published it on her blogsite this morning! She has hundreds, possibly thousands of loyal blogsite readers from all over the planet so for me, this is huge! Maybe next time, I'll submit something to a magazine. Haha, okay maybe not just yet! Maybe I'll start with a print competition for WPPI or something first. :-)

http://www.rocknrollbride.com/2009/10/emotional-theatrical/ is the direct link to the feature!

My addiction to posting a million photos!!

Most of my clients love that I post SO MANY photos on my blog! I truly am addicted to showing tons of my work that makes me happy when I look at them. I feel like it's like sharing a piece of my inner self. A lot of photographers just post their favorite 3-4 wow images on their blog and don't post a complete story. Every photo I take won't be a wow image but they connect the dots of the story and help to unfold it. I don't think I'll ever be the photographer that can pick just 3 or 4 pictures.

With that said, the photos take up a lot of room on my blog. Some times, I post 40 or 50 images from one event. So, I've decided to feature my absolute favorite images as solo shots and to put others in a collage board. These collage boards will be for cohesive images to all go together and it will just be one compressed file. They'll download faster which will be a plus for clients on slower computers.

This is the first one I've made and is a sneak peek into the next wedding photos I am going to be posting up on the blog!



Hope you dig it. I managed to get 8 unique photos into this one image design and it works for me because they're so cohesive. :-)

Until next time....

Welcome to my photo lounge! - Please read this first! :)

My hope is that you will relax and be able to enjoy the photos here. I'd love to know what you like and love so feel free to hit the comment button on any post to leave a comment!

I update my photo lounge way more often than my website so check back weekly!

P.S. At the end of every page on the bottom is a button that says "older posts." The older posts often times are only a few days or a week or two older so make sure to keep clicking on the older posts button on the bottom to see more. Or if there's a specific kind of photos you're interested in viewing, look on the left side of the screen under categories and click on the category you're interested in viewing!

Have fun, take your shoes off, put your feet up and relax. I hope you enjoy your time here!

Best engagement photos

We just sent an 80 page, 10x10 album design off to be printed and bound. This one is a studio sample for us to show more of our work printed and we had such a great year with engagement sessions so we decided to make it an "Engagement Love" album. We featured six of our couples in the book design and put our favorite photos from each session in the collection.

Looking through them, we just love the variety and the moments captured. Seeing the best work put together in a collection just makes me feel good inside :-)

Here is a link to the smaller flip-book online version. Hope you enjoy it!

You can view the entire book by copying and pasting the following link into a new browser window:

http://albumonline.asukabook.com/album/?key=5ef003f02042

Oh and I am so excited.....

I can't believe I haven't blogged about this yet!! The couple that I did the cool engagement session with this past weekend at the private airport hired me months ago to shoot their wedding in Florida. Their wedding is in October and I can't wait to shoot it because they are so in love and so much fun to be around! But they decided that they're going to get married first in St. Thomas in August. They were going to use this one guy who was a local photographer in St. Thomas but the more they thought about it, the more they couldn't imagine getting photos from anyone but me so they hired me to shoot their St. Thomas wedding too!

They're flying me in for 3 days and we're going to go all over the island and get some amazing pictures of them. This will be a small wedding, just them and their parents for the caribbean wedding so we'll have tons of time to go off and find unique locations on the island and really get some amazing shots. The bride is going to get another dress that we can trash there too so that will be so much fun! I love travel and I love different destinations and this is the great start to me being able to travel even more to more exotic locations for weddings! Some days, I pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. I am one of the luckiest people on the planet to have a gift, artistically and to be able to make a full time living doing what I love.

Until next time.....

Shoot with Beckstead

I just spent 3 amazing days with the infamous David Beckstead who has been named one of the top ten wedding photographers. David is known for his strong compositional elements and style. 13 of us listened to him talk about how he got started and learned more about him and where he came from. I just have to say that he is one of the most humble people I've ever met. He's so down to earth, a true country boy at heart and he is himself no matter what.

On the 2nd day together, we went out with a real bride and groom and David showed everyone how he uses lines and light in his compositions. It was interesting and informative. Everyone took turns taking pictures of things the way David saw them and when I had my turn, I'd wander off to the sidelines and start looking for other things, keeping his basic concepts in mind. I looked for my own lines, shapes and compositional elements within the same scene. I wanted to make sure I was shooting for myself, for my style and my brand which involves angles and color and telling a story with my imagery. So, I tried really hard to combine his amazing knowledge of composition with my style.

EDIT: A couple of people have emailed me and asked if I would recommend this workshop for beginners. Out of 13 of us that took the workshop, only 4 or 5 people shoot weddings full time. Some of the newbies got some good stuff, some better than others in my opinion. I'd suggest that you be comfortable with your camera settings, that you know how to select an Auto Focus point in your camera and that you understand ISO and how it relates to your shutter speed and your aperture.

I didn't need to ask about the technical stuff because I already understood the technical stuff. I really strayed from the group a lot because I didn't want to fight for the same image that everyone else was getting. My favorite shots from the day are the ones where I separated myself from the pack but again, I kept the basic concepts of using lines and light to add to the overall compositional effect of the photographs. Interesting compositions and angles has always been something I've loved doing anyway. I'd say this simply helped me to enhance my imagery which was the reason I took the workshop.

I hope that helps those of you who have emailed me.

Here are some of my favorites that I've been able to edit thus far. I hope you enjoy!



































Until next time...

Amazing couple!!

It's almost 2am and I am finally winding down and about to go to sleep but before I do, I just wanted to talk about this amazing couple that I met tonight.

Rebecca and Justin drove over an hour to come and meet with me tonight to see my albums and more of my pictures. I showed them a DVD slideshow on the big screen T.V. and I saw their eyes light up which of course made me feel awesome! And at the end of it, they even clapped for me! So cute!

During the entire slideshow, Justin kept rubbing Rebecca's back. They were so affectionate and so in love that I wanted to start snapping pictures of that moment because these two are head over heels! I love clients who love each other this much to the point that it just radiates sunshine around them.

Oh and did I mention, they are super adorable? This is one smoking hot couple. They booked me for their engagement session and their wedding and I cannot wait to start shooting them during their engagement session. I can already tell they're going to be up for a good adventure and with the love they have for each other, we're bound to get some AMAZING shots!


Until next time, good night!

First time for everything

For the first time ever, a client came to meet me with her father which I thought was so awesome. I've never had a client meet me with her mother or father for that matter. They always come with their fiance or one of their sisters or bridesmaids but never with the parents.

Melissa drove in with her father, Brian. As soon as they walked in the door, he started asking me what equipment I shoot with. Turns out dad is a hobbyist photographer who knows his stuff. I had so much fun talking shop with him and showing him all of my camera gear. Melissa is going to be such a beautiful bride. She is such a pretty girl. I adore her features. We had a great time and shared lots of laughter during that meeting. I will be shooting her wedding on September 19th 2009.

I took a photo of Melissa and her father, Brian while they were here. I'll post it soon. I took it on my new camera and I have to upgrade my software to open the file. :-)

Oh and dad approves of the fiance. Afterall, the Fiance's name is... Brian also :-)

Guess who just got a new camera??

I was lucky enough to stumble across a Canon 5D Mark II in stock! Now if I can just find some batteries for it. They're all back-ordered. Boo!

I actually tried this camera out at WPPI and I fell in love! It is SWEET!! I cannot wait to get it in my hot little hands and make magic with it. I've been using the Canon 40D for the past year and I still love it but the new Canon 5D Mark II is going to open up a world of new possibilities for me as a shooter.

I also got a 15mm Fisheye lens to put on this bad boy and I battled between the 24-70 2.8 and the 24-105 4.0 IS. I finally chose the 24-105 because there have been times when I was using my 17-55 that I really wished I had a little more reach and also I think I really do need the IS unit during low light when people are moving at receptions.

The 5D Mark II will be beautiful in low light anyway so the 4.0 shouldn't matter too much.

Come on Canon and come out with the 24-70 2.8 IS and the 24-105 2.8 IS ! Get with it! :-)

OKay, for any brides reading this, I am so sorry about the technical jargon. So here's what you need to know if you're lost at this point:

My images are just going to keep getting better :-)

WPPI in Las Vegas

WPPI was so amazing. I am just now getting settled back into my daily groove. I didn't really have a lot of fun while I was in Vegas because both Latanya and myself got really sick. The air was so dry there so we both had bloody noses which wasn't fun at all! But for the most part, we learned a ton!

My two day plus class with Yervant was out of this world, amazing. I learned so much. He didn't hold back at all and he answered every question and even went in depth to show us how he achieves his award winning imagery.

We did make it to see Zumanity at the New York, New York hotel and out of 5 stars, I'd give it a solid 5. We chose seats that were on the side so we could be really close to the stage. I do wish we had chosen seats in the middle even if they were a couple of rows back because my neck was killing me from looking off to the right the whole night. But, other than that.. amazing! There is this part that takes place in this bowl of water that was to die for and had me on the edge of my seat wondering if the performers were going to hurt themselves. It was definitely worth the cost and our time. Warning: This show is not for children nor is it for people who are more conservatist. But for anyone who is very open minded, this show rocks!

A couple of other highlights were some platform classes. My favorites by a mile were Parker Pfister and David Beckstead. They both kept me awake and kept my interest and I feel like I actually learned a lot from both of them. My other favorite was Eddie Tapp. He didn't really "speak". He really just went through photoshop techniques in a speedy fashion but I learned a ton. He does this thing called "cookie light". I tried it last night on one image and it's pretty darn cool.

I also did a shoot at the Neon Graveyard with a las vegas showgirl and a bride and groom model as well as a real bride and also an amazing goth couple. It was a blast. Photos coming soon!

And lastly, on the first night I was there, I did three amazing boudoir sessions. Two were for real brides and one was for a model. I just posted some the other day and more to come soon!

Until next time.....

Las Vegas & WPPI

I am getting everything in order around the house and with the business so that I can prepare for WPPI in Las Vegas, Nevada. For those of you who don't know, WPPI stands for Wedding and Portrait Photographers International and is the biggest annual photography convention.

We will be staying at the host hotel which is the MGM Grand, Las Vegas. We are flying in on Southwest Airlines February 11th and will remain there until February 19th, when we fly back home.

On February 12th and 13th, I am attending a Plus Class with the most amazing wedding photographer in the entire world, Yervant ! Hands down, this man is amazing in every sense of the way. I have seen him speak at prior conventions and he just has a way of making other people smile. He lives in Australia and has photographed some of the most amazing weddings at locations I would die to shoot at one day. His technical abilities are amazing and he is what I would call, "The Tiger Woods of Golf... err... Photography...". Plain and simple.

On February 14th, I will be attending the Business Institute which will be great. I am already pretty business savvy, but the moment you think you know everything is the moment you stop growing. If I learn just one thing that takes my business to the next level, then it was worth being there.

On the evening of February 14th, we will be going to the New York, New York hotel and casino to watch the cirque du soleil performance, Zumanity. I have been to other cirque shows and this one just seemed fitting for Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, no cameras are allowed inside so I won't be able to post any photos but I'll be sure to review my experience with this show!

February 15th-18th will be filled with trade shows and platform classes. Platform classes are where some of the best wedding and portrait photographers spend about 2 hours talking on a subject they feel is relative for the convention. Some photographers even do live demonstrations on editing and photoshop techniques. Some do live demonstrations on how they pose clients or how they light their subjects using video lights, strobes, etc. There's always some great gems of information to pick up on during these seminars.

I plan to attend some amazing seminars and listen to these remarkable speakers. Some of the best speakers are planned during the same time slot so I am going to have my assistant photographer, Latanya with me and she'll go to the other one. Just to name a few that we plan to attend.... Jim Garner, David Jay, JB & Deette Salle, Marcus Bell, Ryan Schembri, Joe Buissink, Corey McNabb, Bambi Cantrell, Cliff Mautner, Jeffrey and Julia Woods, Parker Pfister, Jerry Ghionis, David Beckstead and Gene Higa.

If you don't already know who these people are, trust me when I say they are the cream of the crop and they'll all be under one roof giving tidbits of information to help the rest of us learn and grow as photographers. Everyone has their local wedding photographer that is well sought after. But, these guys are sought after worldwide and have made a name for themselves through branding and style fused together with amazing imagery. Many have been named in the Top 10 wedding photographers in the world. I feel so fortunate to be able to go out there this year and take my work and my company even to that next level.

I am going to take a break in the afternoon on the 17th of February and meet up with 20-30 other photographers at the famous Las Vegas Neon Graveyard/ Neon Boneyard. We have models and real brides and grooms who are coming out and we're going to get some amazing photos of them with all the retired signs. I cannot wait for this photoshoot. It's going to be amazing. This is a place I've always wanted to shoot at and now, I will be! I'd like to thank Emma of LiveLoveLaugh Photography in Seattle Washington for putting this together for everyone and making it possible. I can't wait to rock it out with you guys!

Okay, well I guess that's enough name plugging for now.. :-).... I cannot wait to share the photographs with you guys from this amazing event!

FAQ about myself

Q: Why do you specialize in weddings?

A: Since I was a young child, the love that two people share always brought joy to my life. I specialize in weddings because I am a die hard romantic. Seeing two people in love who want to commit the rest of their lives to one another gives me goosebumps. It is a great honor to be trusted with capturing the memories of what many couples consider to be the most important day in their lives.

Q: Why should someone trust you with their precious wedding memories?

A: If a client loves my style and my creativity, they should trust me with their wedding memories because I understand the value of wedding photography. I understand that a wedding is a live event, that pure emotions and memories happen momentarily and that they have to be captured accurately, in real time. I know that it's a one shot opportunity to capture those important memories and I devote myself to anticipating moments before they happen so I can be in the right place at the right time to capture all the important moments on the big day.

Q: What kind of experience can clients expect if they hire you?

A: Clients can expect to have fun, to be able to be themselves. My photographer assistant and myself are both humble, down to earth people. We place a high value on our work and skill level but we are very approachable people who most of our past clients call "friends". We act as the go to person and make sure things are running smoothly on the big day and we've been known to help calm down nerves, get people who "never" smile in pictures to laugh and smile for pictures, and to not be obtrusive during the wedding day. Many clients have looked at their pictures and asked when we captured certain shots because they never saw us there. And, that's the way we like it to be.