I've been tagged!

Ok, so I have been getting a ton of emails from people tagging me for a photographer's game everyone is playing on their blogs. So I guess I should break down and finally play too.

The game is to name 8 random facts about you and then tag 8 other photographers who haven't been tagged yet. So here goes:

1. I share a birthday with Jesus b/c I was born on Christmas.
2. I was named after Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Windand have a toy poodle named Rhett.
3. I'm an only child.
4. I've walked down a red carpet of a Hollywood movie premiere for Star Warsand sat in the midst of a ton of celebrities. I'm not a Star Wars fan, but my friend had an extra ticket, so it was thrilling for a college kid at the time.
5. I love power yoga.
6. When I take a shower, I have this thing where I hate putting hair down the drain, so instead, when I'm shampooing and pull hair out, I plaster it up on the shower wall and leave it up for weeks. I always laugh at the wig I could start from my collection everything time I finally clean it.
7. I'm a Seminole fan who went to the arch rival school, University of Florida, home of the gross Gators.
8. I broke my butt in middle school. Literally. It was the night before I was the star in the school play as Repunzel, and at dress rehearsal, this chick pulled a stool out from under me as a joke and as I was sitting down and it chipped the edge of my tailbone. It was the most painful thing ever and I was paralyzed for over a week and couldn't be in the play at all. Majorly "bummed."
9. When I grew up, I thought I was going to be an architect.
10. If I was a boy, my mom was going to name me Cody John and call me CJ. Gag. Scarlett is much cooler.
11. My dad calls me "Leadfoot" because I speed way too much and get way too many speeding tickets. I know, I know, it's dangerous and I should probably slow down.
12. I was an extra in a movie with Keri Russell back in high school, before she became Felicity. It still shows on Lifetime sometimes. If you ever run across The Babysitter's SeductionI appear like 12 times in the background of the high school scenes. (Actually I just looked it up randomly and saw it comes tomorrow at noon on Lifetime! That's funny! Check it out!)

Ok, that's more than 8, but there are a few bonus ones for you. As for tagging 8 other photographers, I know I'm like the last one to finally do this, so if you haven't been tagged yet, this is my virtual tag to you! :-)

Cara and Drew are engaged!

In booking Cara and Drew's upcoming wedding at Jekyll Island Club, I hadn't met them in person yet because they are from the Atlanta area. But recently they drove down to shoot their engagement session in Fernandina Beach where we met for the first time. When she walked up, I instantly fell in love with Cara's style and her leopard high heel shoes and matching belt.

Cara, looking like a supermodel who just walked off a runway, and Drew, who could be Justin Timberlake's twin, were so much fun to shoot and really worked it for the camera. It's hard to believe Cara is really a tom boy, she told me, because they both easily could be supermodels. I almost wanted to convert every image to black and white because they kept reminding me of Abercrombie or Guess models in the fashion ads in a lot of their shots.

The playful couple have been together since high school, and Drew finally proposed two months ago in Hawaii when they were visiting to celebrate Cara's parents 25th anniversary. How sweet is that? He even wrote "Will you marry me?" in the sand, and kept rewriting it as the sand continued to wash it away. But I'm sure Drew would agree that Cara was worth it!

>>>CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW

Diane & Blake: NYC Highlight Movie

The time has come to present my very last wedding video. And I couldn't have asked for a more fabulous wedding to end on. Diane and Blake's summer wedding was held at the famous Rainbow Room atop the Rockefeller Center in New York City. They flew me up to film their wedding shooting alongside my photographer friend, Jason Groupp.

Diane and Blake have such a unique love story, the kind you would expect in a movie with NYC and Central Park as the supporting character. A few years ago, Blake had just moved to the city and needed a running buddy, so a mutual friend introduced him to Diane. They have both individually been long time marathon runners and have many awards from Ironman competitions, so it was only natural that their paths would cross and their hearts would fall in love with each passing mile.

They had a fun filled wedding weekend centered around Central Park, first with the Rehearsal Dinner at my favorite NYC restaurant Tavern on the Green. Then, Saturday morning before the wedding, they hosted a Family Fun Run inviting family and guests of the wedding to run a few miles with them that morning. You know a bride is a serious runner when even on her wedding day, she finds time to squeeze in a jog.

Later, Diane and Blake exchanged vows at the Rainbow Room and Jason and I took them out in the streets to get those classic NYC shots with taxis in the background swirling by. They even had their very first look at each other as bride and groom on Top of the Rock on the roof of the Rockefeller Center building overlooking the entire city and the Empire State building where Blake first told Diane that he loved her. And as a special wedding surprise, one of their friends rented ad space in the middle of Times Square with a congratulations ad flickering all weekend amongst the rest of the flashing lights.

Hollywood couldn't have written a script any better.

Here is their extended highlight movie. Enjoy!

Un-picture perfect

Want to know what Cameron Diaz and Kelly Clarkson REALLY look like before they are touched up by Photoshop?

Just to prove to you that celebrities aren't perfect, you can check out their before and after pictures to see the major difference. I saw this link on fabulous photographer Kelly Moore's blog and was fascinated by it. Just goes to show you the wonders of Photoshop and the levels you can take it too!

Click here and then click on PORTFOLIO at the top to see the before and afters.

So for all your gals out there who compare yourselves to the flawless celebrities, STOP. They aren't flawless either!

The Wolfson Family

Sunday afternoon I had a fun playdate with the Wolfson Family in downtown Jacksonville at the colorful Kids Kampus. Max, Madison and Chloe worked up a sweat exploring all the different jungle gyms, but then got to cool off in the water park. They had the best timing running around splashing each other and striking a pose in the midst of it. In between it all, I also got to steal Nicole and Jeff away to snap a few kisses in the schoolhouse.

>>>CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW