Making Faces

I love make up. And I love giving make overs. Faces are such a cool canvas for another creative outlet for me.

Today my friend Corinna, whose wedding I'm shooting in Vegas in May, came over for a girl's play day. Cory rarely wears make up, so she wanted me to do a make over on her to get some ideas for how she wants her make up done on her wedding day.

"I want to look like a woman on my wedding day, not a 12 year old like I always look like. We're gonna be in Vegas for goodness sake, I need diva glam! Give me smokey eyes!"

She also has been amazed at how I achieve my "pouf" on my head that I wear sometimes (as seen in this pic of me that she calls my "Angelina Jolie with a pouf" picture from my MySpace page. Not that I think I look anything like AJ, but wow, that made my year to be compared to her.) So Cory wanted me to show her how to "pouf" her up too.

Here are the before and after results.


Before.



After.



Cory's "supermodel magazine ad" pic that she loved. She has a such a beautiful smile and laugh that it was hard for her to do the "seductive" face. I kept telling her, "Think, America's Next Top Model. As Tyra Banks would say, be FIERCE!" Yes, I'm a little addicted to that show. :-)



The magic tools and one of my favorite books we were looking through for inspiration, Making Faces by famous make up artist Kevyn Aucoin, may he rest in peace.



Cory kept running to the mirror to check out her "pouf." She couldn't believe how tall it was and that it actually stayed that way. I kept telling her, it's really not as hard as it looks. A little teasing and a little Hard Head hair spray and oila.



Some close ups of the eyes. "I don't think I've worn mascara since college," Cory said amazing me. Despite not wearing mascara much, I convinced her to wear fake eyelashes for her wedding day. These are her real ones though today.





And some fun shots on my furry pink rug.

Daryn and Andy: Southern Plantation Wedding PART II

Here are the rest of my favorite pictures from the wedding I second shot with Mary Beth Tyson in Tallahassee for Daryn and Andy.


Andy and his groomsman started off the day with a round of golf.



Meanwhile, Daryn headed to the mall for some glam make-up.



I loved how Daryn and her bridesmaids outfits matched my branding colors!



The bridesmaids were having so much fun that they took my camera to grab a picture of Marybeth and I.



Then off to the plantation to get ready.














Got milk? I kept laughing at how the cow came over to pose perfectly for her 15 seconds of fame. If Andy only knew he would be getting his own cow bell later that night...






My favorite shot of the day taken from the balcony of the mansion.






I loved how the passion between Andy and Daryn was so romantic!






Daryn arrived to her groom down the isle in this old fashioned Mercedes.









Andy had a rough day. First his groomsman "cow belled" him. Then Daryn, a Seminole fan, uses a tomahawk to put the famous "chop" in his Gator's "chomp." GO NOLES!









As Andy and Daryn drove off, her family surprised them with a showcase of fireworks to end the night on a bang!

Fun with headshots

This weekend before shooting the wedding in Tallahassee, I stopped by to visit my cousin, Sherie, who is the mom of the gorgeous little girl, Jayci, I shot a few months ago. While visiting with Sherie, her agents at her real estate office requested for me to take some new headshots for their marketing material, so while we were waiting on them, I took of few of Sherie too. Now you see where Jayci gets her sparkling blue eyes from!



And here are the awesome Remax agents, Lisa Rees, Gena McDaniel and Ora Mock!

Daryn and Andy: Southern Plantation Wedding

This weekend I second shot a destination wedding in Tallahassee, FL. for an awesome couple, Daryn and Andy, with my friend Marybeth Tyson. Daryn and Andy chose to get married at Daryn's uncle's home on his southern plantation with rolling hills and pastures for miles. The house was gorgeous with the tall white columns in front of the 2 story veranda and circular driveway. It reminded me of something out of my namesake's movie, "Gone With the Wind," and was the perfect choice for their beautiful wedding.



I'm still editing the pictures, but I wanted to give you a sneak peak below at my favorite image of the day. This was a rare shot I get to do from this perspective from the balcony of the veranda as Daryn walked toward the man of her dreams. I just love the emotion in this picture as everyone watches her walk toward the next step in her destiny.



Congratulations Daryn and Andy! Stay tuned for more to come!

Receiving is in the giving

In a previous post, I wrote about my commitment to tithe this year and give the money to my sweet Aunt Ruby who is in need of it more than I am. With a neverending wishlist of the newest and latest equipment to buy for the business, it has definitely been testing my faith to keep my promise to her these first months of the year by giving to her before I buy my new gadgets, but I have still followed through trusting that by putting God first in my finances, He would provide somehow.

Then today, something cool happened where God showed me His faithfulness for my faithfulness.

I received a HUGE out of the blue check in the mail. Apparently, one of my brides, Chrissy Breen, won a grand prize at the bridal show we met at, and part of that prize went to me as one of her vendors. (Speaking of Chrissy, I'm currently working on her awesome Bridal Glamour music video. Check back soon to see the premiere of it!)

Also too, last week, I received a huge rebate check from Canon. I was expecting a certain amount, but turns I received double that amount.

So as I was walking home from the mailbox today, I was adding up in my head how the extra money I received from the Canon rebate, and now from the bridal show prize money, it equals exactly what I have already given to my Aunt Ruby in the months of January and February. I just stood amazed at how God had surprised me and given me back through unexpected ways what I had already given.

It reminded me of this awesome movie I saw recently, "The Ultimate Gift." It has a simliar lesson in it, about being given money, and do we decide to keep it all or for ourselves, or give first like God instructs us? For a long time I didn't believe in tithing, but in the past few years I've really come to see how when we are obedient in the area of our finances, God uses our tithe as seeds to multiply what He wants to ultimately give us.

So since I had written about it before, I just wanted to give an update on that and how God is moving in my life through it.

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out the movie. Not to mention it stars that precious little girl from "Little Miss Sunshine." Here's the trailer.

Jessi and Daniel Engagement Session: How Sweet It Is

One of my bride's, Corinna, whose wedding I'm in shooting in Vegas in May, told me a little while back that there is a girl at her work that is her twin.

"I was in the copy room the other day and this person was like, 'Hi Jessi!' Apparently people at work think we are twins. What's funny is that our fiances both look alike too, tall and blonde shaved hair."

Yes, to make it more of a small world, turns out the "twins" are also getting married a month apart. Jessi will walk down the isle to her fiance, Daniel, on April 14th and I'm excited to also shoot their beautiful beach wedding at the Casa Marina in Jacksonville Beach.

This past weekend I shot Jessi and Daniel's engagement session. They also have two sweet little girls, Serah and Teagan, so we started out the session with some fun family portraits on the playground. Then their grandma picked up the girls, and Jessi and Daniel and I took off to explore the colorful and artsy Riverside 5 Points area together for the rest of their saucy session.

Here are a few of my favorites from the day and their slideshow!

>>>CLICK HERE FOR THEIR SLIDESHOW