Showcased on letsgettrashed.com!

Congrats to Kayla! My photos of her were chosen to be showcased on high school senior's hottest new website, letsgettrashed.com. Started by the creators of trashthedress.com, the new sister site features girls all over the country who are having fun trashing their prom dress in really great and memorable pics!

Kayla trashed her prom dress!

A few months ago, a nice man named Rick, emailed me after hearing my interview on the Pro Photography Show, and then further telling me of his high school granddaughter, Kayla, who is an aspiring photographer. I told him how one of the best things I did to help me as a photographer was be on the other side of the camera first, so we then scheduled a session for Kayla to get some cool "trash the prom dress" photos.

Kayla is a superstar softball player in high school, so we met at one of her favorite fields and she brought her gear to use as accessories in the photos. We had a great time rolling in the red clay field and bonding over photography! Her grandpa even hooked me up to a wireless mic and filmed the whole session so that Kayla could go back later and study my techniques on how I got the photos of her that I did. Even though she is the next great photographer, and will be a third generation photographer in the family, she was also a fabulous and gorgeous model!

>>>CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW








































Then, Kayla's grandpa, Ric, on the sidelines, sporting his favorite hat and camera!

The Barry Family

Earlier this year at a bridal show, I met another photographer named Amy Barry carrying her sweet little newborn, Blaize. Though she is from Keystone Heights, she was recently vacationing in the St. Augustine area and asked me to take some new family portrait photos for her of her and her hubby, Jason, and three other cutie pie kids, Brett, Brooke and Brynna. Amy and Jason have a cute story being high school sweethearts, and it was fun to also steal them away from the kids and get some lovey dovey shots as if they were back in high school dating!

>>>CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW




































Amy and I at the end of a long hot Floridian July day. :-)

Tara & Robbie are engaged!

"So are you ever going to kiss me, or what," Tara asked Robbie as she leaned against the bar in New York City, where Robbie had moved from Ireland a few years before.

Though Tara was from Denver, she frequently visited NYC to show dogs in competitions. She would always go with her friends to this one bar across the street from the arena where Robbie would serve them drinks.

Finally, Robbie kissed Tara and they've been head over heels ever since.

I recently met with Tara and Robbie up at the gorgeous and historic Jekyll Club in Jekyll Isand, Georgia, where I will be shooting their destination wedding in September. They also brought their little girl, Abigail, a sweet dog that Tara rescued. For part 2 of their session, we went out to the beach to get some shots with Abigail, and before I knew it, it turned into a "trash the dog" session when Robbie picked up his girls and carried them into the ocean.

>>>CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW












Tara and Robbie will soon dance their first dance here on this lawn in front of the Crane Cottage where their reception will be held.









Above is the Faith Chapel where Tara and Robbie's ceremony will be held. This chapel is one of 5 in the country that showcases a Tiffany stained glass window.







A girl can't help but L-O-V-E Tara's glittery 5 karat ring!

Taliah and Mark are engaged!

Taliah just recently got her braces off, and she was now ready for her spotlight in front of the camera. Not only did she have the love of her life, Mark, by her side, but she had her hair stylist, three outfits, her mom, her two sisters, and her brother as part of her entourage for her and Mark's engagement session with me.

We had fun prancing around the Riverside area, hopping fence on private property, turning the Starbucks bathroom into a personal dressing room. Then later in they became supermodels in the rain in San Marco. We even almost got arrested by a police offer yelling at us to get out of the road. Doesn't he know the best shots are the most risktaking? :-)

Taliah formerly worked at the GAP, and, like me, has a passion for fashion. We were a great match for bride and photographer from the beginning! And Mark was such a sport as he took the shadow to let Taliah shine. I mean any guy that would patiently wait in Starbucks for half an hour in between each outfit change while his soon-to-be bride transformed wardrobe and hair in the bathroom, is definitely a keeper!

>>>CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW






























This was the shot that we almost got arrested for. In between lights changing, I told them to run in the road, and as I'm clicking the shutter, the police officer comes running up to us "GET OUT OF THE ROAD RIGHT NOW!" Like geez, fine. But it was so worth it wasn't it? :-)

"Trashy" letters to the editor!

Daniel with his new bride, Jessi, after their beautiful wedding at Jacksonville Beach.

I know "trashing the dress" isn't for everyone. If you are up for it, that's great! If not, I also offer Bridal Glamour sessions that still let you be a diva in hot photos without ruining the dress.

Heck, when my day comes, I'll probably get a cheap dress off eBay for my own trash session, and then donate my real dress to Brides Against Breast Cancer.

Unfortunately, for something that has become so special and meaningful to brides, it's so sad when others get defensive judging brides because they are unable to appreciate the art and creative photography behind trashing a wedding dress. In response to the article the Florida Times Union showcased about me, there has been a "Letters to the Editor" war of words about the whole concept the past few weeks. One lady wrote how a bride trashing her wedding dress was "wasteful and disgusting" and couldn't believe grooms would "approve" of this "disrespectful" honor of their marriage.

This really upset my bride in the article, Corinna, and her husband Bobby, who took it as a personal attack the way the lady so harshly judged Corinna's decision on what to do with her dress. But after cooling off, Corinna then rallied together with a few of my past "trash" brides to start a letter campaign to the Florida Times Union to defend their case and provide a balanced coverage.

Then today, the newspaper actually published one of my groom's letter! Woo hoo! It was written by Daniel, who also participated with his wife, Jessi, in her trash the dress session back in April.

Here's Daniel's awesome letter!

WEDDING DRESSES
Trashing is not an insult

In April, my wife trashed her wedding dress right after our reception.

And guess what? Not only did I support her decision, but I also participated. Scarlett Lillian is very talented and even got Photographer of the Week for our photos on TrashTheDress.com.

My wife and I had a great time capturing these moments.

As my wife would point out, we felt this was a symbolic expression of our love and eternal commitment we made to one another, not an insult to us or to the sanctity of our marriage.

You can trash your dress and still preserve the integrity of the gown.

My wife took her dress to the dry cleaners and made arrangements to donate it to the Brides Against Breast Cancer fundraiser.

Preserving your wedding dress in a box is not going to make a difference as to what kind of marriage you will have, nor does it reflect a low regard for the sacredness of marriage.

Grooms rent our tuxes. There are some brides who didn't have a wedding dress and are still married decades later.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions. However, instead of making insinuations, let brides be the better judge of what to do with their dresses.

DANIEL STEVENS, utility line locator/surveyor, Jacksonville

I got sac'd.

So everyone already knows of my love for my new ShootSac by the fabulous Jessica Claire. Now I have to brag some more.

Jessica is one of my favorite photographers out in Southern California and she continues to set precedents for photographers in the wedding industry, always having her finger on the pulse of what's hot and up and coming. Her latest endeavor is creating these fashionista bags that from day one I was in love with and of course had to get. As she says in her commercial:

"A camera bag is there to hold your equipment. A ShootSac is there to help you be a better photographer."

And it's totally true!

So the reason why I'm bragging more is because I just got an email from Jessica herself saying that she blogged about me on the ShootSacBlog!

I had submitted some pictures that my friend Lori Schaneville took of me sportin' my ShootSac at the recent wedding for Susan and Matt, and not only did Jessica showcase the pictures, but she took the time to write some amazing compliments and feature a little of my own work. It's such a great honor to be featured with other wedding photographer rockstars like David Jay, Jasmine Star, Graycen Nudd, Jessica Strickland and Bobbi+Mike!

Thanks so much Jessica!!

p.s. Be sure to watch her killer commercial just a few posts below mine on the ShootSacBlog. Coming from a videography background, the commercial rocks!

Chrissy and Chris: Highlight intro video

On a beautiful sunny day back in April, I captured the wedding of Chrissy and Chris on video in Orlando, Florida. Never have I participated in a wedding so full of emotion with floods of tears of joy, from the bridesmaids' toasts while they were getting ready, to the presenting of a father/daughter picture from Chrissy to her dad, to Chrissy and Chris' vow exchange and their first dance. Before the wedding, I filmed a Bridal Glamour video for Chrissy and she surprised Chris at the reception with the dedication to him. Chrissy was proud to wear her tiara and truly lived up her day as a princess who was finally marrying her Prince Charming in her "real life fairytale."

Here's their highlight intro!

Whoever you are, thank you!

Even though I've pretty much grown up with the internet, it still amazes me how it can be used to connect perfect strangers and how God uses it to bless others along the way. Tonight I ran across an example of that.

Rewind. So, to track visitors to my blog, I use a handy dandy tool called statcounter.com. I admit, I'm quite obsessed with stalking my blog stalkers. If you've visited, I know what time you visited, what city and state you are visiting from, what link you came from that brought you to my blog, and how many times a day you visit. :-) It's crazy to think that everyday I have people from all over the world, in places like the Phillipines, Malaysia, England, Nigeria, and other countries I can't pronouce, all reading the words I ramble on about. (By the way.... I would love to know who the daily person is from Los Angeles that always comes from my MySpace link a few times a day? I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's some fabulous Hollywood celebrity checking me out to shoot their fabulous upcoming wedding. ha!)

In tonight's stalking my blog stalkers, I saw a new link that someone came from to my blog. It was another blog, called Ending Unplanned. By the name, I thought it would be a wedding planning company, but instead it was a friend of my bride, Corinna. She had seen the article in the newspaper recently about Corinna and I trashing her dress, and then checked out my website from there.

And wow, I got so teary eyed reading the beautiful words this perfect stranger wrote about me:

"I looked up [Scarlett's] website, and can honestly say that I am literally amazed at her talent. To hear her talk of how she just realized her love of photography one day after using her point and shoot camera to take "a cool black and white picture" of a friend's wedding dress - and how her little hobby has not only become a thriving, successful business but a way to touch people's lives is truly so inspiring. She speaks freely of her faith and her belief that God is using her for bigger and better things than even she realizes. Watching her tribute to her Aunt Ruby had tears rolling down my cheeks. Seeing her pictures make you remember instantly how easily someone can capture emotion and feeling in just a simple photograph."

Sometimes I feel like I ramble on too much on my blog and should keep it strictly professional focused on photography, but it's nice to know in moments like this that God is using my blog for more than just a photography showcase, but to also inspire you all in deeper ways. God is the ultimate Creator and Giver of the creative gifts He's given me, so I can't help but want to give glory to Him in the ways He blesses me along my journey.

And it truly touches my heart to know it somehow makes a difference in your world too.

So thank you to whoever is behind the words at Ending Unplanned, and to everyone else for taking the time to visit, stalk, whatever you want to call it, my blog and to read the words I write.

I do promise a ton of new photos this coming week. I'm in a cave right now in major editing mode still trying to also wrap up the last few weddings I shot videography for earlier this year, so a new highlight video is also on the way for Chrissy and Chris' beautiful fairy tale wedding!

A hot pink world

One thing I love about being a photographer, is meeting other photographers! It's the most amazing feeling in the world to meet someone who shares the same passion for capturing life with a click of a button.

One great photographer chick I met earlier this year is Crystal Deising of Atlanta, who is the most giving person I've ever met. What started with a few comments back and forth from stalking each other's blogs, we then met in February during a trash the dress session in Savannah. Crystal is super girly like me, and she surprised me with a beautiful french Parisian clock that she saw and said it reminded me of her. I was super thrilled to receive such a thoughtful gift, and it went perfectly in my bedroom.

Then today, she did it all over again and surprised me again. I routinely checked my mail, but today in my mailbox I had a pink and black polka dot package sitting inside. I almost didn't want to open it because the wrapping was just so darn cute! But of course, I couldn't resist and I rushed home to see the goodies.

I first got a laugh out of her funny card addressed to "Scarlett, the hot pink princess photographer!" Then it was the cutest card with a girly girl and her white poodle, just like me and my Rhett!

Then, again, the pink wrapping with the green polka dot ribbon was so cute that I hated to mess it up, but I'm glad I did because inside was the most beautiful hot pink earrings and matching hot pink sarong (which will go great with my hot pink bathing suit!)

I called her up immediately and of course told her she shouldn't have, but she said she was at a fashion show recently and when she saw the hot pink, she couldn't resist thinking of my website.

I know I already said it a million times to her, but thank you thank you thank you Crystal! You have one of the most beautiful hearts I know and you truly made my day!

Here's a picture of the goodies!



Speaking of meeting other photographers, Pictage, my print fulfillment company, just released a promo video from PartnerCon in Chicago that I went to back in May. There's a quick cameo of me after Charles Bordner kick's Mike Colon's butt at ping pong. Unforutnately I won't be going to the next PartnerCon in Los Angeles in September, but I just wanted to share the video! It was made by my friend, Ron Dawson of Cinematic Studios, who is an amazing wedding videographer in California. If you are looking for a videographer, he's worth the extra travel fees! :-)

Check out the video below! Just click on Mike Colon. :-)

Click To Play

Only a few more 2007 dates left!

It's been an exciting and busy first half of the year shooting weddings! I've been all over the country shooting weddings in Las Vegas, New York, South Florida, Savannah, Atlanta, Charleston, Tallahassee, here in Jacksonville, and more!

I just wanted to let brides know that I am only taking on a few more dates for the 2007 year and will be raising my prices next month, so if you are interested in booking me for the remaining 2007, the sooner the better!

I am also currently booking for 2008 dates, so don't hesitate to contact me about your date!

This week has been a lot of back to back shooting, so I'm in editing mode now and lots of new photos on the way! Stay tuned!

HEALing kids with Hollywood actress Jenny McCarthy

Ok, I can finally spill the secret! You've waited long enough. I couldn't reveal it at first because I was in the talks with People magazine about using the pictures, but they ended up passing on using them.

So, drum roll please....

The celebrity I shot recently was actress Jenny McCarthy. Known for her roles in Scream 3, John Tucker Must Die,and numerous TV shows, she is also known most recently in celebrity gossip for dating funny man, Jim Carrey. But something else she is becoming known for is promoting awareness for autistic kids, and has a 5-year old autistic son herself. And to help further the cause, this fall she is releasing a book about it:



She was recently in town as a special guest speaker at a charity event for HEAL- Healing Every Autistic Life, and I donated my services to help capture the event for them. There were a ton of live auctions and it was amazing be part of a night that raised over $100,000 to go towards research for autism.

I have a special place in my heart for autistic kids because, last year, I shot a wedding for a bride whose father and brother-in-law were killed in a plane accident a month before her wedding. The bride's sister was left with two little girls, one autistic and another who recently was healed from her autism. As memory keepsake of their dad, I produced a video for them mixing home footage they shot with their dad and recent footage of the three of them left behind. If you missed it in earlier blog entries, grab the tissues and check out this link for the touching music video. (In going to get the link, I hadn't seen the video in a long time, and I just cried all over again!)

It was exciting to get to meet Jenny and be her personal paparazzi for the night as I took hundreds of pictures with her and all the guests. Here are some special ones though of her interacting with some of the VIP children attending the event that night.


A little girl shy about meeting Jenny. Her mom, in the purple, is a special doctor they honored that night as well for her work with autism kids.




A little boy giving a special gift to Jenny.


The gift was an illustration he drew just for her.


Jenny smiling with another VIP member, NFL Jacksonville Jaguar football player, Tony Pashos.

Mike and Joye are engaged!

Next month, Mike and Joye have a beautiful wedding planned in New Orleans, Louisiana. The photographer for their wedding will be my friend, the fabulous Mark Eric in Louisiana. But for their engagement session, they wanted some pictures on the beach in Mike's hometown here in Jacksonville.

I pulled up to Mike's parent's beautiful Ponte Vedra Beach home, and we had a fun filled afternoon shooting around the home and the pool and then getting our toes sandy on the beach. Mike and Joye share such a sweet playful affection for each other and as their favorite song says, you know "all will be well" for them when they look into each other's eyes.

>>>CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW

Congratulations Jenny & Jason!

Not only was 7-7-7 a lucky day for so many couples getting married, it was a lucky day for me.

As a photographer, I love shooting weddings, and I love shooting models. And what really rocked about 7-7-7 is that I got to shoot two models getting married! Every wedding photographer's dream! Jenny, who was named in the Atlanta Magazine as one of the Most Beautiful People in Atlanta, and Jason, who has modeled for one of my favorite stores, H&M, were both sizzling for the camera workin' it as we held our own little photoshoot in between their ceremony and reception at the decadant and colorful Mansion on Forsyth hotel in Savannah, Ga. I was also excited to have my good friend, Amy Martin, there to shoot the gorgeous couple with me.

Aside from the moments in the spotlight, my favorite moment of the day was watching Jenny and Jason cry together as they held each close as husband and wife dancing their last dance together at the reception before jetting off quickly to the airport to catch a plane to San Juan. There is always such a beauty in tears of joy, and it was in that unposed moment that their love shined most beautifully.

Below are my favorites! It was so hard to choose. Be sure to check out the slideshow for so many more pics!

>>>CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW

Dinner with Paula Deen

I love Savannah, Georgia.

If there is anywhere else in the country I would want to live, it would be this sleepy Southern town. Especially as a photographer, everywhere you go, it's one picturesque spot after another. I especially love when I get to shoot weddings in Savannah. I got to return for last weekend's 7/7/7 wedding, and for dinner the night before, my friend and second shooter, Amy Martin, and I had dinner at the famous Paula Deen restaurant, Lady and Sons.

A few years ago, before she ever became the Food Network TV star that is she today, my parents and I ate at her restaurant when it was just a small little restaurant. She was in the back hustling up dinner like it was her own kitchen, and she was in and out from the back to the front personally bringing out the new helpings to the buffet herself. Now the restaurant takes up three floors of Southern hospitality with people waiting in lines around the corner just to get a table. Though the location has changed, the food hasn't, and it was just as delicious as I remember it. With an unlimited buffet of collard greens, macaroni and cheese, yams, butter beans, fried chicken (I smelled it on Amy's plate, mmmm, but just veggies for me!), biscuits and black eyed peas, Amy and I literally needed a wheelbarrel to haul us out of there after our dinner. If you ever visit Savannah, this is a must-eat restaurant. But you have to get their early to put your name on the waiting list. Luckily they were able to squeeze us in to two seats at the bar so we didn't have to wait long!


Everyone waiting outside. And tourists driving by.




My first plate of dinner.


Amy's first plate.


Posing with Miss Paula Deen herself! Ok, so not THE Paula Deen, but she wasn't in town, so this was the closest we could get.

Fit for a princess!

The Cinderella dress.

I believe in fairy tales.

When I was a little girl, I wanted to grow up and be Snow White, then Cinderella, then Belle, then Ariel, then Jasmine. You know, whoever the latest Princess was in the newest Disney movie to hit theaters. I used to frolic around my room with a hairbrush in hand singing to the Disney Princess Soundtrack. And when I got my first car, my first keychain was hot pink and said "Yield to the Princess." I'm still waiting to meet my Prince Charming, but I'm certain I will end up happily ever after, all in God's perfect timing.

Meanwhile, I ran across this link to something new and fabulous for other fashoinista princess brides at heart. Disney has come out with their very own line of Princess inspired wedding gowns! Go check it out!

Which one is your fave? I think kind of like the Ariel for a sexy look, but I also like the Belle and Cinderella for a grand entrance.

Eva and Tony's wedding

Ok, I confess, so the celebrity I photographed recently was Eva and Tony's wedding. No, just kidding, I wish! I had a more important wedding to shoot in Savannah for Jenny and Jason, whose mega-hot pics I'll have up on the blog soon! But I WILL reveal the goods soon on the celebrity I did shoot recently. Promise!

But back in May, I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with Bob Davis at Partnercon in Chicago. He was one of the speakers and is known to be a great teacher in the wedding industry for other photographers. Turns out, he was the lucky chosen one to shoot Eva and Tony's wedding. He has also shot a lot for Miss Fabulous Herself, Oprah. Other notable wedding photographer, Gary Fong, just did an interview with Bob about his experince shooting the extravagant Parisian celebrity wedding. For all the other photographers that read my blog, or other fellow celebrity-gossip-junkies wanting the inside scoop, I just thought you'd all love to read it the interview! Enjoy!

Click here for the interview!

Keep an eye out for OK! Magazine which will be debuting tomorrow on newsstands Bob's exclusive wedding pics of Eva and Tony!

You know you've made it when...

You know you've made it when.... the little girls you used to babysit across the street stop by your parents house to see if you are home for an autograph on the article about you in the newspaper!

Ha! True story!

My mom called me yesterday saying she's going to have to start charging admission for the "Scarlett Tour" around the house. Yesterday, three of the little girls who I used to babysit across the street rang the door bell with my newspaper article in hand.

"Is Scarlett home?" they asked my dad as he answered the door.

"Um hold on." My dad closed the door and called upstairs to my mom, "Honey, Scarlett has fans at the door. Can you take care of this?"

So my mom heads downstairs to greet the girls, and since I don't live there anymore, she instead took the girls upstairs and gave them a tour of my old bedroom where I used to sleep, and huddled them around the computer showing them my website and blog. She said even one of the little girls insisted, "Does she take family portraits too? We want her to take our pictures!" (I would definitely need a wide angle lens for their family, they come from a family of 8 kids, I think that's what they are up to now.)

Anyways, I was just so humbled to hear that story and got a big laugh out of hearing about my "fans." I wish I had a picture to share of the girls, but maybe soon I'll have a family portrait to post!

In other news....


Smiling for Susan's camera at the HEAL event

To go along with the article that came out in the newspaper, I also found out yesterday that I missed another article blurb about me in Saturday's paper. I recently shot a charity event for HEAL Austim Now, and there I met columnist, Susan Brandenburg. We got on the topic of the whole trash the dress craze that she was fascinated by that she even wrote a little blurb about it in her Saturday column. Here's the link to that!

HOT NEWS: Scarlett Lillian featured in The Florida Times Union

I can finally reveal it! I'm excited to share the secret about a special publishing! As I mentioned in the video in my previous blog entry, I was featured today in the Jacksonville newspaper, The Florida Times Union, with my brides Corinna and Jenny about the whole trashthedress.com craze.

Here's some pics of the hard copy, or you can read the online version of the article by clicking here!


The pic I took of Corinna made the FRONT PAGE! Woo hoo!


Corinna, my mom, my "fong dong" and I on the front page of the Lifestyle section.


The back page!

A "trashy" rainy day.

In May, I shot a fabulous destination wedding for Corinna and Bobby in Las Vegas. Corinna originally wanted to trash her dress on the strip in Vegas, but due to time constraints we weren't able to pull that off. So now, back home in Jacksonville, we trashed it instead amongst the lily pads and swampy rivers of Northeast Florida. What we didn't expect were thunderstorms and rain on the day we scheduled her photoshoot, but thank goodness we were already trashing the dress because the rain made for even cooler pictures with the water droplets all around her in the water.

Check out the video below for behind-the-scenes look at the making of the trash session, and a cool slideshow of all her hot pics! Also in the video is a special announcement of what publication joined us at the session to do an upcoming article about our trash session!




And I couldn't resist giving you a sneak peak before the article is published. Here are a few of my favorites!


(First, we shot a few inside while we let the thunderstorms pass...)

Again, my bed comes in handy for a few shots. My bed was also used in Corinna and Bobby's engagement session last year.




I have to give credit that I got the idea for this shot from one of my favorite photographers and friend, the fabulous Jasmine Star. Thanks Jazz for helping me see something from a different angle!






Time for outside! I literally had a camera in one hand and an umbrella in the other, as you can see in the video!









My FAVORITE shot of the day!
















MANY MORE IN THE VIDEO! Scroll up to see the rest in the video slideshow above!

7/7/7

One of my favorite photographers, Liana Lehman, pointed this out on her blog:

According to this article on Yahoo, there may be a WORLD RECORD this Saturday for the most weddings ever:

"The Knot.com, a wedding planning site, says that on any given Saturday in July (the most popular month for weddings), there are typically 12,000 weddings taking place. But on 7-7-07, that number has more than tripled - to 38,000. That could possibly make this the most popular wedding day ever."

I'm now heading out the door to Savannah to shoot a destination wedding for the special day for Jenny and Jason. Earlier this year I did a trash the dress with Jenny (above pic). Since it was before her wedding, we used a dress from eBay as an alternative for the photo shoot. I'm looking forward to seeing and capturing the beautiful details of her real dress tomorrow. Their wedding is at one of my favorite hotels, the historic Mansion on Forsyth. And I'm thrilled to have one of my favorite photographer friends, Amy Martin, joining me to document the day! Happy 7/7/7 to all the other brides getting brides getting married on the memorable day. Kind of cool to share it with Eva and Tony too!

Vegetarian on the run

For the past 26 years, I have hated two things: vegetables and running. Ok, hate is a strong word, let me rephrase. I have not preferred vegetables and running. It's not that I never ate veggies or ran, I just never chose to do either unless my mom put veggies on my plate for dinner, or a P.E. coach made us run laps around the track. As an adult, the extent of my vegetable eating was salads, and the extent of my running was like 5 minutes on the treadmill at the gym to warm up to do other excercises that didn't involve running. I've had so many friends who just LOVED to run, and I never understood the addiction, because all I ever got was a cramp in my side whenever I would try.

But now, I have become two things I never imagined myself becoming: a vegetarian and a runner.

The vegetarian thing had been stirring in me for a while. Even in middle school, I remember one day telling my mom, "I'm no longer eating red meat." I don't know where that came from, but it lasted about 6 months before I gave in again to Chik-fa-la's and hot dogs. Then earlier this year I met another Jacksonville photographer, Darice Michelle, who told me she was a vegan.

"I don't know how you do it!" I said to Darice. "I could never give up meat or dairy."

"That's what I used to think too, you'd be surprised once you set your mind to something," Darice responded.

Even though we didn't go deep into it then, I did take notice how tiny Darice was with a beautiful figure and thought "Ah ha, that must be how she stays so skinny after having two kids! Maybe I should give the vegetarian thing a try."

So I did. For two weeks. My motivation was obviously wrong, so it didn't last. I did though pick her brain at a later time to find out more behind her motivation for the whole vegan lifestyle. And though I wasn't ready at the time, her words and reasonings kept replaying in my head considering it all.

Then this time last month, I randomly watched the movie "Fast Food Nation". Let's just say it was a huge wake up call. Not only does it document how most of the meat we eat has traces of animal poop in it, but at the end, it showed a detailed gory bloody visual of the torture cows are put through in the killing process. All I could think about is someone doing that to my poor Rhett, or the momma duck I've made friends with, and something inside of me finally clicked. I haven't eaten meat or fish or anything living since.

But what's cool is that, I don't feel deprived like I've "given up" something. Instead I've been discovering all the awesomely yummy vegetables and fruits I always ignored before, and my tastebuds have totally shifted. I've even started COOKING all these delicious veggie dinners... hey, that's a big deal for me to whip out the pots and pans.

I can't quite give up chocolate, so I haven't quite gone vegan like Darice, which means no dairy or eggs, but I'm trying slowly to make that adjustment by choosing soymilk instead of regular milk, for example, which is surprisingly VERY yummy! It's been fun to discover the wealth of other alternative products like veggie sausage patties which I'm now addicted to and actually taste better and are less greasy than regular sausage patties.

Anyways, I'm not one to preach about what's right and wrong, but I just simply wanted to share how empowering it's been to make this lifestyle change and know that I'm making healthy choices. It's nice for once to not feel like I have to "watch I eat" but instead enjoy eating what I know is good for me. And as a result, I've been fitting back into pants that were too small, with out even trying.

Also, one of my brides recommended a good book to read if you are thinking of doing the vegetarian/vegan thing. It's called "Skinny Bitch." I just picked it up yesterday and already read half of it. It's really good!

(Any other vegetarians out there???? I'd love to hear if you are!)

So with the healthy eating, I became inspired to start working out again. Earlier this year I had tried to go back to the gym, which lasted for a few weeks, but it became so boring and monotonous, that I just stopped going all together. So one day in my car, I was cruising down this new road they opened up near my place that now completes a circle and clocked the distance which equaled 4 miles. Next thing I know, I'm putting on my tennis shoes and hooking Rhett up on a leash and off we go. Again, big deal for me, because I never run, let alone run OUTSIDE where it's humid and there are bugs and dirt. (This coming from the girl who doesn't even like to walk on grass!)

But it has been so exhilarating and for the first time ever I'm enjoying working out. And I love the fresh air how it clears my mind from all the work related stress. And I love spending that time with Rhett racing him in between his stops at fire hydrants. I always feels so connected to God too in nature, so I get a lot of good prayer time in on the runs. I almost crave it now! And it's been cool to see my body condition itself going from mostly walking with a few sprints here and there, to now mostly jogging with a few walks here and there.

(I've even found a lot of good potential spots along the route that I would LOVE to "trash the dress" with future brides!)

Then like I wrote in my last blog post, I saw my friend Jill Higgins started a "photographers on the run" challenge with the new iPod and Nike shoes dealio. Today was my first day running with my new get up, and I was excited to see I've almost caught up to Jill in one run than she has in all of her runs so far. ha ha

I posted a thing to the right of my blog for the challenge we have going on with other photographers, so if you are a runner too, we'd love to have you in on the challenge! (And you don't have to be a photographer, it's open to anyone!)

Here's a graph of my first run from synching my iPod to the Nikeplus.com site that keeps a record of your progress.



On a closing note, the other thing I never imagined myself being was a wedding photographer.... but as one of my favorite quotes says:

"Lift up your eyes... Your heavenly Father is waiting to bless you in ways you never imagined." ~Janette Ore

All I can say is, thank goodness He knows better than we do! When we finally let go and let Him have control, that's where we find our greatest joys in life!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Happy Birthday Rachie!

(TOP)A middle school yearbook pic of Rachel and I. Now you see why I eventually got contacts! :-)
(BOTTOM) Rachel and I today.

One of my best and dearest friends is my friend Rachie, ahem, Rachel. We first met in homeroom class in 6th grade and instantly became bonded at the hip. Every weekend we would rotate between spending the night at her house, or my house, then back to her house. We loved going to the ice skating rink together to check out cute boys. We loved shopping together buying the same pink flannel shirts from Limited Too. We loved having our moms drop us off at the movie theater to to go see movies and again check out cute boys. I even have Rachel to thank for introducing me to God when she invited me to attend her church that she and her family went to, and it soon became the church my mom and I would eventually call home too where I was baptized a few years later.

Then in 8th grade, Rachel went to a different school and my world was shattered. Through high school and college, we kept in touch and would hang out from time to time. It wasn't until we both moved home after college that we really reconnected and our friendship picked up where it left off back in middle school.

They say old friends are the best of friends, and with Rachel, it is so true. Rachel reminds me of everything that is good in the world. Always the optimistic, she has one of the biggest hearts I know, and she constantly teaches me without knowing the beauty of loving others and the joy that comes from simple things in life. She's the kind of friend that is always there for you no matter what.... such as dropping everything to give you a ride when you get a flat tire on the way to a wedding you are supposed to be shooting in half an hour. :-) Though she's a fashion nut, she sees beyond superficial beauty into the beauty inside each person's heart that she meets along the way, and she carries an enthusiasm for life that is absolutely contagious.

And tonight, we celebrated her 26th birthday just like old times, just Rachel and Scarlett pigging out on cheesecake, shopping and catching a chick flick (and... other adventures... see below...)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL!!!!

Everyone go to her MySpace page and wish her happy birthday!

Other adventures of our night...


When in Barnes & Noble, I saw the brand new issue of The Knot was out, which I had been itching to see because......


It has my full page AD in the new issue!! Woo hoo! Go Captivating Studios!


Rachel checking out my ad.

In other big news, today was a special day because I FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY bought an iPod. I know, I'm like the last person in the world to get one. But I've started going on runs with my dog lately, and got tired of holding my big CD player, so I knew it was time I break down and invest in an iPod. Also, I was inspired by my friend Jill Higgins to get the Nike shoes that sync with your iPod to track your distance and calories burned. So in the midst of our shopping, we stopped at the Apple store to get my first iPod and then stopped at Dick's to get my new Nike shoes. They had a track in the middle of the store, so here I am goofing off running around the track modeling my new shoes and holding my new iPod Nano and adapter thingy!



Close up of my new toys. YES, of course I got the hot pink iPod and hot pink shoes. Duh! I'll be setting up a challenge thing on the blog soon to be able to run virtually with all of you, so stay tuned to sign up! Who would have thought I would become a runner, HA!



Rachel doing her "Marilyn Monroe" minus the dress pose outside the movie theater.


Both of us waiting in line to see License to Wed. Cute movie by the way!

If you were an M&M, what would you look like?

Hi, I'm Scarlett, and I'm a chocoholic.

One of my favorite chocolate indulgences is none other than a handful of good ol' M&Ms. Especially when I go to the movies, I take a handful of popcorn, throw in my mouth, then take a handful of M&Ms, throw it in my mouth, for a yummy salty and sweet combination. Even when my mom makes me go to the movie theater closer to her that doesn't sell plain M&Ms (they only have peanut), I will stop specifically at the grocery store to buy a bag of M&Ms so that I can eat them with my popcorn. Seriously, one of my favorite things in the world.

So when I was cruising fabulous photog Bobbi's blog and saw her M&M contest, I got the biggest laugh out of seeing what everyone would look like as an M&M! It was too late for me to enter her contest, but I totally surfed over to www.becomeanmm.com to create my own too!

What do you guys think, is she my hot pink twin or what?




I know you have more important things to do, but you should totally go create your own M&M too! Go on, you know you want to! Have fun!

Trashing the photographer

I can't spill all the details yet because this "trash the dress" session is going to be in an upcoming article for a special publication later this week, but I just couldn't stand but give you a sneak peak and share my favorite picture of the day! This is my bride Corinna, who's destination wedding I recently shot in Las Vegas. What turned out to be a rainy day full of thunderstorms, we still went forward forward with her photoshoot.

As I took this picture in the rain, I literally had my camera in my right hand, and an umbrella in my left praying I didn't slip on the slippery rocks I was standing on as I reached my camera above her hoping not to drop it in the water. But it was dang worth the shot!



Stay tuned for more about the article coming out AND a special "trashy" promo video of the photoshoot! Thanks too to Corinna for swimming in the lily pads and getting her toes muddy in the swamps we later found out were filled with water mocassins! More soon!