Starks Photography Blog

07.13.09

There is a moment; it's right when the familiar march is cued before the bride appears - I hold my breath. It's habitual - perhaps even instinctive. I'm standing (crouching, kneeling, sitting, etc), camera aimed at the entrance, and I'm not breathing. It's as if my body knows how monumental the following 20 seconds are, and it is anxious not to do anything - even take in air - to disrupt it.

The bride emerges at the end of the aisle, beaming, and begins her procession. I can inhale again. The moment is perfect.

***

Rae and Jason were married at gorgeous Hollis Gardens. The day was nothing short of incredible, and Rae was absolutely...breathtaking. :)

I love the emotion in the following two:

A really, really good kiss. ;)

Are we in the rainforest? Beautiful.

A good contestant for my "favorite of the day" award.

Cute portrait of the Mr. and Mrs. :)

Just a taste of the reception insanity. This one will go down as one of my favorite crazy-dancing-drink-slinging-thrown-over-the-shoulder images of all time. :)

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Mom (Tina):

I love it! It was a great wedding and you and Ben captured it beautifully. :)

(07.13.09)

Andrew G:

The over the shoulder photo has to be my favorite picture from all the ones I have seen from you guys. The faces are awesome, the clarity of the spilling drink is awesome, and your choice of color usage is awesome.

(08.17.09)

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valerie & ricky : engaged

07.09.09

You know you haven't blogged in awhile when...

a) you have to literally sit for 5+ minutes and try to remember your log in password

b) you are posting images from an engagement session...and the last post you made is the same couple

c) since you last blogged, a new month has started

Or, in my case, d) all of the above. Awesome.

I'm just going to gloss over my absence. Because this is my blog. And I can do that. :)

Let's digress so I don't allow myself to give...uh, myself....a guilt trip. (Do I sound like I have multiple personalities? Because I sure do feel like it. And so do I. And me too.)

Valerie and Ricky are the epitome of fabulousness wrapped up into one photogenic, tall (I had serious long leg envy when I was around Valerie), easygoing nutshell. While I was processing their engagement photos, I had a huge smile on my face. And I'm well aware that I looked somewhat idiotic to anyone who passed by, but I'm ok with that. Because I just couldn't contain my giddiness.

Check it out for yourself. And don't worry if you find yourself smiling uncontrollably. People only stare at you for the first few minutes.

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Ashley McCormick Photography:

Um... you were in Mt. Dora, just mere BLOCKS from my house, and you didn't call me :( I will only forgive you because the photos are beautiful. I think I'm going to try out some of your spots. ;)

(07.09.09)

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valerie & ricky : sneak peek!

06.19.09

We shot Valerie and Ricky's early a.m. engagement session (well, 9:00 is early for me ;)) in beautiful Mt. Dora. I'm not lying when I say that Valerie and Ricky are the most laid back people ever. We hung out. We laughed. We sweated through the Florida heat. We chatted about our dogs. There were times that I literally forgot I had a camera in my hands - it just didn't feel like work. And that is a beautiful thing.

Fortunately, there were also moments that I did remember the bulky, black contraption slung around my shoulder. :) Thanks to Valerie and Ricky's fabulousness, Ben and I were able to grab some awesome shots. I'm super eager to process the rest so I can blog an even bigger post! :) For now, enjoy the peek:

My view...

...and Ben's. :)

Valerie and Ricky's family bought them these rocking chairs as an engagement present. I can't begin to express how much I love when couples bring personal elements to a shoot. It adds bits of personality. :)

Valerie's gold heels were a show-stealer. ;)

I'm going to go all photography geek for a second and talk about how much I adore our 50mm 1.4 lens. Every time it dials in just right (like it did in the image below), I fall in love all over again. Props to Ben for grabbing this one - I absolutely love the simplicity of it.

"Private Party." :) Hands down, my favorite from the day. I was literally on Ben's shoulders to get this shot. And I didn't break his neck. Success.

Looking-straight-at-the-camera images are great, but they usually don't jump out at me too often. However, this photo could change my mind. It makes me smile every time I look at it.

I mean, how could you not like them?! :)

Runner up in the favorite-of-the-day contest.

*Stay tuned for more in the near future!*

(6) Comments Leave comment Send to a friend

Nana:

Love these pictures --they seem so relaxed!

(06.20.09)

Mary Marantz:

what a cute couple!! great job on these!

(06.24.09)

Amanda:

gorgeous!

(06.24.09)

Bri:

What a sweet couple. I love the last photo and the one with them in their feet up and you from behind the chairs - great perspective :)

(06.26.09)

Becka @Studio222 Photography:

Love that rocking chair shot

(07.02.09)

KarlB:

awesome....www.ilifephotoblog.com

(07.07.09)

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baby kaylee : just because

06.17.09

*Testing....testing...is this thing on?*

I have a pretty legit excuse for being a bit M.I.A. lately. Have you ever actually seen a chicken with it's head cut off? That would be outrageously disturbing and even more outrageously repulsive, but it definitely screams "chaos," right?

Well, here I am - flapping my wings frantically and running in circles like an idiot.

Even though I'm on overload to the 103rd degree, I'm going to make a serious effort to be more consistent on here. In fact, I plan on blogging at least 3 times a week for the rest of Summer. Pinky swear.

I digress.

I think it's kind of ironic that I'm posting this blog tonight, because just 2 days ago, I had a dream that I was pregnant and had a baby. All in the course of 8 hours. Could you even imagine if that were how things really were? It'd be like "oh yeah, I just found out I was pregnant - I'm due in 6 hours and 43 minutes." WHAAAT?!

I know some people believe that dreams can be interpreted as glimpses into the future, but I'm not one of those people. My nightly mind adventures are a far escape from reality, and I'd like to keep them that way. I mean, I once dreamed that I was a miniature person jumping on a king-kong sized trampoline with giant versions of television cartoon characters. My REM world is a bizarre place, my friends.

I digress again.

I posted precious little Kaylee's sneak peek awhile ago, and I'm super thrilled to be showcasing her gorgeous baby face on the blog once more. Yanelys and Randy - you definitely know how to make an insanely beautiful child:

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Yanelys:

OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!! THANK YOU AGAIN... (and yes, i would have to agree with you on the "insanely beautiful child" part...LOL) I AM SOOOOOO IN LOVE!!! I can't get enough of these pictures, your blogs leave me DESPERATELY waiting for more... I can't wait for your complete work of art all done with OUR "work of art", KAYLEE.

(06.17.09)

Sandy Acosta:

Amy... You have done it once again. Brilliant amazing wonderfully heartwarming work. Granted it is not possible to make my niece any more precious than she already is in all her baby splendor! But you have the ability to capture her awe inspiring beauty. Thank you!!! You're hired... idk for what yet, But you are sooo hired!!! ♥♥♥

(06.17.09)

Maddy Benito:

The Pictures are AMAZING!! I Love Every one of them, cant just pick one. Can't wait to see more!!!! My Munchichi looks BEAUTIFUL. Tia Maddy Loves YOU!!!

(06.18.09)

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baby kaylee : sneak peek!

06.04.09

Let me be real for a minute.

If someone were to have asked me a few months ago if baby shoots were our "thing," I would have replied with a firm "definitely not."

It's not that we can't photograph babies, because we can. And we have. But interacting with babies - there's the catch. We have no kids of our own (yet...;)), so it's difficult to know how to connect with one in a shoot. I look at it this way - it's easier to capture something you've had experience with. Been a high school senior? Check. Engagement? Check. Wedding? Check. Portraits? Check. Trashed my wedding dress? Check. Baby? ...nope.

I like babies. I think babies are precious. But I don't have one of my own, so I have yet to grasp the concept of being a parent. Additionally, I'm not a baby whisperer (have you met people like that? Seriously - how does that magical power work? It's like they have some hypnotic, nursery-rhyme voice or something).

Despite my feelings of inexperience, I am starting to think we can chalk baby shoots up as one of our "things." I'm becoming more comfortable with chubby cheeks and tiny feet. And who knows? Maybe this practice will make me more prepared for mom-world. Maybe. ;)

Ben and I photographed adorable 2-week-old Kaylee yesterday. Her parents, Yanelys and Randy, welcomed us into their home - a perfect, intimate setting for the shoot. Kaylee was a fabulous little model. There was only a brief moment of crying, and one unfortunate accident on the bed (and Yanelys' hand :)) during the entire hour and a half that we were there. I think she may have a future in the career - she didn't flinch once while our two huge lenses were shoved in her face. :)

Check out a few of our favorites below. More to come soon!

Kissy-face? :)

It amazed me to see how alert she was at only 2 weeks.

Proud parents. :)

LOVE this.

She looks like a little doll here. :)

Beautiful!

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Yanelys Benito:

OMG!!!!! they are AMAZING!!!! I can't express how grateful I am for this experience... Thanks soooo much! I look forward to seeing the rest of them. Much love to you both, Randy and Yanelys

(06.04.09)

Yvonne Morrow:

Beautiful baby -- beautiful pictures. Espcially love the one with her face in her Daddy's hand. Precious!

(06.04.09)

Gabby:

These pictures are so incredible! They make me melt. You two are truly talented, and Kaylee is absolutely gorgeous!!

(06.04.09)

Vicky:

Oh, wow!!! What beautiful pictures! What a beautiful baby!

(06.04.09)

Eileen:

OMG...Kaylee is absolutely precious and your photography captured it in an absolutely great way. I think u did an awesome job!

(06.04.09)

Sandy:

I am in absolute awe!!! Cant wait to see the rest of the pictures. Despite the lil model being as close to perfection as we can get, your shots were able to capture it. Great job! I love it! ♥

(06.04.09)

Eileen N:

I love them all. Excellent work but especially precious baby girl. my LADYBUG!. Gorgeous! :)

(06.04.09)

Sandy:

I am in absolute awe!!! Cant wait to see the rest of the pictures. Despite the lil model being as close to perfection as we can get, your shots were able to capture it. Great job! I love it! ♥ Sandy ♥

(06.04.09)

Maddy The Proud Tia:

I Am speechless, & for those who know me , You'll agree that till now I thought it would be impossiable to ever leave me SPEECHLESS!!!! Your work is AMAZING!!! & My Precious Moment Doll "Kaylee" Is Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! I LoVe Your Work!!

(06.04.09)

Dee:

OMG - Amy, I knew I forwarded your email to Yanely's but didn"t actually know they booked you until yesterday. LOL i'm soo happy and I knew you would do a great job. I'm sooo happy with your work and you will soon know most of us here... The pictures are AMAZNG!! Isn't Kaylee soooo freaking cute... UGHH she is precious!

(06.05.09)

Yanelys Benito:

i have to leave another comment... LOL (I am aloud, cause I am the mommy) ;) I cannot stop staring at these... OMG! I feel like I am not getting anything else done because I find myself on your site every half hour... I am soooo Excited and can't wait for the rest... I may have a heart attack... :)

(06.05.09)

YAMI:

the pictures are BEAUTIFUL...great shots.
I must say, perfect baby for the ART;)..My GORGEOUS niece!
I LOVE YOU KAYLEE...from tia Yami and Mikey

(06.05.09)

Jessica:

These are the pictures I wish I had of Levi when he was that small... Love them.

(06.06.09)

Jackie Beale:

ok I was looking through the TRA recipies website and came across one of your images that was submitted of a beautiful bouquet. Then I saw that you are a local photog! So glad to have stumbled upon your blog! Your work is really cool :)

(06.08.09)

Jenny :

She is beautiful God bless her and your family.

(06.12.09)

Joi and Junior:

Soooo beautiful! She's Noah's future girlfriend ~ :-) They are like Ying and Yang. I don't think we could get Noah to stay still for pics like this unless we sedated him. xoxo

(07.01.09)

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