Anna Maria Island Family Shoot

One of the coolest parts about our job is that we get to watch families grow.  From engagements, to weddings, to anniversaries, to first baby photos…we get to watch it happen and be a part of their happiest times.  You just can’t top that.  :)  We began to shoot this family with the birth of their first son, and have had such a great time watching him grow, shooting his 1st birthday, and now seeing his little sister grow up, too.  Thanks so much to them for letting us be a part of it!  Hope you enjoy the photos of this very fun trip to the sandy shores of Anna Maria Island…

We’ve been picked!

How fun!  Check out what we received today!

The verrrrrry tiny inscription at the bottom reads:  ”the best in weddings as voted by local brides.”  Well, THANKS local brides!  Whoever you are!  How totally fun to be picked.  Like a orange.  Or a grape.  Gosh…does that mean we’re ripe?  Hmm….

Anyway…that was our smile for today.  Thanks to whoever picked us!

Sisters…

These awesome kids were not only SUPER fun to shoot, but they also had some of the most amazing “wise beyond their years” expressions.  Even though the beach was closing and we only had a few minutes to run around – they had an adventurous spirit and ran from spot to spot and settling quickly into whatever “look” they felt fit the scene.  Wow!  I can definitely say that was a first for us – I wish we could take their photos every day.  :)  Check ‘em out!

Our 1st “Green” Wedding: Adam & Taryn

We first worked with Adam & Taryn, the founders of the Urban Charrette, when we photographed their 1st ECO.lution festival, focusing on sustainability in Tampa.  (Photos are here:  www.stehlikphotography.wordpress.com/2008/04/22/happy-earth-day-tooooo-yooooou)  Two years and a whole bunch of lattes later, and they are now some of my most favorite friends.  :)

Since the objective of the Urban Charrette is making Tampa as green as possible, it only makes sense that they  decided to make their wedding as green as possible as well.  Assisting them with that goal was Mise en Place (www.miseonline.com), which is not only a beautiful restaurant, but also a wonderful catering & event planning company.  Adam & Taryn decided to put the entire wedding in their hands, with simple the instruction:  ”Surprise me.”  (Talk about a laid back couple!!)

Mise definitely did not disappoint, and put together a beautiful wedding, working along with some of the area’s finest vendors, including Concept Bait (www.conceptbait.com) for the linens and stretch design and Botanica (www.botanicaflorist.com) for the floral design.  To see what exactly what made it a green wedding, check out this article about the wedding:  www.review.net/section/detail/nice-day-for-a-green-wedding.

The entire affair, including the rehearsal dinner, took place in Ybor City, within walking distance from the out-of-town guests hotel.  The ceremony & reception took place in Ybor City’s Italian Club, which I pass by all the time but have never actually gone inside – it was beautiful!  Down to the photos- let’s go!

We start with the pre-ceremony, where they got ready a the hotel:

After shooting the girls at the hotel, we walked with the guys from where they were getting ready to the ceremony location:

The ceremony was beautiful – it was held on the second floor of the Italian Club in the theater:

After the ceremony, we ran across into Seventh Avenue for a few quick shots in the street. :

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For their couples portraits, we took them after the wedding to the old Tampa Armature Works building in Tampa Heights – an amazing historic building which is slated for renovation and is just *loaded* with photo ops.  Huge thanks to the folks over there for letting us in!

After we were done running through the streets of Ybor, we went back to the Italian Club where the reception room was looking lovely and so….*green*!  Check it out:

The party was great fun, and the food was out of this world!!

It was such a pleasure to be a part of such a wonderful event, and to watch two people that I adore so much start the rest of their lives together.  Bellissimo!!

Edith & Jovel

Every so often I meet someone that is so special and has such a powerful, positive presence, that I feel like everyone should meet them… just to have their lives enriched by knowing them. This wedding gave me the opportunity to meet two such people… the bride & the groom! I can honestly say I’ve never cried at a rehearsal dinner before, but listening to the toasts and seeing the way they touched everyone around them made me so grateful for “auto-focus”… I could still shoot through my tears.

When I woke up the day of the wedding, I realized that I was sick. eek! (no…it wasn’t swine flu…stop it!!) So, obviously, I was more than a little apprehensive about shooting a 10 hour wedding. But the minute we got to the wedding and were surrounded by what felt like a hundred smiles and Edith’s beautiful attitude, any fear I had about feeling bad that day completely vanished – how could you feel bad with such awesome people around?

The day was a whirlwind! We started out at the Omni Championsgate Villas where Edith got ready:

From there, we headed over to the church for the ceremony. After the ceremony, we squeezed as many family shots in as we could before the next mass started, and finished the rest back at the hotel. By this point I had really started to lose my voice, so one of the wonderful family members with a beautifully resonant voice was my vocal backup – calling family members up for the very large groupings! Check out some shots from the church & some shots of Edith & Jovel at the hotel:

Back at the Omni Championsgate we settled in for an evening full of beautiful details, lots of laughter and dancing, and… costumes? Yep! Everyone had quite a blast with that. They had a photo booth there for guests to document themselves wearing boas or rabbit-eared top hats. Because, really, what’s a party without rabbit-eared top hats?

And, no, we don’t really hire 8 assistants to shoot with us…but the wedding guests certainly had our back should we miss a shot!! Eric, the videographer from Collab-Creation, did a great job dressing to match Paul. Or…the other way around…

Let the dancing begin!!! They most certainly knew how to party, and their excitement was contagious!!

What an absolutely perfect day. Thank you so much to Edith & Jovel, and all of their family and friends for your amazing kindness and hospitality, and making us feel like a part of the family. It was such a pleasure meeting you all!

Saving the World: Just one more service we provide. :)

Okay, well, perhaps that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but we ARE quite passionate about doing our part to help protect the environment. As I mentioned in my “Postcard from Europe” blog post, Stehlik Photography has been preparing to make some big changes, and I’m so pleased to announce the first one, which is that we are working on becoming as absolutely “green” as possible.

The places we visited during our last trip to Europe absolutely amazed us with their environmental advancements – and left us feeling so far behind! Be we were motivated by it, and determined that we would do whatever we could to promote green products.

Little did we know at the time, that the catalyst of that change would be brought to us by the most awesome boutique album company ever: Wild Magnolia Design! (www.wildmagnoliadesign.com)

WMD (wild magnolia design…not weapons of mass destruction…) is a specialty book maker based out of Santa Monica, California, that is on a mission to green-ify wedding albums! They currently produce the only environmentally friendly flushmount album in the world, and their designs are simply perfect. They are only taking on a limited number of clients, and we are so thrilled to be one of them!

We just received our very first sample album from them, and we are amazed by the quality and feel of the product. The Old World Leather Bag was made from reclaimed leather, and the organic vintage cover was made with 100% hemp canvas – a look that was stylish & impressive! We took some quick snaps for you all to see!

HUGE thanks to Becca of WMD for all of her hard work in getting the album to us so quickly, and for being the most incredibly talented and enjoyable “vendor” we have ever had the pleasure of working with!!

Okay! Part two of this announcement is just as exciting!! We are partnering up once more with the Urban Charrette, (a design collaborative dedicated to research, education, and advocacy that assists communities to build more livable cities) for their 2nd Annual ECO.lution festival, a festival celebrating local, green businesses!! (You can see highlights from last year’s festival at: www.stehlikphotography.wordpress.com/2008/04/22/happy-earth-day-tooooo-yooooou)

We absolutely adore the Urban Charrette, and are so proud of everything they’ve done for the Tampa Bay area. This year, we’re working with them on a very special project called “Faces of the Community.” During the week of April 13th, we will be taking headshots of people who sign up for the project, and donating the entire session fee to the Urban Charrette! So everyone wins – the participants get an awesome headshot, the Urban Charrette gets much needed financial support, and we get to bask in the happy high that doing something good for the community always brings. So join up and be a part of the project!! Check the info:

So, that’s our current happiness. We hope you can join us in our efforts! To misquote Miracle Max…badly…. “Have fun savin’ da world!”

Becky & David

A wedding at the Florida Aquarium + a red wedding gown + a bride & groom with amazing personalities = one extremely fun wedding.  Becky & David had such an incredible ease about them that made every part of the wedding so enjoyable.   We started the day at the Westin Harbor Island with some shots of the groomsmen & Becky getting ready:

From there, we moved on to the Florida Aquarium, where Natalie, the coordinator was making sure everything was set up and ready to go…including the penguins they brought out after the ceremony for a “Penguin Release”, which we learned was quite different than a dove release…  :)

The aquarium presented us with some beautiful, if not challenging, locations to soot.  Lots of glass, lots of reflections, but it was worth it!

The rest of the night was just as fun, with lots of dancing & laughter.  Thank you to Becky & David for allowing us to be a part of your wedding day – it really was an honor!!

ML & Matt

It’s winter in Florida, as evidenced by the 39° currently outside! (Yes…that’s cold to us…) ML & Matt’s wedding was a beautiful winter wedding, complete with ice blues and frosted whites. But with warm personalities and lots of love, the atmosphere was anything but frosty. Take a look!

New Year + New Life = Awesome.

We couldn’t have asked for a better subject for our First Photos of 2009 than this. Mary Katherine & Ben, a wedding couple of ours from several years ago, welcomed their *beautiful* baby girl “McLaurin” into the world over the holidays and we had the incredible honor of taking her first photos. SHE. IS. GORGEOUS.

Congratulations, MK & Ben!!!

Amy & Ryan

We had the pleasure of shooting Ryan’s sister’s wedding a few years back, and it was SUCH a joy seeing everyone again and meeting new friends at Amy & Ryan’s wedding. We were looking forward to this wedding for so long, not only because they are such awesome people, but also because the location of their wedding looked so much different than the scenes we’re used to shooting. Their wedding included a stop in Paynes Prairie a beautiful area just south of Gainesville. We were a little worried the morning of the wedding because a cold front was moving through and, with it, rain…but the skies cleared up right in time and the wedding was perfect.

They got ready in a hotel in Gainesville before traveling south to their church for the ceremony:

The guys met us at an old post office right down the street from the church. It was an amazing location with so much history!

And then it was time for the ceremony!

And then it was off to the reception!

We had such a wonderful time at the wedding, and it was *so* wonderful seeing everyone again. Thank you for a beautiful day, guys!!