TRASH THE DRESS - PART 2 (NAPLES, FLORIDA PHOTOGRAPHER)
And here we have part 2 of the "Trash the Dress" sessions. Mrs. R (featured here on the blog today) had the most beautiful skin ever. It was literally flawless in every since of the word. I ended up with great lighting in this particular area where I photographed her. I have my fellow photography gals to thank for that whom assisted in holding my good ol' reflector for these shots of her while I clicked away. Teamwork at its finest! LOL!
If you could see right behind where she is sitting in these pine needle type things above, you'd see that there is standing water here and there around her. I was sooooo afraid that a snake or something was going to come crawling out from underneath this thick nest of needles. I sat down there at one point to get low and shoot but then quickly got back up because the thought just gave me the heebie jeebies. HA! Again though, this bride never complained. Just like the others, she did exactly what was asked of her with no qualms whatsoever.
This woman's beauty made my job so very easy. She was a natural. Of course I don't need to sell you on that part. You can see and feel it from these few sneak peek images here.
Need I mention the gorgeous back drops once more? The area was so lush and so beautiful that when I look back on these images, they almost look fake. Trust me...they weren't. And the brides who had to crawl thru this stuff can confirm that. LOL!
I wanted to give a big shout out to Michele Galuppo of Wedding Styles by Michele. She did Mrs. R's hair for the event on this particular day and totally ROCKED it. You can find Michele here in Naples, Florida via her website HERE. When Michele isn't working on one of her own brides for a wedding, you can find her doing hair at Salon Mulberry (also in Naples). And speaking of ROCKIN' the look, Mrs. R did her own make-up for the shoot. Can you believe that? She looked spectacular. A HUGE thank you to Mrs. R herself for allowing me the opportunity to work with her. You are beautiful and I was truly honored to shoot for you this past weekend. :)
Until tomorrows part 3, enjoy your Tuesday everyone. I'm off to tackle some laundry that has been calling my name in the dryer. BLAH!
TRASH THE DRESS PHOTOGRAPHY - PART ONE (NAPLES, FLORIDA LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHER)
I'm still alive. No worries. It's been almost another week since my last blog post but I'm really here - just way bogged down at the moment with my kids school events, photography sessions, editing, feeling like dog crap due to a horrendous sore throat and cold like symptoms, etc. However, the positive in all this is that I'm still moving.
With that said, I'm going to be sharing some really cool photography shoots with each of you over the coming days. I had the "RADDEST" day ever this past Saturday when I shot 6 different brides and some prom girls for a few "Trash the Dress" sessions. If you are unfamiliar with what "Trash the Dress" photography is, the new fad now days is to get married and then do a photography shoot where you literally "trash" your wedding gown for the fun of it. Some old school brides cringe at the thought of this but the younger women of today want to ROCK out their gowns one more time and put it to good use on a separate day other than their wedding day. I personally wish I could have had that experience back when I got married. My dress sits in a beautifully wrapped storage box with my coordinating vail and has been there for almost 16.5 years now. It's just sitting in there - doing nothing but collecting vintage time. I've had it out of the box twice in that entire 16 years. What a waste. Therefore, I think the Trash the Dress brides are awesome and totally cool for wanting to destroy their threads even after spending thousands of dollars on them in today's age.
For these sessions, we were granted permission to use a sanctuary type area behind a local church. The sanctuary consisted of a marsh type area with lots of wooded swampy paths. Total snake territory but thankfully the only snake I've heard of was the one in my garage - UNDER my car - last Friday night. Brent claimed he killed it once he got it "shooed" outside into the driveway. However, 20 minutes later, that "dead" snake found life again and was gone. Yes, I'm paranoid that he is now plotting revenge and looking for a way into my house at this point. So much for my snake killer husband. Epic fail! LOL!
Anyway, back to the shoots...the first hour we kept the brides "clean" and didn't do too much trashing. The images I'm showing you today are of one of the brides who stayed pretty clean for the most part. The dirt will come in the shots I share later in the week. And when I say dirt, I mean mud and alligator infested type swamp water. Oh yes...we got down and dirty in some of these shoots. Today's images were shot in the marshy type area off the beaten path. By the time I was done with this session, I had blood rolling down my legs and had sucked down two bottles of water. The blood was from the wild plants in the foliage we kept climbing through and the heat was so intense that this 6.5 month pregnant Mama was about to kill over and die. I think someone said the heat index that day was 105 even in the shade. You should have seen how sexy I looked by the time I got home. Covered in mud, blood, swamp water, and sweat. Oh yeah...I was a real beauty. The stuff we photographers do for a shot. I tell ya'!
The backdrop for these shots was incredible. The whole property was a photographers dream. I was in total heaven - even while fearing a snake would come hissing out from underneath a log or that I'd go home with some parasite from swamp water after all was said and done. Yes, I've watched one too many episodes of "The Monsters within me" on cable. Ha ha! The fear was transferred into an absolute rush in every sense of the word. I was on a complete high throughout the whole experience. The event has had me pinging off the walls for the past 2 days.
I commend this bride for climbing on tree logs and through marshy areas barefoot. She never complained and her make up stayed perfect in that heat. It was amazing. I looked like a drowned rat from how much I was sweating and here she sat - beautiful and untouched from the elements. In a nutshell, Mrs. A ROCKED this session to the fullest extent.
A huge thanks to Mrs. A's make-up guru, David Frohmberg from Salon International here in Naples, for his time and energy that afternoon. He did a fantabulous job. I'd kill for eyes like what he gave Mrs. A. Stunning! And Carol from Salon International did her hair. Beautimous! Beautimous!
Aside from the heat, the day was spectacular. There were a few times where my eyes glossed over and went all spotty - just like you see the moment right before you pass out. Each time that would happen, I made it a point to go sit down in the shade with some water and regain my composure before shooting any further. I knew I had to take it easy with baby Seaman in my tummy. Thankfully, I got thru all the shoots without any mishaps. An hour after getting home and re-showering, I felt like I was coming down with the flu or something. Immediately my brain went to a parasite embedded in my scalp or something. LOL! Actually, it has just knocked me back a few steps with a really bad sore throat and chills, etc. I'm praying it makes its exit in the next day or so. I'm over feeling so blah and yucky.
In the meantime, stay tuned for the remaining "Trash the Dress" shoots to be featured here on the blog this week. Thank you to Mrs. A for the opportunity to work with her. Such a fun shoot!
Hello from Naples. I know it's been a week since my last blog post. I'm so very sorry for that. Between just getting back from our trip home to Indiana, unpacking, school shopping, my beginner photography class that I'm currently teaching as well as the new beginner photoshop class I offered LIVE last week for the first time, I've been s-w-a-m-p-e-d!!! We did get the kids back off to school yesterday and everything went off without a hitch. It was a smooth process and I couldn't have been more pleased. Brennen started the middle school and Kenidi returned to her same school but is now in the 2nd grade with a new teacher whom we love. Today is their 2nd day at school and I'm again anxious for them to get home so that I can ask how well their day went. In the meantime, I've been trying to catch up on recent photography sessions that need post edited as well as the stacks and stacks of school paperwork that need filled out and sent back for the new year. It's crazy how much junk we as parents have to complete at the start of the new year, isn't it? WHEW! My hand is tired from writing it all out. Over and over and over again mind you.
With that said, we spent Sunday on the beach, together as a family, celebrating the last full day of Summer break. While there, the clouds began to roll in and I busted out my camera to capture the drama. You guys know how much I love a good storm at the beach. Thankfully we got plenty of sunshine in before the downpour but I couldn't bare to leave without a "storm view" from behind the lens...
Those few hours on the beach with Brent and the kids helped me to regroup - yes, even with Kenidi's dive bombing attempts out in the sea. LOL! Thank goodness Brent was out there to wrangle her in when it was time to go. And as always, she repeated her exit tantrum to the fullest extent. We just expect her melt downs when leaving the beach as part of the process now. It's a given!
Speaking of Kenidi...here is a quick impromptu shot I took in the driveway on their first morning back to school yesterday. This is how Kenidi felt about going back to school...
I don't know what was worse, her facial expression or the hack job she got when going for a hair cut at the local kids salon here in Naples. Needless to say, we won't be going back there ever again. Mama went preggo psycho on the hair dresser due to her lack of patience, her roughness when dealing with Kenidi, not listening to me when I said "Keep the length - just trim/clean up the angled bob," and also because of the lack of air conditioning in their salon that afternoon. Oh yes baby it was H-O-T and I don't do hot and pregnant well at all. By the time we were done there, I stopped her in mid cut and said, "That will be enough - I'll just take her to my gal and have her fix this." No...I was not a happy camper whatsoever. Due to that experience, Kenidi's beautiful shoulder length hair is now up to her chin. Grrr~!
Brennen has to wear a uniform dress code this year in 6th grade. That consists of solid colored polos and tan cargo shorts. Borrrrinnnggg! However, it did save us some fights in the war of the wardrobe with him this year. That's a good thing! Kenidi's school gets to wear what they want. Thankfully she wears what I put on her with no push back. :0)
As the next week or two plays out, I'll be working on new photography sessions (including a really fun "Trash the Dress" session this weekend) now that we are back in Naples as well as promoting more of my upcoming photography classes one more time before the baby arrives. Included in that schedule is my goal to get to the sewing store and find some new patterns & fabrics. Yeap, you read that right. I'm all of a sudden itching to start designing again so my sewing employee/dear friend, Karen, and I will be pumping out some of my new AGD boutique designs here very soon. Within that new line, a string of boys items. Now that I'm pregnant with another boy and can't find squat in the stores that reflects my need for that out of the box, funky, grunge style for our new little son to be, I'm planning to offer some new boys designs too. Stay tuned. We are going to rock out those new designs for girls and boys and will hopefully be getting some of them listed in the next month or two. Fun times!
So...as you can see...lots going on around here lately. Now that I'm back home and in a routine with the kids in school again though, my goal is to get back on a regular blogging schedule too. The Summer off kind of attacked my blogging routines with a vengeance. I'm working on fixing that. I promise. Thanks for all of your patience and continued support in the meantime. My readers are da' bomb! :0)
I had the privilege of photographing 3 adorable little boys last week while I was in Indy. We used the graffiti buildings my Dad and I found as their backdrop. I was craving an urban grunge shoot while home beings that I don't get that opportunity here in Naples due to the clean, modern, and new environments here in the SWFL area. There are a couple of hundred shots from this shoot so it was very difficult to narrow down the sneak peek shots. However, here are a grouping of my favs from that evening.
The above blondie made my job very easy. Although I didn't get many full blown smiles from him, he is clearly very photogenic and doesn't take a bad photo. Such a cutie!
Here are some shots of his awesome older brothers...
Needless to say, I had a ball photographing these boys. My hubby and Brennen came along for this shoot with their Mom and I to play security and photography assistants for us. We weren't in a great part of town and were definitely glad that we had Brent there as a male figure to help us feel more safe during the two hours that we traipsed around the ins and outs of these old buildings in this run down neighborhood. With the amount of locals that passed us though, no one ever bothered us or even came close to acting as though they would. It was a perfect location and I couldn't have had better clients to ROCK out this backdrop.
If you reside in the Indiana area or in the Southwest Florida area and would like to schedule a future shoot with me, I'd love to work with you and your family. Whether you are after a family beach session or an urban grunge session, we will make it happen. I'm still taking appointments up thru the beginning of December for as long as I can or until Baby Seaman decides to make his appearance. Right now they have my delivery date tentatively set as December 2nd. It will be set in stone at next months appointment. Therefore, my goal is to work right up until that date - God willing. The doc reminded me yesterday at my 6 month appointment that I only have 15 weeks to go. Only! LOL! I can't complain though, it seems to be flying by. I hesitate to say that out loud in fear that I'll jinx us and slow things down but this pregnancy really truly is cruising along. Now, if we could just decide on his name, all would be well in the universe. Wink wink! :0) For now though, I'm going to keep shooting and keep working. So email me or give me a call directly should you like to book a session with me. Thanks again to the three "E" boys for being such natural rock stars during our time together. I can't wait to order some more sample wall canvases using their images.
I had the pleasure of photographing my friend Kari's family while in Indiana this trip. The session was sure to be a tough one because we had a larger group and harsh mid-afternoon sun. However, we had to make it work because that was the only time of the day we could squeeze in a session together. In the end, her large group number in attendance and the harsh sun were no match for the adorable family that they are. They all nailed the session like they had done this 100 times before. As you can see, they are such a great looking family which always makes for incredible images.
These are just some quick sneak peek shots that I promised her until I can get back to Naples and finish editing all of the others this coming week. The images above and below are of their absolutely adorable sons. They totally have Kari's eyes. I'd kill for eyes that looked like theirs. Soooooo not fair! And then you add in their golden sun kissed tans and you've got even more unfairness. LOL!
A HUGE thanks to our friend Lori for allowing us to use their backyard as a back drop. It was gorgeous out. We had to fight that notorious dappled light with a vengeance but with a few extra very helpful hands, we managed quite well.
I am still working on editing the images from my urban grunge session I did the other night with three adorable little boys. They too, ROCKED it, and I cannot wait to share their images with all of you. It's about 12pm in Indy right now and we are planning to get back on the road and head out - toward Naples again - around 6pm this evening. I am not excited about the 18 hour drive back given that my pregnant feet and cankles legs are already swollen up like shamu from the time I spent shooting in the heat over the past several days here in Indiana. Oh the joys of pregnancy in the summer heat. Until now, I've never had to experience this because both of my other pregnancies were grown throughout the winter season. Between the charlie horses in my legs and the swollen extremities, I'm over it! Please help us in praying for safe travels as we make our drive back to Florida over the next two days. Our departure tonight is bitter-sweet. Reality has hit and it's painful. This will be the last time I will see my Dad until baby Seaman is born come the first of December. It's going to be a very long 3.5 months. :(
Until Monday's post...be safe and have a superb weekend. I'll be updating from the road via facebook again. Much love, the Griswald's (a.k.a The Seaman Clan)
First and foremost, I don't want to hear anymore garb about how ticked you guys are that I'm not showing my big, fat, pregnant self in any of these photos. Trust me, I heard enough about it on facebook. So...just enjoy my girlfriends beautiful faces and promise me that you won't be hounding me about where I'm at in these pictures. You all know where I'm at...behind the lens...hiding. LOL!
As all of you know, I got together for a sleepover with 6 of my dearest friends from high school this past weekend. We were missing a couple of girls and we were totally bummed that they weren't there. However, hopefully we can all catch up again very soon. We spent Saturday night at a local restaurant for dinner and then came back to my girlfriend Lori's house for the sleepover. We hung out outside around her pool into wee hours of the night and then brought the party indoors and stayed chatting it up until 5am the next morning. We finally went to bed but all of us got right back up, climbed in the car, and went to breakfast at Sophia's restaurant for some good ol' french toast - looking like something the cat had drug in. I prayed the whole time I was there that we wouldn't run into anyone we knew with me looking like a MAC truck had made my body his weigh station that morning. I promise you that it was not a pretty sight. LOL! After breakfast, we slowly made our way back to Lori's house and laid by the pool until like 4pm that afternoon. All of us were so very tired and swore that we would nap in the sun but of course...like always...we chatted and laughed the hours away until it was finally time to call an end to our fun. :(
In the above image...from left to right....Sherry, Kari, Lori, Nicolle, and Krissie.
I've known Sherry since middle school. She was truly one of my best buddies growing up. She was also the one I recruited to come with me to my Dad's every other weekend on many occasions. Sherry loves my Dad & Cathy and both Dad and Cathy love her right back. And if you can believe it or not, Kari and I hated each other in high school. Truth be told, we actually had a knock down drag out fight in the middle of a road one night over a llleewwwssseeerrr of a boy whom which we can all laugh about now. Thankfully after some maturing over the years, Kari and I are 'gur-frens' now and I truly value her friendship. There is never a dull moment with her around which means she is always the first to make us laugh. I got to know Lori via her brother, Brad. Brad graduated with me and like Lori is such a sweetheart, her brother was always a good guy. They hated no one and were always as nice as nice can be. Lori is still that way to this day. Thus why I love her. She is a genuine gem who is good to everyone she meets. Nicolle and I have known each other since the 4th grade. We've seen elementary, middle, and high school together. There is so much history there that it is hard to imagine her not having been in my life thru the years. We were just laughing the other night about old times together, certain memories, etc. and it is always so good to have such moments to reflect on. And Krissie...oh how best do I describe Krissie? I've known Krissie since middle school and we were two peas in a pod in high school. Actually we were with other peas that were involved in our pod too but not all are pictured here. :0) Krissie is my friend that calls and 30 minute conversations turn into 3 hour long talks. She is my friend that tells you the truth - like it is. Good bad or ugly...she is honest about whatever the topic at hand is. She and I can debate a topic and still love one another at the end. That is rare. She is my forensic files marathon partner who loves those mystery shows as much as I do. I've never known anyone who can watch as many of those type shows as me with the exception of Krissie. We could spend hours talking about forensics, how they captured certain individuals, etc. It's a true sickness and we realize that we probably aren't right. However, for now...we enjoy it. :)
In the above shot are Diahann and Sherry. Diahann was and always has been one of my dearest besties. We were actually supposed to room together in college until "life" (a.k.a Brent) happened. I was headed to college with her where my intentions were to major in foreign language due to my flight attendant plans. However, Brent and I ended up getting married a year after high school and those college plans fell through. Diahann has always been in my life though. Always - in some way, shape, or form. She was in my wedding. I was in hers. I can remember when she first came to our middle school in 8th grade, our click of girls totally tortured her and called her "Farrah." As in Farrah Faucett. Her maiden name was "Faucett" and she had hair at the time that was blond and feathered just like the real "Farrah Faucett." We were mean to her initially but she held out and held her own until we finally broke the pattern and welcomed her with open arms into our tight knit circle. Looking back now days, I don't know what we did without her - before she came to our school. Our lives wouldn't be the same without Di.
Above and below: Krissie cutting my ice cream cake that she and Nicolle got me for the night of the sleepover. It was a cake to celebrate my birthday since I wasn't home in Indy to celebrate with them back at the end of June. (when my birthday actually was) Now that is a friend...buying me a cake over a month later. Ya'll know how much I love my cakes and cupcakes. Ha ha! And below...Lori is with Krissie - helping with the cutting - or maybe just getting the next piece. I can't be sure. LOL!
Below: Kari, Krissie, and Di in the pool on Sunday. Good times! Good times!
And here is Lori...underneath a towel with her laptop, trying to find me a specific blog that she wanted to share with me. We finally found it thanks to her mad skillz and her determination in the sunshine. Hee hee!
And here are Krissie (above) and Kari (below) posing it up. We were saying this weekend how much Kari's hair do reminded us of the Russian chick from the movie Rocky 4. I love Kari's hair cut. In this shot while she was wet in the pool though, she soooooo looked like that Russian's wife. Thus, the pose. Love it!
Needless to say, we all had a FAB weekend. I am still paying for that 5am bedtime though and I'm quite convinced that I might never recover from it. Ever! In the end though, it was all so very worth it. :) I am so blessed to have these girls in my life. Their friendships mean the world to me. Unfortunately a couple of our gals couldn't be there for the sleepover and I soooo missed them. However, they are always in my heart. Always.
A huge thank you to Lori and her husband Trent for letting us use their house for the big event. Trent actually took their 3 boys away for the night so that we could have the time to just us girls. How cool is he???
Aside from fun with my girlfriends, we've had a blast with my parents. I'm so sad to think that we are heading back to Naples in two days. I am missing our palm trees though but unfortunately I don't think the palm trees will make up for my Dad. :( In the past week & a half, we've gotten to see some of my Dad's friends as they've made it a special point to come by and visit with us while we are in town. I can't begin to express how much I appreciate them coming by to say hello while we are here. They've taken time out of their busy schedules to drop in and it truly means the world to me. As I said on facebook the other night, thanks to my Dad and Cathy's homies/peeps for being so good to me all my life. Love you guys! :)
For now, I am off to get ready for a photography shoot this evening. Fun, fun, shoot ahead. I'm so excited. Stay tuned for the images. Until then, enjoy your evening. Blessings, Angie
