Brennan Turns One!

Somehow a whole year has passed by since that moment last September when Brennan Andrew Frank made his grand entrance into the world, and today we are celebrating him. 

He's grown into quite the character! He is learning new things every day, making his family laugh, and finding mischief. He can't quite walk yet but he can take a few steps, so it's only a matter of time before he's zooming around on his own. He is growing teeth...five of them so far! He is as handsome as the day is long, as sweet as his mama, and as funny as his daddy. He sparkles with personality and he can charm a whole room with his silly grin. We are lucky to know him and we're so grateful to have spent the last year and change documenting his wonderful little life. 

Brennan, we just love you and your family, too, and we're so glad to have you in our world...can't wait to see what adventures are in store for you next! 

Happy birthday, little buddy!

Hazel

Miss Hazel recently turned one, and we got to hang out with this curly haired cutie for her first birthday portraits a couple of weeks back. She's so funny and expressive!

After rocking a couple of adorable outfits, it was time to smash the cake. She got a trial run of this at her birthday party, so she was completely ready to go when it came time to dive in for the photos. 

I only wish it was acceptable for me to get as into my cake as Hazel did. Bon appétit, baby girl! This sweet b-day treat is all yours. 

Such a fun session...Hazel is an absolute doll!

World Photo Day

Happy World Photo Day, everyone! I am slightly ashamed to admit that I forget this day is coming every year until someone reminds me. I almost feel like I'm supposed to be outside, whirling around on a hilltop, a giant smile on my face, the sun shining, camera in hand, celebrating this day by shooting all manner of fun things and beautiful sights. The reality is, though, that I'm sitting at my desk, editing the past few weeks' worth of sessions and prepping stuff for clients, and getting ready for a sunrise engagement session I have at the beach tomorrow morning. (Which means I'll need to go to bed early tonight...let's not hold our collective breaths on that one, though. I'll probably still stay up late like a moron even though I know better. Ha.)

Photography has given me innumerable blessings in my silly little life. The opportunities, the adventures, and most importantly, so so many of the people in my world are a part of my existence because of my job. So many amazing, funny, awesome, wonderful things that I have in my life are there simply because, way back in the day when I was a little kid, I thought to pick up a camera and start tinkering around with it. I fell in love with photography and taking pictures at a very early age and I've been lucky enough to turn it into a career. I try to never lose sight of this fact.

So I suppose I'm still celebrating World Photo Day in my own way, even though I'm not outside shooting right at the moment; I'm celebrating the fact that on this, a day where we all rejoice in the art of photography, that I'm lucky enough to say that I AM a photographer, professional and full time. This is my only job and I love it every damn day. There are many people who are aspiring photographers who would love to be able to do this professionally and many others who do it part time but would love to make it full time, but that's incredibly difficult to do, so I know I'm lucky. It's exciting and scary and challenging and exhilarating, but I love it. Photography has given me so much and I am eternally grateful for every single moment I'm behind a camera. And to the people in my life who are here because of photography and to the family, friends, and clients who always support me, cheer me on, help me out, jump in front of my camera when I have some crazy idea, and give me motivation? Well, I'm pretty darn grateful for you guys, too.

“When I have a camera in my hand, I know no fear.”
~Alfred Eisenstaedt~

Fight for the Light

There are times, as a photographer, when I'll come across a beam of light that's just so delicious and beautiful that I can't pass it up. This happened at Nora's 2 year session the other night. John, Katie, Nora and I were walking toward what we thought would be our next destination within the park where we were shooting, and suddenly I saw this lovely warm lilting light, drifting through the trees as the sun was setting. I said to John and Katie, "Let's see if we can get Nora to pose right in this spot, I think you're going to like it and I know I want to use it if we can.". So we tried to pose Nora where we wanted her. If you've ever tried to get a two year old to comply with whatever whim you had in mind when she already has a goal of her own, you know how that can be. At first she was like, meh, I want to keep walking, and after a few tries at getting her to go where we wanted her, it was written off as "She wants to keep going toward the lake, I don't think it's going to happen." As she began walking away on her resolute, sturdy little two-year old legs, bound for our next adventure, I stood there hesitating. And probably frowning. Katie and John must have seen the pained expression I had at the thought of letting this one go (they know me well enough by now, plus I have zero poker face in these situations, ha), so they playfully snatched Nora up and we gave it another shot, and through our combined efforts, we got Nora to play along. The end result? I'm not one to toot my own horn, but it's amazing. I'm so glad we fought for this. Zero has been done to this photo; this isn't a Photoshop job or a filter. This is 100% unadulterated straight-out-of-camera goodness, just a perfect little girl in the perfect golden hour lighting. Because sometimes, you just get lucky.

To Nora, you continue to take my breath away. I can't believe I'm lucky enough to be a part of the adventure that is your wonderful life and that I get to watch you grow. You and your parents make my world a happier place to be.

And to my fellow photographers: when you see a beautiful delicious beam of light playing gently with you and and it is completely perfect, dig in your heels and make it work whenever humanly possible. Fight for the light. It's worth it. I promise you.

2016 Portrait Giveaway!

Okay, happy new year, y'all! I hope you're all happy and healthy and enjoying January so far. We're gearing up for a huge year, but wanted to start 2016 (yes, I know we are halfway through the month, it's been a crazy few weeks, okay? Jeez!) off right with a contest. I teased it a couple of weeks ago on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/rachelsullivanphotography), but finally, I'm happy to reveal our first portrait giveaway of the new year!

To celebrate the start of 2016, we are giving away a portrait session to one lucky family; the winner will receive a two hour portrait session including approximately 25 high resolution photos from their session via digital download. This contest is open to families, couples, or individuals. To enter, simply leave a quick comment on our Facebook

wall telling us why you want to win; you only need enter once (duplicate entries or multiple entries per household/family will not increase your odds of winning). Additionally, if you have a friend or family member who you'd like to see win, you're welcome to nominate them in your comment instead of entering for yourself. 

The legal mumbo-jumbo:

--No purchase is necessary to enter this contest. Simply comment on our Facebook wall telling us if it's you or a friend you're entering, and you're good to go!

--The free session can be used for families, kids, babies, couples, pets, or individuals; the only things it cannot be used for are boudoir sessions, wedding photography/engagement sessions, and promotionally priced or discounted sessions. 

--Limit one entry per household/family; multiple entries will not be considered. 

--Employees of Rachel Sullivan Photography LLC and their immediate families are ineligible for this contest, but are still eligible for high fives, handshakes, and hugs from me at no charge. 

--Free session must be photographed by December 31st, 2016, and will be scheduled with deference to pre-booked events and sessions. Location of session is TBD. Location and session date details will be chosen with the contest winner after the contest concludes and a winner is chosen. 

--Contest winner will be selected at random on Monday, February 1st. Entries into the contest must be in no later than 11:59pm EST on Sunday, January 31st to be considered for the random drawing. 

More questions? Feel free to drop me a line. Good luck, and we can't wait to see who our first contest winner of 2016 will be!

Hello Out There!

Just popping in to say howdy to everyone! I am catching up on wedding, portrait, and event stuff, and preparing for other things on the jam-packed schedule, and fall is looming large as always, eeeep. This sassy Orlando photographer is working hard but still finding times to slip into the backyard and enjoy a few brief moments of respite in the pool, because, everyone needs a break here and again, especially when the heat index goes into triple digits. I hope you're all enjoying your hot summer months; I just hadn't made an entry in a bit and wanted to say hi and post some of my faves from recent sessions. As always, for more timely updates (yeah, I know, I know, I'm terrible and I habitually neglect the blog; sorry, y'all, I'm trying), visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rachelsullivanphotography, and you can always see some of our newest stuff on the website at www.rachelsullivanphotography.com, too.

Happy Summer, everyone! Go out and play, but wear your sunscreen, because heaven forbid I inadvertently contribute to an epidemic of skin cancer!

Nora's First Year

We met Katie a few years ago at one of our favorite places, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal. I'd heard her name before I actually met her, but the year we officially made our acquaintance, she was playing the icon character, Lady Luck. As I got to know her, I was struck by her easy-going attitude and her sense of self-assuredness, so we connected straight away. It was evident to me quickly (and still is to this day) that Katie possessed a lot of qualities I admire; she was incredibly smart, funny, confident, calm, very stubborn, assertive, and sure of herself. I remember thinking not long after I met her, "Yeah, this Katie person is pretty much super awesome. I think we're going to get along just fine."

Fast forward through a few years of friendship to the fall of 2013. Katie was again a scareactor at HHN, this time as a zombie (or 'walker', whatever we were calling them at that point, heh heh, oh, IP rules) in the 'Hershel's Farm' area of the park. Toward the beginning of the run, she had a night off, and she came to the event to experience it as a guest and joined up with me. We hit a few areas of the park, with no specific agenda, just enjoying our evening. At one point, we were sitting in the San Fran area, resting on a bench just watching the performers in our vicinity to do their spooky thing, and Katie casually started a conversation with me.

Katie: "So, I need to book a session with you. Probably in like, January. How much is that going to run me?"

Me: "I don't know, it depends on the type of session." (I paused, momentarily confused.) "I mean, what are you needing? Like, head-shots or something?"

(Katie smiled, and pulled out her phone.) "Not exactly. I'm going to show you something that's highly confidential. Not many people know yet."

She proceeded to pull up a photo of a sonogram. I stared at it for a moment.

Me: "Oh, cool! Someone is having a baby?"

Katie (laughing): "Uh, yes."

At this moment, it hit me that she was telling me she was pregnant, and I fell off the bench, hit my head, and blacked out. (Okay, not really.) But I was surprised, delighted, and excited.

I realized that Katie was brewing a tiny person in her tummy and offered the proper congratulations to her. From there, we set about planning her maternity session. (I might add that it's pretty much a perfect reflection of us and our friendship that we decided to sit and muse calmly on plans for a maternity portrait session while ensconced in a dark, zombie-filled scarezone at the nation's premier Halloween event with hapless people running around us screaming--because, really, would you expect anything less of us?) Katie told me she knew she wanted to do the maternity session at the beach at sunset, and that she was trusting me with the rest.

We decided that, during the run on a night when she was working, we'd do one really bad-ass maternity photo right there in the mean streets of HHN with her in full costume and makeup, because it was just too perfect an opportunity not to. This became her 'official' pregnancy announcement, and it might be among the coolest photos I've ever taken. Oh hey, Baby Folger. Before you arrived, Mama was a zombie. No pressure to be really into Halloween or anything...we're just sayin'.



Fast forward a few months to January of 2014. Katie: with her big beautiful baby belly, ready to rock, Brendan, ready to drive, and me, ready to shoot, and a little 2.5 hour jaunt to Clearwater Beach, where the forecast called for clear skies and a lovely sunset. At this point I'd like to remind you that, very often, meteorologists suck at their jobs, and as we were en route to the west coast, the rain rain rain came down, down, down. But we toughed it out and, being that we were halfway there when the sky opened, we decided to just go the rest of the way and see what we ended up with. If you're guessing that the weather didn't cooperate...you're guessing correctly. But we did what we could, got a few wonderful photos of Katie and her bump, and then reconvened for pizza in Clearwater.

I was happy with the photos we got. And Katie was happy with the fact that I was happy. But I knew, and so did she, that we'd missed out on the big, gorgeous, warm, burning sunset that the Gulf Coast of Florida is famous for. So we ate our pizza and decided we were not done yet. Baby Folger wasn't due until late March, so we had time.

Fast forward once again, this time to the latter part of February. Brendan: out of town visiting family and missing out on beach trip # 2. Katie: bigger than before, but still willing to hop in the truck and make the trip over to the Gulf again. Me: doing an anti-rain dance and offering all manner of blood sacrifices to the gods of the weather to just behave for one damn night, just willing the skies to give us the glorious sunset we'd hoped for on the first try. As luck would have it, our second attempt was the charm, and we got our giant colorful unclouded sun setting over the waters of the Gulf, just like we'd had in our minds from the beginning. Katie, at this point less than a month from when Baby would arrive, was a complete and total trooper, running all over on the beach to make sure we could take advantage of the setting sun, crawling on the rocks, and being the amazing resilient person that she always is, never complaining despite my mania ("Hey, so, you're cool to take off your shoes and jump over the rope that says 'No Trespassing' and crawl up on the sharp, scary rocks to make sure we can get the silhouette of you against the sunset, right? Great! Also, please don't fall and please don't hate me for making you run all over creation while you're like a billion months pregnant, and could you be a pal and sign this waiver releasing me from liability? Great, thanks!").





Baby Folger Sunset Maternity Portraits Take # 2: a success. I was happy, but most importantly, so was Katie. Mission accomplished.


And now, we again fast forward, to late March of 2014. I had jokingly told Katie a few times during the course of her pregnancy that she should just go ahead and have the baby on March 24th, because that's the same day my niece was born and this way it'd be easier for me to remember. (Har har har, I'm funny.) So, on March 24th, I was strolling around my local garden center, and I ended up in the greenhouse, where I was engrossed in the very intense process of selecting some low-light plants for my garden room, when I heard my phone jingling at me as a text message came through. It was just before 1:00pm. I pulled out my phone and read a text from Katie:

"I have a baby girl. :)"

Showing all the decorum and dignity for which I am well known, I dropped the potted plant I was holding and burst into hysterical happy tears, confusing and frightening the daylights out of the Lukas Nursery employee who was closest to me.

Nora Elizabeth Folger made her grand entrance at 12:13pm on March 24th, 2014. 9 pounds, 7 ounces, 20 inches, perfect, pink-cheeked, healthy, and breathtakingly gorgeous. Mama Katie and Daddy John were just as proud as could be.





Over the next twelve months, through portrait sessions and various adventures, we got to know Baby Nora. She is, in many ways, just like her mama: sweet, strong, willful, and determined to have her way. And in many other ways she's like her daddy: incredibly funny, a little bit stubborn, and brimming with personality. Some of her sessions required two attempts, much in the way her maternity session did; it's as if the uncooperative weather in the first go-around of the maternity photos meant to herald her impending arrival were a portent of how things would go for her other sessions. If Nora wasn't having it, nobody would get their way but her. No sense in fighting the inevitable. Did I ever fault her? Not for a second. Knowing Katie pretty well at this point, and having to gotten to know John better, and being a willful stubborn girl myself (sorry, Bren), I was always one to admire Nora's moods and her obstinate insistence that things happen on HER clock, when SHE was darn well ready for them to happen, and being that I'm very used to functioning on Baby Standard Time, it never occurred to me as anything but completely normal. It wasn't even remotely surprising to me that Nora would, from word one, be calling the shots when it came to her portrait sessions. I would expect nothing less. Katie and John, for the first session which required more than one attempt, were very apologetic, which was unnecessary. Secretly? It meant that I got to spend more time hanging out with them and playing with Baby Nora. No harm, no foul, and certainly no need for apologies, because Nora's sessions were always an absolute blast, and every new milestone was a chance to get to know this awesome, wonderful, funny, adorable little lady better.











Somehow, we've arrived here just about a year later, nearly an entire 365 days have passed by, and we're done with Nora's first birthday session and about to ring in the big O-N-E with a fun party in her honor. For her first birthday portraits, we decided since we'd done sunSET on the west coast for the maternity portraits, that it was only fitting to do sunRISE on the east coast to mark her first birthday. So bright and early, we headed out to New Smyrna on the first day after daylight savings time for the last session of Nora's first year. Our friend Amanda made Nora an amazing knitted mermaid tail costume for the occasion, and Nora was every bit as much of a rockstar for her beach session as Mama Katie had been for hers way back last year in Clearwater...how completely perfect.





Every time I hit the year mark with a client, I sit back and say to myself, whoa. WHOA. Wasn't it just yesterday that you told me you were expecting? Wasn't it just yesterday that we were doing maternity photos? How has a whole year gotten by us so quickly? As a photographer, I always feel a jumble of emotions at the end of the first year--it's delightful, happy, bittersweet, sort of sad, a little bit heartbreaking, and a whole lot of beautiful, all at once.

Nora Elizabeth, we are glad to have you (and your awesome parents, too) in our lives. We are so glad to have gotten to know you, honored to have been able to capture your first year of milestones, and delighted to see what adventures the world has in store for you. Happy first birthday, little Miss Nora. We can't wait to see what life brings your way and we're excited to watch you take the journey.

Coiling Up for Spring

Oh yes. You see what I did there? Coiling up? Ha! I slay me. But in all seriousness, the year is flying by, and as such, spring 2015 is on my doorstep.

Yeah, I'm aware it's only February, but in Florida, February means we're jusssst about out of the season where we might have to think about legitimately cold weather, and we're jusssst about into spring. I'm glad. And intimidated. Because spring is going to be so super busy that I think I can't quite fathom it yet. In 1.5 months of time, I'll have 6 weddings, 10 portrait sessions, 3 events, 2 sets of visitors coming in from out of town, and a handful of social things on my calendar, and that's just what I have scheduled as of right now. February has been (deliberately!) pretty calm, aside from a few portraits and some pre-session and pre-wedding planning stuff, along with a week up in Chicago to visit some clients and some of the most beloved people in my world, but otherwise, month #2 of this year has been serene. I've reacquainted myself with my house. My dogs remember what I look like when not in a flurry of motion to get out the door. I've had time for baking and trying some new recipes. I've even had time for some gardening. (I know. Whaaaaaat?) I would be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying the calm before the storm, so I've been trying to take advantage of this brief period of semi-tranquility before I get hit in the face with my second busiest time of the year. (Second busiest, of course, because let's be honest, nothing will ever come close the mania that is my fall season. Whoa.)

Am I complaining? Not for a second. I remain, as always, grateful that I get to do this for a living and I know how very lucky I am. But I would be dumb to not be a little bit intimidated by my calendar for the next few months. I think that the best way to describe what I'm feeling is this: you know when you're about to go under the water and swim for a bit without surfacing, and you're taking a few big cleansing breaths to get yourself ready, and then you take that one big final gulp of air in anticipation of the plunge? That's where I am right now. I'm enjoying my (relatively) quiet last days of February, taking a few big deep breaths, and prepping myself for the proverbial plunge.

Here we go...deep breath in, and I'm ready. Almost. There are a few more days before the season gets underway and my garden isn't going to tend itself.

Santa Portrait Day!

We are thrilled to announce that we are now accepting appointments for our mini-sessions with Santa Claus! This special holiday portrait event! Space is limited, so if you'd like to reserve a session, don't hesitate!
We are very proud to bring this event to life with the help of the amazing Santa Jim. Santa Jim has been the official Santa of the Macy's Holiday Parade at Universal Orlando since 2011, and we are so happy he's bringing us a bit of Christmas cheer for these fun portraits, just in time for the holidays!
When: Saturday, December 13th from 9am to 1pm
Where: Cypress Grove Park
Cost: $50 for up to two children, add $5 for each additional person
You'll receive a 20 minute session with Santa, plus 10-15 high resolution images via digital download, a print release, and a private password-protected gallery for viewing and sharing!
For questions or booking info, contact me at (407) 435-3929 or by emailing rsullivanphotography@gmail.com!

Quick Summer Update!

Holy jeez, how did we get to the end of July already? Since it's super hot out and we're all about to melt, I'll make this quick so you can get back into the pool or back by the fan or however you're keeping yourselves from combusting this summer. Here are a couple of quick updates from the world of RSP!

First, we're setting up for the early fall portrait season. As always, October is tough because of that little Halloween thing I do that takes up most of my time, so if you're in need of portrait or event photography this fall, please get your requests in ASAP! I am limited on the number of appointments I have left and it's first come first served, so the longer you wait, the less options there will be available for you.

While we're on the topic of fall portraits, I'm strongly leaning toward doing a 3rd annual Halloween Mini-session event day. This would be taking place in late September; stay tuned here and to our Facebook page for more info, date possibilities, and booking specifics. This will be an extremely limited engagement; usually I only take six appointments for this event, so if you think you want one, drop me a line and I'll keep you in the loop.

To those of you who took advantage of our July Print Special, your packages are shipping this week! You'll receive the tracking info in your e-mail confirmation once your prints are on their way to you! For those of you who missed out on this promotion, well...I said I wouldn't do another sale during 2014, but maybe if I'm feeling generous I'll toss one out there during the holidays. We shall see.

Speaking of the holiday season, I have several early-birdies who have already snapped up their appointments for holiday portraits. It's never too early to secure your date, so even though it's roughly 8 billion degrees outside and it's hard to imagine that it will ever get cooler outside, we can get into the Christmas spirit by planning your session well in advance. There are still appointments left in December and a few left in November, so talk to me soon if you want to check what's left and get yours reserved!

As always, you can keep up with us here on the blog, through our facebook page (www.facebook.com/rachelsullivanphotography), and of course on the website at www.rachelsullivanphotography.com. We'll keep you up to date on the latest news, events, promotions, and exciting things as we roll on through the back half of 2014. And as always, we're so appreciative of our ever-growing family of clients and for the continued word of mouth and positive recommendations. You are all so wonderful!

Stay cool out there, and don't hesitate to drop us a line for questions and booking!

Christmas Time is Here

Thanksgiving has come and gone (and I'm still digesting, ugh, so much food) and that means that the holiday season is officially underway. 

This year will bring us another busy season; I'm looking forward to sessions with my beloved regulars as well as some new faces, a special portrait with a lady and her horse, and what I'm sure will be a completely hysterical session with Becc, Travis, and Seth (you'll remember them from our "Zombie Apocalypse" portrait last Christmas) as we try to top last year's undead melee. This year we are going straight-up "Awkward Family Photo" for Becc and Co, employing all the choicest photo techniques and fashion savvy you might have found in a cheesy Sears Portrait Studio circa 1978. Oh yes. It's gonna be fly. And I can't wait. 

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Blessed Festivus, and a Grand Decemberween to you all. Here's hoping your a Turkey Day was magnificent and your holiday season is off to a cheerful start. 

Feeling Mile High

I was recently out in Denver to photograph the wedding of Max and Sheena at the Denver Botanic Gardens (and their photos are BEAUTIFUL...I'll share some on here soon!), and while there we were able to fit in a mini-session portrait day, which was a blast.

We did, however, have to be a little bit flexible because of the giant awful wildfires that were springing up everywhere; it's tragic to see how many people lost their homes because of these fires, but good to see the community come together to help each other out in a time of crisis. The fires forced us to change the location of our mini-session day, but as always, we are good at rolling with the punches and we were able to find and secure another location with enough time for our day to go off without a hitch.

Here are a couple of sneak peeks from one of the mini-sessions; 8 month old Kaelyn, who started off her portraits with a little bit of a grumpy face, ended up being fun and playful after she got a chance to warm up to me a bit. More images from the mini-sessions as well as the wedding coming soon!

Summer Slammed

I'm getting ready to travel out to Colorado for the first of two weddings I'll be shooting in the rockies this year; next week, Sheena and Max will say "I Do" at Ascension Lutheran Church in Littleton and then celebrate with their family and friends at the beautiful Denver Botanic Gardens for their reception. I'm greatly looking forward to this; it's going to be a gorgeous day! Then in September, I'll return to Colorado once more for the wedding of Grant and Jyssica; this time the big day will take place at a lovely lodge in the mountains, and I simply can't wait.

Things here on the home front are chugging right along as well; along with the two Colorado weddings, we're busily planning some weddings here in the Sunshine State as well; Allison and Jon will be married in early October, and Bryan and Phalicia say their vows on the beach in Jupiter in November. Next year we're already booked for the nuptials of Nikki and Stephen in March for their wedding in Auburndale, and then we'll head down to Key West for Kristen and Thomas's awesome wedding on the Schooner Western Union and the weekend of partying to follow in the Southernmost City. All this on top of our usual portrait sessions, events, and an on-going contract fashion project for a local screen-printing and apparel company. And of course, just as always, the specter of Halloween Horror Nights looms larger every day; we have some really cool kick-off festivities for the Season this year and auditions are rapidly approaching. Suffice to say, it's an exciting and very, very busy time for us; but I'll say it again...busy is good and you won't hear any complaining from this happy photographer!

Enough from me for now. I'll leave you with this: we're celebrating summer with a portrait session giveaway to kick off the season of fun in the sun. If you want a crack at winning the session, simply visit www.rachel-sullivan-photography.com and click on the summer portrait giveaway tab. Want to earn some bonus points? You got it. After you fill out the form to enter the contest on our website, hop over to our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/rachelsullivanphotography and leave a comment on our WALL, and we'll gladly double your entry into the contest. Twice as much chance to win, whoopee!

Hoping you are all well, happy, healthy, and behaving yourselves!

Spring Flings

With a sigh I realize yet again that I've been neglecting my blog. Apologies, gentle reader. Life seems to get away with me more than I ever expect.

We are having a record breaking year so far; more portraits and weddings than ever. (You won't hear me complaining.) This past weekend we shot a wedding redux for a pair of dear friends; Josh and Marisol had a second wedding 4 years after their first go-around because they'd never done it in the church before. Saturday they had an intimate ceremony at Holy Family Catholic in Orlando, surrounded by their families, and we were honored to be on hand to capture their day for them. You may know Josh and Marisol from some of our past portrait sessions with Miss Evie; she is their now 2 year old daughter. They are an awesome family and it was great to get to help them celebrate as they said their "I Do"s again.

Keep an eye on us over on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/rachelsullivanphotography) for all the latest news and photos. We hope you and yours are having a happy healthy year so far. Happy Spring!

Sneakity Peekity

Just a taste from the zombie photo session on Saturday. Oooh, I'm proud of this album. More to come soon...

A Year in the Life of Olivia Jean

I am at the end of a year of incredibly rewarding photography--little Miss Olivia has reached her first birthday.

It seems like just yesterday we were waiting for her to make her debut, and now we're more than a year past that point, watching her grow, walk, learn, and change every day.

Capturing milestones for babies and their families is always a tall order and always special, and Olivia was no exception to this rule. From her very first session, I knew this baby would be a delight and a challenge...she was trying to sit up during her newborn session! She's always been a few steps ahead and a lively little bundle, and I'm thankful for every little moment during what ended up totaling 15 sessions over the course of her first year; newborn portraits, a session for each of her months one through eleven after that, two sessions for her twelve month milestone, and a sweet session we shot with a photojournalistic approach, cataloging a "normal day" with Olivia and her family, going about their day as we documented the proceedings in a more candid and casual way.

All of this led up to her first birthday party, where Olivia, surrounded by her family and friends (and her favorite photographer, naturally), decided it was high time she took her first steps. She literally started walking, with her adoring crowd watching and cheering her on, on her very first birthday. Never let it be said that this girl wasn't born to be in front of the camera!

It doesn't end here; we now get to watch as Olivia keeps on growing, learning, playing, and amazing her family every step of the way. It's bittersweet, in a way, to know that she's growing up, but in another way, it's so exciting to know we'll get to watch her as she continues on her journey.

Happy birthday, Sweet Olivia Jean, with love from your Personal Paparazzi. We can't wait to see what the world has in store for you next!

Dan and Brittnee

Dan and Brittnee's engagement portraits in beautiful St. Augustine were quite windy but also quite a lot of fun. We had a great time capturing the happy couple as they prepare for their upcoming wedding. Here are a few of my favorites from their album so far!