Every now and then, I’ll get the opportunity to photograph some baby bumps. Not the kind inflicted on actual babies who head-butt coffee tables but maternity sessions! Elisabeth and Chase did a good job at paying attention to each other. It’s always difficult being in front of the camera and wondering what the photographer will come up with on the fly. As a note to future clients, if you’re not sure what to do with your positioning and expression, just get comfortable with the person you are with and enjoy their company! I like to consider sessions with couples as a sort of date with a creepy, good-looking photographer in the background, documenting every smooth move dished out. If you’re in the mindset of creating an ideal, it may get in the way of letting something natural happen. Nothing beats a genuine moment!

Speaking of moments, enjoy their photos!

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Micah and Wes drove down to Panama City Beach from Alabama for their engagement session last Saturday evening and we met up at St. Andrews State Park. They humored me while I dragged them around to all the places I thought were “really cool” and traipsed through the woods and along the beach. Throughout the session it was evident that they could not be more into each other and that their love was as sweet as sugar cane. Micah and Wes, we wish you many years of happiness and hope that these photos remind you of your newly-engaged bliss for years to come!

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Afterwards we headed to Hollywood, FL for the wedding reception at The Club at Emerald Hills. From the fantastic food from Hao Wah Catering, to billowing ostrich feathers and amazing lighting, every last detail had been planned out. It was a feast for the eyes, stomach, and heart!

Reception Venue | The Club at Emerald Hills

Wedding Gown | Vera Wang

Makeup | Trinh Luong

Hairstyling |Falynn Mahaffey,  Hue Salon

Videography | The Bokeh Studio

Catering | Hao Wah Catering

Deejay and lighting | Promo DJs

Wedding MC | Lena Ung

Centerpieces | Pure Dymonds (ostrich feathers) & Hao Wah

Photobooth | SNAP! Studio booth

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After the ceremony we traveled to the campus of Nova Southeastern University to photograph the couple with their wedding party. The location ended up being not only meaningful for them, but beautiful as well!

In our next post we’ll share images from the final day of their wedding weekend, complete with a roasted pig, dancing, and champagne!

Here are just some of the amazing people that helped make this event happen:

Ceremony Venue | St. Helen’s Catholic Church

Wedding Gown | Vera Wang

Makeup | Trinh Luong

Hairstyling |Falynn Mahaffey,  Hue Salon

Videography | The Bokeh Studio

Like what you see? Tell a friend! We’re www.luftcreative.com

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We started off the three-day event on a Friday morning with a Vietnamese tea ceremony in Panama City.

Afterwards we hopped on a plane and headed down to Ft. Lauderdale. Early the next morning we drove down to Miami to photograph the girls as they got ready before the ceremony.

At that point the excitement was really building! A few hours later we headed back up to Ft. Lauderdale to watch them prepare for the ceremony. Those pictures and more will be featured in the next post.

Like what you see? Tell a friend! We’re www.luftcreative.com

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The post Full of Spunk – The Drinnon Family appeared first on Luft Creative.

I have been fortunate to document both Carla and Frank’s wedding and maternity session and this morning I had the pleasure of spending time with them and photographing them in their home with their beautiful new son. On the way home I listened to this song by Christina Perri and was moved to tears thinking about how it perfectly illustrates a parent’s love for their child. We’re in the middle of a double-header shoot day and are packing our bags to head off to Miami for a 3-day wedding, but I desperately wanted to post this because it meant too much to me. So now I’m going to stop talking and recommend you click the link, crank up the music and enjoy these images of this beautiful new family… Tissues not included…

- holly

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The post For a Thousand Years (Baby Cole) appeared first on Luft Creative.

A few weeks ago the Swain family visited Panama City Beach for their vacation and we had the opportunity to photograph them while they were here. Their session was unique because it involved two different, but closely-related, families. Patrick and I shot this session together, so after we photographed the family pictures he went with the older girls (sisters) while I laid face-down in the sand for their daughter’s 6 month portraits.

We had a great time getting to know them and rolling around in the sand (ok, I’ll admit that was just me…). It is our hope that these photos leave them feeling fortunate not only for beautiful scenery, but for salty little toes, warm sunshine, big hugs, and a family that exudes love…

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Throughout much of my childhood (and 20’s), summers were spent sailing on the bay. Nothing short of a hurricane could keep me off the water – and even then it was up for debate… I’m not sure exactly when it was, but I believe it was one hot day in high school when the new lifeguard at the pool showed up – a sweet, beautiful brunette named Hilary. She’d guard the waters and keep all of us sailor-types with our crazy, wind-blown hair and blistered hands from drowning. We eventually became friends and would occasionally see each other throughout the school year. But as soon as the summer heat cranked up you could count on her being perched up in that lifeguard chair with a view of the bay, guarding us from… quite honestly, from our ourselves…

Fast forward nine years or so… In the middle of what was an unbearably cold DC winter, we ran into each other in passing. As is typical in the city, we were hurrying in opposite directions. I spotted her smiling, tan face (I remember thinking “How is she tan in December?”) and it completely lifted my spirits and brought me right back to being happy and relaxed by bay, if only for a moment. We were able to meet up and learn that we had been living parallel lives for several years – attending the same graduate school (different departments), living nearby, and involved in the same organizations. We had just never crossed paths until then! We promptly put an end to that and rekindled our friendship.

Since then I’ve grown my hair out, had a child, had my world turned upside down, moved across the country, drastically altered my career path, and spent a lot of time looking out at the bay where we first met. Hilary has been one of the many people that have been there for me through it all and over the past three summers I’ve been fortunate that’s she’s entrusted me to capture her family photos. It’s a job that I take very seriously, and after finding out that Susan Stripling photographed their wedding (that’s a hard act to follow, ya’ll!) I have to confess to being a little nervous. This summer we headed out to Pier Park and played on the beach, followed by some play-time at Miracle Strip. I enjoyed watching them interact with the new baby, and their oldest daughter splash by the water’s edge. It was obvious to me that Hilary and Tom are raising two happy and relaxed children that not only appreciate and love the water, but that know that they can count on them no matter what life throws at them.

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I’ve known and worked with Sara for a few years now. I actually met her in a damp, creepy dungeon-errr, basement. I was assisting in a commercial shoot at the time and from there on out we continued to work with each other occasionally. As photographers, knowing the person in front of the lens brings everything to a completely different level- stress levels are lifted, trust is granted and everyone just has a good time. That’s why we aim to get to know our couples… That, and I usually take my favorite photos and add them to my friendship shrine located in my closet… I’ll save that for a different post though.

With such great subjects to photograph, a beautiful location and super-friendly guests, nothing seemed like it could go wrong! With that mentality, it didn’t. Sure it rained and the original ceremony layout had to be scratched leaving everyone under a cramped entrance, but nobody complained. They just kept being in the moment and enjoyed whatever was tossed their way. That’s why I loved every minute of it. Positive vibes all around.

Here are just some of the amazing people that helped make this day happen:

Wedding Venue | Shark’s Tooth Golf Club, planner: Shay Bell

Officiant | Taylor Brown of Northstar Church

Cake | Cakes by Tanis

Florals  | Custom Florals by Robin, Robin Buckner

Hairstyling | Leanne Cardwell

Makeup | Jessie Pate from MAC Cosmetics

Music | Mark Limmer

Transportation | A Bride’s Ride, Al Timo

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