Downtown Leesburg Engagement Session - Emily & Ari

Amanda and I had an awesome engagement session out in Leesburg. We had never visited Leesburg before, but it is filled with so much beauty that Amanda and I had to stick around after the engagement session ended to snap some more pictures of the area. Leesburg may be a small town, but it is filled with a quaint feeling that you miss out on in larger cities like Orlando. After spending the evening in Leesburg we definitely know how Emily and Ari can fall in love in such a picturesque town.

We met Emily and Ari near Beacon College where they are students and where they first met. Beacon College is located near the Leesburg City Hall, where Amanda and I had scouted out a fountain before the session, so we started heading that way. While on our way there, Emily told us that is where she and Ari actually had their first date. We loved that we stumbled upon a spot so special to them, so we spent a significant amount of time near that fountain and City Hall capturing their engagement photos.

We then had to go down towards Beacon College so we could get a few pictures of where it all began! The Beacon College campus is filled with beautiful spots, and on the way there, we passed an awesome hedge wall that covered the entire side of a building, leaving a space for a mural that was painted on it. That is where we had to have a ring shot! Ari chose a purple Amethyst stone for Emily’s engagement ring, and WOW is it stunning! It brings a great pop of color, and we just had to borrow it off of Emily’s finger to do a ring shot with.

Emily and Ari will be graduating in just a few months, and then will be focusing on wedding planning. It was so fun getting to know these two, and we are incredibly excited for their big achievements in graduating and then marriage! Congratulations Emily and Ari!

Rollins College Engagement Session - Nina & Steven

We met Nina at the Florida Wedding Expo, and we had the opportunity to meet her Fiance, Steven, during their engagement session. Nina chose Rollins College to serve as the backdrop to her and Steven’s romantic evening of photos.

One of our favorite things about engagement sessions is that we really get to know the couple. We love to laugh and laughing with our couples when they are being ridiculously cute because it is so much fun. Celebrating love is definitely a joy of ours, and we were all laughing together that day. It was a beautiful evening, and despite it being a little hot, Steven and Nina were great sports and were just giggling all day. We’re pretty sure Steven was just pretend giggling, but that didn’t matter as it got not only Nina, but Amanda and myself, laughing too!

When determining where to have their engagement session, Nina asked us if we had any recommendations and told us some of the scenery she most preferred. Nina chose Rollins College for its beautiful architecture combined with the natural old growth trees and landscape. During their engagement session, we discovered that Nina and Steven had only just recently moved to Central Florida from up north, so it was great that we were able to help them find just the right Florida look for their engagement session.

Nina and Steven are still early in their planning process. They have some of the biggest hurdles out of the way though, like wedding venue and date. We are so excited to see how their big day will turn out, but one thing is for sure, it will be the perfect day for them. We know it will be absolutely gorgeous, filled with love and joy, and we are so excited for them!

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Instax 365 Challenge Week 8

Not too much was happening this week. It mostly consisted of editing and following up with leads from the past week’s wedding show. This week was also featured another panic moment when I woke up one morning and realized I forgot to post the previous day’s picture. I usually take the picture whenever inspiration strikes, and then in the evening when I’m home and have the ability to write out the date and day on the photo, I do that and then upload it. Well, for Day 53, I had to post it on Day 54 because, as you’ll see, I was a bit distracted.

Day 50 (2/19/19)

I’m really loving just how well the Instax Neo 90 Classic captures shadows, and especially nature shots. As I’ve said in the past, I do think that the macro and focus leave a little to be desired, but overall I think the camera does perform solidly for what it is. The color on this plant is unique and reminds me of the photo from Day 6 despite it being a different plant altogether.

Day 51 (2/20/19)

This little decoration lives in my mother-in-law’s house. I was having a pretty good day overall, and his jolly, little face made me smile. He looks proud of his job, and now that I’ve seen that proud smile, I can’t interpret it as any other kind. I think I can see why my mother-in-law keeps him around.

Day 52 (2/21/19)

I was waiting for Amanda to get in the car when I looked at the steering wheel and thought this might make a good photo. Like I said above, the Instax Neo 90 Classic can leave some things to be desired, and in this case it is the overly powerful flash. There is a button to lighten/darken an image, but it is really hard to tell how a photo will turn out until you snap the picture. Once you’ve done that you can then adjust accordingly, but that isn’t in line with my 365 Challenge here. I’m going to have to dedicate a week to trying out each setting and seeing how that goes.

Day 53 (2/22/19)

Ahhhh, the picture that was forgotten. I took this picture and then I decided to jump right back into my childhood and play these games. I stayed up way too late and totally forgot about posting the picture. I woke up on the 23rd and instantly realized my mistake. Curse you nostalgia!

Day 54 (2/23/19)

We received our new business cards this day and they had to be delivered into the package box instead of the regular mailbox. I wanted to see how the image would look if I allowed the camera to flash with all the (what I think is probably) aluminum walls. I was surprised the light didn’t bounce as badly as I expected, and ultimately I like the shot. As I joked in my captions and hashtags for the picture, it looks like the inside of a safe to me.

Day 55 (2/24/19)

Amanda and I spent the majority of our day in Tampa. We turned it into kind of a date day as we were really there for business adjacent things, but then extended it out to include and nice lunch and chat over boba tea. Tampa has one of my top 2 favorite tea shops, and I look for any and every excuse to go visit and take Amanda. Anyways, back to the picture of the Ramada Inn. Our business adjacent business brought us here for a presentation to see if we could better our services. I am a little surprised at how dark the image came out though because this picture was taken at noon on a very bright day.

Day 56 (2/25/19)

Remember earlier when I said the Instax Neo 90 Classic does a great job at catching nature well? Well, here is another example. The colors have a great contrast to them and shadows are nice and deep. Originally, I wanted to take a picture of just the broken branch and preferably looking down straight on it, but… I was too short. I changed up my angle and despite it not being what I originally envisioned, I’m happy that we get to see a little bit of the sky popping through.

Favorite photo of the week:

Day 54. There is something about how simple this photo is that I really like. It isn’t busy, it isn’t overly fancy. It just look really simple and clean. And, in honor of the simplicity of that photo, I’m gonna leave this area really simple too by leaving my justification at that.

Make sure to check in on my Instagram (@miguel.mejias.florabloom)  to see more of the Instax 365 Challenge as I upload a each day’s photo. If you want to see more of our images, check out Amanda’s Instagram (@florabloomphotography), and if you’d like to reach out to us, be sure to do so here!

Lake Runnymede Engagement Session - Ben & Tori

We love making new friends! Being photographers gives us such a unique opportunity to not only capture a couples love and relationship, but to also become friends with so many new people! When you are celebrating a couples upcoming wedding and laughing all the while you end an engagement session as friends. That is what happened when we photographed Ben and Tori’s engagement session.

We first met this awesome couple at a fun local coffee shop. Usually, we meet a new couple and talk about how they are and how their wedding plans are going. We then go over how we can best serve them during the remainder of their engagement and through their wedding day. Well, with Ben and Tori, what is usually a 1 hour meet-up was quite a bit longer. We talked about all the business stuff of course, but we couldn’t help but spend some extra time joking and having fun with them!

Their engagement session was no different. Ben arrived looking sharp in a classic, black suit and Tori was wearing a beautiful silver gray dress. They looked like they were going to the red carpet! And, best of all, they were ready for great evening spent in a beautiful park having their love frozen in time on our camera. This was the first time that either Ben or Tori had been to this park, and they were both struck by how beautiful it was. It was a beautiful day and the light was casting down between the trees and creating amazing shimmering oasis’ where we could just let Ben and Tori be themselves.

Being in front of a camera can feel awkward. We are photographers and enjoy our time behind the camera more than in front of it for a reason. We know our couples can feel that way too and we are always prepared to help make our couples comfortable and looking natural. Ben and Tori though were NATURALS!!! It happens where couples are so in love and just forget that we are even there, but with Ben and Tori they knew we were there and were just having fun. We were all belly laughing and cracking jokes.

Heels are hard to be in and towards the end of our session Tori forwent her shoes and opted to go barefoot on our way back out to the cars. We were passing this beautiful field with some dry brush and we all just knew we had to go in there and get some pictures. She looked, as we joked, like a forest nymph. You would imagine that the dry brush would be hard on her feet, but she didn’t mind at all! The pictures we captured there really showcase their personalities and just how much they love each other.

Are you looking for an Orlando wedding photographer for your big day? Click here to reach out to us! We’d love to meet up for coffee :)

Instax 365 Challenge Week 7

Hey Everyone,
Sorry I got a little backed up with posting the last couple of Instax365 Challenge blogs. This year has really started to get busy. We are doing our best to make sure they are all published in order while getting everything else done for our brides. That being said, let’s jump right into the pictures of the week, shall we?

Day 43 (2/12/19)

It’s early February in Florida, and it feels just like this photo looks! Although we did hit a cold front for a little bit, it is hot. Feel just like sunny, tropical Florida. I was out running an errand when I stopped and had to take this photo.

Day 44 (2/13/19)

If you’re an Aldi shopper, you know this sign. I thought the pop of orange was great against the night sky. Unfortunately, the Instax Neo 90 Classic does fall short in low light conditions. I’m definitely spoiled from our Sony A7III. Those things have INCREDIBLE low light capability, and I’m definitely used to not having to worry.

Day 45 (2/14/19)

I bet you were expecting a Valentine’s Day picture. Not quite, but it does have some beautiful colors. I had to rush to get this photo. Amanda and I were leaving a store, and the sun was setting with all those beautiful colors. I had the camera already on me, but I wanted to find a more open spot that wasn’t so blocked by street lights or cars. By the time a ran down the sidewalk a few yards, the colors had changed even more. I love the deep blues and blacks mixing with the peachy colors of the sunset. In a way, it has a Valentine’s Day feel.

Day 46 (2/15/19)

I joked on my Instagram that I was gonna start a food blog with how poor this photo came out. I always overestimate the ability of the macro setting on the Instax. It does work great, but, again, I’m used to our Sony A7III with a macro lens. It’s a bit hard to tell what kind of burger that is from the picture though. Amanda made homemade black bean and quinoa burgers topped with avocado. It is one of my favorite meals.

Day 47 (2/16/19)

We took the boys to the county fair today. Lucas insisted he take his hat, but once we got to the rides, he quickly threw off his hat and ran to the closest one. I then had the esteemed honor of wearing his hat the rest of the day so we wouldn’t lose it. Lucas wanted to ride the train, and while I rode it with him, Amanda snapped this picture. I love moments like these.

Day 48 (2/17/19)

This was taken at the Winter Park Wedding Stroll. Our booth was on an endcap, so we had to change around our layout slightly. Because we had two open sides, I tried to take a ¾ shot of of our booth, but the booth across the way wasn’t done setting up.

Day 49 (2/18/19)

Last week there was a picture of Dash, so I figured it would only be right to showcase Daphne. She is generally pretty shy, so when I had this opportunity to snap her picture I had to take it.

Favorite photo of the week:

This one is tough because I love Day 47. I can never get enough of that little boy, and a picture where he is smiling so big and holding onto me is a HUGE + for it. I do think though that it is slightly beaten out by Day 45. I absolutely LOVE the colors that were captured. If I wouldn’t have been in such a harsh shadow on Day 45, it may have been the winner though.