Welcome!

Thanks for visiting my blog! If you're a client looking for your sneak peeks, note that I normally have them up within a few days of the session, but at times it may take me up to a week. Remember to click on the picture to see it bigger, and feel free to nab these for use on Myspace, Facebook, or emailing to friends and family (but note- these are web-sized images, and not suitable for printing. Also, please do not remove my watermark. I'm proud of these images and want everyone to know I took them :) I make it small and discreet- and I'd rather not have to put a big, obnoxious watermark across them instead... So please help a girl (& the rest if my clients) out and respect my copyright! Thanks).
If you're a prospective client, make certain to visit my website for more images and info. There's a link in the sidebar. Please contact me with any questions or to schedule a session: gypsyisledesigns@yahoo.com. Thanks again for visiting and enjoy your stay!

Friday, June 29, 2007

Samya readies herself...

Here are a few more pictures from when Samya was getting ready. Don't forget to check out Chyrel's blog for more pictures from Samya and John's wedding day.

I love this first picture for a lot of reasons... but mainly for how well it shows off Samya's beautiful waistline!























This is a back view of almost the same moment. She had so many tiny buttons on her dreess that at one point she had at least 4 people touching her at once! I don't think it is quite Guiness book of world records worthy... but was definitely a new record for me.





















I just love this picture of Samya's mom and sister helping her with her veil. Check out those smiles!

















This next lady was both Samya's hairdresser as well as one of her soloists during the ceremony. She has an absolutely beautiful voice- and her hairstyling technique isn't bad either! I can personally vouch that Samya's hair was just as lovely (if not lovelier) by the end of her reception as it was at the beginning of the day! A definite tribute to Mrs. "T" (gosh I hope I got that right!)





















And finally... another big star of the wedding day- the shoes! I must admit that I think anyone who will wear black maryjanes with a wedding dress is just about the coolest person ever! I couldn't help but smile every time I saw these shoes peeking out from under her dress. Stylish, elegant and fun all at the same time; and definitely unique!

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Samya's Arrival at the Church...

I meant to make an entry yesterday but was on a roll with proofing and didn't want to interrupt myself and lose my mojo while it was still strong ;) So I apologize for not getting more sneak peeks up sooner! I would also like to take this moment to link to Chyrel's blog as she has added a few sneak peeks of her own: Chyrel of Island Time Studio's Blog. Definitely take a minute to check them out! She also plans on updating and adding a few more pics every other day or so, so make certain to check back often!


And on to my pics of the day... As opposed to last time, some of these *are* my faves from her arrival at the church... I just couldn't constrain myself any longer :)

Here is the lovely Samya arriving at the church; check out that gorgeous smile! Definitely the epitome of a radiant bride!





















This is the Bride's younger sister, also just-arrived, and also looking radiant and fresh... based on the huge smiles everyone had when they stepped out of the van, that must have been a fun car ride over!






















Their lovely mother in her beautiful dress; you can definitely see where her girls got their beautiful smiles from!





















Bridezilla or helpful friend?? You decide! (actually, I have enough pictures of Samya seemingly slapping people to make an entire blog entry about just that! They are quite funny to see :) I may just do an entire "bridezilla" type posting if I ever find the time... and assuming Samya wouldn't kill me ;)). This is one of her bridesmaids, Anya. I think Samya was cleaning off a kiss, thought the jury is still out... It sure does look suspiciously like a slap!














This is the Bride's baby brother and his lovely girlfriend (who also sang beautifully during the service). You can definitely see that good looks aren't just confined to the ladies in the family!
















Samya's 3rd lovely bridesmaid. She is watching as Samya is getting finished with dressing.






















And the final picture of the day is of the dress... one of the most important details of the wedding day and a definite star in its own right! Samya's was absolutely gorgeous; and it looked even prettier on her!




















I hope you enjoyed these! I will add more tomorrow (I promise I actually will this time!)

Monday, June 25, 2007

Samya and John

Samya and John's wedding was absolutely lovely!

I am so honored to have been a small part of their very special day. I definitely teared up quite a few times during the day; notably during her brother's toast and when she saw herself for the first time in the mirror. I promised that Chyrel and I would both put a few pictures up every couple days. These first few don't follow any specific order, nor are they necessarily my faves; but I have too many of those to list! Usually I want to put my faves on my blog... but in this case I am going to try and restrain myself so I can surprise Samya and John with the best of the bunch. Then I'll freely and liberally fill my blog full of them!

So, without further ado...

These first 3 are just a tiny sample of the images I was able to capture while the Lovely Ms. Samya readied herself:













This is the very proud momma of the groom, watching her son and new Daughter-in-law as they danced for the first time as husband and wife:







This is the Groom's utterly adorable nephew playing with the bubbles... all the kids had a blast with the party favors!






and finally... a sneak peek at one of the many great pics we captured of the newlyweds on the beach:



I know Chyrel is planning on having a few up by tomorrow and I will link to her blog for easy access. I hope this tiny sample brings a smile to the newlyweds!

Sunday, June 17, 2007

my new lens is here!

I've been practicing with my new lens!



This little girl was a sweetie and agreed to be my first model! Isn't she cute? The sun flare is b/c I was trying to test the lens in full sun/backlighting.



This was shot later the same evening. I was coming home and saw the way Monsanto was lit up and I just had to stop and take a picture! I was surprised at how well it turned out considering my Shutter speed was incredibly slow (1/6th to 1/15th second, handheld!). I think I am going to print this one on metallic paper! (if you click on the picture you can see a larger version)





These last 3 pictures are a few sneak peek shots from the quick walk-through we did with Samya and John. They were so much fun to watch- very fun and affectionate! I can't wait for their wedding next week! The first two pictures are of their lovely chapel. The final picture is of a chandelier at the Officer's club, where their reception is being held. I just love the way it is lit up.. so beautiful!





Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Piggytails!

Adele enjoying the first watermelon of summer... while wearing piggytails!

We usually get quite a few watermelons as soon as they are in season, but this is the first one of this year. Last year Dele didn't seem to like them very much... today you couldn't get it away from her! But this post is more about her cute little ponytails... 3 to be exact! Check out that top view... I told you she had hair finally!

This first picture is just pure her! That is, in fact, generally how she smiles! I can never explain it to people, but she smiles by turning down her little lips into an almost frown. Only her eyes let you know it is her little smile :) Doesn't she just look like trouble? (and boy is she a handful lol!)

















and one of Cameron... this is the look you get when you tell him he needs to leave his water gun at home...

Monday, June 11, 2007

more from the park!

A few more of my kids (+ a storyboard!)

I had fun proofing a few more pictures from yesterday at the park, so I decided to make a little storyboard to commemorate it! I will be printing it as a 5x10 mini collage, have it mounted on styrene, and then place it on a little easel. I think it will be so cute and fun! If it turns out as nice as I envision, then I plan on offering these in the future; keep your eyes peeled for some pics!















This one is quintessential Adele. That little pouty crease between her eyes and determined face... she kills me! I don't know what exactly she wanted in this picture, but I don't doubt that she probably ended up getting it!



















This last picture is the storyboard; I will be printing this one as a 5x10 mini collage; but it could be very easily converted into a 10x20 wall collage design instead! My 10x20 collages are only 85.00 and include up to 12 pictures (depending on the design chosen; other sizes such as 12x12 also available). Contact me for more details and examples. (Click on picture to see it better detail :))

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Shoreline park

Today we went to Shoreline park in Gulf Breeze. I've never been before and the kids had a blast. I had my camera handy (of course) and here are a few from today:


Here is Cam in the truck on the way to the park. I can catch the most amazing light in his eyes when he is in the backseat!






Once we arrived at the park both kids made a beeline to the teeter-totter... neither one had seen one before so they were very excited to play on it!










The blues surprised us by doing a fly-by in formation... I was quick enough to catch a few shots before they were gone from sight.








I just loved his look of concentration while he was coming down this thing... it took him FOREVER!







Dele had a blast going up and down the slide... and also eating sand, which is evidenced by her very dirty face and mouth! Considering how picky she is at dinner time, dirt must be pretty tasty!








I just love this picture of Dele. She was checking out all the little skater boys who had just been kicked out of the skate park. They were showing off their moves as they were all going home... she was enthralled! Great, isn't she a little young to go for the bad boys? (and older ones at that!)

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

New Website coming soon!

BIG news Today!!! For starters, I finally found a website design that I like! I am super excited about this one and have just started making it my own. I am hoping to be completely finished by this time next week (crossing fingers, throwing salt over my shoulder... all the good stuff!) So wish me luck! A lot of the images that have only been seen on my blog (or not at all!) will finally be on my official website- that alone is reason enough for me to get excited! But the new website will also have password protected proofing galleries, music on every page, LARGE pictures (wooohooo! every photog likes to see their stuff BIGGER lol :)), plus a plethora of other fun goodies! And, it is stylish and elegant to boot! I may just have to come up with some type of "new website celebration" special lol... start stalking my blog ;)

I also just met with the CUTEST Couple, Samya and John, who will be getting married in just 2 short weeks! I am very happy to say they have chosen Chyrel and I to photograph their wedding. I think it will be a lot of fun! Her dress is divine, the chapel beautiful, and the reception is being held at the Officer's club which is just gorgeous; I can't wait!

I have also been going back through all of my sessions to find good candidates for my new (larger) portfolios on my new website... and I have been finding a lot of lost gems! Mainly from my "fun" sessions that were put aside in favor of my "real" sessions lol... but it is always nice to find new stuff to play with!

Here is just one tiny example; this is my friend and fellow photographer Chyrel Fogarty of Island Time Studios:

Isn't she beautiful? We were scouting locations and we just fell in love with the green brick mixed with the colors of the old water pump... too bad every time I've tried to go back there the light has been just terrible. But that's ok, it is kind of like our secret spot where we both took lovely pics of each other :) Sometimes it is nice to have a spot where you don't/can't take clients!





Here is another example of a spot I haven't taken any clients... and don't plan to simply b/c it is kind of hard (and a bit messy) to reach:

This one was taken last weekend. I love this location for nature type shots; my new Blog header was shot there as well... in fact, if you look closely at this picture you will see the same heron featured in it! Maybe one day soon I will share the non-pink version of the blog header ;) I've shot here several times, but this was the first time I brought anyone with me. That's my son, Cameron, peeking through the tree. He had a Blast playing in the water and on the stumps... until he cut his foot open on a rock. So, I DEFINITELY won't be taking any client's to this spot!


And the biggest news of all... I went to pick up the kids from school today and Adele comes running out with a big old ponytail on her head! Ok, that might be a bit of an exaggeration lol... but it was at least an inch worth of the cutest curls in the cutest "Pebbles"-esque ponytail you ever saw! I would have a picture to prove it, but I let a friend borrow my camera so she could see if she liked it before she went out and bought one (she loves it by the way!). I am sure this is only the first of many ponytails though; I will make certain the next one is documented for all posterity!