Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Maternity Shoot Italian Style


Brittany & Marcus Murillo
                                                                    Maternity Shoot
                                                                               by 
                                                                                                 Stacey Jern-Lee

With the upcoming arrival of their first child in April, Brittany and Marcus Murillo made the decision to team up with, Simply Dorine, to take photographs to celebrate this miraculous time in their lives. As this is Marcus and Brittany’s first child, they have found out it is a sweet baby girl that they are going to name Maliyah Ashlyn Murillo… Mommy’s favorite name, but with Daddy’s same initials.
            Although Daddy is of Italian descent, the abandoned Spanish villa that was chosen fit well with the last name of Murillo. Brittany looked stunningly beautiful that day, and she really did glow with the joy of motherhood. She was just about 7 months along in her pregnancy the day of the photo shoot, and you can see from her photos, she is a very beautiful soon-to-be Mommy.
            Showered in the morning sunshine, sprinkled with pink rose petals, and laughing in her pretty pink veiled hat, Brittany had a wonderful day! This young couple have such high hopes and dreams for the birth of their daughter, and they are both on pins and needles waiting on her arrival. April seems to be a forever away!
            Brittany and Marcus are a heart warming example of a loving young couple. They are so much in love, and it shows! Maliyah is going to be a very celebrated baby, and her arrival will be one this young couple will live to remember their whole lives. With the addition of the photographs, her pregnancy and the beautiful glow she had will be marked in time forever.

Our theme took on a variety of props, but it begins in front of an abandoned Spanish Villa, long ago own by the adjacent church, Temple Baptist Church, in Titusville, FL. It served as a rectory for the head pastor in an earlier time of the churches history. But today it serves us and provides a wonderful background for our maternity shoot.



 We discovered the back premises had a couple of old metal barns, over grown with weeds, unscrupulously vandalized by people and severely beaten by the  Florida weather.   What a contrast is drew to the usual sentiments and emotions normally associated with motherhood; thoughts of little babies and booties, and soft baby coos.



We wrapped Brittany up in black tulle and yards of black flowing material. I found a delicately designed Spanish fan for added interest. I wanted something elaborate on her head so the black tulle became a formless balled up hat that balanced unsteadily with constant adjustments from every breeze that blew by. 

We wrapped up our shoot on location at the villa, took time for lunch for a very hungry 'mommy to be' before moving into the studio for the finale.

Here we changed outfits again, into something very feminine; now we were adding a more traditional glamorous feel to the shoot.
Brittany dressed up in the most beautiful lace top that just screamed, 'French Lace'.  Ah, the French know how to dress up. The lace was the finishing touch to our maternity shoot. In the end, we had one very tired 'mother to be'.  But we had fun and made great memories!































If you would like to book a theme shoot for maternity or engagement, to contact me call: 321 749 9152 or email: simplydorine@gmail.com. I'm as close as a phone call away. Ciao!

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Beach Engagement Photo Shoots

Crystal and Ben as featured in, Perfect Wedding Guide.
I have been pleasantly busy with engagement shoots. I have met some wonderful couples who have recently done photo shoots with me; I also have some wedding pictures of, Stacey and Rob Lee, a couple who decided to elope and brought me alone to document it. All three have a beach theme in common; here in Florida the beach scene is where it's at.  I'm still shaking off sand, it's in my car, in my photo bag and embedded in my Reef's flip flops.


  I love the sand dunes and the boardwalk of this beach. The shade of the over hanging trees that align the boardwalk gave us a break from the bright Florida sun and made perfect conditions for some picture taking.




My first engaged couple is, Crystal Swearingen and Joe Brown, Indialantic  Fl. Their engagement shoot took place at Cherie Down Park, one of Florida's beautiful hidden beaches, nestled between, Jetty Park and Cocoa Beach.  I will have the privilege of documenting their wedding in October; also on the beach. Crystal and Joe's engagement is currently being featured in, Perfect Wedding Guide Magazine (Orlando, March issue).  


 Perfect Wedding Guide is one of Florida's largest circulated wedding magazine bringing Florida's best wedding merchants to your fingertips.

I met my next couple, Diana and Ben, at a bridal show I attended in January of this year. They were the winners of my, mini Valentine Day Photo Shoot that I raffled off.  Back to Cherie Down Park for more picture taking. Cherie Down Park's ambiance  is the choice for many couples who are looking for a secluded beach not too far for travelling. The nice thing about this park are the sand dunes present and it's boardwalk.  The beach itself is shallow and the waves are friendly to little people and big ones alike.

Diana and Ben
We chose a morning shoot when the angle of the sun wasn't too severe and I could manipulate the light.  And of course we came with more props; the calk board is a favorite because you can use it to post the wedding dates which a favorite of many couples.





 Diana and Ben are planning a wedding for next February 2014.
 I always enjoy myself when working, this shoot was only forty five minutes long and yet it seemed like only five minutes to me. Congratulations to the two newly engaged couples.
















How many elopements brings a photographer with them?  Well that is exactly what Stacey and Rob Lee did.
Stacey called me up about one month before the wedding date. They were getting married on the very day I had booked Diana and Ben's engagement shoot! But as luck had it, they were planning an afternoon wedding on the beach; not the best time for picture taking with the sun hovering overhead, but just enough time for me to finish one beach shoot and run up the coast to photograph the wedding, at Playalinda.




Stacey was one hour late for her wedding. I told her she was in good company; I was thirty minutes late for mine and my daughter was forty five minutes late for hers. We all had a good laugh and relaxed the tension.















If you would like me to photograph your wedding, you can contact me at: simplydorine@gmail.com or call:
321 749 9152.
I'm as close as a phone call away.
Ask about WeddinGlamour and how we can set up a special photo session.




Simply,
Dorine