The wedding, at the gorgeous Addison location did present Ashley with plenty of opportunities to panick due to schedule issues serious enough to force us to split the family portrait sessions into THREE chunks… yet Ashley was the image of calm.  Brian is indeed a lucky man…  he got himself a gorgeous bride with nerves of steel!

Here’s a sneak peek of the wedding.  Enjoy those photos. 

I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek. The full set will be ready within the next 5 or 6 weeks.

This post shows only a small portion of what we did, we’ll post more later.

I lead this post with an image I’m absolutely in love with:

For those terrified at the sight of the little one on that shelf, be sure to read the rest of the post after the images.

We hope you enjoyed these photos documenting what our little one looked like just before turning 10 days old. If you enjoyed these be sure to come back and check out the rest… there are a few that are absolutely hilarious!

Ok, and finally about that first image at the beginning of the post. I’m sure some of you are wondering “how could he possibly endanger his son for a shot?!”

Well… let’s just say David Copperfield would be proud.

Of course I would NEVER endanger anyone for the sake of a photo. Cameras can tell the truth but they can be used to tell lies… in this case I purposely positioned the camera to fool your eye into thinking the shelf Massimo was on is much narrower than it really is and that it’s positioned in the same way as the others. it isn’t. And thanks to the magic of photoshop you can’t see that Mommy’s hands are much closer to Massimo’s butt than you might ever imagine by looking at the image.

Incredibly fun couple, incredibly fun wedding.

We wrote about our experience a bit in our sneak peek, so we’ll leave you to the images soon…  however we did want to mention once again that we had a fantastic time photographing your wedding.  Your wedding featured the first time ever we heard the Jurassic Park theme during a wedding ceremony, one of the most amazing mother-son dance photos ever… look below, how amazingly sweet mom’s glance on Andy is …. our favorite pj photo to date (you’ll have to figure that one out yourselves) the first time a couple actually ASKED for FLARE (yes!) our first Bridal Session at Vizcaya and our first blue wedding shoes!

Villa Salcedo was a gorgeous wedding venue, we look forward to being back.

This was also our last Canon wedding, which alas, meant the last time we used our beloved 35L … and yes the “favorite PJ shot” was shot, of course, with the 35L

behold, the equally gorgeous, equally fun Natalie and Andy!

for more images of the bridal party as well as some more dancing shots (find yourself!) see our facebook page

The full set is up on the proof site.

Once again guys, thank you so much for trusting us with documenting this glorious beginning of your new life together.  It was amazing to share the day with you and your families.

Lisette and Alessandro Di Sciascio

You get an incredible evening punctuated by moments of emotion that take your breath away… and a crazy fun party, all wrapped in one.

Here is a sneak peek from their special day…. watch the blog for much more coming soon!

Oh yeah… and of course… if you’re having THAT much fun… who knows what might happen… maybe even Lady Gaga might show up…

The session was nothing short of awesome, including such amazing things as getting chased off the premises by a barbaric hotel guard; falling into an incredibly dangerous man-eating-plant (that was pretty hilarious); and just creating amazing photos with these two beautiful peeps!

No more words.  Ladies and Gentlemen…. Jennifer and Stephen!

Guys, we had a fantastic time with you, thanks for trusting us to create these for you! Enjoy your party and your vacation!

Stephen, thank you for your service to our country.

Dear Mr. Dodd,

I’ve never used my blog for anything other than showing my photography.  I’m not an activist, I don’t have strong political leanings one way or another.  I’m informed, I’m curious, and I’m pissed.

Based on the latest reporting it appears that those two bills are dead in the water.  My letter might seem therefore unnecessary.  I’m afraid it’s not.  If the interview I just saw with you on CNN is recent then this letter is not, in fact, unnecessary.

Let’s get one thing out of the way very quickly.  I DO NOT SUPPORT PIRACY.  I buy my software, I obtain all the music I listen to through legal channels, I do the same with movies.  I have no sympathy for foreign or domestic sites that steal artists’ IP.  Heck, I’m a professional photographer.  I’m always dealing with the prospect of people using my images without permission, what I do IS all IP, so no… I’m no enemy of IP.

That said, the MPAA and the RIAA need to wake up.  They need to start doing THEIR part to combat piracy.  The next time their lobbyists call you and ask you to start working on SOPA 2.0 or PIPA Plus Deluxe, you need to tell them to tell their employer that it’s 2012, not 1959 … it’s no longer the day of towns with one movie theater showing one movie or of record stores full of vinyl.

A few years ago we had to deal with the loud crying of the RIAA …. “Napster is eating our lunch!” … and for the longest time they resisted changing with the times.  People no longer want to go to music stores and browse through racks of CDs hoping to find the one containing that one song they like, and then be forced to pay for 17 other songs they don’t.  Eventually the RIAA must have been dunked enough times to wake up and we can now download our music, by the song through services such as iTunes, Amazon etc.  Suddenly their cries diminished.  Sure there are still some diehard thieves who download songs illegally, but the average well meaning citizen can now do what they’ve been wanting to do, legally.

Now let me give you two examples where the sobbing MPAA and RIAA need to get with the times and STOP forcing their customers to break the law.

1.  As I mentioned I’m a photographer.  I mostly photograph weddings.  Many of my clients ask for a dvd with a slideshow with photos from their wedding set to music.  They want currently popular music, their first dance song…  you know, how strange of them, huh?  So I have the images, I have the software to create the slideshow with the music, no biggie right?  WRONG.  You would think I could go on iTunes and buy the three songs… maybe even at a premium price “for listening $0.99 for using in a non-commercially-sold-video reproduced in no more than 3 copies $9.99″ or something like that.  Ha ha ha!!!  That would make sense, wouldn’t it?  So yeah… that’s NOT how it works.  You can find webpages with tens of thousands of words that explain how it works.  it’s archaic, ridiculously complicated and astonishingly expensive.  Heck if I want to use a song on my website… you know the way EVERY freakin’ photographer out there is doing it…  even more complicated… I have to estimate the traffic to the site…  weigh my newborn…  you get the picture.  The result is that someone like me has to tell their clients “I’m sorry but I can’t do that for you” … which is ridiculous and heartbreaking, and someone like many of my competitors just does it in violation of the RIAA’s rules.

2.  The CNN interview of you that triggered my writing this reported dramatically how foreign pirate sites allow American consumers to illegally download movies that are still playing in theaters like WAR HORSE… and of course we’re supposed to only want to spank the foreign pirate site and the American consumers that are downloading them.  That might satisfy you but it doesn’t satisfy me.  We CLEARLY have the technology to distribute the movies electronically.  So my question is very simple… if I want to watch WAR HORSE today, on my TV at home rather than schlepping to the theater, how can I do so legally?  If the various movie studios had not created a cartel, called the MPAA, I might have a solution today because maybe Warner Brothers would try to get a leg up on Sony and say “screw the old-time release dates from the 80s… it’s 2012 I’m gonna let my customers go to the theater OR watch at home”  (yes of course they would also have to update how box-office numbers are calculated… include the downloads… yes computers can add, it’s OK, really, no need to fear the future).

In conclusion, Mr. Dodd… yes defend the interests of the RIAA and the MPAA… but only by following the principle of HELPING THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES.  Until they get with the program and move into the 2000′s please focus your attention on other more worthy lobbyists.

Thank you,

Alessandro Di Sciascio

I could write a lot of words about Jim and Krystin. I will say this: the day I shoot my last wedding I will probably spend some time thinking back to the years doing this and undoubtedly I will think back to fun clients, the crazy clients, and the most amazing clients. There is no doubt in my mind that these two will occupy a special place… and while it may seem cliche’ to say this I really do hope that we manage to keep in touch, maybe bump into each other when life allows it… anyway, those of you who are reading this are most likely their family and friends, so you know what I’m talking about.

It’s been a long time since Jim first asked if someone would shoot engagement photos for him and Krystin. It wasn’t really supposed to work out either… he was looking for someone in St. Augustine… a full 5 hours away. I volunteered nonetheless figuring I could stay with family in Palm Coast. Life intervened and before you know it I was shooting their engagement in Miami, in gorgeous Vizcaya and then down to South Beach. Oh they weren’t engaged at the time, Jim surprised Krystin in the middle of our “vacation portraits” wink wink. Oh and I hired an awesome photographer friend, Tony Schreiber to shoot the engagement with me… just to make it doubly-epic.

Fast forward what seems like a lifetime and Lisette, Tony (Jim and Krystin decided to go for the “Signature Second” option) and I were on a plane bound for Virginia.

It was such an awesome experience. Walking into the Salon and hugging Krystin as not just a client, but a friend who was getting married that day (we’re facebook friends and had chatted many times about the wedding and about silly stuff as well), and of course meeting her mother and sister and the rest of the bridal gang.

The shot above was taken from outside the Salon.  Kudos to whoever keeps those windows clean.  Great job!!!

Throughout the set here and of course in the full set that’s now live on the proof site you’ll see some amazing photos by Tony and some epic captures by Lisette… she probably won’t read this, so I’m going to take an opportunity to say how proud I am of the dedication she’s been putting into helping our business take leaps and bounds forward. I won’t identify all the shots taken by them but I’ll point out a few that I really love.

Here’s one Lisette took from the opposite angle that i took the one above:

I loved the idea she had so I had to get a shot of her in action:

Tony’s shot

Tony again

Tony on left, Lisette on right… love them both!

Lisette… ok I’m done identifying shots … and talking for that matter… images until the end, and closing words.

The end.

Thanks guys for being so awesome. Thank you for trusting us with creating a document of this wonderful new beginning. Thank you again to Krystin’s mom who thoughtfully packed a bagged lunch for the three of us as well… thank you to everyone in the bridal party for being so cool to work with, and for not making fun of me for the catastrophic slide down the side of the mountain (LOL). And for laughing at my jokes, and for never getting enough of “Sexy Tiger, Sexy Tiger!”

Ciao!

Alessandro and Lisette

Oh yeah… all the photos are on the proof site. Click here and go to Weddings… and then on to Jim and Krystin’s gallery.

(and before you ask… yes there is no audio… it’s a silent movie)

We knew we’d have  great time shooting this wedding for two reasons… because we had a blast with them during their engagement session (they brought a lot of ideas to the table) and because we knew quite a few of the people in this wedding were people from another awesome wedding we shot about a year ago.  We were NOT disappointed.

Here’s a longer-than-usual sneak peek… a bit long in the making too actually… (we’re still adjusting to our switch to Nikon so the processing is still taking quite a bit longer than before) enjoy!

Oh… you will have to come back once the set is done as among other things this wedding featured the most emotional mohter-son dance we’ve ever shot.  J and his mom were so incredibly adorable!!!!

Everyone in South Florida knows that address and dreams of a Wedding at the Ritz Carlton South Beach. Andrea and Adam and their guests flew a combined 2,537,790 miles to all be here for Andrea and Adam’s wedding.

Ok, so I may or may not have made up the number there, but a lot of guests flew in from the U.K. and a lot of others flew in from all over the U.S. I’m pretty sure the only ones who drove to the wedding were Lisette and I

The wedding was spectacular. If you’re friends or family of the couple you already know what a stunning and cute couple they are. The bridal party and many of the other guests at the reception were welcoming and fun… I had a blast with the guys when they were getting ready … we had the long-tie crisis, which resulted in a lot of laughs and eventually in a solution so astonishing I can’t even bring myself to write about it.

Ok, I’ll stop talking now. Here’s the sneak peek from Andrea and Adam’s Northeast US meets UK wedding at the Ritz Carlton SoBe.

Enjoy!