Expecting Emma I Fort Myers Maternity Photography I Marietta, GA

I traveled to Atlanta for my sister’s baby shower last weekend and had the opportunity to take maternity photos of her cute belly at just 28 weeks! We had harsh conditions, a temperature of just 27 degrees!!! Very cold for a Floridian!  Luckily we stumbled upon a fun antique store to warm up. We shopped and we laughed as I captured Hannah’s beauty and mother-to-be radiance among the treasures and trinkets in Marietta, GA.  She had her shower with friends and family that afternoon and we took a few more photos after the party as the sun set and the temperature began to drop again.  A special thank you to Emily, Hannah’s sister-in-law, for chasing the sun and finding the perfect spot for the shoot!

We can't wait to meet Hannah and Jake's baby in April (#expectingemma). So excited for you guys!


Athena + Scott {engagement} I Lover's Key I Fort Myers Beach, FL

Rather than the usual blog post I write for sessions, I thought it would be fun to feature a write up from a client about their experience.  This is not just any client... this blog post is written by my talented best friend, Athena Ponushis, who happens to be a writer (Florida Weekly) and will be getting married in April (so excited)! We got together last fall for her engagement photos on Lover's Key with her fiance, Scott. I asked Athena to share a few details about her actual engagement and she sent these kind words:

"Scott proposed on May 17 amidst the lavender gardens of South Africa wine country. On his knee, he looked up at me and said, "Good times, bad times, I will love you forever. Will you marry me?" A thousand times yes.
He had the timer on the camera set up to snap the picture. I love the moment, but feel it was not the most flattering pic. Our engagement shoot with Molly remedied that. Felt like I was in an Anthropologie photo shoot. Vintage rug, old record player, wanted the pictures to feel like our life -- dancing off into the sunset. 
One of my closest friends from high school, Molly is a master talent. When I look at her pictures, I want to live there. When I looked at her photos from our engagement, I realized I do. Experienced a huge shift. She makes you feel beautiful and your life exquisite. She puts your love and life in focus. She puts you at ease. "
-Athena Ponushis

The wedding invites are sent, the bridal festivities are set, and we are just a few months away from Scott and Athena's big day. I am so happy I was able to capture these moments for them and plan on also doing bridal portraits at their wedding. I am ecstatic these two are madly in love, here's a peek at the fun we had:

 


Hello Tristin I Fort Myers Newborn Photographer I Fort Myers, FL

Drum roll please... Tristin Thomson Silvashy is here !! All BOY at 10lbs, 9oz, and 22 inches. The Silvashy family welcomed him into the world on December 22nd, 2013. We met up just before the Florida State Seminoles won the National Championship and I captured a few adorable shots of Tristin and Sam in their FSU shirts.  Tristin's dad is a rugby player and also happens to be a personal trainer so we photographed him with Ron's ball and weight. Here's a peek... Congratulations Rhiannon and Ron!

And a few favs from just before Tristin's arrival in November...

hello stella I Fort Myers Newborn Photographer I Fort Myers, FL

"Meet Stella Ann Spanberger...8 lbs, 4 oz and 19 inches of pure perfection", a description I borrowed from her parents, Jake and Beth. Stella arrived on New Years Eve and we just had the pleasure of meeting her this past weekend for a newborn session. Beth is still in awe and can't believe she is the mom of this beautiful little girl. Well, we can believe it! Here's a peek at a few of our favorites. We are so happy for this little family! Oscar and Bailey are making their little sis feel right at home...

Year in Review-Twenty Thirteen

Looking back on this year, we have so much to be proud of and thankful for...

We upgraded lenses/camera equipment in the last part of 2012 and have throughly enjoyed the investment in our business this past year. We see the rewards session after session!!

The numbers... We had the delight of working with 31 Families, 25+ Children, 7 Newborns, 3 High School Seniors, 9 Expecting Moms, 6 Couples, and a few headshots mixed in along the way. 

We continued to take classes through Kelby Training and Creative Live and would love to travel in 2014 to a photography related education conference.

Our photography took us on two vacations in 2013 to capture weddings in Mexico in January and to New Jersey/New York in October. Both working full-time at our other jobs, we managed to fit in 5 weddings this year. I say "fit in" because the real work really begins after the wedding. Countless hours of post processing while juggling our other portrait sessions, full-time jobs, and family. Matt and I have decided to cut out weddings in 2014 and focus on portrait photography. 

Social media... Molly has created a Pinterest profile for the business and has populated boards for traveling to SWFL (many of our clients are from outside of the area), Meet Molly and Matt, as well as inspiration for clothing and posing. We continue to blog our photos as much as possible to highlight the story of each session and drive our fans back to our website (SEO). We have also been active on Google+ and Instagram in 2013. We also did a Project 52 posting one photo a week to our Facebook page with the theme of "This is Our Life". 

In early 2013, Molly set out to contact several of her community friends to market Molly and Matt Photo, LLC and grow our client base. The referrals continue to come in and we can not thank our clients enough for sharing our passion for photography. 

We joined PPA (Professional Photographers of America) and were highlighted on several photography blogs for weekly challenges, including our recent portait of the LeSage family that won second place through Rock the Shot

Work/Life balance seemed a little better in 2013 but if you ask Matt he may have another answer. During the holiday busy months, we scheduled family time this year and it really kept things manageable. It was hard turning so many clients away but it meant so much more to be with our little one. 

Goals for 2014 include working on branding and continuing to offer a creative, fun, and modern approach to photography in Southwest Florida.

Happy New Year from Molly and Matt Photo! 

Somebody's Getting Married Today I The Lake Valhalla Club, Montville, NJ

Somebody's Getting Married Today!! 

Congratulations to Erik and Caitie on their recent wedding on October 26th, 2013 at the Lake Valhalla Club in New Jersey. What an amazing wedding this was!! The family, the friends, the food, the venue! We had such a fun time capturing the celebration. Going through all the photos, it was hard to decide what to share from the Schaum wedding. So many beautiful details...

Transportation: The New York Trolley Company
Florist: Morningside Greenhouse
Hair & Makeup: Samantha Youngman
Cake: Palermo Bakery



fORT MYERS FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER | The Kim/Pak Family

One of the best things about doing portrait photography is truely the people you get to capture. The laughter, the smiles, the love and relationships within a family. Bona, our dear friend, was down visiting for Thanksgiving and arranged a photo shoot for her and her sister, Sujin, and their mom, Rosa. Bona's mom had been wanting photos for quite some time so they were really excited to have us behind the camera. We fit the photos into their busy schedule before Rosa rushed off to her restaurant, Origami, and Sujin to NAMI.

We got what we were looking for with every session: emotion, laughter, fun, FASHION, and most of a snapshot in time of who these ladies have become and just how special they are to each other. I think we nailed it! 


FORT MYERS MATERNITY PHOTOGRAPHER | AWAITING BABY MYERS

I always get giddy when I have inquiries for doing a maternity portrait session in SWFL. Katie and Kyle were in the area for Thanksgiving with their family and wanted to capture this exciting time in their lives and use our gorgeous beaches for the background. We met up at Casa Ybel, one of my fav spots for photos on Sanibel. Katie was radiant and as gorgeous as can be. Here's a peek at our time together last week...

FORT MYERS FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER | Riley + Cole + Ella

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas... Here's a few of our fav pics from a recent session with Riley (almost one 1!), Cole, and Ella at South Seas Resort on Captiva, FL. We grabbed a few fun shots in the Scoops and Slices candy store at the resort then headed to the beach for a beautiful sunset! 

FORT MYERS FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER | Romine Family

It's almost Thanksgiving so I thought I'd share a family I'm thankful for working with...  

The Romine family came to us as a referral from another client, Tessa LeSage (thank you!!!). They were looking for a local photographer to work with, as they have been traveling to the other coast for the past few years to get their family photos taken.  Could I be the lucky local photographer to fulfill their "artsy fartsy" style? It turns out I was and Jonathan, Megan, and Ava were so easy to work with and had a fun color scheme amongst the beauty of Koreshan State Park. Sharing highlights from their session this week!

Have a great holiday and thank you for all of our clients for your love this past year!




Kratt Wedding I The Strand, Naples, Florida

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Kratt on their recent wedding at The Strand in Naples, FL. What an amazing venue for Stephanie and Stephen's celebration on October 12, 2013.  We loved photographing these two and know you will enjoy their wedding images as much as we do. Stephanie was a ridiculously gorgeous bride. Her dress was probably my favorite photograph yet!

Venue - The Clubhouse at the Strand
Event Coordinator: Amanda and Becca
Cake: Stefanie Watson @ Stefanie's Sweet Confections
DJ: Gil Blake
Officiant: Missy Ordiway @ Making your "happily ever after" last a lifetime
Hair and Makeup: Hope Artistry








 

And a few giggles over my laugh... I think they were laughing with me, right?

FORT MYERS MATERNITY PHOTOGRAPHER | Awaiting Baby Spanberger

We are super excited for our close friends, Beth and Jake, who will be expecting their first baby in January. We headed to Alva, Florida for a rural setting to capture Beth with only a few weeks to go. Horses, gorgeous trees, and even a waterfront view made this session unique to the couple. They brought their dogs, Oscar and Bailey, which made for a fun adventure as we became acquainted with the farm's horses. 

Most of you know maternity is my favorite! I'm now looking forward to photographing this little one in January. Will they be having a boy or girl? Stayed tuned in the coming weeks to a follow-up newborn session of Baby Spanberger on the blog.  For now, enjoy highlights from their maternity session...

 



Rock the Shot I Sanibel Bicycle Family

Totally in love with this session and this shot!  It's artsy, creative, and so this family.  This is the second time I have photographed them and we have become really great friends. They knew they wanted something out of the ordinary so we decided to rent bicycles on Sanibel Island, Florida. Tessa put together a primary color clothing pallette for her family and even managed to rent bikes to match- all planned! This shot was an opening on the bike path that I wanted to grab and when I walked out to look in I saw the word BIKE on the side walk- how perfect! I took several images and really ended up liking this one with them out of focus. I included a shot below of how low I ended up going to get the perspective I wanted. Not the normal family portrait at all but it will make a cool canvas in their house! I processed it using Lightroom and Nik Software. 

Molly and Matt Photo strives to offer unique and creative portraits in Southwest Florida...

 

Bethany & David {Engaged} I Fort Myers Engagement Photographer I Fort Myers, FL

Congratulations to Bethany and David on their upcoming wedding in November! We were introduced through a common friend (Sarah Martin) and were thrilled to photograph them in Downtown Fort Myers during the 4th of July weekend.  Matt and I spend a lot of time in the Fort Myers River District as a family with our daughter Lillian.  We appreciate and revel in the architecture, art, culture, and commerce as a unique urban backdrop for sessions.  Bethany knew she wanted to start at the yacht basin and work our way to the gorgeous banyan tree near the court house and we stopped at various DTFM favorites along the way including the Whitehurst Federal Building (Sidney and Berne Davis Art Center).

Here are the highlights from our session… Enjoy!