Congratulations to Danielle and Paul on their recent wedding on March 23, 2013. Here are a few highlights from their big day!
Venue: Southern Waters and Gardens
Caterer: Chef Bill's Catering
DJ: Ron Rutz
Florist: Christy Marshall (she owned Little Shop of Flowers but had to close the business in January)
Hair and Makeup: J&A Makeup Artistry
Groom and groomsmen suits: Black Tie Tuxedo
Brides dress: Alfred Angelo
Thank you to Valerie & Jesse for inviting me to capture their little family! Their daughter, Aubree, just reached the six month milestone. She was facinated with my camera and was not shy about keeping eye contact with me the whole time.
Valerie wanted color in this session, and she got it! The flowers were in bloom and served as a gorgeous backdrop for the session. And oh my goodness, V + J's love for one another is evident in the photos below... These two are adorable!
Here's a sneak peek at the Schmidt Family session from this past weekend... I'm in love with so many of the images from our time together. It was hard to pick just a few!
And a few more that make me smile...
And last but not least, we ended our session in the library with a few quick snapshots of the girls exploring their favorites books!
So excited to share! How cute is Miss Hillary? We captured her 6 month milestone this past weekend in Naples. It was great to work with Kim and Jeff again as a follow-up to their maternity session last summer. Congratulations on an absolutely adorable little girl!
To smile or not to smile, that is the question...
We are members of Flickr and have been storing our photos on the site since 2005. The only downside to Flickr is the print lab connected to it- Snapfish (similar to the like of Shutterfly). I recently ordered a bunch of prints from a gallery of Lillian and was very upset with the quality of printing in comparison to the print lab (Bay Photo) we use for clients through our smugmug site. What a difference it makes! The Snapfish photo (on the bottom) was grainy and almost looked dirty to me. If our clients do purchase digital copies of their session and decide to print their own photos, I suggest using Mpix for the best quality. I've heard Costco is even a good choice! Stay away from Walgreens, CVS, and other big box stores and sites like Snapfish and Shutterfly. If you don't believe me, try this experiment yourself!
Meet Sarah & Chris and a few simple ingredients for the perfect engagement shoot...
The outdoors (Koreshan State Park to be exact), Roxy- their adorable Boxer, Chris' beloved truck, and a gorgeous evening on St. Patty's Day set the scene for these two to be the photographed celebrating their upcoming Wisconsin wedding in the Fall. Sarah was so easy to work with a very laid back. She knew she wanted to have Roxy in a Save-the-Date photo and incorporate Chris' truck in a few shots. The casual couple was a referral from another friend (Caitie & Erik) and actually participated in the Engagement Giveaway (thank you!) last month. Matt and I had a great time working with them and shooting at Koreshan (photographer favorite in SWFL) for the first time! Here are just a few of our favorite shots from the evening.
These two are adorable!
I woke up this week and got into major marketing mode for some reason. I posted a question on Facebook to our fans yesterday and asked for feedback from our clients wanting to know what makes us unique ( I will share the comments soon!). I also got up the courage to actually try a Facebook ad to see if it would drum up some business. Interesting how it all works. Daiana from Deniminanco Boutique gave me some tips on how to use the ads. We'll see if we actually get any new clients down the road. Today I composed a marketing letter (see below) I will be sending community friends and contacts letting them know about what we've been up to and to encourage them to check out our work AND of course send us referrals of people that they know of looking for photography services.
To be successful and grow, I feel I need to spend just as much time maketing as I do behind the camera. I am blessed to have so many community contacts, now I just need to let them know about Molly & Matt Photo.
Visiting Southwest Florida?
Check out the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau's Pinterest boards for ideas on how to enjoy the beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel, Florida! We often have clients visiting our area that hire us to take photos of their family while they are on vacation. This is a great visual resource for tourists looking for places to eat, play, and relax while they are in SWFL.
Click here- http://pinterest.com/ftmyerssanibel/
Happy Third Birthday Lillian!
We had a fun weekend celebrating Lil's 3rd birthday! On Saturday we had a little party at Matt's parents house and invited some of Lil's closest friends. The bounce house was a big hit, she LOVED it! We gave sunglasses as the party favor...
We went to the beach on Sunday with Annabelle and Lincoln. It was a gorgeous day in March!
And on Sunday we went to the Alliance for the Arts Bruce Gora Concert series. Lil LOVES music!! I snapped this touching photo of Matt and Lil at the show.
And finally Monday was her actual birthday. A work day for us and a school day for her. She picked out her outfit (a camera T and colorful skirt) and brought ice cream cups as a treat for her classmates. Photos of Lil and Beacon taken on our way out the door to school...
Lil's fun day at school... (photo credit to Ms. Amanda, Ms. Kaila, and Ms. Robin)
We enjoyed a quiet night at home and she got to do some of her favorite things like reading to her baby! She turned out to be quite the little mommy. We'll see what year 3 holds for our spunky little toddler. Looking forward to what she surprises us with!
Shaing some of our favorite images from the recent photo session in Downtown Fort Myers with Tessa, Colin, Penelope, & Miles. The weather was surprisingly cold for March, but everyone still had smiles! It was a pleasure working with the LeSage family, especially since we have so many friends in common, it was probably just a matter of time before we connected =)!
Including a color palette (below) featuring the colors they selected for their outfits. Tessa worked hard to coordinate 4 people and even adapted to the cold weather with running to Old Navy at the last minute to look for jackets that would match. Love the combination of green, lavender, coral, and denim!
I was really excited when Sarah contacted me to do her maternity photos. I felt honored because I was totally in LOVE with her engagement and wedding photos AND the style of photography that she admires. Our session was an add on to her spring break trip to SWFL for her baby shower in late February. At just 28 weeks, she had the cutest bump and was as radiant as can be. The lighting that we got as the sun rose was absolutely stunning. Here are a few of my favorites from the shoot...
Fever at 4:30 A.M., Happy Valentine's Day! When you start the day with a fever, that most definetly means school is out of the question. We dosed Lil up with Tylenol and I left to do a 4 mile run. She fell back alseep around 7 A.M. and slept until close to 10 A.M. I decided to stay home with her and Matt went off to work. I crammed as much as I could into the 3 hours of her slumber- emails, the engagement giveaway, HU stuff, and website updates. She awoke pretty grumpy and immediately demanded to see her daddy. I distracted her with bubbles, dried fruit, and an art project and her mood eventually improved.
One thing I love to do when Lillian and I spend a sick day together is take portraits of her. I had in my head I would take her to Target and bring my camera. I felt kinda felt odd doing it, like I was sneaking around. The first cart shot below is from Target and the other ones are from our evening Publix trip after a family dinner at Pizza Fusion. It took two trips to get what I wanted to unfold. A colorful and feisty toddler determined to get her way...
And this is when we took the football away...
Thought is would be fun to post a before and after photo to share how much editing goes into one picture!!
Valentine's Day is right around the corner and LOVE is in the air...
It seems the perfect time to give away a FREE engagement session to one lucky couple!
- a 2 hour session of photography at a location of your choice. Post processing of a min. of 30 images with B&W conversions of images, and an online gallery to share with family & friends. (valued at $150)
- a 16X20 print of favorite image from the session (ART is priceless)
- A USB of high-resolution images (valued at $300)
The winner will ALSO receive Free Styling consultation for their session!
-by Daiana Raina Lopez of Denimianco Boutique (valued at $100)
AND...
Makeup & Hair
- by Lisette Villanueva of Labrajay Beauty Services (valued at $75)
How to Enter?
You must be an ENGAGED couple living in SWFL to enter
Send your favorite image of you and your fiance to mollygrubbs@gmail.com
Please include your names (first & last) in the message
Your entry will appear on our facebook fan page under an album titled "Engagement Giveaway"
It will then be up to you to gather all your family & friends to come vote for your image by “liking it”!
All voters must like our fan page before voting for your image!
Voting & Entries will continue through February 13th!
The sooner you enter, the better chance you have at collecting more votes!
GOOD LUCK TO ALL COUPLES!
All entries will receive a free 16X20 print if they book a session with Molly & Matt Photo
Happy New Year from Molly & Matt Photo. This year has rocked! We did close to 40 sessions capturing new friends & old. Excited to see what 2013 holds. We are looking forward to photographing 4 weddings (2 destination!!!!) and all the colorful families and playful tots & babies in between. Thank to all of our fans, so HAPPY we get to do what we LOVE with such amazing people!
Heading into 2013, we are equipped with a full frame camera and a gorgeous new lense we picked up this past year. Most sessions (families & couples) get Matt and I both behind the camera. We are grateful for these date nights together and the help of our parents to watch Lil while we are busy photographing clients.
After the session concludes, most of my work begins. I do have to give credit to Matt for always organizing the camera bag and making sure we have the best equipment to do what we love. He also has patience for my prop closet that is busting at the seams! I do all the post processing of the images and get the galleries ready for clients. This past year, I've learned the importance of not spending all my free time sitting at the computer. It has been a challange working full time at my "real job" M-F while fulfilling my thirst for creativity as a weekend warrior with my camera. House projects left incomplete, laundry not folded, and books sometimes not read to my daughter. My resolution for 2013 is to streamline a few things with Molly & Matt Photo so I can be sure to ALWAYS be there to read to Lil. She is the reason I got behind the camera in the first place and I must always remember that.
Watch for updates and exciting images in the coming year! Sharing my instagram collage from earlier this morning titled "Best of Lillian Paige {2012}...
-Molly
December 2012
November and December were action packed months for us. We have enjoyed capturing family portraits for the holidays. The Quilty family happens to be one of those gorgeous families. Baby Victoria is almost a year and did a wonderful job in front of the camera. We were so excited to see Mike & Lesly bring their own unique props for the session. Mike is a local firefighter and we used his gear for a couple fun pics with Victoria. Here's a sneak peek...
DECEMBER 2012
Meet Sara, born December 4, 2012, to Victor and Millie Cerna...
Sisters are the best...
CHRISTMAS BABY!!
DECEMBER 2012
It's a Dennis kind of December with bowties, boots, kisses, and giggles. This family is gorgeous! Peter and Amanda enlisted us again this year to capture their family portraits for Christmas. Here's a peek at a few of our favorites...
