Laraine & Tyler - North Caicos Island

What a wonderful and diverse job we have! Last week we went from photographing bridal sessions in very chilly conditions to photographing Laraine and Tyler’s wedding overlooking the sunny beaches and turquoise water of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Dino and I met Laraine and Tyler on North Caicos Island for a few days of fun in the sun at Ocean Beach Hotel . The evening before the wedding day we had an impromtu photo session on the beach which yielded lots of fun, sexy and romantic shots.

The wedding day was absolutely awesome. We couldn’t have asked for better weather. The beach ceremony was simple, sweet and very heartfelt. The bride was gorgeous and everyone was beaming! Here are just a few of my favorite shots.

Jennifer`s Bridals

Look at those icicles...it is not often you see them in this part of the country. Yesterday it was a very chilly 34 degrees and rainy when I arrived at the McKinney Cotton Mill to do Jennifer`s bridal session. This was my first time at this particular venue so I didn`t know exactly what to expect. Based on the homework I had done prior to arriving I was hoping for a place rich with history, full of rustic details, an industrial feel and a variety of texture and color. Boy did this place live up to all those expectations and more!!

This frozen fountain greeted me as I found my way to the sales office where the very friendly property manager, Darla, pointed me to where Jennifer and her Mom were getting ready. After saying my hellos I excused myself so that Jennifer could finish dressing and I could check out the area and prepare for the shoot.

I could go on and on about how cool this place is but I will let the images speak for themselves.
What I must mention however is how much of a tropper Jennifer was. She was freezing but still having a great time and was so willing to climb, balance and brave crazy walk ways to get these cool (no pun intended)shots!

Shadowplay...

For Brannon & Lauren`s E-session we stayed close to home. We had lots of fun with shadows and Brannon coaxed Lauren into the haybarn for a few sexy and very sweet shots;)

Laraine & Tyler E-Session

Laraine and Tyler are one cool couple. Dynamic and fun! We recently met at one of my favorite Dallas parks to capture some great engagement portraits. Tyler and Laraine have some wonderful plans for their nuptails but they are top secret at the moment so I can`t indulvge them now... stay tuned;)

Paul Rodgers Show Update

Hey Guys,

I hope your 2008 is starting off with a bang! Me and Dino had a crazy New Year`s Eve in Reno, NV shooting the Paul Rodgers Concert. We were gone for 72 hours and only had about 5 hours of real sleep in that time so we were a little like zombies by the time we landed back in Dallas New Year`s Day but it was worth it. The broadcast of the show was a huge success.

The website where it was broadcast(http://connect.eq.tv/) is now boasting that they had 100,000 unique visitors during the course of the show!!If you are wondering what i am talking about check out the previous post.It explains what me and Dino were doing in Reno over New year`s Eve.

Anyway, we did have quite a weekend...it made me realize how much I love the still image. My main function during the event was to operate one of the video cams and, that was cool, but I found myself wishing I had been able to roam the venue and take stills. But, alas ,I was stuck tethered by cables to one area and forced to shoot from the same angle all night. But hey it was not all bad. Paul Rodgers and his band sounded great!I did not realize I knew so many of his songs!

Even though I did not get to do stills during the actual performances I was able to catch some cool shots during the set up, sound check and interviews. Check them out below. OR click here to see even more.

Dino lusting after Marshall Stacks

Interviews

Soundcheck

Happy New Year!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is looking as forward to the new year as I am.

We have a lot of plans for 2008 which I will reveal slowly right here on this blog as they unfold. One thing already mentioned in our last newsletter is that there is a new studio in the works for 2008. Right now the blueprints are on the table but we are slowly working towards getting the project to the construction stage. We do have the land where it will be located so that at least is secure. I will keep you posted as a more concrete plan is put into action.

There will also be more traveling and destination work in our future. Right out of the gate we will be in Reno, NV to ring in the New Year. Dino has been asked to co-host a live Internet broadcast of the Paul Rodgers concert on New Years Eve from the Eldorado Hotel & Casino in Reno NV.
Most of you will remember Paul Rodgers from bands like “Free”, “Bad Company”, and “The Firm”. With hits like “All right now”, “Radioactive”, “Can’t get enough of your love”, and many others. Dino will be doing “on camera” in/out takes and interviews starting at 3pm (Reno time) until the actual concert starts at 10pm, and then Dino will be working the other side of the camera to shoot the concert until 1am. I will be shooting backstage and production stills and video all day.

It an absolutely FREE web cast. I hope you all will take some time to watch! Here is the link to the website where you can watch. http://eq.tv/watch/paulrodgers

I wish all of your a wonderful New Year may it bring you everything you need and want!!
All My Best,
Jamye
http://www.jamyeperelli.com

King Family Portraits...

I love the holidays for many reasons... one of which is I shoot a lot more family portraits around this time of year. It gives me a chance to re-connect with some of the clients I may have not worked with in a while and gain brand new clients wanting a very special portrait.

When commissioned to capture a family portrait I not only focus on getting that one posed shot that everyone is going to love I also want to capture you as a family doing the things that families do.


I recently had the pleasure of meeting and working with a new client by the name of Judy King. Judy, her husband Larry and their 3 teenage children were a dream to shoot! The family
dog (Maggie) also joined us between quick jogs around their beautifully landscape yard at their
stunning lake home called Sundance which is right here on Cedar Creek Lake where I call home.

The King`s family portraits illustrate perfectly
how I like to approach family portrait photography. Their relaxed nature allowed me to easily capture these beautiful portraits as well as some spontaneous moments that I know they will love.

Blog Problem Fixed...

Yippee, I think we fixed the the blog links and everything should be back to normal.

Make sure you check out the new website http://www.jamyeperelli.com

L8R!
Jamye

Blog Problems...

The new website went up without hardly any problems. Well, there are still a few tweaks to be made but it has been really smooth so far. We do have one small problem though... all the external links from this blog going back to my old website are not working at the moment. We are working on moving that material to the new server and it should be available soon.

New Website Launched!!

Wow, only one week after posting we were working on a new website it has launched!! I have my wonderful husband Dino to thank for that.

Once I asked him to help me put together a new site the ball really got rolling. With a little help from a fabulous company called bludomain Dino has put together a beautiful site that I think displays my work well. Please make sure you check it out and leave us a comment to let us know what you think about it.

Check out the new website at http://www.jamyeperelli.com/

Thanks,
Jamye

Change is in the air...

We are cooking up some pretty exciting things for 2008!! One of the first is completely revamping the website. I am excited to see what it looks like once its ready to launch. I don`t have a date for that yet but I will keep you informed. Here are a couple of screen captures. I`ll post a couple more as it developes. jamye

Jennifer & Colt....

The day started out a little on the rainy side but that did not even come close to putting a damper on the sweet and sunny personality of Jennifer and her awesome family. As the day progressed the rain took leave and the day was perfect for a beautiful country wedding filled with lots of color, texture and of course love.

Jennifer and Colt are two of the sweetest people I have had the pleasure to work with this year. Their families are very warm and inviting and made me feel like one of them. I feel so honored to have been able to create these images that I know will become even more importrant to all of them as the years pass.

Jennifer and Colt I wish you both all of the best this world has to offer. You guys ROCK!!

Enjoy a slideshow here that highlights some images from the engagement session, bridal session, and of course the wedding day.

Bare Foot In Blue Jeans...

Hi Guys,
Check out this family portrait session. All shot "high key" with just a simple white seemless backdrop and a little clever posing. I love the simplicity of a shoot like this. Bare feet, bluejeans and white shirts. Some photographers will not atempt to shoot thier subjects wearing white on a white back drop but it really is very easy. All you need to do is light it right;). Here is the slideshow.

Jamye
www.jamyeperelli.com

Ashley`s Senior Portraits..

I was going through some of the sessions I did over the summer. There are many that I did not have time to post so I thought I would share a few. The first one featured here is Ashley Calverley. Ashley was alot of fun to work with and she had a great time playing to the camera. See a slideshow of Ashley`s high senior portrait session here.

Are you beautiful?

As a people photographer part of my job is to make people look their absolute best. I love showing a new client their portraits and hearing them say "Wow, we look great. I didn`t know we could look like that". I know it makes them feel good about themselves and gives them a little self esteem boost which we can all use from time to time.

I, however, struggle with the amount of retouching I am willing to do to a portrait and especially to the people in the portrait. I feel our society has placed an unrealistic expectation on women to look a certain way. We are bombarded everyday with images that have been highly retouched presenting a much different view of the world than that that which was captured. After running across this short clip created by Dove it inspired me to share it. I am all for making ourselves look good but the message this clip shares is an important one. Ladies we all come in different shapes and sizes and we can all be beautiful in our own ways. We need to quite letting Hollywood and the men that run it dictate how beauty is perceived. Share this clip with any young girls or women you know and let them see just how distorted our perception of beauty can be...

Kudos to Dove for creating an advertising campaing like this!!

Myra & Jake

Myra and Jake have a silly and sweet chemistry that works well to put others at ease. I really enjoyed creating these images for this fun couple.

Below is a slideshow featuring just a few of my favorite images from their wedding, engagement, and bridal images.

See Myra and Jake`s slideshow here.

P.S. Myra and Jake, I hope you had fun carving your jack-o-lantern!

www.jamyeperelli.com

Pene & Todd...

My cousin Todd and his very sweet bride, Pene, were united recently at Reunion Ranch in Todd`s hometown of Georgetown, Texas just outside of Austin. Me and my other cousin , April , met in the Austin area for the weekend to hang out with family we haven`t seen in ages. It was so much fun to see faces that have grown and changed with the years. It was a pleasure meet the tons of new additions to our family. Me and April decided to count all of our cousins.We lost count somewhere around 65. They weren`t all in attendance but there sure was a lot of them.

Todd , what a huge and wonderful family you have! You can just feel the love between all of you!

Will and Judy, thank you for your hospitality! You are gracious and kind and I love you.

April, thank you for your help. As always I had a blast with you! I think I wore out the CD you left behind!! It rocks!

Todd & Pene. It was such a pleasure to be with you guys on that special weekend!! I wish you guys the best of everything in life. You deserve it!
Love,
Jamye

See Todd & Pene`s Slideshow Here...

www.jamyeperelli.com

Wedding Trends for 2008

I have been covering weddings for 10 years now and have documented many different styles of events in that time period. I am always excited to see what each new year will bring in the way of wedding trends. I of course pay close attention to the trends that directly affect photography. 2008 looks like its going to be a very colorful and bold . Being the visual person that I am I was excited by a recent article I read reveling the tops trends for 2008. Here is the scoop.


*2008 brides are going bold with rich purples, golds, oranges and reds. And not just for the bridal party, for the bride as well. Spring versions of these colors will run to latte, coral and lavender. Blues will still be strong, but will often appear with metallics like gold, silver, gray and platinum. (The brown/blue and pink/brown looks are definitely over.)

*Accents. Sashes, ribbons, and embroidered detailing will be big, again in beautiful bolds. Brides will pull their accents into linens, stationery, and even the wedding cake.

*The be-ribboned and embroidered thing is all part of strong vintage influences in 2008 weddings. Think Hollywood and romance, romance, romance! You can see it in the halter necklines, capelet sleeves, strapless gowns, antique lace, diamond accessories, dangling earrings and open-toed stilettos.

Wow, all of that sounds so rich and full of color and texture. I can`t wait to pull these accents into the designs of my wedding books.

I am a romantic. I adore the starlet portraits from the 1930s, 40s and 50s. The dramatic lighting and real talent that it takes to achieve that look inspires me. I love to hear the trends will be taking a turn towards glamour and Hollywood. In my opinion the trends toward completely photo journalistic photography has went on for far to long. Yes, that is a big part of what we do but a gorgeous, well balanced wedding book should incorporate some awe inspiring portraits as well. I hope to see that coming back around. By the sound of the 2008 wedding trend`s tendency towards drama, color, romance and Hollywood that could certainly be the case.
Jamye Perelli
http://www.jamyeperelli.com

*Partially taken from the article WHAT'S NEW IN THE WAY OF WEDDINGS? LOTS! in the Oct./Nov. issue of the Albumsinc360.com newletter.