Engagement: Will & Tina part I

One of my favorite things to do is shooting couples.  I adore capturing the love between two people and getting that special romantic moment frozen in time…

Lately, here where I live the weather has been monsoon like or at least it feels like it. This means constant reschuleding (no bueno)

I met this lovely family a few months ago and we finally decided to set a date for a last minute engagement session (and by last minute, I mean they are tying the knot on the 31^st of this month) but due to the monsoon like (I exaggerate) conditions it had been nearly impossible to shoot. Luckily this past Wednesday the rain Gods graciously gave us a break and we fully took advantage and I am glad we did because the end result was stunning…

Here is Will & Tina (featuring Serenity) part I

I must admit I was a little apprehensive going into this shoot, I was concerned with losing the light and the possibility of getting rained out again. But with shooting later in the evening come some advantages; beautiful sunsets and striking silhouettes, and with Will & Tina as my subjects the photos couldn’t have been more gorgeous!

These two love birds were so enamored with each other that Will didn’t miss any opportunity to steal a kiss from his soon-to-be bride.

This lovely little lady is Serenity, Tina’s daughter. We knew prior to shooting that we wanted to incorporate her in their engagement pictures is some way. I made her the heart of this couples love (she already is) Serenity is the sweetest little girl and loves her soon -to- be dad very much and absolutely loves to take pictures.

She ended up giving me ideas for poses and she made one HECK of a good assistant (Thanks Serenity!)

This was one of the last shots of the night; I love the casual carefree vibe of this photo (not to mention the sky) what an awesome way to wrap our session.

I am so excited to see this family become ONE {stay tuned for part two} it will be so special to see Serenity walk her mommy  down the aisle, but I can’t wait to capture Will’s face when he sees his beautiful bride coming down the aisle.

Congratulations guys!!

Thank you for allowing me to be a small part of you’re special moment.  

Lifestyle: Romeo Oh! Romeo...

Last Sunday I had the most enjoyable time shooting the Potter Family. This unique family is centered around this adorable and charismatic little 3 year old.  

Allow me to introduce you to ROMEO!

Romeo is a truly blessed child with three awesome mother figures {mom, aunt, and grandma}

This parenting trifecta consists of these close nit mother and daughters. They had just as much fun spending time with each other during the shoot as Romeo did being the star of the show.

When I am shooting these types of family portraits and I see the closeness between family members, It really makes me miss home (Hi mom & dad! Love you) J

The special bond that is shared between these sisters is magnificent. They are both such an enormous part of Romeo’s life and this simple photo captures it so well.

Thank you Potter Family for allowing me to capture these special memories. It was a pleasure to meet our little superstar, Romeo!

Party Time... I'm legal!

I was recently invited to Izzy’s graduation/18^th birthday party and knowing me I had to snap some photos while I was there.

Izzy’s mom Joy did such a fantastic job putting this party together. From the NYU themed invitation to the amazing food she prepared;  everything looked catered but absolutely everything was homemade and out of this world!

Since it was a summer party, the unofficial theme was “all white” along with the official NYU theme, so in order to tie those two together Joy combined white and purple as part of the decorations. The kids and the adults alike all looked so cool and chic in their summer whites.

This party was defiantly a page out of the Hamptons magazine. I wish I could have stayed longer because the fun ensued with a DJ and karaoke singing into the late hours.

Happy Birthday Izzy!

3 generations {part 2}

… And the Castillo Family shoot continued at the beach.

It was so fun to see the smiles on Veronica and Raul faces  every time strangers would stop to say how adorable baby Claudia looked ( and she did), she stole the show!  She is the friendliest baby on the planet, she literally waved and said “hi” to every person who walked by.

With this family it was so hard to choose my favorite shots. All the shots looked so beautiful and natural at the beach.

I was so happy I was there to share the moment when Claudia finally was comfortable with the water. Once her little toes touched that water there was no stopping her. She is now a bona fide beach baby, and fittingly so because the beach is so close to them.

Veronica and Raul were gifted with these matching tropical ensembles by someone very special to them. They wanted to incorporate these in some of their shots and I’m so happy we did because they look so incredibly beautiful. Veronica and Raul look like the king and queen of some newly discoved tropical island.

Thank you Castillo Family for allowing me to capture your beautiful smiles!!

Lifestyle: 3 Generations {Part 1}

I had the pleasure of shooting 3 generations over the weekend. I love when I am able to convey emotions through my photography, and this family portrait session oozed emotions.

Allow me to introduce you to the Castillo Family

When I arrived at Raul and Veronica’s home I immediately felt as if I was home. I was greeted with the warmest welcome by both Raul and Veronica, Raul’s lovely parents, and not to mention, little Claudia the couples one year old daughter.

Our first order of business was to take photos with the grandparents. Since it was a typical summer day here (in the high 90s) we opted to take photos indoors at the Castillo’s home.

One of the first shots of the day was this beautiful moment of Claudia gazing up at her grandmother. I am so in love with this shot. I was able to capture the love through generations.

This little princess is the center of their universe, and rightfully so, look at those doll eyes.

The three most important women in Raul's life.

... and the two most imporant men in Claudia's Life. 

 

After we wrapped up at the Castillo’s home we headed out to the beach, sans the grandparents. Stay tuned for part two of our beach adventure…

Senior Portraits: Izzy Monton

I must admit I was a bit nervous going into this session. This is actually my first senior portraits shoot and I literally couldn’t have asked for a better subject…

Introducing Izzy Monton

This young lady has the world in the palm of her hands; she is graduating with high honors and attending NYU in the fall, not to mention she has the support of an equally amazing family backing her. 

I can honestly say shooting Izzy really had my creative juices flowing. There may or may have not been a bit of trespassing involved (lol) 

This girl cannot take a bad photo

 I am so glad we were able to get this shot; it was literally at the spur of the moment. Izzy sat on the railing just as the tide was passing by. The conductor even had to blow the horn warning us to move out of the way.

As you can see, izzy has such great style (“she gets it from her momma”) but this shot here is the epitome of her modern elegance. She looks so beautiful and mature.

Congratulations on your academic achievement Izzy! Best of luck in the big apple!!!

Princess Spa Party

                                           Welocme to E`mia's Princess Spa Party!

E`mia turned 7 over the weekend and in true princess style, her mother booked a spa party fit for a little princess to be pampered. This shoot was so fun; it defiantly made my girly side smile.

These little divas were treated to full Mani’s & Pedi’s complete with a glittery array of nail polishes, Makeup , hair , a fairy wand building station, and all culminating in a halo ceremony were the ladies were named honorary fairy princesses .

 

The girls were all so adorable in there matching wings and tutus. Once the make over’s were complete they donned their party dresses to sing happy birthday just before letting lose down stairs at the hotels pool!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY E`MIA!!!!

Instagram Love

Insta love

Hello, my name is Rita and I have a problem… I have a slight; make that a major obsession with instagram!

Since I love snapping pics (mainly of my son) it is so easy for me to pull out my phone and take pictures and upload them to instagram in a matter of seconds. So I figured that every so often I would do a weekly ig round up.

p.s you should just give me a follow on

My username is rierun11 (wink wink )

Brace yourself, crazy mom shoving her cute kid in your face in  5…

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I'm his mamarazzi 

Now that the weather is getting warmer we love going to the beach. This child of mine is obsessed with all seasons; summer he loves the beach, winter he loves the snow, spring time he loves the park you name it he loves it. Since its summer where we live now the majority of pictures clogging my instagram page are “Julez at the beach” pics

… and what better “pick me up” on a hot day than Rita’s. Besides their fabulous name the mango and lemon ice favors are ah-mazing