Jamilah Photography Blog

Great Gatsby Styled Wedding Shoot | Vizcaya Museum | Jamilah Photography

Jamilah — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:24:26 +0000

My husband & I are big movie buffs. So in January when I saw the first previews to the remake of The Great Gatsby – I squealed quietly in my husband’s ear! And of course, every following preview since (whether at home or in the theater) I silently clap with excitement because 1 – I loved this story and 2 – who doesn’t love Leonardo DiCaprio? (So — who’s going to see the movie today???)

I started dreaming about what a Great Gatsby inspired wedding would look like. So I called my friend & event planner Aviva of Kiss the Planner and talked about some ideas with her. It was then we decided that we HAD to do this shoot! And we had to do it before the movie premiered! I was so excited about the shoot that I reread the book – rewatched the original Great Gatsby – and fell in love with the story all over again. Although a tragic story of unrequited love, our version would have a much happier ending… where Gatsby gets to marry Daisy…

As we planned the shoot, we knew automatically that we had to have our amazing friend & florist Jacqueline of J.Morgan Flowers work her magic with the florals. And all the little details in between that made this a gorgeous photo shoot? That took some work, a lot of resources & amazing people. We couldn’t have done this shoot without the generosity & creativity of everybody who participated! And I couldn’t be more grateful for how this turned out… sometimes we need to take a break from work – give ourselves time to dream… and turn those dreams into a reality…

I couldn’t have been more ecstatic to see all of our hard work published yesterday on Style Unveiled!! To check out our feature, read Aviva’s beautiful write up on the details of our shoot & to see a behind the scenes video — click HERE.

Now, here are the amazing people & wedding vendors who participated to make this shoot everything that I dreamed of… so grateful for all of you!

Venue: Vizcaya Museum & Gardens

Floral Design: J Morgan Flowers

Concept, Styling and Team Lead: Kiss the Planner, Creatively Inspired Weddings & Events

Cinematographer: Key Moment Films

Wedding Cake: Paola Cake Atelier

Bridal Headpiece: January Rose Bridal Accessories

Beauty: Gorge Hair and Makeup

Stationery and Sweets Table: A Sign of my Love

Bridal Gown: Mariolka’s Bridal

Groom Attire: The Tux Shop

Event Rentals: Panache a Classic Party Rental Company

Jewelry: Elaine Arnold

Bridesmaid Dress: Adrianna Papell

Entertainment: Boca Entertainment

Models: Kirsten, Alex, Tiffany, Matthew, Estefania and Ricky

Photographer: Jamilah Photography assisted by Michell D.

And now for the pictures!! Enjoy & happy Friday and happy movie premiere day of the Great Gatsby!!

pink, gray & lots of love = Tamara + Karl’s Vizcaya Museum Engagement session [Jamilah Photography]

Jamilah — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:57:00 +0000

Approaching Tamara & Karl’s engagement session — I was a bit nervous… excited, but nervous… because we live about 3 hours apart — prior to their engagement session, we’d only spoken over the phone and via Skype… so this would be our first time meeting face to face… but excitement took over as soon as they arrived… and there’s nothing like following around a beautiful couple to capture their love for each other at such an exciting moment in their lives…our backdrop for the first part of the shoot was the amazing Vizcaya Museum… then we grabbed some appetizers before doing a couple of night shots on Biscayne Bay… it was a long day for all of us — but definitely well worth it… see for yourselves… enjoy some of my favorites from Tamara & Karl’s engagement session… enjoy!

They both have such amazing smiles…

Tamara — just go ahead with your gorgeous self!!

l-o-v-e!

my clients are troopers! the temperature dropped quite a bit when we took these night shots…

meet the crew & behind the scenes look at jamilah photography

Jamilah — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 15:58:36 +0000

I feel so lucky to be a wedding photographer…I’ve been blessed with back to back weddings 5 weeks in a row… and I’m even more blessed with an awesome team behind me… I thought I’d share some behind the scenes shots of what we look like during a wedding… and introduce you to my (awesome, stellar, amazing) crew… we’re a small team… but we have a lot of heart… and we have a lot of fun =)

First and foremost… meet Dave… my husband / second shooter / equipment manager / the love of my love / my pillar… he’s the one who pushed me to chase after my dream… he gifted me my first digital camera (yea Canon Rebel!!) and told me not to give up… and here we are today… love this man!

he’s a pretty hot test shot model, isn’t he?

Dave shooting =)

Now meet Michell… my assistant / 3rd shooter / comedian / my right hand girl / mind reader all bundled in this cuteness =) she interned for me last year… I think I almost cried when her internship was over… but I’m so happy she makes herself available whenever I need her… she’s also with me during engagement sessions… and I just wanna keep her locked up in our equipment room because she’s an amazing assistant and works so hard!

her & Dave fight for the test shot spotlight…

thanks to Michell I have some behind the scenes shots of me =)

where’s Waldo? and my shoes?

me shooting this adorable couple…

this is the shot I grabbed…

me shooting… and that’s Dave’s hand making sure the wind doesn’t knock down the light…again…

and this is the shot I grabbed…one of my favorites…

Hope you enjoyed a look at what goes on behind a wedding =) And make sure to leave Dave & Michell some love… they deserve it
[This wedding was shot at The Palm Beach Shores]

20/20 experience + birthday giveaway = awesome tuesday!

Jamilah — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:08:00 +0000

After posting a FB birthday message to my sweet 6-year-old nephew, Yaya… I got to thinking of how he’s always thinking about others… once he was visiting his grandma’s house & was digging through one of the old jewelry boxes (like probably from my childhood — yes, my mom keeps everything!)…he found a random necklace & asked his mama if he could have it… she said sure and didn’t think anything of it… well little did she know he was going to gift the necklace (which was old, used & a little dusty) to his teacher… his mom was embarrassed, but you should have seen the pride on his face when he gifted it to her… so sweet… So, for Yaya’s birthday I decided to follow in his foot steps & get into the heart of giving! Since Justin Timberlake’s album was released today (and yes, I had a mental countdown & yes, I’m currently listening to the album as I type this)… I’m going to give somebody a gift of music… read below on how to enter to win the album…

Happy Birthday, Yaya!!! (He’s the kiddo in the middle)

Follow Steps 1-4 to Enter to win the 20/20 Experience album (via iTunes):
1) Like Jamilah Photography via Facebook.
2) Like this Blog Post via the FB Like box.
3) Copy & Paste the following to your FB wall:
“Who wants to win Justin Timberlake’s new album — The 20/20 Experience?!! @Jamilah Photography is doing an iTune’s album giveaway! Check it out on her blog – http://www.jamilahphotographyblog.com & make sure to LIKE Jamilah Photography!”
4) Comment on the FB comment box below that you’ve completed all the steps above!

You can Enter until 6:30pm today March 19th… Winner will be chosen via Random.org and announced at 7pm on Jamilah Photography Facebook Page =)

lourdes + mario clematis engagement session | engagement + wedding photographer | jamilah photography

Jamilah — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 19:23:34 +0000

Lourdes and Mario are not only super sweet people — but they’re so sweet to each other… which made taking their engagement pictures easy to take…I love couples who love — love… who love to laugh… and love to have a good time… we started the shoot with their puppy dog — who had to be in the session because it’s their baby =) then we drove to downtown West Palm Beach, where we walked around Clematis and made our way to the intercoastal… where we ended with some romantic sun flare shots… here are some of my favorites from their session… hope you enjoy!

d + j beautiful fall themed wedding at east point country club | jamilah photography

Jamilah — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 18:52:55 +0000

since the moment they booked me…since the moment my husband and I hung out with them until midnight after their engagement session — which was on a Monday night no less… since then, I wanted to be friends with them… they’re amazingly kind, generous and hilarious… they’re so much fun to be around, and it’s no wonder we also ended up partying with them long after their wedding ended… now because of the groom’s line of work, I (unfortunately) cannot post any pictures with him in it… so, this post will mainly be their beautiful wedding details along with some of the gorgeous bride (who not only is gorgeous on the outside, but is just as gorgeous on the inside)… hope you enjoy some of my favorites… and cheers to Friday!

beach + sunset + Omphoy = amazing engagement session | jamilah photography

Jamilah — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 22:23:54 +0000

This couple was so much fun to work with… from the beginning they knew what they wanted to capture for their engagement session… a casual shoot on the beach… modern sunset pictures on the intercoastal…and ending the night with some romantic shots at The Omphoy… we couldn’t have asked for a better day to shoot their engagement session… the temperature was just right… the lighting was perfection… and the sunset was breathtaking… oh and ~~the models~~ this couple? They were pretty amazing… they completely trusted me from location choices to guiding their posing throughout the shoot… I can’t thank them enough…and can’t wait for their wedding this fall =) Enjoy some of my favorites!

Valentine’s Highs & Lows?

Jamilah — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 15:33:26 +0000

Are you a lover or hater on Valentine’s? On the surface I’m all “pssshh it’s no big deal… just another hallmark holiday”… but really I’m just a sucker for any holiday that celebrates love… chocolates…and chick flicks… which by the way, makes my husband awesome! As much as he didn’t want to see Safe Haven, he took me to see it last night! I’m a huge Nicholas Sparks fan…more proof that I’m a sucker for love… so after reading his books I love watching the on screen version (which of course, is never quite as good as the book — but I still enjoy it nonetheless)…this movie didn’t disappoint… (how can it with Josh Duhamel in it?)

[Off topic for a minute] Sometimes when Dave comes home from work, we share our highs and lows of the day…I got this idea from another couple — used as a conversation starter… because when Dave asks about my day I can usually rattle off anything and everything that happened… when I ask about his? His answer is usually one word answers… “good” “fine” “boring”… (You know, typical guy answer) While I’m waiting for details — that’s all I usually get… So, we use the Highs and Lows idea and it works great in deepening our conversations… instead of a clipped answer, we go on about the good and the bad things that happened… which leads me back to my post… now and again, I thought I’d share my highs and lows on the blog… and why not start with Valentine’s? So here we go… and make sure to tell me your highs & lows at the comments section below =)

1) Dave taking me to watch Safe Haven — duh!
2) Meeting an inspiring and amazing bride who booked me on the spot!
3) Engagement anniversary dinner with my husband on the 13th… that was our love celebration… 4 years ago he proposed on Friday the 13th, and we like to celebrate me saying “yes!” =)
4) For one of my gifts, he told me he was going to get us tickets to see a show at the Kravis center — but he wanted us to look at the calendar & pick a show together… Yay!
5) Since Dave was so excited to buy tickets to a show, he surprised me with tickets to see Matisyahu! Awesome!

1) Realizing I’ll be in California the night of the Matisyahu concert… wompwomp…
2) Teenage girls next to us in the movie theater who commentated throughout the ENTIRE movie!
3) Crazy rain… the entire… day!

And that’s all I got… more Highs than Lows, so that’s a good thing… since a post is way better with a picture… I’ll leave you with the leading man from Safe Haven, Josh Duhamel… ladies, you’re welcome! Happy Friday!

perfect lighting + adorable twins = awesome family session | family photography | jamilah photography

Jamilah — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:05:14 +0000

Amber followed my Facebook Fan Page and saw that I was doing 5 days of Christmas giveaways back in December… on the last day of my giveaways, I ran a contest and gave away a free photo shoot to the person who got the most votes… well, Amber rallied all her friends and family to vote for her entry and got the most votes! She told me she was very excited because it would be her family’s first professional portraits taken since having her twins… so I was just as excited to gift her the free session…

The day of their session, it poured! We scheduled a beach session, but it wasn’t happening as it rained — no, downpoured — the entire drive up… we ended up doing the shoot at Riverbend Park where the rain finally subsided… and even though the ground was wet & it felt like we stepped into a sauna — we got a lot of beautiful pictures… the lighting was absolute perfection! and Amber’s family?? Absolutely adorable… just see for yourself… here are some of my favorites =) Enjoy!

cutest twins — ever!
told you the lighting was perfect! love this…
and this is when you know the shoot is over…

hayley + josh boca raton beach club wedding | wedding photographer | jamilah photography

Jamilah — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:15:53 +0000

Hayley & Josh’s wedding was so much fun to capture… the day was filled with so much love and with so many people that love and adore them…because Hayley & Josh live out of state, Hayley’s parents had a huge hand in planning their wedding day… the details of the wedding, the band, the flowers, the dancing… all came beautifully together & made for an unforgettable night… please enjoy some of my favorite images from their beautiful Boca Raton Beach Club Wedding…

Hayley & Josh opted for a first look, where they saw each other before the ceremony… this gave them plenty of time for beautiful pictures… and this moment & that look on his face?? priceless!

who doesn’t have time for a Serendipity break?

as always, Jacqueline of J.Morgan Flowers did a beautiful job with putting together a simple yet elegant floral design…

Amazing Vendors:

Venue: Boca Raton Beach Club
Florist: J.Morgan Flowers
Band: Street Life from Chase Music
Makeup Artist: Barbara Batterman
Hair Artist: Maria from Elegance Salon
Wedding Dress: Alfred Angelo
Men’s Tuxes: Men’s Warehouse
Wedding Photographer: Jamilah Photography