Duck key is about an hour and a half south of Miami, in the Florida Keys.   Hawks Cay was a wonderful location for a private getaway for Jenny and Philip.  It’s nestled on the coast of the Caribbean Sea.  Thanks to Heather Snively of Weddings Unique,  the whole weekend was flawless!

I love the organic feel of Alys Beach.  The architecture is clean and incredibly inspiring.  Amy and John loved it as well.  We joined them along with 15 or so of their family and friends for a beautiful ceremony on the beach.

Hello Everyone,

What a wonderful year this is going to be!  We’ve been flooded with emails since the new year asking us when the next workshop will be.  The workshops we had last year were a great success.  We plan to follow the same format this year.  Here are the details for our first workshop of 2010:

When?  April 13th and 14th

Where?  Paul Johnson Photography Gallery in Rosemary Beach, Florida (www.rosemarybeach.com)

How much?  $750

This a no-fluff small group workshop that includes an intense day and a half of everything from marketing, working with clients, shooting, and image processing.  A workshop that encourages open discussion with plenty of answers to questions.  We will share captures from all parts of a wedding, covering all types of shooting environments and lighting situations.  We’ll show them to you out of camera, and take you step by step through to the finished product.  You’ll experience us working with a bride and groom on location and watch as we come back to our gallery to process the imagery.

Limited to ONLY 6 attendees.  To secure your spot, Please Call (850) 832-4309 or email us at info@pauljohnsonphoto.com

“Wow!

I’m really motivated after spending 2 days with Paul and Mecheal and the other five photographers.

We met at their new really cool client studio in Rosemary Beach. The walls were adorned with their fabulous work and a really big surprise on one wall. Let’s just say it involved a tree. The Daylite screen was displaying a slide show of amazing wedding photographs set to really nice music. I’d love to get their iTunes list.

Later in the day, we observed Paul and Mecheal in action with a real wedding couple. The magic of this shoot was that these were not their past clients and so we were able to see the critical interaction between photographer and subject evolve. Let’s just say it started out with a few casual snaps as the couple strolled down the cobblestone streets of Rosemary Beach and progressed into a full Oklahoma Drill type exercise. The beach was a tad cool (OK, freezing for Fla folk) but the couple seemed to really enjoy the experience. I’m sure they will love the results. Check out Paul Johnson’s Blog for the photographs.

Paul shoots in sports shooter mode similar to an SI photographer. This becomes obvious as to why he uses his special technique. He reveals how he achieves his signature action shots. Paul and Mecheal explained in full detail what they were doing technically during the shoot.

Later that evening, we all met up for dinner. When in Grayton Beach, be sure and dine at The Red Bar. Bring your appetite and your cash/check cause at The Red Bar they don’t serve average food, and they don’t take American Express…or Visa…or any plastic. ATM in the rear.

On day two, we observed Paul create. He is a true artist. I watched as he worked his images and brought them from, really good out of the camera, to his fabulous signature look. He says there isn’t any “magic dust” but he has it in his DNA. He visualizes the final image and works every detail until he achieves it. A few tools and a secret sauce or two and there it is. No “one click actions” here. The exception being the blog wrapper. Everything is custom. And that, he explains, is how he maintains his look and style.

There were many more points covered, including Mecheal’s culling process. Not only did she show us her method, she explained what her thought process was for each edit decision. Paul and Mecheal covered every aspect of their wedding photography business answering every question with open honest detail.

The clients of Rosemary Beach are wealthy, sophisticated, educated and very demanding. This becomes obvious when experiencing the quality of available cuisine. Even the sandwich wraps were gourmet and organic. Average won’t do and won’t survive. In fact, Starbucks recently closed.

Paul and Mecheal have the formula to provide the necessary products and services to cater to this high end market. It was pleasure to learn from them and to gain insight into their business. A bonus was meeting and getting to know the other five wonderful photographers.

Very best,

Charlie”

I told Mecheal, lets choose 9 images most dear to our hearts from among the wonderful weddings and sessions we had with our couples in 2009.   Well, it quickly became obvious that if we only chose 9 it would be entirely impossible to represent 2009.   I think 99 would have been good, but in an effort to prevent bandwidth overload we grudgingly managed to get it down to 69.   Keep in mind, there are three more weddings from 09’ that will be blogged over the next few weeks so images from those weren’t included here.  We would like to thank all of our couples for a wonderful 2009, we consider it a great honor to be invited to share with you in what is such an intimate, emotional, and personal time in your lives.  For it is the time we get to experience with you as people and not just the photographs that make our job most enjoyable. We hope you enjoy our image review of 2009. With love, Paul and Mecheal.

Paul and I had met up with Erica and Ryan of Pure 7 Studios for a little shoot and alotta Mexican Food.   Thanks for dinner guys, look forward to seeing you again soon!

This group knew how to have a great time!  We were thrilled to be a part of Kim and Chris’ wedding at Carillon Beach.  Carillon Weddings by  Victoria are always amazing.

What a beautiful time of year to have a wedding!  The weather is cool and fall sunsets are amazing.  Christin and Michael had their wedding on the Western Green with the reception at the Town Hall.  My most memorable moment was when Michael serenaded Christin with a song he wrote for her.

This lovely family came all the way from Utah to our beautiful beaches for their union.   Angie’s children joined her and Victor at the alter for a very sweet ceremony.  Stephanie with Savoir Faire Weddings did a fabulous job planning for the day.