“What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit.  “You become. It takes a long time.  That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept.  Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby.  But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

During the ceremony, Cassie’s triplet sister read from The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. This is a story that was read to the three sisters by their mother when they were children. The reading was very sweet.

Cassie’s sisters are the two girls on the end. One has her arm around their beautiful mother and the other is on the opposite end.

As soon as John and Cassie walked up the aisle, they headed directly to the water for a private first toast together.

Comments: 1    leave a comment

  1. i just read the blog post to my intern and almost started crying. i love how they incorporated something so sentimental into the ceremony. and the images… stunning. it must be high pressure to always have to be so awesome, paul… is it???

Jennifer worked for over a year planning for her wedding and with every little detail in place, all the hard work paid off! Her dress, his suit, the flowers, the cakes, the fans for the guests on the beach, and the candy station were thought out very well. One interesting element that came together, very close to the wedding day, was the send off car. It was a 1939 Mercury. Jennifer wanted something special for Shaun. He drag races a NHRA Superstock Mustang! You have to check out his groom’s cake. The photo next to the cake is his race car.

The Mercury was an eye catcher!

This is Jennifer’s Page Boy, he did such a great job. I love the flower ball hanging from a tree branch.

Comments: 6    leave a comment

  1. i want that car great shots paul.

  2. Paul, you rock my socks off every time. I love the shot of the bride next to the water as well as the one directly after that. Superb.

  3. Wow… the picture of the page boy! I will cherish that moment always. Thank you for capturing every moment of this special day for Jenn and Shaun.

  4. Gorgeous captures as usual!

  5. Car shot is my fave, too!

    Great work as usual!

  6. Great pictures! You did a great job of capturing the beauty of their special day:) I love the picture of the car with the kiss!

Lauren and Marley were married to Carter at Carillon Beach in the Chapel.

Lauren surprised Carter with a piper to escort them out of the chapel.  Carter studied in Scotland and has a Scottish heritage.

Lauren was beautiful.  She had this soft, carefree sense about her.

It had rained for a few days prior to the wedding.  We brought Lauren’s umbrella with us, just in case.  I am glad we used it!

Rainy days always bring wonderful sunsets.

Lauren’s grandfather was so sweet.  He cried during the ceremony, danced with his granddaughters and missed the garter.

Comments: 14    leave a comment

  1. Love these! So pretty as always. I’m totally loving the one with the grandfather… too bad he missed that garter…. :)

  2. Paul and Mechael – When we were planning our wedding in Carillon, I knew I had to have you as my photographers so I booked you immediately… a year and a half ago… and it was definitely worth the wait. I don’t think there are words to express how in love I am with each picture. Thank you so much for capturing such an amazing day for us!

  3. Great work! You inspire me with every post!

  4. I LOVE each photo! What a beautiful bride (and modeling Marley)! Can’t wait to see more.

  5. You did an awesome job and truly captured the beauty of the special day for us!! They took my breath away- I better get ready for the rest!!

  6. What great pics!!

  7. What beautiful pics of a beautiful bride and her handsome beau! Congratulations!

  8. Awesome, beautiful pictures. Thanks so much for sharing and best wishes to the happy couple. What a fabulous way to keep the memory of the day alive!

  9. Especially joyous for me to see these fabulous photos since I could not be at my lovely niece’s wedding!

  10. The pictures are just beautiful. Since we were unable to attend this special day, the pictures captured the beautiful moments for us. What lovely memories you have of this most wonderful day! I love Grandpa! What a treasure!

  11. Wow, these pictures are incredible! Lauren and Carter will cherish this day forever, and I know how much they’ll appreciate these pictures many, many years from now!

  12. I have been racking my brain since you posted this. Lauren looks like Joely Fisher! Gorgeous wedding P + M!

  13. I love your photography and how true it is to the moment.

  14. i love the posing on the wedding party, love the crop on the umbrella shot, love the sliding light on the sparklers at the end. love your work!

06.18.2009
filed under: Creative Sessions

We’ve been busy with families lately! Remember the Wilsons from a few months ago? They came back to visit the beach and had us shoot for them again. Lucy was just as energetic as the last time!

Here are a couple of images from a sunrise session we had recently.

This little girl was SO CUTE, look for her to be on broadway someday, she has such a fun personality!

Another “full of personality” little one.

Comments: 2    leave a comment

  1. Just wow! this family is just beautiful and soo in love!

  2. Beautiful pictures! Love the skin tones. Most photos on the beach of people come out with orange skin tones. Secret?? Wanna Share??? Great Work!

ABSOLUTELY Stunning! Everything about Katie’s wedding day was fabulous. Everyone had a great time and the set up was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. Katie’s inner beauty is just as gorgeous as she is. I wished I could show you hundreds of images from this wedding!

Comments: 12    leave a comment

  1. these rule paul!

  2. Hey guys, these images are great! What a super-fun couple. The grandparents dancing picture with the orange glasses is priceless. And I really like her dress too! Brilliant work as usual.

  3. Grandpa with the glasses and the one of everyone with their hands up under the tent… just love those. They’re all gorgeous and feel great!

  4. Fabulous sampling of a wonderful wedding. The beach and church photos are great, and you really captured the spirit of fun and celebration at the party.

  5. Your pictures are brilliant! What lens did you use for these shots? Absolutely beautiful!

  6. Absolutely perfect. My Uncle Greg is going to want the cigar photo framed in a 36×48 frame made of gold. Great job!

  7. Wow! I have been so excited to see these and even though we picked you for your wonderful work, I am still amazed at how great these photos are. The day was such a whirlwind, you captured things I didn’t even notice! Thanks for filling me in on the day;) The pictures are brilliant and special and something that will be a part of our lives forever. Thank you for putting so much into them.

  8. These are great. Loving that cocktail lady statue or whatever it is. Not sure how anyone else feels but I would love to see hundreds more! :)

  9. I never cease to be amazed!!

  10. These are all so gorgeous! Love them!

  11. You both are amazing! What you capture allows us to see that Katie and Steve’s wedding is what we envisioned and hoped it to be!! Can not wait to see the rest that you memorialized!!

  12. You both are amazing What you capture makes it possible for us to see what we have envisioned for Katie and Steve’s Wedding to be the very best. Can not wait to see the rest!! Thank you for bringing one of their most important days to life!!

Paul and I had the extreme pleasure of traveling to Scotland last month to photograph Amy and Alan’s wedding.  A few days before the wedding we rode a double decker bus into Edinburgh. We spent the day exploring the streets at the City Center.  It was cold and rainy, we had been awake for 20 hours and I wished I were sleeping, but, the views and the culture we experienced made it worth it.South Queensferry is where the rehearsal dinner took place, at Orocco Pier.  We loved the cobblestone streets in this tiny town.  It was here that I am pretty sure I over paid for nail clippers!Every day leading up to the wedding day was rainy, windy and very cold.  Luckily the rain stopped on the wedding day and the sun came out.  We still had gust of wind up to 30 miles an hour!  The wedding took place at the Dundas Castle.  The Auld Keep was built in 1416, you can see it below, the blue flag is flying from the top of it.  The Keep is the tower or fortress.  Amy and Alan loved this castle because of it’s history, and the castle is still alive belonging to the Suart-Calrk family for the last century.  The walls and bookshelves were covered with family photos.The piper escorted the bridal party into the Keep for the ceremony.  The stairwell leading to the top of the Keep was winding and very narrow.After the ceremony we went to the top of the Keep for a few photos.  It was so windy!The piper piped Amy and Alan into the reception where they greeted their guests and had their first dance.The wind was quite a challenge!Alan’s family is from Scotland.  This is a nephew who I couldn’t help but watch everywhere he went.  I love his little tongue peeping out of the corner of his mouth and his kilt flapping in the wind.Just before dinner, the piper recited Address to A Haggis written by Robert Burns.  Yes, we ate it, and it was quit good actually!  It consists of boiled liver, heart and lungs, spicies and oats boiled in the sheeps stomach.  mmmmAndy, Alan’s best friend, gave a hysterical toast, while Julie, the maid of honor, gave a heartfelt one.  I love her wisping of the bang as to imply “who is this man and when will he stop?”There were many entertaining Scottish Country dances that took place.The evening ended with ham biscuits and coffee.  Everyone had a fabulous time.  I will remember this forever!

Comments: 45    leave a comment

  1. Beautiful, Beautiful images, you documented the wedding day so perfectly. You guys are by far some of the most talented and skilled photographers I know. Hats off.

  2. You have officially rocked my world. You guys are amazing and inspirational and I hope to one day be even half as talented as you guys are! LOVE your work!

  3. You did a fantastic job Love everything about these!

  4. stunishing work, lovely man.

  5. Fantastic work capturing a great wedding at a stunning location. Amazing Scotland!

  6. I’m speechless… honestly every image is completely breath taking and full of life and emotion. What an incredible wedding and you what a gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous place to be to capture it all. Really amazing work you two!

  7. WOW. Ok, I am not posting mine!!

  8. I love these pictures, so beautiful…what an amazing trip too. Makes me want to go back!

  9. UNBELIEVABLE…..I’m Speechless
    LOVE IT, LOVE IT , LOVE IT - this made my day – cannot WAIT to see the whole album!! You guys rock & we knew you would…

  10. damn paul…your coverage is awesome. your images are so vivid! i love the black level.

  11. Absolutely stunning. Truly fantastic images.

  12. Oh no.. not another wedding that’s going to make me salivate.. >.< Why can’t you put up a wedding that sucks from time to time?? Also. Did you sell your soul for your mad skills? And if so.. where does the line start?

  13. Paul Johnson!! You just officially melted faces with that wedding!! So excited for you! Now go kick back and make yourself a delicious latte! ;)

  14. What can I say…? I know: FABULOUS It was a fantastic & beautiful wedding, and you have captured the spirit of the day brilliantly. Amy looks just as beautiful in these photos as she did on the day (and Alan’s not too bad either!). I cannot wait to see the rest of the photos. Hope to see you both soon in Rosemary Beach!

  15. AAAAAAAmazing! I saw on twitter that you posted this wedding so I rushed to the computer to see it!

  16. Beautiful Wedding! At a “Once-In-A-Lifetime” location as well! Love the work, and hope to see more great stuff

  17. Awesome! Loved the day and can now see all the details all over again. Can’t wait for the full slide show at Amy & Alans – maybe Sunday night please when Julie is in London and you can cook me a nice dinner too!!
    Decided never to take a single picture ever again and will in-fact be selling my camera on ebay and employing Paul and Mecheal to attend every vacation and special event in my life instead:)

  18. All I can say is wow because that is what it is! WOW! Amazingly done.

  19. Super photos, again you show what terrific skills you have. It was a truly great occasion which your photos capture so well. You have also caught Edinburgh as it is, well done.

  20. Fantastic storytelling! Thanks for taking me to Scotland without having to pack my bags :-)

  21. Every shot is unbelievably gorgeous. Great work, as usual!!

  22. Absolutely STUNNING!...just Stunning You two are so talented!

  23. Just gorgeous, so clean and beautiful! Love the images!!

  24. Really really beautiful, Mecheal and Paul! Your description and these few photos make me feel as if I were actually there with you! Maybe next time! ;o)

  25. After having photographed for 25 years, I feel I have a right to say You both did an awesome job. Amy was complaining to me that I didn’t take enough pictures of the bride and groom, but after seeing you in action I knew she and Alan were in good hands. Now after seeing the post production work I am very very impressed. Your work will leave a lasting impression in my mind and I will feel confident in recommending you for future work. And on top of that your just nice people. I’m glad to have met you both. And I hope you don’t mind if I stole some of you tricks. (high ISO-slow shutter, I don’t know why it never occurred to me before). Your probably tired of hearing it but your photography is truly amazing!

  26. When ever did all this start? I don’t ever remember you having a camera in your hands ????

    Miraculous. Nothing short of it!

  27. Fantastic pictures. Really captured the atmosphere – and much more. You even managed to make my brother look good!

  28. WOW! These are fantastic! I can see a vacation there in my future what a beautiful place!

  29. Absolutely LOVELY guys! You’ve out-done yourselves for sure! :)

  30. I so want to go to Scotland to photograph a wedding now!:):) LOVE LOVE LOVE the images of the veil blowing in the wind. What a fantastic job you did

  31. speechless, my friend.

  32. Fabulous images! That ceremony location has to be the coolest one I have ever seen! Great capture!

  33. Stunning work. I love the shots of the bride in the brick staircase! Wonderful couple and what a gorgeous setting!

  34. WOW!!

  35. so i’ll just say it again. stunning +1,000. awesome.

  36. Brilliant set of images, I’m floored. I live 10 minutes from Dundas Castle but have never actually photographed there. I have a wedding coming up at Orocco Pier in July which I’m really looking forward to though!

  37. I am completely taken aback with these photos! Phenomenal!! Amy and Alan look great and I love the angles and framing of the photos! Too SPECTACULAR!!

  38. Well, those were so beautiful they actually brought tears to my eyes? Dont exactly know why, but you know how I am! Thanks so much for letting us share this with you. Through your lens, we get to go to all the places that you do, that we may never get to otherwise. Thanks so much and love you guys much

  39. WOW!! The photos are truly amazing. You guys are the best. Thanks for capturing such a wonderful day. Very well done.

  40. I told Mecheal that I anticipated these photos as much as I anticipated the wedding itself. You did not disappoint! Fantastic! Amy is radiant, the shots are gorgeous. You have wowed me yet again!

  41. Beautiful work Paul. You have captured some magical moments – I feel like I was there!

  42. I live in Scotland, and your Edinburgh pictures perfectly capture what I love about that city! It is a beautiful country and the people are lovely. Well done.

  43. Amazing photographs!! Your work is amazing!

  44. I was just in Edinburgh and let me tell you, you did this amazing city justice with these photos! And what an incredibly gorgeous wedding -WOW!

  45. If I were you, I’d be furiously compiling the world’s biggest sample album to lug around everywhere I went… grocery stores, movie theaters, the post office… it doesn’t need repeating, but truly exceptional work, guys. And it’s so much more than a really cool location… you made it that much richer. Well done!

Caitie was breathtaking in her beautiful Melissa Sweet gown! Their church was stunning, and James was looking very handsome. We started with a few portraits before the wedding so the couple could head directly to the reception, spending time with their guests was extremely important to Caitie and James. Congratulations guys!

Comments: 10    leave a comment

  1. What a fabulous church! Reminds me of the one I grew up going to at my Grandma’s, in PA. Gorgeous images, as always!

  2. Awesome dude!

  3. Beautiful work!

  4. That cake is just wow! Beautiful couple and their day!

  5. Some of your best pics eva.
    Also, I love Melissa Sweet.
    And, Caitie was gorgeous… wow!

  6. These are so classy and fantastic! Love them!

  7. Very beautiful photographs! You did a great job!

  8. The pictures are wonderful…like a Fairy Tale
    Thanks for sharing…

  9. Awesome wedding! Go team Johnson! Beautiful church, beautiful couple, beautiful dress… everything looks fabulous. Love the last shot with everyone crowding around the car too! Incredible work as always. ;)

  10. love this wedding paul, great work, awesome pics.

Laura’s periwinkle color scheme couldn’t have matched the beautiful sky any better on her wedding day.  She and Michael had their ceremony on the beach at Carillon with a West Side Pool reception.

Comments: 12    leave a comment

  1. these are so much fun! that cake is incredible and the sunset shot of Laura is breathtaking, great job!

  2. Paul… You are just awesome… That is all I have to say about that.

  3. Love the cute shot with the bridesmaids:)

  4. Beautiful…..love the one on the beach with the sunset. Breathtaking.

  5. wow! I love the shadows in the fence shot, and the lines in the shot with the plates, and that last shot of the crowd, OMG! All of these are great, that black and white of the little girl, priceless! fantastic job!

  6. Beautiful!!
    Love,
    Sandee

  7. The pictures are absolutely great—just like the wedding. We had a wonderful time and are so happy for both of you. Love, Uncle Rob.

  8. I am breathless. These are beautiful pictures of 2 of my favorite people.

  9. Beautiful ceremony, beautiful couple, I love all details. Every photograph shows emotions….Just amazing!

  10. I enjoyed the wedding.It was so fun and also very beautiful.Love the pics of everyone.

  11. The pics are great! They bring back all the wonderful memories of the wedding and the weekend. Dad and I are very thankful that you are our daughter and Michael is our son-in-law, we couldn’t be happier. Love, Mom

  12. What Awesome Pictures. Love ya, Aunt Alice

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