I first met Danielle and Steven last summer, when they booked me for their wedding at the end of July. My visit with them was more like meeting new friends than having a wedding consultation (which is how I think it should be!). Danielle used to be a photographer herself, and she and Steven had an adorable new puppy. I always get along with fellow "dog people" so they ended up being a great match with me!

We originally wanted to do their engagement photos in Coral Gables, at the beautiful Granada entrance. Unfortunately, as soon as we both arrived, it started to rain. Normally, shooting in the rain is not a problem if there's a decent amount of covered space, but the location we were at didn't give us much leeway, so after doing the best we could and getting a couple of moody shots in the rain, we called it a day and decided to try again the following week at Orchid Park in Coral Springs, a very pretty location that was much closer.

Thankfully the weather was gorgeous on our second try. Danielle & Steven brought a pretty daisy as a prop for their shoot, which worked out great. Here are my favorite photos from our time together - including one photo I liked from our first session in Coral Gables, and the rest are all from Orchid Park. Enjoy!

Riverfront is one of my favorite places to shoot, so when Julie & Matt expressed their interest in having their engagement session there, I was super excited.

Engagement sessions can often be an adventure for me, especially when doing urban shoots like this one. I love to walk around with my clients and find new nooks and crannies to take photos in. I've shot here a few times before, but Julie, Matt, my associate photographer Tracy, and I found some lovely spots that I had not yet been to, and thanks to Tracy's connections, we even got to take some photos inside the Atmosphere Lounge!

I look forward to Julie & Matt's wedding this November!

Here are my favorite shots from our afternoon together:

This is one of the shots we got at Atmosphere Lounge. They had lovely lighting inside, and I loved the shadows that were created here.

I have known Adam since high school and when he asked me to take Engagement photos for him and his bride-to-be, Leslie, I was very excited! I love working with old friends.

For this session, we went downtown to Las Olas, the heart of Ft. Lauderdale. It was so much fun exploring all the nooks and crannies of Las Olas Boulevard with Adam, Leslie, and their adorable dog Romeo! We also made one final stop down at the beach for some more fun photos. Here are some of my favorite shots:

Today Adrian and I met Jessica & Gabe at Morikami Gardens in Delray Beach for an awesome e-session. I am so pleased with how the images came out - I think this might be the fastest I have ever edited a session before! As you can see, we had a fantastic time together. Check out their sideshow below as well as some of my favorite images from their session.

Jessica & Gabriel, I absolutely can't wait until your wedding next month! We are going to have an amazing time together creating more beautiful, artistic images of you both. :)

Thanks for sharing today with us!

love,
Karen

I now have the ability to make beautiful, musical online slideshows for my clients! I plan to take full advantage of this and will be posting these lovely slideshows to the blog for everyone to enjoy.

First off is the lovely Lindsey & Otto, whose engagement portrait I photographed in December, and whose wedding I will be shooting in just a few weeks this February!

From the first time I ever talked to Lindsey, I knew we were going to get along. She is eccentric and fun, adores Harry Potter as much as I do, and has absolutely impeccable taste in music! As the months went by, we got to know each other better with phone conversations and MySpace comments, and she and I both just couldn't wait until the day when we would do her Engagement session. She had picked an amazing location - the beautiful Italian mansion in Miami, Vizcaya!

I had not met her fiancé, Otto, before we did our photo shoot, but after only a few minutes together with them, I could see that they were just perfect for one another! Hopefully after seeing these photos, you will agree!

This shoot was especially fun for me because I had a great assistant - my dad, Peter Berlin. My dad was a professional photographer in his younger days so I brought him on the shoot with me to help out and get some shots. It was great having an "old pro" with a different outlook on things to assist! These gorgeous trees made a beautiful backdrop for a portrait.

Lindsey loves her "bling!"

We spotted this gorgeous wrought-iron gate and knew we had to get a few shots here. This shot courtesy of my dad, Peter.

I just can't do a session without getting a good "flare" shot. I decided to texturize this one a bit, too. I think it looks pretty neat!

My dad got a shot of me in action, getting the shot you see above!

The lighting on these steps was just gorgeous and my dad knew exactly how to capture it. I love this shot because you can see the emotion in Otto's face as he gazes upon his bride-to-be.

What a good looking couple they are! Both Otto and Lindsey are naturals in front of the camera!

Lindsey and Otto wanted to roll around in the grass for a bit before we left. Look at how gorgeous her eyes are - they will surely be set off beautifully by her wedding dress!

Thank you so much for hanging out with us, you two! We really had a fantastic time with you and I absolutely cannot wait for your wedding - just one month from today!!!

On Monday, we met up with Helen & Zheng on South Beach to do their Engagement Session! They are such a cute couple. Helen is outgoing and loves to laugh, while Zheng appears a little bit more shy, though his love for his bride-to-be was obvious from spending the morning with the two of them!

Helen & Zheng arrived just at the perfect time to catch a gorgeous silhouetted shot.

There was some wind in the air, which made great conditions for flying their Chinese kites!

What a lovely couple they are!

Helen really wanted to get into the water...

And at the end of the session, they did, and we got some sweet shots of the two of them!

Helen & Zheng, thanks so much for spending your morning with us! We had a great time with the two of you and are very excited to photograph your wedding in December!

Adrian and I shot Lindsay & Pete's engagement session last weekend in Coconut Grove! We had so much fun walking all over the Coco Walk area with them. They are ridiculously cute, adorably quirky, and above all, absolutely perfect for each other. It was so obvious to us how much they love each other, and we are incredibly excited to be shooting their wedding next July!

For two people who were sooo nervous to be in front of the camera, I think they were amazing! I told them that I was just taking some "test shots" to check my exposure but they were being so cute, they didn't know I already had everything set up. Hehehe. They have no clue this one was actually part of the shoot!

After getting "set up" we walked around and came across this cool wall. The sun looked amazing and we had to get some neat lens flare shots. I brought out the textures and got a little artsy.... The first one in this set of two is probably my favorite.

We walked around some more...

And found a nice shaded area suitable for some portraits.

By this time, we were all basically dying of heat. So much for it cooling off in October! We went to a swanky restaurant called Señor Frog's (the couches were on the sidewalk!), and Adrian and I got some Diet Cokes while Lindsay and Pete shared some Pinot Grigio.

We decided to check out the water and look at the boats, so we walked down to the boardwalk overlooking Biscayne Bay.

And after nearly three hours of shooting, we called it a day and headed home.

Lindsay & Pete, you are such a great couple! Thank you so much for sharing your Saturday afternoon with us and dealing with the heat! You look fantastic and were naturals in front of the camera. I can't wait until your wedding next July!!!

If you're interested, you also can read Lindsay's review of the photos and her personal account of the session right here on her blog!

Adrian and I had sooooo much fun doing Wendy & Scott's engagement session on the beach in Boca Raton! They were such a fun couple! Wendy was so sweet and Scott was so hilarious with his New England sense of humor. We got some amazing shots from their e-session. Here are a few of our favorites:

Thank you both for having fun with us, and congratulations once again on your engagement! You couldn't be more perfect for one another!!!

Ivory and Keshia were recently visiting from Maryland and wanted to have an "authentic" Florida engagement session done. Where better to do it than on the beach? We had a great time with them taking photos at West Palm Beach, and then moved on for some more fun pictures at CityPlace. Here are the results!

Adrian & I recently did a photo shoot with our friends Jason & Luciana at Deerfield Beach, Florida. We had a lot of fun with them, and the sunset produced some beautiful lighting. Here are our different interpretations - first Adrian's photograph, and then my own:

 

Last weekend, Adrian and I met up with our friends Austin & Kats for a photo shoot.

We started at the beautiful Granada Entrance of Coral Gables, where you might recognize the setting from our previous Gables shoot when we met up with other photographers Roy Llera, Kiernan Conroy Klosek, and John Mackintosh.

The first photo in this set is from the park at Coral Way. I love the Spanish style of the Coral Gables area and the lush green plants that can be found there. I hope we do more shoots down in the Gables soon. It's a great place to take pictures!