naples wine festival dinner at Pelican Marsh

Rene and I had a wonderful time photographing one of the naples wine festival dinner’s hosted by festival trustees Linda & Jim Malone and John Scot Mueller & Judith Liegeois Mueller at the Malone’s Pelican Marsh home.

The dinner theme for the evening was Birds of a Feather. On hand to bring the vision to life was designer Gary Shanabarger, partner at 50Fifty Flowerphilosophy.

Celebrity chef for the evening was Richard Reddington of Redd and the vintners for the evening included Piero Incisa della Rocchetta of Bodega Chacra in Rio Negro, Argentina and Marc Perrin of Château de Beaucastel in Courthezon, France. Unfortunately, Mr. Perrin was detained in France but his wine made it all the way to Naples safely! :)

Aside from the fabulous smells emanating from the kitchen, the senses were flooded with beautiful bright shades of emeralds and burgundys, bright vivid reds and regal whites. Two peacocks graced the dinner providing a beautifully elegant backdrop and a visual feast for the eyes!

Linda and Jim Malone

 

One of the centerpieces included a delicate wooden bird cage with bright red and black feathers intertwined around the cage, raising a few feet above the center of the table. Crystal birds atop gilded branches adorned two other tables.

Naples

 

With an absolutely incredible full moon out that night and perfect weather, what more could you ask for? How about fire art entertainment from Blaze Naples? Wow….talk about really lighting up a dinner party (ok, I know, totally cheezey but I had to say it).

Naples

 

And of course, the wine and the food and executive chef Reddington….

Naples

Laila and Mathias….engaged!

Fun…spur of the moment…..quirky and mad about each other! We totally loved shooting Laila and Mathias around the grounds of their condo on Marco Island! And we can’t wait for their wedding…..what could be more romantic than getting married on Valentine’s day at the Ritz Carlton Naples on the beach? Can’t wait!

Naples wedding photography

 

Astrid and Rene wedding photography

 

Florida wedding photography

 

Grace at the Secret Garden

I wanted to post a few shots of the session we did of Grace at the Secret Garden here in Naples. This is the session we shot for the Neapolitan Family cover in November…..with a background like this and such a wonderful subject, we were able to capture some cute portraits of her.

I’m really starting to get into black and white again. And I’m itching to set up my darkroom again….on the hunt for an enlarger! Wouldn’t these look great as large fiber prints framed on the wall?

Naples Weddings

 

Astrid and Rene Portraiture

 

Naples wedding photography

 

Florida wedding photography

Liz & Sean’s wedding featured in Weddings Florida Magazine!

We are so excited to have in our hands the Winter/Spring 2010 edition of Weddings Florida magazine!

This edition features Liz and Sean’s awesomely beautiful and fun wedding that we shot at Miromar Lakes Beach & Golf Club here in Southwest Florida! What a great place to shoot! At every corner we found great spots and the decor is fabulous! Lesley and the staff at Miromar did an absolutely outstanding job making sure everything flowed smoothly and everyone was happy. And we couldn’t have been happier shooting at such a refreshingly unique spot!

I know that the wedding magazine industry experienced some losses last year with the loss of Modern Bride and Elegant Bride so we are SUPER ecstatic to see such a beautiful magazine going strong and representing some of the best vendors, locations and talent here in Florida. We are also very honored to be featured in Weddings Florida.

For us, it’s really wonderful to see this area of Southwest Florida receive the recognition it deserves as being a hot spot for destination weddings. Not only is the area beautiful, but we have some absolutely fantastic talent in the area that will do everything possible to help create a bride and groom’s vision. And part of that success comes from a strong network here of industry vendors that work with each other and support each other.

Thanks again to Weddings Florida for featuring Liz and Sean and thank you Liz and Sean for trusting in our ability to preserve your wedding day.

~ Astrid and Rene ~

Astrid and Rene Photography

 

Liz and Sean

 

Naples wedding Photography

 

Weddings Florida Magazine Cover

 

If you’d like to learn more about Weddings Florida, check out their Facebook page and their website!

If you are in the Southwest Florida area and want to get to know some of the best vendors (including us) in the industry, make sure to attend the First Annual Clearwater Beach Bridal & Fashion Show produced by Weddings Florida Magazine, Sunday, January 24, 2010 at Clearwater Beach. Check out their website for more information and pre-registration.

 

Happy New Year, a better world and thank you…

Another year has come and gone….and it’s been quite a year for us and well, for what feels like most of the planet. So many good things have happened to us this year but in retrospect, our events really shadow in comparison to all of the things happening around us all over the world. With the economy taking a dip, and so much poverty and crime, our biggest hope for the future is a safer and more prosperous Earth for all of us. And while it seems cliche to say, more peace for all of us would be a blessing. There seems to be so much hate in the world….and for the New Year, my hope is that we all progress forward in some positive way so that we can create a more loving and caring world for our children and our future.

As we end the year, Rene and I want to thank all of our friends, our family, and our clients for all of the support, challenges and excitement they have brought us.

Aside from our children and each other, our lives are full because of the many faceted relationships we’ve built this year. We’ve met so many new friends in the wedding industry here in Southwest Florida. New friends who have treated us as friends instead of competition and have welcomed us with open arms, great advice and a shoulder to vent, cry and laugh on! Never forget that in business as in life, if you build an island around yourself, you won’t get far. Letting our guard down has been the best thing we could have done for our business this year and we thank all of our new industry friends!

This year we’ve met beautiful brides and grooms beginning a new life together. Brides and grooms who don’t know us but yet trust us with one of the most important days of their lives. They’ve given us the opportunity to participate in a day so special, so unique and so important that for us, that in the end it’s a humbling experience. Rene and I want to thank each of you for letting us be a small part of that special day. For us there is no greater joy than hearing that our work will remain in your hearts and in your family’s hearts for generations to come.

And we’ve grown older with our families by our sides this year, too. Both Rene and I consider ourselves very, very luck to have both of our mothers here in Naples. Without them, we would not be able to do the work we do. Leaving our two girls with our mothers gives us the peace of mind we need in order to do the job we love to do. Thank you to our mothers for all the hard work they do for us and for their granddaughters. We are so lucky to have such beautiful, smart, hard-working, patient and loving mothers who serve as the very best role models for us and for our girls. We never take for granted all that you both have done for us. We love you both so much!

In the society we live in, it’s easy to forget what life is really about. The grind of daily life takes us over and we lose ourselves in work and responsibilities and the material things that so easily come in and out of our lives. For the New Year, Rene and I plan to strengthen our efforts in becoming better stewards of the Earth, stronger supporters for our friends and colleagues and even better image makers for our brides and grooms! These are no easy feats! But what does make it so obtainable a goal is that the people in our lives make it easy to want to be better.

And with that, we leave you with the glowing faces of our 2009 brides…

…..Rene and I wish all of our friends, family, colleagues and clients a safe, prosperous and rockin’ 2010 and the very best that life has to offer!

Naples wedding photographer

Happy Holidays from Astrid and Rene!

May this holiday season and the New Year bring you all lots of reasons to smile. Happy Holidays from Astrid, Rene, Aliyah and Helena!

Astrid and Rene Photography

naples beach family session: the maschhoff’s

With all the cold weather, I thought I’d post a beautiful shoot that we did a few months back right here in our favorite Naples beach. Now, I don’t mean to post this so that folks in the cold freezing snow feel bad (hardly because I wish I was in that snow right now, you know the grass is always greener….)! But I just wanted to post this session because if you’ve ever thought about coming down to Naples or Southwest Florida for a visit but have been hesitant, don’t be! Just look at how beautiful the beaches are here and don’t even get me started on the colors of the sky and water! It is that beautiful….any time of the year, too! Yes, even in the dead of summer with the blazing heat!

In this session, we had the opportunity to photograph the Maschhoff family. They hail from Illinois and commissioned us to capture them being themselves here in this beautiful paradise. Ok, ok. So yeah. Our job is super easy when you have a backdrop like Naples, Florida and when you have a gorgeous family like this, but hey! We had to push the button! :) Everywhere we turned there was a unique spot to photograph or something beautiful to lean on…and with that light and the wonderful sound of the ocean, what’s not to smile about! We love capturing families…..and thank you to the Maschhoff’s for letting us preserve these memories. It was an honor to get the opportunity to photograph all of you…..

Florida beach photography
naples family portraits
naples beach photography