This engagement session is a special one for me…not only are these guys an awesome couple, but this is my (not so) little brother William and his girlfriend (now fiance!) of about 8 years!  Will and Meahgan started dating in late middle school/ early high school.  They have been to just about every high school dance together and have seen the best and worst of each other over the years.  In college, they felt God calling them to end their relationship.  Not knowing whether the split would be temporary or forever, they both took the time to grow and mature as individuals and most importantly and most dramatically to grow and mature as Christians.  When they ended up back together within the year it was a stronger, more mature and more God-glorifying relationship.  I could not pick a better wife for William then the one that I know Meahgan will be.  I am super proud of who they have become and cannot wait to celebrate their wedding this October!

So of course, this monumental of an engagement had to have a pretty equally dramatic and eventful engagement session.  In my experience…the more illegal it is to trespass onto the shoot location…the more awesome the shots are guaranteed to be. haha.   Praise the Lord we didn’t get arrested, or blown up, or attacked by wild animals….what we did get was about 60 ticks between the 3 of us (seriously gross), way too close of contact with 1 rabid squirrel, mosquitos feasting on our skin and I think someone got Chiggers….but hey…I have to say that it was totally worth it.  Meahgan and Will, you guys were troopers for this shoot.  Thanks for trusting me – ya’ll rocked it:)

Is anyone else as obsessed with the Food Network’s “Ace of Cakes” as I am? (or as equally annoyed with the TLC  rip-off show “Cake Boss” ?) Well, I am not even exaggerating when I say that we have a pastry chef right here in Florida that gives these guys a run for their money!  Allow me to introduce to you Lyndsy McDonald of Pastries by Design!  I first heard about Lyndsy when she designed a cake for a Sarasota wedding that I photographed earlier this year.  When my daughter Chloe’s first birthday came around I got in touch with Lyndsy about creating something with a strawberry theme for her party.  I cannot even begin to tell you how blown away I was with what she created!  It was so far beyond what I was expecting that I was almost speechless when I stopped by to pick up the goodies from her shop!  Not only did Lyndsy create an incredibly gorgeous looking strawberry shaped chocolate four layered cake with real strawberries in it, but she also made a matching “smash cake”  and individually wrapped strawberry shaped sugar cookies to give out as party favors!  Everything was unbelievably delicious and I seriously think that the sugar cookies were actually the best sugar cookies that I have ever had in my entire life!  Another thing that makes Lyndsy so incredible is that she is my age!  You have to hand it to this girl for turning her dream into an incredibly successful reality!    To view more of Lyndsy’s incredible pastry designs you can visit her website and make sure that you also check out her page on Facebook!

Bottom line…if you need any kind of cakes or pastries for your upcoming wedding or party you have to check out her stuff!

Lyndsy – I cannot thank you enough!  I am looking forward to working with you in the future! Here are a few images of Chloe’s strawberry themed birthday treats.

It’s a busy day in the office editing up a storm before heading out of town.  I just thought I would share a fun pic of me hard at work during a recent reception:) (thanks to my fabulous assistant Brie Smeltz for snapping this one!)

Did I keep you waiting long enough??  Thank you to all of you wonderful ladies who participated to win!  As you guys know, I love to give things away so there will be many more fun opportunities to win in the coming months.  But for our fabulous summer kick-off photo shoot giveaway, the winner is……

Shawna Berger of Flawless Occassions !!!

Shawna – Thank you for the mention.  I cannot wait to meet you for your fabulous photo shoot!

**I frequently have contests and giveaways for fans of Shay Cochrane Photography on Facebook!  Become a “fan” ahmmm…I mean “like” us to keep up to date on the latest contests and giveaways!**

Oh, and happy first day of summer!

It’s hot…I mean sweating in places you didn’t know you could sweat H.O.T.T….and its only June!!!! Well, since the first day of summer is just days away (5 days to be exact) how about a little summer giveaway!?  This one’s for the ladies only (sorry gents!) so girls listen closely…

I will be giving away an absolutely FREE mini session that will focus on YOU as a beautiful individual.  No kids, couples, families etc ~ this one will be a fun fashion/editorial style shoot that you can use for personal or professional use…even just to update your Facebook profile.  Everyone deserves a fabulous Facebook profile pic right??

So, heres how to enter!

1) Simply tweet, blog, or facebook the below phrase and come back here to comment with the link to where you posted the phrase…

“I REALLY want to win a free photoshoot with Shay Cochrane Photography http://www.shaycochrane.com”

2) In your comment on this post I also want to hear about your favorite thing about summer!

You will be entered to win for each place you post the above phrase. Only comments made in the comment box below (attached to this post)  will eligible to win the free session. ALL comments must contain a link to win!  You will also be entered to win for phrases posted each day between now and the end of the contest so feel free to post and comment each day for more chances to win!

The winner will be announced on…when else…the first day of summer, Monday June 21st!!

To get you excited I wanted to feature an image from a recent shoot that I did with a wonderful friend and absolutely beautiful woman inside and out!

**contest is for Florida residents only…unless you are willing to travel haha.

I cannot say enough about this incredibly sweet and down to earth couple.  If you missed part 1 of their wedding sneak peak then check it out here! I loved Kimmie from the moment I met her at our consultation last year and when I finally got to meet Will at the wedding it was undeniable that these two were a perfect fit for each other.   Will and Kim are both lawyers who were set up on their first date by a mutual friend, one of the bridesmaids.  The thing that stood out about them is how friendly, genuinely sweet and down to earth they are (I mean, I’m not insinuating that you would expect anything differently from lawyers, wink wink ).  I mean these guys are so sweet I wanted to spend the day just hanging out! I remember Kimmie saying at their consultation that they were not the type that wanted a lot of attention on themselves and this attitude showed from start to finish on their wedding day.  Both of them were so laid back and always seemed to be wanting to make sure that all of their guests were having a great time.  The ceremony and reception took place at the gorgeous Ritz-Carlton Beach Club in Sarasota where I also met some of the nicest and most professional hotel and staff.  It was every bit as incredible as you would expect (I heard that brunch for guests at the hotel was $70 per person….ummm…check please!).  One of my favorite elements were  the khaki J Crew bridesmaids dresses with side seam pockets!   So chic and definitely post-wedding wearable!  The weather was perfect, the sunset was beautiful, the bride and groom were in love – what more could you ask for?!  Here is sneak peak “part two” of their lovely day!  Will and Kimmie I wish you both a beautiful life together!

I cannot wait to tell you more about this incredibly sweet couple but for now I will simple leave you with a “part one” sneak peak at Kimberly and Will’s wedding…more to come later this week!!

My incredibly talented friend Ashlee Proffitt just designed Chloe’s first birthday party invitation and I just had to share because it is just too precious!  Isn’t she amazing?!!  She does incredible custom design work and you can view more of her work on her website or on her Etsy shop!

Here are the front and back of the 5×7 flat invitation!

What is worse than a photographer who uses their blog to shamelessly show off their own kids…I mean really?!!! How unprofessional!! haha – ok, i’m guilty…BUT in about two weeks she will be 1 yr old (holy cow where has the time gone!)  so we had to do a little early 1 yr birthday shoot to show of her birthday dress (well, one of many thanks to friends and family who like to spoil her!).  Much to my demise, I have learned that as silly and playful as she is in every day life, she always gets so serious in front of the camera!! You should have seen Graham and I barking and dancing and hitting each other with toys trying to make her laugh….and NOTHING!  Game face all the way.  At one point Graham said “Chloe…this is humiliating!”  She obviously takes modeling very seriously – I think she actually knows what she is doing when she poses haha.  I love her so much and I could just kiss her chubby little cheeks all day!  So here it is…Chloe strikes a pose…

P.S Thank you to the Fennig’s for sharing Elizabeth’s fun little backyard/chair picture theme:)

Lots of gorgeous new packaging going out in the mail today thanks to fabulous branding by Ashlee Proffitt Design!