6 years ago on a Friday hot evening, after a delay to begin the ceremony I married Maxwel Bernardo Tomaz. I actually did not have a great wedding, it was a bad one, very bad, my pictures got ruined from the day, did not have many people to help me set up and I was very stressed, emotionally nervous and I ended up not enjoying my day what so ever, it was pretty, my mom worked hard on the center pieces, a few very specia people helped covered the cost and I was very blessed, but that day had an amazing significance that I would not know how much perhaps til now, as I celebrate my 6 year anniversary, I think of the victory it has been, through trials, I mean trials, I mean when I got married, I was pregnant, working for $10 an hour, 25 hours a week, Max was working construction in hot summer days and not getting paid, and we rented out a tiny room which legally was not a real room, and it fit one small desk, our twin bed, and a ceiling fan, we laugh now at those very hot summer days and 6 years later looking back I see how strong we are today, how much of  a beautiful family we have, amazing cute energetic boys, and Max is amazing, we are so different at times, I say he is a cowboy who married a beach girl which leaves us with nothing in common but we do have something in common, a passion for life, for making it, for being strong, for loving one another, for loving our kids and for seeking truth in life. Today is a triumphant day, many did not think we would make it since I got married pregnant and all but here we are still laughing, still enjoying life, still looking for joy in the little things and still dreaming so big as if the planes were shooting stars.

well I am back from TN and planning this surprise get away for him tomorrow in Philly, he does not really read my blog so no chance in him catching this before 1pm today, but lots of cool posts to come, I had an amazing time with Shannon Kelley, her brides and my budyy Jill. I was trying to find an old picture of us so we all can get some laughs but it is late, I am tired and must get some zz’s but I will leave ya with this song to celebrate . I am very thankful to God for this accomplishment in my life, my 6 year wedding anniversary.

and I ask if you have not visited this section of my website, you should so you get to see why I am so lucky.

http://www.feuzareis.com/#/feuzaloves/

p.s I had never had a long term relationship before Max, which makes it extra special.

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I am not a pet photographer but when fell in love with these shots of Lulu’s babies as she calls them. How can you not fall in love with these faces, come one, doggies, parrots = so much fun. Different things are babies for people, for men, it might me a hobby, a passion, like my husband already marked down all the Brazil games for World Cup and is taking those days off, it might be cars, for women, it might be pets, it might be our kids, it might be shoes, but “babies” refers to someone or something one loves, one takes care of and cares about. For me, well I have two babies, Lucas and Josh and I think no matter how big they will get,much taller than me someday, they will always be my babies and I will remember things like first day of school, like Josh obsessed in playing with my hair, their cute smiles, their eyes lighting up with excitement, Lucas saying this is the best day ever all the time and Josh asking if mommy has gone on her trip already. Yes I am going away again and I am very happy about the opportunity of shooting with Knoxville’s best Shannon Kelley and meeting my online BFF Jill, I am feeling a bit guilty of being away from my babies for 4 days, being a mom, traveling, trying to live your passions, it is not an easy task, I just ask God to guide me daily and help me in bringing up my babies. Here are some pixs of Lulus Babies and mine, not so professional shots of my babies, but home heirlooms. I will be twitting from TN, just holla.

Show it fast is by who I have done my photography website by and they now have sites that we can do for our couples and I am so happy the first couple I am working a site for is Lourdes and Mario who will be getting married at the Historical Berkeley Hotel next September. We did their fabulous e session last week by the hotel in Asbury Park but it was a crazy windy day so actually ended heading right into the cool Berkeley and checking out it’s very cool art deco decor so a little fun. We ended the shoot with visiting Mario and Lulu’s (as friends call her) home to visit their babies, their pets. I had such a blast with Lu and Mario and I can not wait for their fabulous wedding. Here are some sneaks as I prepare their website and rest of session. Have a great week, oh and I will be in Knoxville, TN, if anyone is free on Sunday for some coffee and want to meet up, just holla.

I am not much of a landscape photographer, usually love my photos to have people in them but in have been intrigued by nature lately, the bluest of skies, greenest of trees and fields sure make me happy, make me feel young and when I find such places right here in NJ well then that is even better. I had the pleasure of stopping Bayonet Farm very first wedding thanks to Ultimate Caterer of which I have been working on some marketing and social media projects with. ( BTW their white chocolate macadamia cookie is so good and should not eat so many of them). Here are few of my favorite shots of Bayonet Farm, hope this weekends weather is this nice. Have a great weekend everyone and let me know of any other NJ little treasures you have visited and that you think would be great unique wedding locations.

So this year I still wanted to second shoot some weddings because #1 it is so much fun, #2 I get to learn loads from peers, #3 there is no stress and I feel so laid back and think I even might get some better shots :-). I love second shooting for David Toth because he says very practical things like shoot into the light and shows how fun “foofing” which is bouncing flash off side walls, panels, statues, you name it, he does it to fill in extra light needed with out it giving that strong flash look. The other thing he teaches me is that he is a big photo journalist, so he shoots what actually happens, what is in the moment, he says as photographers we are there to stand in side lines and anticipate moments, we are not there to participate or frame moments, I am not 100% photo journalistic, I am more editorial style but for this past weekend, I kept that in mind while second shooting for him, what will be happening, what am I looking out for, will he hold her hand, will the priest crown her now, will they smile, are they crying, how are people reacting and I also observe Dave in action. As a wedding photographer, I feel I am there to witness this amazing love filled day and what better way to witness it with images which in turn become an album with their love story. In the spirit of second shooting, I have the honor to be shooting with Shannon Kelly in Knoxville, Tn next week for 2 weddings which  I am ecstatic about and I get to meet Jill Lewis who is like my best friend now and we have not met. Do you live in the area? want to meet up? want to shoot together? some free time on Friday and on Sunday before I come back to good ole New Jersey.

So in Spirit of Second Shooting and of being inspired by my friend Dave, my mentor and Co Leader of Fast Track NY Group: Here are some lighting shots and a little behind the scenes of some places.

First few shots are of this great venue in NJ for weddings called The Palace of Somerset, I went to do some shots for a Florist from Anel Creations in Freehold, NJ. Saw some very cool places in this venue to work of natural light reflectors which I am always looking for now.

Now a few from the wedding I second shot for Dave last month, this NJ wedding had such a great view to Manhattan Skyline located at the Palisadium in North Jersey.

Thanks Dave for always telling me to shoot into the light and create yummy pictures, to be ready for the moments, and to relax.

I attended the Fast Track Road Show near Baltimore 2 weeks ago and Dane suprised us with an exercise that made me really uncomfortable, we had to be paired practically we all did not know each other and we had to stare at the person’s eyes while one person is allowed to talk and the other one only must listen, luckily I was paired with the beautiful Char, what a great name I might add. I failed miserably at this exercise, I was very nervous to keep starting into Char’s gorgeous eyes, I was the first one to yap away which was odd not to have some one reply back and then when it was her turn, she did a better job at it. In turn we got to go outside and shoot each other, the purpose of the exercise was to develop more talk and get natural reactions from the person we are shooting, to know them more, to pay attention, to look into their eyes. We headed outside Savage Mill area and there were so many cool spots to shot, I loved meeting Char, she is a mom of 2 boys like me, and she is super stylish, shy but has a wild side to her which I was trying to bring out by asking her to let her hair down and to put some hot pink lip gloss on. Here are a few of my favorites from Char Newswanger.

Thank you Char, I look forward to following your journey

Last week I was blessed enough to be able to drive down to Savage. MD near Baltimore area in order to attend the last USA Fast Track Road Show led by Dane Sanders. As I arrived in the quiet neighborhood of Savage, heard the birds singing and notices the homes that remind me of southern hospitality with big white porches and American Flags, all you could hear were the birds and I turned towards the coolest looking building which is where Love Live Images Studio is located, Savage Mill, this was an old Mill that that have turned into a hip place for lots of artists, painters, restaurants and shopping areas. It was also the perfect place to photography with ancient ruins a cool railroad bridge and stream and also very cool red barns. This was my second Fast Track Road Show and I must say I think I need one of these every year, it was so refreshing and traveling for 3 days allowed me to look at certain aspects of my business, of my life and of me. The 20 some new photographer friends I met that inspire me, uplift me and feed my spirit just was the cherry on the top, it  was kind of a quiet group but all so sweet,humble, some shy, some bold, some tearful, some very reserved, some funny, and all talented beautiful human beings. I can not wait to see where these photographers go with their business and with their lives. We were especially blessed because the Fast Track Atlanta group sent us not only a hand made card with their picture and message on but they also sent us the book “Getting Things Done” which let me tell you is liberating, I am only on Chapter 3 but feel better about how I process the stuff in my life and I am ready for doing things and being who I want to be with flaws and all.So the first day of the workshop I arrived a little later and at ends day we decided to go to dinner together and as we were leaving, Dane asked me to be on www.askdane.com with special episode for Brazilian Photographers and I was like yes but inside was like OMG. The next day I was anxious for a few hours because I was not sure which topic we would cover and than luckily local FEO Leader Valdecir Carvalho and some other friends sent some great questions for us to start. As we started Dane did an introduction and I translated and then we realized no one could hear us, classic right, oh no! we restarted a bunch of times and luckily folks hung around and we were finally streaming live via Dane’s IPHONE, yes this is why Dane and I are like so close and squeezed, thanks to Courtney Reese for holding the phones for us and special thanks to all those who hung around. What I was really excited about was when Dane expressed interest in going to Brazil to do a workshop there, that would be amazing. Here are some behind the scenes pixs thanks to my new friends! here are sneaks, will post some more later and more on workshop.

Thanks To Joe, Mo, Jamie for the pixs!

Yes this is how we were streaming live, technology huh.

Today I realized that Dane interviews the top photographers like Mike Colon, Zach Arias, Jessica Claire and International photographers and it is a privilege to even be listed any way shape or form by these talented photogs that give me so much inspiration. Dane thank you for this opportunity and thank you for caring about my country and my people.

We did a slideshow for the Calgary Fast Track Group and you can watch it here-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwmDpssDTB0

I was so anxious to get this great amazing Las Vegas Lifestyle Shoot as mentioned on previous sneak peak but had to wait since it was going to be featured on the ultra fabulous www.rocknrollbride.com blog. This blog is so non traditional and offers inspiration, ideas for the edgy, fun, funky bride which is aka the exact NJ brides I want to photograph because I definetely do not like traditional photography but more stylish wedding photography. So I am so honored to be feautured today on Rock N Roll bride and thank you all for your comments and congrats. Here is a picture of the website.

And now for Dustin and Monique’s great story.

It all happened in Las Vegas, so having this shoot out be in Las Vegas was an extra treat for them. Story of girl goes to Vegas and attends a Vegas Show then she goes to convenience store  gets cornered by foreign  boys who what to flirt with cute girl and curly blonde hair Dustin comes to the rescue and tells his cousins to leave Monique alone, they chatted and ended up going to dance at the Rock. Dustin and Monique were inseperable for the next 3 days and Monique missed her flight and ended up spending another week with Dustin’s family. It was love and Monique being from Vancouver, Canada, began coming to visitt Dustin for the weekend and had to be back to work for Monday morning. A few months later Monique took a leave of work and was planning to spend a month or two in Las Vegas with Dustin but their story began to fully unfold and they got married and Monique has not been back to Canada and as she says

“ I love it here I love Dustin with all my heart - It’s been such a romantic and beautiful year with him”

This is why I am a wedding photographer, because I believe in Love, I love love and I believe in 2 lives becoming 1 story. Monique and Dustin here is to many more years to come, God Bless you and your family.

Special Thanks To Stephen Knuth who conducted this shoot out.

Fellow blog readers, sorry I have been missing,  just got back from D.C/Baltimore Fast Track Road Show and it was even better the second time around. I am so energized and inspired by the awesome photographers I met, will blog loads on this soon. Here is my very first puppy love session post on photographing these two Jersey teenagers in love, Nick and Janay. I am glad they went a long with my crazy ideas and we found this perfect ice cream place that had a bunch of spots for great lifestyle images. I live in a small town in New Jersey but I believe no matter where you live, you can always find a place, a spot, and beauty will unfold so as you go through this new week, open your eyes for the beauty around you, for that perfect little spot.

And now here are my ideas for this puppy love session, first off to set the scene, girl likes boy, girl is thinking of boy, girl misses boy.

Can not believe we found these pups on her room, can we say perfect.

Now off for some fun..

XOXO

So much more to come out of fun lifestyle portrait session…

and the big news today, you might want to check out www.rocknrollbride.com

Cheers.