Flava Dance Studios

*Edited to add: Four of the dance instructors at Flava Dance Studios :)

Arial, Marissa, Madison, Arianna

Sometimes when I think back to my child hood, I secretly wish my parents would have enrolled my big sister and I to more activities, like summer camps, swimming, ballet, art and craft classes. It was a little tough for us though because of my moms sickness and my dad working hard paying the bills and making sure we had food on the table. I don't think they had the money or time to enroll us and participate in some of these classes with us. But my childhood is also filled with many good memories. It's filled with many friends tucking us under their wing and caring for us while my mom was hospitalized. Some of my best memories are with these friends and even though we had to move and lost touched with a few of them, I still hold them close to my heart and I hope that one day, I'll be able to reconnect with them and catch up on life.

And speaking of dancing, I applaud all those parents who take the time to sign up their kids to these activities and participate with them. I think in the long run, these kids will really appreciate this and it's such a wonderful time in their lives. My friend Marissa and owner of Flava Dance Studio in Kissimmee is an excellent instructor and offers many dance classes such as Jazz, hiphop, salsa, ballet, and much more! She has incredible talent and I am blown away by her creativity and the way she manages her business. It has really taken off these past two years and I am so happy for her!

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of photographing her wonderful students for her upcoming dance show. If you'd like more information about her dance classes, please be sure to check out her website by clicking HERE.

{Rosa & David} Kraft Azalea engagement pictures

Kraft Azalea park is one of my FAVORITE locations ever to shoot at. It always has gorgeous light and there is a beautiful lake that's located in front of the pillar colomns where it creates beautiful reflected light. Who needs a reflector or flash when you can use your natural surroundings? :) I think that is the best part of the park.

Rosa and David were up for anything which made my job so much easier and I had such a great capturing their love and laughter. If this shoot was any indication of what their wedding will be like, then I know we will have alot of fun taking their portraits! We scheduled the shoot on a sunday evening and luckily for us, the park was quiet with only a few people roaming around. I have so many favorites and it was really difficult for me to narrow them down, but as I was looking through the photos, here are the following that caught my eye:

After we wrapped things up at Kraft Azalea, I told Rosa and David that as I was driving to the park, I saw this awesome pink tree and that I think it would be fun to take some quick shots with it. I'm so glad we did because some of those photos ended up being my favorites. I'll only post one because I love everything about this picture!

Sarah and Justin belly session

After some time had passed by and emailing back and forth, the much anticipated day of Sarah's belly session finally arrived. I met up with Justin and Sarah in their lovely home in Sanford to start off our session...

Later, we drove around downtown sanford, and as we were doing so, I found this really cool spot with nice shade!

as I was driving to their home, I told Sarah and Justin that I had seen a really cool field with tall grass. This spot was right off the highway.

we drove around a bit more and found this cool brick wall with good light :)

the sun had pretty much disappeared at this point but we decided to take a few more around their home and I"m glad we did! I think sarah just looks glowing and kind of angelic with the white clothes so I decided to process these a little different than what I normally do and I really like how they turned out.

Coming later this week is an engagement session shot at one of my FAVORITE locations so stay tuned! :)

Sneak preview: Sarah & Justin maternity session

Beautiful light and a super cool couple= a fun maternity session! Here's a little preview, more to come soon :)

A good wedding timeline

All photographers, videographers and wedding coordinators know without a doubt that it is imperative to have a detailed and well thought out wedding timeline. Every couple is different and has different priorities on their wedding day. Some couples believe that photos are the most important part because it is the only thing they will look back to again again and bring back those beautiful memories from their wedding, and others just want to relax and enjoy themselves mingling with their guests after the ceremony. There is nothing wrong with any of these examples, but I think that being a photographer, and a former bride, I'm a little biased to the first of course :)

From the weddings I've shot and been to, I've noticed that we always seem, somewhat, rushed. In my opinion, couples pay good money for their photos and wedding album that will be passed down to family and serves as an heirloom. Why would you want to cut time out from photos of you two alone on your most important day? Don't you want those special moments between the two of you captured, in a relaxed setting? It will only happen once.

While I may try to educate a bride and groom of the importance of allowing enough time for their portraits, this is ultimately, their decision and I will be happy to oblidge with whatever decision they decide on.

A good thing to keep in mind when creating a time line is that things may run late. The limo guy got lost, drives too slow, the bride is late at arriving at the ceremony, etc. So to ensure that things run on time, it is a good idea to allow some extra time on your time line. Most couples decide to have the professional photos taken right after the ceremony. I promise you that it will take at least an hour, if not more, for family formals, wedding party, and bride and groom photos all together. Also take to consideration the travel time in between to get from the ceremony to the reception and any other location you'd like your photos taken at as well as trying to get everyone there all together.

To ensure that you have even more photos of the two of you alone, and have a good variety, A "First Look" is something to consider. It was something I decided to do on my wedding day and I don't regret it one bit! If you're wondering what a first look is and how it can be done without loosing the initial moment of surprise, I will explain this at a later post, or shoot me an email if you'd like to know more

As always, I'm happy to help my couples in anyway I can, and if I have to play the role of a wedding coordinator and help them with their timeline, then I happily will because it will ensure it is done correctly and I only want the very best on their wedding day!

Why this photographer is better than me ( a photography confession)

And a great story that has many lessons to be learned!

I recenlty read a really great article by Darren Rowse. It was really humbling to read his story and it really encouraged me to shoot more, for me. for fun. and not be so scared of what others may think when they see a camera in my hand. I often times don't bring my camera everywhere I go because, to be honest, my camera is a little distracting. It's big. And I get shy when I look through that viewfinder to take a shot and I find everyone staring at me. It almost seems like everyone stops what they are doing to look at me, or if I am aiming my camera at a friend who is doing something interesting, they immediatly stop and look right into the camera. I guess it's just people's nature to stop and smile when a camera is pointed at them. But then, that totally ruins the moment!! So, there, I said it. I really don't carry my camera around because of that, but I really REALLY want to change that. I guess I'll just have to learn to be a little more sneaky :)

Anyway, I encourage both new and pro photographers to read Darren's article. It will encourage you so much to shoot more. I firmly believe that this will help you become a better photographer. You can have all the knowledge in the world, but if you don't take action and practice what you learn, then what good is it? Don't be afraid to make mistakes. ( I am soooo still trying to overcome this because I expect perfection and then I feel miserable when I fail)

CLICK HERE to READ the article:

Happy weekend! :)

Pre-Register to view Jonathan and Paula's online wedding gallery

I was made aware that not everyone was able to receive my 4x6 info cards during Jonathan and Paula's reception. If you would like to pre-register to view their photos, please email me at

jackiebealephotography@yahoo.com

In the email, include your first and last name, your email address, and either the last name of the Bride or Groom. When the photos are ready, I will send you a link and password to the gallery to view their photos.

Thank you!