New blog :: Please update your links!

We've moved, please visit the new blog :: Orlando Wedding Photographer Lori Barbely
I won't be posting here any more and all the old posts are imported over there, so please go check it out (it's shiny, I promise!)

A shameless plea for votes!

I've entered a contest with a great prize - the winner gets $50,000 to document their dream photography assignment. Please read my entry by clicking the link below and - if you're so inclined - vote for me! Thanks! :)

Fun, fun, fun, 'till somebody takes my computer away!

I'm brewing up some AWESOME changes here at the ol' blog. But you'll have to wait just a leetle bit longer until all the kinks are worked out. I'm such a tease, aren't I?

Wow, March. The first two months of 2009 have just blown by. It's always an odd time of year for me. Shooting slows down and the not-so-fun work that comes with running your own business picks up. The big T-word, taxes, occupies a ton of my time. But aside from that not-so-fun stuff, these early months of the year give me someone wonderful time to reflect on the past year and plan for the upcoming year.

I've met and talked with some wonderful new clients in the past few weeks - booking weddings, maternity photos, newborn portrait sessions, and even boudoir sessions - and without fail, each client has either directly or indirectly mentioned the emotion captured in my photos. And that, my friends, makes me happy.

My philosophy on photography has always been to capture moments, maybe those that you didn't even see happen, during the hustle and bustle of your wedding day or the joyful emotion of a pregnancy. Being part of my client's lives, becoming their friends - that's what makes this possible. Not only possible, but wonderfully enjoyable.

2009 is shaping up to be an amazing ride filled with old friends and new. Stay tuned and join us, won't you?

Souvenirs from Down Under

I can't believe I never blogged my favorite souvenir from Australia - a kangaroo scrotum coin pouch! Yup, it's real. Kangaroo meat is common in Australia, so why let other, erm, parts, go to waste? Supposedly the pouch is good luck (though not so much for the 'roo!) and those that possess one are assured long life and happiness.

Happy news for a slightly dreary Tuesday morning! I received an email that I was honored in WeddingWire's Brides Choice Awards! Talk about unexpected! I would like to thank my past brides for their kind words and reviews! I love what I do and the fabulous clients I work with. It means so much to me that you gals (and guys!) love my work and have given me this honor!

Here's the press release:

WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced that Lori Barbely Photography has won the 2009 Bride’s Choice Awards! In its inaugural year, the Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and honors vendors from the WeddingWire Network that demonstrate excellent quality of service, responsiveness, professionalism, value of cost and flexibility. This year’s recipients represent the top three percent of WeddingWire’s vendor community, which includes over 100,000 wedding vendors from across the US. That means Lori Barbely Photography is one of the very best photographers in the US.

Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the company, the Bride’s Choice Awards are determined exclusively by recent newlyweds through surveys and reviews.

“We are excited to launch this annual award program to honor high-performing vendors based solely on the experiences of our WeddingWire community,” according to Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “This year’s recipients have set the bar high, exhibiting excellent service and expertise in the wedding industry.”

2009 Brides Against Breast Cancer Sale - Orlando, Florida

Mark your calendars, the 2009 Brides Against Breast Cancer Gown Sale is coming to Orlando!

Friday, March 13, 12 - 8 pm
Saturday, March 14, 10 am - 6 pm

It will be held at the Fairwinds Alumni Center at UCF.

Find the gown of your dreams at an incredible savings while making dreams come true for women who are losing their flight against breast cancer. The proceeds from this event helps bring a moment of joy into world of someone for whom a cure is too late.

Most gown prices range from $99 to $799*, including hundreds of beautiful new name brand and designer gowns valued up to $8,000. *Exclusive designer and couture gowns valued up to $20,000 are also available at an incredible 25% to 75% savings. Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express and debit cards accepted. More than half the gowns presented during each event are NEW designer gowns that arrived directly from designers, manufacturers and bridal retailers.

Pre-register here.

In which I explain my lack of blogging

It's been a tough few days here and I'll try to summarize briefly. I got my allergy shot and it was given to me in the wrong spot causing either an infection or an acute allergic reaction in my left arm. I've spent the past several days at doctor's offices and am currently medicated up to my eyeballs. But I'm on the mend and should be back and blogging next week!

In the meantime, here's a quick snap from my Australia trip to tide you over until I can do a full post (I think I got dressed in the dark that day. Hehe)


Oh, and if you're not following me on twitter, well, why not? :)

Back to life, back to reality.

I've been up since 2am. Made it home around 8-ish last night, took a shower, and promptly passed out. For a few hours. Darn jet lag.

But I'm making the most of it and getting caught up on work. Make that trying to get caught up on work. I've still got 37 million emails to answer, but if you've placed a print order while I was gone, I've just finished ordering them from the lab and you ought to be receiving them by early next week.

I have a ton of images and stories about Australia (plus a backlog of posts from sessions in December and early January before I left!) that I can't wait to share with you all.

Stay tuned....

Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes... how do you measure, measure a year? AKA 2008 - a look back!

It's certainly been a whirlwind of a year! My odd mix of travel photography and wedding photography has sent me on some amazing adventures and I've been blessed with some wonderful clients who have truly become friends. (If you want to skip my rambling, just scroll to the bottom of this post for the slideshow!)

I started off traveling to Amelia Island (a short jaunt to NE Florida) in January and the rest of the year had me bouncing here, there, and everywhere! In April I headed to New York City and Thailand (1, 2, 3), followed by the Big Island of Hawaii in May. June found me in Cayo Espanto, Belize riding out Tropical Storm Arthur. After a short break, August found me back in Hawaii, this time on Maui, followed by a whirlwind tour of Big Sur for an amazing wedding. Got published 7 times (with more stuff hitting the shelves in early 2009) and flew over 46,715 miles! Whew, I'm tired just thinking about it!

I shot a dozen weddings and over 25 portrait sessions (a mix of engagements, boudoirs, pets, and family/children's portraits). I've laughed and cried with clients who have allowed me into their lives. I'm honored to capture their memories which are as precious to me as my own.

I had the pleasure of photographing an Olympian and I was honored to be nominated as one of Orlando's Best Wedding Photographers on WESH 2's A-list. In a thrilling end to the year, one of my images won first place in the ceremony category of Brides Magazine|WPJA's annual contest.

It truly has been a blessing and I'm so grateful for all of the amazing clients I've had the opportunity to work with and all the fun and interesting people I met along the way. I'm so fortunate that I'm able to do what I love and I couldn't do it without the help and support of my amazing family and friends (Love you guys!) I'm looking forward to 2009 and all the adventures it will bring and I hope that you are as well!

Happy New Year!

Holiday vacation

From December 24, 2008 - January 4, 2009 I'm taking a little time off! Calls and emails will be returned once I'm back in the office and all orders placed during that time will be fulfilled after January 4, 2009. Thanks for your patience!

Thankful

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving (and a great Black Friday)! Ours was wonderful and I'm so thankful for all my amazing friends and family (including the furry, four-footed members!) and all of my wonderful clients. It's been an amazing year and I've been so blessed with so many wonderful opportunities - I just can't imagine life getting better than this!

I've been up to my ears in cookie dough today (pictures coming after they're decorated) and am looking forward to second shooting a wedding for a friend of mine tomorrow. Sunday is cookie decorating day. What a perfect weekend!

On travel photography and breaking and entering*

Back in May when I was on Hawaii's Big Island, I was tasked with shooting a locally owned farm. I called the owner and set up an appointment to visit the farm on a Sunday - a day when they are traditionally closed. Due to some confusion, the owner was a no show at the scheduled time and unreachable by phone (worth noting was that I had to drive 2 hours each way to get to the farm). This was my last day on the island and I needed to get the shot, what to do? Figuring that I had the owner's permission to shoot and be there - sort of - I engaged in a little breaking and entering*.

Ever wander a 600 acre farm alone? Completely alone? Talk about creepy! The farm was nestled on the slope of a mountain on the east side of the Big Island (past Hilo) and aside from the occasional rustling of wind, the silence was incredible. The neighboring land was all either farms or countryside, so there was truly nobody around! It was beautiful, but I kept waiting for someone to show up and either bust me or scare the heck out of me.

Eventually someone did show up (and I managed not to have a heart attack!) It was the farm manager who was coming to check a finicky water pump on his day off. He saw my car at the foot of the drive and called the owner on his home number (which I didn't have) and they figured out what was going on. The manager found me wandering the farm and gladly helped me get the shots that I needed.

Entertainingly, the magazine ran only one small shot in the story. Such is life, right? Check out the December 2008 issue of ISLANDS Magazine to see the shot!

---

*This involved ducking under a swing arm gate at the head of a drive way and pretending I didn't see the huge "No Trespassing" sign. I didn't enter any buildings, merely wandered the grounds, taking photos. I did have my editor on speed-dial and a promise that he'd bail me out, should I get hauled away to the pokey.**

**Yes, I said pokey. Jail, prison, the clink, whatever you want to call it.***

***But honestly, if you're gonna be in jail somewhere, there are probably worse places than Hawaii.

Guess who I saw today?

Yep, Santa! He took a few hours out of his super busy schedule to swing by Embarq's first annual Canine Cancer Awareness Pet Fair today at Doctor's Dog Park in Apopka. We sold plenty of adorable pet photos, like this one, with the proceeds going to the American Cancer Society. Thanks to Embarq for a fantastic event and for the volunteers that handled the on-site printing for me!

Fondue: $50



Celebrating your 6th Anniversary in the company of Big Al the Moose?: Priceless


Last night the hubby and I went to Colorado Fondue Company to celebrate our anniversary (which is actually today). We ate. And ate. I'm sure feeling the fondue hangover today.

6 years feels like the blink of an eye and a lifetime, all at the same time. Love ya babe!

Castillo de San Marcos

Had to head up to St. Augustine today to take care of some family business, so the hubby and I decided to make a day of it. After we took care of what we had to, we headed over to Castillo de San Marcos and wandered around. I may have become a teeny, tiny bit obsessed with the old cannons! The turquoise color is pretty much straight out of camera (just a slight contrast boost) - it's caused by oxidization of the metal.

I think this one is my favorite

Office cats are very...helpful

Ok, maybe not, but they're darn cute! (Taken with my nifty G9 point & shoot)

Cooper


Bumper


P.S. Happy Halloween!

Jessica of Designing Dreams: Weddings and Special Events

I recently did some new head shots for wedding planner Jessica Giordano of Designing Dreams: Weddings and Special Events. Jessica's an absolute sweetheart - we met about a year ago and bonded over shoes! How can you not love a girl like that!?

What's a wordle?

It's a toy for generating word clouds from text that you provide. Here's mine!



Make your own!

Wiggle Waggle Walk Photos

Oh my goodness, how much fun was this year's Wiggle Waggle Walk? All the dogs (and one cat!) are so cute it's hard not to put the camera down and just love on them all! There were over 40 fantastic vendors there with everything from organic pet food to dog fashions to a caricature artist! I'm not sure how the judges picked the winners of the costume contest - I never would have been able to choose just one for each category!

Here's a small sampling of images from the day, to see more visit the gallery.

Jenny, the token cat of the day!


Didn't this guy realize he was in Gator country?


This little cutie was "security" at the judge's table!


Even the humans got into the act!


I think that using Jedi mind tricks on the judges gives an unfair advantage in the costume contest! Haha!


The lovely Sassy of Sassy's Pet Paradise.













Busted playing paw-parazzi!


And the actual walk which was kicked off by WFTV Channel 9 / TV 27 meteorologist Tom Terry




Too cute for words!


Yup, his name was Oscar! I love it!






I'm not sure how much money was raised in total - I know one group raised nearly $47,000! - but kudos to all who came out and raised money for such a worthwhile cause!