Ok its time to get back into the swing of things over here on this blog! We all remember Mona (& Andrew) right? Well in the first part of this blog post I’ll be sharing images of their newest addition, Roya. This blogs been long overdue because a couple weeks ago I ventured down to Queens to photograph them. Once I was done I walked over to Clarissa & Neema’s (Mona’s brother and sister-inlaws) home and grabbed some shots of their baby, Nathaniel which is why the title “(& Nathaniel too!)”.

I must say its super fun watching my clients grow. I remember years ago back in November of 2008 meeting Mona and her family at a wedding we were shooting. They were touring the venue and we hit it off. Then we were signed up to photograph their wedding in November of 2009. Throughout the whole planning process I was blogging my butt off per usual and Mona became one of my biggest fans. She comments on pretty much every blog I’ve posted from 2009 to now so make sure you leave some love because you can bet she’s commented on your wedding, engagement session or whatever! Now, like I said its pretty awesome watching my clients who are now my friends grow. Its pretty cool to have captured so many important events in their lives and I’m honored to keep getting asked back! Their daughter Roya is beautiful which is no surprise to me because they both are beautiful people. Thank you guys so much for continuing to have me capture your lives!!

I’d be crazy if I didn’t mention little Nathaniel in my write up. This is one super cute kid!! It worked out perfectly that Clarissa and Neema live around the corner from Mona and Andrew. We also had the honor of shooting their wedding back in 2010. They are also wonderful people who we love seeing! I feel like we’re blessed to have awesome clients! So Mr Nathaniel did his thing for me but only gave me like 15 minutes of his attention then he was done with me. It’s all good, I know I’ll be photographing this family again. ;) Congrats to you guys on this handsome dude!!

Thank you all again, you’re all great people with beautiful families and I’m honored to be the one who gets to capture it all!

Peace,
JP

We’ll begin with a little recap of Mona and Andrews history with my camera… first came love, their engagement session.

Then came marriage.

Then came a little bump.. this was last November..

Then in late January came little Roya… a future Elario blog stalker.

love this one.. how about that head of hair!!! She gets it from her Mama. ;)

So precious.

Aww she smiled..

She slept most of the morning but did open her eyes for a minute..

so perfect..

Easily my favorite image from the whole shoot.. I love this.

Andrew loving being a Dad..

A little nose kiss..

Another favorite of mine..

Yeah, thats right..

Now onto Clarissa and Neema.. We shot their wedding back in July of 2010..

Around the blog waited this little gentleman, Nathaniel. How cute is he?

So cute..

He’s got that smile!!!

One more.. can’t wait to photograph this little dude again.

Hey hey!! Ok so to those of you who faithfully follow my blog and all I post you might have noticed a lack of posts this month. Its true, I’ve slacked. I have WPPI to blame for that. Yes I knew it was coming and yes I knew I was speaking, but I really needed to take time, focus and prepare for what I felt was one of the best WPPI’s yet…

For the peeps who don’t know what WPPI I’ll quickly explain. A ton of us wedding and portrait photographers get together every winter in the Las Vegas. Aside from the trade show, there are many many classes WPPI offers for us photographers. We head out there to learn new things, find new products to offer our clients but most importantly make new friends. If you’re a wedding or portrait photographer and you don’t attend this then shame on you. It doesn’t matter how established your studio is or how new you are to the industry either, in my opinion no photographers should sit this one out, period. Plus, its Vegas! ;)

Anyway back in August just before I was heading to Boston to host the WPPI Road Trip I received an email from WPPI telling me I had been selected again to give a platform class in 2012. Last year I did it for my first time and had a blast! I truly enjoy sharing with my peers how I do what I do. This year was no different for me. I had a great room of photographers and I was ready to share. It was a fun afternoon in Vegas to say the least. If you attended my class please let me say thank you again! If not, maybe we’ll see you next year!

As we know a picture can tell a story so lets get into the visuals!

ps… i totally forgot to thank my friend Eli Murray for the sweet above pano of me speaking!

For a while now WPPI has been hosted at the MGM Grand. I remember going to one’s at Ballys. I think next year might be the last one there and then we head up the strip for 2014 to a new location.

On day 1 I was asked to speak at the Zenfolio booth. (you clients reading this might recognize the name since this is the site I use to proof everything I shoot)

While I was speaking at Zenfolio my good friends Dale and Meredith Benfield were at the Mpix Pro booth speaking so Big Joe went over and grabbed a snap of them.

I met Dale (& Meredith) back in 2010 at WPPI. They were super nice and we instantly hit it off. This is what WPPI is all about, connecting with other people who do what you do! I have WPPI to thank otherwise I might not have met these awesome people.

Thought I’d throw one in of Big Joe and myself. My fathers been taking me to trade shows since I was a kid. I remember walking the floor with him and being just as excited as he was to see all the new gear.

Later that evening we went to a party at this boutique hotel.. drop it MODERN c0-sponsored this party that was called “A Prohibition Rebellion” which is why we all look like a modern day version of Boardwalk Empire.

The next morning I was first up at the Mpix Pro booth. Thanks to all who listened!!

A couple of chicks and their “lightsabers” tried picking up Dale and I..

That evening Millers Lab/Mpix Pro took a bunch of us out to dinner at Tao. Here we are complete with some vegas “photo bomber” (that we didn’t know) in his blue sports coat.

Here’s a little collection of some of my vegas instagrams. If you’re on instagram follow me “jpelario”

Then the next day, 2:30pm.. I talked at my 2nd platform class at WPPI.

Me talking about the rhythm of what I do..  ”shoot-tease-blog-repeat” Again, I can’t thank you all enough who came and listened. The room was full of you awesome people. Thank you for making WPPI 2012 an incredible experience for me. Peace, JP

One more thing: While I was gone Cheryl from CASL Productions put together a little video of me being me from 2011.. Look, I obviously enjoy my job and all that surrounds it. I also obviously like to preform for the camera… I swear something about when Cheryl and Amanda point those cameras at me brings out my crazy dance moves. It’s all in good fun!

In less than a week Las Vegas will become swarmed with an abundance of creative, talented and hungry for information photographers. Thats right WPPI 2012 is coming! I love this convention, its really the BEST of them all. Besides who wouldn’t want to go to Vegas?

You might remember I spoke last year at WPPI. Well, I guess they liked me and asked me to speak again this year! I could not be more flattered. I love educating people and sharing info. I’d be honored if you peeps attending would come to my Platform Class on Wednesday February 22 at 2:30pm. I’ll be giving out tons of info and sharing whats worked for us, how I use social media and of course a “how to” on my photo booth! I’d love to thank Miller’s Lab, Mpix Pro, drop it MODERN, Zenfolio and Triple Scoop Music for sponsoring my program. You can expect giveaways from them all at the end of my program along with a few others I’m sure. I mean, you could win a Spangled backdrop! That right there is worth listening to me! ;) Oh and be sure to pre board using WPPI’s little pre board system.

Aside from my BIG talk I’ll be also doing some mini versions of it at a couple locations. I’ll also be hanging at the Miller’s Lab + Mpix pro booths as well as drop it MODERN if you wanna stop by and say wassup!

Monday: Feb 20

1:00pm – chilling with my friends at drop it MODERN
2:00pm – Zenfolio Booth Presentation – come here how I use Zenfolio!

Tuesday: Feb 21

10:30am – Millers Lab + Mpix Pro Booth Presentation – this will be a super mini version of my platform. I’ll be giving away a couple things too!
11:30am – hanging again at the drop it MODERN booth.

Wednesday: Feb 22

2:30pm – The BIG Platform Class!

Also I wanted to share this little video of Amanda & Shane’s experience with us.. Thanks to my boy Jason Valentine for shooting and editing this!