Date: May 26, 2007
Ceremony/Reception: Villa Christina
Coordination: Leah Bilz, The Whole Shebang
Florals: Edge Design Group
Linens: Cover Ups

*** CLICK HERE *** to view the slideshow

I first met Sophia and Kirk last summer and at the time it seemed like their wedding was so far away. We met at one of my favorites places for dinner, Houston’s. I also shot their engagements late last year so it was like meeting old friends when the wedding day came. This was my first time working with Leah Bilz with The Whole Shebang — she did an awesome job and everything flowed spectacularly. She’s one of those people that just doesn’t seem to stress out.

There were a few other firsts at this wedding. One first was my 2-week old flash blowing up. It didn’t just die peacefully, it decided to go POP! and glass shards are coming out of it. That’s when you’re thankful that you have a backup for every piece of gear you have at the wedding. So when a $400 flash decides to implode, you don’t stress, you don’t worry about it, you don’t think. You just grab the next flash and keep going because the wedding isn’t going to stop. As a predominately photojournalistic wedding photographer, it’s usually about going with the flow and letting the day unfold in front of you.

Here are a few of my favorite images of how this day unfolded…

An awesome photojournalist Steve Schaefer was on hand to help me out and he captured some great images like this one below. Try to find a face that isn’t busting out. Love it.

Ben Vigil, photojournalist and fine art photographer.

It wasn’t too long ago that I met Cat & Zach’s for a few engagement images. They are so laid back that neither of them was in the least bit nervous. Not only that, they were on time and Cat was even ready almost an hour ahead of schedule. It was like the twilight zone — there was no stress, nobody crying, no emergencies, every bridesmaid looked like a supermodel, everything ran early, etc..

But my faith in a fallen humanity was restored as Cat started to get nervous a few minutes before the ceremony began. See said it was the caffeine. Uh huh, yeah.

Huy and Christina were on hand to help out as usual. So check out the images below and be SURE to check out the slideshow.

*** CLICK HERE to watch the Slideshow ***

Date: May 5, 2007
Ceremony: First Baptist Church of Roswell
Reception: Primrose Cottage

Congratulations to you both!

Ben Vigil, supermodel photographer

I just wanted to post a quick message to Yahoo! users. I often have a difficult time with my emails getting through to people with Yahoo email addresses. It seems that any email that is sent from me is automatically dropped into the Junk Mail folder unless you have me in your Yahoo address book already.

So if you are a Yahoo user, I’m not ignoring you, honest!

Ben Vigil, photographic yahoo

Islamorada to be exact.

I was honored that Nikki chose to have me down to the keys where Johnny’s parents have a place (the “E-State” as they call it) on the bay side of Islamorada. It really isn’t just “a place”, it’s a beautiful plot on the water with palms and a nice breeze to match. The “bay side” means sunsets and lots of them. This past weekend Chris & Katie Torres flew down with me to experience not only a beautiful sunset but a beautiful wedding too. It was rough sitting in the Tiki Bar Sunday afternoon sipping margaritas listening to the ocean breeze on a 78 degree day. Rough.

Date: April 28, 2007
Location: The E-State, Islamorada, FL
Coordination: Swept Away Destination Wedding Consultants

*** CLICK HERE to watch the Slideshow ***

So while the E-State was having the last touches put on it and Katie and I were off shooting Nikki & Johnny, Chris managed to find his way atop the house where he was able to get overview of their westward view.

By the time we got back the pre-wedding jitter cocktails were underway and Katie was on hand to capture it.

Congratulations again to Nikki & Johnny and don’t forget to watch the slideshow!!!

Talk to you soon…

Ben Vigil, Florida Keys Destination Wedding Photographer