Weddings are definitely our passion, but we also really love shooting senior portraits! We’ve thought about developing our senior portrait business more, but the fact is that weddings just keep us so busy all year round! But when my friend Janene asked if I had some time to shoot senior portraits for her daughter, Kerryn, I was so excited! Seniors are fun because it’s such an exciting time for them and the session really is a reflection of their personality! Kerryn brought several adorable outfits and let her personality shine for the camera!

Janene asked if she could have a few photos with her daughter, and I think you’ll see where gets her beauty from! Janene and I used to work together, and she is just a doll! We had a great time with them both on Saturday! : )

Engagement sessions are meant to be a reflection of the couple. Sometimes this means shooting in a place that is special to them, or having a theme that defines their personalities. With Lela & Clint’s session, it was about more than just the two of them.

When Lela asked if it would be okay to bring her kids to the engagement session and do some family photos, I was thrilled about the idea! As she said, when children are involved you are marrying more than just one person, and I couldn’t agree more! So for Lela & Clint’s session, we tried to do a combination of family photos, photos of just the kids, and some alone time for photos of the two of them. We started at Riverside Park and then moved on to Friendship Fountain for a few more photos.

The kids were not shy at all, but Lela & Clint were a little shy at first (as most couples are). But by the end we think they had a good time, and we really enjoyed seeing the newly renovated Friendship Fountain! If you haven’t gone, you have to go check it out! They did a fantastic job!

Thank you so much for letting us tell the story about what defines you as a couple and as a family! We hope that you had as much fun as we did! : )

On Tuesday night, we met up with Jessica & Thomas for their engagement photos at the Jacksonville Fair! With back to back trips taking us to Key Largo and California, we wanted to make sure we posted a sneak peek until we can do a full blog post:

There’s more sweetness where that came from! Check back next Tuesday for more!

And we usually don’t blog family sessions since our focus is weddings, but I couldn’t resist posting pics from some of our recent sessions! They are too cute not to share!

We’ve been receiving a lot of emails lately asking about family photos for the holidays, and we’re excited to announce that we’ve opened up two dates for holiday mini sessions! For the first time ever, we are offering mini sessions for only $100! Spaces are limited, so we are making this announcement to those who follow the blog first! To reserve your space, email us at info@gwendolyntundermann.com and let us know which date you prefer and whether you are interested in a beach or park location!

We have a few groups in Jacksonville that get together and shoot for fun every month. This month, makeup artist Faythe Mesic and her team of stylists and models got together for a hot pinup shoot in a junkyard! Oh yeeeeeeaaaah! Just the idea of it is awesome, but I had no idea just how SWEET it was going to be!

Matt says I rocked this shoot and while I really love the images, I honestly feel like I can’t take much credit for how amazing they are. Faythe and her team had the vision for this shoot. They sought out the location, found the models, and organized it all. The makeup and hairstylists made the models look their most amazing and the models really gave their all posing and working the camera despite the miserable rain and the cold. So when I tell you that my part was easy, I want you to understand just how much everyone else put into this shoot to make it rock!

Thanks so much to talented artists Faythe, Erin, and Sonia for an exceptional job on hair and makeup and to the amazing models, Sarah, Kymbr, Tara, Tiffany, Jamie, Sammi, Elizabeth, and JayBee, for being so great to work with (and bringing the HOTNESS!!). Also, it was great hanging out with photog friends and making some new ones at the shoot!

Model: Sarah DeLucca | Hair: Faythe Mesic | Makeup: Faythe Mesic

Sarah and JayBee

Model: Kymbr | Hair: Faythe Mesic

Model: Elizabeth | Hair: Sonia Garza | Makeup: Faythe Mesic

Model: Tara | Hair: Sonia Garza | Makeup: Erin Foster

Model: Tiffany Ashley | Hair: Sonia Garza | Makeup: Erin Foster

Model: Jamie | Hair: Sonia Garza | Makeup: Sonia Garza

Model: Sammi | Hair: Sonia Garza | Makeup: Sonia Garza

Model: Jamie and JayBee | Hair: Sonia Garza | Makeup: Sonia Garza

Model: Jaybee | Hair: Faythe Mesic | Makeup: Faythe Mesic

I’ll just go ahead and put it out there – I am not a very patient person! But I really wanted to make sure I finished the slideshow before blogginh Holly & Kris’s photo session at Jacksonville Beach last Monday. The photos are fun and colorful and playful, but I really had a hard time choosing which ones to post because these two are soooo cute together! Plus they brought their puppy, Ginger, and she has such a sweet face so how could we narrow it down to just 15 images??

This is really one of my favorite slideshows to date! Even though there were times when they got a little camera shy the moments in between said it all. Being photographed is a lot like allowing yourself to fall in love. It requires you to be somewhat vulnerable and let the photographer see who you are, and you have to decide just how much you are comfortable sharing. But just like love, the more you put into it the greater the reward! ; )

Holly & Kris, thank you for letting us capture the real you! We hope every time you see the slideshow that it makes you smile, epecially during the difficult times when you are apart!

Over the weekend, Matt & I had the privilege of capturing some family portraits with our dear friends Lily & Mike and their beautiful kids Zach and Zoey! We don’t do family portraits often (only by special request) but we really enjoyed capturing some sweet moments with them!

Before I share pretty pictures, I want to go way back to 2005. Lily & Mike were the first couple I ever took engagement photos of! Lily was my boss at the time and she knew that I loved taking photos and encouraged me a lot. In fact, I’m pretty certain that if not for Lily’s confidence I would not be doing this as a career today. She and Mike told everyone about me (and now “us” since Matt is shooting also) and that led to other requests for engagement photos, portraits, and weddings. Even though it took me a while to have the confidence to start a business, Lily always saw that potential in me. And so for that reason (and so many others) I love her dearly!

I was really excited to hear Lily say that she is going to get back into photography! She used to be a photographer and photos have always meant so much to her, so I’m so happy that she will once again be sharing her passion and talent with the world! She will be focusing on family photography, so if you are looking for family portraits let me know and I will put you in contact with her!

I know that no one comes to a photography blog to hear me ramble, but I just had to say how awesome Lily is. She has an equally amazing family to match, and Matt & I are sooooooo excited to show you just how stinkin’ cute they all are!

Lily, Mike, Zach, and Zoey – we love you guys! <3

As promised, I have tons of photos to share with you!

First up is a photo shoot I did out in New Orleans, set up by my friend Kristen at KH Photographics. She coordinated the shoot with designer & stylist Elsa Brodmann and beautiful pin up model Marielle (the Nola Chick). We had so much fun shooting at the Ambassador Hotel, where we stayed during the conference.

Thanks so much to Kristen for setting up this shoot and letting me tag along! It was so much fun and I appreciate Elsa & Marielle for giving us these great portfolio images!

I just returned from an amazing time at the Pictage Partner Con and I’m so pumped with excitement, ideas, and inspiration! On top of that I have some UN-BE-LIEVABLE photos to share from two photo sessions while I was out there, but I’m about to head out of town again to shoot Jessica & Mark’s wedding in Naples! But since I can’t keep all this excitement to myself, I thought I would share just a hint of what’s to come on the blog:

(from a photo session set up by my friend Kristen with KHPhotographics)

(group photo shoot led by the amazing Sara France)

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A few months ago, one of our brides (Beth) invited us to participate in an auction to benefit the Jax Humane Society. We donated a portrait session and originally I thought it would be used for pet portraits! Haha! Fortunately, the winner decided to do a family session! I love animals and they are cute, but I’m pretty sure we had a lot more fun with this session!

We don’t usually do family sessions because we decided to focus on weddings and seniors, but Matt & I had so much fun with Patty, Gerry, and little Emily that we are starting to think we should do more of these sessions! Little Miss E was so full of energy and constant laughter. Just being around her you couldn’t help but feel joy! Oh, to be three years old again!

I think you’ll see what we mean in these pics! I had to giggle as I was editing pics for the blog because Emily is just so adorable! Fun times! Thank you all for being so much fun to work with! We hope you had fun, too, and that these photos will bring back wonderful memories through the years!

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