Most of the last few days have been spent cleaning up Christmas and playing with my web sites Thedestinphotographer.com PerceptionsByMayer.com and my blog site CaptureDestin.com.  Being a Destin Photographer I am pretty much able to make my own schedule and get all the “stuff” done that needs attention on a daily basis, things like getting the kids out of bed and ready for school, dinner, laundry, Annie’s Piano, James weekly shot, groceries, playing with the doggies Blue and Lucy.  Even as the owner of my own business, there never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done.  I do a fair amount of business in Destin and Panama City Beach with vacation rental photography but with the weather not being the greatest over the past month or so things have backed up a bit.  Over the past week I have been able to get back on track and I am feeling much better about where I am with the business.  Last year was my 5^th year and my best.  Thanks to all my current clients in the vacation rental industry and thanks to all my summer beach vacationers as well.  Hope to see some of you again this summer.

Me and my Bride

It sounds so cliché, but it seems like a month ago that Amber said to me, “You know your stuff if pretty good, how come you have never thought about doing this full time?”  She was talking about my photography and for a while every time we talked about it I would just shrug it off and say, “I could never make a living being a Destin Photographer.”  It  just didn’t seem real to me at all.  Well after many conversations about it, I of course took the leap and started my own business.  Amber is such a big part of why I am very comfortable in my business today.  I love her so much.  I call her my office manager because she takes care of all things computer and money and everything that makes the business run …then I just take calls and do what I love to do.  Beach Photography in Destin is booming and whether you are after studio portraits or just casual candid shots you have those options in Destin.   People from all over the country come to the Emerald Coast to enjoy our beautiful white sand beaches and there are plenty of reasons they come year after year.  They are the same reasons I took the leap.  The Destin area is full of fun things to do like fishing trips, water parks, music events, and sailing, jet skis the list goes on and on.  We have some of the best sun sets around and our food and some of our restaurants are award winning.  So if you have thought about coming to Destin FL and just haven’t taken the leap yet, let me encourage you.  Take the leap you will be very glad you did, it won’t be just a vacation – it will be a tradition.  See you soon!

Disney Market Place

When I got home two weeks ago and realized that the children had a four day weekend and I hadn’t taken a breath in over a month – we started packing the bags, I put my voicemail on vacation and we dropped our dog off at our best friend’s house.  We decided to jaunt down to Orlando Florida to see the Mouse!  Joseph absolutely loves Disney World and we both miss our friends that moved there about a year ago – so it seemed like the perfect solution for a winter weekend escape.

We purchaed Florida Resident Seasonal Passes and stayed in a Fabulous Orlando Vacation Rental that was only ten minutes from the park entrances.  The house was a four bedroom, three bath private home in a gated community with a pool, spa and lanai.  My favorite part of the home to be honest – was the very large garden tub in the master bath – talk about relaxing! 

The children had never been to Disney, so it was a ton of fun to see their faces as we rode some of the classic rides and goofed off in general at the parks.  It was not that crowded the first two days except for some European tourists, so the lines were generally decent and not too long. 

I made one mistake however that I believe will haunt us for years to come.  I took Annie on Space Mountain thinking that it was not too rough of a roller coaster ride.  One minute into the ride I was pretty sure that the ride operators were going to flip on the lights and stop the entire operation on the account that my eight year old daughter was absolutely losing her mind with fear and screaming my name – and not with a hint of joy either!  She lived through the ride, but I’m sure that St. Peter will have me account for this incident when I approach the pearly white gates in years to come.

All in all, we spent a lot of money on giving the kids their first Disney experience.  We even bought the t-shirts, toys, and souveniers – ate at the really overpriced tourist traps with them and had our fair share of smoked Turkey legs.  The only creepy part of the Disney experience is that when you’re munching on your caveman size Turkey leg – all the birds in the park are now canibals and eat their own kind – so they stare at you the entire time and wait for any morsel of poultry to fall to the ground.  I’m deeply terrified of birds so I make Joseph hold the turkey leg and break off pieces for me because if one of those birds ever swooped at me trying to steal my grub I’d die right there and forever tarnish my children’s view of the most “Magical Place on Earth.”

Considering we spent a mortgage payment on Seasonal tickets - there will be more Disney tales throughout the year.  Of course, I forgot to mention that the entire time we were at all of the Disney parks – Joseph was making us walk at mach negative ten so that he could capture photography of  all the incredible details of the park.  I usually don’t mind this but it made for two very grumpy children who were impatient from the moment they woke up until the moment they passed out from exhaustion.  Even though we kept telling them that we had seasonal passes, they still hold a grudge for all the rides we weren’t able to ride in one trip.  If any of you out there have any parenting tricks on teaching young children how to be grateful – please pass on the knowledge!

My brother spent years hoping that one day, our father would find the time to take him away to a secluded spot and experience the rite of passage of a son fishing with his father.  In retrospect, I think my father thought he had all the time in the world for that one day to happen.  I want to think that he didn’t purposely miss out on my brother’s life.  It wasn’t just the tackle box that sat collecting dust at the top of my brother’s closet.  As an adult, my brother’s father-in-law finally showed him the “ropes” and to this day, my brother is of course, an avid fisherman.  His bond with Mr. Ross is endless and grounded in a mutual respect that my father will never know with his son.

Today, my best friend in the whole world, and potentially, your Destin photographer, made sure that my son didn’t have a dusty tackle box at the top of his closet.  Joe has been the most amazing blessing for my children.  My son adores him and the more time that they spend together, the less you can tell them apart.  After purchasing his first rod and reel, the two boys headed off to go fishing in the Beaches of South Walton, rain or shine.  They came back soaking wet, but my son had a smile that stretched from ear to ear, and quite tall tales to tell.  There was a fish that got away, and he was sure of this because he saw the whiskers, and a bit of guilt from the fish that my son was positive got its face ripped off when he pulled on the line too hard.  Regardless of coming home without dinner, my son was not empty handed.  He brought home confidence and hope, and an experience that gave him a glimpse of his manhood. 

As for Joe, I would like to think that his ability to find such beauty in every scene as a photographer is what makes him such an amazing life partner and father.  He must see something in us that is worth all of the trouble.

I know many of you have been searching the web and finding several qualified Destin photography professionals, but I assure you that you Joe’s talent lies far beyond his camera skills.  Joe sees life differently, understands the small stuff, magnifies the forgotten and truly cares about the product he delivers.