The Conclusion

(written by guest blogger – John Z.)

The ocean swept beach with the bursting, rising sun…
Georgian ruins housing only tourists…
Graffiti ridden walls of abandoned Jacksonville buildings…

On April 18th, these locations had an intangible, highly photogenic, and blissful companion.  The companion was the love of Bel and Jon so easily seen and expressed in pictures from all the previous blogs.   Forever to roam the halls on internetdom, these photos are fantastic in themselves although they are only the slightest representation of the true flesh and blood.   I know because as official photo assistant to the Dynamic Duo of my beautiful wife Joyce and the artistic Star, I witnessed it first hand.  In fact, as the “reflector man”, I saw in full light the response of the couple to instructions from the Duo. …

Lean here

Hold this

Look there

Put your hand on the hips… etc

During the long hours of shooting, never once did I hear the instructions, pretend as if you love each other, hold her like you mean it, or look in his eyes like you want to forever nor were they required.  Those expressions are just there – all the time.  Even when I was candidly video taping in between shots,  Jon and Bel are quite simply sweating love in the purest sense.  Thank you for the chance to be involved and congratulations, Jon and Bel   (also a thanks to the lovely JDZ as her skills have left mine in the dust  )  – The Other JZ

Joyce DZ added: — As post aren’t pretty without photos, here are three more of mine and a collage of photos from JZ. Again, thank you so much for picking us to be the ones who captured these memories for you. It gave us sheer joy to have done this for you and will do this again anytime…  I can’t wait to see you both again on your wedding day! We love you!

(A collage from JZ)

P.S. I used all my charm to convince JZ to write. I should make him write from this point on.

{Engagement} Bel and Jon: Part 2

Long before I got married, Bel told me so many times to not ‘settle for less‘ when it comes to finding a man in life. Thank God, I listened to her words.  Not only she gives her younger sisters very sound advice, she practices what she preaches as well.  I have known her to have lived her life with a very high-standard — I oftentimes saw that as having a very tall order  or in Starbucks lingo, hers will be a venti.

Knowing that about Bel, picking Jon among the numerous suitors who tried to woo her, says so much about the man she’s going to marry… Witnessing how he treats my sister with so much love, kindness and gentleness whenever I visit Florida, I knew right away that she made the great choice.  Here are some of the photos of handsome groom-to-be from the session… I think his good-looks sealed the deal.

Okay, back to the engagement shoot.

From the East, we drove for about an hour going North to Jekyll Island — an island off the coast of Georgia. The couple wanted to shoot around the Historic District as they wanted an old-fashion-feel to their photos. The buildings indeed look old but I think I captured the urban in them. They even looked like they stepped out of a magazine! See for yourself:

There are so much more photos from this location but I have to cut the number.

Anyway, I hate to have a Part 3 but I guess I have to since there are three locations for the shoot.

So for now, I will keep things hanging again but will leave you two special images — a collage that shows their love of music…

(he serenaded her, she did the same thing…)

It was a perk for us as we get to hear guitar melodies while shooting.

(to be concluded in the next blog)

{Engagement} Bel and Jon: Part 1

Theirs is neither a tale that started with ‘Hello’ nor a case of love at first sight… Just like what they said in their wedding site, God had already scribbled their book of love…. They just didn’t recognize its first chapter.

It was during a casual conversation on the phone — sharing things about life, friends, families and relationships when Bel suddenly blurted out that she now has a boyfriend. I can still hear her excitement and happiness when she first mentioned Jon’s name to me. From that point on, my gorgeous sister bloomed way, way, way faster than flowers in springtime — even I cannot believe the dramatic and sweet transformation.

Here are some photos showing how lovely she is — my camera just adores her.

Bel looks so at ease, contented and in-love:

This one is my personal favorite as it shows her vibrance and positivity:

That writing on the car doesn’t lie (pardon the flare on Jon’s head though as I didn’t have my lens hood that day)

Bel and Jon got engaged last November 30th, 2008. Following that, they both went back to the Philippines so that Jon can ask for my sister’s hand from our parents. That one, I did not witness.

I volunteered, with two hands up, to do their engagement photoshoot as soon as I heard the news. After one postponement because of flight unavailability, the shoot finally pushed through. We shot their engagement session at three different locations — Jacksonville Beach (by the pier), Jekyll Island and then around downtown Jax. I had a hard time narrowing the photos down as Bel and Jon look so amazing in most of the shots but sure, here are more of my favorites.
I guess you just need to wait for their photobook once it’s out to see more.

Taken under the pier at around 6:50AM. Don’t they look gorgeous even in the early morning?

We capped off at this location with these shots…

(to be continued)

The Best Is Yet To Come…

Bel said she’s already salivating for more photos. So here’s another one…

The best is yet to come… so stay tuned.

Much love,
Joyce

P.S. The title of all the posts were inspired by their blog… Check that one out!

How Sweet It Is…

… to be so blessed and given the ability, capability and opportunity to share what I love doing with my sister and her future groom, Jon. My dear husband JZ and my wonderful friend Star of WSCOPhotography were there to join all the fun and laughter.

I will blog more soon after I get some restful sleep.. but for now, I am posting a photo showing how perfect that day started and a sneak peek of the very beautiful couple…

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Much love,
Joyce

Hang it Where?

No fancy blog today as I was just cleaning up drives, organizing photos and matching up which one will go with what wall. And oh yeah, I was mumbling to myself and our cat, too, as JZ is currently out of town.

Anyway, I got stuck with this one as I don’t think it gives contrast to any of our chosen paint colors… Oh well! This is going to be a long night!

Edited to say: We were told that we have 2 artworks from Caleb and Molly coming. I am excited to see those.

Happy Wednesday!

Much love,
Joyce