In honor of Veteran’s Day and Military Family Month, I hosted my very first mini session giveaway. The response was completely overwhelming, which of course, made me super excited! Out of 437 entries, the beautiful Clark family was randomly selected for the shoot!!
Even though our community here is relatively small, I had never met the Clarks before. However, through our session planning, Stephanie and I found out that we have so much in common (especially when it comes to wardrobe)!
The Clarks met me in a place that I personally find stunning, Ortigia Island, which is located on the southeastern coast of Sicily. We walked and talked and just generally hung out while little baby Hadley stole the show! She’s undeniably the most photogenic baby I’ve ever seen!
Stephanie, Will, and Hadley, I am so grateful to have your family as my very first giveaway winners. You guys are so much fun; I can’t wait to photograph you all again!!
The Clarks | Veteran’s Day Mini
There are a few things involving photography that I love: CUTE couples and beaches! This session had both. Elizabeth and Matt are the cutest parents to be! I was so excited when Elizabeth invited me to shoot their Aci Trezza maternity session because I have been DYING to shoot there. And, of course, Elizabeth and Matt are serious sweethearts!!!!
Our original plan got nixed due to rain. It’s rainy season here in Sicily, and I’ve found that rainy season is no joke! So, we rescheduled and crossed our fingers. Even on our reschedule date the sky looked a little daunting. But that just means that the clouds in their photos are super cool!
Elizabeth already had the location of the photos picked out (I love you for that!!!). She knew exactly what she wanted, which made my job super easy. Elizabeth said when she thought about where she wanted her maternity photos to be, she decided that no place was more appropriate than home. And Aci Trezza is home. If you know me, you know I love things that are meaningful, so this really made my heart swell.
I haven’t known Elizabeth and Matt for long, but I can tell they are going to be wonderful and loving parents. I am so excited for baby C!!
Elizabeth and Matt, it was so wonderful to meet you! Thank you so much for the opportunity to eternalize these fleeting moments for you!
Elizabeth + Matt + Baby C
Okay, okay, okay! You’re here! You’re reading this!! You’ve already seen at least one photo from this session! My heart is HAPPY!!! You’re probably confused as to why I’m so excited and using so many exclamation points. It’s because I have been holding on to these photos – waiting for Brit and Adrian to reveal their big news to their friends and family. Now I can share and I am so excited because I LOVE THESE PHOTOS!! From the outfits to the location to the people in the photos, they seriously could not be more perfect.
Brit and I first met online early this year and I immediately connected with her. (If you frequently read my blog, you already know I also met Maddie and Caitlin first online. I know it seems weird, but there’s a big online community here.) When she arrived in Sicily in July, we became fast friends. Brit and Adrian are super cool and seriously kind. There has been no one who has checked in on me more than they have during all of my medical issues. This includes front door deliveries – TWICE!!
When Brit told me she was expecting, I was SO EXCITED!! I just know Brit and Adrian are going to be amazing parents. They are already phenomenal people and wonderful friends. I am so honored Brit and Adrian entrusted me to photograph their pregnancy announcement and gender reveal (IT’S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!). And, I could not be more pleased with the way they turned out.
Brit + Adrian, Congratulations!!! We are SO excited for you guys and cannot wait to meet your baby GIRL! I hope you love these photos of such a memorable time in your life as much as I do.
Brit + Adrian
If you’ve been following along on the blog, you’ve probably noticed I have been quite busy lately traveling and photographing some really amazing people. The Vernons are no exception; they are so sweet, kind, easy-going, and incredibly stylish!! I usually provide styling assistance to everyone I photograph, but Amanda already knew what they were going to wear. When the Vernons walked out of the parking garage in Taormina, I was SO EXCITED!!! I honestly could not have selected better outfits!! From the Sicilian dresses to the blue suit and coordinating suspenders, their outfits literally could not have been more perfect.
Our shoot consisted of walking though gorgeous old town Taormina and grabbing a gelato before heading back to the car. Both Leah and Evan were such good sports and sooo incredibly cute!!
Samuel and Amanda, you guys have an incredibly beautiful family! Thanks so much for hanging out with us in one of Sicily’s most charming towns. I hope you love the photos as much as I do!!
The Vernon Family
One aspect of photography that I didn’t foresee when I picked it up as a hobby was all of the amazing people I would meet and all of the friendships I would make. I’ve had clients become friends and friends become clients, but one thing I love in particular about the creative community is the friendships I’ve cultivated with other photographers. Finding people who share the same philosophy of ‘community over competition’ is so much more than refreshing. It’s hanging out with like-minded individuals who just ‘get you’ in a way that other people don’t. Alexia is one of those people; she’s another photographer in my community in Sicily, and as soon as I met her, we ‘clicked!’.
Hanging out with Alexia is so much fun! She is a B-U-S-Y mom, wife, student, entrepreneur, and friend. I honestly have no idea how she balances so many baskets, but I do have to say that she makes it look so easy. I couldn’t wait to meet her family, and can I just say, they did not disappoint! It’s funny how you just sometimes meet people and can automatically feel comfortable around them. Shane is so laid back (and seems to have a lot of the same hobbies as my husband!). Bryleigh is adorably intelligent, says everything I’m thinking in my head, and is a complete ray of sunshine to be around. And, Dakotah – she is just TOO cute with her tiny little teeth and bright smile.
Photographing another photographer can be a little anxiety provoking to say the least, but I had so much fun walking around Ortigia with these guys, I forgot to be nervous!
I’m so thankful for your friendship, Alexia. I had a blast capturing your beautiful little family this weekend. Let’s do it again soon!
The Johnson Family
If this post seems a bit different than those you’ve seen on my blog in the past, it’s because it is 🙂
I recently just put the finishing touches on a little boudoir studio and couldn’t wait to get someone in it!! I’ve known this person for a little while now and I was so excited to get her in front of my camera. I knew from the beginning I was just going to LOVE this shoot. She is fun, she is sassy, and she is seriously gorgeous! I am so honored to have been entrusted to capture such intimate photos for this friend.
I’ll just share a few of my personal favorites here with you and leave the rest to her.
MRS L
From the moment I met Ana, I knew her portrait session was going to be one of my favorites! Ana is a senior at Sigonella High School here in Sicily. For her senior portraits, Ana wanted her images to reflect living and graduating from a high school in Sicily (a girl after my own heart)! What better location than one of the most famous ceramic towns in all of Italy – the very Sicilian and UNESCO World Heritage town of Caltagirone! Unlike Cefalù, I had previously explored Caltagirone once or twice before. So, I knew exactly where I wanted to take Ana!
In preparation for her session, Ana told me that she wanted to look and feel like herself. She also also warned me that she had no previous modeling experience. I think you’ll find this hard to believe when you see her gorgeous photos!
Ana, I had so much fun running around Caltagirone with you! You are so kind and sweet, and I am SO honored you picked me to capture your senior portraits. I hope you love them!!
Ana’s Senior Portraits
You know when you meet someone and you can just tell that they are “my kind of people?” That’s exactly what happened when I first “met” Maddie and Justin (and I say “met” because our introduction was digital!) Maddie and Justin started out as our “sponsor” family, which basically means they (Justin) were assigned to us (Jordan) to help in our transition from the US to Sicily. From our first conversation, we had SO MUCH in common. I knew I wanted to be real friends, not just sponsor/sponsorees and couldn’t wait to get over to Sicily to meet them in person. I guess is was fate because I think it turned out to be the best “assigned” match one could make. Now, I’d say we are all more than friends; they are our Sicilian family!
Maddie and Justin are such genuine people. They are adventurous, compassionate, considerate, and obviously incredibly good looking! I can’t omit the fact that they are absolutely hilarious and soooo much fun to hang out with. I honestly do not think I’ll love Sicily as much as I do without them around. They are our travel buddies, our adventurous cuisine companions, and our best friends here in Sicily. We will miss them so much!
With that being said, I have simultaneously been both looking forward to and dreading this post; looking forward to it because I’ve been dying to get these two in front of my camera ever since we met, and dreading it because it means they will soon be leaving the island and heading back to the US. Serious tears here.
Before they head off on their next adventure, they trusted me to capture some images of the in their favorite place on the island, Cefalù. As a bonus, we also traveled to the nearby town of Castelbuono for dinner and caught an absolutely amazing sunset!!
Maddie and Justin – thank you so much for your friendship. You are the coolest and the most fun people I’ve ever met, and we will miss you both so much!!
P.S. Be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom to see the CRAZY, unedited Sicilian sunset shots.
Justin + Maddie
After our nice, relaxing, and rather cool (temperature-wise) trip to Ireland & London, we resumed our exploration of sizzling Sicily. Despite the fact that we live on an island, it still takes us four hours to drive to the west coast. Thus, we had never been before this trip! Our good friends, Justin and Maddie, suggested a late summer weekend road trip to San Vito Lo Capo and Erice, so of course we said yes!
San Vito Lo Capo
Our first stop was the cute little beach town of San Vito Lo Capo in northwestern Sicily.
Justin had kindly reserved a nice little boat cruise down the shore of San Vito and Zingaro Nature Reserve for the afternoon we arrived. However, once we had checked into our airbnb and sat down for lunch, the company called to cancel. We were determined to still go boating, so we ended up booking a very last minute cruise with another boat, which was much bigger than the one Justin had originally reserved.
The boat cruise was not as intimate, but was still fun. We basically just ended up all hanging out together, taking in the sights, and snapping a bunch of photos! At one point, we all almost got left behind, as they stopped to let us out for a swim and ended up leaving much sooner than they originally told us (45 minutes instead of 1 hour). Thanks to Maddie for swimming ahead and saving us! 😀
After the cruise, we had a lovely dinner, enjoyed a street festival and hit the hay.
The next morning, we stopped at a beach on the way out of town and enjoyed the general splendor before heading to Erice.
Erice
Erice is a mountain top town that is located on top of, you guessed it, Mount Erice. The city overlooks Trapani and contains two castles: Pepoli Castle and Venus Castle. Pepoli Castle dates back to the Middle Ages, and Venus Castle the Norman period. Venus Castle was also built on top of the temple of Venus.
The drive up to the top was exciting and beautiful!
Once we arrived and found parking, we walked to the castles and explored the town a bit before grabbing lunch.
We stopped for lunch at La Tonda Fritta, which is an arancino restaurant. You might be wondering what an “arancino” is. Arancini are delicious fried rice balls with amazing fillings. We each selected two flavors and devoured them over by the local church.
After lunch, we wandered around a bit more before heading back to the car and making the four hour journey back home.
The trip was so much fun and the both towns were serious gems! Thanks, Maddie and Justin for vacationing with us! And, thanks Jordan for the amazing drone shots!
Zoe and I met during the SAWS Pet Appreciation Day event which was held in my local community last month. I was photographing people and their dogs in the “kissing booth” and Zoe was my very first customer! So, it was quite fitting that she is also my very first family session client in Sicily!
Zoe, her husband Nick, and their daughter Scarlett are (sadly, for me!) moving back to the US next month. They wanted a way to say farewell to Sicily and commemorate their time living on the island. What better way to do that than with an epic photoshoot overlooking the stunning Sicilian countryside?!
The Costellos are truly such a lovely family and little Scarlett couldn’t be more adorable, teeter-tottering around with her sea blue eyes.
Thank you so much for trusting me to capture your family for this very special photoshoot! Best wishes for a safe journey to Florida!
