The magazine feature introduced his new book “Obstacles Welcome – Turn Adversity to Advantage in Business and Life.” As we learned during a brief talk at the shoot, his life and achievements are really inspiring. Mr. de la Vega came to the US when he was 10. His parents were denied departure by Cuban authorities and the wait for the proper documents enabling them to join him took astonishing four years. Tough start, indeed.

That evening, we ordered his book on Amazon. It is an exciting story about how a Cuban immigrant reached the heights of American business. We found an extended interview on YouTube where he talks about his remarkable journey and his personal and business principles. Enjoy.

Thanks to a very kind referral from Julie Hostetter, whose wedding Slava photographed in September 2008, we got a call from Bre Edmonds who works with Julie as editor in chief of Point North magazine. Bre is marrying Hunter at Neverland Farms in two weeks.

Since the couple received engagement portraits as a gift from their friend, they decided to use a free pre-wedding session that comes with each of our packages for Bre’s bridal portraits.

We arranged the session on the property of Autry Mill Nature Preserve in Alpharetta. Mom and Grandma helped with a beautiful wedding gown.

We got a call from another photographer referring Stephanie to us and once we heard the story, we gladly said yes. We arranged the bridal portrait session in Smyrna near the Smyrna Community Center.

We received very nice feedback from Stephanie and her mom, Jean. We are happy for you, guys.

To shoot some outdoor Easter portraits of Selah, a precious little 2-year old angel from Orlando, Fla., who was visiting her grandparents, we chose a natural trail in an Acworth community called Bentwater. We learned of this location in Autumn 2007 when we photographed some family portraits for neighborhood residents.

The location was perfect and the natural light was just fine. Most of the session was lit with just a single reflector. The parents and grandparents liked the contrast between the girl’s formal dress and the natural setting in the middle of the park — and so did we.

We created an impressive 20×24 canvas print to decorate the grandparents’ living room from the first photo:

Since 2007, our studio has partnered with two of the best dentists in the Atlanta area, Dr. Jack Bickford and Dr. Bobby Shirley. Dr. Bickford who has run his private practice for more than 30 years, invited Dr. Shirley to join his practice, which they call Distinctive Dentistry. Their office is located on GA Business Route 6, between Hiram and Dallas, northwest of Atlanta.

In Summer 2007, Distinctive Dentistry asked our studio to take portraits of patients for use in printed advertisements. This partnership has grown and, as a result, we have become responsible for the entire process of designing, laying out, and submitting their ads to local media. You can see some of the previous ads in our portrait portfolio section, here.

For its most recent ad, Distinctive Dentistry asked Paul and Angela Richardson to be their models again. The whole Richardson family – Paul, Angela, and their two children — previously appeared in Distinctive Dentistry advertisements. Here is the final ad that was submitted to the Paulding County Chamber of Commerce Guide, Our Town magazine and three local editions of Community Media magazines.

Paul and Angela brought their kids to the shoot and we had some time for their portrait, too. It is a high-key portrait, which is somewhat unusual for our studio, since we typically work with low-key backgrounds.