epic couples photoshoot in boca raton for two artists

“There was a double rainbow on the day we met.” they say almost in unison when asked to describe the day they met.

Johannah is a painter and an author and Alex is an author, too. They met through mutual friends at one of the gatherings organized by the Red Tent Goddess Sisterhood.

“She gave me a rose. We exchanged books and while everyone was talking and mingling we just sat there reading each other’s books.” Alex recollects.

When they reached out to have their engagement photos taken, I wanted to create more than pretty pictures for them. I wanted to capture a story of how they met and how they fell in love, to paint a picture of their love with a story.

One day, as I was driving, I noticed this giant Royal Poinciana tree on the side of the road. It caught my attention because it was so big, and its branches reached all the way down to the ground. On another day I paid a visit to the tree at sunrise to see if it was indeed a good location for the photoshoot and what the light looked like at that hour. I fell in love with it and I knew they would, too!

We met early in the morning and created magic that day. It was absolutely amazing! After I finished editing the photos I put them into a slideshow with music to enhance the effect of the photos on them :) It worked. Even though I wasn’t there to witness when they saw the photos for the first time, Alex told me Johannah cried and they watched the video ten times on the first day.

And if you are curious about the process, here is a behind-the-scenes video from that day that shows how the magic happened.

I don’t say the word “proud” when I describe how I feel about something that I create because pride is the thing of the ego and I want to think that my art comes from a spiritual place. But with these photos I just feel plain proud of what we created! It gives me so much satisfaction and joy to think about them, look at them, describe them to others, and show them off. I pour my heart and soul into my (art)work and it is especially apparent in the photo series for this couple. So grateful to have had the experience of working with these two beautiful souls ♥

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Want to have your couples or engagement photos taken? Reach out to me and let’s talk about how we can capture YOUR LOVE STORY in a unique way.

9 unordinary gift ideas for Valentine's Day this year

Stores and supermarkets are already all dressed in nauseating pinks and reds, and heart-shaped boxes and teddy bears flood the shelves as stores are motivating us to BUY that special some THING for the loved one. What is the holiday really about? Many people, like my husband, for example, consider it a made up commercial holiday that just makes you BUY STUFF. Yet, when we don't celebrate it at all, I get slightly envious seeing all the bouquets/chocolates/dinner dates that someone else got (thank you, social media), and I start whining, "yes, we can celebrate our love ALL YEAR ROUND, but why don't we also do it on THIS DAY when everyone else is doing it?"

Why not do something UNORDINARY to celebrate the love for your partner, or for yourself, if you are single this Valentine's Day. (LOVE is love and it all starts with loving yourself first, anyway, right?)

Here are the ideas that got me excited. These are the things that you can do in our beautiful South Florida, or pretty much anywhere else! 

Go to a concert.

Whether you love musicals, ballet, opera, classical music,  or comedy, our local centers for the performance arts have so many affordable options that will give you a gift of experiencing something beautiful together. Even if the performance doesn't fall on the actual date of February 14, it is ok. You can gift the tickets to the show on the special day, or spill the beans before if your event takes place before the holiday. 

Take a painting class together.

So many studios have sprung up lately that give you an opportunity to tap into your artistic talents while sipping on merlot (or, getting hammered, as I like to call it - I don't drink by the way :)) In addition to feeling like artists, and getting to hang out with other people, you can hang your artwork on the wall and it will ALWAYS remind you of that one very special Valentine's Day that you shared together. 

Make "30 reasons why I love you" 

pictures on your phone and gift it to your hunny-bunny on Valentine's Day. I started this project to cope with my husband's absence last year while he went on a trip to Europe for two weeks. I created these photos on my phone using WordSwag - an app that allows you to add words to photos (though there are many others apps that do that) and you can find free photos on Pixabay. I would create one reason for every day and would send it to my husband as a text message. If you do it this way, you will have a whole month of love celebration! Or, you can prepare all 30 reasons (10, 12, 100 - you pick your number!) and then print them as a photo book and gift it in a beautiful box. There is something unforgettable in having physical photos that you can hold and touch, don't you think? Can you imagine re-discovering this gift years later in your drawer of special things and remembering that very special Valentine's Day? In addition  to that, focusing on your partner's positive characteristics, will very likely deepen your love for her/him. 

Experience how other cultures celebrate love on this day.

If you have never been to a Latin night club, or a Russian restaurant with live music, why not try it on this day and see love through other culture's eyes. You get to try authentic food, listen to music, dance, and it will surely stand out in your memory - that Valentine's Day when Russians made you do shots all night (be careful with those guys, and please take Lyft or Uber home!) It might not be as authentic as going to another country, but it may be a pretty insightful approximation. 

Hire a photographer to capture your special love in candid shots.

Honestly, I do not have many decent photos of me and my husband, except for the pictures from our wedding day. There may be a few good selfies, but those photos are static, they show us pretty and happy, but they don't really show the interaction, how we are together with each other. These selfies are looking away from each other, and I yearn for photos that have us caught in the moment of how we are, walking hand in hand, or talking about something, or being silly. It is hard to capture those with selfies, you need an artist, a professional photographer to do that. A casual photoshoot on the beach, or in a park, during which the two of you will just be yourselves, walk around and "play" in front of camera, will take no more than an hour, and you can catch a movie or go out to dinner afterwards. If you do the photoshoot well in advance before the holiday, you might have your prints ready on Valentine's Day and the special gift that you BOTH get is a box of beautiful photos that celebrate your love the way you see it.

For those who want to celebrate their love for themselves, the option would be a Goddess Photoshoot or a portrait photography session for men, both of which you can also give as gifts - memorable experiences that might change the way people see themselves.  

Go extreme.

You can go as extreme as you are comfortable with or really face your fears and push outside of your comfort zone. Sky diving, zip lining, surfing, or paddle boarding? One of the most memorable gifts I got was sky-diving on my birthday (it wasn't Valentine's Day, but I will surely remember that gift forever). The adrenaline rush of a new activity will heighten the natural high you get from being around your special other, and you can skip the wine that day! :) 

This is me skydiving on my 26th birthday.
Now when I think back to that day, I cannot believe I did it!!!

Learn something together.

Always wanted to learn Italian or French? It might take more than one day to learn a skill, but you can present your loved one with a gift-certificate for lessons and then can start planning your second honeymoon vacation to Europe once you become a little conversational in a foreign language. 

Go to a couples retreat

(and I don't mean the movie, though it was pretty hilarious :)) Our very own Florida-grown tantra healer Lourdes Starshower has a Valentine's Day retreat coming up soon. I personally have never been to one, but I imagine that attending it would strengthen the connection that the two of you have and launch your sex life into other dimensions. 

Switch your favorite activities to learn more about you partner.

For example, I like yoga and my husband loves to play soccer - he usually plays every Monday - and I get my assa to Vinyasa (as yogini Tamara says) whenever I schedule it (planning is everything!) So imagine, my husband will take a yoga class and I will play soccer on a field with my girls. Or, if your boyfriend loves to play poker or golf, and you enjoy tai chi, why not switch for one day, provided you don't do that activity already. It might give you a better understanding of your partner's passion and also give you a new found appreciation for certain characteristics that your partner has that you were never actually aware of. 

Get creative!

How you choose to celebrate YOUR relationship and your LOVE is totally up to you - there is no one recipe that fits all. Whatever you choose to do, I hope you really FEEL the love. At the end of the day, it is not THINGS that we long for, but the attention, the connection, the experiences that we live through together.

I hope you share some very memorable experiences this Valentine's Day. 

With much LOVE,

Francesca Bliss

fun couple shoot

Always experimenting and pushing outside of your comfort zone is a great way to stay inspired and to grow as an artist. I was fortunate enough to come across a couple who was willing to be experimented upon and trusted me in choice of poses for them. While doing my research in preparation for their session, I came across photos of Adam Levine and his Russian supermodel girlfriend Anna Vyalitsina for a recent issue of Vogue.  Kerem and Elia, my models, recreated two of the poses, the side by side comparison of which is presented here. I know, I know, my angles are wrong, and I didn't edit the cropped backdrop, and my models are not ten feet tall, but, nevertheless, it was so much, and next time I will do better. We must try and fail many times before we perfection is born, and I will not relent :) 

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My angle is not as low as in the Vogue photo, (don't even get me started about my backdrop), and the pose might not be exactly like the celebrity couple's, but it's close enough and it was so much fun to create! 

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And this is my favorite shot of Elia from our session: 

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