Author: ubefiasco

Lorraine and Abe.

The love story. The importance of a well executed love story can not be under emphasized. Weddings can be very chaotic events. Brides, grooms, coordinators and vendors can at times get wrapped up in the inertia of all that is happening while still trying to adhere to a timeline and it’s not always possible to focus on the guests who have joined you to help you celebrate your love.

Your guests are what make your wedding a special event. The relationship you share with your partner is your own little world. Only the two of you know how exactly it all started, and together collect the big and small moments that culminate in to a marriage that will last your entire lifetime. Some guests are closer to the groom, and others closer to the bride, but rarely do any of your guests know the entire story. That’s where the love story comes in to play.

This is your chance to invite the people you have chosen to celebrate with, in to that world that only you two share. It opens you up to let your closest friends and family members see why you love your partner, why you’re choosing to spend the rest of your life with this person and why this is the love that will endure all things. This is the point of the evening where you’re not just celebrating your love, you’re now sharing it with everyone of those close friends and relatives who have chosen to be in your presence and witness the beginning of a new chapter in both your lives. And as the story unfolds, the guests find a deeper understanding of the love you share, while I hope you as a couple find a deeper appreciation of your shared journey that has brought you to this exact moment in your lives.

I was able to film this love story for this beautiful couple recently. They have a beautiful love that fits so naturally. I shot their wedding last night and presented this production at the reception and I can now share this with everyone without having to worry that Lorraine is out there trying to find a way to get a bootleg or an early premier lol. I hope those of you out there who watch it, enjoy it. Abe and Lorraine, I am very honored that you allowed me to capture this for you. I hope did you journey justice and that I was able to accomplish my goal of aiding you in finding a deeper appreciation of each other. I have a lot of love for you guys. Lorraine, you have always been one of my favorite cousins but I’ve always looked at you more like a sister. Cheers to the two of you and congrats again on a beautiful marriage.

-Jj

Good Afternoon movers, and shakers, hustlers and … Quakers? I don’t know, I just went with what rhymed there. Anyway, I wanted to drop a line to send a special shout out to an amazing couple. Had an incredibly fun day yesterday photographing Jen and Barry (aka The Bardozas) and we had ourselves a golden time. So excited to finish this shoot out because these guys are just way too fun to be around and I’m so happy that we were able to get together on this gorgeous day. I love that this hobby of mine allows me to get this close my loved ones. Here’s a few of the shots from the near thousand and a half that are yet to be edited. Enjoy! 

  

Lots more to come from this shoot, stay tuned! 🙂

-Jj

I had the pleasure of being involved with this wedding from beginning to end. Martin and Nina are a one of a kind couple that always finds a way to make the best of everything. It has been amazing to be able to watch them grow from the making of their love story to the day of their wedding and beyond. I count myself blessed to be able to truly count them not as friends, but as my family, and I’m so happy that I am able to witness and participate in this beautiful love they share with each other and all their loved ones, for the rest of my life. Here is a small sample of that as captured by myself and others and ultimately edited by yours truly. A gift from myself to my brother in law and my new sister 🙂

-Jj

So it’s pretty obvious to most people that I know that I’m a dad who is head over heels about his daughter. While ‘Dad Loves Daughter’ is probably not the most original concept in the world, it does mean a lot to me to have that relationship in my life and it definitely holds sway over the many decisions I make on a daily basis and influences how I live my life and why I do the things I do. So today as my focus is to get all caught up on this blog, I would be remiss not to include all the wonderful things that have happened regarding our little one, the center of my universe and the apple of my eye.

I am very aware of parents who love to overpost and overshare about their kids and trust me, I try my best to abstain from being ‘That Dad’, but certain things can’t be helped. Humor me this one time and I promise I won’t let this blog turn in to daddy/daughter love fest save for this post. What follows is the almost two years that we’ve had from conception to our baby girl’s first birthday and I guess I just love my daughter so much I had to share it all with the world. Enjoy!

-Jj

“As you start your journey, the first thing you should do is throw away that store-bought map and begin to draw your own.”
-Michael Dell

I think we all get lost at times looking for a path to things that people say will make us happy. A lot of us get caught up in pursuits of ambition for merit or material only to achieve what others tell us will make us successful in life. So we strive for goals that other people set for us and we even convince ourselves that once we hit those goals, or quotas or landmarks in our careers or personal lives that those are the moments that will reward us with fulfillment and happiness. But how do we define success? More importantly, who is defining success for you?

What I have found in my own life to be true is that no one has got it all figured out. I have raced after my own quotas and goals time and time again to know that once I got there, to that hallowed moment where I was promised fulfillment and riches and happiness; the moment was so fleeting that it seemed to turn to ash in my hands before I could even process that I hadn’t reached a finish line. The race just kept on going. The mirage of fulfillment in what I was doing just kept getting farther and farther away. And as tends to happen in any race, let alone a never-ending one… I got tired.

So now I’m here, and all I have gotten from this experience is that I am tired. I am really really tired. But I’m finally learning.

I’ve learned that I don’t want to race any more and I’m finished having anyone else define what pursuits will make me successful in life. I learned that I like myself a lot more when I’m doing the things that I love to be doing. And when I like myself more, I can be a better husband to my wife, and a more attentive father to my daughter. My relationships with those two people more than anything in my life is what I’m learning to define my fulfillment by, because nothing makes me happier than seeing happiness in their smiles and in their hearts. I’m finished chasing down a dream that someone else put in front of me. Because at the end of the day, the money and accolades mean nothing if I am miserable.

There is no path to happiness, happiness IS the path.

So that’s why I’m here. I’m here starting this blog as a platform for my photography and videography, a hobby where fulfillment is the only pay I’m after. I’m here not because I care about accolades or money, but because I want to care about what I’m doing.

This is my passion.

I want to be able to say that I pursued my passion. That my passion consumed me whole and left nothing but a trail of inspired work and when it’s all said and done, when I’m long gone and buried, if I’m lucky enough to have people I’ve left behind who remember me fondly. They can say on my behalf that I lived with passion.

This is me finding my own path. Feel free to join me.

-Jj