John Unrue

Mihir and Rhianna’s Wedding in Clearwater

2008-12-30T09:30:00.000-08:00

Wow what a wonderful wedding? Ricardo and I recently photographed this incredible wedding in Clearwater Florida. It was an Indian/American wedding that lasted two days. The Sangeet on Friday and two wedding ceremonies on Saturday. With over 350 people, from all over the world, the event was quite spectacular. The wedding was located at The Sandpearl Resort. The wedding coordinator was Sandy Rule and it was our first time working together

Concept Bait provided the draping, chairs, rentals and lounge.

The Sangeet was beautiful. The lighting was created by Bay Stage Lighting.

One real cute flower girl who was not affraid of the camera.

First there was the American Ceremony.

Botanica of Tampa, did the flowers. We have been working together for over 8 years and I'm still blown away by their quality of work.

The overall view from an upstairs balcony. The weather was perfect.

The next set up by Botanica. This was the Indian event in the same location. A very quick turn around.

Beautful lighting in the Ballroom by Bay Stage Lighting.

The cake was created by Chef Michael.

What a fabulous weekend and even though it was exhausting we truly had a wonderful time. Thank you to Sandy Rule, CVP, Bay Stage Lighting, Concept bait, Messina Productions, Botanica and The Sandpearl Resort for all their professionalism and enthusiasm throughout the entire process.

Happy New Year!!!

CHARLIE AND ASHLEY’S WEDDING

2008-11-14T10:21:00.000-08:00

Now I love photographing island weddings, then agian who doesn’t? We had a wedding in South Florida with a wonderful couple from New York. Our lovely bride Ashley was so easy to photograph, I only used one eye. All kidding aside, she was one of the people that just photographs incredibly and makes my job that more exciting. Charlie was great as you will see. The totes the bridal party where very cute and held all their stuff.

Gorgeous invitations.

The Groomsmen had their own costume cummerbund. I think their Buc's fans!

The boys.

Charlie looks great doesn't he?

Our beautiful Bridesmaids.

There were 300 people attending the wedding. The church held 100 and there were 25 people in the bridal party.

The rest of the people sat outside under the stars. The weather was perfect.

I love the old Benz. What a great way to take off after the ceremony.

I was sitting on the back of a golf cart and was able to get this shot. I didn't fall off either.

The lighting was performed by Tony Ormonde www.ormondeproductions.com Really great stuff. I've always said, "lighting is everythiong". great job Tony.

The flower girl was having a blast.

Tony did the candles as well. Camille Williams was the coordinator and was just amazing, as always.

One happy bride!!

Brett Culp from CVP did the video. I think he was in deep thought. www.cvpexperience.com

This is the gang, Camille and the girls. Sarah was helping me out with the photos. I photographer her sister’s wedding in Michigan and it turns out she is going to Rollins and has minor in photography.

Thank you again for a nother fabulous wedding. Ian from botanica did the flowers www.botanicaflorist.com The Gasparilla Inn and their staff were oustanding.

All photographs are copyrighted and may not be reproduced.

Wedding on Walloon Lake Michigan

2008-09-02T09:30:00.000-07:00

Wow!!! It’s great to get out of Florida during the summer, especially during hurricane season. Recently, we photographed four days of events in Northern Michigan. The place was in Petoskey Michigan just 35 south of Mackinaw Island. The weather was incredible and so were the people I met I really had the pleasure of spending time with. The Bride was Tobi and the Groom was Steve. The church was a beautiful cathedral and was located in downtown Petoskey.

The Rehearsal, Dad with Tobi.

The party has started.
Our boat captains.

I think their dog wanted to go with us on the boat.

The men had a golf outing.

The women had a bridesmaid’s brunch.

There were allot of fit people and they had a 5K run. Check out the hats. The back of the hats indicate the longitude and latitude of the parent’s home in Michigan. Those who know about sailing will note the front of the hat with the initials of Tobi and Steve.
Bride getting ready.

The Groom was getting ready as well and maybe a little nervous.

He looks at her for the first time and was taking a really deep breath.

I love the Trolley from Mackinaw.

What a sunset!! Guess who the Groom is voting for.

The Groom and he’s mother are professional musicians. The Groom wrote and played a song for his new Bride. He was as good as and or better than the band they hired for the reception.
The Bride was a little overwhelmed by her husband’s song.

I love this late 1970’s Fiat the couple left in. When I was a kid my older brother had the same car. This car still had the original 8 track player in it.

Thanks to everyone in Michigan and especially to Camille and David for allowing Kristal and I stay at their home. Camille is one of the best wedding coordinators in the business and she and David are great friends. We truly appreciate them and we really enjoyed spending time with them in Michigan.

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS ARE COPYRIGHTED BY JOHN UNRUE

Mackinaw Island, a day in my Life

2008-08-14T07:21:00.001-07:00

When I as a young man in High School I was fortunate enough to work two summers on Mackinaw Island. For those of you who are not familiar with the island here is the short story. Mackinaw is located between the lower and upper peninsula of Michigan. The island is 8 miles in circumference and there are no motorize vehicles allowed. Except for an ambulance, fire truck and police car. In fact it’s a fine to even use a skateboard or any other type of transportation except for bicycles, your feet or my personal favorite, a horse.The worlds beat fudge. I still have some in my freezer.

The porch of the Grand Hotel. The largest covered porch in the world.

During my last summer working at one of the hotels, I was interested in photography and back at my hometown I was working at a camera store. I had a Minolta camera and couple of lenses. So I decided to photograph some of the island.
While on the island I was photographing the annual yacht races. It happened to be the 100th anniversary of the event. The B&B I was staying at was right on the harbor.

During races back during my highs school years I photographed the race and this is where I discovered I had an eye for photographing.

I showed the Minolta people a few of my photos from the race and they paid my $700 for two images to run as national posters. Wow, getting paid to shoot photos, do you think I was hooked? Sorry Minolta I’m a Nikon and Leica man today.

I love my Leica M8 camera.

On the island there are around 900 horses. You can rent them or a buggy and during the winter they will even pull a slay from the small airport located in the center of the island.
Main Street.

Local flowers on the other side of the island.

A view from the Fort. Going back to places you have grown up in and made life-changing discoveries about your self is very fulfilling. I highly recommend it. I don’t know if I will ever go back to Mackinaw however, I would like to again some day.

Betsy and Craig’s wedding on Gasparilla Island

2008-07-28T10:44:00.000-07:00

This is the second wedding I’ve done from a fabulous family here in Florida. Knowing the family really makes a difference and this is one of my favorites. The wedding weekend began with the rehearsal and the Pink Elephant on Thursday night. Friday was the collaboration of two separate parties, both converging on the Fish Camp. What a wonderful experience and the food and drinks and my new favorite beach activity the Tarpon Toss.

This was the invitation to the the Fish Camp Party. Inside the pakaging was a T-Shirt.
Now that's an ashtray.

The fish getting ready to be tossed.

Our happy couple.

The flourist was Botanica and did another incredible job. http://www.botanicaflorist.com/

Our groom. I know he looks young however, he's a doctor and more importantly, a great guy.

Now this dude can play.

Thanks again to everyone involved. The Inn did a wonderful job and the Coordinator Camille is the best.

ALL PHOTOS ARE US COPYRIGHT PROTECTED.

Warren's 40th Birthday Bash

2008-06-23T10:57:00.001-07:00

One of my oldest best buddies had a fabulous 40th Birthday Party. Warren Dietel owner of Puff ‘n Stuff Catering in Orlando http://www.puffnstuff.com/ . The party was in downtown Orlando with about 300 of his closets friends and family. Warren is a huge fan of the 80’s and that was the theme. WD 40. Get it?

Excellent!! Jeffrey Stoner was having a very weird hair day.

The Love Boat.

Warren's wife Melissa, on the right, was gorgeous.
My good friends the Killiams.
Jeffrey and Michelle in the photo booth by www.plumbfun.com

The girls from Puff. Definitely stuck in the 80s.

Devo! Warren at his glory. He's going to kill me for this one.

Robert Palmer, eat your heart out.

A special thanks to Kristal for photographing the event. We all had a wonderful time. Can’t wait for the 50th Birthday bash.

Melodie and Sin's Wedding

2008-06-11T13:09:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we had the opportunity to photograph a beautiful Indian Wedding at The Ritz Carlton, http://www.grandelakes.com/ It was a an incredible weekend and we introduced some real creative ways of expressing art in the wedding industry. The bride and groom were just an amazing couple and were a pleasure to work with Marlon Hightower was our impressionist painter that did live paintings of the event.
At the end of the evening we had the paintings on display in the lobby. The guests were blown away!

The Baarat. Normally the groom sits on the horse. He decided two horses and a carriage was a better idea.

Definitely a crowd that loved to dance during the Baarat.

A traditional Hindu ceremony that was a little over an hour long.

Melodie change into her wedding dress for the reception.

Who has the bigger guns?

Reception room design by Flourish http://www.flourishproductions.com/ and Heather Snively of Weddings Unique http://www.weddingsunique.com/ and they did another incredible job. Flourish also did the floral and the hotel did the lighting.

Dad dancing with her lovely daughter.
The cake was done by the pastry chef at the hotel.
I love these photo-booths. http://www.plumbfum.com/

We had another incredible time with everyone and I wanted to thank everyone who has referred to us so many weddings over the years. We do not advertise and all of our business is by referrals. So thank you everyone. Will see you at the next event.

Bombardier Learjet 60 XR

2008-06-05T12:40:00.000-07:00

Last week I was given the honor of photographing an incredible mid-size jet. This 8 passenger plus one jet is one of the fastest jet in the world. One of my favorite client's ask me to photograph the jet for them which of course I said "yes". The plane is only a week old. Now I may be a pilot however, this thing blew me away. We photographed at the Orlando Executive Airport on the new US Customs ramp. They were very gracious in letting us use their electricity and water. My happy clients/friends.

This is Diane and Tank. This is probably the coolest dog I've ever met. Just don't tell my wife!!

This reminds of the whales I saw in Maui last year.
They had a couple of cars they wanted in the photo. Yes, that's a Drophead on the right.

Glass cockpit. I'm jealous.

I used my laptop as a prop. Does the photo on the screen look familiar?

Tank was just the greatest dog. Thank you for letting me photograph this wonderful jet. I still should go for a ride, just in case I missed something.

Kelly and Steve's Big Day!!

2008-05-15T07:32:00.001-07:00

Siblings! I love photographing another family member of a past Bride or Groom. It’s fantastic, because I already know most of the people attending the wedding in the family and that show’s in the photographs. Also, working with great vendors and client’s who truly appreciate you and your work creates an ideal situation. The wedding of Kelly and Steve it was the best-case scenarios. Weddings at The Ritz-Carlton in Orlando, Florida: http://www.grandelakes.com/ is a great way to start.

The Bride's sister, who's wedding was four years ago. She's with her mom a little girl. Her and her husband have baby number two on the way. It amazes me how time seems to fly by. Flower girl. Way to cute!!
The Groom!

Make-up by Kari Larson at About Face

Usher's Ushing. I guess that's the term.

The ceremony was at United Methodist in Winter Park.
The Floral was by Raining Roses http://www.rainingroses.biz/ They did the church and the reception. Exceptional work and quality. I even had time for room shots.

Love the table seating idea. Now I'm a pilot and I still think this is such an awesome idea.

Event was coordinated by Susie Weiss and Wonder Weddings. http://www.wonderfulweddingsorlando.com/ Great job Susie. The reception Decor was outstanding!!

Paparazzi!

Brian Scott was the DJ and the Band was Fifth Avenue.

Awesome confetti cannons. Jeffrey and I have had a few that fell a little short. Great Job!!

There was a tone of confetti. It lasted for 5 minutes.

Check Out Jeffrey Stoner's "Coming Attraction" http://www.stonervideo.com/

We all had such a wonderful time at the wedding. Thank you to both families and all the wonderful vendors.

John Unrue

Levi and Nellie's Wedding

2008-03-31T12:23:00.000-07:00

Don’t get me wrong, I love photographing those big weddings for pro athletes and celebrities however, every once in awhile I get to shoot those small, family and intimate events that are very special. In the wedding of Levi and Nellie, this past weekend, I experienced one of those events. I’ve known Levi for about ten years and I met him at one of the Advertising Agency that I shoot for. He was the creative director and did a little video production on the side. When he met Nellie, about 9 years ago, he told me she was the one for her. I believe it was on their first date. Now they live in New York and he was right. She is the one for him.The Ceremony in Infrared
Girls getting ready!

Levi helping his nephew.

A bridesmaid checking to see who was coming or was it the weather.
MOM

The Ceremony.

Can you tell it was raining? We shot these fast!!

Even mom and dad was impressed.

They were married here in Winter Park, Florida at Casa Feliz. It was the first time I’ve photographed anything there and it’s a great little place if you want to have a small private event. Thank you to Levi and Nellie for inviting me to be part of their big day!

2008-03-10T10:43:00.000-07:00

Recently we photographed a wedding at The Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes in Orlando. The wedding was filmed for the television show Platinum Weddings and will be seen in a few months. Heather Snively of Weddings Unique designed the event, http://www.weddingsunique.com/ Richard and Bryan from Flourish created the floral at the church and the Bridal bouquets, http://flourishproductions.com/ The 'bare' table linens/napkins, floral, vessels, candelabras, candles and charges were deign by Sandie Cohen from Festivities of South Florida, http://www.festivitiesinc.com/ We had a wonderful time and it was one of the most incredible weddings that I have ever seen.

The ceremony took place at Rollins College in Winter Park.

Flourish's décor on the inside of church was outstanding.

The Bridesmaids signing the bottom of the Bride’s shoes.

The men hanging out. I think they had the right idea, "stay out of the way".

The Groom is ready to go.

Father of the Bride.

The event design by Weddings Unique and the floral, tables and linens at the reception, where by Festivities.

This is what the guest saw when entering the reception.

The Bride loves what she sees.

The Bride and Groom with Sandie Cohen

The Bride and Groom with Heather Snively.

The film crew from Film Garden Entertainment. The show is Platinum Weddings.

More of Festivities incredible designs.

Taken with a remote camera.

Parents addressing the crowd and thanking everyone who attended.

Incredible design and lighting by Heather Snively.

Father and his beautiful daughter having a moment.

Father and Daughter dance.

Party Favors. Yes, I did the photo on the card that was attached to the champagne bottles

The Bride and Groom watching a video produced by Brett Culp of CVP. Great job Brett!!!

Thanks to everyone involved with the wedding. The staff at The Ritz Carlton did a great job, as usual. Look for the event on Platinum Weddings in the near future.

Portofino Wedding

2007-11-30T06:03:00.000-08:00

Recently we photographed a wedding at one of my favorite properties in Florida. The Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Studios. My wife and I were married there and on December 14th it will be our 7th year anniversary. The couple is Rachael and Matt form Orlando. Rachael owns her own marketing and creative agency and has a great eye for detail. They had an outdoor service and their reception was in one of the Hotel's beautiful Ballrooms, it was a fantastic affair.The Hotel as shown from the lake. Ceremony Site.

One Happy Couple.

It was fun and we had a great time.

Wedding in Aspen

2007-09-25T07:12:00.001-07:00

Recently I photographed a wedding in Aspen with my friend Travis. This is a small collection of images depicting the property. It was a allot of fun.Something BlueLook like "dress-up day" Interior room photo of Aspen Glen.
Ceremony site overlooking the mountains.

This little dude was awesome!! Dinner and dancing.
I had a great time this past weekend. Thanks again Travis for letting me crash at your vast estate!

Megan and Michael's Wedding

2007-09-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

Another fabulous wedding at the Ritz Carlton Orlando and the staff at the hotel did an incredible job. What a pleasure it is for me to work with some of the most professional people in the business. Megan and Michael were very easy going and Michael is one of our military men that help to protect our counrty. Thanks guys for everything!The Cermony room. Wedding in the round or should I say on a square stage.Spot lights light up all four isles.

The lighting was a real challange for us crazy photographers and for Jeffrey Stoner, videographer at large.The reception. The cake was the largest cake I have ever seen. It was over six feet tall on top of the table. It could feed 1600 people. I told the father of the bride it was the first cake I ever saw that had it's own mailing address. Dooh! The grooms cake.

The sword ceremony taken from an unusual angle. Hey, I can't give away all my secrets.

Father and Daughter.

This was great. They had a photo booth brought in so people could take their own photos behind a private cutain. I was able to take this photo because I photographed this couple's wedding about 7 years ago. They have 4 kids already. Wow.

Of course I was the only one working at the time.

You could park a mini cooper under this cake.

Thanks again to the family for giving me the opportunity to photograph their wedding. We had a wonderful time and I look forward to finishing their books.

Italy

2007-08-30T11:19:00.000-07:00

The wife and I had a wonderful time again in Italy. We must admit, the food was better than Croatia. What can I say, she's Italian.We went to Pisa this time. I was amazed by how many tourists there were. 99% of the photographing this crooked building. I enjoyed photographing the people instead. Incredible sunflowers throughout Tuscan country side.
"I'm thinking, maybe one more glass of vino."The Mary Rosa. I knew she had her own business somewhere.

Just a cool shot.

Having a little pizza in San Marco Square. Look, I'm for sale.
A candle to Maggie for her birthday.
A little more Infrared photography.

The shops in Venice.

Edged glass.
More Vino.

We just love Italy. I'm sure we will be back many more times in the future.

The Rockies

2007-08-28T16:56:00.000-07:00

My son Cameron on top of the world 14285'

Infrared photograph of Lake Dillon

Cool sun dial on Mount Evans

Cameron on Mount Evans. He was cold however, he would never admit it.

Me and the kid taken a break.
He thinks he can fly or something.

This lake was at 12,500'. Man was that some cold water.
More pretty photos.
This was an actual goat. No retouching tricks here.

Taken a beak from our bike trip down Vail pass.

Cameron's first ride on a ski lift.
We made it to the top and no one fell off.

The trees of Aspen.

I photographed this on one of the many hicking trails.
He thinks he's so cool, not!
On top of Vail Pass and looking forward to the 15 mile ride. All down hill, which is a good thing.

Are you looking at me? Dog show in downtown Frisco. "Frisco loves dogs", should be their new slogan.

My buds on Lake Dillon. Jessica, Kristy and Scotty. That was so relaxing. Note the high class wine glasses.
Another hicking trail. I didn't see any eagles.
Love those trees.

This was a golf course at the Santuary in Denver. What a beautiful place. Thanks Travis.

My bud Travis Broxton at Coney Island. This place was great. In the middle of know where and there was a 30 minute line to get a dog. It was well worth the wait.
After a couple of cold ones, I thought this sign said Tampa.
The great photographer Travis Broxton, contemplating his next beer move.
No worries, he only had one and was a responsible driver.

Another fabulous lake.

The little village in Copper Mountain.
I fould this abandoned house on Independence Pass on my way to Aspen. Very cool, note how blue the sky is at 11k feet.

That was one great trip. Spending time with greatest 5th grader on the planet and with a few good friends. I love Colorado and I miss it already. I'll be back real soon.

Denver

2007-08-28T11:22:00.000-07:00

I spent a few days in Denver and I love the city. One of the best places is downtown was 16th Street. You can walk about a mile or so all the way to the capital. They also have free transportation if you get tired.

Great Architeture throughout downtown.

The Millennium Bridge

Inside the train station.

The Denver Public Library.Looking from the capital steps The capital Building.

Croatia

2007-08-27T11:47:00.003-07:00

My beautiful wife up on deck on our friends yacht.Allot of markets on some of the out islands on the coast.
Me and the wife.

The captain of the yacht. Sunset on Dubrovnik marina.
The wife our friend Laori in the old city.
The City of Dubrovnik.

My wife giving me a pose.

Hvar the best new place in Croatia.

I was a little confused by the sign. Is it meat or vegetarian? My wife and I traveled on a private yacht up the coast of Croatia. No this was not our boat. Ice cream anyone?

This was a small town within Dubrovnik. The entire city is closed to all motorized vehicles and all the streets are made of marble. Very cool, very slippery when it's wet.
Dubrovnik has great shopping and prices are fairly low. This was an open market we stumbled on. The weather is very comfortable.

2007-08-27T11:47:00.001-07:00