Kameela is a graduate of Stetson University in DeLand Florida – she graduated a year early! She is now off to get her Master’s Degree in Public Health in Epidemiology. We need her in our Pandemic world right now! She wanted some nice cap and gown photos to celebrate her time here. The Cross-Cultural Center was important to her, she spent a lot of time there. Congratulations Kameela!
The Riverside Hotel and Spa was a great backdrop for Christy’s branding photo session! She formally launched her new business, providing life coaching services for individuals as well as executive coaching for businesses! Ikygal Professional Coaching Services, where purpose and passion meet.
Her philosophy comes from Ikigai (pronounced ee-key-guy) which is a wonderful Japanese concept that essentially means “a reason for being.” It’s made from two Japanese words: iki, meaning “life” and kai, meaning “effect, result, worth or benefit.” Combined: “a reason for living.” A new concept on the secret of a happy life.
The Canovas Photography are lifestyle and brand photographers specializing in natural light photography for editorial portraits, artists, and business brands. Contact us for more information 😊
Another great Indie Market in Sanford! Don’t miss the next market February 16, at Tuffy’s Bottle Shop & Lounge. You will find the best artisans, vintage and handmade goods, plus great food and drinks!
We have had SO much fun with all our amazing families here at our studio! Our new mural wall and Holiday Mini Sessions have been a big hit! Here is one of our favorites: with Kieu, James and Mac.
Off The Beaten Path is an event created by a federation of practicing artists with a shared purpose and vision. The group’s mission statement is to “showcase and increase awareness and appreciation of Central Florida’s finest professional and emerging artists, as well as cultural institutions that are ‘off the beaten path’.”
John Wilton, an artist and retired Daytona State College visual arts instructor, has been on the grassroots steering committee to make the tour a reality, first for West Volusia and now East Volusia.
“Lake County started this studio tour, this was their seventh tour,” Mr. Wilton said. “Their vision was to make it a Central Florida endeavor. There were some of us that had been thinking about this in Deland, so we finally said let’s go ahead and do it. West Volusia joined up with them and used their model for this.”
The West Volusia Off The Beaten Path Florida Arts Tour was Feb. 24-25. Visitors saw 16 artists in 14 different studios.
Mr. Wilton lives in Deland and works with mixed mediums, multiple disciplines, contemporary, and pop art.
“I am involved to promote personal tourism in Deland,” he said. “The overall goal for the artists is to get exposure and to have people come out and see and hopefully purchase their work. The goal for the visitor is how often are you invited into an artist’s studio to see how they make it, where they make it, the tools, the process. We feel it is really quite an opportunity for the cultural adventurer to come out and look and see what we do and how we do it.”
For a tour guide or more information, visit floridaartstour.com.
By Diane M. Carey dcarey@hometownnewsol.com
We love when our wedding couples come back again and again to hire us to photograph their special occasions. Like Chelsea and Joe waiting for their baby girl due in April! Chelsea loves big beautiful trees so much, (see Chelsea and Joe’s engagement session here and wedding here) we knew we had to find a special place with trees for her maternity photo shoot. Congratulations you two! We can’t wait to meet her! xo 
We can’t wait for Sara and Jimmy’s wedding this spring at the Danville B&B! Also excited to work again with a couple of our favorites – Courtney Ford Event Design and Julie from Lowe and Behold Floral Design 🙂
On Thanksgiving Day in 2012, Jimmy and Sara were both at Skydive DeLand for the annual dinner in the packing hangar. Sara was with her family when she spotted Jimmy across the hangar, taste-testing the smoked turkey he’d brought. They didn’t meet then, not until several days later when they both happened to be attending a concert in downtown DeLand at Cafe DaVinci. Sara recognized Jimmy from the Thanksgiving dinner and decided to introduce herself. After speaking for a few minutes, they found they had many mutual acquaintances (including Sara’s parents!).
While Sara grew up spending weekends at her mother’s drop zone, Skydive Palatka, she had no interest in skydiving until years later, choosing instead to study music in high school and college. Jimmy, on the other hand, earned his private pilot’s license when he was 17 and later moved from Maryland to Florida to attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, which is where he discovered skydiving. It was at Embry-Riddle that Jimmy met Sara’s dad (who also works in the aviation industry), nearly a decade before Jimmy and Sara met. In that time, Jimmy also met and got to know Sara’s stepfather, who was one of Skydive DeLand’s jump pilots.
After their first date (dinner at Oudom’s in downtown DeLand), for their second date Jimmy offered to fly the two of them to Jacksonville for dinner. After an eventful flight (it was an unusually foggy night, which led to a very exciting landing!), they both knew this relationship was something special. Aviation has continued to be an important part of their lives, as they both enjoy skydiving and both of their families are in some way connected to the aviation industry. Since the DeLand Airport is where they first crossed paths, it’s an especially meaningful location to them.?
When Courtney and I first met Libby and Scotty for their engagement shoot they said something like, “We don’t like kissy, lovey photos.” Um. OK, I always take lovey photos, so what to do? We just stood back and let these two be themselves and do whatever they wanted. I don’t think I have laughed this hard at a shoot in a while – they had their own great ideas, props and costumes – we loved it and had so much fun.
Thank you for amazing styling Courtney Ford Event Design and wardrobe by Cam from Dressed Boutique.
I asked them how they met. This is what they wrote:
Our fairytale is a little unorthodox, but it has made for one amazing ride so far! We can wait to see where it takes us next. Thanks to Kelly and Courtney, we had an amazing shoot where we felt free to be ourselves and have lots of fun as always!!!
It was a cold and windy night in the small village known as New Smyrna Beach when The Beauty and the Beast came to meet. She, in her red blouse with wavy blonde locks and him barefoot and older. Thanks to a mutual friend named BJ and a common musical interest in Jim James, they both decided to swim in the same river for awhile. There sure were some big rocks on that rough whitewater, but they finally crawled into a sturdy boat on some smoother, calmer water and decided to make the bond permanent. Knowing full well it’ll get rough again, as long as they have each others back and don’t forget the paddle, they can navigate any rough course…
Engagement Portraits in Deland FL | The Canovas Photography