The Root Photography Blog

The Roots Take on the Disney Dream May 2019

September 12, 2019 by Jensey Leave a Comment

Sometimes we go years without a Disney Cruise wedding but this year we got lucky- TWO cruise weddings within 4 months!

In May, Ollie was at the peak of his Peter Pan obsession, but we definitely boarded with a lost boy and left with a PIRATE! He’s truly obsessed with all things Hook, Smee, and pirate related- This is him looking hard for pirate ships (or “potty chips” in Ollie-ese) on pirate night in a little outfit I snagged on Amazon!

He. Does. This. Every. Where.

One of my favorite memories of our trip was just snuggling in bed and watching Peter Pan every night before bed. <3

Ollie’s definitely been fur character phobic for the past year, so I was SHOCKED when he buddied right up to Pluto!! They dug for shells together and everything. Ollie’s definitely a dog person, so I think we need more visits with this pup asap!

Goofy, on the other hand… COMPLETELY different story!! Oliver nervously walked up to him, Goofy took that as a sign to grab his hand an walk him away from me…

… BIG mistake. HUGE. lol :)

Just the most picture perfect, gorgeous weather, empty beach for Ollie’s first blissful visit to Castaway Cay!!

Juuuust kidding. 100º and PACKED! :)

We were secretly happy he takes after us- Not a beach kid (for now!)

This was his face the rest of our time on Castaway!

Not the best photo of myself, but maybe the most “Mom” photo I’ve taken yet. This was the moment Ollie became obsessed with the alarm buttons on elevators!!! He’s so sneaky and will hit them every. damn. time. if we’re not paying close attention!!

He loves finding Nemo!!

You might remember his first reaction to the splash pad 4 months before– TOTALLY different game on this visit! But as of this summer, he hates them again! Oh, toddlers. ;)

I couldn’t believe our luck- A friend of mine from high school was on the same cruise with her gorgeous kiddos!! We made them take some family photos on Deck 4!! :)

And her husband Chad took one of my favorite photos of us ever! :)

Look. At. Our. Pirate!!!

Vacation Ollie really is the best Ollie. <3

You also may remember from our last cruise that Ollie thinks every photo of Walt is Nate. This stuck, thank goodness!! :)

Disney Cruise Line, we love you!!! And Ace and Michael, thank you for bringing us aboard!!! <3

Mari + Kris : Luau Pointe Wedding at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

September 3, 2019 by Jensey Leave a Comment

Mari first contacted me on Instagram about possibly shooting a cake smash session for her daughter.

Her email thread to Nate is my favorite- Going from a potential cake smash session in May, to no- let’s do a family session in August! But let’s get wedding pricing info just in case. And then finally, hey- Let’s just do this wedding thing early- Are you free for that instead? ;)

I am *so* happy Mari and Kris found us and that Nate got to shoot the most lovely, intimate wedding at Luau Pointe at Disney’s Polynesian Resort. It was the first wedding we’d photographed there and just seeing the photos is (almost) enough to make this snowy-mountain-loving-girl consider throwing on a lei and having a vow renewal under this majestic tree!!

You know how much I loooooove when our couples get ready together!!

Love this photo Nate took of their daughter’s wedding day ensemble. <3

Getting their little ready! <3

Mari was channeling ALL the Moana vibes and I’m here for it!!

Ummm how to spot our ideal bride? Mari took a tiny stumble during her walk down the aisle and was allllll giggles about it! <3

Look. At. This. Venue. Y’all! <3

Looooove this family portrait!!! :)

Remember the scene in Moana with the Kakamora?! LOOK AT THEM ON THIS CAAAAAAKE!!!! AHHHHHH! <3 <3 <3

Mari and Kris, thank you for letting Nate be a part of your day!! He had so much fun!! :)

Alex + Rachel : Surprise Proposal at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort

August 10, 2019 by Jensey Leave a Comment

It’s so rare we get to photograph proposals- And I got to help *plan* this one, too!!! :)

Alex is my best friend’s little brother. He’s an *incredible* music composer and lyricist currently living in New York (you can check out his work here, but *my* favorite is “Hey There,” a song he wrote for Veronica when she was pregnant with Scarlett!)

I’ve only met Rachel once but she’s basically one of those rare women that are just as beautiful on the outside as they are on the inside and I basically want to be her best friend. <3

It’s been my goal this year to cement a place for myself in Veronica’s family, so when Veronica mentioned Alex wanted to propose to his stunning girlfriend, I couldn’t help but immediately blurt out that I wanted to photograph it!! Veronica was helping to plan the proposal so naturally I ~~jumped in and offered my help~~ took over the situation! ;) Veronica and I came up with the ruse (that began in truth like most good ruses) that she would invite her family to take photos during her daughter’s 6 month old photo shoot. That way there’s no way it’d be weird for me and Nate to be there with cameras and we could sneakily pick a photogenic spot for the proposal to take place! Veronica made sure to “insist” Rachel be dressed up for the photo session and even convinced her to get a manicure!

We scouted out the week before to find somewhere that family could look on without being spotted (Alex was amazing and arranged for Rachel’s parents to be there- She had noooo idea!) So after we took photos of Alice, Alex arrived with his parents and his girlfriend. Veronica was feeding Alice a bottle and casually mentioned that we should take them out for a few couple photos while they wait. :)

We brought them to our favorite patio and the family secretly watched from the windows behind us. I started off with some simple portraits while I gave everyone time to shuffle in! Once I got the thumbs up, I told Alex to tell Rachel how much he loves her hoping and praying he’d take the hint that it was time to take a knee! The message was received and *I* think it went absolutely perfectly- Rachel had no idea it was coming! :)

Starting off with my favorite photo of them, which happens to be in their last few seconds of ever being girlfriend and boyfriend. <3