Friendly Fire

The annual "tree burning" event hosted by friend and musician, Greg Lovell, happened over the weekend. Each year everyone saves their Christmas tree to donate for this event. Have you ever seen a pine tree burn in a fire in Southern Florida? Well let's just say that no gasoline is needed to instantly create a dramatic ball of flame! It's quite a sight and I thought I'd share a couple images. It was especially fun as I finally got to meet two of the three babies from the Invisible Music triple maternity shoot. Hope to meet the third soon, as he and his family have been at the top of my well-wishes.


Penelope with mom, Tiffany.


Frankie slept soundly the whole party. I think she took comfort in knowing she had Bob and Buddah by her side.


1. The grand finale! Luckily no shed siding was melted, unlike during last year's event.
2. Most appropirately, the AC/DC "Bonfire" poster hangs in Greg's shed.
3. Trees waiting for their turn. Light trails create a burn effect by a slow shutter speed, and pan of the camera.
4. The Jezek family inside. A safe distance from the fire. :)


Liam poses next to the fire. Ben (at distance)

This may be the last of this event as Greg plans to sell this property soon. Although, there were talks of hosting this event next year. Hopefully the new owners agree, as it could be seen as a hostile action to have 40 random people show up in your backyard to make a 20 foot fire, eat pizza, and watch The Big Lebowski, quoting the movie dude for dude.

South Florida Music Photographer: of Montreal at Revolution 01/14/11

Here are just a few photos from my night that didn't make it into the NEW TIMES Slideshow. I'll be sure to add more later!! Plus a story about how I first discovered of Montreal's music....


Live at Revolution in Ft Lauderdale. All Images Originally shot for Broward Palm Beach NEW TIMES

The of Montreal passes got stuck in the snow and couldn't be delivered to Sunny South Florida in time for the show, so we got whatever random passes were laying around. The band got "New Found Glory" and I got the "Micheal Franti" sticker shown in the photo below:

Self-Portrait: Image Originally Photographed for Broward-Palm Beach New Times.


Portrait of Davey. Image Originally Photographed for Broward-Palm Beach New Times.

After the of Montreal show, I stopped at Dada's in Delray Beach as I was bummed I couldn't make it to the Grey and Orange and John Ralston show. Luckily there's a great review of it here.
Also despite the time, approx. 2am, I still got a chance to see some of my favorite hometown heros. (I especially love in this photo that Greg looks as tired as I was feeling at that moment.) It was also great to see Steven Copeletti make the trip "Up North" for the show.


L to R: Steev Rullman, Dan Bonebrake, Greg Lovell, Jesse Dalton.



A very special thanks to John Ralston for filling in my cd collection of some really amazing music!! This gift may even compete with the mangos...

5th Annual Yoga Day USA: January 22, 2011

This is an amazing yoga event for practitioners of all levels. Plus, it's FREE! Click here to learn more.

See you there...after I get done teaching at BGI-South, of course!

2010: Through my Lens

So here's what I was putting together that I didn't want to rush. I hope you like & ENJOY!



What a range of subjects! People and their stories intrigue me, as well as music and nature. So what kind of photographer am I? A GOOD one, I'd hope you'd say!

This has been a very special year both personally and professionally. I got married, and photographed many lovely couples getting married including some very close friends! I've said before, I'm so lucky that I get to celebrate my love of photography by photographing those who are in love!

I did my first printed interviews with CityLink Magazine, and New Times. I began freelancing with Broward-Palm Beach New Times.

I met some amazing people along the way and am already busy with projects to make this year even more fulfilling (is that possible?!)

Thank you for you support!

In Love and Gratitude,

Monica