View the trailer for our latest destination wedding video here: Anish & Niti

Ashley's Dream Wedding - Gary masters

From what was said, when Jean-Claude met Ashley, she was really not that into him. Yet, as they say, "faint heart never won fair maiden" and so on Sunday they were both wed in in a fabulous affair atop Cherry Gardens in St. Andrew Jamaica. A garden wedding like none I have seen in recent memory, the guests, who were seated on crystal chairs, were treated to beautiful music provided by the resident violinist and saxophonist in a setting created by the amazing Maureen Capleton. The menu, I am not ashamed to say, included items to which I had hitherto never been exposed and I was extremely happy I had my wife to explain as we went along the buffet line.To wit: Fatoosh, Hummus, Babaganoush, Stuffed Grape Leaves, Kalama Olives, Tempura shrimp, Calaloo and cream Strudel, Coconut Basmani Rice, Smoked Marlin Ravioli Alfredo etc. What more can I add: The bride was stunning, the groom was stunned, and as they say, the rest is history. They wed, they danced, they threw away the bouquet and the garter and they headed off on their honeymoon. We wish you all the best guys!

Wedding Styles 2013

Came across these wedding dresses while browsing the internet recently. Let me know what you think!

Jamaican Urban wedding shot-Gary Masters

I have been shooting weddings for a long time and one thing I've learned is to never say I've seen it all. From a lady standing up in church with objections to the couple getting married, to a drunk father of the bride, to a couple calling off their wedding on the day of the wedding, I have seen a lot of interesting and strange things. I got a request from the groom at my last wedding that I have never had in my over twenty years of shooting weddings; he wanted wedding shots in the middle of the busy Half Way Tree intersection, without diverting traffic! No problem, it wasn't easy, but we got it done.My wife kept a lookout for the police while I monitored the traffic.(I mixed black & white with colour for this shot) As usual, my wife and I enjoyed working with Mamaleta and O'neil and look forward to our next wedding.

Jamaican Wedding Photography special package

Jamaican Residents limited time special - wedding photography coverage with unlimited high-resolution images downloaded to your jump-drive(average 250-800 images depending on event) $30,000.00

For availability and booking information send us an e-mail with the details of your wedding using the contact page on our website: www.mastersweddings.com

Travelling costs may be added for some locations.

BLACK FRIDAY 2012 SAVINGS

Greetings! We are really giving it away this year! These special packages must be booked on Friday November 23, 2012, actual wedding date must be before January 2014(Gives you one whole year!) 

Video and photography coverage of your wedding ceremony and reception, giving you an edited and authored DVD with your choice of background music added, 100 photographs in a wedding album along with their digital images will cost, can you believe it? J$50,000.00.($45K if we really like your venue)

Photography Coverage: 100 photographs in a wedding album plus their digital files J$30,000.00

Wedding Videography: J$30,000.00

All coverage will be at our usual high standards, the quality has not been reduced, only our rates. tell all about this time-sensitive offer!

Visit our website or call me on (876) 999-3389 (as usual, conditions apply, including travelling fees to some destinations)

A few shots from recent weddings. My brides are just so awesome its unbelievable. I loved working with all these couples and wish to continue doing this for the rest of my life!

Each couple has their unique story, but they all have one thing in common. What do you think that is?

After Sandy

Greetings!
Too busy to shoot pics of Sandy's aftermath. in Kingston it was mainly downed trees and power lines. My neighbour's Ackee Tree broke and fell into my backyard tearing down my clothesline, but that was about the extent of my damage. some feared much worse. I'm back to work making up for lost time and income, currently shooting images for an annual report of one of my larger clients. Hope all is well with you too. May your plans, dreams and aspirations come true.

Until next time...

Hurricane Sandy-From Havendale in Kingston Jamaica

12:38PM in the afternoon. Seems the storm has reached us. Electricity is flashing on and off. Breeze has picked up. Rain is still light though.

And now we wait...

Just when we thought we had escaped the hurricane season unscathed, along comes Sandy. Now we wait. I'm actually feverishly editing video as I expect electricity to go as soon as the storm makes landfall, which is expected sometime this afternoon. all is quiet now with just some light rain. I hope all my brides and their families are safe and dry. Of course i had been booked for an all day shoot today, which was cancelled. shoots for Friday, Saturday and Sunday have also been cancelled. C'est La Vie!

Until later, stay safe. Remember to browse our new corporate website www.mastersvisuals.com

Greetings All!
Trying to clear the majority of my work between today and tomorrow. Both Dad and Mom are scheduled for surgery later this week. Really great parents, I am eternally grateful for all they have taught and done for me. Hope I can be even half as good for my kids as my Dad was for me. Hope all goes well. I'll keep you posted.

Fantastic Friday

I finished working at about 2:30 this morning, slept and was up at about 6:30 to carry kids to school. Met very little traffic on the road. At the gym someone was on my favourite treadmill but got off within two minutes of my arrival. Got back into office to find that I had more money in the bank than I thought(still could do with more). A shoot I was hesitant about doing was rescheduled by the client due to unfavourable weather, and I found some money I had put down and forgotten about. I then remembered that a client had called about 2 days ago to tell me a cheque was ready for collection. Can this please continue...

Just checking in

Greetings all!
Do not ship your equipment into Jamaica if you can avoid doing so. Both customs and the shipping company will take an unnecessary and large bite out of your wallet. After shipping in a camera recently, I decided to buy a ticket and fly to the USA myself to buy and import another one and found that the plane fare was cheaper than the shipping company! Not to mention the customs duty! Personally I feel the duty structure is crooked at best. How can you charge me GCT, (at a rate of 21%, I didn't even know they had a 21%GCT rate) on an item I bought in another country, where I already paid their 7% sales tax and THEN calculate customs duty on the inflated price? Dishonest is the only word I can apply to that.

Constructing a new corporate website to be launched next week: www.mastersvisuals.com. My clients keep telling me I need to increase my web presence, so I'm trying to carve out some time for this. I'm back at the gym, after a one year break(wow, time flies). Started this week.

Not sure if I mentioned it, but both Jonathan and Stephanie were top boy and top girl in their respective classes last year. We now have a trophy case for all their academic awards and medals. They are fantastic children.(if I may say so myself) I think any parent would be happy to have children like Jonathan and Stephanie. I love them dearly.

The office remake is coming along slowly but surely, got a new credenza, upgraded cameras and updated my version of Quickbooks. Keeping my desk tidy is still a challenge, but its looking much better these days.

I'll post some shots from recent weddings soon.
All the best.

I'm back>>>

My blogging and tweeting have fallen flat due to many factors, mainly the amount of work I have to get through daily. I am making no new promises, but you will see:)

The Little Things...

I saw this on another blog and thought it was really touching. Please read on, especially if you are already married:

“When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I’ve got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.

Suddenly I didn’t know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly. She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why?

I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn’t talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. I didn’t love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn’t have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Jane. When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn’t want anything from me, but needed a month’s notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month’s time and she didn’t want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day. She requested that every day for the month’s duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.

I told Jane about my wife’s divorce conditions. . She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.

My wife and I hadn’t had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mommy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don’t tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn’t looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me. On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn’t tell Jane about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily.

Suddenly it hit me. she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.

Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it’s time to carry mom out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn’t noticed that our life lacked intimacy. I drove to office.. jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind.I walked upstairs. Jane opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Jane, I do not want the divorce anymore.

She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Jane, I said, I won’t divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn’t value the details of our lives, not because we didn’t love each other anymore. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart. Jane seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away. At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I’ll carry you out every morning until death do us apart.

That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed -dead. My wife had been fighting CANCER for months and I was so busy with Jane to even notice. She knew that she would die soon and she wanted to save me from the whatever negative reaction from our son, in case we push through with the divorce.- At least, in the eyes of our son— I’m a loving husband..

The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves.

So find time to be your spouse’s friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!

Wedding Photography and Video in Jamaica - Slow Season Deals!

WEDDING COVERAGE SPECIAL DEAL: Jamaican Residents, January & February Weddings only! - Video and photography package J$60,000.00! Non Residents U$1,000.00! Travelling fees apply for some venues. Contact us through our website.

Black Friday Special Wedding Package Deals

Greetings!
Destination Weddings in Kingston, Ocho Rios or Montego Bay Jamaica - U$1,500.00 includes video and photography coverage.

Jamaican residents: Contact us for your super-special rates NOW!

RIU Weddings in Jamaica-No more outside vendor fees

We so love covering weddings at the Riu Hotel in Jamaica that we will now save our clients the headache of paying outside vendor fees to have their wedding professionally covered. There are some conditions, but we have come to realize that the huge outside vendor fees charged by some venues have caused some couples to settle for less than fabulous wedding photography and video coverage. We will be adding other hotels such as SANDALS, BREEZES, SAN SOUCI and other venues to this program so ask us about your venue before going with the hotel's photo shop for coverage of your special day.

This is NEW! Spread the word.

RIU Ocho Rios Jamaica Wedding

Tanya and Lee were wed yesterday in beautiful surroundings at RIU Ocho Rios. Tanya and Lee's wedding was planned in six weeks and was executed flawlessly despite the fact that they both live in the USA. We all had a ball and yes we have the pics to prove it! I'm just posting one shot that I particularly love.

BTW: Tanya's Dad is awesome with planning and details. He is the first father-of-the-bride that I have seen so involved in the wedding, hats off to you Mr. Henry!

RIU Ocho Rios is a fantastic place to get married, the grounds are spectacular, the beach awesome and the staff happy and happy to help. I have so enjoyed the weddings I have covered there that I have booked a week-end there for myself and my family.

Just a quick update. Its late and i'm still recovering from video and photography coverage of a week long series of events for one of my large corporate clients which ended last night.

Life is generally busy. the recession seems to be fading (note I said seems to be). My wife and the children are great and my brides are happy. For now, all seems right with my world. the future is bright and I have lost weight as planned. More wedding postings to come soon. (I hope)

I will need to tell all about Suzanne's wedding. She is just an amazing person who made an amazing entrance to her wedding and stunned her groom!