Every year after shooting the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, I always feel a slight itch to play some Texas hold ‘em. Of course, I’m not big into gambling, but I’m sure it would be exciting to play against some of these poker pros. Among some well known faces were Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu, Ray Romano, Jennifer Tilly, and our friends Evelyn Ng and Amanda Musumeci from Bodog.

The new trendsetters in poker have really revived the game’s popularity. Many fans are under the impression that poker is all about living the high life, since some pros have taken home six figure winnings in just one day. However, a conversation with one pro poker player told me that the stakes can be quite high. It’s not just about calling bluffs and having a good poker face – there is a bit of strategy involved. Sometimes it’s simply knowing when to quit. That said, there is a certain amount of adrenaline involved and it’s what keeps the players coming back.

WSOP 2010 took place at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. As an event photographer, it was a fun event to document because the energy was high, and this year, so was the security. Normally I would have been issued an all-access media pass to photograph the players during tournaments. Unfortunately  this time the number of passes were drastically limited due to heightened  security after the poker heist in Berlin.

That left me with the difficult job of trying to capture close-up shots of players from behind the ropes. It was a challenge, but it also forced me to come up with creative solutions to get the shots I needed. Most of the time it was about patience – finding the right angles and waiting for crowds of people to separate.

I enjoyed shooting the World Series of Poker this year as well as the challenges it presented. It was great meeting some of world’s top poker players. I look forward to watching the final table this November and seeing who takes the bracelet.

Corey and Simone are from Chicago and came to Las Vegas for an intimate wedding at the JW Marriott Resort in Summerlin. Their wedding took place in the beautiful lodge garden, one of the Marriott’s amazing private venues. It was a simple, romantic affair and every detail of the wedding was perfectly planned leaving a big impression on all of the guests.

The bride wore a stunning lace dress accented with a bouquet of purple, lavender, and orange flowers. Her bridesmaids wore elegant, modern black dresses and carried bouquets of hot pink and orange flowers which added a colorful pop to the wedding.

As the bride’s father said, Corey and Simone are lucky to have found each other. They make such a wonderful couple – it was great seeing how happy they make each other and how deeply in love they are. He is attentive and caring with a great sense of humor while she is sweet and supportive. The wedding day was really a dream come true for both of them.

The guys wanted a cool, serious group photo but had a hard time keeping straight faces. Every time they all got serious, someone would crack a joke and everyone would burst out laughing. It was hilarious! The result was a series of fun photos that showed off their true personalities.

The cake was absolutely beautiful – almost too pretty to eat!

I really had a fantastic time working with Corey and Simone as well as their friends and family. They were such a nice, friendly and relaxed group of people. Everyone was having a great time and happy to be a part of the wedding. We were glad to hear that everyone loved the photos!

What an amazing and crazy couple James and Danielle were! They contacted us earlier this year about photographing their wedding and then decided to have their engagement photos done as well. We are so glad they did because we love engagement sessions and the photos turned out phenomenal!

I can tell you that things never get boring when these two are around. They are full of energy and kept me laughing the entire time with their offbeat sense of humor. We created so many creative, interesting shots in just a few hours. Here are a few of our favorite images from the session. Stay tuned for more!

Here’s a quick preview of a wedding we just shot over the 4th of July weekend. Stephanie and Jason hosted a fun, relaxed event which they shared with 50 of their favorite people. We’re just glad we could be a part of it! The couple rented an Excursion limo to transport their guests and wedding party to the Las Vegas strip where we captured these colorful images. The wedding party looked stunning in their Independence Day colors.

Congratulations Stephanie and Jason – thanks for sharing your day with us. Enjoy your first holiday as a married couple!

Happy 4th of July to everyone! Have fun, and please be safe with those sparklers.

Here are several photos from our engagement photo shoot with Marc and Venice last week. They are such a cute and fun couple, not to mention extremely pleasant to work with. Once things got rolling, we completely lost track of time. When the sun began to set, we realized that hours had passed by. I could have continued to photograph for a few hours more.

I definitely look forward to capturing their wedding in December. Their wedding ceremony will take place at a local church here in Las Vegas. I have always enjoyed photographing church buildings because they are such beautiful structures. I especially love old church buildings – there is something so tranquil and inspiring about them.

It wasn’t hard to tell that these two are a perfect pair. On a few occasions I took a step back in order to capture them  interacting naturally with each other. Before wrapping up, I caught them chatting intimately by the water. The lighting was gorgeous so I took a few shots creating the beautiful images below.

After seeing a slideshow of the engagement photos, Venice sent us this kind note:

“John,

It was really hard to pick our favorite photos because there were so many favorites to choose from! It had both my mom and I in tears! We will be using one of these pictures for our save the dates.

-Venice & Marc”

Thanks Marc, Venice, and “mom” for the wonderful compliments. You guys are fantastic and I’m sure your guests will love those save the dates!

Check out this promo slideshow of some of our favorite Las Vegas weddings from 2009-2010.

JMP Promo Video from John Morris Photography on Vimeo.

Abbie and Kyle came to Las Vegas from the Midwest to have a fun and intimate summer wedding. They were referred to us by their friends and our former clients who were married here last year. It’s always such a compliment when clients are so happy with our work that they tell all their friends about us.

After seeing the romantic, lifestyle images we took of their friends in Downtown Las Vegas, Abbie and Kyle fell in love with our photography. They wanted to do something similar, so right after their wedding ceremony we took them to Fremont Street where we had a great time capturing beautiful, artistic images of the newly married couple.

Their fun and colorful attire matched their charming personalities. The bride’s choice of a cute, short wedding dress was ideal for a summer wedding. It even had pockets – talk about stylish and practical. The splash of orange in her shoes and the groom’s shirt tied everything together nicely, although it did help that these two are a pretty good looking pair.

We wrapped up the shoot right after sunset, just in time to give the couple a mini tour of The Strip. It’s fun watching how people react to all the sights and sounds of Vegas. It can be quite overwhelming, especially if it’s your first time to the city. Having lived and worked here for years, I sometimes forget what an exciting city Las Vegas is.

For our visiting couple, there was so much to see and do that they couldn’t fit it all into one trip. Of course, we were more than happy to give them suggestions on what was worth seeing and what to avoid. As long as they took our advice, I’m sure they had a great time. Abbie and Kyle, thanks for being so wonderful to work with. We hope to see you back in Vegas again soon.

Finally found a good, old fashioned donut shop in town. Ronald’s Donuts are fluffy, fresh, and delicious. How can anyone resist that? The shop is located in an unassuming strip mall on Spring Mountain Road near Chinatown. I’ve probably driven past it dozens of times, but never thought to stop there until one day, I found myself on a quest to find an old fashioned donut. After being disappointed with several chain stores, I nearly gave up when a friend tipped me off about Ronald’s. What really sold me is the fact that they offer a selection of vegan donuts. It may not sound too appealing, but I doubt if most could even tell the difference. Believe me – I’m glad I tried it. Ronald’s reminds me of Winchell’s back when donut shops were popular. They also have some of the best donut holes for $1 per dozen. If you’re visiting Las Vegas and are in the mood for some fresh, traditional donuts with vegan options, this place is definitely worth the five minute drive from the Strip.

Last week we spent two days shooting poker stars Evelyn Ng and Amanda Musumeci for a Bodog promo. The theme of the shoot was lifestyle with a cinematic Vegas feel. Although coordinating a full production on a tight schedule was challenging, my commercial photography experience has taught me to always be prepared for the unexpected. It can be a challenge to meet the varying, sometimes conflicting needs of clients, models, art directors, etc. As a photographer, you are often expected to execute specific ideas under difficult situations even when you don’t get to call the shots. It’s not always an easy job but I guess that’s one reason why I enjoy it.

Luckily, we had a fantastic team that made everything go as smoothly as possible. Emily from Bodog was a huge help in arranging all the details and was great with the models. Our fabulous makeup artist Megan from Makeup in the 702 made the girls look absolutely stunning and did a wonderful job coordinating all the outfits. With such a great team, the shoot turned out perfectly and we got tons of killer images.

The photo shoot took place over several locations starting off in-studio and later moving to a very cool poker themed room inside the luxurious Panorama Towers Las Vegas. We had planned to wrap up downtown with the city lights as a background, but due to weather conditions and time restraints we ended up scrapping that idea. However, Evelyn was nice enough to offer the crew access to her amazing high rise condo to use as a set. The incredible 360 degree view of the Las Vegas strip from her balcony made a fantastic backdrop. Needless to say, everything turned out better than we had originally planned.

The girls were an absolute pleasure to work with and it was a blast capturing each of their unique personalities. Evelyn, one of the world’s top established female poker players, was very sweet, patient, and incredibly down to earth. Amanda, the newest addition to the Bodog team, kept things fun and lively with her energetic personality. Check out her featured article with photos from the shoot here: Amanda Musumeci on WomanPokerPlayer.com.

It’s not every day you run into a couple like Mistie and Tyler. They are the local talents behind Knight Magic, an illusion show here in Las Vegas that also travels to many other parts of the world including England, Spain, and Costa Rica, to name a few places. Mistie is also a former Miss Nevada and Miss Las Vegas.

When I met them for the first time last year, I noticed that there was a strong connection between them. I shoot a lot of weddings and these two really seem to have something special. They first met on a cruise and fell in love, and two years ago got engaged. They are quite an interesting pair – stunning, fun, and very down to earth. As the best man said, for stage performers, they are completely unpretentious, not high maintenance at all. Who would have guessed? And as you might imagine, they’re naturals in front of the camera.

A lot of times grooms (and sometimes brides) can get tense posing for photos because they’re not used to being in front of the camera. It’s my job to get them to relax and look great in their photos. Obviously this wasn’t the case with Tyler and Mistie who were game for just about anything. (See their awesome engagement photos below). As a photographer I had a great time capturing both the fun, posed images and the natural, unposed candids that they probably don’t get to see of themselves very often.

Their wedding took place at the Las Vegas Paiute Golf Club Resort, a beautiful venue with mountain views and a lake as the backdrop. Although the setting was perfect, not everything seemed like it would go off perfectly. Spring is mostly a good time of year in Vegas, but April weather can be a bit temperamental. About an hour before the outdoor ceremony began, the winds picked up to about 35 mph (read: very windy in an open space). If it had gotten any worse, the wedding might have been relocated indoors. Fortunately, just as the ceremony was about to start, the weather suddenly calmed down and everything went off without a hitch.

Below is an image from Mistie and Tyler’s engagement session a few months ago. They wanted something unique that would show off their personality and style, so we went for a shot of “the cards” which turned out amazing. It was also a hit with their friends and fans. After all, who doesn’t love a little card magic?