Rising Lotus Photography by Marilyn

06/13/2026

Choosing your wedding photographer has gotten a lot harder with AI. People are actually using AI generated images for their portfolios! Very SCAMMY! These are people without the experience of wedding timelines, without the technical knowledge to capture with ever changing light and without a REAL portfolio. GULP. I have put together a list of things to look for to help couples be discerning.

Ocala Wedding Photographer gives tips on how to spot AI generated wedding photos and advice on what to consider before you hire a wedding photographer.

06/09/2026

YES! The answer is absolutely; I photograph bo***ir! (couples bo***ir, maternity bo***ir, outdoor bo***ir) I choose not to share a lot of my bo***ir work because I believe the whole purpose is to empower my client. MOST of my bo***ir clients are professionals and/or are gifting the session to their partner. Thus, I honor the privacy of my clients even when I have permission; I will share a few but only if it maintains the empowerment for my client. And most of the time it's in a private gallery to another client interested in a session.

And believe me, the photographs are smoking, artistic and very sexy. I could get some serious click action posting. But I do what I do for my clients and women's empowerment means the world to me.

***irphotographer
***irphotographer

06/09/2026

Let's create some magic. LOVE Nasser and Fakhri together. The way Nasser took care of Fakhri the whole day was truly heartwarming. The love these two have for each other is magnetic.

Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club

06/09/2026

Pride and Prejudice but modern, ethereal and editorial.

Part of what I love doing is understanding the inspiration of my couples and working on their custom wedding aesthetic to match their artistic aspirations. I always go into the process with the light of the day, the venue space and the skin tones of my couple. Then I work on a custom edit that honors their inspiration, sprinkles a little of the Rising Lotus magic but keep the whole collection in mind. What works with the formal portraits? What captures the essence of the celebration? What in 30 years will still be a beautiful photograph and not just a trendy edit? It can take me a few days of editing specific for the aesthetic and sometimes I'll edit the same image 10 times in 4 various programs and repeat across various lighting situation throughout the day for a cohesive look. I'm not slapping on a filter and calling it a day. Every photograph. Every moment capture gets my attention.

I say this because we are in the era of ai, fast and furious demands. If a couple wants a turnaround of a week or two, I'm not your photographer. Which is ok. There are plenty of great photographers that have a different workflow. I built my company on "couture" .... from timeline development to shooting to editing. AND this takes time.

This past spring wedding season we turned away weddings. Not because the date was booked but because we refuse to compromise the postproduction of our work for the clients already in our calendar. That's how important our couples are to us. We turn away money because we honor our word.

Nasser and Fakhri wanted an edit that was timeless, editorial with a vintage twist. A lot of "vintage edits" are shots with filters thrown over. For me the skin tones always get me. I want my subjects to be luminous regardless of the edit. They also like a slightly golden tint with true to color but deeper greens. A little desaturated and the "film haze". Which I've had expired film or pushed my settings too much on my medium format film camera so I'm familiar with how it actually processes. See details are still distinctive... so I combine about three different programs to replicate the look of expired porta 160 film. (porta 160 gives a slightly brown golden hue, desaturates the color and brings greens to a darker earthy color with hints of blue.) All of this from a consultation call, inspo pics and listening to them during my time with them. AND yes I kept saying.... "you like grain... right?) Because a little noise can give a grainy pop to the image.

06/09/2026

"We like grainy and artsy".

I got you!

Not with editing apps, ai manipulation and bumping up grain in post but utilizing blue hour, raised ISO and long exposures to capture your aesthetic in camera.

06/09/2026

Ohhhhh here come the tears. My couples are so beautiful. So caring. So trusting. They bring light to my life and always know how to make me cry. Nothing feels better than being seen and appreciated 😭🫶🤗

06/09/2026

Wishing Nasser and Fakhri the most amazing marriage! Such an honor to capture your wedding celebration.

Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club
Destiny Horse & Carriage and Special Events

06/09/2026

Those moments at the end of the night.

Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club

06/07/2026

Wedding venue secret: What no one will tell you about Central Forida Wedding venues from international published award winning couture wedding photographer. Buckle up!

Wedding Venue Budget Hack top wedding venues in Ocala and Central Florida aesthetically gorgeous and far less than their big city counterparts

06/05/2026

This past spring wedding season was truly epic. Beautiful weddings! Amazing couples! Jeremy and I are working so hard (lots of late nights) to produce wedding previews, rush edit requests and complete wedding collections/Films. We are on schedule!

We are a couture wedding team and complete all of our editing in house. We believe our couples hire us for our attention to detail, our artistry, our storytelling and the magic we create in post-production. We don't hire outside editors that were not at the wedding day; who don't know the moments or intention behind the capture. We don't use AI for blanket editing or curation. We believe the technology isn't better than our skills and misses moments and doesn't provide the artistry. Currently we are on schedule with all deliveries, I will be sending updates to all our couples as we work.

It's important for us to extend the care we provide into the editing process to deliver the best possible collection that is meaningful, emotional and timeless. We appreciate each and every couple! We can't WAIT to get these collections and films to our couples! So much magic coming to this page! We will work ourselves cross eyed because we believe our couples deserve OUR best! Love our couples truly and it's an honor to do this work.