Featuring

The

Photojournalistic

Photography

Work Of

Lauramarie Pepsin

We Are Coastally

pursuing participation

in Florida photography

in a

much more

meaningful way.

I am really looking forward to meeting

all the lovely dedicated,

serious professionals

who I've come to

know and love

on social media.

Here's What I'm Going to Do for You

From the moment we begin, there are no limits.

No limit to what I'm willing to do for you. No limit to the number of shots I'll take. No limit to poses, angles, or time spent finding the ones that feel exactly right. I won't stop until I've captured you — the real you, the way you want to be seen — and until you are genuinely satisfied with what we've created together.

Here's how it works.

We're Going to Talk

Before I ever ask you to pose, we're going to get comfortable with each other. We'll talk. We'll laugh. I'll tell you stories and I'll ask you to tell me yours. What kind of stories do you like? What makes you light up? What makes you laugh until you can't stop?

While we're talking, you'll relax. And when you relax, that's when the magic happens.

This Is a Safe Space

Before we shoot, I want to know a few things that most photographers never think to ask.

Is there a side of your face you prefer? Something about your appearance that makes you self-conscious — your chin, your arms, your smile? A past photo that made you cringe and one that made you say that's me?

Tell me. I won't judge a single word of it. In fact the more you tell me, the better I can work with you — and the more you'll love what you see when the photos come back.

Then We Shoot

I'll start with warm-up shots while you're still settling in — because sometimes the best photos happen before anyone realizes the real session has begun.

When you're ready we'll move into posing — naturally, conversationally, without pressure or rush. I'll guide you the whole way. And I'll keep shooting, keep adjusting, keep trying new angles and new moments until I know I have it.

The real you. The best of you. Captured the way you deserve to be.

I'm going to give you the very best of me — so that together we can bring out the very best of you.

" Why do you need a seven foot umbrella?"

" Can't you just use a phone ?"
NO. I WANT TO USE TWO SLAVES.

TWO BARE BULB BOLTS.

AT LEAST ONE BEAUTY DISH & SIX UMBRELLAS

& A COUPLE OF PHOTO FLOODS.
LUNCH MAY BE COLD & LATE.
THIS IS NOT A RESTAURANT.
IT'S A PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO.

Coastal & Suburban. Town & Country. City & Shore.

I am a woman shaped by many landscapes — and it shows

in everything I photograph.

Today I live along the breathtaking Indian River Lagoon on Florida's Treasure Coast, where I crave the ocean air, river breezes, and beach sand on a daily basis. But I didn't arrive here without a rich and varied geography behind me.

I grew up between worlds — suburban lakes and woodlands, country roads with open sky, and the magnetic pull of the Jersey Shore across every season. Summers on Cape Cod. Autumn in the Adirondacks, where somewhere among the pages of regional magazines, my photography found its first published home. Weekends in the Catskills and the Poconos. The kind of childhood that teaches you to see beauty in wildly different places.

When I first moved to Florida, we lived on the edge of the country — literally. Cows grazed across the street.

Don't Let the Coastal Life Fool You

I may live surrounded by lagoon and sea grass now, but I am equally at home in a city.

For nine years I lived in the heart of the metropolitan Tri-State area — Metro-Newark, New Jersey, with New York City as my backyard. I pounded the pavement of Madison Avenue looking for advertising and graphic design work, spent time in the garment district, and took genuine pride in being a patron of the arts. Most of my life, from childhood onward, was spent soaking up the NYC energy — for dining, entertainment, culture, and work.

My parents grew up in the city before becoming suburbanites. My grandmother never left — and she made the city a living classroom for me from an early age.

My Grandmother's Gift

She was quite the professional diva. A woman of fashion, elegance, and sharp observation, she worked for Lord & Taylor at a glamorous New Jersey location in an era when celebrities, designers, and the wealthy still shopped in person. She had the privilege of working alongside famous models, celebrated designers, and notable names of her day.

From the time I was small, she took me into New York City to do what she did best — watch people. We would sit, walk, shop, go to shows, eat well, and simply observe the magnificent hustle of city life. She taught me that the most important skill an artist can develop is the ability to truly see — people, light, energy, movement, story.

That lesson never left me.

It lives in every photograph I take — whether I'm shooting golden hour on the lagoon, a couple on the beach at Sebastian Inlet, or the electric energy of a city event.

I have always been a student of the world around me. My grandmother made sure of that.

My Big Coastal Move & New Interest

Sooner or later you're going to want to know who I am. So here's the honest version.

I've been a professional photographer on and off for most of my life — with some pretty impressive careers in between. I took it up seriously again in the early 2000s and officially reopened my studio to the public nine years ago.

Wedding photography wasn't always my focus — but it was always in my foundation.

I learned the craft from the inside out. Long before I was shooting weddings, I was working in the photo lab and darkroom, developing film and printing photos for hundreds of weddings, events, and portraits. I learned not just how to take a photo but how to make it accurate, beautiful, and worthy of being called a work of art. I worked alongside photographers, studied their methods, and absorbed everything the industry had to teach me. That was my training ground — and it was thorough.

After a lifetime of experience across many professional fields, I had honestly put weddings behind me. I thought of them as basic training — the foundation, not the destination.

Then something unexpected happened.

How I Found My Way Back

Like any serious professional photographer, I'm always out there — digging deep into the industry, attending webinars, seminars, boot camps, workshops, and trade shows, blogging, educating, mentoring newer photographers, and getting educated myself. Socializing with other photographers and sharing knowledge is simply what I do.

Through that world I connected with a group of wedding photographers who took me under their wing. And I discovered something I genuinely hadn't expected —

Wedding photography is fun. Really, genuinely fun.

I jumped in headfirst. I already had the experience, the technical foundation, and the professional instincts. What I had been missing was this particular joy. I started meeting vendors, attending trade shows, and immersing myself in the wedding community.

Then 2020 hit and the entire industry went quiet.

Like everyone, I spent more time at home than I wanted to. But I used that time well. A photographer I respect once said that the more photos you study, the better photographer you become — so I looked at as many wedding photos as I could get my eyes on. I still do.

Where I Am Today

I came back from that pause sharper, more focused, and more excited about this work than ever.

From client experience to creative vision, from flexible pricing packages to seamless workflow and quality delivery — I bring a level of experience to every shoot that goes far beyond the standard wedding photography checklist.

This isn't where my story starts. But it may be exactly where yours does.

I'm ready to shoot you.

Niching into

different participation in photography.

"Coastal Lifestyle and Commercial Photography for the travel, hospitality, and wedding industries — with a photojournalist's instinct for real moments."

I love wedding photography and commercial photography too.

As a photojournalist I would ultimately like being a lifestyle and experience photographer for people in celebratory life moments with a photojournalist's eye for authenticity to concentrate more on commercial photography within the wedding industry and tandem to everything related to the wedding industry, shooting vacation portrait sessions, honeymoon, sporting & recreation, locations, landscapes, events, entertainment.

I'm aiming for my

Core Market to be The Wedding-Adjacent Ecosystem

Instead of shooting the chaotic 10-hour wedding day,

I want to plug into the entire world around it:

I'm not interested in shooting big weddings on my own. I only want the small ones, at resorts, and the beach ,emotionally intimate — perfect for a photojournalist's eye. Massively growing in popularity. It's not settling, if you have a small wedding. You're positioning into a trend.
Engagement sessions — travel-styled, location-driven
Honeymoon portraits — couples on location, adventurous, editorial
Elopements & micro-weddings — my sweet spot, photojournalistic and intimate
Bridal brand shoots — for dress designers, florists, planners, venues
Wedding venue photography — commercial, used for marketing
Wedding vendor content — caterers, jewelers, hotels, travel companies
I am finding a passion for all the elements of the wedding world and loving fashion as it pertains to the real people wearing fashion in the wedding industry.

This is commercial photography

that lives inside the wedding industry.

I started my own FB group that focuses on everything related to weddings, especially including tourism, travel, restaurants, vacations, destinations, coastal beauty, luxuries, recreation, popular destinations for weddings, vacations, staycations, dates, daytrips, weekenders, special events, beloved occasions.

Life Experience.

Able to shoot in many environments.

More Than a Photographer

You already know I take great photos. But here's what you may not know about the person behind the camera.

I didn't arrive at photography through a straight line. I arrived here through a lifetime of industries, careers, and experiences that most photographers simply don't have — and every single one of them makes me better at this work.

The Beauty Industry

Long before I was photographing weddings and brands, I was inside the beauty world — working in salons, on stage at trade shows and platform events, alongside hair dressers, makeup artists, and model coordinators. I've managed beauty workshops, worked with industry executives, buyers, boutique owners, and designers, and handled the advertising, marketing, and graphic design that brought it all together.

When I photograph a bridal party, a beauty brand, or a modeling session — I already know that world from the inside.

Food, Events, and Hospitality

I've worked in restaurant and hotel management, coordinated banquets and catering, and planned events ranging from intimate gatherings to large trade shows, weddings, and yes — funerals. I understand timelines, logistics, vendors, and the very particular chaos of making a live event run smoothly.

When I show up to photograph your event, I'm not just a photographer hoping things go well. I'm someone who has been behind the scenes of these moments my entire life.

Advertising, Publishing, and Design

I am a published author and music composer. I've worked as a graphic designer and copywriter in advertising, collaborated with printers and publishers, and produced everything from book covers to marketing campaigns. I understand how images are used — in print, in advertising, in branding — because I've been on both sides of that table.

Business, Procurement, and Sales

I spent a significant portion of my professional life in procurement, purchasing, brokering, trading, shipping, and operations management. I've worked with the automotive industry — car shows, dealers, collectors, vendors. I know how to navigate complex business environments, manage relationships, and get things done efficiently.

Eyes for the World, Heart for the People.

What does that mean for you? It means when you hire me for commercial photography, you're not just getting someone who can frame a shot. You're getting someone who understands your industry, your clients, and what your photos need to do for your bottom line.

The Lens of Compassion.

Special Populations and Community.

I have experience working with special needs individuals, youth, and seniors — with patience, care, and genuine respect for every person in front of my lens.

Connected Through the Lens.

I first fell in love with the world through a viewfinder at ten years old. A Polaroid camera taught me how to freeze time. In high school, that love evolved into a treasure hunt, using the lens to scout out scenes I could later bring to life through drawing and painting. In high school, my camera was a quiet companion to my sketchbook, capturing fleeting moments just to translate them into paint and charcoal. I viewed the camera as a bridge to other mediums, rather than the destination. It was only after college that I truly woke up to the depth of the medium. Photography stepped out from the shadow of the canvas, revealing itself as my truest artistic form. I began to see that the photographs didn't need paint to be complete. Today, the camera is no longer my reference tool; it is my voice, my canvas, and my art form.

From Canvas to Coastline

How It All Came Back Together

A Painter’s Eye. A Photographer’s Lens.

"My photography journey came full circle after relocating to Florida. Immersing myself in the state's vibrant landscapes through painting first allowed me to sharpen my visual eye, seamlessly leading me back to the camera to capture that iconic coastal light and scenery."

I studied arts and communications in college and worked as a photographer in my twenties — then spent decades building an extraordinary life across industries that took me far from the camera but never far from creativity.

In 2002 I returned to Central Florida to be with elderly family members — and picked up my camera again. Reconnecting with lifelong relationships and a community that remembered my work, I rebuilt my following as a photographer, artist, and author all over again.

Everything I did in between didn't slow me down. It made me who I am.

I'm not just a photographer with a camera.

I'm a lifetime of experience with a camera.

Despite the daily chores and responsibilities of any job, my focus has always been that of a benevolent and altruistic woman.

A Bigger Vision

Beyond the daily work of running a business, my focus has always been something larger than local.

I am a humanitarian at heart. As an artist, my reach was never meant to stop at the local line — and over time, it didn't.

Through my years in the beauty industry I quietly picked up a celebrity following, and when I returned to Florida in 2002 and began creating again, that world found me once more. My books and music developed an international audience — particularly in India and parts of Africa, where new age music holds a meaningful place in mainstream culture rather than sitting at the edges of it.

For several years my music lived on iTunes, iHeartRadio, Spotify, and more platforms than I can easily count. The response from listeners in India especially was something I hadn't fully anticipated — genuine, warm, and lasting. That kind of connection across oceans and cultures is one of the great quiet joys of my creative life.

Today my books are available on Amazon, and my music is offered freely online — because some things are simply meant to be shared.

You can find the music here: Listen free →

Photo Printing experience. Experience running a photo printing lab.

I have a lot of experience printing photos. In my early photography years and most recently from 2015-2019 I had a fully stocked studio with printers that printed up to 30 inch poster prints. I did custom in house printing. It was expensive and time consuming. My prices were six times what online printers were charging but my clients paid the price for my personal undivided attention. Unfortunately a single person cannot compete with big companies who buy paper and ink in bulk.

This

is how my focus became photojournalism.

This is how my background makes me uniquely qualified.

Age & experience give me really coherent vision and it actually hangs together better than it might seem at first.

I am able to draw completely valid and smart boundaries

And honestly, it makes my business better, not smaller.

Most commercial photographers are technically strong but pose-heavy.

I bring:

Candid, real moments in commercial contexts
Strong instincts for light and timing without controlling every frame
Storytelling — which is what brands actually want

That's genuinely rare in commercial work and worth hiring me.

My new goals for my Business Model include

not only booking individual clients ,but thinking about the beauty of

landscapes, coastal lifestyle imagery for travel, hospitality brands.

Commercial photography of wedding venues, resorts, vendors who need ongoing content.

Destination portrait sessions , vacation, honeymoon, elopement, recreation, sporting.

Editorial photography,custom shoots on location,

travel and lifestyle, celebration and luxury experiences.

Essentially building a boutique content studio with a camera, focused on a world where people are celebrating, traveling, and spending ,capturing the feeling of spending and enjoyment, creating high-value assets for brands or individuals.

Being a premium storyteller rather than just a photographer.

It's not just photography, it's aspiration, identity & authenticity.

Travel brands need authentic, non-stock-looking imagery
Real estate agents selling waterfront properties need aspirational shots
Hotels & resorts need lifestyle content that converts browsers to bookers
Tourism boards need images that tell a regional story
Custom Shoots on Location
The Geographic Sweet Spot
I am perfectly positioned as a destination photographer for a corridor that includes:
Sebastian / Vero Beach (home base)
Melbourne / Space Coast (30 min north)
Stuart / Hutchinson Island (30 min south)
Orlando (2 hours — destination wedding couples flying in)
Couples and families flying into Orlando for a Disney trip often extend to the coast — that's a vacation portrait opportunity for sure.
This is a beautiful, sustainable workflow for someone who wants quality over volume.
The Physical Reality works In my favor. My photojournalism instincts mean I'm not running around repositioning 200 guests or hauling massive lighting rigs. I'm reading moments, working with available light and small groups.
That's a 64-year-old photographer's ideal day — and it produces better, more authentic images than the overproduced big wedding circus anyway. I've essentially designed my ideal photography focus for this season of life. Sustainable, creative, profitable, and on my terms. I have an honest competitive advantage at 64, as a photojournalist, I bring something a 25-year-old simply cannot:
Life experience — couples feel it, trust it, relax around it.
Calm under pressure — I've seen real chaos, a small wedding is nothing.
Storytelling instinct — I'm not just taking photos I'm documenting a moment.
Professionalism — I show up, deliver, and communicate like an adult.
I am sitting in the middle of a genuinely unique geography:
Indian River Lagoon — one of the most biodiverse estuaries in North America, stunning for landscape and wildlife
Sebastian Inlet — iconic for surfing, fishing, boating, watersports
Treasure Coast identity — less saturated than Miami/Palm Beach but drawing serious tourism
Space Coast proximity — Cocoa Beach, Cape Canaveral, Kennedy Space Center to the north
Vero Beach — affluent, arts-oriented market just minutes south
Pelican Island — first National Wildlife Refuge in the US, unique story
Quiet, unspoiled coastal character — exactly what over-produced South Florida imagery lacks
This is distinctive geography — not just another Florida beach town.

This beautiful coastal hub for venues, restaurants, and coastal fun had been a day trip for me on weekends for nine years before I moved here.

This is a popular destination for weddings, vacations, staycations, dates, daytrips, weekenders, special events, beloved occasions.
That says alot about the fact that you can find a lot to enjoy here near the beautiful Sebastian Inlet.
Just minutes away from Vero and Melbourne airports.
Personally I have been to 65 antique & thrift shops and there are many more.
The restaurants are diverse and spectacular everywhere here.
From simple & fast to expensive and particular, there is something for everyone.

Restaurants with great atmosphere and scenery are abundant.

We are coastal.

I speak from East cost experience.

That's why I'm here.

I have the privilege of living in this coastal community.

When I merely go to the Walmart & Dollar Store I take the scenic view road home and pass by the venues and Riverview park, the gorgeous Indian River Lagoon views then I cross the bridge across from the Sebastian Inlet Bridge and savor the ocean breezes.

So we two cousins share a studio now,

my photography expertise & his music expertise,

together in our beautiful newly built home on the coast.

The move.

So it took a year and a half to pack up and move the big house by myself , got all
the preparations for selling the house done, they sold the big house, and I am in the new
house.

I have time to get on social media and network. I have time again to get into
wedding business webinars and getting education.

... Building a new house.

Delayed.

There were building delays and two hurricanes.

ETA was June, then late September .

We were hunkering down for a hurricane.

We had a September hurricane.

That got the whole state delayed doing everything. The store shelves were empty.

There was absolutely no gas at any gas station. Travel was difficult.

Then it was October.

We were finally ready to move into the new house.

I had a rare November hurricane for my birthday!

More Hurricanes. There were more delays.

There were serious injuries. Moving is hard to do.

A lot of R&R needed. During moving, I suffered a very serious left arm tendon rupture which took more than two years to repair with PT and it restored slowly over time. I did not have surgery.

I suffered a hernia like strain which endured a long time and turned out to be more, a critical internal esophageal syndrome with multiple symptoms which I am recovering from in 2026.

Recovery is frustrating since limiting strain is necessary but I want to workout and trying too often results in relapse of symptoms. It's a slow process.

There were family complications.

As of summer 2025, there was still unpacking and reorganizing to do.

We had to get my cousin moved in, long distance.

That was tricky at best.

Time was not on our side.

There was a lot of redecorating.

We have been to every antique store and thrift shop on the coast.

And... most of the restaurants too!

We are finally settled in.

We love our new house.

I am Coastal now.

I am finally in a beautiful coastal community on the Indian River Lagoon.

Once again loving the inlet, ocean air , lagoon breezes and beach sand.

I am ready to get going on my new business in late 2026 .

I am really looking forward to getting out on the road in 2026 and meeting everyone!

It has been a three year

journey

to

relocate.

Studio history.

Member of

The Saint Cloud

Chamber of Commerce 2017 2018

Member of

The Florida Professional

Photographers Association 2017 2018

Studio began online 2010.

I began building the physical studio in my home in 2015 after my mom was diagnosed with
cancer and passed away , only a few months later, suddenly on Christmas eve-eve 2014.
Sunsets were my mom's greatest passion. After grandma passed away, mom and I planned on
starting the studio together, after she was feeling better ,but our plan ended abruptly with her
death. We hoped to bring all the lovely people of Central Florida into our beautiful home
studio to service all their photography needs, and do some traveling too.

Meanwhile, I have enjoyed life in Florida 24 years...

After a long sabbatical 2002-2015 involved with family responsibilities

keeping company with and care of senior family after deaths in family and elderly family death.

The last surviving patriarch of our family, my uncle has passed on to be with his wife, my aunt,
my mom's sister, our grandma, my mom, his sisters, parents and all the many lost loved ones
gone on to heaven. We no longer had the need for the huge house intended to accommodate
several generations of family and all the future generations to come.

The old house will have to carry on to accommodate the generations of someone else's family now.

We moved to the coast.

Lauramarie Pepsin Art Galleries

Lauramarie Pepsin Art Galleries is my legal business name — and it encompasses everything I create. Photography, music composition, painting, and published works. All of it lives under one roof, one name, one artist.

That artist is me.

About the Name

Yes — Lauramarie is one word. All one word. No space.

It confuses people constantly, and I completely understand why. According to AI research, fewer than 14 people in recorded history since the 1800s have carried this name. It's genuinely rare — and I've always loved that about it.

Over the years I've collected quite a few nicknames along the way — Loramar, Larlllmalee, Loramareezee, Lorma-Ree, Lola Cola — because apparently Pepsin wasn't already fun enough on its own. Add in Pepsi, Miss Pepsi, Preppy Peppy, and my personal favorite, Peppy La Pew — and you start to understand the kind of life I've lived.

When I moved to Florida the DMV kindly split my name into two words without asking. So for their sake I capitalize the M — LauraMarie — while the IRS and Social Security still know me by my birth name, Lauramarie, all one word.

I've clarified this so many times that All-One-Word has practically become my middle name.

Lauramarie. One word. All one word. Now you know.

The Work Behind the Name

Photography is at the heart of everything I do — but it has never been the whole story.

I am a lifelong artist. A painter. A music composer. A published author. A storyteller who happens to work in many different mediums depending on what the moment calls for. Every photograph I take carries the same instinct and intention as every painting I've made and every page I've written — a genuine desire to capture something real, something lasting, something beautiful.

My photography work on Florida's Treasure Coast — from intimate beach elopements and personal branding sessions to commercial shoots along the Indian River Lagoon — is simply the latest chapter in a creative life that has never stood still.

Want to know more about the full world of Lauramarie Pepsin Art Galleries?