Portrait

Candid Portrait Session - Bluest Baby Blue Eyes

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Baby Chris during our candid portrait session in Tampa with the bluest of baby blue eyes.

It is usually the case that children are hard to keep in front of when trying to make candid photographs of them.  However, Baby Chris was the most (unknowingly?) cooperative baby boy that I have ever photographed.  As seen in the image above, he seemed almost mesmerized by my Nikkor 105mm VR micro lens.  I am pretty sure he never even blinked!

Having a ball during our candid portrait session in Tampa Florida

Baby Chris took a fancy to a large blue rubber ball, but not enough of one to take his eyes of the alienness of the macro lens I continued to photograph him with.  This allowed me to take my time more and concentrate on photographing his vivid blue eyes.

Baby Chris seems to be pondering the uncertain future of the world.

Eventually, though, Baby Chris started to look off into the distance, perhaps pondering the future, and as many of us have, he seemed to grow wary of such ponderings.  This did not last long though as his mother swooped in to pick him up in her arms.  This immediately cheered Baby Chris back up, so much so that he gave his mom a nice surprise--right on the nose!

 Baby Chris learning how to do the timeless "I got your nose" trick!

Honeymoon Island State Park Candid Portrait Photography - Linda, Jerry, Zach & Kayden

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We had a great candid portrait photography session on a blustery afternoon at Honeymoon Island State Park.

Linda was beginning to think it might be a lost cause, as our first scheduled candid portrait session was called off due to a passing hurricane and this second one was on a day with a 50% chance of showers.  Despite blustery conditions, the weather was very accommodating and we were able to have our portrait session at last.

Soaring through our candid beach photography session was Kayden, a very energetic child.

Besides the weather, the other unpredictable aspect of this session was young Kayden, who did not lack for energy or a desire to run and play in the sea.  In fact, he was so caught up in the beach that he was mostly oblivious to me shooting away.  This is great for my preferred candid style of photography, but also challenging to try and stay enough in front of him to include some of his face in the shots!  He was very quick.

Brothers having fun at the beach during our candid portrait photography session in the relatively warm Florida autumn.

Big brother Zach was great with Kayden, especially as seen above "helping" Kayden cross a large beach puddle.  It is not often I see such affection for a younger brother by an older brother as I did with Zach toward Kayden.  

Nothing like the beach for a natural playing environment for two Florida brothers.

For this shoot I mostly had to concentrate on finding a way to stay in front of the two fast moving brothers and avoid the errant shell throwing of toddler Kayden.  As can be seen above, his brother was not so lucky!

Just a beach portrait of the grandparents enjoying a moment of peace on the seaside.

While the kids attempted to rid their bodies of the sand covering most of their lower halves, I went with grandparents Linda and Jerry to make a portrait of just them amongst the tall beach grass that is so abundant on the beach at Honeymoon Island State Park.

No one was afraid to get a bit sandy in order to make a lasting family portrait that afternoon.

Can you tell who was playing in the sand and who wasn't in the above family portrait?  I had a great time during this candid beach portrait session and actually like very much the dramatic, gray, stormy skies.  Thank you again to Linda and her family for their business.

Candid Florida Family Holiday Portraits

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Candid Florida Family Holiday Portraits promotional poster

SPECIAL CANDID FLORIDA FAMILY PORTRAIT PACKAGE -- $175*

  • 90-minute portrait photography session
  • 25 professionally edited images, including black & whites
  • 1 location with up to 3 people
  • Set of 25 wallet-sized cards with each image on a card
  • secure online gallery for viewing and quick downloading

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DELUXE CANDID FLORIDA FAMILY PORTRAIT PACKAGE -- $325*

  • 3 hour portrait photography session
  • 40 professionally edited images, including black & whites
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  • Set of 40 wallet-sized cards with each image on a card
  • secure online gallery for viewing and quick downloading

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OPTIONS

  • DVD of 25/40 professionally edited images -- $50
  • DVD of all photographs taken (restrictions apply) -- $150
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*prices do not include tax

Performance: Vanessa Cerallo-Wainwright - professional dancer

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Vanessa Cerallo-Wainwright performs at the grand opening of RAW Vibes in Saint Petersburg, Florida.

I met Vanessa Cerallo-Wainwright at the grand opening of RAW Vibes Art and Performance Space.  She gave a dynamic flamenco dance performance that not only gripped the crowd emotionally, but also physically as some members of the crowd could not help themselves from joining Vanessa on stage toward the end of her performance.

The crowd in RAW Vibes watches Vanessa Cerallo-Wainwright's flamenco dance performance.

The art gallery space in RAW Vibes is capable of being quickly transformed into a performance space complete with a small stage.  With a packed house it provides for a very intimate atmosphere between performer and observer.  There was hardly any space for me to squeeze in to and make these photographs!

 Vanessa changed gears in her performance using a fan and costume twirls.The performance space in RAW Vibes makes for a dramatic setting with its deep red velvet curtain backdrop and high, recessed lighting shining directly down on the performers.  I am becoming a big fan of the red velvet background as it also served well as a backdrop for scary dolls.

I used a combination of flash and non-flash shots to photograph Vanessa's performance. This one of course is using flash.

Starting the week of with a headshot

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On location ( Saint Petersburg) headshot challenging the rules of backlighting with only a SB-600!

I started off my week by making the very short drive to downtown St. Petersburg for a headshot with Pam.  I met her last week at the new member orientation for the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce.  Networking pays off!  She also invited me to an exclusive meeting for select businesses in the area, with the one catch that it's at 7:15am!

Pam was a great headshot client.  She knew how to pose without any coaching from me practically.  I just tried to find good backgrounds within her office and also out in the building's elevated walkways.  For the above shot, I thought I'd try to shoot the opposite way one would normally.  Instead of having the subject face the natural sunlight, I chose to use that light as the background.  

For the shot below, there was this very cool orange wall in Pam's office.  Even though she has red hair, I thought I would again go against the rules and use it as a backdrop for a fun headshot. 

A funky orange wall made for a very season autumn background.