Portrait

Candid Florida Beach Portraits - Mary and Family

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Are you Florida family portraits this fun? If not reserve yours today!

Yesterday's Deluxe Candid Portrait session with Mary, her husband Nathan, sons Kyle & Avery, and Emily was a whole lot of fun!  They were such an energetic and loving family that it made my job pretty easy.  They were willing to run, splash and frolic, and even walk through a bit of Florida jungle.

Florida family portrait in a great tree in Belleair Bluffs

This was a two location portrait session with the first at a great little waterfront park in Belleair Bluffs.  Besides the water views there were these low-lying, horizontal tree branches that were good for wrapping up Mary's family in for a Robinson Crusoe-ish treehouse portrait.  The above shot is in sepia, my new favorite processing filter for my photographs these days.

Candid Florida family beach portrait on Honeymoon Island State Park

After Belleair Bluffs we drove to Honeymoon Island State Park from some signature candid beach portraits.  The afternoon sun was still high in the sky and strong, so it was a bit of lighting challenge, but my trusty Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm F2.8D lens with a polarizing filter on it was able to tame the sunlight enough.

Some infrared laughs during our candid Florida beach portrait session

For the first time I included an infrared image (above) in the 40 professionally edits photographs included in the Deluxe Candid Portrait package.  I am increasing the variety of images available to my clients now with infrared, sepia, high structure black & white, enhanced tonal contrast and old plate images just to name some.  Often these types of images are in included in addition to the original color image.

The three hours for this portrait session flew by and I made the drive home from Honeymoon Island State Park very much looking forward to seeing the images on my 24-inch monitor at home.  I was so excited in fact that I finished editing all 40 images by late last night!

Thanks very much again to Mary and her family for a very fun and creative afternoon.

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

reserve special candid portrait session

 

DELUXE CANDID FLORIDA FAMILY PORTRAIT PACKAGE -- $325*

  • 3 hour portrait photography session
  • 40 professionally edited images, including black & whites
  • 2 locations with up to 6 people
  • Set of 40 wallet-sized cards with each image on a card
  • secure online gallery for viewing and quick downloading

reserve deluxe candid portrait session

 

OPTIONS

  • DVD of 25/40 professionally edited images -- $50
  • DVD of all photographs taken (restrictions apply) -- $150
  • 30 minutes additional shooting time -- $50
  • 10 additional professionally edited images -- $75
  • Each additional location -- $50
  • Additional 40 wallet-sized cards -- $50
  • An engraved iPod touch with all portrait images -- $300

reserve candid portrait session with options

*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.