Portrait

Family Beach Portraits at Sunset Beach Treasure Island Florida - Demiduk Family

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Watching the sunset as a family on Treasure Island Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left rear & SB-600 to frame right frontOnce again I had the opportunity to photograph a client I already knew as DSLR Photography Lesson student Kristin booked a Family Beach Portrait session for Sunset Beach on Treasure Island.  As I have mentioned before, it is always a plus to photograph people you are familiar with, and of course as a pro photographer it is flattering that a client would give you repeat business.

Baby Naomi was in constant motion when not being held close by her parents!Kristin's nearly 2-year old daughter was a very talkative little girl, and as one might expect a very active one too.  I usually recommend that parents hold their child as the best means of keeping them in the frame!

Having family fun in front of tall beach grass on Sunset Beach Treasure Island FloridaThe whole family had a lot of personality which made it fun to photograph them as they were never at a loss for smiling in front of the lens.  A willingness to get a bit sandy allowed us to make the above shots in front of Sunset Beach's tall grass dunes.

2-year old preparing to be a ballerina - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 to frame center right & SB-600 to rear rightUsing a mound of sand that was the remains of a castle, Naomi practiced her ballerina moves as I framed her with the dusk sky out over the Gulf of Mexico.

Gliding down the shore black & white family beach portrait - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 500 1/400th natural lightKristin has two more photography lessons with me where I will help prepare her to be able to make her own family beach portraits in the future!

Treasure Island Sunset Beach Florida Large Family Group Portraits Lemle Family

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Young family and baby candid beach portrait on Treasure Island Sunset Beach St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightI returned to Sunset Beach on Treasure Island in St. Petersburg Florida once again this time for a large group family beach portrait session.  Normally I work with no shotlist on family beach portrait shoots, but due to there being six adults and two children composing three family groups and three generations I did ask the client to provide one to make sure we got all the pairings desired.  The shot above features another new pose I have not done before.  I asked the family if they were willing to get a bit crazy and they say yes for sure so with the will to lay down on the sand there, we were able to make this shot which was my favorite of the evening.

Large group family beach portrait on Sunset Beach Treasure Island Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/160th - Strobist: SB-800 to left & SB-600 to rightThe key to reducing and even better eliminating shadows when making a large group family portrait on the beach is to have the family not stand in a concave line as seems to be everyone's natural instinct, but rather a convex or at least straight line so that the people for example in the far right of the above image do not cast a shadaw on the people next to them.  I start by setting up a shot like this by having the person in the center be the anchor, and then placing everyone else around that person.

Another vivid sunset on Treasure Island St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/6.3 ISO 200 1/125th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightWhen working with essentially three different groups with the every present sunset as a countdown timer, the photographer has to work even more efficiently and try to provide as best as possible variety in the shots, but of course an entirely different image cannot be made for each group each time within a 60-minute session.  This was really my first time to work with this many pairings on a family beach portrait session and I was pleased with the variety of shots I was able to make, though as you can see there was only time to work with one camera and lens where I usually shoot with at least two and sometimes three lenses.

Tall beach grass family portrait on Treasure Island Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightThis is the same grass location as her sister's family, but a different pose makes for a very different feel in the final image.  I also shot from a different angle and a bit wider.  Luckily, Sunset Beach's tall grass has survived well despite the recent tropical storm.

Large group family beach portrait walking at dusk - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/80th - Strobist: SB-800 in front & SB-600 to front rightThis semi-complex group walking shot was made on the first take which was great as you can see the sun was already below the horizon and light was fading fast.  My advice for this type of shot is for everyone to start walking with the same foot forward, while holding hands and continuing to walk even after I take the shot to maintain a natural look to the image.

Treasure Island Sunset Beach Florida Family Portraits Vivid & Dramatic Sky Poe Family

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Mother Nature provided a very dramatic sky for the Poe Family Beach Portraits on Sunset Beach Treasure Island St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightVisiting all the way from Nebraska, the Poe Family were worried about the weather for their candid family beach portrait session.  I told them on the phone in the morning that is is impossible to predict what the weather conditions will be like eight hours from now so do not worry.  As you can see from the above shot, the rain did not fall on the beach, but the fact that there were storms all around provided for a very dramatic sky background for many of our family beach portraits.

A sister and her two brothers vivid sunset beach portrait on Treasure Island Sunset Beach Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 in front & SB-600 to right rearThe youngest and I share the same name which he told me with some great excitement when we met.  It is good to know parents are still choosing it as a name.  For this shot I tried to compose just so that the remaining sun appeared to be resting on his shoulder between his other two siblings.

My favorite shot of the session as it tells a story the most - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/80th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightThe father requested this shot having seen an example of it with another family on my website.  I believe I first came up with the idea for this type of shot last summer.  For me to not be able to see the subjects' faces allows the viewer to wonder even more what the subjects might be thinking of as they look out upon the horizon with all the Sea and Heavens before them.

Mother & Daughter candid beach portrait on Sunset Beach Treasure Island Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/6.3 ISO 200 1/250th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightI did not have to say anything to neither mother nor daughter for this shot.  I just placed them within my two speedlights, went back to be able to fit them within the frame and as I turned around they were already having fun so all I had to do was then push the shutter and voila!

Hands on to show the family bond on Sunset Beach treasure Island St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 behind subjectsThe sun itself was really only visible once it dipped below some clouds just above the horizon.  From experience I knew this would be the case and I had everyone ready to take advantage of the little time we would have with the sun in such conditions.

Husband and wife romance novel cover shot on Sunset Beach Treasure Island Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 behind rightIn our hour and a half portrait session we made a great variety of shots, which is always my goal as I do not like to shoot a similar shot and always provide the client with very different images, not merely just variations of the same shot.  In this session the shot list ranged from of course all the family members, to each individual child shot, to husband and wife and then each parent with one of their children.  It was a full session!

Strobist fun with friends & dogs

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Terry holding his dogs Lucy & Sadie with my dog Kiki frame left - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/250th Strobist: SB-800 in brolly to frame left & SB-600 on a chair to frame rightOn a recent visit to eldest friend Terry's house I brought with me a good bit of my strobist portrait gear planning to make some images of us with our dogs.  This involved not only getting the lighting and logistics correct for shooting in his living room, but also giving Terry some quick tips for how to shoot using my Nikon D300.  Once I got the above image of him with my dog Kiki and two of his three dogs, we switched players and I began coaching Terry how to first focus on my eyes and then recompose all while holding down the shutter halfway and shooting from a position lower than my eye level.  He learned fast, which should not be surprising as he was the valedictorian of our high school class after all!

Yours truly with Kiki & her best friend Sadie - Terry pushed the shutter on this one - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/250th Strobist: SB-800 in brolly to frame left & SB-600 on floor to frame rightHere is the image Terry and I created together.  This is all without mentioning the random element of the dogs and their movements, who were actually rather stoic for them.  Once Sadie laid down I got Kiki to come in behind her and I just rested on both of them, Terry was in position, and boom, we got the above shot.

Lucy kissing Kiki - background added digitally - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 800 1/60th SB-800 hotshoe mountedLucy was hanging off the sofa with peoples' legs in the background for the above shot, but I liked the kiss Lucy was giving Kiki so I took both dogs out of that busy background and then using Photoshop painted in a color sampled from Lucy's own hair color with a slight gradient added as the final touch to the digital background.

All these shots were done in just a few moments of time, just a fraction of the time we were there, but now thanks to a little photography know-how we will always have these memories of our dogs together.  

Honeymoon Island State Park Family Beach Portraits Candid Sunset

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Candid Family Beach Portrait at Sunset on Honeymoon Island State Park - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/200th Strobist: SB-800 in front of subjects & SB-600 behind & to the right of subjectsThe streak continues for photographing past clients.  This time it was DSLR Photography Lesson student Angela's family for sunset beach portraits out at Honeymoon Island State Park.  We had to reschedule our candid portrait session three times due to various weather, including tropical storm Debbie.  There was a bit of a time issue as well as one of Angela's daughters was soon off to college!  In the end we had perfect weather for the entire shoot.

Family Beach Portrait on a swinging bench on Honeymoon Island State Park - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/7.1 ISO 200 1/200th Strobist: SB-600 to frame left & SB-800 to frame right

This bench swing was the first and only prop we used during our photo session.  With a little careful arranging the entire family of five were able to (comfortably?) fit on the bench.  To make the image more candid and natural I had them actual swing back and forth, capturing this image as they swung farthest forward.  This also helped solve a problem with shadows coming from the beams holding up the swing.

Trying out new poses during this family beach portrait session - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/9 ISO 200 1/200th Strobist: SB-600 to frame left & SB-800 to frame right

Using a handy new iPhone posing app, I showed the family exactly how I wanted them to arrange themselves for a more together looking portrait than if they were all just sidding side-by-side or even in a standard two-row pose.  This was Angela's favorite photo from the session.  

A 60's sitcom promo inspired shot - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/6.3 ISO 200 1/80th Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame right

The above image is also an entirely new shot I never made before.  I asked if everyone was willing to lie down on the sand.  Everyone agreed and we were thus able to make this fun photograph that somehow reminds me of The Monkees or other such 60s era type of promo shot.  Since they were wearing white shirts and the sand was off-white, I decided to convert the image to black & white as there was little color in it.

Sisters having fun on Honeymoon Island State Park - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/200th Strobist: SB-800 next to camera & SB-600 behind to the right

We had a theme going of giving piggy-back rides which the three sisters continued for their siblings only shot.  This is yet another uniquely composed beach portrait staggering height rather than depth, creating a vertical look in a square framing.

Moon rising over Honeymoon Island State Park family beach portrait - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/80th Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightAs we were finishing the family beach photo session, I noticed the moon rising and a great purple sky.  Now I have made a shot very similar to this one before a few years back much further south near the Tradwinds Resort.  Surprisingly similar as I myself look at them both side-by-side right now.  I was glad that Honeymoon Island State Park provided such a variety of backgrounds for what I consider one of my very best family beach portrait sessions ever.  I have to give a lot of the credit to Angela and her family for their relationships with each other and how well they all interact and can simply just have fun and be themselves, even though I am surrounding them with speedlights and pointing my lens at them.

Family Portraits at Vinoy Park St. Petersburg Florida Grandfather & Granddaughter

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Grandfather & Granddaughter in Vinoy Park for a portrait session - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/7.1 ISO 200 1/200th Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightI have been fortunate recently to photograph friends and repeat clients.  Well, this time I had the chance to photograph both, so I was very pleased to receive a phone call asking for a Father's Day present portrait session.  We chose Vinoy Park as our shooting location and it was thankfully a not too warm evening in St. Petersburg, nor too windy as that far out park often is.

Grandfather & Granddaughter are all smiles in Vinoy Park - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/10 ISO 200 1/250th Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightThe 30-minute portrait session went by very quickly.  The star of the show, young Brooke, was all smiles most of the time, as most of my shooting focused on photographing her with her grandfather and fellow classic westerns fan Paul, whom I first met a few years ago at the dog park.

The whole family in Vinoy Park for our portrait session - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/250th Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightThe above shot was actually the first one of the session as I prefer to shoot the group shots first, then move on to ever smaller groups and pairings.  Featured in the background is The Pier, a doomed structure that is supposed to be torn down next year, but I will believe that when it actually happens.  If it is, then it will serve as a nice time stamp for when this photograph was made.

Vinoy Park Pet Portrait with Beth and Logan dog St. Petersburg

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Beth & Logan in Vinoy Park for their human & pet portrait session - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/7.1 ISO 200 1/100th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power to frame right SB-600 @ 1/4 power to frame leftOn a blustery evening I met long-time dog park friend Beth and her Australian shepherd Logan for a dog and human candid portrait session.  As I have written about before, it is much different when working with a client you already know, in fact I would go so far as to say it is nearly totally different.  We started out with The Pier and Tampa Bay as the background. 

Candid pet portrait with Beth & Logan dog - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/7.1 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power to frame left SB-600 @ 1/4 power behind benchNext we went over to the bench with the best view in all of downtown St. Petersburg.  From it you can see the entire downtown skyline with a fantastic sunset view on most evenings.  Logan, however, was much more interested in passing inline skaters than the view!

Candid smiling pet portrait with Beth & Logan dog - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/7.1 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power to frame left SB-600 @ 1/4 power behind benchIt was way, way too windy to use any light modifiers besides a couple of diffuser caps on my speedlights.  For this shot I placed one on a lightstand to frame left and the other on a tripod directly behind the bench.  I used my trusty Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens for all these shots.  The wind though did have one benefit, that being keeping temperatures very tolerable and actually rather comfortable, even for me shooting and scurrying about setting up the shots.  

Beth & Logan all smiles in Vinoy Park - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/100th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power to frame right SB-600 @ 1/4 power to frame leftIt was a lot of fun to make these photographs for Beth and Logan.  By nature a portrait session including a dog has to be candid so for me it was just a matter of getting my lights where I wanted them and letting Beth enjoy spending time with Logan and pushing the shutter.