Karen called me a while back to schedule a session for her two sons, one graduating from college and the other in high school. Karen knew that the timing of these family portraits was crucial. Once the older son has a full time job, it will be increasingly difficult for her to get their two schedules together to create these family portraits. Each boy had a distinct style and mannerisms. Take a look and see how handsome they each are and what a wonderful family they make in the portrait of the 3 of them.
Tag: Tampa Photographer
Expressive hands…
I just love what hands can say within a portrait. If the hands are all by themselves, like the first image below, you can tell a full story of the 4 generations represented here of all these wonderful women and women to be…Grandma, Mom, daughters, granddaughter and great-grand daughter. Then you have all seen the ring photographs of the bride and groom where it tells the story of their new life beginning together and what the rings symbolize. There are other types of images, like the full image of a group where the family members are all touching each other in a very loving, relaxed way. And the daddy holding his newborn son, the size of the dad’s hands so protective and just a peek of the newborn’s tiny hands One of my new favorites is of this image below of a young girl. The pose, the touch of makeup and the expression all speak of a budding teenager, but not quite. The soft child like hands tell that this young woman has a little while to go before she truly enters the next stage of her life. Some of my favorite images.
Dancing Kristina…
With all the model, fashion and glamour type of images I am doing, I tried out this new look out on a beautiful young girl this past week. The trick is to use the right shutter speed and aperture combination to get a crisp face and a flowing skirt. The large image on the top is the one I love to have a “stand alone” image of. The face is tranquil and lovely and then there is so much movement in the skirt and the scarf. It just tells volumes about the girl becoming a young women. She seems so at peace and confident in who she is becoming. I also love the series, it tells a story of fun and excitement at this session! I have decided to make this storyboard a new product line available in a 10×20 to take advantage of several different images that my clients might like to have together.
Choice Clearwater beaches…
One of my clients recently booked a portrait session on the beach and let me know she was coming from out of town. The beach that was closest to her vacation condo was not as “portrait worthy” as one that she would have to travel a bit to get to. Since she was from out of town with some younger children, I happily emailed her some beach suggestions in town so that she could visit these on her other vacation days. I’ve included it here for your information as well.
Fred Howard Park (Tarpon Springs) – Nice wooded area for picnicking and a beach that I would rate about a 7.
Sunset Beach (Tarpon Springs) Very small beach, not crowded, lots of shall
ow areas for wading and a playground there as well. The beach? Well, really a 2 or 3, but last week I saw two dolphins swimming only about 50 feet offshore!
Honeymoon Island – State Park in Dunedin – pay to get in, nice area, bird watching and shelling, beach can be quite rocky.
Clearwater beach – very pretty, more crowded, lots of tourist things, shops etc., if you want to do that. 20 to 30 minutes to get there from the Palm Harbor area. Clearwater marine aquarium, with the dolphin Winter – they just made a movie about him. Beach -8-9
City of St. Petersburg Municipal Beach at Treasure Island, 112th St and Gulf Blvd. Beautiful beach! This would be at least a 9, maybe a 10! It doesn’t look like much from the parking lot, but just go beyond the fence and WOW! Drawback – restrooms only open 10:00 till 4:00, why, I do not know! Refreshment area and play area for the kids.
Ft. De Soto Park – absolutely beautiful. About 1 hour drive south from the Palm Harbor area; take U.S. 19 south, follow the signs. Takes a while to get there, but voted one of the top ten beaches in the U.S. Dolphins, sand dollars, wide sandy beaches, fishing pier, picnic areas and usually not crowded at all because it is so large. Yes, the beach really is a 10!
The portrait above are from the Treasure Island beach. This family was staying at a large, very nice hotel on St. Pete Beach that was very crowded, due to a convention. The beach was very nice, but way too busy for a lovely family portrait. Treasure Island beach was only a few minutes drive for them and they were quite happy to make the short drive. The final results are fabulous!
Open House…finally!
Do you know how hard it is to get images from everyone at an event? I don’t know what bride’s do that don’t have an official photographer!! The pics below are mostly from family and friends. The open house was a wonderful day and thanks so much to everyone who came out. It was great to see old friends and clients that came to celebrate with me and to see the new space. I got flowers, flowers and more flowers! Some from right here, some from as far away as Ohio. I really do love flowers! I come from a florist background, with my Dad running a commercial greenhouse back in the Cleveland area. So I grew up with them and am still not tired of them. Hope I never will be! The food was terrific, thanks to my good friend Rebecca and Pamela. The big thing, for those who attended and are waiting to find out, was the winner of the $500.00 Portrait Prize…drum roll please… (you have to look below the pictures, hehehe!)
Maylene Bird and her husband! I think they are going to go ahead and get a fantastic couples portrait…we’ll see!