Portrait Session with Mary – Orlando Portrait Photographer
A couple of months ago I shot a portrait session with Shanice (scroll down to see her images) and since then I have been asked to shoot a session with her mom, Mary. Mary really liked how Shanice’s images came out that she wanted to get in on a session as well. I was excited about that because having the opportunity to shoot both mom and daughter really brings out the similarities between both of them. I was looking forward to seeing that.
We decided to shoot at Hollis Gardens in Lakeland Florida right off Lake Mirror. A beautiful location that is a prime area for photography portrait sessions and weddings as well. There was actually a wedding photoshoot going on while we were setting up which was interesting. It turned out to be a beautiful day and a perfect photography atmosphere.
Please take a moment and go through the images below and leave comments!
Alexandra – Fashion Shoot – Orlando Portrait Photographer
I joined up with a local meetup group, The Lakeland Shooters, awhile back and have been attending photoshoots off and on with them. It is a good way to get out and meet new people while working on ideas and themes that I might have never had the opportunity to try out. This weeks theme was a Fashion Bikini shoot at the Sand Dunes of Carter Park in Lakeland. There were four models and about 30 photographers that attended. Alexandra was one of the models that I had the pleasure of shooting. I finally got a battery pack for my studio lights so this was the perfect time and place to test them out on a location shoot and I am glad I did! Looks like I will be taking these lights with me more and more now as I loved the quality of light over just using speed lights.
Back to Alexandra… A beautiful model that has pervious modeling experience. Didn’t have to direct her much so that was nice. Since this was a beach/bikini/holiday theme and props were encouraged, I dug out my old snowboard and boots that I had from living up north. Thought they would go really well with this scene. Alexandra was very accommodating with putting on the boots and hat and that made the whole scene come together. I was very happy with the results and look forward to shooting more fashion ideas like this!
Check out the photos and leave some comments!
Portrait Session with Shanice by Orlando Portrait Photographer
Had a great photo shoot with Shanice over the weekend. We met up in Winter Haven, Florida at a park location that had this cool amphitheater. I am not sure if this has ever been used or how often events take place there but all I knew is that it was open to the general public and it had electricity. Electricity is key here because I wanted to experiment with my studio strobes on location. This location was ideal for this. Couldn’t have found a better spot. We had to shoot during the mid day sun so natural lighting wasn’t going to be ideal. This place was covered so problem solved there! Weather was perfect, but there was a little breeze that made me run to my lights a couple times trying to prevent them from falling over. No big deal though.
We shot for about an hour and a half and got some great images! Check some of them out below and leave comments!
Disney Festival of the Masters by Orlando Wedding Photographer
Last week Mary and I decided to check out Disney’s Festival of the Masters event that was happening in Downtown Disney. I heard about it by reading the Lakeland Ledger on Friday afternoon. In fact, it was the only way I heard about it which kind of surprised me. For those that don’t know, The Festival of the Masters is an annual event at Disney that is basically a giant craft fair. When I say giant, I mean I don’t think I have seen a craft fair this size before. It pretty much too over the entire Downtown Disney area and the vendors were not selling the typical craft fair junk you can get online. This was good quality stuff and a lot of very cool things.
The main reason I wanted to go was the Chalk drawing event. They had two classes. One was high school class, and the other was the adult class. Some pretty cool stuff and I give credit to the artist out there creating all this. Check out some of the photos I took of the days events.
Enjoy!
Maureen and Douglas Wedding – Sand Lake – Orlando Wedding Photographer
We had the honor of photographing Maureen and Douglas’s wedding on August 31 on Sand Lake in Orlando. They hired us to cover their intimate ceremony on the lake during sunset, an amazing sunset to say the least – more on that later, and we were excited to be a part of it. They are planning on having a full reception later down the road when family can be present but they didn’t want to wait on the ceremony plans. Personally, I love photographing small intimate weddings. I know other photographers that love shooting the huge venues, 8 tier cakes, twenty person bridal parties, etc…, I, however, think when that much going on, a lot gets lost in the what is supposed to be the happiest, most important day in the lives of the couple. They tend to worry too much about the small things that will never be noticed by anyone but them. In contrast, small intimate ceremonies show pure love and affection between the couple and everyone I have photographed, this has shown to be true. Maureen and Douglas’s wedding was no exception to that.
The wedding ceremony took place dockside on Sand Lake, Orlando. For anyone that has been on the lake, you know how big the lake is and that it is mainly surrounded by upperclass homes and celebrities. There are, however, some spots that are not sealed off by armed gate keepers and this place happened to be one of them. What made this place so perfect was the location of the dock and the sun setting directly behind it. Earlier in the day we were worried because it was raining all day. We were preparing for the worst. Then about 5pm, the skies broke and it started to clear up. When the sun started to set, it made for the most beautiful sunset I have seen to date. The sky was fire red and breaking through the clouds which made for an amazing backdrop. The ceremony went off without a hitch!
I wanted to stay all night and shoot that sunset, but they had reservations at Christini’s in Dr. Phillips. They invited us to join them which we were very gracious for, plus this gave me the opportunity to photograph their first meal together as husband and wife. I have never eaten at Christini’s before, but this place is top notch! Amazing service, amazing food and an awesome accordion player that was a walking jukebox. This guy knew every song that was requested and could transpose it to the accordion perfectly. Being a musician myself, I have a new found respect for the lost art of playing accordions. I highly recommend Christini’s in Dr. Phillips!
Well, enough blabbering, here are some of the photos from the wedding. Hope you enjoy and please leave comments!
