Maria + Sam at Town Manor – Orlando Wedding Photographer
What a great wedding! I had the pleasure of shooting Maria and Sam’s wedding last month at Town Manor in Auburndale, Fl. For those that are not familiar with Town Manor or even Auburndale, let me fill you in. Auburndale is a small city/town that lies right in the middle between Orlando and Tampa. A little further east than Lakeland. Most people still can’t place it until I ask them if they know where the big airplane sitting on the side of I-4 is. That airplane is for Fantasy of Flight, same exit as Auburndale. Anyways, About 3 miles down the road from the interstate is Town Manor. Town Manor is a Bed and Breakfast located right on the Lake Juliana with incredible sunset views and very beautifully landscaped grounds. Simply put, the perfect place for an outdoor wedding. Check out the photos as they speak for themselves. And lets not forget Town Manor’s awesome staff as well. Pleasure to work with and they make everything run very smooth and timely.
Take a peak at the photos below and leave some comments! To see the full gallery, click here.
Superbowl XLVI – Orlando Event Photographer
As some of you know, my brother in law in David Baas, #64, plays center for the New York Giants. For anyone that follows football, you know the kind of season that the Giants have had. Started off really well then tanked to the point where Coach Coughlin’s job was in jeopardy and wondering if they could even make the playoffs. As the season went on they managed to squeeze into the playoffs and from there it was history. With a lot of luck on their side and some really good key plays, the New York Giants made it to the big game, Superbowl XLVI. It’s hard to describe the kind of excitement and emotion one has when seeing a close family member make the worlds biggest game. Lots of emotions, excitement, disbelief… Thoughts of “Holy crap! What just happened?” etc. I have watched Dave play football ever since his high school days and knew he was the real deal even back then. I knew someday he would make it.
Previous to signing with the Giants, Dave spent 6 years with the 49ers. Those 6 years were full of ups and downs, and mainly from my point of view, a lot of disappointment with an unfixable coaching staff. Some players will play their entire career on a losing team and never even make the playoffs and leave a career disappointed and defeated. I always wondered how that affected players mentally and I didn’t want to see that with Dave. After another losing season and then end of a contract, Dave was finally a free agent. The 49ers had a chance to resign him but I knew it would be a lowball offer and frankly, I was really hoping he would get out of SF. When he called to say he was now a New York Giants, that was exciting news to everyone. Lots of uncertainty and lots of high expectations but I knew he would fit in.
His first season with the Giants was no doubt a tough one. A few injuries set him back, learning a new playbook, fitting in with new teammates, criticism of the press all contributed to a tough season. Once the Giants made the playoffs, after the first game with the Falcons, we all thought… They can really do this!
Ironically, in order to make the Superbowl, the Giants had to beat the 49ers. This was such a bittersweet moment. We were all happy that the 49ers made it this far with new coaching staff but at the same time, worried that if the Giants lost, how that would affect Dave and his decision to leave the 49ers. Well, we know how that turned out.
So after a lot of cheering, yelling, crying, and jumping after the win, we started thinking of superbowl parties and if we were going to have one, who to invite, where to have it, etc…. With knowing how the Superbowl can be a circus, the limited amount of tickets players get, prices of tickets, and even availability of tickets, we never expected to go to the game and really never even considered it. After all , the view from the TV screen is much better anyways and don’t have to deal with traffic and security issues. About a week after that, Dave called and asked us if we wanted to go. I believe Mary said… Go where? and Dave replied, do you want to go to the Superbowl? We were both shocked and excited and in disbelief.
So we made travel arrangements, decided to drive and make a road trip out of it.
When we arrived, Indianapolis welcomed fans in every way. What a great city to host the Superbowl. Superbowl village was really cool. Seeing how excited everyone was, all the festivities going on, very friendly people, couldn’t have asked for a better place. The stadium itself was very nice as well. I have to hand it to Indianapolis and the NFL for the way it handled crowds, security and general information. The TSA really should take a page out of the NFL playbook on how this is done.
The game was incredible and they even let me in with my camera gear. I got some great endzone shots from the seats we had. Please take a look below and also at the full gallery by clicking on the link.
A big thanks to David Baas for making this once in a lifetime event happen for us. Will never forget it.
See more photos here
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!
