Photo Shop World Orlando 2011-Westcott Shootout Contest

  The last two days I attended the Photo Shop World Expo in Orlando, FL. Photo related vendors of all kind display their products here and there are classes taught by some of the world's best photographers. Westcott, who makes some of the very best lighting in the industry, featured models for attendees to us to photograph under some amazing constant lighting. There is a contest-the best photos taken at this event will be featured in a future catalog. These are the photos I am entering. These models were photographed by at least a few hundred photographers so I will be interested to see how mine measure up against some of theirs!

  I loved shooting models dressed up like this and processing these images was just as fun. The lighting truly was beautiful as you can see. This profile photo really jumped out of me even though her hair stops you from seeing her eye. Somehow that just makes the photo more mysterious. I love this girl's profile. The first photo I processed in full color and in black and white with just the cape in color, both looked good but I decided to post the one with the black and white. 

  There was a backdrop here but I decided to black it out so that all the focus would be on the model. Very intense!

  I wanted this photo to have the look of an old color photo that had faded just a bit. I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out.

  The models are in a constant process of slowly changing their poses so I kept waiting for just the right moment to get an image I would like. There were about 20-40 photographers standing around them at any given moment, most of the time I was able to make my way to the front. 

  This model had an amazing smile ant the 'sky' backdrop was amazing. She really looks like she is outside! She was posing behind a clothes line they had set up. I love the pin up look!

  Finally we have Rapunzel. This girl has absolutely beautiful eyes! These models sat for some pretty long periods of time, they did  a great job!

  I think this is my absolute favorite. I had already taken a ton of photos of this girl then moved on to wander the exhibitions. Just before I left I wandered by again and took just a few more shots, this one being the last. So funny how my last shot is often my favorite!  My thanks to Westcott for the opportunity to photograph these wonderful models!

Stephanie

Welcome to our World...Ava Brielle!

"A Babe in the House is a Well-spring of pleasure, a Messenger of peace and love, a resting place for innocence on earth, a link between angels and men"  Martin Fraquhur

  Ava Brielle was born on 2-22-11 to her parents, Laura and Charlie which makes her a very lucky baby as they are two of the nicest and kindest people I have ever met!  These photos were taken when she was 2 1/2 weeks old.

  Every photo shoot I do is a learning experience, this one even more so as it is the first time I have photographed a new born baby! I know my passion for photography will never wain as there is an endless amount to learn and I will never get to a point where I can no longer improve on my work. Every subject is a different sort of challenge, be it an adult, a pet, a child, a baby or even a flower.  

  Babies this small cannot yet sit up or express as much emotion as they will in the very near future. Part of my challenge was to capture some photos of Ava with her eyes wide open. The photo leading off this post is actually my favorite. I took many photos of her laying on the pink blanket in order to get this one where she one arm around her bear, one up to her ear like she is on a little cell phone, AND she has her eyes open looking in my direction.  I love the moment where I look at the back of the camera and see that YES I finally got the shot I was looking for!

These are also pretty cute.

  Certain photos seem destined for this sepia old photo look. I love this shot of her yawning with the flower headband being held on to her by her mom.

  Here she is being held up in the air by her father. Love those eyes!

  I call this my modern art shot. What I really like is the reflection in her eye-the trees and me I believe. Would be fun to do a shoot capturing the reflections in peoples eyes sometime!

  We had the idea to try putting her in an Easter basket. Lets just say this was easier said then done she was not happy about it so we did not try for long but this is still pretty cute!

  This is the family dog, Wiggles being held up next to Ava I am sure they will be great friends! Wiggles does not look too thrilled here though I must admit!

. 

  This photo is one of my favorites, taken at the end of the shoot with Ava in her car seat. I do not do this selective color treatment very often but I think it works well here with the little bear's bow tie matching Ava's head band. It is also very cute that the bear appears to be waving :)

  Finally here is their family portrait! Wiggles was very cooperative looking towards the camera every time I said his name. Thank you Laura and Charlie for giving me the honor of photographing little Ava, I look forward to seeing her grow into an amazing little girl!

Portrait Shoot: Welselly at Fred Howard Park

  

   Last week I received a call asking for some fun portrait photos to be taken at the beach.  My favorite kind!
My client and I decided on Fred Howard park in Tarpon Springs, Florida. This is not a park you stumble upon by accident but it is very much worth seeking out. In addition to the park on the main land there is a causeway leading out to a beautiful little island with white sand beaches, large rocks and a killer view of the sunset.  When we got there the first thing I noticed was that someone had taken some sea grass and arranged it in the shape of a heart! No way I could resist a ready made prop like that!!

  There is a wonderful little hill that overlooks the beach in on direction, the water in another, it was used again for the final photos taken as the sun set.

  We walked over to a less populated area on the side of the island and had some fun, this photo was taken in mid spin. I find that asking for my subject to spin around produces unique shots and natural smiles!

  Here we have a little sass! The water provides a nice backdrop for this photo!

  

  Love this one! There are beautiful Black-Eyed Susan flowers all over the place and there was a soft breeze which worked with Welselly's hair in a a good way here. In fact it was a perfect spring day here in Florida, not too hot!

  I love converting images to black and white or sepia, they have such a classy feel to them!  How beautiful are her eyes in this photo?

  I also of course like to find a photo or two to crop square from each session. I love the way her hair is blowing here and also the line of trees trailing out in the background. And of course there are once again those eyes!

  As we got closer to sunset we went back to 'the hill' and pulled out my Gary Fong Lightsphere to work with some off camera flash. It provides a nice even spread of flattering light.  

  Check out that sky and of course the girl in front of it. I love using this park for sunset shots so much!

 I asked Welselly to jump for me so we could get a few fun silo shots, she almost looks like she is suspended in mid air!  I love the free spirited feel of this image.

  

  Beautiful! I leave you with our favorite photo from the shoot which turned out to be the very last one. Great pose, great expression-it really captured Welselly's beauty and spirit!

  Thank you so much Welselly for choosing me to be your photographer! I had a great time and you were a pleasure to work with!

   I am hoping this week to visit both Bok Tower Gardens, and Disney's Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot center to capture the beauty that is bursting out everywhere here in Florida this spring. Also have a baby portrait shoot coming up and am very excited about that! 

Stephanie

  

Out of the Darkness-Ybor Practice Shoot

  Last night I traveled to Ybor City to practice night photography with off camera flash-I have limited experience in this area and interested in learning as much as I can about it. I started off a little frustrated but ended up with a few images I really like. All photos wee taken with Canon 580 flash mounted on a monopod with a Gary Fong Lightsphere diffuser attached to it.  I am amazed to see how powerful one 580 Flash can be in the dark!

I love taking jumping photos, or just freezing motion in general as I am able to capture moments that go too quickly for the human eye to appreciate.  Here my model for the evening, Charles jumps up in the air in and alley very popular for photographers in Ybor.  There was some visible light and walls in the background which I blacked out in Photo Shop to make this shot into what I wanted it to be from the start.

  Okay believe it or not Charles was sitting in total darkness here. I mean, it was so dark that I could barely see him much less his expression as I took a series of photos here-the flash was about 8 feet from him and the Diffuser produced a beautiful and even wash of light. 

  I

  I have no idea what this thing Charles is sitting in/on was! It was round and had four legs and was wobbly just sitting in the alley.  I really liked the silver sheeting propped up against the wall behind it. I did not intentionally make everything besides his skin Black and White here, it is simple the way it really was!

  This is I think my favorite taken at the end of the night. I positioned the flash along a wall to the left of Charles. When he looked straight at me his face was in split lighting,half lit, half dark. I asked him to turn his face toward the light a little and got just what I wanted, Rembrandt lighting!  I really enjoyed this practice shoot and am eager to learn more about this area of photography. There is always so much more to learn!

Stephanie

International Friends Profile-Jeffrey from New Jersey and Frances from Hong Kong!

  A few weeks ago on a beautiful afternoon and evening here in Tampa I had the privilege of photographing Jeffrey and Frances for my latest International Friends profile. As a reminder International Friends is a Meetup group I belong to made up of people who have moved to Tampa from all over the world and/or who are interesting in traveling and learning about other cultures.

  We chose to do this shoot in Ybor City. I have photographed people here before but this time wandered down a few blocks to an area I had not yet used. We found an old building and courtyard area which is home to the Spaghetti Warehouse restaurant and the office of the Creative Loafing newspaper.  This area proved to be a lot of fun. Despite perfect weather no one was eating outside at the restaurant so we had tables with red check table clothes and upturned chairs to use as a background in a few shots as well as some cool old wooden steps leading to a covered porch on the building across the way.

  

  Jeff is from New Jersey and graduated from Tulane University where he learned about the civil law legal system.  Jeff is an attorney whose law practice is primarily focused on helping families plan for their loved ones.   His clients run the gamut from seniors to young families who are interested in protecting their children.  He works with his clients in designing estate planning strategies and implementing estate tax strategies that are tailored to each family’s unique needs.  In addition to planning for families, Jeff’s law practice also has a corporate litigation department that represents large corporations in financial litigation.

  

  Jeff and Frances have been married for over 10 years.  They currently live in Boca Raton but go to Tampa at least once a month for Jeff’s law practice.  They love the Tampa Bay area and are planning to move there 

full time.

  

  They are members of the International Friends Group and go to events every time they are in Tampa.  Frances was born in Hong Kong where she grew up.  She has an MBA from the University of San Diego and manages Jeff’s corporate practice.  She speaks Mandarin and Cantonese as well as English.   Her parents met in Chicago while attending college. 

  Jeff is from New Jersey and graduated from Tulane University where he learned about the civil law legal system

  The above photos also include their much loved pet Bella!  She is so cute!  As it got later into the evening we had a wardrobe change and walked back to near the railroad tracks.  Ybor seems to have a never ending supply of great backdrops!

  I enjoy finding at least one photo in every session that looks good cropped square like this one!  I had a lot of fun photographing Jeff, Frances and Bella they were a pleasure to work with!  

Stephanie

  

  

International Friends Profile-Natalia from Russia

  In my photography it is my goal to capture the unique personality and spirit of each person I work with.  I am learning that no matter how good I am or will be at the technical features of photography, the subject must be willing to 'show themselves' before the camera in order to get the kind of images I am looking for. It is truly a collaboration.

  I met Natalia at a party meet up with the International Friends group we belong to where she was celebrating officially becoming a United States Citizen! She told me she would like some patriot style shots to celebrate. We waited until the weather cooled a bit to do the actual shoot and boy was it worth the wait! I knew after meeting Natalia that she would be an amazing person to photograph as she has such a a positive happy spirit. We shot these photos at Curtis Hixon park in downtown Tampa, across the river from the Plant Museum and University of Tampa which has a very Russian look to it.  This park is a fantastic place to visit and to take photos be it during the day or into the night . Natalia wore 4 different outfits and we used the many fantastic backgrounds at this park, yet there are still more for next time! Natalia's profile is presented in Q &; A form. Enjoy!!

Where in Russia are you from?

  I used to live in a large city of Yaroslavl, 3 hours North-East of Moscow. Yaroslavl marked its 1000th anniversary in 2010.  People are very beautiful in Yaroslavl, and so are the historical sites.  Yaroslavl is situated on the banks of the famous Volga River. Picturesque! 

Is your family still in Russia?

  Yes, my family lives in Russia.  My parents came to visit a couple of times and we traveled to New York City, St Augustine, Disney in Orlando, and Key West. I also go back home to Russia every other year.

When did you come to the U.S.?

  In 1998 I came to a small private college South of Boston as an exchange student. Sometimes I wonder what my life would have been if I didn't participate in that exchange program.  I fell in love with America!  I made so many friends and I have experienced so many things for the very first time: ranging from cheesecake and mozzarella sticks to playing miniature golf, shopping at a mall, witnessing the poverty of Bronx, going on spiritual retreats, visiting the mountains of Utah, hills of Pennsylvania and the fantastic world of Disney of course. :)

How did you end up in Tampa, Florida?

  During my first visit in 1998 I made so many friends and to this day they are my dear and true friends who have seen the ups and downs of my American adventure:)  One of them I met on my trip to Florida in 1999. We kept in touch and in 2001, when I graduated college in Russia, my friend and her family invited me to come back to the U.S. for the summer and stay at their house in Lakeland, FL.  I made even more friends during my stay and one year later I decided to relocate and give the American dream a try :)

Is life in Russia very different from life in the U.S.?  What is the biggest difference?

  Life and the daily struggles are different, but human nature is the same.  Life in the States is more comfortable:  things are more convenient and one feels more stable and secure here, in the U.S.  In Russia, especially outside of Moscow, there are still many struggles and instability. Bureaucracy and corruption are still prominent in Russia, and this, in my opinion, hinders the progress of such a mighty and great nation.  On a smaller scale, however, inside one's circle of friends and family, you will find joy, happiness, love, kindness, hope, jealousy, generosity, etc., just like anywhere in the world.

What do you miss most about Russia?

  My family. My grandmother.  Good old fun times with my college friends...

Do you have many Russian friends here, in the States?

  

  I really don't.  I have a couple of friends from Ukraine and speak Russian with them, but I don't have a Russian friend.  I made a few great friends in the States over the years and I cherish their friendship, love, and kindness very much. I am a very lucky girl.

What do you like the most about America?

  Somehow I feel that i was meant to be born Russian and make my way to America!  Even if later in life I find myself living in a different country and on a different continent, I believe I will always feel American at the very core of my being.  The American Spirit is very dear to me.  Adventure, discovery, freedom, responsibility, hard work, growth, happiness, Christian values-these are the things I hold very dear to my heart.  Once again, I am so lucky to have the opportunity to live my dream life!

Have you traveled a lot?  Where would you like to go next?

  During my college years I used to travel a lot.  Partly because my Dad was paying for my travels, and partly because I wasn't yet a hard-working American deprived of vacation time :).  I visited many States in the Continental U.S. and also traveled around Europe quite a bit.  For some reason I remember Belgium being the place I'd want to go back to :).

What other languages do you speak?

  I speak English, Russian, and Spanish.  I do need to improve my Spanish and it has been one of my New Years Resolutions for a couple of years already :).

How do you spend your free time?

  I LOVE hanging out with friends: going to the movies, hosting home-made dinners, going out for breakfast, lunch, brunch or dinner :).  I love to spend time outdoors. I also enjoy reading, cooking and volunteering.

What is your motto in life?

  Be kind. Be cheerful. Believe in love and act out of love. Enjoy each moment-cherish and treasure it.  Gather the roses of life today-wait not 'till tomorrow....

  We ended the evening with Natalia playing int the mist of a fountain that normally shoots up several shoots of water high in the air during the day. In the evening it is turned down so that there is just a fine mist shooting out of it. The sky remained an amazing red-orange color after sunset providing an amazing backdrop. Thank you Natalia for being yourself and letting me capture your wonderful spirit in these photos!