Kathryn & Leo Holiday Portraits

Kathryn and Leo asked me to  photograph their holiday portraits for the third year in a row.  It's been fun getting to see Leo every year as he grows.  We headed downtown St. Pete with the intent to find some cool urban settings and a plan to catch some Christmas lights in the park.

I don't know; there could have been a board meeting happening inside this office but it was a complete mirror to us.

Exactly what we were looking for.

Focused on just Leo for a bit.

OK everybody, lick your chops on three.  Good boy.

Everybody in the tree!  I love it.

This would be their album cover.

"My tree."

I had a blast running around with Leo.  Here he is, swallowed by the banyan tree.

Snuck into the Vinoy for a lobby shot.

It was pretty dark by the time we made it to the Christmas lights but we rallied for some festive images.

There it is; another year in the bag.  Thanks for choosing me to capture these images and special thanks to Leo for hoofin it across da burg in brand new Chucky Ts.

Thanksgiving Family Photos - Fort De Soto Campground

The Sutton/Atherton/Meyer clan gathered at the Fort De Soto campground to celebrate the Thanksgiving weekend.  Due to group size and logistics, we decided to try and shoot in the immediate vicinity of their campsite.  At first glance, I wasn't loving the options but we managed to find plenty.

 Grandparents and grandkids.

 After getting the big groups, we broke it down by family while still using the seagrapes background.

 We were setting up the shot you'll see next and this lone child fisherman provided a nice image.

Pretty nice available light from over the water; but a flash from behind the kids gives a nice texture.  An added bonus is that the boat in the background was made by hand by some of the family members.

OK kids, get your wiggles out now.  Go crazy for five minutes and then be ready to sit still for the next half hour.

 "Wow, look at those kids.  How come our kids don't act like that?"

"Oh, never mind."

We even had enough time to manage individual portraits for all the kids.

The other family members begged me to capture this.  Sorry Caleb.

Just the girls.

Boys will be boys.

 I've seen worse spots for skippin shells.

Once we were all done, I loitered at the campsite a minute to look for fun moments like this one.

Sisters.

Sisters Holiday Portraits

A client wanted some good photos of their daughters for the holiday season and to use on cards.  We headed downtown St. Petersburg to the Museum of Fine Arts and a stroll along the waterfront.

Still a little early in the day, we had to seek what shade we could.

The pair breaks apart and I get to shoot some individuals.

When in doubt, ham it up.

Once the shade settled in we were able to roam out in front of the museum.

I kept trying to get a lower angle of the girls to get the top of the museum and the sky in the frame.  They kept crouching lower and lower to match the height of my lens.  Before we knew it we had raced straight to the pavement where I was able to make the image displayed above.  When they behave, kids are awesome to work with.

One of my personal favorites.

Caught the last few minutes of sunlight on the banyan trees.

No kid is going to argue if you ask them to throw stuff in the air.

A little tough getting them to throw at the exact same time but it works.

Separate from the big banyans, the other side of the museum is anchored by this behemoth.  I was hesitant to even try with the harsh spotty light but I finally found a composition I liked.

Studio on the spot.

Kids climbing trees.

And one outfit change close things out.