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.

Family Portrait at the Beach

Headed out to the beach recently for a family portrait session.  We were a little concerned since the entire day had been overcast, but it ended up working out.  We didn't see the sun but it turned enough of the sky orange to give me plenty to work with.

Loosening things up with a little family stroll down the beach. 

As they get farther away, people tend to relax and the photo becomes a little more realistic.

Took some time to split into some pairs.

This lagoon tends to get all of its photographic attention from bird shooters, but I like bringing people down here as well.  I think it's nice to have some water and land in the background to mix up the standard beach/ocean shots.

Couldn't help playing around with the lifeguard stand.  Given how dark it was getting, I knew the bright red would pop from the image and give some nice contrast.

 We even managed to squeeze the moon in there for a few shots.

Remember everyone, it's never to early to start coordinating those family photos so you're not caught off guard when the holidays start rolling around!  Thanks to Dawn and her family for sacrificing some sandy toes for what I think turned out to be some great family portraits.

90th Birthday Party

I had the distinct opportunity to photograph a 90th birthday party recently.  It was quite an affair that gathered family from all over.  The above photo is probably my favorite from the evening.  Toward the end of the party, the 5 sons put on a video slideshow of keepsake historic photos.  It was great to see how much this family values photos and it would be an honor for one of my photos to appear in a slideshow 90 years from now.  This photo was taken as the birthday girl happily viewed the video.  The actual light from the TV was usually an odd color cast so I actually used a flash to mimic the TV light in a controllable manner.

A granddaughter helps secure the tiara as guests arrive.

Everyone had a blast snapping photos of the birthday diva.

The evening was a good mix of posed photos and captured moments.  With so many family members gathered together we made sure to get lots of different group combinations.

Lots of great moments to capture.

We took advantage of a cool dusk sky to fit in some more groups out on the balcony.

We managed to corral everyone outside for one large group photo.

This has nothing to do with the party, but most of you know I'm a sucker for moody sky shots.

Squeezing out some photos in the last bit of usable light.

The young generation views photos of parents, grandparents and other family members from years past.

I had such a blast covering this birthday party.  With so many real moments and connections between family members, it really felt like no work at all.  Happy 90th!