MacDill Help Portrait

Is this my portfolio for the last month or two? Nope, these are 9 family portraits shot in 3 hours recently. Read on to learn more!

I recently participated in the Help Portrait event. Check out their web site to learn more, but basically, it's about photographers donating their time and abilities to provide portraits to individuals or families in need. There were lots of great events planned around Tampa Bay, but I decided to arrange my own for the benefit of military families stationed at MacDill AFB. While these families may not necessarily fit the idea of "those in need" outlined by Help Portrait, I decided that they all deserved free portraits for their sacrifice and service.

The event itself was rather crazy, trying to get several poses in addition to various groupings (kids only, father and son, etc.) in the allotted time. Sort of like a speed dating version of a photo session! We held the event at the MacDill Family Resource Center in Brandon since most MacDill families live in that area. The FRC has a computer lab on site, and their folks were able to pull an image from the shoot and place it into an electronic greeting card right there on the spot. Very cool.

Thank you to all the MacDill families who participated in the event! You all did a great job! My favorites are compiled in the photo at the beginning of this post, but here are few more...










A big thank you to all the participating families, and all active duty military families around the world. Most of us will never fully appreciate the extent of your sacrifice. Giving you these family portraits seems like a pretty small gesture in comparison.

Thank you.

Jessica and Barry, MacDill Air Force Base Wedding

Jessica and Barry were married in early December at MacDill Air Force Base. I had a lot of fun with this laid back couple and we had plenty of time to make some great photos.

Jessica and Barry spend some time away from their guests between the ceremony and reception. Wedding days can be pretty hectic; an hour alone with the photographer actually ends up being a pretty nice chance for the bride and groom to concentrate on each other.

We started out with Jessica at the Hyatt in downtown Tampa. The courtyard outside always makes a great location for photos.

Barry poses in front of some nice window light.

A bridesmaid gets a little choked up during the ceremony.

The clouds kept shifting and changing the light which made shooting a little difficult. I was set up to take some nice portraits in the diffuse cloud light when the direct sun started streaming in on us. A quick tweak of the pose resulted in this dramatic image.

After the sun had set the light was very soft and even which is great for portraits but can be boring. I used a direct flash to make this image "pop."

The Officers Club glows as dusk fades away.

The couple shares a dance.

Getting a creative cake shot can be tough. The crystal figures on top looked best when backlit and enough lit reflected back on the cake. The conscious decision to let the background go dark allows the cake to stand out.

Jessica and her girls get funky on the dance floor.

Congratulations Jessica and Barry! It was my pleasure to shoot your wedding, and Tampa Photo wishes you the best of luck.

SMSgt. Nancy Lee Peck Retirement Ceremony

Whoa, sorry for the prolonged absence. Things have been real busy lately, but I'm finally getting around to posting images from Nancy's retirement ceremony. Nancy had worked with me on a few other retirement ceremonies, so it was an honor to finally cover her special day.

SMSgt. Nancy Peck stands at attention as the ceremony begins.

Nancy's family gets a kick out of hearing some highlights from her 26 years of service.

This picture just cracks me up. All eyes are on the ceremony, except for this kid who found the ceiling more interesting.

Nancy wipes a tear during the bittersweet ceremony.

Nancy addresses her colleagues, friends and family that have come out to help celebrate the occasion. The US flag always makes a nice backdrop in these situations.

Nancy and her husband share a moment as the ceremony comes to an end.

Nancy's immediate family poses for a group shot after the ceremony.

The kids really enjoyed hamming it up for the camera!

Nancy's parents jump in for a shot with the guest of honor.

Nancy and Jeff out by the beach. Nancy was interested in incorporating the outdoors into her ceremony, but it made more sense to hold the event indoors. I made sure to snap a few shots with the great beach/water and palm trees in the background.

Congratulations on your retirement Nancy! For 26 years you have traveled the world serving your country and managed to find your way back to Florida. Thanks for letting me be a part of your ceremony. It was an honor and a pleasure.

SMSgt. Angela Hull Retirement

Recently I was asked to cover the retirement ceremony for Senior Master Sergeant Angela K. Hull. Angela put in more than 20 years with the US Air Force and has had an amazing career full of noteworthy achievements. There are way too many for me to possibly list here. She leaves the Air Force as the Tower Chief Controller, charged with leading 30 air traffic controllers and handling over 35,000 aircraft operations each year.

The flags are presented to begin the ceremony. A flag on a commander's flight suit is seen in the foreground.

Lt. Col. Pratt presents Angela with the Meritorious Service Medal.

Angela is presented with one of several letters congratulating her on her accomplishments and thanking her for her service.

Angela's husband takes a moment after attaching her retirement pin to her uniform.

Angela enjoys a surprise slideshow created for her by her husband. The slideshow included pictures from her career, their family, and ended with personal recorded messages from Angela's favorite morning DJ, Corey Dylan from 101.5, and from Tampa's Mayor, Pam Irorio.

SMSgt. Hull is presented with the flag that was just folded in her honor.

MSgt. Boldin presents Angela with a shadow box containing various mementos symbolizing her career with the US Air Force.

Angela addresses those in attendance.

Angela reminisces over funny moments shared by her family throughout her time in service.

The programs from the ceremony are always a nice detail to capture. The American flag made the perfect backdrop.

Angela's family came from all over to share this special day with her.

And one last picture of the family. I've said it before, but it's worth repeating. Military families sacrifice more than most of us will ever know. They are important part of these retirement ceremonies, and rightfully so. New schools, new cities and lengthy deployments can all take their toll. But the service provided by the men and women of our armed forces is invaluable and would not be possible without the support of the family members.

Congratulations Senior Master Sergeant Angela Hull (retired)! I was really amazed listening to all your accomplishments and would like to personally thank you for your hard work and dutiful service to our country. Enjoy civilian life!

MSgt. Walker Retirement Ceremony

MSgt. Ivan Walker recently retired from the US Air Force and asked me to cover the event. Here are a few of my favorite shots from the event.

If I recall correctly, this is Ivan's daughter being recognized for her sacrifices that have allowed her father to dedicate so much of himself to serving his country.

The flag is opened in front of those attending the ceremony before it is folded.

The folded flag is presented to MSgt. Walker's mother.

Apparently, there were a few bets as to whether or not we would see some tears. My light was set up on the left side of the room. Shooting from the right side for a few frames produced a more dramatic effect, and paid off with this sincere moment with the US flag in the background.

There were plenty of tears in the crowd as well. With lots of family in attendance, and such emotion, it was obvious how special this occasion was.

And finally, a nice family moment. This was taken as a test shot before we actually started with the group shots. But as usual, my favorite shot is from when they are relaxed and not worrying about me.

Congratulations MSgt. Walker! Best of luck in your next journey.

Prescribed Burn

I have more Vanessa pictures to come, but first I wanted to throw in some recent pictures from my day job. By day I work at MacDill Air Force Base with the Environmental Flight managing the base recycling program and helping out with some of the natural resources programs. I promised myself this would not become an environmental blog so I will keep the background short. Fire is an integral part of many Florida ecosystems. Suppressing wildfires can help protect homes and people, but the natural environment suffers. So in an effort to balance the needs of the plants, animals and people, environmental land managers have taken to burning pieces of land in a controlled situation. To learn more about prescribed (aka controlled) burns, visit http://www.fl-dof.com/wildfire/rx_index.html.

MacDill AFB has a nice chunk of land in the middle of Tampa Bay and is working to implement an ongoing prescribed burn program to efficiently manage the large areas of upland habitat. The FL Division of Forestry helped us out by executing a burn on a recent day when all the right weather conditions came together. These images were taken with our work camera/digicam and were not processed with any editing software.

A Forestry employee (lower right) sets a fire on the edge of some palmetto.

The saw palmettos burn extremely hot (lower right), and when the sabal palms have lots of dead fronds clinging to their trunk, the fire can sometimes creep up into the crown. These images may look devastating, but the burns trigger new growth and an overall rejuvenation of the ecosystem.

One of the benefits of fire is the maintenance of invasive species. This non-native cogan grass will creep into an area and take over, outcompeting the native species. After killing the grass with an herbicide, the fire will clear out all the plant material and allow new native colonizing species to move in and return balance to the habitat. (This is the before picture...see below)

The DOF employee lights the cogan grass.

The dead cogan grass went up fast and hot.

Here is the after picture. All that nasty cogan grass is gone and the slate is clean. Hopefully we'll see some nice native species popping up soon. Since native plants have evolved with fire, most of them develop deep root systems able to sustain the plant through tough droughts and wildfires. So although this area looks dead, there is life below the surface!

This is just a cool picture showing the fire moving back into the woods.

The piece of land that was burned is mostly open grassy scrub and some pine flatwoods, but there is an oak hammock there as well. The rain from the previous night still hadn't drained completely from this area so it didn't burn too well. But as the low fire crept through some areas, the smoke provided a nice filter for the falling afternoon sun to stream through the forest.

I hope I kept your attention through today's environmental lecture. Pictures of fire always help! More Vanessa pics to come and I have 3 weddings in the next two weeks, so there will be plenty to post. Check back soon!