Had an AWESOME time photographing and spending time with a great couple down in Miami a couple of weeks ago.  I thought I’d start the set with a silly “look at us play supermodel” because this couple was so much fun and had such great chemistry that I figured I’d start with something silly … obviously decided to complement the over the top expressions with some very in  your face over the top processing

The engagement shoot started at Virginia Key Beach.  I’d never been there before and it was quite the treat to see all the great photo opportunities hidden there.  Where do we start…  ok let’s see:

Gorgeous people amongst the vegetation:

more gorgeous people, vegetation… and FLARE!

peek-a-boo… I see you

orange, orange, everywhere! …. and you know I like my orange right?

a change of outfit and a quick stop back in the “jungle” part of the beach…

and then off to the beach itself…

Back into the previous outfits and off to another location for some sunset photos….

and dancing with the moon

a quick change into eveningwear and the engagement photography session moved to Lincoln Road in South Beach.

We saw this cool elevator with a glass back and decided to take some playful shots with that…

after shooting from the front of the elevator we moved to the back where we shot quite a few “caught while otherwise distracted” shots   Here’s one we turned into a panoramic sequence

and here’s one that was super-steamy…

Now the thing was that due to the speed of the elevator and how dark it was I had to prefocus the camera and basically wait for them to appear out of nowhere and take the shots…. of course we had a few surprises… for instance this one time they were supposed to go by while wrapped around each other like pythons in love (if you found this page while searching for information about the reproductive habits of leg-less reptiles don’t blame me, blame google) but instead they showed up with a family:

and of course they played their own jokes on me as well… behold… SuperGeorge and WonderJosie!

Once we were done with the elevator we headed off onto Lincoln Road where we found a few nice spots to shoot in…

Josie and George,

Thank you so much for being the awesome people you are… I am so glad Joe put us in touch (Joe you rock man!)  I can’t wait to shoot your wedding in May… Josie, you’re going to be a spectacular bride and George… well you’re already on heck of a lucky guy so I guess you’ll be a lucky guy in a tux

You can see the rest of the photos on the proofs site

I close the set with one of my favorite photos ever:

I’ve been hanging on to this set for a little bit now as some of the photos were meant to be used in a slideshow for Rob’s 40th birthday (yeah 40… you’d never think by looking at the photos hu? Behold… the power of photoshop ).

I’ve allowed myself a silly comment up there simply because these guys are not just an incredibly good looking family, but they’re also very close friends. It was an absolute pleasure to not only be able to spend some time with them having fun taking some portraits, but also watching their family and friends’s reactions at the birthday party when they saw the slideshow Good times.

Happy 40th Birthday Rob (it’s actually on the 10th for the record)!!!

Ok, enough of the talk… let’s let the images start doing the talking:

Here’s the handsome little man of the house:

I had never given this much thought… but while shooting this session I realized one benefit of the subjects being friends… sometimes you don’t even have to say “Ok, let’s insert a little clown in here for levity” … in fact … ahem… quite the opposite

Oh help me, help me! My eyes…. they burn!!!

Oh no! Not that kissing thing again!!!

This last shot was the only one I had specifically planned for the slideshow… as it turns out Rob and Dalia’s son Christianbears an incredible resemblance to what his dad looked like at his age, it’s amazing actually!

Rob, Dalia and Christian… thank you so much for being our friends. I hope you enjoy the photos

The whole set can be seen on our proofs site.

No, not a South Florida Wedding and not an Engagement Session either… but a gorgeous couples’ session nonetheless.  Jennifer and Derek are total naturals in front of the camera… which is understandable in the case of Jennifer, who models (and dances and does all sorts of other cool things!) but Derek… he’s just a regular dude… but wow… check out the intense GQ look below!

After that shot we kept joking around that he’s got the intense look of an underwear model… oh yeah and I should note that when he jokingly asked something along the lines of “ok is this when we do the underwear shots” … my wife didn’t make a peep … hum…

At any rate… photographing them was a pleasure and an honor… and if you guys end up together… let’s totally hook up a cool multi-hour session

Here’s a shot I’d like comments on (you can email me if you prefer to keep your thoughts private)… I had this idea while shooting a tiny little baby, that we often don’t have photos from the vantage point of Ourselves while doing something… in the case of the baby I shot the baby as the parent would see him while they held him. In this case the idea was to use a normal lens (which gives a very natural perspective) and shoot the photo from the position where Derek’s eyes would be if he were gazing into Jennifer’s eyes as he gently cupped her face… does it work?

And speaking of cupping…

Two can play this game!

This shot below deserves an explanation.  As usual at the beginning of the session I mentioned to them that the best “kiss” photos are photos where they’re about to kiss… not the actual kiss itself.  Well… guess what… without me even realizing it they took my words to heart and literally NEVER kissed during the whole session LOL.  Except when we started taking some totally silly ultra-wide-angle shots… which I certainly didn’t intend on posting…  but hey… it’s the only kiss shot I have, so here it is LOL

And from kiss… to … Uh Tongue bite-pull

Guys, it was an absolute pleasure to spend the little time we had available making some fun photography.  Thank you!

Oh and Derek… unfortunately for my wife we don’t really do underwear model photography but if that’s where you see yourself in 5 years… I might have some contacts you might want to talk to

All the photos for the session are on the proofs section of the website.

As many of you know I recently volunteered at the “Share the Love” event in downtown Hollywood.  This family was one of the many who came out and supported the relief efforts for the earthquake victims in Haiti by exchanging a generous donation for a brief portrait session.  It was great… families donated
money, photographers donated their time… win win all around!

Heater, Angela and Sean came by sometime around noon and we set out in the alleys of downtown to capture some great family portraits.

I’m always amused by the fact that parents, and in this case the aunt as well, are surprised that their otherwise outgoing young boy, gets shy when confronted with 15lbs of camera equipment and a stranger behind the lens Despite Angela and Heather’s repeated concerns for Sean’s lack of cooperation… the little dude did great!!! I’ve certainly identified a couple of shots I will be adding to my family portfolio.

I don’t need to tell you that Angela and Heather are stunning… you can see that for yourself… and Sean is well on his way to be a permanent fixture on all the girls’ cell phones in a few years … but aside from that, they were a real pleasure to work with, it’s nice to see such a cool bond between sisters, aunt and nephew and mother and son. Thank you to the three of you for warming up our day!

all the photos for the session are on the proofs section of the website.

Yeah… a techie post… apologies to my photography-only visitors.

For those of you who may start reading and think “Oh WPTouch” I know about that…  or those who prefer a different mobile plugin I’d suggest you hang around for a few minutes as I’ve added a killer hack to WPTouch (or any other mobile plugin) which will undoubtedly make the experience MUCH better for your iPhone (and other mobile device users).

So… if you have a WordPress blog … and display a lot of large images … and you’re either plagued by a pathetically slow host (yeah that would be me), or you simply want to help out the clients who pay based on bandwidth usage, and give them a much faster user experience… this post is for you.

In the remainder of this post I will presume that you will be using WPTouch but as I mention at the end you can use this with any other appropriate plugin/theme.

Click here to see the rest of this entry…

This Saturday, January 30th I will be one of 15 or so Photographers donating our shooting and processing time to families who make a donation to help the Sow a Seed organization.

The donation amount is $100 and I or another photographer will treat you and your family, friends, significant other, pet, or just you… to an immediate 30 minute custom photography session in downtown Hollywood.

If you know someone who might like the idea of making a tax-deductible contribution to a great cause… and getting some great photography on top of that please let them know.

For more information see:  Soflyphotog.wordpress.com