Most Tampa wedding photographers would agree with me that Don Cesar Hotel is an incredible wedding venue – gorgeous architecture, stunning interior and of course the beautiful beach with perfect sunsets right behind it. All this makes the Don a true gem and an exciting spot for wedding photography. However, shooting engagement sessions at this resort is even more fun. Unlike weddings, engagements give us, wedding photographers, plenty of time to really explore the venue to its fullest. Add to that a couple who really enjoys picture taking and you have an evening of fun most wedding photographers live for!
Visiting Tampa Bay from Louisville, Ronnie and Lindsey were staying at the Don when one evening Ronnie revealed to his fiancee the real reason there came here – he asked her to marry him! Capturing the couple’s excitement was easy – emotions were strong and everybody around could tell how passionate they were about one another! Our session began inside because the sun was still a bit strong, yet the amount of light we were getting through the large windows of the hotel’s corridors was just perfect. There were not many tourists in the lobby that evening which allowed us get the most use of the Don’s awesome interior. Once the time got closer to the sunset, Lindsey and Ronnie changed and we went out on the beach.
When couples suggest the beach as an engagement spot I always try to incorporate at least one more place which would differ in feel and style from the beach. Beach is fun, don’t get me wrong, but there is only so much you can do with the sun, water and sand. And that’s one of the things I like about engagement locations such as Don Cesar – it offers such a variety of scenery without the need to travel to different places. In and around the Don you get to photograph with beautiful architecture in the background, while few steps away on the beach it’s a completely different feel.
Additionally, I often try to alternate the approach I’m using from one location to another. While inside the hotel I mostly directed and posted the couple, the moment we stepped on the beach I completely switched gears. It all became about interaction between Lindsey and Ronnie – they walked, talked, ran, goofed around and simply had lots of fun. By this time they felt a lot more comfortable in front of the camera and the shooting as well as their interaction was flowing very naturally. Half an hour later, as the sun touched the horizon we finished our session with a series of awesome sunset shots and wrapped it up with few pictures featuring Don Cesar in the background.
Here are few of my favorites from that day, hope you enjoy them!
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Tampa wedding photography is an exciting field in itself, but what makes it even more fun are all the engagement sessions we, Tampa wedding photographers, get to shoot in between the weddings. These photo shoots give couples a chance to get more comfortable in front of the camera and learn the photographer’s style of shooting, directing and posing. At the same time we, wedding photographers, use this opportunity to learn more about the couple – what works and what doesn’t in terms of angles, posing, prompting and directions for each and every person we work with.
I love it when brides get creative about their photo sessions too. I always welcome ideas about possible locations, poses, looks, etc. Sometimes couples would email me pictures they find online and ask if we could try to shoot something similar. Almost always these are very cool ideas which I often end up incorporating in my future shoots. And of course I love it even more, when some of those pictures they dig up are actually shots from my previous engagement sessions!
In fact, one day I got a call from a couple who fell in love with Maria and Alex’s engagement session I had shot just few months before. They loved it so much that they wanted to shoot exact same session. Since downtown Tampa and University of Tampa are two of my favorite spots for wedding as well as engagement pictures, I was very happy to do the shoot. I was a bit nervous, of course, because what works for one couple may not necessarily be a good fit for another. But in fact, Beemal and Sonal ended up being just as easy going and fun as Maria and Alex and we had blast.
We began shooting at the Curtis Hixon park in downtown Tampa, a favorite location of mine and probably every other Tampa wedding photographer’s. Unfortunately, the main fountains were off that day, but we still managed to get few awesome pictures with the smaller ones in the back of the park. We took a few photos on the grass by the museum and we headed off to the University of Tampa campus. When we got there, Beemal and Sonal changed their outfits and we continued the shoot. As the sun was getting closer and closer to the horizon we made our way to the Hillsborough river where we concluded our photo shoot with few spectacular pictures by the water and downtown in the background.
Here are few of my favorites, hope you’ll enjoy them!
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In my last post I shared several pictures from Karis and Kevin’s engagement session at the Demens Landing Park. Today I’d like to show you few of my favorite shots from their wedding.
The ceremony took place at the Longboat Island Chapel on Longboat Key. I’ve shot around Bradenton area before, but this was my first time on Longboat Key. Just like many other Tampa Wedding Photographers would, I always welcome opportunities to shoot outside Tampa Bay area. The chapel itself was very beautiful. Light blue and yellow wood colors complimented Karis and Kevin’s wedding theme, which was navy blue and dark gold.
Right next to the chapel, there was a gorgeous white gazebo, surrounded by lots of trees. I suggested we headed there for the family pictures after the ceremony and everyone loved the idea. Afternoon sun light was so nice and soft that we ended up shooting some portraits of Karis and Kevin there as well, before heading to their reception at the Mattison’s Riverside restaurant.
I love it when couples are into picture taking. It’s fun documenting what’s going on during the “Big Day”, but I also enjoy tremendously those mini photo shoots I get to do with the bride and groom during the time between ceremony and reception. That’s when I create the kind of pictures couples later print on canvas, enlarge for their parents or put on the cover of their albums. With Karis and Kevin we had plenty of time for such session. We simply walked down the 1st Avenue, stopping at different locations, shooting and having fun.
As the reception was about to start, we decided to check out the room and were stunned – it looked amazing. I took few photos of the setup before the guests started walking in. Introductions, first dance and dances with parents were very emotional. As everybody sat down to eat I worked on getting some nice pictures of the cake for Karis and Kevin’s album. The rest of the reception pretty much revolved around the dance floor – everybody danced and had really good time. Alright, enough said, let’s see some pictures you might say – here they come. Enjoy!
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Many St. Petersburg wedding photographers name Sirata Beach Resort as one of the favorite places to shoot at. Located on St. Pete beach strip, next to Don Cesar and Grand Plaza, this resort indeed offers lots of opportunities for creative photography. Yellow colored building with white terraces, curving stairwells with complimenting fountains on each side create a gorgeous backdrop for bridal photos. Today I’d like to share with you Katie and Andrew’s wedding which I’ve shot at the Sirata last July.
When I arrived, Katie, her mom and four of her bridesmaids (all of which turned out to be her sisters!) were just starting to get ready. I began taking pictures right away, trying to capture the mood and the emotions of the entire family. About half hour into it I ran downstairs and caught up with the guys as they were about to leave for the church. Few portraits of Andrew alone following by few with the guys and I was back with the girls. Final touches, a couple pictures of the entire family and we were ready to head out.
The ceremony took place at the St. John’s Church, which was only a couple of miles away from the resort. We arrived there with a little bit of time to spare, so I had a chance to take some nice detail shots of the church interior. I loved how well lit it was inside. Also, they didn’t have any restrictions for me to move around so I managed to get lots of great shots from different angles.
After the ceremony we had almost an hour for some fun photography. We started with the entire bridal party and then did some cool portraits of just Katie and Andrew together. Mid day sun was pretty brutal, but we manged to find some shade here and there. That’s actually one of the things I like about Sirata – if the sun is blasting on one side, you can shoot on the other side of the resort and vice versa. Katie and Andrew were quite excited about picture taking and brave enough to pose even in the open sun, but I didn’t want to “melt” them before their party even began 
Reception was held at one of the reception rooms upstairs, with gorgeous views of St. Pete beach and surrounding areas. Everybody was dancing and having a good time. Around sunset time we walked out on the beach for the sunset shots. I don’t think we had clear sky that evening, but even with the clouds the sunset looked quite dramatic.
I realized that I never posted any of my album layout samples (other than Regina and BW wedding). This time, I’d like to share with you some of the album spreads instead of individual images. These are few of my favorite spreads from Katie and Andrew’s wedding album. Enjoy!
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South Tampa has lots of great spots for photo sessions of any kind – weddings, engagement or family portraits for that matter. Earlier this week I’ve had the pleasure of shooting a Christmas Portraits session with Emily and Cory (and their cute dog Beans). They picked Fred Ball park on Bayshore and it turned out to be an excellent location – quiet, with lots of shade, beautiful gazebo and right next the water. I was already familiar with it as I’ve photographed Liz and Brandon’s bridal party there last Spring.
I met Emily and Cory at the park about an hour before the sunset and we started with some pictures of the three of them. Beans’ patience ran out rather quickly, but by then we already managed to capture few very cool photos. At that point Beans volunteered to watch my camera bag while we proceeded with the portraits of Emily and Cory alone. We shot in the park for a little while and then walked out onto Bayshore for few more fun photos before the sun disappeared behind the horizon. Despite the cold evening weather we had a lot of fun and I hope the pictures shows it. Here are few of my favorites, enjoy!
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