Bridal portraits have been a popular requested portrait session for my business and I love photographing them for a variety of reasons. For this session, the bride was to be married in St Petersburg Florida with her ceremony held at First Presbyterian of St Petersburg and the reception held at the St Petersburg Yacht Club. Scott Krebs and I chose to photograph her at North Straub and Vinoy Park  in St Petersburg FL a few weeks before her wedding weekend. These St Pete Parks surround the harbor and by shooting close to sunset, we were blessed with great cloud and sky colors at the session.

Bridal portrait sessions allow a variety of benefits for the wedding couple. For the bride, she is able to do her hair and make-up trial before the bridal portrait and then see the results in her photographs. The bride is able to put on all of her wedding trousseau and make sure undergarments, jewelry and shoes are coordinating with her dress. With my client at this bridal portrait, she was able to find out how much time it takes to lace her beautiful dress and add that time into her wedding day schedule.

On the actual wedding day, I am rarely allotted the amount of time with the bride alone that I have when I photograph a bridal portrait. This bridal portrait provides her with a relaxed environment to have her photos taken, also allowing her to enjoy the wedding day knowing that she looks amazing. These photos are a supplement to all of the great photos of her which will be captured on her wedding day.

We photographed this portrait session, starting at the Beach Drive Inn where our bride had her hair and make-up styled by Fruma Aharoni. There she put on her dress, assisted by two of her bridesmaids.

From the Beach Drive Inn we walked over to North Straub Park for some photos on the lawn front of the Vinoy Hotel and Beach Drive. On her wedding day our bride the most adorable fushia wedding shoes, but for the bridal portrait I wanted her to be comfortable and wear a pair that were broken in and similar heel height. I also did not want the fushia wedding shoes to get grass stains on the heels before her wedding day.

On this afternoon, I loved the sunlight filtered through the clouds and trees.

Before sunset approached, we walked past the Vinoy Hotel to Vinoy Park for sweeping views of the harbor and St Petersburg Pier. It was a little bit of a walk, but so worth the effort. I can’t imagine having the time to do something like this on an actual wedding day, so it was a pleasure to have some many great opportunities to photograph.

Throughout the session, I had the lighting expertise of Scott Krebs who utilized two SaberStrips in an inverted L shaped formation to create a lovely softbox effect.

CONTACT KRISTEN TODAY TO SCHEDULE YOUR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY CONSULTATION OR PORTRAIT SESSION