Saint Petersburg Florida Senior Photos at Dali Museum

Downtown Saint Petersburg offers a variety of outdoor locations for portrait sessions and one of my favorites is the Salvador Dali Museum and Mahaffey Theatre exteriors. For this high school senior session we started along the corridors of the Mahaffey which offers a fun perspective line of columns, crisp concrete lines and natural greenery. Then we strolled over towards the highly reflective exterior of the Dali Museum’s enigma dome, which offers a blue glass reflection of the palm trees along the approach to the museum. At senior sessions I typically suggest three outfits to add variety. To end the session we strolled along the Tampa Bay waterfront of South Yacht Basin.

Senior Photos St Pete Florida

Salvador Dali Museum St Petersburg | St Pete Florida Photographer | Senior Photos St Pete Florida

Senior Photos St Pete Florida

Salvador Dali Museum St Petersburg | St Pete Florida Photographer | Senior Photos St Pete Florida

Senior Photos St Pete Florida

Salvador Dali Museum St Petersburg | St Pete Florida Photographer | Senior Photos St Pete Florida

Senior Photos St Pete Florida

Salvador Dali Museum St Petersburg | St Pete Florida Photographer | Senior Photos St Pete Florida

Senior Photos St Pete Florida

Salvador Dali Museum St Petersburg | St Pete Florida Photographer | Senior Photos St Pete Florida

Senior Photos St Pete Florida

Salvador Dali Museum St Petersburg | St Pete Florida Photographer | Senior Photos St Pete Florida

Senior Photos St Pete Florida

Salvador Dali Museum St Petersburg | St Pete Florida Photographer | Senior Photos St Pete Florida

Senior Photos St Pete Florida

Salvador Dali Museum St Petersburg | St Pete Florida Photographer | Senior Photos St Pete Florida

Senior Photos St Pete Florida

Salvador Dali Museum St Petersburg | St Pete Florida Photographer | Senior Photos St Pete Florida

CONTACT KRISTEN SLOAN TODAY TO SCHEDULE YOUR ST PETE PORTRAIT SESSION

Family Beach Portrait Photo Albums Custom Designed by St Pete Florida Photographer Kristen Sloan

One of my favorite aspects of being a portrait and wedding photographer is presenting to the client a custom photo album. With every portrait session I include a 6×6 square mini album which is printed on Kodak Endura Professional paper. This album features some of my favorite images from the client’s portrait session printed in seamless 6×12 spreads.

Custom Photo Albums by St Pete FL Portrait Wedding Photographer Kristen Sloan

Today I am mailing three Treasure Island, St Pete Beach Portrait Sessions which we recently photographed. Additional exact copies of the album make great gifts, especially around the holidays. In this modern age of digital photography, I feel it is very important to print photographs and these books are a great way for my clients to share their Kristen Sloan Photography Portrait  Session images with family and friends. This modern photo album is the perfect size to throw into a purse or bag.

Custom Photo Albums by St Pete FL Portrait Wedding Beach Photographer Kristen Sloan

I personally custom design the photo layout for each album to match the look and feel of the portrait session. The Kodak Endura Photographic Paper used in printing these mini albums is the same photo paper which I offer my client’s in their online portrait photo galleries.

CONTACT KRISTEN SLOAN PHOTOGRAPHY TODAY TO BOOK YOUR PORTRAIT SESSION OR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY

Casa Monica St Augustine FL 1955 Chrysler Imperial shot on Hasselblad 500C with Ilford BW Film

I love Cars and trucks. My instagram feed is full of them. The older, the better. We traveled to St. Augustine Florida in 2012, and I packed my grandfather’s Hasselblad 500C, bought some Ilford 120 film in St Petersburg at Zebra Color and decided to bring the Blad on vacation. I used to be a Kodak TMAX girl, but Zebra Color recommended the Ilford.

After walking around town, I spotted this beauty. Casa Monica Hotel. 1955 Chrysler Imperial. Just lovely. Well photographed I’m sure, but who’s counting?

1955 Chrysler Imperial by St Petersburg FL Photographer Kristen Sloan

1955 Chrysler Imperial by St Petersburg FL Photographer Kristen Sloan

I love the sound of the shutter when it releases and the crank of the film advancing on the Hasselblad. I was very proud to shoot this camera in college, as it had belonged to my grandfather who purchased it in 1958, the first year the Hasselblad was available in the United States. He had the Zeiss 60mm, the 80mm and the 150mm, along with a beautiful leather case, glass filters in every color you would desire, a polaroid back, film backs and a prism focus viewfinder. Nice setup for a college freshman at CU Boulder. I put a ton of Tmax 100 through this camera and usually printed on Ilford Multigrade glossy fiber base.1955 Chrysler Imperial by St Petersburg FL Photographer Kristen Sloan

1955 Chrysler Imperial by St Petersburg FL Photographer Kristen Sloan

1955 Chrysler Imperial by St Petersburg FL Photographer Kristen Sloan

So in response to the recent BW challenges posed by fellow photographers, I decided to finally show these images. BW film is still my all time favorite photography medium, especially when printed on fiber base paper. And Zeiss lenses are amazingly sharp. When processing my digital images, I hand select images which I think would look great BW and then apply a warm tone BW effect in Lightroom.

Bilmar Beach Resort Family Portraits at Treasure Island Beach Florida

Many of our clients select Treasure Island FL for their Florida beach vacation. We love photographing portrait sessions on this wide stretch of beach for all of the natural grasses, palm trees and dunes.This family chose to stay at Bilmar Beach Resort , situated directly on Treasure Island beach.

Bilmar Beach Resort Treasure Island Beach Portraits Photos by Kristen Sloan PhotographyTheir youngest girl was interested more in playing in the sand, rather than posing for photos, so Scott and I found ways for the kids to relax and enjoy the beach while we photographed them. Asking a toddler to participate in family photos can be stressful, so I prefer to let them play and capture candids of these beach moments.

Bilmar Beach Resort Treasure Island Beach Portraits Photos by Kristen Sloan Photography

Bilmar Beach Resort Treasure Island Beach Portraits Photos by Kristen Sloan Photography

Bilmar Beach Resort Treasure Island Beach Portraits Photos by Kristen Sloan Photography

The overcast skies produced a surprise vivid sunset!

Bilmar Beach Resort Treasure Island Beach Portraits Photos by Kristen Sloan Photography

CONTACT KRISTEN SLOAN PHOTOGRAPHY TODAY FOR YOUR PORTRAIT SESSION OR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY

 

Treasure Island Beach Sunset Summer Family Portraits

The humidity has dropped this month in St Petersburg to perfect fall Florida beach weather. But it is fun to look back at some of our late summer beach portrait sessions. This particular family was staying at Sunset Vistas Beachfront Suites and walked out their backdoor to meet us on the beach at our favorite location in Treasure Island. The kids were adorable at this family session, and it is so nice to see an extended family vacationing together.

I am often asked what to wear for beach family portrait sessions. This family selected one of the most popular color combinations for beach portrait sessions; white and tans. These outfits were fitting for this warm August evening. I especially like the belt the mom wore to add visual interest to her cute white dress. I like the popularity of white attire for beach sessions, but don’t forget be afraid of bold accessories to compliment the white fabric so it doesn’t fade into pale sand.

For more family portrait attire inspiration, please visit my Pinterest board What to Wear to your Portrait Photography Session.

 

Florida Beach Family Portraits by Treasure Island St Pete Beach Photographer Kristen Sloan

These amazing seersucker monogrammed outfits were bought online at Smocked threads by Cecil and Lou, which hosts auctions on their Facebook page of current adorable childrens’ clothes, many of which are perfect for beach sessions.

Florida Beach Family Portraits by Treasure Island St Pete Beach Photographer Kristen Sloan

As expected, my awesome partner Scott Krebs nailed the post-sunset portraits lit using two SaberStrips. These modifiers are perfect for the beach, as they do so well in the breezes which naturally increase around sunset.

Florida Beach Family Portraits by Treasure Island St Pete Beach Photographer Kristen Sloan

How adorable are these proud, involved grandparents?!

Florida Beach Family Portraits by Treasure Island St Pete Beach Photographer Kristen Sloan

And we always allow time for some fun photos; OHIO!

Florida Beach Family Portraits by Treasure Island St Pete Beach Photographer Kristen Sloan

CONTACT KRISTEN SLOAN PHOTOGRAPHY TODAY TO SCHEDULE YOUR PORTRAIT SESSION OR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY!

 

Hollywood Glamour Lighting Studio Portraits, Saint Petersburg Tampa Bay Florida

It had been quite some time since I had photographed a studio portrait session and I wanted to emulate the dramatic, elegant and flattering light of old Hollywood portraits of the 1930’s and 1940’s. I kept the lighting very simple: continuous light from my Visatec modeling lamps with barn doors. Camera was my Nikon D700 with the 85mm lens, with most aperture settings at F4 or F2.8. Very little post production in Lightroom was needed because this lighting setup is extremely flattering to skin tones and my model Megan has amazing porcelain skin.

Natural Light and Strobed Portraits at Vinoy Park and North Shore in Saint Petersburg Florida

After a rainy and cloudy day, the sky let up for some late afternoon portraits of Fritzi. The wind on North Shore beach in St. Petersburg Florida was fairly intense and I was not being kind to my subject’s hair. We moved off the beach to a grassy area of the park, and then mother nature intercepted with some beautiful cloud diffused sunlight.

I lit the scene with two SabersStrips in an inverted L pattern as main light and then eventually as the sunlight increased, as hair light and side fill.

Shooting in Florida presents its own set of challenges; windy beaches, sand and high humidity.  But what I love about photographing in Florida is the soft diffused light that  lingers at sunset, many times described as the golden hour.

In many parts of Colorado, the sun dips behind the mountains and our overall daylight can be a little more contrasty in full sun. This week I am in Calgary,  where the Alberta blue skies are warmed by 9:55PM sunsets which slowly fade into twilight. Photographers are always chasing the light and its fun to see the nuances of every geographic location.

CONTACT KRISTEN SLOAN TODAY TO BOOK YOUR PORTRAIT SESSION!

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