Portrait Photography for the Family, Beach, | Tampa | Clearwater

Beach, Environmental, Family Portraits, On-location, Portrait Locations, Portraits |

01.22.2012

Every trip to the beach to photograph a family is an adventure for me. It’s an adventure because I never know what Mother Nature will provide for the backdrop. Some days are just magnificent with little wind, beautiful diffused light, and a stunning sunset. Other days are, well, not like that:-) But, I have to tell you, it’s not the weather that makes the portrait session. It’s the people! We did not have perfect weather for this wonderful family but it didn’t matter. The family was so excited to be there it really didn’t matter what the weather conditions were.

I think you can tell from the images we had a great portrait session. No regret showing there! The entire family was very positive, and upbeat. It made my job easy and fun to capture a few special moments for them to enjoy for years to come. I’ll be delivering their beautiful wall art later in the week and can hardly wait to see their reaction.

Go to my website to see more beautiful family beach portraits. You can find me at RickLewisPhotography.com. It is easy to contact me at rlpTampa@gmail.com.

send to friend | add a comment (0)

Environmental, Family Portraits, On-location, Portrait Locations, Portraits, Travel |

01.02.2012

This is a little different Blog post than normal. My wife and I visited family again in Montgomery Alabama over Christmas. It dawned on me this trip that I should be scheduling portrait sessions on at least two of my trips per year. We visit the area often, about four times a year. I thought it would be nice to combine a little business with pleasure on our Spring and Fall trip to the area.

I scouted out the perfect spot for on-location family portraits. I discovered Blount Park and the Shakespeare Festival grounds off of Vaughn Road. I took a few photos that you will see below just to see how some backgrounds may turn out. I discovered there were many good spots for family portraits as I looked at the images. Then I got a little creative with them:-) I actually had to make a couple of them look like winter. It has been such a warm Fall and Winter so far, everything was green, except for the trees!

If you would like to book a portrait session on my next trip to Montgomery, March 2012, contact me here for details: rlpTampa@gmail.com. To see more of my work go to my main website at: ricklewisphotography.com.

send to friend | add a comment (0)

Beach, Environmental, Family Portraits, On-location, Portrait Locations, Portraits, Sunsets, Travel |

11.25.2011

One of my favorite places to shoot family beach portraits is at Sand Key Park in Clearwater. The beach is wide, not too crowded and has a nice rock jetty. I met the Tabor sisters about an hour before sunset on this day for a nice sibling portrait session. The weather was perfect! The clouds were a big help, adding dramatic lighting when needed. We started with the “beach walk”; my favorite.

The beach walk is the most difficult shot to achieve well. It usually entails multiple images and a lot of Photoshop work to get it “just right”. It was no exception on this day. After we finished getting some images, we picked up shoes and equipment and moved on to the rock jetty for a posed sunset portrait. This shot nearly did not happen! You see, we picked up everything down the beach except their rental car keys!! You talk about panic! The sun was quickly setting and we had been moving around a lot so I was not exactly sure where we had left our stuff. Eventually the keys were located and we ran back to the rocks to get a spectacular portrait as the sun was going down, behind a rain squall in the Gulf. What a shot!

I had a great time with the girls. They really made this one easy. If you would like your own beach portrait session go to my website at Rick Lewis Photography.com or email me at: rlpTampa@gmail.com.

send to friend | add a comment (0)

Advertising, Business Portraits, Executive Portraits, Portraits, Studio |

10.27.2011

Executive portraits, (aka Public Relations Portraits), are not always your cookie cutter head and shoulders shot against a gray or blue background that you so often see. In the studio you can do so much more if it is requested. I recently had a request from a new author to produce a portrait that could be used as her profile photo on her website. She would also use the portrait on her Amazon.com profile page when her new book went on sale. She did not want just a head and shoulders image. She wanted to express a certain image of herself for her readers.

She wanted to show warmth, with a country feel, for the portrait. Because we were shooting this in the studio we had the luxury of choosing just the right background and prop to make a simple, but effective, portrait in a short time. In about 20 minutes, we were able to get numerous images of three or four different poses, using the same prop and background, and we got just what she wanted.

If you need an executive portrait or a public relations portrait or headshot, email me at rlpTampa@gmail.com. Go to my website, RickLewisPhotography.com, or RickLewisHeadshots.com, for more information and my portfolio. Public relations headshots / portraits start at just $125 for one low resolution digital image for the web. High resolution digital images, suitable for web or print, with a full release start at just $145.00.

send to friend | add a comment (0)

Beach, Environmental, Family Portraits, On-location, Portraits |

10.15.2011

Many of my family beach portrait sessions, in the Clearwater area, are for out of state vacationers. This session was no different. This is the Champagne family from Colorado. They were here on vacation and wanted a family beach portrait made. As usual, we spent about an hour on the beach, around sunset, and got some wonderful images for them to choose from. It was a joy working with them. The four boys were incredibly easy to work with. The session flew by.

For your own special family beach portrait session email me, or go to my website, ricklewisphotography.com, for contact information. Beach portraits are special, and we can make one special for you too:-)

©Rick Lewis

send to friend | add a comment (0)

Advertising, Event, Fashion |

10.01.2011

Every photographer I know does pro bono work for charities. I get requests throughout the year, and, if I can work it into my schedule I try to participate in some way. I was recently asked by my good friend, Robert Sargent, of Sargent Photography, to assist him at a charity event for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation. This event was a benefit fashion show put on by the students of The Salon Professional Academy. The benefit was to showcase their creative hair styles but they went beyond that and put on a full fledged fashion show with a runway, video screen, and of course, hip music. I really enjoyed myself and got some great shots along the way. These folks raised a great deal of money for a great cause and every one had a blast. Take a look. To contact me either go to Rick Lewis Photography website or email me at: rlpTampa@gmail.com.

send to friend | add a comment (0)

Advertising, Commercial, On-location |

09.16.2011

I was recently asked to photograph the female detectives in Recruitment & Screening, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, Tampa, Florida, for a recruiting initiative. Like most progressive law enforcement agencies, HCSO is looking for highly motivated, qualified, female applicants. The assignment was pretty straight forward; photograph the five detectives in their every day activities. We had to get the point across that women in law enforcement was no longer an oddity, nor is it beyond the capabilities of women. The theme for the initiative is “Law Enforcement: Not Just for the Boys”.

The girls suggested photographing them shopping at one of Tampa’s trendy shopping centers so we went to Hyde Park. All of the women in Recruitment & Screening are extremely physically fit and make exercise a part of their life, so, we went to the HCSO Training Division gym. Several of the girls run on a regular basis, so, what better location than Bayshore Drive and the beautiful Tampa Skyline? We of course had to get a couple of shots of the girls in the various uniform combinations for the sheriff’s office and show what law enforcement is all about. We went to the Falkenburg Road Jail to get the more gritty shot of the girls in uniform.

These images will end up on recruiting material in print and hopefully one shot will be on a billboard soon. The girls did a great job and I had a blast working with them. If you are interested in or know someone who might be interested in a career in law enforcement go to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office website and take a look at the opportunity. To contact me for information on my photography, go to my website at Rick Lewis Photography, or email me at rlpTampa@gmail.com.

send to friend | add a comment (0)

Beach, Environmental, Family Portraits, On-location, Portraits |

09.08.2011

Family beach photography has been characterized as one of the most difficult genres of photography to master. I can tell you it is! I specialize in beach family photography in my portrait business. It is what I enjoy most doing when it comes to photographing families. However, it is very difficult. You never know what Mother Nature is going to give you from day to day, or in my case, from sunset to sunset. This has been an odd year indeed. I have had a few good sunsets but not many.

This photo session for the Brusa extended family started out sunny and with promise. Then, it got really dark and the thunder storms started to form in the Gulf. The last photo I have posted is the very last one I took that night. As soon as I clicked the shutter a big bolt of lightening was seen just behind the family. That was The End of the photo shoot:-) Lightening is one thing I do not mess with on the beach. But we got some great images of the family including a very dramatic family pose near some sea oats.

For your own family beach photo session just send me an email at rlpTampa@gmail.com. Go to my website at RickLewisPhotography.com to view my gallery and get some great tips for a successful beach photo session of your own.

send to friend | add a comment (0)

Head Shots, Headshots, Studio |

08.28.2011

Recently I had the pleasure of photographing Owen Robertson, a local actor. He needed to update his headshot for his acting career. He brought his “A game” that day. We got him started with a make up session with Lindsay MacConnell, a very talented local make up artist. Lindsay brings a lot to any actor headshot session. You see, Lindsay has a little acting experience on her resumé. She knows exactly what is needed to make you look great in front of the camera. Then we got started. In about one hour I had more than enough great shots for Owen to choose from.

Owen is starting in an upcoming production of Quills at the Starz Center for the Performing Arts. He will be appearing from October 19th through November 7th. Owen is a very talented man and is sure to be moving up in his career. I’m glad he chose me to photograph him. We had a great time and he made my job very easy. If you need great headshots to help advance your career, go to my headshot website and check it out. You can always reach me at rlpTampa@gmail.com. Break a leg Owen!

send to friend | add a comment (0)

Advertising, Commercial, On-location |

08.07.2011

A few months ago I received a call about doing some on-location headshots of doctors. It was an interesting call because they also wanted interior and exterior images of the medical clinics where the doctors worked. This was for a large firm out of Tulsa Oklahoma, CareATC, that was administering these clinics for the City of Tampa. They had two clinics in the Tampa area. One was in Brandon and the other near the stadium in Tampa.

The headshots were the easy part, even with very cramped offices available. The difficulty was getting the interior images with three different light sources, florescent, daylight, and studio strobes; and the exteriors, getting shots without a lot of clutter. We had a very short window of time to be in the clinics to get these shots and I had to go back at dusk to get decent shots of the signage and exteriors. But it all worked out.

If you need similar type work, or even lifestyle images showing your business, give me a call. Go to my web site: RickLewisPhotography.com, for more information, more images and all my contact information. Or email me with details at rlpTampa@gmail.com.

send to friend | add a comment (0)