St. Petersburg Engagement Session

The set up on this picture was funny because we were in beautiful downtown St. Pete for the session and I dragged Danielle and Sean into an alley so I could use the big yellow wall. A woman walked by while we were shooting and said, "You're taking pictures here!?" (see more on BoorayPerry.com)

Engagement session in downtown St. Petersburg

It's been raining every day for a month here in Tampa, which can be a problem for a wedding photographer. On the other hand, if you're lucky enough to catch a few hours in between the storms you get great, even light because of all the clouds. Such was the case last week in downtown St. Petersburg when photographing Danielle and Sean.

At the end of the session I asked Danielle if there was anything else she would like to do... anything that caught her eye. She said, "I'd like to do something with the statues." You'd be surprised at how many great picture ideas come from the client and not the photographer.

More of my Tampa engagement photography can be seen on my website..

Tampa baby pictures at home

One of the advantages of shooting newborn pictures at the client's home is that I can use the baby's enviroment to create something more unique than the standard studio backdrop portrait. I think that the portrait below would look great hanging on the wall of a nursery!

See more Tampa baby pictures at www.boorayperry.com

New baby pictures on location in Tampa

In the past, I've always had new mom's bring their baby to my studio space in Tampa for those first important pictures. Lately I've been thinking of doing it the other way around. New mom's already have so much to deal with without having to pack up all the baby gear and come to the studio. Shooting a new baby at home also allows me to use some of the natural environment for more creative pictures while at the same time getting the required "fingers and toes" shots. Fortunately, since babies are so small, I can carry a small black backdrop into the home and get studio quality pictures.

Tampa baby photography by Booray Perry Photography

Olivia in the desert

Taking pictures of toddlers is hard because they don't sit still. You spend the entire session crawling around on your hands and knees trying to get an angle on the child and usually end up covered in dirt or grass. However, it's the exploring nature of toddlers that makes for such good pictures. You don't have to tell a 1-year-old to "act natural," they are always acting natural and it can make for some great pictures if you are fast enough to get into position when they happen.

For more of my Tampa baby pictures, visit my website.

Excuse me, would you like me to take that picture for you?

As so often happens when I am walking around with my camera, I ended up taking pictures of strangers while in Las Vegas. It's very hard to "turn-off" my photographer switch. It happened twice on this trip. The first time I was in The Bellagio and saw a couple attempting to take a picture of themselves with an old, (gulp!) film camera. The second time it was at The Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace where I saw a man trying to take a picture of his entire family (20 people). I have always had a tendency to step up whenever I see something like this and offer to take the picture for them (with their camera) so that they can be in the picture. However, sometimes I just know that the picture will not be very good because of the light and the limitations of the small camera they own and so I will offer to shoot it with my camera and send them the image. I know, I'm a professional photographer and shouldn't be giving away my work but I just hate to see a good picture opportunity ruined by a cheap camera when I have my rig in my hand.

When I saw this family posing I immediatly knew that they weren't going to get the picture they were hoping for. This picture taken with a small point-and-shoot camera would look like a group of people standing in front of a black cave with a few lights in it. You would never get the ceiling and background to show up because the lens is too small to let in enough light.

More on http://www.boorayperry.com/

Red Rocks, Las Vegas portrait session

I'm just back in town from a week in Las Vegas. I have a client there who wanted some family pictures at Red Rocks, a beautiful part of the desert just outside of town.

My clients were on a tight schedule so we only had about a half hour before dark to take the portraits. I would have stayed all day if I could have just to take High Dynamic Range shots but we were losing daylight fast. Still, I was able to get one good HDR shot before we lost the light.

I'll get some of the portrait shots online in a day or two but first, time to un-pack

See more of my work at http://www.boorayperry.com/