Odds and Ends...

Oh, blog..... I've neglected you of late. :)

We were swamped over the holidays with weddings and events.  Then, in January I went to Imaging U.S.A., which is the national convention for the Professional Photographers Association of America.  It was held in Atlanta this year and, since I live in Florida, I decided I should go since it was as close as I could hope to get without actually being in my home state.  Florida's great but it takes eight hours just to leave the state by car. :)

The convention was great.  Lot's of photographers to meet, workshops to attend and I got to hang out with my old friend Jodi from Ben and Jodi Photography. She spent the whole week drinking as much "sweet tea" as she could find since they just don't offer that up in Ohio.

I spent most of the time at the convention taking notes full of ideas for a speaking program.  One of the big things in PPA is education and members are encouraged to "give back."  I decided that I would put together a program that I could share with local chapters and spent the whole weekend brainstorming ideas.  Last night I presented my program for the first time to the Lakeland PPA chapter and it went well.  No one got up and left, only a few items were thrown at me, good times. :)

I had a unique opportunity last month when I was asked to shoot some images for the WWE.  That's right, your humble photographer got to photograph professional wrestlers!  The whole thing was green screen so that the backgrounds can be replaced for tour programs, etc.  One thing I will say about the wrestlers, male and female alike, is that they were the most polite, well-mannered people you could ever hope to work with. It was a pleasure to meet them.

Of course I had plenty of weddings as well and no blog post would be complete without some wedding pictures:

Finally, we wedding photographers love to complain about people who get in our way at weddings.  We call these people "Uncle Bob" and usually it's someone who owns a nice camera and in their eagerness to "get the shot" at a wedding they end up blocking us.  It's just one of those things... everybody likes to complain about something so we complain about Uncle Bob.

Well, just let me say for the record that not all "Uncle Bob's" are created equal.  (I've written about them here.)  At my wedding on New Year's Eve, I met a man who was using a camera that he had bought some 60 years ago for his own wedding.  It shot film!  

When a man at your wedding has a camera that is older than you are, he get's to do whatever he wants to do.  :)

It was a great wedding. We got fantastic images and the party was a riot!

Booray Perry is an award-winning wedding photographer in Tampa Florida.

Getting married on the beach?  Here's how to have the Perfect Florida Beach Wedding!

Nothing makes a party more fun than The Vogue Booth.  Tampa's Best Photobooth!

Wedding on St. Pete Beach

Jessica and Matt were married on the beach in St. Petersburg.  What a great couple!  They flew all the way from California to get married here with their family in attendance.  They even had the reception outside at the beach as well!

I photograph a lot of small, beach weddings in addition to the typical large affairs.  One of the things that smaller, more budget conscious brides tend to leave out is a wedding album.  Jessica and Matt decided to preserve their day with our full-size, custom leather album!  Here's what it looks like:

Click on any image to enlarge

This is the opening page of the album but I just want to point out that those wedding rings are engraved with their fingerprints.  How cool is that?

Ceremony and reception were provided by Perfect Florida Beach Wedding.
Beach wedding photography by Booray Perry Photography

Tampa Wedding Pictures Competition

Last night was the monthly meeting of The Tampa Area Professional Photographers Association and I entered two images in the "Weddings and Events" category.

The first was from a wedding on the beach that I photographed for Perfect Florida Beach Wedding.  We use a lot of props when we shoot on the beach because we like to have a lot of different images.  This image won 2nd place:

The second photograph was from a wedding last year at Mixon Farms.  Mixon is an orchard that has a space for weddings and it has some great locations for photography.  This image won 1st place

Booray Perry is an award-winning wedding photographer in Tampa Florida.
Getting married on the beach?  Here's how to have the Perfect Florida Beach Wedding!
Nothing makes a party more fun than The Vogue Booth.  Tampa's Best Photobooth!

Photographic Artistry The Hard Way

Whenever I talk to someone about the importance of hiring a good photographer, it seems that they always say, "You need someone who has the right artistic vision." While I tend to stress, "Someone who understands the technical side of photography."

I think that a person who is very artistic can still take lousy photographs because they lack the skill to realize their vision. But someone who has the technical skill can be lead to the artistic images simply by understanding posing, lighting, composure, etc.

I rarely envision a photograph before I arrive on location. Rather, I arrive at the location and then "see" the pictures as I look around. My artistry comes from a grounding in technical skill. The ability to look at a space and see elements that will make a good photograph and then compose and shoot that photograph is an artistry all to itself. Since, in my mind, it's mostly "technical" in nature... I tend to shy away from calling myself an "artist."

Tampa Wedding Photography - A Short Story

I posted something on my Facebook page the other day about how sad it makes me when I talk to a potential client who is on a budget that is so tight, they can't afford me. I'm not that expensive and if you can't afford me then you are most likely going to have to hire a budget/part-time photographer. I just hate it when the bride really loves my work and has to settle for something else.

Anyway, here is one of the comments to my post:

Share my story with her! At the time of my wedding money was tight and I said I could not afford a professional photographer. My father was in remission from Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma for 10 years at my wedding and low and behold the cancer came back full force and we lost him within 2 years following my wedding. I was the only child of 6 that he walked down the aisle and gave away and I do not have any photos of this. I have no good photos of the two of us together. It's a decision that I regret everyday and if I had to do it all over again I would rather have a photographer than a DJ, cake, dress, big fancy meal or anything else.

I hear stories like this all the time.

The bottom line is this: Find a way to get the photographer that you love (even if it's not me!). You won't regret it. :)

Booray Perry is an award-winning wedding photographer in Tampa Florida.
Getting married on the beach? Here's how to have the perfect Florida beach wedding!
Nothing makes a party more fun than The Vogue Booth. Tampa's Best Photobooth

Tampa Weddings and Lighting

If you've ever wondered what "off-camera light" is and why it's important at your wedding or event, hop over to Diva with a Fork and read my guest blog post all about it!

Trevor and Jillian at Hyatt Clearwater Beach

I just finished a wedding album for Trevor and Jillian who were married at The Hyatt, Clearwater Beach.  They decided not to do some of the traditional things at their wedding (garter toss, bouquet toss) which meant there was more room in the album.  So they filled it with their favorite pictures from The Vogue Booth ( Tampa's best Photobooth )!

It was a great wedding and a real privilege to be a part!

For more Clearwater Beach Wedding Photography, visit my website...

Siesta Key Wedding Beach Photography

Last week we did something very rare here at Booray Perry Photography:  We went on vacation.  Our business is the sort that doesn't allow for much vacation time.  People get married all the time and so we usually only manage a day or two off every now and then.

Last week we took a whole week off and went to the beach with the girls.  It wasn't a complete vacation because I did manage to sneak one small wedding in on Thursday in Siesta Key.

Siesta Key is known for some of the best beaches in the world.  I didn't get a chance to see too many of them as I was only there for a couple of hours but what I did see was great.  Where we were there was a sea wall which I fell in love with.  We were also blessed with the best sunset of the entire week!

Angie and Lee came down for a few days to get married and have a small honeymoon before the school year begins (Angie is a teacher).  The wedding was short and simple with just the two of them, the officiante and me.  After, I had them for over an hour, all to myself and we got fantastic beach wedding pictures.

Siesta Key is beautiful and I would love to go back soon to work or play!

See more Siesta Key Beach Wedding photography at Boorayperry.com