Christopher Griffins

Christopher made his debut several blogs ago when he was 3 months old and was destined for a personal session when he turned 9 months. I had so much fun photographing him with his parents because he is such an adorable baby. Cindy picked out several outfits for Chris' session, and we created some great shots of him all dressed up. However, when we stripped him down to his "birthday suit", the antics and the laughter filled the studio. He was having a ball playing with the lace up against his skin.

I've discovered during my children sessions that they love to play without clothing restricting their movement and they become more animated. Check out Chris' "fun time", especially the new "Children Collection" layout at the end of this blog. It's one of our newest products that we're offering in our children photography.

Check out the dental work.

I love capturing the impromptu antics of children.

Yummy tasting flower.

Bare bottom shots are always adorable.

We thought Christopher was checking out his plumbing,

but he was observing how water seeks its own level.

This is one of our new "Children Collection" layout.

Inspirational Thought #2

God pledges to help those who stop trying to help themselves.

Max Lucado

Stephani Gibbs

Stephani is the type girl that every dad wished he had as a fifteen year old daughter. She is an accomplished scholar, athlete, and all-round teenager with loads of talent and ambition. When her mom brought her into the studio to book her sweet 16 party in '09, she seemed a bit shy and reserved, but I could tell that we were going to be the best of friends.

2009 is some distance away and her mom thought it would be a great idea if we created some images of her in her gown. I jumped at the opportunity and suggested that we allow her to also wear some other fashion outfits of her choice. Well...a star is born!

I challenged Stephani's posing abilities at several different locations and she gave me every opportunity to create some unique images of her. Thanks, Stephani, and I bet your friends are going to LOVE your images.

Stephani is a track star, so this was an easy lap.

One thing Stephani doesn't lack...legs and attitude.Great portrait of Stephani.

Look out, Tyra!

Cindy Rizzo

Cindy Rizzo is an accomplished vocalist and I was delighted when she contacted me to create some images of her in her home. I brought in my usual portable lighting equipment, but my best images of her was created by using some good ole fashion light bulb lighting.

While Cindy was changing clothing I was strolling around her living room trying to figure out where I was going to shoot the next set of portraits. Immediately I was captivated by the quality of light coming from a lamp on a table. So, I had Cindy to sit near the arm of a sofa, then I directed the lamp's light onto her face in a lighting pattern that is used for creating glamour portraits. Sometimes the simplest of lighting and background is all you need to create a stunning image of your subject.

Cindy laughed when I called her a Martha Stewart

look-alike, but she really likes this image.

This stunning image and the next two were
created from a lamp on the table next to a sofa.

It was very overcast when we
started this set of images, but
off-camera flash worked wonders.

Thanks, Cindy, for a fun session that
shows off your glamorous side.

Willie

Useful Web Sites #1

I'm not a big surfer of the Internet, but on occasion I have come across sites that are worth mentioning to my readership. Therefore, I'm going to start a series of blogs titled "Useful Web Sites" . Hopefully, this information will be of immense value to you. These links will not pretain strictly to photography, but will be a variety of information sites that will improve or better your quality of life.

I also challenge you to email me at willie@portraitcorner.com if you have a site you want to share with me and my readership. I'll check it out then pass it along to everyone else who visits "pcJournal". To kick things off, these first web sites will help you kick credit card, insurance offers, and bulk mail companies to the curb.

Would you like to reduce the amount of mail you throw away, shred or recycle? Visit the following Web sites to reduce the amount of unsolicited mail your receive:

www.OptOutPrescreen.com is the official reporting industry Web site to accept and process consumrs' requests to opt-in or opt-out of credit or insurance offers.

www.dmachoice.org is sponsored by the Direct Mail Association; it helps consumers cut down the amount of nonprofit or commercial mail they receive.

Surf's Up!

Willie

Laurie & Chelsea

Laurie & Chelsea are a mother and daughter family that share a special relationship that is both loving, casual, and lots of fun. I call Laurie my "Paul Mitchell" hair model because she has the most extraordinary head of hair. Chelsea on the other hand is a young girl with a personality that will consume you with her imagination, free spirit, and great sense of humor.

My initial session plan was to have the two of them frolicking in tall grass, but after they arrived to the studio in their new Mini Cooper I knew I had to incorporate the vehicle into the session. The day of the session the temperature was a little hot (90 degrees), so we quickly abandoned the grassy field idea and went to two other locations I had in mind for their portrait session. Laurie and Chelsea are the type of clients who make environmental family portraiture fun and I look forward to perhaps a separate session with each of them.

South Florida really doesn't have fields
that look like the mid-west, but this tall grass
next to a railroad track worked just fine.

Chelsea can give you this fresh look then the
next moment the punk look in the images below.

This is not a Mini Cooper commercial,
but the car was a perfect prop.

Chelsea has an expression for any moment.

This shot was created on the front step
of an abandon house in Fort Lauderdale.

Laurie's hair is the main attraction in this image.

I didn't have to direct Chelsea to get great
portraits like this. She's a one-man show.

A pretty face and great hair makes for
good portraiture of a woman.

One of my favorite flattering poses for a woman.

The "dynamic duo."

The Griffins - Part II

The last time I featured the Griffins was on July 8th when I showed a few images from their family session that got rained out. We did rescheduled the session and everything went as planned and we got some excellent family portraits and children portrait studies.

Originally, Cindy wanted the session to center around their new son. Therefore, although I started the session with images of the family we ended up with Christopher at the beach. Cindy was truly excited about this part of the session because she wanted to see his reaction from being at the beach for the first time. It was a funny moment to say the least.

Now if there ever was a baby that could be a poster child for a Gerber advertisement Christopher is a great candidate...chubby legs and all. Look for future images of Christopher in an upcoming blog because he's scheduled for his 9 months portrait session this week.

Like father...like son.

As a professional photographer it is such a pleasure
to photograph a couple's wedding then years
later their first born child.

Although Christopher is not fully walking on his own,
still he made his way down the boardwalk to the
beach with plenty of gusto.

Okay, Dad. Get your nose outta my business.

Wesley is one proud poppa.

Christopher's first encounter with beach sand.
Ummm. Should I play with it or eat it?

No. I think I'll just chew on one of my favorite toys.

Gee, a kid could spend all day at the
beach with this much fun.

Just what a baby needs for strolling on

the beach...strong chubby legs.