Beach Portraits are a wonderful experience!

To be out on one of the world's whitest sand beaches with the soft breeze blowing in off the Gulf of Mexico, hearing the seagulls calling to one another, to witness another one of our famous sunsets, is truly a great time. 

There are only two times of day that work for beach portraits, Sunrise and Sunset. For sunrise we would want to start about 5 minutes before the actual sunrise time and for sunset we would want to start 45 minutes before the sun hits the water. 

There are a number of beaches up and down the west coast of Florida that can produce beautiful beach portraits. We will try to make arrangements to use a beach near where you are staying. 

We work with any size group out on the beach, from one individual to a large extended family of 30, 40 or 50 people. We have been doing beach portraits since 1981 and have photographed thousands of families.

We have found one of the concerns some people have is about small children in the portrait. They worry about whether their children will behave. Scott and his wife, Jenny, work as a team and have many tricks up their sleeves when working with small children. With many years of experience and many families later, they are able to work wonders with the children and babies.

Head Switching

Scott also offers the modern digital miracle of "Head Switching"! What that means is from the many images he takes of each pose he is able to move a head from one image to another so you are able to create a portrait where everyone has their best expression. So you only need to have a great smile once and that image can be placed into the final portrait.

There are three levels of cost associated with head switching:
Easy = $15
Medium = $45
Hard = $100 per hour until completed, quote will be given
Most head switches fall in the easy category, a few in the medium and almost never does a client choose to do a hard head switch. When we are looking at the images and making choices all of this is talked about during your Projection Appointment.

"Breakdowns" or Sub Group Portraits

During an average extended family portrait session I usually take 100 to 300 images. I don't show all of them to you though. Before the Projection Appointment I will edit down to the best 40 to 75 for you to choose between.

During a session I will usually photograph the whole group in two different poses, one at the beginning of the session and again at the end of the session. In between I will do what I call "Breakdowns" which is breaking the smaller family groups out of the large group and doing each individual family group. I also photograph the grandparents together and also with all their grandchildren. By the time I am through with the session there are 5 to 10 different groupings for everyone to choose between.

Of course, everyone's session is different. There are all different sizes of families and the way they are put together. Different families have various requests that I respond to, just ask! I do want to know who is going to be in the portrait before I start. I ask for you to fill out the "Family Tree" and get it back to me before the session. I find this to be very important for the success of a family portrait session. I memorize all of the names and relationships that are going to be in the portrait and I am able to do a much better job for you.

Scheduleing Your Session

If you are coming in from out of town I recommend that you schedule your portrait as early in your trip as possible for three reasons:
1. You won't be sun burnt, and you won't get that much more tan in a day or so.
2. In case of rain, we will have a few days to reschedule.
3. You will need to have your projection appointment before you leave town.

If you are here from out of town we are able to have your Projection Appointment as early as the next morning. During your Projection Appointment we will edit down the images to the one best of each pose series and you will be able to make your choice of what you would like to order. I will be able to guide you through the editing and head switching options. When you are in the studio you will be able to view all of the sizes and view the many different finishes. We offer many different presentation options and framing choices. In just a few short weeks your order is custom prepared for you to either pick it up at the studio or be shipped to you. We have shipped around the world. No matter where you are visiting us from we will be able to ship to you.