Me: “When you think of your engagement shoot setting and style what comes to mind?” (via my “Get to Know You” couple’s quiz)

Jenny: “Natural settings, woods, picnic, vintage, and historic locations.”

Aaron: “Explosions.”

Ok, so Aaron may not have given me much to work with (of course a guy in the Marines is going to say that he wants explosions involved) but Jenny and I did have a fun time pulling together the details for their sweet couples shoot last Saturday!  Jenny and Aaron are actually newlyweds who just celebrated their one year anniversary (The day after the shoot! Congrats guys!) but Jenny has followed my work ever since my days at JMU (where she went as well!).  As a part of their anniversary gift to themselves they drove all the way from Georgia and treated themselves to a couples shoot with me here in Tampa!

It must have been meant to be because I swear there were apocalyptic rain storms that day EVERYWHERE except over the University of Tampa where we did their engagement style couple’s session!

Despite Jenny’s many warnings that they are awkward in front of the camera (just not true!) these guys were amazing.  They were cute and silly together.  They trusted me and had so much fun making each other laugh and we all really enjoyed the shoot.  I could not have asked for more out of them.  Here are a few of my favorite pics from their shoot!

Are they sweet or what?

We had to incorporate some Starbucks love:)

Love the outfit color choices…I am always a fan of navy and yellow for shoots and I love the splash of red in her heals and gray added by his hat and shoes.

Did I mention that I love that she brought along a hat too?!  So cute and makes for a great prop!

Lovely!

Had to make use of this fun light bouncing up from a hot spot on the gray cement…

Possibly my favorite shot from the session.  I love the lighting and colors and Jenny looks fierce!

Hello lovely backlighting!

Don’t mind if I do!

Can I please just hang these up in my own house.  They are so sweet!

Clearly there was no shortage of laughter on the shoot!

As we were heading to the parking lot this beautiful pocket of light caught my eye as the sun was setting.  I just had to make use of its spotlighting effects and snag a few more.

I heart love.

Two things that I love in a photo shoot… 1) a cute cowgirl hat and 2) when you come out of your shell for me on camera!  Nothing is more beautiful than self confidence and Sarah totally brought it on her mini session a few weeks ago! This sweet friend of mine was gracious enough to wait patiently while I put these images on the back burner while I got out from under the mountain of wedding work that I have been buried beneath.  Well, without further ado here are a few of my favorite images from her shoot!

Summer is officially here which means pop sickles and pool toys, sun tans and sand between your toes!  It also means thats moms everywhere are back to being full time activity-directors (“Mom, I’m booooored.”) now that the kids are out of school.  So, this one is for the moms out there!  Book your family portrait session during the month of July and you will finally have incredible images of each of the kids, the family and even you and your husband (when was the last time those taken!?) The weather isn’t getting any cooler around here so schedule your shoot soon! For a sample of what a mini-session looks like, check out the Fennig Family mini-session here!

Happy July!!

I recently “refreshed” the frames in my house with all new collections of pictures taken over the past year.  I cannot tell you when the last time that was done…two years ago maybe?  While sorting through all kinds of fun artsy images from the past year I was reminded of how incredibly special it is to have a classic family portrait, you know, the kind where everyone is smiling and looking at the camera. Nothing will ever replace that.  I am going to get on a bit of a soap box here and say, please, PLEASE, make this the year that you get new portraits made and PLEEEEAAAASSE don’t cheap out and do it at a crappy local studio that shoots cookie cutter images in front of cheesy backdrops with weird props. I am begging you!  I have two friends who were talking recently about some less than quality studio experiences – one in which the two people in the back of the family group have heads about 1/6th the size of the people in the front and the other in which there was a posing mishap/optical illusion that resulted in what she jokingly refers to as her “man-leg”.  Thats it folks…captured forever…agh!!!  Please let me help you!

You don’t need a remote exotic shoot location and a whole day blocked out.  I will help you coordinate outfits in colors that will look great on film and in one hour we can have a family shot as well as individual shots of all of the kids (ok, maybe not if you have like 12 kids or something…) and we will even get an updated basic portrait of you and your husband (when was the last time THAT happened!).  Just think it over before you make an appointment at Sears or before you spend any more money on those blagh school portraits your kids get every year.  Let me help you!!

While you are thinking that over (hehe), here is a fabulous set of images from the Fennig family’s photo shoot that I did recently.  Great outfit color choices, a simple beautiful location and voila!!!  We seriously shot this full set in about 30 minutes. The simplicity and consistency between the images would make for the most incredible wall collage!  Love it.  And if you follow through to the end I have a little something for you…

Meet the Fennig family.  You may remember little Elizabeth’s 1 yr photo shoot featured recently!  Every mom’s request…”If I can only get ONE good image of all of us smiling!” Done friend.

There is just something special about the bond of brothers.  Wouldn’t it be so special to recreate this image with the boys every few years!?

Big brother Brice.  Handsome as can be.

Little brother Charlie.  Such a sweetie!  Do these boys have the best smiles or what?!

Even mom and dad got a new portrait made:)

And now, as promised, a little something for you!

Yesterday evening I got the chance to photograph a very sweet friend of mine.  I cannot even tell you how gorgeous she looks in her photos but I dont want to give it all away just yet so I am going to tease you with two images until the real deal is ready to go.  I’m just sayin’…look out world…this girl rocked it. Some of you may know her…

If I were to ask you to pull out the most recent professional portrait of you, you would likely either show me your high school senior portraits (which sadly took place before the wide spread use of straightening irons) or your wedding portraits (not exactly business headshot appropriate) and if you happen to have both, there would be a 10-15 year gap between the two in which you presumably lived under a rock as you morphed out of high-school awkwardness or you just “happened” to always be the one behind the camera…am I right?  Why is it that during the “prime” of our lives we don’t treat ourselves to images made that capture us without there needing to be a big event to warrant it?  For this exact reason I was so excited to shoot Eboni’s “Just because I’m turning 30″ portraits!  I would almost feel bad about giving away her age (sorry Eboni!) except I think that everyone would agree that this girl is a bombshell in need of a modeling contract!

What was really fun about this shoot was that Eboni had taken the time to send me inspiration images for the shoot.  It was really fun to take what she gave me and morph it into something that represents my own style and Eboni’s unique beauty and personality.  We had three different looks for the shoot and as I walk you through each look I will show you the images that we used as inspiration!

But first…meet Eboni!

While we were in the planning stages of her shoot – Eboni sent me inspiration images of her favorite actress Tracee Ellis Ross.  Now let me just say…this made me a little nervous at first. haha.  I had no idea what Eboni looked like and I am only a photographer…not a magician…there is a lot of money that goes into a celebrity photo shoot not to mention personal trainers, professional hair, makeup, wardrobe etc etc etc.  I could send you inspiration images all day of Angelina Jolie but ,lets be honest, even the worlds best photographer is not going to be able to make me look like her. haha.  Anyway, all of my fears were put to rest when, oh snap, the girl actually DOES look like Tracee!  Ridiculously fit body and all! haha.

I could tell from Ebonie’s inspiration images that she likes a clean, simplistic studio feel to her images.  Keeping these images in mind I looked for a spot on location that would provide a simple but textured background that would allow her posing and wardrobe to give the image beauty and edge.

The inspiration…

our final product…

There is nothing that radiates confidence and beauty quite like a woman laughing naturally…I love this image of Tracee and wanted to be sure that I caught the same spirit in Eboni!

There was a particular image that stuck out to me in the set that Eboni sent me.  There was a back and white headshot of Tracee created in a studio that was beautiful because of its sheer simplicity and her striking beauty.  it is hard to get incredible studio-type lighting on location in the middle of busy downtown Tampa but we could use the inspiration from the image to create our own strong black and white image with similar qualities but with our own spin.

The inspiration image…

Our own spin on it…

Before I forget…we started the day with a few business professional images…not your Sears portrait studio headshots right?

We ended the day with one look that I wanted to give two different “feels.”  I loved Eboni’s choice of this soft floral romper and chunky jewlery.  For the first part of this set I wanted images that were more urban-edgy.  Eboni was AMAZING when it came to her posing.  She moved so naturally from pose to pose needing almost no direction from me.

The second part of this set I wanted to be much softer…more Anthropologie catalogue than urban-edgy.  We softened her posing as well as her expression and the color palette of the scenery and it translated beautifully.

We brought in just a bit more of Mrs. Ross’s inspiration with her full hair and big ole’ movie start shades…

Overall, Eboni did an incredible job.  I told her during the shot that it is totally hard to be photographed alone with no one to hide behind or to help you to be yourself.  Eboni’s images are beautiful because she is a beautiful (inside and out), strong, and confident woman.  I for one am so glad that she took the time to translate this period of her life into images that she will be able to show her children’s children someday!  Didn’t she do a great job!?

In case you havn’t heard, I am excited to officially announce open registration for the first ever Shay Cochrane Photography workshop to be held in Tampa, FL in just 3 weeks!  This workshop is for beginner wedding and portrait professionals looking to take their images and their business to the next level.  We will work on everything from getting bright beautiful images that pop right out of camera (no more hours spent in photoshop!) as well as work with actual models on getting natural posing, lighting and emotion!  Check out the video below for more about the upcoming workshop and be sure to register here!  Space will be limited to ensure that each one of you get one-on-one attention and training at the workshop specific to your needs!!  I can’t wait to see you there!

One of my wonderful couples is getting married in Naples next month and I just finished up a fun little guest book album from their engagement session that I wanted to share with you!  You see, the “problem” (wink wink)  is that you end up with just too many fabulous shots from your e-session that you want to share but too many printed and framed images, even on your wedding day, can start to look a bit creepy/shrine-ish. So, many of my couples opt for this super fun and classy way to share all of those fun images with the use of a guest book album!

A typical guest book album has a custom image cover where one of the images from the session is printed on canvas and wraps around the cover from back to front.  When opened, the page spreads lay flat on the table and each image (usually 20 total) has its own page with plenty of white space for guests to write their well wishes!  The best part about it is that after the wedding day has come and gone, instead of your typical guest book ending up in a box or on a shelf, your custom layflat guest book becomes your own personalized album for your own coffee table!  I love it!  Take a peak!

Their custom image cover…LOVE IT

The full cover spread showing the image as it wraps from the back of the album to the front.

And a few page spread samples!

This past weekend my little brother Cody drove down from Orlando to spend a few days with us before he graduates and moves back to VA. All I can say without choking up is that I love Cody so much. This short time while he has been at school here in FL has been such a blessing to me. We are six years apart so it has only been as he has gotten older that we have really been able to connect more. When we moved to FL it just so happened (God’s perfect plan of course) that only two schools in the US had his certification (Honda certified motorcycle mechanic) and FL has one of them! What I love about Cody is that he just does his own thing and as the third child, he really paved a way that was different from his two older sibling. He is super laid back, so loyal and has a great sense of humor. I just love him. I wanted to do a quick shoot with him before he moved and I wanted that shoot to be different.  If you can’t tell from the piercing and tattoos, he is WAY cooler than I am. wink wink Here are a few shots that I like.

Below is my all time favorite:)  I was actually taken back a bit by how much older he looks. Crazy.

Meet little Miss Brooklyn.  Mom Meredith contacted me a while back and we made plans for a fabulous maternity shoot to be followed by a newborn shoot once baby arrived after Christmas.  Well, lets just say this little angel had other plans and decided to come a week before the planed maternity shoot and 5 whole weeks before her due date!  Surprise!   I was super sad that we didn’t get to do the maternity shoot but I told Meredith that little Brooklyn was like the “holy grail” of newborns to photograph….tiny (she was a premie!) and oh so sleepy being just days old!!  Thank God Brooklyn didn’t have any premie complications and was cleared right away to come home from the hospital with mommy and daddy.  She was just perfect during her very first photo shoot and put up with all of my nestling her into different spaces.  Little Brooklyn already had quite the wardrobe of hats and bows to choose from for the shoot – it was hard to pick!  I literally could have stayed there all day – it was just such a pleasure to get to meet and spend time with the Nutter family:)  Here is a little sneak peak at a few of my favs from the shoot.

Don’t you just love little baby buns?

Dreaming about milk perhaps?

Sooooo sleepy!

Even her “mad face” is cute!!!

I can’t help but hear “Silent Night” playing in my head when I see this shot.

Hello world!