Our Favorite Photographs from Marco Island
Marco Island is a fantastic place for a family vacation. Perfect weather, beautiful beaches, friendly people — who could ask for more? Well, you could ask for a great photographer to make your family portrait.
My name is Jeff Carsten. I’ve been a professional photographer since 1997, and have photographed thousands of families and children, first in my Charlotte studio, and now on Marco Island.
It seems like lots of good amateur photographers want to shoot professionally — not just for the money, but because they love photography. I’ve trained many of them, as basic technical skills are mandatory. But technical skills alone won’t make an amateur into a good family photographer. The most important factor in the equation is the attitude of the subjects. A relaxed, natural, happy subject is what makes for great portraits. If you are happy and having a great tine while I am taking your picture, then I have done the best job possible.
Marco Island beach portraits are not just a slice of time, not just a remembrance of a really great experience, instead they will be a family treasure.
Here are some of my favorites from 2018/2019:
The Secret To Photographing Children
A Gift for Grandma
When all the Grandchildren are at Grandma’s house at the beach, it’s a wonderful time for a group portrait. Of course, Grandma wants a sunset photo on the beach. The time frame for this kind of shot is very short. The window of good light is only about 10 minutes, and getting all these girls posed and stable only allows for one chance — you’ve got to get the shot, and the kids have to all look happy at the same time. Yikes!
What’s the secret?
Continue readingThe Value of Professional Display Prints
“Good parents don’t let their children grow up to be JPEGs”
How many family photos are on your phone now? Hundreds? Thousands? Have you sorted through them to create an archival folder of the very best photos of your family? No? So why would you want another 100 JPEGs in your pictures folder?
In an era of media overload and ubiquitous phone usage, it is our opinion that a really well done family photo session deserves a better ending than 100 mass produced JPEGs for your laptop and phone. They need to retouched, printed, and displayed in your home, and they will be heirlooms that will grow in value as the years pass and the family changes.
2018 Marco Island Favorites
The 2017/2018 season was pure joy for Gail and me. It was almost perfect weather for the entire 4 moth season, except for a bit of chilliness early in December. You can tell how unusual “chilly” is when you try to buy a sweater on the island. — “all sold out”! But after 12/15 it was beautiful all season — 80° and bright sun — perhaps 3 days of rain that caused us to reschedule our Marco Island Beach Portrait sessions. We had some wonderful clients (but we always have wonderful clients) and made some amazing portraits on the Marco Island beach. In addition, we had an enormous family reunion and some members of the family could’t walk out on the beach, so we photographed the family at Mackle Park and had some outstanding results. It’s hard to select “the best” of the season to share with you, as each family has their own personality, but here are our favorites from the season:
A Marco Island Beach Portrait at Sunset
Marco Island has some of the best sunsets in the business. But Marco Island beach portraits have a short window of available light. About 15 minutes before sunset, the light is perfect for a Marco Island photograph of the family at the beach at sunset. Before then, the light is too harsh for a great family portrait. Here’s what a nice Marco Island beach portrait looks like:
This is really beautiful light, and the sunset makes for a memorable Marco Island beach portrait.
But what to do if you want more than just a couple of shots? We are fortunate to have a great area at Residents’ Beach to photograph family portraits in a lush setting, although not right on the beach. Just off the side of the pavilion is a shady area with beautiful lush palm trees and flower gardens on the grounds of Residents’ Beach. Family portraits taken at this Marco Island location still have the “Florida feeling”, even if they are not right on the sand.
Marco Island Beach Photographer: “Sure, what ever you want”
Jeff Carsten is the principle Marco Island Beach Photographer at Southern Light Photography. Our goal is simple: 100% customer satisfaction. We want our clients to be absolutely, positively overjoyed with their portraits. In that regard, we are nothing if not flexible.
Last winter one of our Marco Island Beach Photography clients suggested that we create their family portrait at their home rather than at the beach. There was a cranky baby in the family, and rain was right around the corner. So we said “sure — whatever you want is what we will do.”
So we set up lights and brought furniture around to the front of the house, and created this lovely family portrait:
After the portrait was made, one of the men asked if we could take his photo for a head shot. We said: “sure, whatever you want”, and created this business head shot for him:
The skies started to clear, and the client said, “Gee that was fun. Can we still shoot at the beach? So I said “sure, whatever you want” and set out for the beach.
The light was great and the family was comfortable with the process, and we we created this wonderful Marco Island Beach portrait for them:
Which one did they like best? They couldn’t decide, so they bought wall portraits of both: one for their home up north, and one for their home in Florida. The client got what they wanted and more, and we didn’t charge them anything additional for the double session. I believe that if the portraits are really outstanding, the client will find room for them in the home. There is no better use of wall space than a family portrait!
Capturing Personality with Marco Island Beach Portraits
We usually work to photograph the clients in a relaxed, casual manner, looking at the camera with a pleasant expression. But wait! There’s more! Depending on the client, we can frequently capture joy and laughter in the interaction of the subjects. With this couple, their recent engagement put them in a very happy place that was easy to tap into. This made the session all the more significant to them, because now we can show both what they look like in a portrait, but also how they feel about each other.
It’s Summer At The Beach!
Marco Island is calling, and you need to come here!
Marco Island is a truly magical place, because it’s ” always summer” here. Warm sunshine, mild temperatures, and an ocean breeze make Marco Island one of the best places in Florida for beach portrait photography. This is the view of the Gulf of Mexico — a front row seat is always available for you! Bring the family and stick your toes in the warm powder white sand, walk through the sea shells on your way to relaxation, and don’t worry about your hair. Beautiful Marco Island is one of the best kept secrets in South Florida. A perfect location for a beach portrait photography session!
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