portrait Archives - Kate Benson Photography

Abby Lynn

by kate benson | Aug 9, 2011 | portrait

Shame on me. Instead of being a good blogger and posting when I wasn’t working, I was playing. Provincetown…..Maine….. Bimini…. jealous? Sorry, being that summer is the slow season in Miami I feel like I have to rub in that when I haven’t been working I was playing and traveling. It’s only fair that I get to brag once in a while, I host gaggles of friends and family in the winter months so that obligates them to return the favor and host me when the weather is rotten where I live.
But it hasn’t been all play. Quite the opposite. I booked all these fun trips thinking I would be board out of my mind with summer here. Instead it has been pure madness. The photography business is booming (which is always good), so goodbye weekends, goodbye running to the beach before dinner. The penance for my playing is that I get no breaks. Even Sam has felt the wrath of my insane summer (if you promise me you’ll help stack my photographs in Photoshop, you better deliver, that’s all I’m saying). Seriously, Matt, are you listening to this? Hope your having fun in NYC…. (teasing, only teasing).

So here’s the proof I’m alive because when you don’t even see me on Facebook you know it’s bad. A couple of shots from the stunning Abby Lynn’s photo shoot. She’s a talented singer and incredibly fun girl. Not to hard to photograph either 🙂 a complete natural in front of the camera. The photography is for multiple uses, hopefully a new website (we all want to see more of you Abby!), CD cover art, etc.

Adam for Forbes

by kate benson | Jul 11, 2011 | portrait

Adam came to the studio last week for a headshot. He owns a great company IRA Financial Group and was in a pinch because Forbes wanted the headshot later the same day. So we did two looks, smiling and serious. He’s got the best beard and if you think he’s a great model, I hear his 11 month old puts him to shame! Thanks for coming by Adam!

Mr. Man

by kate benson | May 12, 2011 | Fashion, Ocean Drive Magazine, portrait

While retouching this shot of Manny Machado from MGSCOMM I couldn’t help myself but to indulge and play a little in Photoshop. Love the retro look this has. Think my client will appreciate my artsy interpretation? Hm… maybe I should just play it safe and keep this on the blog.

Puff Dragon Boat Team, Miami Photoshoot

by kate benson | Feb 22, 2011 | portrait, Puff Dragon Boat Team

A bit back, I had the pleasure of photographing people I spend lots of time with (some would say too much). My dragon boat paddling team, Puff. Much like you, I had never heard of the sport until it was right in front me. A quick overview: what do you get when you have 1 long skinny boat, 20 paddlers, 1 drummer, 1 helmsman steering, and a whole lot of muscles? A dragon boat. Let images of viking war ships come into your mind….. now make it Chinese.
My friend-client-friend has an inventor for a father and he made this great natural product sports gel (like Icy-Hot or Biofreeze, something Dragon Boaters slather all over them because you can’t even move after a good practice). So in talking about new pictures for the website and how they wanted a good mix of different people to be in the photographs, images of my amazing teammates kept popping into my head. A golden opportunity presented it’s face and Puff headed on their way to a great new sponsor for the team and maybe a career in modeling…. I’ll let you decided that last part.

For my friends who are not on Puff, enjoy! For my friends who are on Puff, don’t be mad but these are unretouched (said while ducking as objects go wizzing past me). Oh, one last thing, all my teammates who escaped the photo shoot…. get your butts over here and have your picture taken!

(2018 Edit: We’ve just switched websites, and we’re trying to find these images, too!)

Interested in more? Puff welcomes new paddlers, visit their meetup site to find out when the next “newbie” practice is.

Didn’t make the cut

by kate benson | Dec 23, 2010 | Ocean Drive Magazine, portrait

Re-shoots happen. It’s part of the publishing industry. Chef Clay is an awesome guy, totally laid back and has a good sense of humor. I’m sure when Ocean Drive set up the shoot for him in a farmers market everything was thinking the same thing, white stalls, fresh fruits & veggies displayed beautifully in front of charismatic vendors. So upon showing up to the farmers market in Coconut Grove we were a bit surprised.
It was a photographers nightmare. A blue and white circus tent sitting under a tree so almost no light is available to shoot with and you can’t bounce because it’s a color shot and there’s blue on top. Decaying boxes of fruits and vegetables that are sitting on top of white buckets. Although the product looked gorgeous, it’s a far cry from the streets of Paris.

So we worked with what we could and despite the obstacles came away with a great shot that seemed to capture Clay’s easygoing nature perfectly. Although Ocean Drive couldn’t make it work, word has it this shot divided the office down the middle, half being able to appreciate it despite the third world characteristics and the other half unable to get past them. XOXO ~Kate Benson

Kate Benson Photography shoots Metis Tarta of Esvedra Designs

by kate benson | Nov 4, 2010 | Fashion, Ocean Drive Magazine, portrait

Despite the gloom yesterday’s shoot with Metis Tarta of Esvedra Designs went beautifully. The beautiful Metis will be in Ocean Drive Magazine in the Beach Patrol section. She was shooting off the back of the camera to share the photo’s throughout the afternoon, and peeking over her shoulder I was surprised by how cool they looked. This is my tribute.