E-Commerce Photographer| Intro and Banner Shots

by | Nov 12, 2014 | Advice, e-commerce photographer, Ecommerce Photographer

I recently shot marketing and lifestyle images for Frank Morgan’s American Swimwear, a startup company based in New York, whose brand focuses on the young, twenty-something crowd. As you can guess, a company’s website needs more than its e-commerce shots to sell the product. Having lifestyle photos which project the image that the company is targeting can really enhance the website. A strong intro shot draws customers to the site, where the e-commerce shots will then provide the necessary product information.

For our shoot, we first shot the e-commerce images in the studio, and then ventured out to the beach to shoot the lifestyle images. It was a typical gorgeous day on the beach in Miami: blue skies, turquoise water, white sand. Clearly we had a lot of beauty to work with, including the designer’s sister who flew down from New York to be our model.

The images we shot outside were to be used for banners and intro on the company’s website, so they needed to have ample room for cropping, placement of text, the company’s logo, etc. Here are four of my favorite photos from the shoot.

 

The following photos were shot to be used as intro photos on the company’s webpage. With the brand’s focus on a youthful crowd, these images are intended to be young, playful, and flirtatious.

This photo was shot with the purpose of being used for a banner on the company’s website. It allows room for cropping into a narrow, horizontal image without eliminating any of the crucial components of the photo.

Here are two examples of how photos can be used as intro shots on a website. Space was purposely left on one side of the photo to have a generous amount of room for the necessary text.

Here are two examples of how photos can be used as banners on a website.

Still Life Photographer Miami | but before I give these back, let me just shoot one more thing…

by | Oct 23, 2014 | e-commerce photographer, Product

One of my clients is the fan-freaking-tastic eyewear designer Christian Roth. I adove (adore + love = adove) the stylish sunglasses and eyewear they create and the team, Christian Roth and Eric Domége, as well. I’ve enjoyed photographing their product and even been able to capture Christian and Eric in front of my camera for Miami Modern Luxury Magazine.

 

They have flattered me using the images I shot for them on their blog and Instagram:

Used my other portraits of them in other publications and blog:

And of course, their catalog and product shots on their website:

So I’ve had my hands on their product to photograph quite a few times now and I fall more and more in love with it each time. Yesterday, I found myself with a few free moments. October has been my busiest month to date. ever. So I was shocked I had a minute. Naturally, I used this moment to shoot! I am returning product to the boys tomorrow so if I didn’t get these beauties in front of my lens one more time I would cry.

Here are some of my shots where I just enjoyed my freedoms to shoot what I saw, how I styled and lit. Completely sans art direction. Enjoy…. (and please forgive that I haven’t retouched these at all, there wasn’t THAT much extra time!)

Miami Portrait Photographer | Optimize your headshot!

by | Aug 11, 2014 | Advice, Miami Portrait Photogr...

Many of you already know me on a personal basis, but for those who don’t, my husband Sam is an internet guru. I really don’t know how else to describe him. He works in hospitality helping hotels make the most of their online presence. This week he will be speaking at a conference in Tennessee and so he came to me because he needed a new headshot. Okay, so why is this interesting? Photographer takes picture of her husband… big deal. Actually it was what he taught me that was so cool I wanted to share it with everyone. On one of the blogs he follows Cyrus Shepard created a post called “How Optimizing My Ugly Google+ Pic Increased Free Traffic”. To sum it up, by placing a color behind the subject people were statistically more likely to click on that person or their link/article. Google likes to put our bio pictures all over everything it can now, and the internet has become overrun with black and white head shots, or head shots against a black, white, or grey background. So when I photographed him we did it against, you guessed it, grey (and I included a black and white of the shot for him too, aren’t I nice!?). He shared the article with me after our photo shoot.

 

He took it upon himself to add orange to the background (this is what we would call an artists rendering of what he did, I can’t find the actual file anywhere now)…

Orange. Bright orange. Now, no offense to my beloved or anything here, but after some convincing he let me have a go at changing the grey background to a color for him. I went with a techie blue (he also has blue eyes so that was inspiring me).

When I saw his new headshot with this color pop up in my text messages I the post hit home. My eyes immediately rush to his shot over all the other photos next to text messages in my phone (everyone has a little photo next to their message on my phone). The effectiveness of this in a larger setting (aka, the web) was not lost on me.

Since then, I’ve shot two more portraits one for a writer, one for a jewelry designer, both asked for blue as the color behind them.

At this point, I’m feeling rather out dated with my black background behind me in my bio pictures. Guess it’s time to update myself! What do you think??? Out with the old….

In with the Warhol?

New work all over the place!

by | Mar 4, 2014 | Miami Photographer

I’ve been working my tail off, as is the trend when the blog goes silent. But I promise I have been thinking about blogging. Some of the big updates, I’ve hired a fabulous part-time assistant and we have been training and shooting like mad. At first, it’s a little tough because so much training has to happen but then quickly you realize that your time has become way more efficient and you are able to take more clients and jobs than before. The side effect of course is with so much new work the blogging gets pushed to the back of the to do list.
I did find time though to give a quick interview with the folks over at Glamniac which published today! I’m pretty sure this is one of the more narcissistic things you can do, give interviews about yourself and then promote them on your blog, but at the same time I have my mother in town and her comments of never knowing anything that goes on in my life inspired me to publish this anyway.

If you’ve ever interviewed me or talked to me about my work the info is probably very familiar. But it’s still fun none the less to mention! The post also helps me recognize it’s time for a new bio picture…. the bangs were cute but my hair grew WAY too fast to keep up with them (I mean, come on, you see how often I find time to blog, hair is not high on my to do list).

A special thank you to Kat for the flattering introduction and making sure I didn’t sound terrible in my answers!

Workshops in Florida | Photography Workshops – Kate Benson Photography

by | Jul 12, 2013 | Advice, business, Professional

I enlisted the help of my intern Nadia to put together a list of different Workshops in South to Mid Florida which may be of interest to the photographers and enthusiasts in the audience. We broke them down to levels and included the details of each Workshop. To be honest, I don’t think anyone can go wrong signing up for workshops. It is a place where we can network with other photographers as well as find deep learning. I’m sure we just scratched the surface with this list so if anyone has recommendations of other Workshops in  Florida or has comments on any of these workshops, leave a comment. I would love to hear from you and I’m sure the rest of the audience could find it useful too!
In no particular order other than experience levels:

1.
What: Break Out of Auto Mode Workshop | www.photoworkshops.biz
Experience: Beginners
Where: 210 Almeria Ave. Coral Gables, FL (Photo Workshops)
When: Contact 305-740-5401 | 305-305-5823
Instructor: TBD
Requirements: DSLR camera, camera manual, lens.

Here beginners will learn how to break free and use other settings besides auto mode with their cameras. This is class where you will be able to learn how to be more comfortable and confidant using your DSLR. There are only twenty spaces per class, so it would be a good idea to call for scheduling and make sure you have a space. ISO, aperture, shutter speed and all the basics will be covered in this three hour course. You should be prepared to have your camera, your cameras manual and your lens when arriving to this class. Workshop materials, drinks and snacks are included. $150.00 per person.

2.
What: Composition in the Field | https://live.digitalphotoacademy.com
Where: Miami, FL | Greynolds Park
Level: Beginner
When: Sunday Sept 15, 2013 10 am – 1pm
Instructor: Bernardo
Requirements: $99

Test and push your cameras capabilities with the direction and assistance of your instructor. This course will be a three hour session of shooting strategically and using all of your cameras capabilities to the fullest. You will be able to improve the quality of your photographs and it will give you a stronger foundation for shooting more advance photographs in the future. Each workshop will begin with a lecture and a questions and answers segment.

3.
What: Inside the Frame Photography Workshop | www.selby.org
Level: Beginner
Where: Selby Gardens Sarasota, FL [941] 366 – 5731
When: Call for details Instructor: TBD
Requirements: Bring whichever camera you wish to experiment with (Polaroid, camera phone, DSLR, point and shoot etc…)

In this class you will learn the importance of taking a good photograph regardless of your gear. Having high quality equipment is always a plus, however, great images can be made using all different calibers of equipment. Composition and having a creative open mind will determine how one can take a compelling image. You may bring your DSLR or a point and shoot to this workshop; whichever gear you want to experiment with. The subject focus of this course; people, places and things.

4.
What: Lightroom and Digital Photography | www.workshop.org
Level: Beginner to Intermediate
Where: 415 Clematis St. WPB, FL Sponsored by the Palm Beach Photographic Center (561) 253-2600
When: Nov 14 -16, 2013 9:30 am – 5:30 pm
Instructor: John Reuter
Requirements: $775

In this course photographers will become better acquainted with lightroom features and using it as a resource for retouching and organizing photographs. Creating catalogs, applying copyrights, and metadata are some of the topics the instructor will go over. They will also go over the vast improvement of lightroom and how it can improve an array of different images you may be working with.

5.
What: Lighting Essentials | www.calumetphoto.com
 When: Saturday July 20, 2013 and also 8/10/13, 8/31/13, 9/21/13, 10/12/13
Where: 1001 N. Federal Hwy, Ft. Laud, FL 954-522-6500 | Calumet Photo Studio
Level: Beginner to Intermediate
Instructor: TBD
Requirements: $65.00 Camera, paper and pencil

In this workshop students will be able to learn and understand the effects of studio lighting and how to effectively use them. The instructor will also go over a wide array of tools and equipment that photographers use in studio lighting. Students will receive a workbook in this course so they can follow along through demonstrations. Modifiers, fill light, portrait lighting, and location flash fundamentals will all be discussed.

6.
What: Miksang Photography Workshop | www.miksang.com
Experience: All levels
Where: Hyatt Place 104 N.E. 2nd Ave. Delray Beach, FL
When: Aug 30, 2013 – Sept 2, 2013
Instuctor: Dennis Connor Email: [email protected]
Requirements: Must have your own camera and laptop to bring to this workshop

Different perspectives can create much different images of the same subject. It is always fascinating as an artist to see other photographers perspectives of the same thing; thus this is also true throughout different cultures – perspectives change. Miksang Photography is an Asian perspective of Photography; the Tibetan word that literally translates as ‘Good Eye”. Perception based photography with a simplified eye; sometimes so obvious we as a western society don’t necessarily hone in on it. All levels are invited to join.

7.
What: Lightroom 5 Workflow | sethresnick.com
When: July 23rd -July 26 9am – 5:30pm
Where: 1143 Vinter Blvd, Palm Beach Gardens FL 33410
Level: Intermediate or above
Instructor: Seth Resnick + Jamie Spritzer
Requirements: $1099.00 You must bring a digital camera that shoots raw, lap top (PC or MAC), flash card, card reader, external hard drive (2), Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CS6 is suggested.

This course is recommended for intermediate to pro level students who will get a broad understanding of Lightroom 5. Course fee does not include meals or any transportation.

8.
What: Canon EOS Emmersion Workshop | Seminar http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/events_calendar/event_details/cll_events/20131019_tampa_seminar_cll.shtml
When: Oct 19, 2013 10 am – 6pm
Where: University of South Florida | Tampa | College of the Arts – Theatre 1 3839 SF Holly West Tampa, FL 336
 Level: Advanced
Instructor: Jeff Green + Shannon Levy
Requirements: $89

This workshop will be full of lectures and demonstrations. You will be able to take full advantage of your cameras features while shooting an array of subjects and learning what setting to use for each one. Lighting will also be discussed at length and how utilizing it correctly can enhance the creativity of your images. Most of the content in this course is related to Canon. There will be time set aside for questions an answers as well. Emmy award winning journalist Shannon Levy will go over the capabilities of video. She will discuss frame actions, structor, angles, composition and video technique.

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