Portraits Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Kate Benson Photography

Monday Model Test

by kate benson | Jun 11, 2012 | Fashion, Model

Because Monday is such a hard day *usually* I wanted to share mine with you. My Monday was awesome (sorry for gloating but it was). I photographed Naples model, Skyel Bella so she could rebuild her comp card. We wanted to show how versatile her look was, she has an awesome range from commercial to glamorous and the most amazing eyes! With the help of the awesome makeup artist Gina Dearing we totally transformed Skyel back and fourth through the different looks. Skyel will have her work cut out of her choosing which images to put in her book, but too many good choices is a nice problem to have!
These are my favorites!

The Great Scott

by kate benson | Jun 8, 2012 | Portrait photography

One of the best parts of my job is knowing that I’ve given images to a client that they’ve never expected. Because I love that moment so much it is not unusual for me to prime clients with a slightly lower expectation that what I know I can deliver (I know, a bad idea). So I listen to the needs they describe and then tell them where there will be trouble meeting those needs (if any) maybe make a few extra suggestions on how we could improve even more on those ideas and then strive to blow their minds with the final images. Of course after hiring me a few times that surprise goes away but when someone comes who just needs photos once it is my chance to do this all over again. It makes being a photographer worthwhile for me. A week ago I photographed Scott. He needed a collection of portraits for print and online usage (all personal). Scott was a great sport and really trusted me. I knew we had some really awesome photos that day and with his permission, here is one of my favorites:

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

Ocean Drive Magazine Dec 2010

by kate benson | Dec 8, 2010 | Magazine, Ocean Drive Magazine

The start of December in Miami is Art Basel. It’s an amazing time of year to be here. Everyone gets their art on, hitting the galleries and exhibits featured all over the city. The magazines are no exception, most of them viewing the December issue to be the most important issue of the year for them. Along that note it is always an honor to be personally featured in the magazines. Ocean Drive Magazine for the second December in a row asked me to be in the contributors section. Of course I happily accepted their invitation. Take a look at how Kate Benson Photography | New York | Miami is seen throughout this months issue.