Like most small boys, when I was young I wanted to grow up to be a pilot – the thrill of the thought flying, combined with growing up in the age of Concorde and the Apollo space program were all fuel to the fire. Sadly, I’ve yet to realize that particular dream, but I still have a great sense of awe and wonder at those who do. So, I feel very lucky to have been able to meet Skip Stewart yesterday as he put his new prototype RC model of Prometheus, his stunt plane, through some initial flying tests. This is a 40% scale replica of his actual custom-built stunt plane, and currently the only one in existence.

The photograph above shows the plane landing after it’s test flight – very graceful, powerful and certainly a sight to see!

Thank you to Skip for allowing me to photograph the plane, and I look forward to seeing him at his next show – or over the skies of Fayette County, TN, where he practices his incredible flying skills. You can check out Skip’s web site at www.skipstewartairshows.com for more information on the plane, the pilot and the amazing shows he puts on.

While on our recent vacation in Florida, we were able to meet up with our good friends for a few days to catch up since the last time we saw them. Never one to pass up an opportunity to take a photograph, I created a series of portraits of the four of them on the beach. This was one of my favorites, showing them relaxed and enjoying each other’s company after a fun day playing in the pool and in the ocean. We waited until just after the sun had set to catch the best light, and then used a combination of the soft early evening light and flash to produce some lovely photographs.

Of course, our vacation is over and it will be at least another year before we get to see them again, but I’m pleased that we were able to take some time out to create this precious memory for them.

Family portraits, such as this one, can be created almost anywhere – in fact, I produce all of my portraiture on location, away from the studio. This lends a much more natural feel to the images and the subjects are more relaxed because they are in a less intimidating or closed-in environment.

Here is a great new senior portrait that we created on the beach in Florida, early one morning. Reid accompanied our family on vacation, and we thought it would be a lot of fun to create some portraits for him while we were down there, especially as he will be a high school senior this year.

Because I create all of my portraits outside, away from the stuffy and impersonal confines of a studio, I like to include the environment of the portrait as an integral part of the photograph to help convey a sense of who the person is, their interests and their personality. In this instance, Reid enjoys skimboarding (which I can personally testify is a lot more difficult than it looks ), so I suggested we take some photographs of him at the beach enjoying his sport.

The sun rose over the water at about 6:15am and we were lucky enough to have the beach almost to ourselves. After spending time to create a great series of action photographs, we took a moment to produce this portrait of Reid with his skimboard. The rising sun provided the majority of the lighting, with some additional fill light added from an off-camera flash.

One of the many things I love about being a portrait photographer is the ability and flexibility to create portraits on location, just about anywhere; in this case at the beach. Our recent vaction in New Smyrna Beach, FL, meant that we were close to family relatives who live in Orlando, and it’s always wonderful to see them when we’re down there. This year we took the opportunity to have some fun and create some great portraits on the beach.

To produce this portrait of Mercedez, we waited until just after sunset for the light to be just perfect and then used a delicate combination of natural light and flash to create a really lovely environmental portrait.

Creating portraits on location is a lot more interesting and more fun than working in the confines of a studio – everyone involved is more a lot more relaxed outside the studio,  and the location itself adds a personal and unique dimesnion to the finished portraits.

What this means to you is that you and your family will look relaxed, natural and happy in the portraits.

The location doesn’t have to be as exotic as the beach, it can be almost anywhere that’s special to you, or a location you particularly enjoy visiting, such as the Botanic Gardens, a local park, near a lake, or even your own garden. Environmental portraits like this are so much fun and create timeless pieces that you will treasure for a lifetime.

We’ve only been back home from vacation for just over a week and we miss Florida already! This is one of the images I captured on 31st August, just after our attempt to see the space shuttle Endeavor land at the Kennedy Space Center. The photograph was taken looking north-east across the Banana river on Merritt Island while visiting some wonderful friends of ours. The bridge in the distance is highway 520, leading east into Cocoa Beach. The Banana “river” is actually part of the ocean and is home to a large amount of wildlife, including the occasional alligator. We didn’t see any that day, but had a great time relaxing by the water.

We just returned from a wonderful two-week vacation in New Smyrna Beach, FL. It’s a long drive from Memphis to New Smyrna, but totally worth the effort for the great beaches, hot weather and, of course, the Atlantic Ocean. The photograph above is the view from the condo looking out over the pool and the beach. While we there, we had the opportunity to tour the St. John’s river by boat with friends, as well as catch up with family. Another highlight was being able to “hear” the space shuttle Endeavor as it landed at the Kennedy Space Center. Even though we were only a few miles from the landing site, at Merritt Island, the shuttle was still about 30,000ft high and travelling at supersonic speed. The double sonic boom we heard as it passed overhead was loud to say the least!

The weather was wonderful most days and, of course, we were treated to thunderstorm most evenings – another great opportunity to capture some great sky images and photographs of lightning.