Erik Valind Photography Blog

I had the opportunity to hang out and shoot around with two great guys from Medellin, Colombia this past weekend. “Lighten Up and Shoot” is the motto Mike and Andy live by and it rocks. After getting caught up in the whirlwind of new technology and techniques its nice to connect with fellow photographers and remember just why we enjoyed picking up a camera so much in the first place.

lighten up and shoot

Check out their blog and videos for a few laughs and an inside look at their minimalist approach to stunning portrait photography.

Here are two shots I grabbed as we “adventured” around Vinoy Park in St Petersburg with a group of like minded photographers and models.

Even a rainy weekend forecast couldn’t fend off the annual Gasparilla Pirate Invasion of Tampa Bay this past weekend. Every year people role out in the thousands to reenact the invasion of the dread pirate José Gaspar. Thankfully pirates are a little friendlier these days and have swapped bullets and cannon balls for beers and beads.

Here’s a quick shot of some plunder we found and one such pirate by the name of John Silver. Apparently pirates need head shots too.

Wow Florida can hit the reset button on you in an instant and BAM it’s back to beautiful.

Taking a break from the laptop for a few minutes to wonder out back and recharge…

The new year is here and I am excited to announce that Erik Valind Photography’s Wedding Packages for 2010 have been finalized! Whether you are a Florida native or planning a Florida Destination Wedding I would love to hear from you.

Currently offering wedding photography in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Amelia Island, Sarasota, Orlando, Ocala and everywhere in between. I’m sure you get the picture… I love Florida, photography and travel so get in touch!

You can download the details here: 2010 Wedding Packages

I had the oppurtunity of working with the great people over at Beam Global Spirits & Wine a few months back on some new regional promotions they are running. Here is a sneak peak at a proof for one of the final posters. I will upload a better version once I receive the finished product and get a chance to scan it in.

My friend Kellan swung by yesterday afternoon to grab some lunch over at Thai-Pan Alley up on Indian Rocks Beach. Its probably good that we took a few shots before eating because after tackling some Chicken and Shrimp Pad Thai with a “4 Star – Super Hot” rating you feel like your face is melting off… and it shows. Here’s what their menu has to say about it.

****    SUPER HOT        – Can you take it?  This level is for addicts, masochists and Thai nationals.

*****   DEVIL HOT        – You will miss us on the next day.

To say I am excited for the possibilities of what lay ahead this coming year is an understatement… Here’s to stepping out into the light and grasping those possibilities.

I am finally getting around to updating my wedding portfolio with all the images that have been hiding away in my hard drives all year. Here’s one or two…

Had a blast working with the Smith family this past weekend ! Straight out of a J. Crew catalog… could you ask for a better looking group?

They met me at my usual sand dune in Indian Rocks Beach, FL and we quickly knocked out one or two “safe” family portraits, all the while praying it wouldn’t start raining on us. To everyones excitement the clouds lightened ever so slightly so I inquired if the little ones were up for musing around a neat broken down pier I had seen earlier on a stretch of Clearwater Beach. This was the fun part after all, who doesn’t want to roll around at the beach in their Sundays best?!  Well a short drive later we were there and they were instantly crawling all over the place and striking poses.

Quite a few awesome photographs later the energy was still pumping so to wear them out, for their parents sake, before their long drive back to St Petersburg we did a series of jumping portraits seen below.

Enjoy