If you follow me on Instagram you may have gathered that my family stole away to Miami for the weekend to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday (I don't know what may have clued you in, maybe it was the 30+ images I posted over the course of 4 days). I just can't help it! Miami is such a visually appealing city and then you get my gorgeous family up in the mix and it is a recipe for photo overload. Plus my sister calls this place her home so we have a insta-tourguide for places like Vizcaya, South Beach, Coconut Grove, Wynwood and finding the best food. (Side note: Because my sis lives in Miami I have no travel fees for wedding photography in the area. Yay for Miami weddings!)
We opted to stay a hop skip and away from all the hustle and bustle on the island of Key Biscayne and found ourselves the quaintest of retro Miami places, Silver Sands Beach Resort. If you are looking for Miami luxury, glitz and glam this is NOT the place but if you want to step back in time and experience a little bit of vintage low-key Miami this is DEFINITELY your place. It was just perfect for what we were looking for for the weekend. And as an artist it was a dream… the retro feel, the swaying palms, the vintage architectural details, those aqua doors! All weekend long I plotted and planned for the photo session I had worked out to do with my 13 year old niece for a photo class I was teaching. I wanted to walk my class through how I go about a photo session and this place was the perfect setting, put a gorgeous gal up in the mix and voila… photo loveliness. But… as many photo shoots go things didn't go as planned… when we actually got around the the session the 13 year old wasn't up for it (oh the temperamental-ness of being 13). Luckily I have a 19 month old model of a nephew that is always up for photos (or rather, allowing me to chase around after him with my camera while we try to keep him as happy as possible.) And to top it all off I got myself a great teaching lesson for my photo class where I was able to talk through finding light, making compositional decisions, working through challenges, being present in the moment and telling a compelling visual story all along the way in a real life setting. Win!
Here is a glimpse into a low key morning of Miami fun! And to find out more about how I capture these type of images join me for my next This is the Day Photo Workshop or Highlands Art League class. Enjoy!
xoxo, Caroline
