Longboat Key, Florida Engagement
Beer Can Island, Sarasota, FloridaJASON + NIKKITA
January 9th, 2017Nikkita and Jason are Sarasota locals and lucky enough to live right on the doorstep of Longboat Key’s white sands – one of Florida’s most idyllic engagement session locations. Although they’ve been married for around seven years (and have just welcomed their daughter Olympia to the world), they wanted to have an e-session style portrait shoot that captured the love they have for one another.
So we headed out to Longboat Key, or more specifically Beer Can Island, which is located on the northernmost point of the island. It’s a picturesque spot where the sand is blindingly white, with driftwood and gnarled mangrove trunks along its curved spit.
We had decided on a late-afternoon sunset e-session taking in these beautiful surrounds in the most atmospheric lighting conditions (and what turned out to be perfect weather). Both Nikkita and Jason appeared really comfortable in front of the camera as I captured casual portraits of them both at the waters edge, with the late afternoon sun giving a golden glow to the images.
As the sun sank towards the horizon, I got more creative with some west-facing silhouettes, incorporating a luminous sunburst between the couple, as well as some whimsical black and white portraits of the couple embracing and walking hand-in-hand on the sands. Both Nikkita and Jason had opted for jeans and pastel-toned shirts which worked in perfectly with the relaxed feel of this beach e-session, and they exuded a real warmth and chemistry towards one another.
After capturing a black and white shot from afar as the couple watched this gorgeous sunset together, we took advantage of the horizon backdrop which was turning brilliant shades of pink and orange. I grabbed some romantic silhouette shots of the couple embracing at the end of a pier, backed by this natural display, as well as some artistic, off-camera flash portraits as they shared in this special moment.
It was a real pleasure to be the Florida engagement photographer for Nikkita and Jason on this Longboat Key beach e-session (even if I did stub my toe on a mangrove trunk)! It also reminded me that no matter how long you’ve been married, it’s never too late for a portrait shoot with your loved one.