2012, 3 video projects right out of the gate and now I’m finally getting my head above water to take a breath(exhales).

I decided to take a long overdue vacation to Florida and recharge my batteries. I soaked in some relaxation and a lot of fun! On our annual trip to Miami, I decided to contact a friend of whom I worked with on another fashion shoot here in homebase Louisville, KY; Eva. Why not take advantage of the warm sun, beautiful beach and a luxury hotel room by adding in a stunning model to photograph!?

I could only bring minimal gear and had just the basics to work with. No softboxes, grids or beauty dishes. Only 3 speedlights, a reflector, a light stand and the bright sun. Needless to say, it was a challenge.

This impromptu mini-shoot was really fun. No team, no MUA, just myself and Eva. We started out on the balcony of the hotel where the sun hit her back and ocean wind was fierce. Using a makeshift light stand and the heavy use of a reflector we nailed some shots composing the best image possible on the small 6x12 balcony. Within the hour we’re headed down to the beach where we would begin our second set: high fashion bikini.

South Beach is just amazing, not only for it’s night life, but also for its clear water and white sand beaches. Hitting a few tents and cabanas on the way, we finally made it to our shooting location near a badass peninsula of boulders and rocks. I stripped off my shoes, emptied my pockets and we walked 25 feet into the ocean knee high. Eva instantly started rocking poses and I instantly fired away.

When it comes to small session shoots like this, I pretty much wing it and go with the flow. In this case Eva asked me to shoot her in a “Give Tanks” shirt. An organization that strives to cultivate global hope by reminding anyone who sees its apparel to be “tankful” for the little things in life. Hey, I can dig it, so we posted up on the rocks and got some killer natural light images.

But, no photoshoot goes without some problems, the Pixel Soldier trigger that fired my flashes decided that it wouldn’t work that day so I had to move over the Nikon’s “onboard” triggering system CLS. It's inconsistent, unreliable and honestly a big headache. But, I pushed through the shoot and by then end was happy we had scored a few compelling images.

Returning to the hotel covered in sand and saltwater I had to do a detailed check of all my gear to make sure nothing was damaged. I was positive my lens received a nice wind blast of water on a few occasions and may of taken a couple of knocks from climbing on the rock peninsula. Upon inspection everything seemed A-OK, nothing that a could lens cleaner and blower couldn’t take care of.

I hung my soaked clothes out to dry on the balcony and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. It was nice to get back to still photography and a great way to kick off my exit from video world.