Ivan Apfel Photography Blog

Spoiler – Senia & Javier’s Wedding – The New Rusty Pelican

Ivan Apfel Photography — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 06:42:31 +0000

Congratulations Senia and Javier…..many more to come.

They did a great job redoing The Rusty Pelican and Mariel Ruiz did an even better job decorating the wedding.

Senia & Javier’s Midtown/Wynwood Engagement Session I was really excited when Senia and Javier said that...
Spoiler – Senia & Javier’s Wynwood Engagement Session I love this shot. I mean, how often do you...
Spoiler – Congratulations Kacie & Todd – Last Wedding of 2011 ...

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Portraits Revisited……..Stephanie

Ivan Apfel Photography — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 08:06:28 +0000

From time to time I like to go back to previous portraits and see how I could do them a little differently. My most recent one is of Stephanie’s wedding day portraits at Viscaya.

Alexandra – Quince Portraits, Vizcaya and Miami Design District I originally met Alexandra four years ago when shooting her...
Shelly & Danny – Viscaya Engagement Session – South Florida Wedding Photography Had a great engagement session with Shelly and Danny on...
Stephanie & Bill’s Wedding – Miami, Florida First Look Portraits - Vizcaya, Miami, Florida Ceremony – St....

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Katie & Ryan’s “Let’s Go on a Train Ride” Second Engagement Session – Miami Engagement Photographer

Ivan Apfel Photography — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 07:28:26 +0000

Hair & Make-up: Peter of London
Location: Gold Coast Railroad Museum

Not a whole lot to say about Katie and Ryan’s second engagement session other than it was awesome. Both their outfits were fantastic and Katie’s hair and make-up was AMAZING. I can not wait till May to shoot what I know will be an amazing wedding. Until then, enjoy….

Kacie & Todd – Viscaya to South Beach Engagement Session – Miami Wedding Photographer This was one of those sessions that was just meant...
Gisselle & Danny’s Brickell Avenue at Night Engagement Session – Miami Wedding Photographer I was loving these images that I could not stop...
Juliya & Shaun’s Engagement Session – Miami Design District Wedding Photographer Juliya and I have known each other for almost seven...

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Johanna & Justin’s Canyon Ranch Wedding – Miami Beach Wedding Photographer

Ivan Apfel Photography — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 06:16:05 +0000

Ceremony: Canyon Ranch Resort
Reception: Private Residence

Johanna & Justin – Canyon Ranch Wedding – Spoiler Congratulations to this evenings couple, Johanna and Justin. Are they...
Victoria & Zoltan’s Newport Beach Resort Wedding – Sunny Isles Wedding Photographer Normally when you think of a beach wedding at sunset...
A House Divided – Jessica & David’s Miami Beach Resort Wedding So you know how you get those couples that say,...

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Senia & Javier’s Midtown/Wynwood Engagement Session

Ivan Apfel Photography — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:17:11 +0000

I was really excited when Senia and Javier said that they wanted to shoot someplace with some graffiti on the walls. Living in the Midtown/Wynwood area I get to see all the wonderful wall art every day. But living in South Florida most people look to the beach, historic sites and the hip locations for their session. It was great getting to finally shoot against some of the art work I see every day.

Spoiler – Senia & Javier’s Wynwood Engagement Session I love this shot. I mean, how often do you...
Kacie & Todd – Viscaya to South Beach Engagement Session – Miami Wedding Photographer This was one of those sessions that was just meant...
Gisselle & Danny’s *Sizzling* South Beach Engagement Session Might want to send the kiddies to their room and...

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How Do You Get Couples To Look So Natural?

Ivan Apfel Photography — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:46:19 +0000

Whenever I meet with my couples to discuss their engagement sessions and wedding day portraits the one question they all ask is (paraphrasing), “How do you get them to look so natural?”. I totally understand this question. Most people rarely, if ever, go in front of a professional camera. So they automatically get worked up over the concept of, “I am having a professional shoot!!!” This tends to get people really nervous which can then lead to very artificial or stiff poses…..or even worse, Zoolander level model facial expressions. I always tell them the same thing (again, paraphrasing); “Don’t think of this as a professional shoot. Think of it as the two of you going out to take some pictures. Just be yourself. If you two are touchy feely, the be touchy feely. If you are goofy, then be goofy. Just be yourselves.”

For my part I do two things:

Give them very basic posing instruction which includes pleasant, happy faces and no serious talk allowed.
Step back and wait for them to start interacting. Next thing you know, I am able to take pictures of them being them.

And viola….wonderful, natural looking images.

PS: I have also been really lucky to have so many clients who are so totally into one another that they have no problem looking intimate naturally.

Attack of the Wedding Guest Photographers Ever since manufacturers of cameras and cell phones began making...

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Message via Blog FAIL

Ivan Apfel Photography — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:36:26 +0000

So I receive a wonderful call from a bride yesterday who is excited about having me shoot her wedding but was worried because after sending me a message via the “Contact Form” on my blog, she did not see anything confirming it sent. I searched and searched my mailbox looking for something from her but could not find it. Finally I remembered that WordPress which is the platform my blog runs on did a big code upgrade a few months back. So I decided to check in the administrative settings on my blog to see if it had changed any of email forwarding settings. Everything looked right but when I tried sending myself a message nothing went to my email. Finally I saw a button that deactivated some sort of forward blocking (I am so not a “code” guy) and this seems to have resolved the issue.

However, it was in the administrative log that I saw something really embarrassing…….almost 40 messages sent in the past couple of months I never received. I have responded to the most immediate emails and am working to get back to everyone even if your email was from August.

I am so sorry for this and apologize profusely for this having happened. I just wanted to make sure you know I was not intentionally ignoring your inquiries.

Abstract City Skyscape Photographs – Not what I normally do but…… Now, normally I only take pictures of people, but I...
Attack of the Wedding Guest Photographers Ever since manufacturers of cameras and cell phones began making...

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Katie & Ryan’s “Take Me to the Fair” Engagement Session – South Florida County Fair Photography

Ivan Apfel Photography — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:59:00 +0000

Every now and then you get one of those sessions you are really excited about. This was one of them. I met Katie and Ryan about 18 months ago when I shot the wedding of friends of her families. So I was really excited when she called me eight months later about shooting she and Ryan’s wedding. We had met a couple of times to discuss their engagement sessions (that’s right, plural). Katie is a huge fan of anything early ’60′s. So much so that their wedding will have a definite ’60′s edge to it from the cake to the guest gifts. They really wanted to choose locations for their sessions that would fit with this subtle theme. Right off the bat I was like, “County Fair”. Normally this might be an issue seeing that the Dade County Fair is not till the middle of March and a little warm. And the Broward County Fair is not till November which is well after the wedding. Well, good news, The South Florida Fair in West Palm Beach just happened to be in the middle of January which is the perfect shooting weather.

Originally I expected to have security and vendors give us a hard time and Katie expected to feel embarrassed in her ’60′s dress. But we were both pleasantly surprised when security never said a word and the game and ride vendors were eager to help out. As for Katie and her dress? It was a hit. The older women looked at her with a smile of nostalgia, the younger women came up and told her how much they loved her dress and the little girls said she looked like a princess. And Ryan? As any good fiancé would, he just went with the flow and enjoyed himself.

Spoilers – Take Me to The Fair – Katie & Ryan’s County Fair Engagement Session Second great Engagement Session in a row. This time with...
Shelly & Danny – Viscaya Engagement Session – South Florida Wedding Photography Had a great engagement session with Shelly and Danny on...
Kacie & Todd – Viscaya to South Beach Engagement Session – Miami Wedding Photographer This was one of those sessions that was just meant...

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Spoilers – Take Me to The Fair – Katie & Ryan’s County Fair Engagement Session

Ivan Apfel Photography — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 04:51:21 +0000

Second great Engagement Session in a row. This time with one of the most adorable couples ever, Katie and Ryan at the South Florida County Fair….more to come….

Shelly & Danny – Viscaya Engagement Session – South Florida Wedding Photography Had a great engagement session with Shelly and Danny on...
Kacie & Todd – Viscaya to South Beach Engagement Session – Miami Wedding Photographer This was one of those sessions that was just meant...
Gisselle & Danny’s *Sizzling* South Beach Engagement Session Might want to send the kiddies to their room and...

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Spoiler – Senia & Javier’s Wynwood Engagement Session

Ivan Apfel Photography — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 01:20:04 +0000

I love this shot. I mean, how often do you get to shoot against a 60 ft tall painting wall art?

Or a wall that looks like a city scene…..

This one is actually nine images collaged into one. If you look close you will notice how parts are in focus and other are not. For example, Senia and Javier are in focus but the back of the tires are out of focus, but then the wall behind them is in focus again.

Edlyn & Javier – Day After Session at Pinecrest Gardens Now I know what many of you are thinking, “Ivan,...
Spoiler – Gisselle & Danny’s Brickell Avenue Engagement Session – Miami Wedding Photographer Full blog to follow. But for now, here is a...
Kacie & Todd – Viscaya to South Beach Engagement Session – Miami Wedding Photographer This was one of those sessions that was just meant...

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