Unveiling the Beauty of Engagement Portraits in Nashville - Corrin and Josh - Destination Wedding Photographer

Love fills the air in Nashville, Tennessee, as couples embrace the enchanting atmosphere and vibrant energy of the city. One beautiful way to celebrate this love is through engagement portraits. These timeless photographs not only capture the essence of a couple's unique connection but also serve as cherished mementos for years to come.

As photographers who specialize in destination portraits, we offer our clients the opportunity to go anywhere they want for their engagement session. Corrin and Josh decided on Nashville for their engagement portraits. We did some portraits in the city and then went into the countryside to provide a different background opportunity.

In this blog post, we will explore the magic of engagement portraits in Nashville and why this picturesque city is the perfect backdrop for capturing your love story.

1. The Romantic Charm of Nashville: Nashville, known as Music City, has a distinctive charm that captivates hearts. Its combination of Southern hospitality, rich history, and lively music scene creates an unparalleled ambiance for engagement portraits. From the iconic skyline and historic landmarks to the hidden gems scattered throughout the city, Nashville offers a multitude of stunning locations that add depth and character to your photographs.

2. Unforgettable Backdrops: Nashville boasts a diverse range of captivating backdrops for engagement portraits. Couples can choose to capture their love amidst the rustic beauty of the rolling hills and barns, or they can opt for an urban feel with the city's vibrant murals and trendy streets. The picturesque parks, such as Centennial Park or Shelby Park, provide lush greenery and peaceful settings, while the Cumberland River and its bridges offer a touch of romance and serenity. The options are endless, ensuring that each couple can find a location that truly represents their unique love story.

3. A Melody of Colors: Nashville embraces color in all its glory, making it an ideal canvas for engagement portraits. The city's vibrant street art, blooming flowers, and lush landscapes create a captivating tapestry of hues that breathe life into your photographs. Whether you desire a lively and energetic palette or a softer, more romantic ambiance, Nashville offers a myriad of colors that will enhance the beauty of your portraits.

4. Seasonal Splendor: Nashville experiences the full spectrum of seasons, each offering its own unique beauty. The city transforms into a winter wonderland during the snowy months, while spring ushers in an explosion of blossoms and vibrant colors. Summers are marked by warm golden sunsets, and the breathtaking foliage of autumn adds a touch of enchantment to engagement portraits. Whatever season captures your heart, Nashville has the perfect backdrop to complement the ambiance and emotions you wish to convey.

5. Partnering with a Skilled Photographer: To truly capture the magic of your love story, it is essential to partner with a skilled photographer who understands Nashville's unique charm. A professional engagement photographer familiar with the city's best locations and able to guide you through the process will ensure that your portraits are a true reflection of your love and the spirit of Music City.

Nashville, with its romantic charm, picturesque backdrops, vibrant colors, and seasonal splendor, is a city that ignites the imagination and celebrates love. Engagement portraits taken in Nashville are not just photographs; they are a testament to the everlasting bond shared between two people. As you embark on this exciting journey towards marriage, the enchantment of Nashville can serve as the perfect backdrop for your engagement portraits, preserving the essence of your love story for generations to come.

Here are the rest from their engagement portrait session in Nashville!

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Underwater Maternity Portraits - Capturing Timeless Beauty in Florida

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As an experienced underwater maternity photographer based in Central Florida, I find that women love to do underwater portrait sessions for their maternity portraits because it captures the timeless beauty of your pregnancy. These extraordinary photo shoots offer a unique and enchanting way to showcase the magic of this precious stage in your life. Embrace the transformative and graceful nature of water, as it enhances the natural beauty of your pregnant body, resulting in elegant and captivating images. Maternity gowns and other fabric flow with grace that isn’t possible above the water.

Underwater maternity portraits are a great add on to your traditional maternity portrait session. In Florida, its never really too cold to do them, so its a great option year round. Check out the gallery below for some samples from a shoot we did in a pool.

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Creating Lasting Memories: Hiring a Luxury Senior Portrait Photographer in Tampa, Florida

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Senior portraits are more than just pictures; they are cherished memories that will be passed down through generations. As a luxury senior portrait photographer in Tampa, Florida, I understand the importance of capturing this special milestone in a senior's life. In this blog post, we'll explore the key factors to consider when hiring a senior portrait photographer and how our unique approach ensures an unforgettable experience.

  1. The significance of Senior Portraits in Tampa: Senior portraits hold sentimental value and act as a legacy for seniors and their families. These images capture the senior's personality, achievements, and aspirations. By investing in professional senior portraits, Tampa seniors can ensure their memories are preserved for a lifetime.

  2. Uniqueness and Distinction: When searching for a senior portrait photographer, it's crucial to find someone whose work stands out from the rest. Look for a photographer who can capture your senior's individuality and create stunning images that truly reflect their personality and style.

  3. The Luxury Experience: At Curtiss Bryant Photography, we go beyond capturing beautiful portraits. We create an exceptional experience for our clients, ensuring that they feel pampered and valued throughout the process. Our sessions include professional hair and makeup services, and clients have access to our exclusive client closet, providing a wide range of wardrobe options.

  4. Expert Guidance and Planning: Preparing for a senior portrait session can be overwhelming, but with the right photographer, it becomes an enjoyable and stress-free experience. Our team works closely with seniors and their families to plan the session, choose the perfect outfits, and select stunning locations in the Tampa area or a location around the world, that complement their vision.

  5. Unforgettable Experiences Anywhere: While we are based in the Tampa area, our luxury senior portrait sessions are not limited to local parks and beaches. We offer the flexibility to travel to various cities, states, and even countries to create unforgettable destination portrait experiences. Whether it's a beautiful beach, an urban landscape, or a serene natural setting, we'll find the perfect backdrop to showcase your senior's unique story.

  6. Exceptional Products and Quality: At our luxury photography studio in Tampa, we believe in preserving memories through tangible heirloom products. We offer the highest quality prints and products, backed by a lifetime warranty. These stunning artworks will not only adorn your walls but also become cherished family heirlooms that can be enjoyed for years to come.

  7. Relaxation and Confidence: During a senior portrait session, it's important to create a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. We understand the significance of making seniors feel at ease. We strive to bring out their genuine smiles and natural confidence, resulting in authentic and captivating portraits.

  8. Artwork for Your Home: We don't just capture photographs; we create exquisite artwork that deserves to be showcased in your home. Our post-production process ensures that every image is meticulously edited and customized to reflect your senior's unique style and preferences. The final result is a collection of portraits that will become the centerpiece of your home décor.

Hiring a luxury senior portrait photographer in Tampa, Florida, is an investment in creating lasting memories and preserving the essence of this milestone in your senior's life. With our unique approach, exceptional experience, and commitment to delivering the highest quality products, we aim to provide seniors and their families with an unforgettable journey and breathtaking portraits that will be cherished for generations.

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Italy Wedding and Engagement Portraits | Venice, Rome, Florence and Milan | Destination Pictures

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Want some amazing wedding or engagement portraits? Italy does not disappoint. It is a wedding photographer’s dream and we were fortunately able to spend a week touring and photographing different parts of the country.

This couple joined us in Italy on one of our destination portrait sessions. We traveled to Venice, Rome, Florence and Milan and took wedding and engagement portraits for them.

We started off in Venice and photographed St Mark’s square, in front of gondolas and the surrounding area/canals. These portraits feature a red dress for her and a casual suit for him. It matched the architecture perfectly.

We then took a train to Rome. We photographed the couple in their wedding attire for wedding type portraits. We spent a couple hours at sunrise photographing in front the Coliseum. Pro tip… to avoid crowds, go at sunrise. Be sure to be finished by 8am before the first tour busses arrive. This will allow you to take portraits with minimal tourists. No one wants a million tourist in their wedding portraits, right?

After Rome, we took a train to Florence for a couple of nights. We rented Vespas and took a trip into wine country to photograph in vineyards. This was a fun and relaxing day. We took engagement type portraits for this session as we were limited in what we could bring with us on the Vespas.

Finally, we finished in Milan and the iconic church in the center of the shopping district. This shoot was late at night, again to try to avoid a million tourists in the square. We used a long flowy yellow dress to give it a fashion type look.

This trip was AMAZING. We got to provide an amazing destination portrait experience for our client and they got to spend a week touring Italy. If you are getting married, think about doing your wedding portraits in Italy :)

Enjoy some of the images we captured!

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Arizona Senior Portraits | Destination Session

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We are often asked where we think the best location in the US is for senior portraits. This can be a difficult thing to answer since there are SO many amazing locations out there, but if we had to pick just one place, it would be Arizona. That is a surprise to many since there are places like Hawaii or New York City that often come to mind, but Arizona is unique. In Northern Arizona, there are things like the Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, slot canyons, desert locations, etc. In central Arizona are placed like Sedona and the famous rock formations. You also have cities like Phoenix if you are looking for architecture. In short, there is a lot of diversity and unique locations within the state.

For this particular senior destination trip, we went to the Grand Canyon and finished up in Sedona around sunset. We love taking people to the Grand Canyon as its truly a sight to see. There is nothing like it in the world and it makes for an amazing portrait experience.

Enjoy some of the photos we did from this senior portrait session in Arizona!

Why Consider a Destination Engagement Session?

You are engaged!! Now it is time to start planning your engagement portrait session. But where do you do these portraits? Do you take them at the beautiful park close to your town? Do you take them at a location that is special to you and your fiancé? Do you go to the beach? A theme park? Some other place your photographer suggests? The location of your wedding?

None of those are wrong answers. They are all valid locations to use for your engagement portraits. But what if there was someplace you didnt think about? What if there were some amazing locations that you didnt know about? This is where destination engagement portraits come into play.

The idea behind the engagement session isnt only to provide you with some pretty images of you and your fiancé as a couple to display at the wedding and throughout your home. It isnt only to get to know the photographer a bit more. The engagement session is more than all of that. Yes, those reasons are important and reasons to take engagement portraits, but the real reason that you do them is the experience it creates with your fiancé.

Destination sessions help create an amazing experience for you as a couple. You get to get away for a bit. You get to explore new locations. You get to enjoy each other’s company… AND you get images NONE of your friends will have. All of that creates an experience you will never forget. Let’s be real. That session at the local park, while it produces great pictures, it doesnt really have meaning attached to it. You met your photographer at the park. There really isnt much of an experience created from it, so in 20 years, you will likely forget most of the session.

But if you travel somewhere for your portraits, spend a day or two (or a week) exploring that location, getting away from the busy lives that we all live…. then that session will mean something to you later on. I have no met a couple who has not remembered every aspect of their trip with us, whether that was flying to Minnesota in February to get some portraits in the snow or flying to Ireland to explore castles.

Destination sessions offer an unique opportunity to have an amazing experience. Perhaps you should consider traveling for your engagement portrait session and getting portraits which you will cherish forever.

5 tips for planning your engagement session

First of all…. CONGRATULATIONS on your engagement! Now comes all of the wedding planning fun. Part of that process includes your engagement portrait session. This session is typically used to help announce your engagement to your friends and family as well as provide you with some great images for your home.

This is also a great time to begin working with your photographer. These sessions are a “dry run” of your wedding day. You will get to see how your photographer works and get comfortable in front of the camera before your wedding day. This will help make the wedding day photos go more smoothly and allow you to be comfortable working with your photographer and being in front of the camera.

We recommend that all couples take advantage of an engagement session.

But what should you do for your session? Read below 5 tips that we put together to help you plan your engagement portrait session.

Engagement Session on the beach in Tampa, Florida

TIP ONE: CHOOSING A LOCATION

The location is an important part of your engagement portrait session. It is going to be the base foundation for your portraits and everything will work off that location choice… your outfits… the posing.. etc.

There are a few options to consider when choosing a location.

Do you want a location that is meaningful to you? Sometimes this can be where you got engaged, where you took your first date and so on. Its a location that has a special meaning to you.

Do you want a location that is different? In the Tampa area, many couples use the same locations over and over again. Do you want to do that as well or do you want somewhere different that none of your friends have?

Are you willing to travel? Sure, its easy to choose a local location to do the engagement portraits, but destination sessions offer an unique opportunity to have an amazing experience with your fiancé. These sessions typically take place in a different city, state or even country. They provide an unique experience as its not just a drive down to the local park. The destination sessions can also help you create images that are unlike anything your friend have… whether its the mountains in Colorado, desert in Arizona or beaches in Hawaii… There are amazing landscapes and views everywhere you look.

Engagement portrait taken in Ocala at Sholom Park

TIP TWO: COORDINATE OUTFITS

You want to have outfits that coordinate with your fiancé. You do not want to match necessarily, like jeans and black shirts, but keep it in the same color family or complimentary colors. This can be a black button up shirt for guys and a red dress for the ladies.

Consider having a formal look and casual look for your session. This will allow for different images throughout your session.

TIP THREE: TIME OF DAY

Generally speaking, engagement portraits are best in the evening, particularly if you like the sunset look. However, trust your photographer. If they suggest a different time option, trust their opinion. They will have a vision for your session and the time of day is part of that. Expect to spend one to two hours with your photographer for the engagement portraits.

TIP FOUR: HAVE FUN

Dont forget to have fun during your session. Yes, wedding planning can be stressful and part of that planning is the engagement portrait session… but dont forget to enjoy yourself during the process. Your photographer will guide you through the session, so there is nothing to stress about any longer. Let them guide and plan the session so you can sit back and enjoy it.

Wall Portrait Sample

TIP FIVE: ORDER PORTRAITS FOR DISPLAY

Don’t just order the digital portraits and saving them to your computer. Order something for yourselves. This can be a portrait for the wall, an album or book, or some other print product your client offers. These can also be used on display at the wedding at an entry table or throughout the reception. We have never heard of anyone regretting ordering a portrait for the wall, but we have heard from several who regretted not doing it.

These images will be complimentary to your wedding portraits, so there is room to display them both.

We hope that this helps with your planning process and getting your engagement portraits scheduled with your photographer. If there is anything we can help you with during this process, please let us know!

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Ireland - Elopement and Engagement Portraits

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We are a US based photography company that specializes in Destination Portrait Experiences. We plan portrait trips to various locations and provide our clients with AMAZING portraits in some of the most beautiful places in the world. These trips are great for engagement portraits, wedding portraits, family pictures or elopements.

This will be one of two posts about this couple. I met Josh and Amber through a photography conference that I speak at. For years, we have been talking about taking a trip together. We finally made it happen and we went to Ireland. They later joined us on a trip to Italy for more fun portrait sessions.

This post is about our Ireland adventure. We spent a week touring the country and doing photoshoots. We did engagement portraits as well as wedding/elopment type portraits. We slept in a castle and did photoshoots at different castle ruins as well as the iconic locations of the Cliffs of Moher and Giants Causeway.

One thing about Ireland is there is beauty everywhere you look. We didnt have to go far before we saw old castle ruins or beautiful green fields. Ireland is a great place for your engagement, elopement or wedding portraits. These can be before your wedding takes place (as you see here) or even after your wedding for a post wedding session.

Enjoy what we created!

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Italy Senior Portraits | Destination Portraits

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Who would have thought you can have your senior portraits taken in Italy? Its all about the experience for us. We can create amazing portraits locally, but there is something about that once in a lifetime trip that takes the senior portrait experience to another level.

Earlier this summer, we had the opportunity to bring a few of our clients with us to Italy. These destination portrait experiences are an unique way to explore the world and getting some amazing senior portraits at the same time. We plan everything for you and all you need to do is come along for the journey.

For this trip, we started in Venice and photographed in the famous St Mark’s Square. From Venice, we traveled to Rome and spent a couple of days exploring the city and of course, the Colosseum. We took a day trip down to the Almafi Coast and explored where Lemoncello originated. After Rome, we made a stop in Florence to ride Vespas through wine country. We ended our trip in Milan and the iconic shopping district.

These 10 days flew by but we were able to get some great senior portraits for Kiersten in between the food, shopping and tours!

Here is a preview of what we created for her!

Spiderholster - The MUST have for any portrait session

As an educator in the photography industry, I often get questions about what is the must have gear to do what I do, particularly when it comes to destination portraits. Obviously, I talk about the cameras, lenses and lighting I use, but one thing I ALWAYS mention is perhaps the ONLY thing that has come on every trip with me… My Spiderholster camera belt..

Throughout the years, I have switched camera gear from Canon to Nikon and then to Sony. I have switched lighting brands.. I have switched tripods, lightstands, camera bags, etc. The only thing I have not switched is how I carry my cameras during the shoot and even to/from the shoot.

The Spiderholster belt has been the only constant because it works. Its that simple. No other camera carrying device that I have used has worked as well as the Spiderholster. Not only does it take the weight off the shoulders and neck and put it on the hips, it also allows easy access to the camera when you need it. No fiddling with straps. No unclipping a hook to bring the camera to your eye. No cameras are swinging around your body as you walk… Simply unclip it from the holster and you are good to go. It can be operated with a single hand very quickly.

When I travel, my Spiderholster is key. As you can see in some of the pictures below, some locations require me to be a pack mule so to speak. I have to carry camera bags, dresses, etc. The Spiderholster allows me to take the camera out of the bag and take a little bit more weight off the shoulders. It also allows me to set everything down and start shooting right away. I dont need to fiddle with taking it out of the bag or unhooking it from a strap. But more importantly, it allows me to shoot efficiently by allowing me to keep my hands free. I can help pose the client. I can move a light stand. I can fluff a dress…

When I shoot weddings, I use the dual holster that allows me to place 2 cameras at my hips with different focal lengths. I typically shoot with a wide lens like a 24-70 and then the other camera has a telephoto like a 70-200. I can easily switch between the two cameras and not have awkward straps holding cameras on my shoulders. And lets be honest… its a pretty cool feeling to slide it in and out of the holster :)

Beyond the camera belt holsters, they offer a wide variety of products like a backpack holster, hand straps, and lens pouches. Their products fit all manufacturer brands, so whether you shoot Canon, Nikon, Sony or another brand, Spiderholster has a product for you.

If you are ready to ditch the camera strap and move to the best camera carrying system, go to the website and place your order.. You wont regret it :)

If you are ready to jump on board and give them a try or just need some new gear, use code Bryant20 to get 20% off your Spiderholster gear.

https://spiderholster.com/

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Las Vegas, Arizona, Utah and California Senior Portrait Roadtrip

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We travel A LOT for our senior portrait sessions. We try to create trips that are unique and provide our senior clients with an amazing experience. We have been to Las Vegas several times as well as the Phoenix, Arizona area. These locations are AMAZING for senior pictures. The diverse scenery is completely different than what we get in the Tampa, Florida area. This is one reason why we travel…. let our clients see parts of the world they have never seen.

Morgan told us she wanted to do a trip out west for her senior portraits since she has never been. We came up with doing a trip to Phoenix. A week or so before the trip, she reached out and asked how far it was from Phoenix to Las Vegas. Long story short, we ended up deciding on doing a road trip out west.

This trip started with the flight to Phoenix. We then drove over to Las Vegas to do a shoot at a ghost town. From there, we went to the strip for a photoshoot with the lights in the city. In the morning we drove out to Death Valley and did a portrait session there with sand dunes, salt flats and mountains. Then we drove to southern Utah to take advantage of the slot canyons there. In the morning, off to Horseshoe Bend for a senior portrait session there before heading to the Grand Canyon. After dinner at the Grand Canyon, we headed back to the airport in Phoenix.

WOW.. What an amazing trip. Senior pictures in 4 states in 2 days.. Crazy to even think about but Morgan had a blast and got to see 4 states she has never seen.

When it comes to your senior portraits, lets do something outside the box like a roadtrip out west. It is something you will NEVER forget.

Here are some portraits from the trip. Enjoy!

Hawaii Senior Portraits - Destination Session - Oahu

What a crazy last couple years we have had. We are finally able to get out and travel again. Our first destination trip since Covid restrictions have lifted was to Oahu, Hawaii for senior pictures. We spent 4 days on the beautiful island photographing in some amazing locations including the famed Kualoa Ranch, which has been the filming location for many Hollywood productions like Jurassic Park, Kong, Jumanji and many others.

Doing your senior portraits in Hawaii is a once in a lifetime experience. Here are some images we created for our senior portrait clients while we were in Hawaii. Enjoy!

Why Destination Portrait Sessions?

One of the questions we often get from parents, seniors, couples and others about our destination session offerings is: “Why should we do a destination session?” Its a fair question, so I will use this post to explain why we offer destination sessions to our clients and why you might want to consider one for your portrait session.

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Once in a Lifetime Experience!

Destination sessions are about the experience you have in another location while visiting different sites, touring, eating and yes taking pictures. It is something that you will remember the rest of your life. We could certainly create pretty images at a local location, but that is “normal”. When was the last time “normal” had a significant memory in your life? Think of the last time you had a portrait taken and where it was taken at. Is it a significant memory? Does the location factor into it at all? Chances are if you are like more people, you went to a local park and did portraits there. While the portraits came out great you and were happy with them, there really isnt a memory attached to it. In 20 years, will the location have mattered? No, you value the image that was created and hanging in your home, the location was just a the pretty place you picked.

Now imagine for a moment if you had that same portrait session in Paris, Iceland, Greece or even a place like Colorado. The location then becomes part of the story behind the portraits. Every time you see that portrait on the wall, you will remember your trip and the experience that you had and you will remember it far longer than if it were just a “normal” session down the road. You will remember the travel to get there.. You will remember the smells of the location.. You will remember the food, how many tourists there were, how things were different than you are used to and so on.

The trips we provide are about that creating that experience and not about the portraits. Yes, we will be taking portraits, but the portraits are the result of the experience. They are what we create to represent that experience, but the trip is first and foremost about the experience that traveling provides. We want to provide you with something that you will remember forever!

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Amazing Portraits!

Wait.. Didnt I just said it wasnt about the portraits? Yes, that is correct. Its about the experience, but the portraits become what we use to portray that experience. Every time you see your portraits on the wall or in the album you will instantly remember the experience you had on that trip. The portraits give us the reason to go, the experience is the most important part and the portraits are the way to remember that trip years down the road. Think of it like a sandwich. The most important part of a sandwich is what is between the bread. Its the meat, the toppings, the dressing, etc. Without those things, you are just holding 2 pieces of bread. The experience is the meat and toppings of the sandwich. The portraits are the bread that hold it together.

The location becomes an integral part of the portraits we create. While it is true we can provide you with images you will love and cherish with local sessions, there is just something different about images with well known landmarks in them. Take the image of Olivia in the red dress. I could have done something similar locally. It would have looked good. She would have loved it.. but it wouldnt have been on a rooftop in Santorini. The location sets the image apart. The process helps create the experience.

Which do you think is more memorable; doing this at a local park or doing this on a rooftop of Santorini? Which do you think has more impact? Which do you think creates the “wow” factor? Destination sessions allow us to create those “wow” portraits that you will be excited to display or share on social media. simply due to locations that are different and beyond the norm. The location become part of your story. The location allows you to get images you otherwise wouldnt be able to get. It all comes together to allow us to create some amazing portraits for our clients.

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Spending time with a loved one!

Parents! Did you know that in a few short years (or even less than a year for parents of seniors), your children will be leaving the nest to spread their wings in the real world? I’m sure you dont need me to remind you that your time with them is limited. Once they leave to be on their own, your time with them is even more limited as they begin their lives without you. Yes, they will still visit. Yes, they will spend holidays at home, but it wont be the same as them living under your roof as they did the previous 18 or so years. Soon they will have their own families that will begin to take their focus. Soon they will have their own families in which they will vacation with. What parent wouldnt want to maximize the time they spend before their children leave? Go ahead, grab the tissues!

Destinations sessions give you an opportunity to travel one more time with your child. They give you an opportunity to experience other parts of the world with them. It allows you more time to create memories you both will cherish years down the road. It provides more dinner conversations years in the future when they visit with their families. You both can recall that trip you took for the portraits… and as mentioned above, you will have some amazing images to share with them.

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Excuse to Travel!

Most people want to travel and see other parts of the world, but many feel traveling just to travel is not a good use of resources. Destination sessions give them a reason to travel. There is now a reason to do it that goes beyond just wanting to go. The portrait session gives them a reason to go. Its a justification to invest the money to do the trip.

Also, this makes traveling easier. Many people dont want to travel because of the amount of planning it takes to do a trip. They dont know how to navigate airports. They are nervous about getting lost. Planning gives them anxiety. With our destination portrait sessions, you do not need to worry about any of that. The trips are planned for you. I am there to help you navigate a new city, help you travel through airports, train stations, etc and help you make the most of your trip without you having to worry about the details.

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Cheaper Trips!

Our destination trips are significantly cheaper than most expect. I put together the cheapest trip possible to many of the most famous locations. To give you some ideas on costs for our trips, here is a list of some recent trips and the costs (not including food) to do them.

- Paris: $450
- Iceland: $600-$850
- Greece: $850
- Colorado - $165
- Las Vegas - $115
- Ireland - $1000

That is a small sampling of some trips we have taken. As you can see, those are pretty cheap prices to travel to those locations. To up the WOW factor, those prices above include airfare, lodging and transportation. All of the international trips include multiple days, usually about a week. Say what?!?! Greece for $850? Yup, that trip was 7 days during spring break. Crazy huh?

So as you can see, the trips we put together are pretty cheap considering the locations. I spend a ton of time finding the best airfare and lodging deals for each trip so that you dont have to worry about it. :)

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Here are a couple of reviews from a recent trip to Iceland

“I’m not sure if words can describe what this trip meant to us...What started as Senior pictures for my daughter turned out to be more than you could ever imagine. We made memories, met new people, saw gorgeous sites and genuinely enjoyed our time together. Curtiss isn’t just an exceptional photographer, but an extremely knowledgeable tour guide. He even made traveling practically painless, which I would have never believed possible. We would do it again!” - Tabitha

“This might hands down be the best experience we have had. It’s no secret that Curtiss takes amazing portraits, but beyond that the experience was something we will always cherish. We got to see the most gorgeous landscapes I’ve ever seen in my life and my daughter felt like a celebrity having her portraits taken in these grandiose locations in gorgeous dresses while bystanders came by to see what was going on and started taking her picture paparazzi style. Julie isn’t quite a senior yet, this was just a mommy and daughter trip, but it was so nice to be there with the other moms and our daughters and spend that time with our girls in these AMAZING locations. Curtiss was such a great tour guide.. not to mention exceptional photographer. I saw some sneak peeks of the pictures he took and words can’t describe how beautiful they are!” - Emily

As you can see from the reasons above, destination sessions provide an unique opportunity for your portraits. But you likely have a few more questions, so I will cover some of those below.

Are the pictures included in the price for the trip?
Yes and no. I do not charge a session fee to take the pictures while we are there, but you would need purchase the prints and products you would want separately after the trip. We invite you to the studio after we get back and that is where you will view your portraits and make your selections. We do not have a minimum purchase amount, so you only order images that you want.

How many trips can we do?
As many as you want. We do not limit how many trips clients can go on. If you want to go on multiple trips, you just pay the costs for those trips and whatever prints/products you want after the trip.

I’m a senior and want to go on a trip. Who is required to go with me?
A parent (or someone over 25) is required to go with anyone under 25. There are several reasons for this.. 1) liability 2) car/hotel rentals 3) gives you someone to be there with you to tour while I may be photographing someone else and 4) just a rule we have :)

I want to go on a trip, but I want to see the sights. Do we do portraits all day?
It depends on the trip. Our one day trips are portrait based and there wont be much time to see the sights outside of the locations we photograph. We are in and out the same day. ALL of our international trips include time to tour. We do not shoot all day on those trips, so once your session is done, you are free to be a tourist the remaining part of the day and other days you arent shooting. We want you to be able to experience as much as possible, so we dont take all day to photograph you. The one exception to this would be Iceland. Since everything is so spread out, a lot of time is spent in a car. So days we do photoshoots, we are traveling several hours by car, so you wont have a ton of tourist time in Iceland, but lets face it, you didnt choose Iceland for the tourist activities. You chose it for the landscapes and scenery and there is a TON of that.

Are there any extra costs to the trips?
Again, it depends on the trip. I try to provide as much transparency as possible. I try to do an all inclusive rate so that you just pay once and airfare, lodging, ground transportation, etc is included. The main thing we do not include is food because that is up to each individual. Each person can decide what they want to spend on food each day. Some people spend more/less than others, so we dont include that in the pricing. There would be other fees like museum admission, souvenirs, etc that you would pay for separately.

Do we stay with a group of people?
Yes, we typically stay together as a group in each location. This is mostly to keep costs down for lodging. You dont have to stay with the group during the day, but most of the time, we share an apartment/condo unit. While we share the common areas, you will have your own bed (or share with your child). You may need to share a bathroom, but we try to get each “group” their own bedroom. Doing it this way allows us to keep the prices significantly cheaper than staying in individual hotel rooms.

If you have any questions or are interested in one of our trips, please visit www.curtissbryantphotography.com/destinations to get added to our mailing list for destination sessions. Cant wait to travel with you!

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Destination Portrait Session - Senior Portraits - Jessica - Ireland - Dark Hedges, Dunluce Castle & Giants Causeway

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Destination sessions are quickly becoming the most popular type of session that we offer. We travel all over the world to create amazing memories for our clients, particularly for senior portraits. Over the summer we had the opportunity to travel to Ireland and meet with Jessica to do a portrait session. Ireland is an amazing location for your portraits. The weather is always hit or miss as we had some days full of rain and others without a drop. We just roll with it and make the best of the situation.

On this particular day, the weather cooperated until we finished the shoot and the skies opened up. But at least we were able to finish and get some amazing portraits for Jessica. We visited some of the most iconic locations in Ireland, including the Cliffs of Moher, the Dark Hedges, the Giants Causeway and Dunluce Castle.

For Jessica’s portraits, we decided on Northern Ireland and some of its most visited locations. It just so happens that many of them are filming locations for the Game of Thrones. Amazing images AND seeing some filming locations for one of the most popular TV Series… Double Bonus!

Enjoy the portraits of Jessica and let us know if you would like to join us on one of our destination portrait sessions. These are perfect for engagement session, senior portraits or even post/pre wedding couple portraits. Create memories that will last a lifetime AND get amazing portraits for your home!

Savage Multiflex - The light stand that tops all others

Finding the perfect light stand is a challenge for any photographer. There a a gazillion options out there which makes it all the more difficult to find THE light stand. I have tried many of them in the 15years that I have been a photographer. While many of them worked and did what they were supposed to do, none of them did it perfectly. Some were small and flimsy. They worked great during a calm day, but as soon as the wind picked up, over they went. Others were large and sturdy, but became bulky to carry around. None of them did well on uneven ground like hills and stairs.

As many who follow our photography know, we travel all over the world to photograph our clients. I need a light stand that will travel well and wont require a golf bag case to fly with it. I need a stand that will hold up in windy locations. I need a stand that can be placed on uneven terrain and not fall over. I dont have the space to carry sandbags. I dont use an assistant. I need something that works and is easy to use by myself.

I had the opportunity to try out the newest stands from Savage. They are the multiflex stands (https://savageuniversal.com/products/light-stands-accessories/multiflex-light-stand/). In short, these stands are AMAZING. They are the best light stands I have ever used and they are the last light stands I will ever need. These things simply work.

I took these stands to Greece and Ireland (as well as several sessions I did locally). I have both the 6’ stand and the 10’ stand. To be honest, the 10’ stand is a little too big to take when I travel. I need something that fits in a standard checked bag, so I dont need to pay oversize bag fees, as those get expensive when going overseas. I wanted the 10’ stand to work, but its just a tad bit too big. However, the 6’ stand fits perfectly and at 5.5lbs, its not the lightest stand, but its light enough to give me plenty of weight left over (most flights limit bags to 50lbs before additional bag fees are charged).

While I was disappointed that I would be left with a stand 4’ shorter than what I wanted, I found that the 6’ stand was tall enough for most applications that I used it for. Most of the time, I use the stand in an elevated position in relation to my subject. Even with the 6’ limitation, I was able to get the light above the subject most of the time. The only time it became an “issue” was when the subject was elevated (on a wall, on a hill, etc) and i couldnt get the stand above them. But that is certainly not a deal breaker. In reality, you can get them a little bit taller than 6’ when you adjust the legs, but they are listed at the 6’ height.

Perhaps the most important feature of Savage Multiflex stand is the individually adjustable legs. Each leg can be adjusted to be able to be used in uneven terrain. There is a single leg that can have the angle adjusted as well. This gives a lot of flexibility on where you can use it. Other stands I have used have difficulty when it comes to uneven terrain. You have to carefully place them to keep them upright. There are some places those stands are useless (like areas with large rocks), as you cant get them to sit just right.

The Savage Multiflex stand solves that problem. Since each leg can be adjusted individually, it can be placed anywhere you can imagine. In Greece, I placed it on steps and on large rocks. In Ireland, I placed it on hillsides in high wind, on castle ruins and other places a regular light stand would be challenged. On local sessions I have placed it on the side of sand dunes, on walls, on football stands and many other difficult areas. In every single instance, I was able to keep the center column of the stand perfectly upright, even in strong winds.. as task that other stands couldnt handle.

The last benefit to the stands I want to talk about is their wind resistance. I have never had a stand that handles the wind as well as these stands do, especially with larger modifiers. Since the legs can be adjusted individually, the stands can be placed in such a way as to counter the wind. If the wind is blowing from the left, I can “lean” the stand into the wind. But more importantly, they have the ability to have a wide footprint. This allows the stand to have a wide base to keep it sturdy in windy conditions. Since this is adjustable, you can make the footprint more narrow for use inside during a wedding reception, sports team pictures, etc where you dont need a wide base.

Overall, these are the most diverse light stands that I have ever used and the last light stands that I will ever need. Below are some images/video of the stands as I put them through their paces.

Deanna and Stephen - Tampa Bay area wedding photography


What can we say about this couple.. They are both amazing people and we had a blast photographing their wedding. Once you get past Stephen’s sarcastic-ness (which added to the fun of the day), its smooth sailing. :)

Deanna and Stephen got at St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church in Spring Hill Florida. They had their reception at Black Diamond Ranch in Lecanto. Having photographed at Black Diamond several times, the challenge is to create wedding portraits that are unique to each client, while photographing areas that they want. Black Diamond has many gorgeous locations, but the most popular one is around the Quarry. Its a beautiful location.

We hope you enjoy their portraits as much as they did!!

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Engagement Session Tips

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First of all, congratulations on your engagement! Its an exciting, and often stressful (planning), time leading up to your wedding day. This post is meant to help you check off one thing from your planning list… The Engagement Session.

Should we do an engagement session?

Yes… Absolutely. But why?

Engagement portraits are one of the things that are most neglected when it comes to planning for the wedding. Many people have busy schedules and trying to fit an engagement session into the chaos doesnt sound too exciting. Many people feel that they have plenty of portraits together and dont really need new ones taken. Many dont even know what to do with the portraits after they are taken, so dont really have a desire to do them. Some just do them out of “obligation” to do them. If you skip the engagement session, you are doing yourself a disservice. This is a very short period of your time together, take advantage of it and make the most of it.

The engagement session gives you a chance to work with your photographer before the wedding. That is a key to getting great wedding images. This will give you a chance to see how the photographer works, how they give direction, how they do posing, etc. Its important to get all the camera awkwardness out before the wedding day. Consider this a dry run. If there are angles or things you dont like, you can let the photographer know during this session, rather than letting them photograph the wedding and then telling them you dont like something. Its too late by then.

The session also gives you images to display throughout your home that will be different than wedding portraits. Its great to have diversity of the images displayed in your home. Its also a great way to document that part of your life for years down the road. Without the engagement session and with wedding portraits only, your family wont get a complete picture of who you are. Generally engagement portraits are more personality portraits in the sense it shows off things you like. For example, if you love the beach, your engagement portraits will likely be on the beach.

If you decide not to do these portraits, you are missing out on that experience. When was the last time you had portraits taken by a professional photographer? Most people havent had them done since high school.. and even fewer have had them with their now fiance. The engagement session gives you a chance to have an experience. These sessions consist of more than just showing up, snapping a few pictures, and going about your day. Most photographer provide a complete experience that you would be missing out on.

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Picking a Photographer

The first thing you want to do is find a photographer you love. Make sure you view the images on their websites and on social media. Dont be afraid to ask them to show you full sessions so you can see how they photograph an entire session. Almost all photographers can take 1 amazing portrait during a session, which is the image you see on the website, but can they be consistent throughout the entire session? Keep in mind that the person you hire for your engagement portraits is likely the same person that you will hire for your wedding, so be sure to look at their wedding images as well. Many photographers include engagement portraits with their wedding collections.

Picking a Location

The location is perhaps the most important part of the engagement session. There are so many location options out there, it often gets overwhelming to come up with one on your own. Talk with your photographer. Many times, they can help guide you to the perfection location.

But what makes a perfect location? Is it a beach? A city? Forests? Fields?.. Start with things you and your fiance like to do. Are you beach people? If not, then doing an engagement session on the beach makes little sense. Do you enjoy the outdoors? If so, then maybe a state park would be the ideal location. Do you like the water? Maybe a location with a lake or on a boat would be perfect. Do you like to travel? Think about going to another city/state/country for your portraits. Choose a location that helps tell your story of who you are as a couple.

One suggestion!! Avoid the wedding location. Why? Because you will have plenty of portraits from there on your wedding day. Try to find a location that is different than the wedding venue as it will give you images that are diverse to display throughout your home.

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Choosing Outfits

This is where its important to talk with your photographer. Tell them the vision you have in and they can offer outfit suggestions. Are you doing a single outfit or multiple outfits? Multiple outfits will provide you with different looks throughout the session and is a great idea if you are using the images in something like a guest book. Also, be mindful of the location. Choose outfits that make sense for the location(s) you choose.

Think About What You Want to Order

Most couples have no clue what they want from their engagement session, but think about it before you determine your location and outfit. This will help give the photographer and idea on your thoughts. If you want save the date cards/magnets/etc, then there are certain images that are photographed for that… If you are wanting a guest book, there would be at least 10-20 portraits that the photographer would put in there. Those are 10-20 different poses.. in different locations.. with different lighting.. that will need to be photographed. This helps the photographer plan the session. If you want a large portrait for the wall, the photographer needs to shoot for that. Generally speaking, a close up portrait doesnt look good as a 30x40 on a wall, whereas, they look great as an 8x10. So the photographer would need to photograph for that 30x40. Thats not to say they wont do that anyway, but giving the photographer an idea on what you are wanting to get out of the session, will help them plan your session accordingly.

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In closing, the engagement session should be a priority and not something left on the back burner while you plan your wedding. Enjoy that time that you have together before your wedding because it will fly by. And who doesnt love to dress up a bit? Take advantage of that and go out to dinner afterwards :D

April and Matt - Innisbrook Resort - Tampa Wedding Photographer

April and Matt got married in an outdoor ceremony at Innisbrook resort in Palm Harbor, Florida. This is the second wedding we had the opportunity to photograph at Innisbrook. It did not disappoint. There are tons of locations in the Tampa area that are great for wedding photographers, but Innisbrook provides a mix that isnt available at many locations. The golf course is beautiful and the banquet hall is huge.

April did an amazing job planning the decor. Her dress was stunning.. Matt cleaned up pretty nicely as well :) It was a pleasure and an honor to join them on their wedding day and photograph their wedding. Here are some of the images. Enjoy!

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Senior Portrait Destination Session - Costa Rica

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A few weeks ago, we headed to the jungles of Costa Rica for a week long adventure with some of our seniors to create some amazing senior portraits for them. If you have seen our work, you know that we love to offer these destination sessions for our high school senior clients. Its a great way to create an amazing experience for the seniors as well as create some amazing images for them. These trips are an experience of a lifetime. 

We landed in San Jose and drove to the west coast of Costa Rica and stayed around Playa Ocotal. We stayed there a few nights and photographed on the beach in the area. We then headed back towards San Jose and stayed at the base of the Arenal volcano for the remaining nights. Overall, it was an amazing trip and we created some great memories for our clients. 

This trip also gave us an opportunity to show how we use the Spider Holster when we travel. This belt is simply amazing. It allows us to carry our camera without a strap getting in the way. It also allows to free up our hands to move lights, fluff dresses and just interact with our clients, without a camera being in the way. We use the Spider Holster on every shoot and it makes our jobs 100x easier. Thank you Spider Holster for creating an amazing product for us to use.  You can check them out here! :)

https://spiderholster.com/

You can check out some of our images from the trip and some of the behind the scenes images below. Enjoy!! 

To Sony or Not to Sony...

Over the past year or so, I have heard of several of my photographer friends talk about the Sony mirrorless camera offerings and how they were so much better than the major brands... Canon and Nikon. If you want my answer without reading further.. Yes, they are right. Sony knocked it out of the park and their offerings are phenomenal. If thats all you wanted to hear, no need to read further.. If you want the background, take a few moments to read below :)

For the majority of my career as a photographer, I have always gone by the saying that its not the gear that makes you a better photographer, its the person operating the camera. I have always strived to get better with each and every session. I still have a long way to go to get to where I want to be, but its always good to want to be better. And that saying has been true for the most part.

About 2 years ago, Nikon came out with the d750. I was shooting Canon at the time and had been happy with the products they produced... until I started seeing real world examples of what the d750 could do. The struggle with the type of photography that I do is the capabilities of the camera. Without getting too technical, I need to get as much information from a sensor as possible to create the images I want to create. This information is  in the highlights and shadows.. called dynamic range. The greater the dynamic range, the more detail you can get from the highlights AND shadows. 

At the time, Canon cameras didnt have as much dynamic range as the d750. I rented one to test it out and was amazed at what I was able to do with the images in post processing. It was mind boggling. I could bring up the shadows 3 stops or so before I started to see noise in them.. Canon files struggled with this and resulted in banding under the same conditions. It was eye opening how much more detail I could get out of the Nikon camera... so I decided to make a switch and sold all my Canon gear and bought all Nikon gear and never looked back. 

Now here we are with the Sony cameras.. It seems like Deja vu. Am I really going to make another switch? I needed to test out to see what all the talk was about. 

Rather than rent a body, I decided to buy one. I decided on Sony's newest.. the a7iii.  I figured if I didnt like it, I could resell it for close to what I paid for it since they were hard to find. Renting would set me back a couple of hundred dollars which I thought was pointless to waste on a test. I found a deal on Samyang lenses and bought those for the same reason as I bought the camera. 

So armed with the Sony a7iii and 3 Samyang prime lenses (14, 35 and 50). I set out to give it a test. I shot a few frames of a senior session with the Sony and was impressed with what I saw.. It was a bit clunky at first but I expected that as it was a new system. When I got the files into the computer, I was amazed at what I saw.. Every single image was in focus. I used the Eye Autofocus mode that Sony has and its freaking amazing. I have never had every image in focus with any camera body I have shot with until now.. Every single image.. Crazy. 

Impressed with the results, I did something that I wouldnt suggest most people do while testing.. I shot paying clients. I took a quick trip to the Atlanta area for a few senior sessions and a family session.. I shot only with the Sony. I did bring the Nikon gear in case I needed it, but it stayed in the bag the whole weekend. On the way up, I swung into a Best Buy to get a Sony 85 1.8 lens because I typically shoot seniors with a longer lens than a 50.

So here I was.. shooting a few senior sessions with the a7iii and the Sony 85 along with the Samyang prime lenses. I shot about 1000 frames that weekend and the Sony had zero issues. Focus was accurate and fast.. Dynamic range is slightly better than what I had with the Nikon cameras.. Lenses were sharp.. I was impressed. 

So impressed in fact that I took only sony gear with me to the ultimate test... a week in Costa Rica!! I picked up a 70-200 f4 to take with me (again from Best Buy) because I wasnt sure if I needed something longer than 85. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it, right? I shot in Costa Rica for a week.. In high humidity.. in rain.. by waterfalls.. all over and the Sony hung in there and did what I expected it to do... and on a single battery charge. Impressive to say the least.

Since most of these reviews have some sort of Pro/Con list, here you go if you want to see what I think. 

PROS
1) Autofocus.. This thing is amazing. I have never used a camera that got as many images in focus than the Sonys. Their AF simply works.. every single time... and Eye AF is amazing. I never knew what I was missing. Now the camera will find the subjects eye in the frame and lock focus on it.. automatically.. no more moving focus points around the screen.. FREAKING AWESOME.. best of all, I notice I shoot less because I dont need "backup" images to ensure critical focus like I did with other systems.

2) What you see if what you get.. Its simple.. what you see on the screen or in the view finder is what the image will look like. Its nice to have a system that allows me to see what I am getting. It doesnt work as well with flash since the flash illuminates the subject, but its super helpful when setting ambient light settings when using flash. Now I can expose my skies how I want them and then add flash to light the subject.. Sony makes it super easy to see exactly what I will get

3) Size.. This thing is small.. Lenses are about the same size but the body is significantly smaller. I travel a lot so less weight and size is always welcomed. 

4) Custom button programming.. Other cameras had this to an extent, but Sony blows them away. Almost every button can be programmed for something you want it programmed for. If you have favorite settings, you can program a button to bring them up. Things like Autofocus modes, Eye AF, color styles, etc can be programmed. Pretty cool to be able to customize it how you want to work with how you shoot. 

5) Video.. Sony simply blows the other cameras away with their video shooting. Nikon did ok.. Canon was pretty good and the leader... but with Sony its a different beast. AF works flawlessly and tracks the subjects.. TONS of settings and shooting modes. I shoot wedding videos and can definitely see Sony making it easier for me. 

6) Electronic view finder - In bright light it makes reviewing images and previewing your shot A LOT easier.. The viewfinder shows the same thing that is on the LCD and makes it easy to see when in bright light. 

CONS

1) Menu System.. What the heck was Sony thinking? Everything is buried in menus.. It makes ZERO sense.. The menu system sucks.. Maybe its just me, but CAnon and Nikon had a pretty good menu system.. Sony's is like 80 pages long.. crazy. 

2) Size.. There is a saying that size matters... well that is true for photography as well. People respond to larger gear differently than they do to smaller gear. If I pull out a huge lens and camera.. I look like a photographer.. If I hold up a Sony camera and use the back LCD, I look like a noob and just another person with a camera. 

3) Weather sealing.. While in Costa Rica I was a bit concerned when it was raining. I took extra precautions to ensure that the camera was kept out of the rain because it isnt as weather sealed as other cameras I have used. 

4) No mirror.. This may seem odd to see this here because the mirror adds size and I mentioned size as a PRO above... but without the mirror, the sensor is the only thing you see when you change lenses. This means that dust can fall onto the senor much easier than traditional DSLRs where you see the mirror when you change lenses and the sensor is protected. I have to remind myself to be mindful of that when changing lenses. 

5) Price.. Holy Hell.. this stuff is crazy expensive. I typically buy my gear used to avoid the initial depreciation.. but its almost impossible to find a good deal on Sony gear.. Its all so expensive and 3rd party options aside from Sigma are not really available. Some lenses can utilize the adapter but may lose some functionality. 

Neither Pro nor Con

1) Shooting with the LCD.. Its weird.. I will admit that. Holding the camera in front of you and looking at the LCD while shooting takes getting use to. There is a viewfinder if you want to use that.  but its certainly different when you have shot with a traditional camera for 13 years. 

2) Image quality... I didnt really notice too much difference in the Sony files over the Nikon files, aside from focus and sharpness.. My images will still look similar in terms of color and all of that.. but man that autofocus. :)

So thats it.. I think its safe to say that I will be switching over to Sony in the near future.. The camera system simply works. Its easy to travel with and produces images that are on par or slightly better than what I was getting before. But that autofocus is what stands out to me. Its amazing and will make my workflow so much easier to manage. 

And since no post is complete without images.. Here are some I have recently shot with the Sony.. Enjoy!!