Denise and Keith

The Palms in South Beach was the venue for Denise and Keith's wedding. This couple was a pleasure to photograph. They had a fantastic time and so did I.

Albert Family

Dave and Nancy wanted some family portraits. We met at Gables Entrance and got some great family images. These boys are amazing kids! Nothing short of what you would expect from their awesome parents!

BIltmore in the Summer

It was a bright and sunny day when this lovely couple said their vows. 

Nicole and Jorge

St. Peter and Paul church was the site of this wonderful wedding. This fabulous couple threw quite a bash after the ceremony! With party hats, Mardi Gras masks and a killer DJ to mix it up, good times were had by all. 

Kelsy and Jeff

The beautiful Mondiran hotel overlooking the intercostal waterway in Miami Beach was the setting for this beautiful wedding. It was warm and bright last year in early October.

Biltmore

This was a blog I had meant to pots for some time. Looking back through memory lane. It was from one of my first weddings back in 2009. At the time it was very challenging. The images were not what I had envisioned.  I would shoot so differently now.

Haley likes the 30's

It's no secret that I am fascinated by the period in time between the 1920's and 1940's. Perhaps I experienced another life in that period. I am not really sure what the reason is. I just relate to that time! When asked to photograph Haley in a vintage 30's outfit I jumped at the chance. She has a great look and it complimented the theme. 

The images were shot on location with natural light only at Academy of Glam in Plantation. They have a beautiful make up and hair school there. They are very genuine and a pleasure to know. Their philosophy is not just skills and knowledge. They foster a good attitude and work ethic in their students. 

Although most photographs in the the 30's and 40's were done in Black and White, the technology existed for color. There were many images captured in color. Even the iconic Ansel Adams, best know for his B&W images of Yosemite experimented with color film and exposure methods.

Ballerina

I have always been fascinated by the elegant power of a ballerina. Weather it's the cute little girls in their tutu's or the lead in Black Swan, there is poise and elegance at all levels. One day I felt compelled to make an attempt to capture the essence that makes a dancer. 

I approached several well known schools without much luck. Eventually I decided to put out a casting call for a model that knew ballet well. Alexandra responded and we set had several conversations about how the shoot should be. Originally I wanted to create both fine art and athletic images. I realized that this varied approach would require two distinct lighting set ups as well as different locations. We agreed on doing a test shoot leaning more towards fine art. Something that a ballet school would want to hang on their wall.  


 I strongly believe that an image needs to have substance beyond the subject. To that end, I felt we should shoot in a working studio. They were very gracious and without their help I would have had to scramble for a location.Once that was settled I contacted  Creative, a local ballet school who generously agreed to let us use their studio to shoot the images. 


The images that follow are my first in a series that I plan to pursue to fruition. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed working with Alexandra. 

I look forward to creating more images that capture the essence of the dancer. If  you are a dancer or if you know a wonderful ballerina and would like to contribute to this project please contact Juan Prieto Photography.

Vintage Hollywood Portraits

Set Design for Images

After over 70 years those iconic images shot in 1940's Hollywood still fascinate us. Personally, I have always been drawn to this period in history. Women dressed like ladies, men dressed like men and a handshake was a contract. There was no ambiguity in that period. New and emerging technologies were a designer's paradise as slick buildings, cars, and wardrobe was introduced. It was a period of expressive opulence. The war brought everyone together into a cooperative spirt not seen since. 
I often shoot vintage images as a tribute to a time when life was more simple. It is of course next to impossible to reconstruct exactly how an image was shot back then. The technology has not survived the years. Spherical abarencies in the lens created that surrounding soft halo of light prevalent in those images. Many portraits were shot with 8 x10 cameras. Negatives were retouched with a soft pencil. A long way from today's digital media, Photoshop and post shoot workflow. 
Props were commonly used to create the illusion of depth on a flat photographic print sheet. Cut outs with interesting pattern variations were used with a light shining through to produce shadow and highlight patterns on the background. Since images were shot in black and white film, contrast was more important then color range. The image at the top of this blog is the exact layout of the set used for the series of photographs that follow.

I look forward to producing more vintage images. For a session or if you would like to know more contact Juan Prieto Photography.