Hey Shakers,

We seem to be doing quite a lot of model portfolios lately, in fairness I have to admit, I love doing them. A client who wants to be photographed, time to set up & create the shots, its so much nicer to shoot at a more sedate pace. The results are always stunning. Here Shake Portraits spent a couple of hours with Zack, a young model & professional skater who needed a complete update of his current portfolio.

For this shoot we charge $499, this breaks down to, $99 up front then $35 per month for 12 months interest free. You will receive all of the Images we take, fully edited & cosmetically retouched on a disc. This allows young models to to start their career with an awesome portfolio without breaking the bank. The reason we can shoot these so reasonably is that we may shoot two a day in the same location which keeps the costs way down. For any agency’s who may want Zack’s details, please contact the studio on 813 651 9300

Check out his shoot below & let us know what you think…..

Thank you loyal Shakers,
Simon Shakespeare
Shake Portraits

Good Morning My Shakers,

This weekend we finally got around to tidying up our social media channels and
we wanted to invite you to also connect with us there, so that in this world of all
things connected, we at Shake Portraits will be a part of your circle, as much as
you have become a part of ours!  Our social media pages follow:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• YouTube

And remember to vote for us in the Best of Brandon 2011!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Please vote for Shake Portraits in the Best of Brandon 2011.

To vote, simply follow this link.

You have to register which is a bit of a pain, however, it only takes two minutes and we really really appreciate it.

Thank you loyal Shakers

What a great night, fire eaters, 12ft men on stilts and a room full of the bravest children in the world. 1Voice pulled it off again. Follow this link to see all of the pics taken at the event. If you wish to buy a print please do so from the web site however If you just want the picture, send me an email & I will email it back free of charge, prezzie from Shake Portraits!

Just a reminder to any parents of children suffering from Cancer, please call us & book your family in for a shoot. Check out the 1Voice page on this site to see little Leo & the kind of fun shoots we do. No cheese I promise!! You will love the experience, the shoot is completely free & I will GIVE you all of the Images we take. No charge, no sales session just good old fashioned people helping people.

All I ask, is that you are referred by the charity you have an involvement with. I just want to thank everybody for taking part & making a difference.

God Bless

Simon Shakespeare

I am often questioned by parents at the end of a viewing about how I managed to get such great pictures of their kids when the Mom had been trying for years & never achieved anything like the results we get. When I ask about their cameras it becomes obvious that they do not know how to get the best results. After about 15 minutes of candid advice, the Moms have a much better understanding of how to get the pictures they have always dreamed of. This is normally followed by numerous emails containing the most amazing Images of their children.

A creative spark is ignited & a new photographer is born. On the strength of my experience I have been feverishly working for the last six months on my first book, ‘How to Shoot your Kids, Shake Style’.  We should be at the proofing stage by the end of June & finally published by July 30th 2011.

It is aimed at parents with nothing more than a small point & shoot pocket camera. It gives all of the tips & tricks to create beautiful photography both in your own home & outdoors. There are chapters covering posing kids to using ordinary household items to create stunning effects.

The price point will be around $15, however each book will contain a $50 voucher towards a series of Shake online training videos aimed to coincide with the launch. Added to this ‘Shake Club’ will donate 10% of the profits towards the very worthwhile fight against Pediatric Cancer. We are in the process of building a website to showcase the new book and the Pediatric Cancer Charities & foundations we will be working with. keep checking the blog for updates.

We did the Math & in total we have donated 1460 $35 vouchers to local charities & worthwhile causes in Tampa in 2010. The only stipulation was that they could not be given away, they either had to be sold for $35 or given as part of a package. The whole $35 was then donated to the charity that sold them. We have also given away 13 free shoots including 16×20 framed wall prints with a value of  $8125. Total $59,225 AWESOME!!!!

Our target for 2011 is $100,000. If you are a registered charity or worthwhile cause & wish to use our photographic vouchers give us a call at the Studio & we will be happy to support you.

We must look like we are wasting away, just about every vendor in the business expo at the Florida State Fairground brought us food, from Hotels to Bistro’s to some amazing restaurants. We are soooo full. The atmosphere was fun & everybody was in a good mood.

We have some exciting pics, as soon as I get time I will get them online & share……

Hey guy’s, we had an awesome time at the Fish Hawk Crawfish festival. We met lots of old & new clients, thank you for all of your comments. In truth, I missed most of the fun as we had another event in Tampa to get to. We just managed to get packed away as the heavens opened & those crazy Florida storms started to wreak havoc with the display tents the other vendors had erected.

What an amazing night, I drank Champagne with two beautiful Russian showgirls, lost thousands of dollars (funny money!!!) at roulette, & finally feasted on amazing food supplied by the staff at Isla, all in the company of the Girlfriends of Isla Del Sol.

James Bond eat your heart out!!!

Here are the pics to prove it,  Just follow this link.

You will need to sign in & create a password.

Wow, what an awesome surprise we had this morning, an email from Wedding wire informing us that we had been voted the ‘Brides Choice’ Wedding Photographer for 2011. This is a National award putting us within the top 5% of the Nations Wedding professionals. I just wanted to give a big shout out to all of our amazing Brides who voted for us, as well as all of the venues, planners, florists, caterers etc who we have the pleasure to work with every day. Feel free to check out our Wedding Website Here.

I spent a fantastic evening with the Brothers of Brandon Lodge photographing the installation of officers. Please follow this link to see all of the Images. I would personally like to offer my congratulations to all of the appointed officers, especially Brother Justin Aldrich as the Worshipful Master for 2011, Brother Aldrich brought more excitement to the proceedings by proposing to his partner Jessica, this brought every Mason to his feet in applause & a few tears were shed amongst the guests. You will need to sign in & create a password once you follow the link. Please do not purchase any pictures, just pop me an email through letting me know which numbers you want & I will email them straight to you.

All I ask is that you make a donation to the lodge via the secretary Herb Whisenaut.

Amy & Adam brought their two amazing children in to the studio for some cool natural shots, I am sure Julia will be Disney’s next new rock star, check out her cool moves, I can personally vouch for her awesome voice.

Untitled from Simon Shakespeare on Vimeo.

This is Ellen’s second shoot in just a few months. Little Koah is growing so fast & she does not want to miss one moment. There was also a tricky looking reindeer helping us out…

Seema came to the Studio along with her Mom & two beautiful daughters, I have to say, they were two of the cutest little chickens you have ever seen. ( I am sure they will not mind me calling them Chickens) The pics at the end of the shoot in their pj’s were awesome. Check it out….

Andy & Annie were wonderful, one of the happiest families we have had in the Studio, a pleasure to shoot, edit & share with all of you Shakers out there.