Town and Country / Ocean Reef Club Ad

Beautiful Ad  produced by Stuart Florida based Cotton and Company for Ocean Reef Club of Key Largo Florida.

This will hit the newsstands fall 2013. It's an honor and a privilege to have one of my images selected as the lead image for the campaign.

© Thomas Bollinger Events                                                          www.IslandandGrove.com          

Sunny Afternoon / Ocean Reef Campaign

A big thanks to the Ocean Reef Club for helping make this another successful shoot  As a well established  wedding photographer who only accepts a dozen or so weddings a year I like to think each wedding is special and great care and planning goes into creating fun images with a natural feel.

My specialty is warmly lit locations in beautiful settings.  There is nothing better than a sunny afternoon event that turns into an evening of photography. I have shot in 32 countries worldwide but prefer to stay in my own backyard which includes the Atlantic and Gulf sides of Florida as well as West Indies. I also love the Chesapeake Region and the Cape and Islands in the summer.

I usually shoot with a 2nd photographer ( all who fall into this category are well trained and extremely proficient ) and possibly an assistant to help as well.  Rates are dependent on a number of factors including size of party, amount of coverage and final usage . please give me a call to explore the possibilities.

A Toast on The Point ,  OceanReef Club   Key Largo, Florida                            © Tom Bollinger Photographer

Chelsea & Magnus

Ten Years Happily Married ! It's a funny story, a little over 10 years ago I met Chelsea and Magnus
They had just moved from London to Miami and they selected us to photograph their wedding.
It was an intimate affair with a rehearsal at the Miami Beach Rod and Reel Club, The Wedding was at Plymouth  Congregational Church in the Grove  and The Reception was at the Coconut Grove Yacht Club.

Back then we were still shooting film and I just happened to run across it in the edit suite the other day. It's amazing how much technology has advanced, but these images still have a timeless quality.

We have been fortunate to have Chelsea and Magnus as our good friends and neighbors for the last couple of years and since we recently moved and it was their 10th anniversary I  decided to put together this little compelation multimedia show for them.  Happy Anniversary and Many happy returns!

P.S .  It rained Cats and Dogs that  day in the typical tropical fashion, but it never stopped the festivities or the photography. The sun came out for Chelsea and Magnus and it's been shining ever since!

Elegant Black & White Portraits

The Power of Black and White Portraiture © Thomas Bollinger

There is something timeless and ethereal about a beautifully toned black and white print. I learned black and white printing from old men who got their starts during the Great Depression documenting the devastation of the dust bowl and double digit unemployment. The thirties as a time was a dark place with great storm clouds brewing and the black and white photographic image was one of the great tools of mass communication of the era.  Today your most likely to see a black and white print as a historical document or possibly an underwear ad at a museum retrospective. Whatever the photographic content when black and white is used properly the subject becomes iconic and permanent. Like a dear friend a beautiful black and white print never feels old or dated it just seems to become more familiar with age...

How to make a beautiful wedding portrait.. Alone Time...

credit: Tom Bollinger                                                                                   Great wedding day portrait...

ALONE TIME... Making time for great portraits on your wedding day...

Ideally, photographers will want to spend a relaxed period of time with the bride and groom during a portrait session. But with the demands of the wedding planner, caterers and others worked into the schedule, that luxury cannot always be realized. Sometimes a schedule may leave up to an hour for portraits. On other occasions, it may be only five minutes, or perhaps no time at all.

If it is something they choose to do, the couple of honor should make sure there is some window in which they can get away. It’ll pay off, as this quiet time will often produce some of the best portrait opportunities.

Sometimes a bride and groom will want to do the portrait session before the entire ceremony. In these cases, he likes to start photographing the bride getting ready, and then observes as she meets the groom for the first time on their day.

Others find that taking the bride and groom away between the ceremony and reception leads to a great photo session, since the couple has just exchanged their vows and is experiencing the emotions of being a newly married couple.

Briggs and Nick grace Quest cover

copyrights, Tom Bollinger  www.BollingerEvents.com

copyrights Tom Bollinger,  www.BollingerEvents.com

How Fun!

Briggs and Nick Coleman gracing the cover of New York's Quest Magazine.
Special thanks to the nice folks at Quest as well as the wonderfully cool bride and groom... It was a beautifully elegant wedding followed by a snappy casual beach party under the moonlight sky at the Palm Beach Bath and Tennis Club.

To see more of Quest's wedding issue and more wonderful weddings including upcoming and past royal weddings use the following hyperlink:  Quest Wedding Issue