Beach portrait sessions are intended for portraits of you, your family, your children, engagements, and high school senior beach portraits. It is very common for one family tree (grandparent, parents, children, grandchildren, etc.) to share a beach portrait session. However, to allow sufficient time, senior portraits, and engagement portrait sessions are offered only as a complete session, and may not be incorporated into a family portrait session. In addition, family beach portrait sessions may not be shared outside a family tree, e.g. several families that are friends, but not related, bringing numerous children to be photographed in one session. Please call me to discuss any questions related to this.
If you would like to inquire about my availability, or to request complete beach portrait photography information, please do so from my contact page, or call me at 239-777-3820 when convenient for you, including evenings.
For beach portrait sessions a deposit is not required, however the fee is due in full when we meet for your portrait session.
As good as the images are that come out of my camera, they still need some adjusting for exposure, white balance, and a few other settings. I PERSONALLY examine and adjust EVERY single image before I deliver them to you. I don’t rush that process, as it is important to the final product I deliver to you. Typically, your images will be processed and delivered to you in approximately 4 weeks, but during peak periods (All Holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break, Summer) when I am out shooting multiple times a day it may take an extra week or so. I do process sessions in batch, so I am unable to send preview images, or any individual images prior to their scheduled completion.
NOTE: If you are going to need your images quickly, perhaps for holiday cards, etc., expedited processing (5 business day delivery of images) is available for $95.
I do not sell my photography by the number of images – there is no limit, fixed number, or guaranteed number of images that you will receive. I do not just click away just so you have more photos, that’s not what I offer. What I’m trying to achieve are images that capture a moment, that you’d perhaps like to have framed, and displayed in your home. Generally, you’ll receive approximately 25 edited images from a one hour beach portrait session, but it mostly depends on the size and demeanor of the group.
When completed, your images will be placed in an online gallery to make it easy for you to proof, or share them with family and friends. You’ll receive your high resolution images as a zip download directly from your gallery. You’ll have full rights to print the images for personal use at your favorite photo lab. For your convenience, you are also able to order prints and canvas wraps from a professional lab directly through the online gallery.
Yes, images with my copyright may be printed, reproduced, or displayed for personal use by my customers. Images may not be sold, or otherwise distributed for advertising and/or commercial use. In addition, images may not be edited, modified, or used to create composite works. Copyright ownership of the images remains with the photographer, Mark Block. Mark Block Photography reserves the right to use the images for self-promotion.
Please feel free to wear whatever meets your vision. One of my favorites is just simple white dress shirts and jeans. Hey, go barefoot too ! On the beach when you’re comfortable and relaxed it shows in your portraits. In addition, the white shirts don’t compete with the colors of the water and sun. I do suggest that you consider not wearing vibrant printed clothing, black, or navy blue. You most likely will be sitting in some images, so excessively short skirts, rompers, and shorts may not be flattering. At minimum you want to avoid any clothing that clashes, i.e., everyone in white with one person in orange (actually happened). As of late, some clients are using a watercolor pallet which is really nice and can be mix-matched. Mostly think light colored or white, not necessarily matching. Again, avoid dark colors like navy or black, except for pants/shorts/jeans. NOTE: If you wear eyeglasses with photochromic (Transition) lenses, you may want to consider not wearing them, but it’s up to you. In addition, a select few clear lenses are highly reflective and will refract/reflect incoming sunlight and hide your eyes. This is your responsibility to make a determination prior to your session, and is not correctable in post production.
Generally, evenings work best, especially during the summer months, mostly because it’s cooler, plus that is when the light becomes less harsh and a little more soft and golden. For evening portraits plan on being at the beach about an hour before sunset. Alternatively, mornings may be better time to photograph toddlers. Here are a couple of factors that I consider that really make a morning beach portrait sessions a better choice. Age of the subjects – For younger children, say 3 to 8 years old, a morning session may work a little better than evening. Typically, they are in good spirits, and happy to be at the beach in the morning, plus they look great in the crisp morning light. It also allows me to use some compositional settings that work well for small children, like sea oats. In addition, in the morning, with the sun lighting The Gulf of Mexico from the east, the water has a tendency to take on a beautiful shade of emerald green.
If you are interested in a morning session, please call me to discuss the possibility.
IMPORTANT: If anyone in your group has eyes that are sensitive to light, evening may be a better choice, when the light is soft.
Producing professional quality images for my clients, is paramount. Accordingly, the portraiture location I will use for your session depends on the size of your group, ages of the subjects, time of year, and the time of day we’re scheduled for. I really like having compositional items in my images (rock jetty, pilings, pier), but choose session locations where I am able to control the light, and with minimal background distractions. I have locations in Naples and Marco Island that work really well, and I’ll direct you to the most appropriate one when we speak on the phone the day before your session. Please DO NOT pre-select a location of your choosing – I will not use it under any circumstances. NOTE: Because of privacy concerns, and insurance issues, I only do sessions at public beaches and parks that I select. I DO NOT conduct sessions at private residences, on private property, or locations that you specify.
The weather is is generally very accommodating, and it is quite rare that it interferes with our outdoor photo sessions here in Naples and Marco Island. However, in the case of weather that prohibits making good images I will attempt to find a time that we are able to reschedule. I often have clients that look at the weather report a day or two in advance, see an adverse forecast, and then initiate a conversation with me requesting a reschedule. I have learned that it is best not to reschedule a session until the actual date/time of our scheduled photo session. If 3 hours before our scheduled session time rain is forecast for the time of our session, or cloud cover is forecast to be greater than 75%, your session will need to be rescheduled.
To achieve the highest quality images I shoot in a digital file format known as RAW. This type of digital file requires that the images be checked and adjusted for white balance, exposure, contrast, color tone, and sharpness in post production. Most people do not realize that I typically will spend three or more hours in post production for each hour I shoot. If you are going to get a special enlargement of one of your images, like a canvas for your wall, I’m happy to go over that image with a fine tooth comb to remove any background distractions, as a courtesy – This is limited to 90 days from the date you receive your images. Things that are not included are; fixing hair, eye and teeth whitening, fixing sunburn (that can’t be done), retouching of skin, removing people, changing clothing color, fixing incorrectly applied or smeared makeup, or Photoshop editing intended to alter the appearance of a person. Any additional editing you require will be sent to a professional retoucher at a cost of $35 per image. Note: Head swapping, or weight reduction is not done under any circumstance.
You do not… In the course of making images there are alway images that are not acceptable. It can be for a number of reasons; unflattering expression, subject moved too quickly and went out of position, or there just wasn’t any spark in the image. At times I shoot more than one image of a particular person(s) or scene. This is because I want to make sure I have one acceptable image with everyones eyes open, or just to match the vision of what I was trying to accomplish with the shot. Please do not ask for every single one of those images, or for every single image I made, or for my RAW files. These images are not part of the service I provide, or the final product that I deliver to you.
All sales are final, there are no refunds on photography services.