Brilliant by Tropical Imaging

Michelle and Michael’s Island Escape

Chris Mann — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:29:43 +0000

As regular readers of our blog will know, the weather is something we’re always interested in, since we are so often out shooting on the beach! Last weekend I was due to shoot an “Island Escape” session with Michelle and Michael, and as luck would have it on Saturday and Sunday we had some rain and wind – but fortunately Monday was better so we were able to jump in the van and spend a couple of hours shooting at several different locations around the island.

We had some sunshine at Blue Hills, but by the time we got to Leeward it had clouded over. But hey, no worries – with a cloudy sky we have soft, flattering light, no squinting, and some dramatic clouds to have in the background! So I personally am not too bothered whether it’s cloudy or sunny (must be because I’m English! )

Michael and Michelle were great fun to work with – and as you can probably tell from their body language, they are getting married back home in California this summer! So our session was a kind of unofficial engagement shoot for them…

Anyway that’s enough chat from me – here is a slideshow and some of my favourite images:

Click to view in HD on Vimeo

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The Wedding of BJ & Brian on St Valentine’s Day

Ileana Ravasio — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:09:52 +0000

I’m not sure how the question came up, but it may have sounded more or less like this: “What do you think about sailing around the Caribbean for 3 months and stop in the Turks and Caicos to get married on St Valentine’s Day?”.

WOW! That’s sound like a daydream but it’s all real. BJ and Brian left South Carolina on their beautiful boat, the “Executive Sweet”, and started an amazing lifetime adventure.

The sun blessed Providenciales more or less on a daily basis but, unfortunately, this February it took some more days off then expected. A few drops of rain may make a wedding lucky but it’s hard to believe it when you are just about to walk down the aisle…

We met Brian and his best man Dave on the boat at Turtle Cove Marina – I chose to add a texture and an old look to this image to make it more dramatic and accentuate the contrast between the gorgeous man in the tuxedo and the sea wolf that Brian represents

The couple booked a suite at Grace Bay Club and chose to celebrate their wedding on the resort beach.

While BJ was getting ready I noticed the little make-up mirror on the side and froze the moment…

If it rains outside… we simply take pictures inside until it stops…

… and sooner or later it will

Who cares if the sky is gray when you are having so much fun?!?

I loved BJ’s dress – she wanted to show her tattoo and the design was perfect

Not your usual wedding picture, definitely… but with such an original and great couple I HAD to think outside the box

So we didn’t have a sunset… BJ’s wish wasn’t completely satisfied therefore we planned to get together one more time a few days later to make up for it. The morning was nice but around noon a horrible storm hit the island. Preston and I went to the boat with bad news… how could we get some great shots with a 30 knots wind and a thick layer of clouds?!? BJ’s optimism “forced” us to give it a try and we headed to Sapodilla Bay hoping for the best. Miracles happen every day and those images are the proof:

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Jacqueline & Chris

David Gallardo — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:45:12 +0000

Looking for a perfect location for your destination wedding sometimes can be difficult, specially with some many places to choose from. The good thing about the Turks & Caicos Islands is its proximity to the United States and the big variety of big and small hotels with great amenities for a perfect destination wedding.

We first met with Jacqueline and Chris about a week ago and I was quite happy to hear that one of the most important things about the future wedding will be their photography. They haven’t decided yet if they will be getting married in the Turks & Caicos Islands but they came to check out some of the hotels and as part of their up-coming wedding we did an engagement session with them at The Somerset Resort.

We love to do engagement sessions with couples before their wedding, this helps us a lot to show them our photography style and to show them as well how much fun they can have while taking photos with us

Somerset has some cool architecture for photography.

Jacqueline and Chris were a great couple to photograph, they were smiling during the whole engagement photo shoot.

We even had time for some fun….

We don’t get rainbows everyday at Grace Bay beach but we were lucky that afternoon and I promise I didn’t photoshop it

I really like the colors of the sky and the ocean in this image.

A HUGE thanks to Jacqueline and Chris for taking the time to do the photo shoot with us and I hope they will choose the Turks & Caicos for their destination wedding.

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Jenea & Scott

David Gallardo — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:58:52 +0000

Scott came to our office a couple of weeks ago to book a portrait as he was looking for a very relaxed beach photo shoot to surprise his fiancée.

On the day of the shoot I met with Scott and Jenea at the Turks & Caicos Club hotel. The idea was to take the couple’s photos at the end of Grace Bay beach because it is normally a bit quieter and with fewer people walking around.

We had an overcast afternoon but perfect for beach photos because it wasn’t too hot and Jenea and Scott were such a fun couple to work that they made me laugh during the entire photo session!

Here are some of my favorite images….

Thanks again to Jenea and Scott for the great time I had with both of them while taking their photos.

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Trash The Dress with Meagan & Dallas

Preston Dickenson — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:39:41 +0000

Meagan is one of our “superstar” brides – she has been AMAZING at posting on blogs and forums . We are SO lucky to have been able to help her and Dallas with their wedding. We wanted to give them a gift – so we made a short movie of their “trash the dress” shoot. It was shot a day after their wedding here in the Turks & Caicos Islands, at three different locations. We really enjoying shooting this couple and they loved being filmed & photographed as you can tell !!!

Trash the Dress Meagan & Dallas from Brilliant by Tropical Imaging on Vimeo.Similar Posts:

Our website was down…

Chris Mann — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:46:19 +0000

Apologies to anyone who was trying to access our website from about 4.30pm EST on Saturday to 7.30AM EST on Sunday – our web hosting company suffered some major problems when their fire protection system went off accidentally during an inspection test, and damaged a lot of their equipment.

As you can see, everything is back online again now!Similar Posts:

Brianna and Carmine – soon to be married…

Ileana Ravasio — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:36:15 +0000

Decisions, decisions… planning a destination wedding is not always easy. To find the perfect answer to where, when, how and who a trip to the Turks and Caicos becomes mandatory. Brianna and Carmine left the freezing temperatures that hit the States this winter and jumped on a plane direct to the island to finalize their wedding details and enjoy a little sunshine.

We love to meet our future couples and share our “Provo’s secrets”, as well as offer them a free engagement session to get the feel of being in front of the camera and be the star of the day.

After an interesting chat at our new studio, Brianna, Carmine and I headed to Leeward Beach… the wind was blowing and the sea was rough but their connection and love was so pure that it seemed like the perfect day in paradise. Look at her smile: doesn’t it make you want to be in her place?!?

How can you choose to go on vacation to a beach crowded with thousands of people when you know a spot like this?!? Not a single person passed by…

Our future bride-to-be didn’t expect to be such a good model… well, I LOVED to photograph her and Carmine – they are great, natural, wonderful subjects (Brianna, trust me!).

It’s an engagement session – let’s get sexy!

Or romantic

Lately I enjoy creating some “moody” images by adding a dirty texture and a old look to the original shot. I think it works really well for this sensual dip… if you don’t like it well, it’s ART, therefore subjective

Congratulations to Brianna and Carmine! We are looking forward to your gorgeous wedding.

One last note… for everybody that reads the blog, we LOVE to hear from you. Please take a couple of minutes to share your opinions, ideas, tips – there is a comment box

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Baby, Baby, oh baby!!

Andy Mann — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:52:20 +0000

Our new fab, “eco friendly” photo studio allows us to do indoor studio work for the first time. With big north facing windows, air conditioning and plenty of space, we can now offer photography services that are not best suited to the outdoors or on the beach. A quick executive portrait, a video interview, boudoir session and especially infant and baby photos. Such fun!

It takes understanding and patience to do baby photography. You have to go with the flow, the ups and downs and realize who is in charge – any parent will know that you cannot force anything – trying to “make it” happen is not the way this works. So with a couple of baby wranglers, some props and plenty of time for changes, naps, feeding and burping it was wonderful to welcome Erica and baby Sylvie into the studio yesterday.

Whilst we were getting a few things ready Erica put Sylvie down on our red couch – with the strawberry outfit – it was perfect – smiles too !

We then played around with some different spots and materials.

It’s important to include things of sentimental value and significant – Great grandma made this blanket…wow

During a “snack break” – Anita caught this great moment.

Despite trying her best to stay awake (she loved the sound of the camera!!) Sylvie finally succumbed and we were able to use some different colors and materials for a few final shots.

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The Sottak Family

Kellie Hayes — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:56:29 +0000

Last week I met with up The Sottak family at the Royal West Indies resort. Quite a few of our local portrait sessions are done here because it has awesome gardens, a great little rock wall and the right amount of shaded coverage.

With the bright white buildings reflecting the light towards our shaded areas we are not stuck with dull, flat light but more like I have an assistant holding one of our reflectors.

Below is a slide show and a few favourite images, enjoy!

View in HD on Vimeo

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Meagan – Boudoir shoot

Ileana Ravasio — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:35:52 +0000

Today’s guest blogger is Meagan – I previously posted her wedding and trash the dress pictures, but it’s now time to see her sexy side…

“It was back in 2008 that my friend had mentioned she had gotten boudoir pictures done on her honeymoon, after Googling the trend, I fell in love and knew I would have to do this one day for my future husband.

My now husband is a little suspicious and maybe has a slight knowledge of me taking some sexy pictures but he will be very surprised once he receives his special boudoir book. Not only did I feel really beautiful taking these photos but I feel really special to share something with him and only him”.

Thank you Shenique, from Sheque Perfection, for the glamorous make-up

A little naughty, a little innocent… definitely stunning and intriguing

Wearing his shirt and nothing else… oh yes, his head is going to spin!!!

The look she gave to the camera is so intense than you hardly notice her only cover is a set of pearls

From the Victoria’s Secret collection to the “Sports Illustrated” model… always elegant and sophisticated

The Turks and Caicos’ colors are always the best

Let’s get technical: for this image I used a very shallow depth of field to draw the attention to the lips – the necklace is beautiful but it doesn’t interfere with my focus point. I added a vintage tone in Photoshop to make the image unique.

Ok ladies, are you still thinking about a very special present for your loved ones?!? You don’t need perfect shapes and curves, just a great attitude, a little bit of time, your Brilliant photographer and the wonderful feeling to be a woman.

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