Fabian Boente

Ivy's Bridal Session

2008-06-28T15:33:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I was contacted by Ivy, she came from Hong Kong for a few days and before the wedding she wanted to have the most amazing bridal session. We went to South Beach, Coconut Grove and Miami Beach. The pictures came out just spectacular.

Cynthia & Gervasio's Wedding

2008-06-24T20:16:00.000-07:00

I have been very busy but as promised these are some pictures of the beautiful weddings of Cynthia and Gervasio on the beach in Key Biscayne, Florida. I have been absolutely honored to shoot their great wedding and I enjoy every minute. Wedding photography is absolutely amazing when you have the luck to shot for such a nice couple family.

Cynthia & Gervasio's Wedding

2008-05-26T19:43:00.000-07:00

I have the pleasure to shoot Cynthia and Gervasio's Wedding on the beach of Key Biscayne, South Florida. Everything was perfect the weather, the beautiful couple and the really nice people made just an incredible day.
I would like to thank Ryan Cohen from Seequent Photography to tag along in this amazing wedding and specially to Cynthia, Gervasio and their parents and friends for their patient, their willingness to get "the shot" and their amazing hospitality, they really made us fell as friends.
This is the slideshow made with some pictures of this wonderful wedding day. I will be posting soon some more pictures. Enjoy it!!!

Matthew's First Communion

2008-05-09T16:46:00.000-07:00

I had the best time this Saturday joining the Cline family and photographing Matthew's first communion at Mary Help of Christian Church in Parkland.
What a beautiful family I have to thank them for his great patient and hospitality.
I have added a nice slideshow of the event and a few pictures:

My new website is LIVE!!!

2008-04-25T20:29:00.000-07:00

I am very happy to announce that my new website is finally live. As I mentioned in previous posts it was quite a journey to build it but I enjoyed every minute of it.
From my point of view a website is a place where you showcase your portfolio of wedding photography and as such is a constant work in progress. As the portfolio builds up and gets updated the website should also evolve and be updated with the last and best. So, basically what I am trying to say is the best is still coming...

Anecia & Krishna Engagement Session

2008-04-22T20:32:00.000-07:00

I was so extremely busy and focus on my website that I didn't post about a great Sunday afternoon that I spent shooting a great Engagement Photography Session at a wonderful place called Morikami Museum and Japanese Garden in Delray Beach, Broward County, South Florida.
I was generously invited by the coolest Ryan Cohen from Seequent Photography to tag along and joined him to shoot Anecia & Krishna engagement session.
It was just one perfect afternoon, perfect weather, coolest place, amazing couple with a lot of love in the air and a camera. Is there anything else that a photographer could wish?
I really thank Ryan for giving me this opportunity and Anecia & Krishna for being so patience. They are a wonderful couple and I think they really enjoyed the session as much as we did. So, goal accomplished.
Here are some of the pictures:

Congratulations Anecia & Krishna for the big day this coming August!!!

My new website is coming soon!!!

2008-04-10T22:50:00.000-07:00

I have been working like crazy to finally have my website ready. At this point is kind of half done which for a freaking perfectionist like my self that is a lot.
To make the history short two different template companies (yes paid for both of them) because I wasn't convinced with the first one (after all I am very visual and I need to love it, not just like it). Dozen of music possibilities, thousands of pictures, text, colors, fonts, logo and the whole nine yards.
But after all I am really enjoying it. Is kind of a project you see grow everyday, and yes, sometimes is about the destination but you are allowed to enjoy the ride.

Bride and Groom Sessions

2008-03-30T17:30:00.000-07:00

At the Mike Colon's workshop I had the opportunity to shoot two wonderful Bride and Groom sessions. Here are some pictures.

WPPI 08 wrap up

2008-03-29T16:42:00.000-07:00

Finally I am felling totally recovered from the flu I caught on the plane when I was coming back home from Las Vegas, so let me tell how it was.
WPPI was one of the best experiences you can image. From a networking point of view I met wonderful people among them some great locals: Ray Santana and Alex Rodriguez two amazing photographers.

I attended Mike Colon's 2 day workshop and it was a blast. This guy know his craft and is great at teaching, in the other hand is obvious that he is a great person and really very humble. It was an amazing experience and I learn a LOT!!!

I also learn, felt inspired and enjoyed a lot from the dozen and dozen of wonderful speakers that WPPI had this year. Really it was overwhelming. I had to keep it really organized because the activities started at 7:00 AM and sometimes ended at 11:00 PM, most of the time I skipped lunch just to don't miss a great speaker.

In the vendors side I met everyone that I wanted to met and asked everything I wanted to ask and more. I was specially interested in see album companies, there are so many and a lot of them very good that I needed some time to figure out which companies to work with. Finally I got it all figured out!!!

Also I stopped by Kevin Kubota's booth and Totally Rad Actions booth and spend some cash on their wonderful photoshop actions.

In the equipment/fashion department I was convinced by the uber cool Jasmine Star that I needed to invest in a Shootsac, actually I was thinking about it for a while so I was easily convinced.

Finally for some of my really cool brides that have been asking me how safe is a DVD for archival purposes I stopped by Delkin Devices and bought some Archival Gold DVDs "The 100 Year Disc" this little guys contain 24 Karat Gold so they better be good.

As for knowing the city, gambling (which I hate anyway) or shopping I left that for another occasion because with all the activities practically didn't leave the hotel.

Back from WPPI 2008

2008-03-20T19:59:00.000-07:00

It was an incredible experience, even much better than I thought. Everything was spectacular the only downside is that it seems that I imported from Las Vegas a terrible flu that is keeping me in bed since I came back. When I fell recovered I will be posting more about the trip.

Mike Colon's workshop at WPPI 2008

2008-03-11T09:31:00.000-07:00

The 2008 edition of the convention will be the biggest and most important so far.

I am really fortunate to announce that I will be attending the Mike Colon's plus workshop which are part of the workshops held by the WPPI right before the convention. Mike is one of the most respected photographers in the industry and one of my favorites. The spots for his workshop were very limited and ran out in a matter of hours so I considered myself really lucky.

I am really excited, I have everything packed and ready to go. Tomorrow at 3:30 I will be catching a plane to Las Vegas. I anticipate it will be an amazing experience.

It is such an important event for many reasons:
1) Amazing learning experiences with more than 100 workshops, hands-on demonstrations and live shoots.
2) Great networking experience from vendors to colleagues
3) The opportunity to learn about new products and compare different products: albums companies, labs, photographic paper, printer, cameras, lighting etc.
4) Meet new people and make new friends
5) LEARN, LEARN and LEARN

I will resume posting all the good news when I come back

WPPI 2008

2008-03-09T18:41:00.000-07:00

Later this month I will be attending WPPI 2008 in Las Vegas at the Bally's-Paris Hotel. WPPI stands for Wedding and Portrait Photographers International, the association helds in an annual basis a convention which is well known as the biggest and better in the industry. So if someone is into wedding or portrait photography cannot afford to miss this one.

Pictage PUG meeting

2008-03-07T21:05:00.000-08:00

Today I experienced my second Pictage meeting and probably because I was a little shy in the first one but I really enjoyed a lot this one and it was almost a complete different experience. We were less people but it was really interesting. Carlos Baez really shared a lot of his wisdom and knowledge. Incredible three hours passed and nobody noticed it.
I would say that the networking, friendship and learning opportunity that brings this meeting are priceless. Pictage really rocks!

Kathleen & Brett Wedding-Ritz Carlton Hotel, Key Biscayne

2008-02-27T19:47:00.000-08:00

This wedding was a wonderful experience. I joined Tracy Niedermeyerand I really enjoyed A LOT shooting this wedding. Every minute of it was filled with beautiful settings, gorgeous and extremely friendly and happy people. It was very obvious that everybody were enjoying the moment and that the love was in the air this day.
I know sometimes is hard to say what somebody is felling but it in this case was obvious, Kathleen & Brett had the day of their lives and they deserved it. What an amazing couple. This wedding was a blast of good energy and really made me very happy shoot this beautiful couple and share this important moment of their lives.

Another great wedding in the horizon!!!

2008-02-08T17:04:00.000-08:00

Very good news, I will be joining Tracy Niedermeyer again this coming Saturday 23rd for shooting another wonderful wedding at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Key Biscayne. I will post the pictures as soon as I have them.

I am very thankful with Tracy about this opportunity, she is a wonderful photographer and person, and I am really honored to be able to shoot with her.

Pictage User Group meeting

2008-02-07T16:36:00.000-08:00

On a monthly basis Pictage organize this meetings where they present the new services and marketing strategies. This event is organized at a local and regional level been lucky enough to have a meeting right a few miles from my home in the beautiful city of Fort Lauderdale.

At the beginning I was hesitant about joining Pictage, I mean I am just starting out and this is the service that many of the most renowned pros in the industry use. Well after attending the meeting I can tell that this service is worth every penny of it and more.

First of all, I had the chance to know first hand about the new products, services and marketing tools at Pictage.

Is a great way of networking with other photographers in the area. I meet a very interesting crowd that I am pretty sure could develop in a very nice friendship.

Also is an incredible way to learn and share tips and tricks.

The leader of the group in my area is the famous fashion and wedding photographer Carlos Baez. He is just amazing as a photographer and his friendly and welcoming personality makes really a pleasant and fun experience to attend this meetings. I mean is like to attend the perfect workshop for free. One more reason that re-affirms the correctness of my decision joining Pictage

70-200 zoom lens first pictures

2008-02-03T20:07:00.000-08:00

Some pictures taken with my new zoom lens 70-200 f/2.8 IS. I couldn't resist the temptation and been that I live just across the beach I took advantage of this beautiful Saturday "winter" morning sunrise at 7:05am.
The experience was really beautiful and this are some of the result of this great lens.

I just joined Pictage

2008-01-30T16:20:00.000-08:00

I am glad to announce that I took advantage of a promotion ending before the end of the month and joined Pictage.

Some of the most recognized and talented pros in the industry used this service and clients love it.

Pictage is an excellent service for professional photographers which help manage, outsource and market more effectively and much more professionally my photography business.

Is neither free nor cheap but definitely is very convenient for the clients and specially their family anywhere in the world they live.

They can view the proofs of the event on line 24/7 in their own event web-page, place orders for prints, DVD slideshows, album, greeting cards, proof books, and many more products from the convenience of their home. The orders are taken, the pictures are professionally retouched then printed and ready in a matter of days, even hours. Then beautifully packed and shipped to the corresponding address.

I am confident that this addition will bring a better quality of service and convenience to my clients.

New lens!!!

2008-01-27T21:51:00.000-08:00

Long focal length, for unobtrusive ceremony coverage.

Shallow depth of field for beautiful portraits.

f/2.8 and image stabilizer for low light situations.

A higher quality L glass for unmatched sharpness.

What more could be asked from a zoom lens. That is what I thought a few days ago when I added this 70-200 zoom lens to my photographic tools.

Biltmore Hotel Wedding

2008-01-09T19:25:00.000-08:00

First of all I would like to thank Tracy Niedermayer for giving me the opportunity to shoot with her.

The couple came all the way from Congo, Africa. The guest came from all over the world. It was a beautiful night, great weather and very nice people. I really enjoy the experience of shooting this wedding.

The iconic Biltmore Hotel of Miami

Grown ups had fun!

And kids had fun!

Rita

2008-01-03T16:40:00.000-08:00

I was trying out my new lens and flash and took these pictures of my wife in a really windy night in our balcony. I think she looks amazing in these pictures and wanted to post them.
She asked me to leave very clear that she was without make up, messy hair, sleepy and in not exactly the best mood for pictures (Vanity Fair) ;) Anyway I think she looks fantastic.

Happy Holidays!!!

2007-12-31T16:16:00.000-08:00

I Just wanted to wish everybody a happy new year!

In a personal note I would like to thank God for all his blessings, my wife for her unconditional love, support, understanding and patience to endure share me with my lover (the photography) which really takes me away from her a lot of time.
Also a big thanks to clients, prospective clients, suppliers and friends for keep supporting us.

No doubt 2007 has been a great year, honestly I can't complain and I expect anxiously what brings 2008.

I really hope this year brings peace, prosperity, good vibe and GREAT PICTURES.

Great news!...Biltmore Hotel wedding!!!

2007-12-10T23:17:00.000-08:00

I am really very happy and excited about it, on December 30th I am going to shoot a wedding at the Biltmore Hotel! Wow I can't believe it what a great way to finish this year.
I will be assisting to Tracy Neidermayer an amazing photographer.
This is going to be an amazing wedding and the reception is going to take place at the most iconic hotel in Miami I still can't believe my luck. Thanks god!

Busy weekend II

2007-12-10T22:40:00.000-08:00

Last weekend We had in Miami the event called Art Basel+Miami. This is an international mega event of the arts initially created in Switzerland and now held in Miami in an annual basis since 2002.
Art Basel+Miami is really a huge event that is held in different places, among them in the area know as the "Miami Design District" and in Miami Beach, but every art gallery, design store or retail related place takes advantage of it and have their own party, event, expo or exhibition.
One of this add-ons events was the Miami Beach Art Photo Expo which was an amazing event, it was really fashion oriented and some of the pictures exhibited really took my breath away. I could not believe that such a beautiful work of art was made with a camera instead of a brush.

Busy weekend I

2007-12-10T22:19:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I have attended the Panasonic Digital Photo Academy workshop the instructor was Michael Thoenne s who is a very talented photographer with experience in fine art photography, stock photography, commercial photography and very good at teaching. It was a really a great learning experience and a terrific moment to try out my new Canon 5D.

Santa came to town earlier this year IV

2007-12-10T22:10:00.000-08:00

Well it seems that Santa heard my request and brought a nice 24-70 f/2.8L lens along with the battery grip and a new the 580EX II flash.

I guess that's it for this year because Santa is running out of "gas";)

Santa came to town earlier this year III

2007-12-02T16:09:00.000-08:00

This time "Santa" brought me something amazing Canon 5D , thank you "Santa" what an amazing piece of equipment. I bought this beauty at Adorama and it came in really well packaged few days after I place the order.

Canon also have this great rebate deal with some of their professional printers, so I combine the camera with the Pixma PRO9500 which seems to be an excellent pigment ink inkjet printer, capable of printing up to 13"x19" pages and printings lasting up to 100 years.

Santa now please bring me some lenses and I promise I will not bother you until next year ;)

Santa came to town earlier this year II

2007-11-25T19:57:00.001-08:00

After a few hours of trying to arrange a comfortable setup for my computer and my new 23" Cinema Display I figured that it would be much more comfortable to type from a separate keyboard instead of from the notebook keyboard which I located at a side of the display.
So, another short visit to my local Apple store and I found this wireless keyboard. It is much smaller and thinner than I thought but still is very comfortable and it has a very nice design too. The setup now is very comfortable, unclutered and very wireless, which is the way I wanted it.

Santa came to town earlier this year I

2007-11-25T19:37:00.000-08:00

"If you are serious about photography you need a new bigger display" I said to myself after trying to guess how good would look my pictures in a bigger size than my Macbook 13" screen.

Well, Apple makes this amazing, great looking, high definition Cinema Displays so I picked one of the 23" ones the other day at my local Apple store. This gorgeous display has made me discover whole new things in my pictures, is so vivid that it looks like if you were there inside of the scene.

It is making my picture editing a much more enjoyable and accurate process, specially after killing my eyes in a 13" screen.

More about photography learning

2007-11-25T19:10:00.001-08:00

When I was visiting the Professional Photographers of America web site I discovered this spectacular book called "Photography" by Barbara London, later I learned the book is a recommended reading for their cerfication exam and is also taught in many Colleges.

Amazon had me it delivered in less than a week eventough I selected the standard delivery.

After a few chapter of very good reading I can say this book is really basic but is a very good and is a very recommendable reading for anybody who is interested in photography

Procrastinate

2007-11-25T18:18:00.000-08:00

"Procrastinate: delay or postpone action; put off doing something"...
I will do it tomorrow, today I was very busy, or I have other things to do, or...
Does it sound familiar to you? That is exactly what I was doing with my blog lately, and let me tell that is no good at all. Don't leave things for tomorrow that you can do today.
I am not going to justify my actions, mea culpa, but let me tell you I was really busy in the good way of been busy. I have been learning a lot about the new photoshop CS3, and also I joined a wonderful web site called Lynda.com they have courses about any imaginable software from Adobe, Apple, Microsoft...etc.
I am taking their course in Photoshop CS3 for photographers which is taught by Chris Orwig, he is a faculty member of Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA also he is a very talented photographer and photoshop "guru". I like his course so much that I also joined his course in Adobes's Lightroom.
I would recommend this course, definitely. Not only is excellent, also it is convenient (on line) and very affordable ($25.00 dollars per month). I was looking for a convenient and affordable course in Photoshop for a while and I can't believe it when I found this gem.
Lynda.com also has this course that I took in blogging taught by Molly E. Holzschlag, so hopefully it will help me to improve my blogging skills.

It was a blast!

2007-10-31T15:59:00.001-07:00

Back from workshop in Orlando organized by American Photo Magazine. It was a two days workshop packed with very useful information and certainly a very enjoyable experience. I didn't know what to expect and believe me it was above and beyond any expectation I had. I really learned A LOT.
The first day was a little basic for my taste: aperture, shutter speed, ISO, depth of field, average white balance, highlight/shadows, film vs. digital, different camera modes (auto, program, aperture priority, shutter speed priority, etc.), scenes modes (landscape, portrait, macro, sport), raw vs. jpeg vs. tiff, the light and its secrets, composition, downloading, editing and retouching.

The second day was a little more advance: ISO settings, type of light and settings according to the weather conditions and the time of the day, full frame sensor vs. crop digital sensor, aperture priority mode, shutter priority mode, manual mode, exposure/sensitivity, white balance, custom white balance, auto focus types, memory card types, lenses, metering, noise reduction, jpeg vs. raw pros and cons. Then Mr. Joe Grivas a very successful stock photography working for Getty Images gave a very interesting presentation and taught how to master Photoshop and how it helped in their photography. In the afternoon we had a one and a half hour shooting session with live models. After that we had an introduction to Photoshop and finally a critic and some samples and ideas about the shooting session.
All in all a very intensive two days workshop with a crowed audience and an excellent teacher. A very recommendable experience for all who is looking for a full immersion in the world of the photography.

Orlando this weekend...Hi, Mickey!

2007-10-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

Gas...cheked!
Tires...checked!
Map...checked!
Camera, batteries, memory cards...checked!

Is 10:10 PM and I have almost everything ready to go. Need to go to bed earlier tonight because We have a 4 hour drive in front of us and will be waking up around 3:00PM.

I will be attending a Seminar this weekend held by American Photo Magazine called "Digital Days", it will be all about digital photography, Adobe's Lightroom, color calibration, live models to shoot, some photshop CS3, studio lighting, etc.

It will be Saturday and Sunday from 9 to 5 and promises to be nice and intense...

I will comment on it when I come back.

I promise!

2007-10-24T22:49:00.000-07:00

1) Work very hard and keep learning new things in order to gain keep improving in this beautifull art/craft called photography

2) Attend every seminar, workshop, convention and photography class that my wallet can resist in order to be always up to date.

3) Buy any camera, lens, software and gadget that could help improve the quality of my pictures and service to my clients.

4) Treat everybody with the utmost respect.

5) Love my wife a little bit more every day and tell her so.

6) Try to be happy and to make happy the people around me.

Please...forgive me!

2007-10-24T21:05:00.001-07:00

Is always a good idea to apologize in advance and a nice lawyer-style disclaimer doesn't hurt either.

1) Shakespeare, because English is not my mother's language, and I will probably damage the language so baddly that perhaps is not even going to be recognized as English.

2) Mike Colon, Jasmine Star, Becker, Jessica Claire, David Jay, Ray Santana, Mike Larson, Sara France and many others for their beautiful work and for being my source of inspiration. Hopefully some day I could be called photographer too. Unfortunatelly at this stage camera sitter is a good term for me.

3) The WPPI (weeding & portrait photographers international), the PPA (proffesional photographers of america) and any other photography association that I am not even aware of it existence.

DISCLAIMER: You have been warned! This blog could be damage to your visual health, is not FDA approved and will not ever be. Any nice image that you see in this blog is probably some type of mistake, but rest assure it will not happen very often.

Ready to Rock!!!

2007-10-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentleman
This is my blog...

Mom are you there?
Is someone there?
Wow! It seems that is just me and my mind. Good Lord what a challenge. A blog.