Our Beautiful St. Croix Photo Session
Like many people out there, I am not a fan of having my picture taken, especially professionally. I remember the days of having to get dressed up and sit in a dimly lit room with my family and being posed in front of numerous pull-down backgrounds. That was then followed by trying to pick out the picture where everyone looks as good as possible, but also has their eyes open, and there was never a single photograph everyone liked. Due to those ‘traumatic’ experiences, my husband and I had managed to be engaged for a year (and together for a total of six years) without ever having professional photos taken. Now that we live on St. Croix however, one of the most beautiful backdrops imaginable for photographs, we decided it was time to have our pictures professionally done.
After seeing the work of Kelly Greer Photographer from many island events and weddings, and having her recommended to us by numerous people as an amazing photographer for lifestyle photos, we arranged a session with Kelly. We talked to Kelly about the general kind of photos we wanted in order to determine the best location for the photo session because St. Croix offers so many choices form unique sugar mill ruins, and beautiful beaches, to historic towns complete with forts! In our case, we wanted the photographs to show the beaches we love so much, so we arranged to meet at the Renaissance St. Croix Carambola Beach Resort. Kelly gave us great suggestions for what to wear (and what NOT to wear) to get the best results possible. I warned her that I do not like pictures of myself, and that both Steven and I tend to squint or blink in pictures, so she was going to have her work cut out for her. Kelly’s reply was, “Don’t worry, I will handle the pictures and they will be so beautiful you’ll have a tough time deciding which ones to choose!”
We met at the resort and walked around a bit so Kelly could check out the conditions and lighting, and then the fun began…yes, I said fun! She knew exactly what we had in mind without us telling her a thing, and she made the session fun as well as relaxed and as natural as possible for Steven and I. She had us walk along the beach holding hands while talking and occasionally giving each other little kisses, then we stopped along the way for a few posed pictures at an outcropping of rocks and under a beautiful palm tree. Then, at the end of the session, Kelly got some great shots of us snuggled together in the sand.
Doing anything outdoors can be unpredictable, especially in the Caribbean, so we did experience a few challenges. It rained the morning of the photo session, right up until we were ready to get started, then the skies cleared up and it was a beautiful afternoon. We also had an unexpected wardrobe change when a rogue wave hit the rocks just in front of Steven as we were walking down the beach and completely soaked his whole front side! Kelly managed to get about half the pictures done by having Steven stand in a way that camouflaged the fact that his front side was wet. While she worked on those shots, Kelly quickly asked our friend Leslie go to the resort store and find Steven a new shirt. Leslie turned out to be a great asset to our photo session as well because when the resort store didn’t have anything the right size or color, she borrowed a uniform shirt from the bartender because it matched my dress perfectly!
The best part of the whole experience was when Steven told me that he was initially dreading getting photos taken, but that he actually had a great time during the session. A few days after our photo session, Kelly sent us a link to our photo gallery for viewing. The great part about the system she uses is that you can share the link to your photo gallery on Facebook, or email it to family and friends, giving them a chance to let you know what their favorite photos are or to purchase photos from your gallery directly. I have to admit, I was blown away when we got the link to our photos! There were SO many amazing photographs that we really did have a difficult time choosing, just like Kelly said we would!
If you are planning an event or wedding, are recently engaged, or want some unique and beautiful lifestyle photographs of you or your family, I would highly recommend Kelly Greer Photographer. Not only will you be wowed by the professional and friendly service, but by the beauty and quality of your photographs, not to mention that you can take advantage of the natural beauty St. Croix offers as your background!
– Jennie Ogden, Editor
