The Very First Annual Unobstructed Studios Chrimmas Party

2011 has been a crazy year for Unobstructed Studios and it is time to celebrate that! December 16th, 2011 at 6 pm is the time to celebrate. As a great big thank you to all of our clients and friends we are inviting everyone to the Very First Annual Unobstructed Studios Chrimmas Party! The festivities for the night will include live entertainment, a silent auction and raffled prizes. 

Helds at the Mandarin Community Club on Mandarin Road. The building that is home to the Mandarin Community Club was rebuilt in 1872, for use as the Mandarin School, after a fire destroyed an earlier building on the site. Harriet Beecher Stowe, famed author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin", spearheaded the building project. Black and white childeren were educated at the school. The address is 12447 Mandarin Road, Jacksonville Florida 32223. 

Raffled prizes will be award to raffle ticket purchasers, tickets are $5 for one or five for $20 and prizes include a free full session which is valued at $300 and is good for one year. A 24x36 canvas print of beautiful downtown Jacksonville will be raffled off as well. As well as other prizes. 

The silent auction will feature works from other local artists in the area. 

Raffled prizes will be award to raffle ticket purchasers, tickets are $5 for one or five for $20 and prizes include a free full session which is valued at $300 and is good for one year. A 24x36 canvas print of beautiful downtown Jacksonville will be raffled off as well. As well as other prizes. Anyone can enter the raffle and you do not need to be present to win!

The silent auction will feature works from other local artists in the area and include other mediums. Local artist Aaron Smith, a painter and Jacksonville University graduate has donated three paintings for the silent auction. A percentage of the proceeds from this auction are going to be benefitting the Mandarin Community Clubs efforts to fund the historic preservation of the property.

About Unobstructed Studios

Unobstructed Studios is a non-traditional photography company that specializes in candid memory preservation. Owned and operated by Cynthia Sullivan a graduate of Jacksonville University and Jacksonville resident. Unobstructed Studios can be contacted at 904.657.0867 or by email at contact@unobstructedstudios.com

Zombie Ladies

Who remembers back in October when we had the casting for pretty ladies to play zombies? Me!! Well, you know, two months later, look at these super hot zombies! And in all honesty, I was scared to tackle the zombie project but in the end I am happy with the outcome and the fact that all the shoots were so much fun, makes it even better.  So, being that Saturday December 3, 2011 is the Zom-B-Q, I think its fitting to ponder back to the zombie project and revisit the hilarity that ensued. I was originally approached to do this solely as an editing project that turned into shooting four sessions in one day, in the most wonderful weather and surroundings! But, all my models were such amazing troopers! I had to arm myself with two assistants on each shoot, which is odd, being most the times I shoot solo. So, in order of appearance here we go.....

Michelle was a client of mine and had first came into the Unobstructed Studios family when she entered her daughter into the cutest kid contest, and her daughter totally gets her looks from her mom as we all know, Michelle is a hottie. And she is a natural in front of the camera! She was the first to shoot with me for the zombie project and I think we were all nervous to see how everything would go, and Michelle was so much fun! She really had a good time and got into the zombie part. We shot at the old box seats building on the westside on a very overcast and windy day. All in all this shoot went amazingly well. If only the weather would have stood up to the rest of the day because the bottom kind of dropped out on the second one. Which was pretty much right across the street from the first one and in less than one hour it was monsoon like conditions. But, when working with a theme such as zombies, its okay to have bad weather sometimes. It just makes for a wet photographer and a wet model and two wet assistants. So much so that by the time the third shoot rolled around, I could not even wear my shoes anymore because they were soaked! Jennifer was the second model and she and I have been trying to set up a shoot with her for awhile and ironically the last time we were supposed to meet it was also cold and pouring down rain. We met at Carrols Meat Shoppe that is literally across the street from the first shoot and while waiting for her to get there the wind started to pick up more and more if that was even possible but none the less, we had to get the shots done that day. And about 7 minutes after she got there it started to pour down rain like a dang hurricane!  

We tried to work with the weather being that it was a zombie shoot and all but, eventually it was just way too cold and the rain was more sideways than anything else. We had to keep stopping and hiding up the smallest overhang ever. Which was making us late for our next shoot, so much so that Kelly, the last model of the day had to meet us at the second shoot location.  These girls are nothing but troopers I have to say. 

Kellys shoot was at the laundromat. And everyone knows how exciting this makes me because I have been dying to shoot at a laundromat. So, we did it! In true murphies law fashion, the place was supposed to be open 24 hours and it was not, so we had to shoot very very fast to get everything done. The people that own the place were very nice and friendly but they would not let us climb on top of the dryers like I very much wanted to. Kelly is a very unassuming zombie, she is blonde and happy and had a hard time not smiling. But just the same her shots came out great too! All these ladies did a fabulous job and I cannot wait to work with them all again! 

Halloween & Fall 2011

This year for the autumn slash Halloween season, we went all out for our clients!! And it was well worth it because the images are amazing! Armed with a door, an owl, a frame, a bird cage and a ton of pumpkins we set off to shoot some pictures. Instead of the traditional posing children on hay with bright orange pumpkins photos, we opted for a more subtle image with an autumn feel. Most of the sessions were at Boone Park in Riverside, but others took place at clients homes and other areas around Jacksonville. 

I became like Betty White needing a snickers bar on my three day search for a suitable owl to use a prop, and it paid off, I found the gem in the image above at Ace Hardware and although I may have paid too much for it, I heart my owl and he hangs out with me in my office, always watching my back! The fabulous birdcage was obtained from my friend Jacob, and there have been several attempts to use it at shoots previously and always a fail. But, it was perfect for these sessions. Me and my adorable assistant spent all day trying to carve my logo into a pumpkin, only to have me not like it and re do it. And, we opted for pumpkins that were not traditional orange pumpkins for more of a less tacky feeling. Who was first you may asking yourself? Diana's kids! Two adorable costume clad kids, full of energy! One Marvin the Martian and one Ninja Turtle! These two kids were so precious and well behaved! I love at sessions, and this happens at almost every single one of them, parents think their kids are being terrible and then they over apologize a ton! Your kids are fine, they are kids, let them be kids. If only just for today, let them!!! These two were just awesome! I have yet to encounter a child that is actually bad, thank my lucky stars. What I love most about these two, and I am not sure if it is intentional, but their costumes are very color coordinated!! 

The next session after that was Kaden! A favorite of mine because he is always full of energy and expression. And he was a power ranger, come on!! How cool is that!! So, this session was actually at the duck pond in arygle, I am sure it has a name, I just don't know it. And true to his nature, Kaden was full of energy and a ton of fun to work with and there may have also been some duck chasing, accidental laying in duck pee, and other random events. Someone even got my owl stuck in a tree. No names mentioned!! This was a cool shoot because we got to play more with the cool door! And the sun was getting ready to set so it was that golden hour that every photographer craves! There were some excellent shots of all the kids playing in the leaves, autumn colored leaves, which we did have to import ourselves!! But, alls well that ends well and they were worth it because the colors were fabulous and it was fun!

All in all, I ended up shooting four sessions in one day and promise you I will never ever do that again!!! Alaina is next though! A very impromptu add to the day, and I know this is scary to most of my clients but, I work so much better on the fly, you have no idea! So, Alaina was an hour before add in to the day and it was a fast and cold session as the golden hour was coming to an end. Her session was actually at her house. And with the help of her mom, and some cell phones, we managed just fine and got some amazing shots of this little cutie! This little girl is so hilarious! She is loud and happy and has the deepest blue eyes ever! And just like me she gets distracted by cell phones, which were used to keep her looking towards the camera. And I have to say this being maybe the fourth time I have worked with her, she is so much better in front of the camera than from her first session. Not to say that one was bad, at all. But, as kids grow, they just become natural little photogenic stars. The colors from Alaina's session are so brilliant and bright, its just a great combination with her energy! And, I might add that I picked out her shirt! 

Then there was a pirate! Argghh. An ADORABLE pirate with an infectious smile!! There are hardly any pictures of Hayden where her mouth is closed! And I love that, she is such a cute little girl and she is so dang happy! And, I am all about any child that can be bribed with candy! And Hayden is one of them! I feel like she is going to grow up and be a heart breaker because she is a gorgeous little girl, but I am not her parents, I  don't have to worry about that at all! Until then though, I will enjoy photographing her! The autumn slash Halloween sessions were a giant success this year, so much so that I am certain that we will offer them again next year too! And, yes, I will bring the owl again! It's so cute!!!