Darren Arena Photography

Chelsey and Colby Engagement

2012-02-21T16:25:00.000-05:00

You wouldn't think that Kiwanis Park located in the middle of Port Charlotte Florida would offer much for photo opportunities, but we were able to find quite a few!
Chelsey and Colby's personalities fit in perfectly with this "country" sort of setting. I knew this right from the start when I met them recently which is why I suggested this location.
I look forward to their wedding this June!

Robert and Jessica Engagement

2012-02-16T13:11:00.000-05:00

Selby Gardens located in Sarasota, Florida is quite literally one of the top 5 on my favorite places to shoot portraits! There is almost no end to the possibilities of spots to stop at in these pristine Botanical Gardens.

As we first started our photo shoot, Jessica could do nothing but giggle as I began lurking through the tropical plants to get good angles of the two of them together.The vibrant colors and gorgeous shapes here made for an extremely successful day for all of us. Robert and Jessica will be married this October, 2012 at the Lakewood Ranch G.C.C.

The Baxendale Family

2012-02-04T16:48:00.000-05:00

The backyard of the Baxendale family home is an extremely picturesque setting, to say the least! It was 8:30 a.m. when we began and it was still cool enough to be comfortable as the sun glistened across their pond and filtered through everyones hair as a flawless, golden backlighting.

It seemed as though everyone was in fantastic moods which made for a very smooth and fun filled morning, plus it helped that I already had my coffee!

{Click to Enlarge Photos}

Adam and Clare Engagement

2012-02-01T17:01:00.000-05:00

The Secret Garden

2012-01-17T18:06:00.000-05:00

I was at the hospital the day my niece Olivia first opened her eyes to the world. She was quite literally the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. When I first held her in my arms and she looked at me with those enchanting blue eyes, I knew she was going to be something special to me and our family!

9 years later she is still just as beautiful and sweet as can be! We found a really cool little fern gully right by their house that I thought might look nice with an indoor chair placed in amongst the ferns. Florida doesn't have much to look at in the way of woods, but this turned out to be a fabulous little Secret Garden that we found!

I'm not a real big fan of Photoshop Actions anymore, but I thought that the 70's coloring I used here made these feel a bit more comfortable on the eyes.

Wedding Albums for 2012

2012-01-11T22:37:00.002-05:00

This year I'm offering 2 different options for my custom Wedding Album designs. (Leather and Photographic Wrap Covers.) So far, the most popular has been the the Photographic wrap, and for obvious reasons! It's absolutely gorgeous!

In the past years, the black leather has worked just fine and continues to be extremely popular simply because of the lay flat, panoramic design when opened. The black leather has that classic "custom album" look to it, whereas the Photographic wrap appeals to a more modern era.

When it comes right down to it, it's all about the couple's taste when choosing an album design. I'm personally just absolutely thrilled that I can have a nice contrast in Wedding Albums to offer my clients this year.

(All images below are copyright property of ©Darren Arena Photography)

Nikki The Fashionista

2011-12-30T10:02:00.001-05:00

I've known Nikki since she was just a baby girl! A few years back she married a good friend of mine, Danny Wilder, and I was the photographer at their wedding. For the majority of her life Nikki has had long, beautiful dark hair that most girls just dream of having!!

Imagine my surprise when I saw her for the first time in months and all of her hair was buzzed off!! Not only was her hair short, but it was now blonde! Shock…Surprise…Confusion…Sadness…These were just a few of the feelings I felt at first site! My shock then turned into imaginative creativity. I said "Nikki, we have to get you in front of a camera!" She then exclaimed: "That was my thought EXACTLY".

Introducing: Nikki

Natasha The Luminous

2011-12-17T18:07:00.003-05:00

Natasha is one of those girls that is instantly comfortable in front of a camera. I find it refreshing and effortless to be able to work with someone of this caliber!

If you are just now getting to know my work, I prefer to shoot either very early morning or late in the day when the light is at it's dreamiest. (I call this "Magic Hour") It's not necessarily an hour, nor is it magic but it makes for the absolute perfect lighting for dramatic portraiture. I can actually use the light from the sun as an extra fill or backlight, depending on the mood I want to portray.

To see all of the photos from this shoot, follow this link and click on the "Client Proofing" box.

{Click Photo to Enlarge}

The Damron Family

2011-12-01T18:08:00.003-05:00

The Damron family came down on vacation from Ohio to stay on the beautiful beach/island of Boca Grande. We started shooting at about 4:00 and went until sunset at around 5:30. We hopped to 3 different locations which made for a nice array of photo ops and lighting situations. The photos tell it all…We had a blast!

{Click to Enlarge Photos}

A Day With Aaron

2011-11-24T17:32:00.003-05:00

Last weekend I had the opportunity to work with my good friend, and fellow photographer Aaron Bornfleth. I always enjoy working with him because of his energy and passion for what he does, and it certainly shows! These are just a few of my shots I took from the wedding that I assisted him on in Saint Pete Beach.

{Click to Enlarge Photos}

The Mitchells

2011-11-21T09:22:00.000-05:00

Evening with Tammy

2011-11-16T18:54:00.007-05:00

Earlier today Tammy and I decided that we were going to have one of our usual "Date Nights" this evening. {Little did she know that earlier that day I had picked out an interesting spot in a field of Florida scrub brush that was near our home for a pitstop.}

As we walked out the door, I had in hand my Canon 7d with a 70-200L lens attached and 580ex II flash unit. She looked somewhat confused as to why I had this monstrosity in hand as we got into the car.

It was only less than a mile before I pulled over and said to her: Ok, we are here! "Um…we are where" she said!!

Yes, I made my poor wife walk through thistles, hitchhikers, ant beds, and all sorts of unpleasantness to get to this spot. She had no clue why I was making her stand here, but when we got back into the car and I showed her this photo, she knew that it was all worth it!

This is my wife….This is Tammy. {Click Photo to Enlarge}

Tech Specs: Canon 7d, 70-200L lens at f/2.8, 1/1000th sec in manual mode, ISO 200 with Flash on ETTL high speed sync. (Sun was just above tree line to my left and behind her)

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I did something similar here with Amy, but we ran out of sunlight far too quickly. When we take their family portraits, I will have to make sure we start a bit earlier!

The Mctigues

2011-10-31T21:07:00.006-04:00

This will no doubt be the last shoot with Chris, Amanda and Cassidy before the new baby arrives!

THE DAY WAS MILD... You could see the little bugs dancing around each other in the Mctigue's back yard as the setting sun gave forth it's golden light. You could not ask for a better family setting, so I quickly scanned around their lanai and saw the perfect piece of furniture: a wrought iron love seat with green pillows. Chris and I carried the seat into an open part of their very deep back yard. The family portraits had to be quick, not only because of the setting sun, but also because of babies' short attention span!

Mommy gave Cassidy a silk flower and a cowgirl hat and set her loose. The following photos are just a few highlights of this beautiful family and the fun I had with them!

(All photos were taken using a Canon 7d and 70-200L Canon lens)

The Wedding of Jeff and Kim Powell

2011-10-19T19:05:00.003-04:00

Several months back I received a call from Jeff Powell wanting some information about my packages. I set up a time to meet with him and his fiance, Kim at their home. Little did I know that this was going to be a "blast from the past"!!!
It turns out that this was a Kim that I went to school with waaay back in the day!! I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least.
We shot Kim's bridal shoot on a gorgeous little brick street in Punta Gorda, Florida. Their wedding was held at Visani's Comedy Club in Port Charlotte, Florida.

2011-10-19T18:24:00.008-04:00

How I worked the Lighting

2011-10-19T18:23:00.002-04:00

I went to check out the Venue the day before this wedding for Jeff and Kim Powell. In the evenings this is normally a comedy club, but for this afternoon it was to be a wedding venue. It was VERY dark inside with Black ceilings and dark walls, which would prove to be difficult in bouncing any lighting. The ambient was both RED and BLUE lights which had the potential to be a disaster for skin tones if I wasn't careful. Here's what I did: First I called a colleague (Aaron Bornfleth) who is an absolute wizard with lighting to get some ideas on how to handle this situation.

His suggestions worked like a charm as you can see in the pics above. Newer DSLR cameras today can perform magnificently with higher I.S.O. "film" speeds along with small bursts of light from your flash unit when set manually to about 1/64th power and shooting in RAW format. (If any of you tech gurus want the specs, I would be glad to share them) It was certainly a milestone for me and I was very pleased with how it turned out.

2011-10-19T14:57:00.001-04:00

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2011-10-19T14:45:00.000-04:00

Kim's 5-1/2 inch heels !!!

2011-10-19T13:17:00.001-04:00

Andrew and Wendy

2011-10-03T22:52:00.004-04:00

After much deliberation and a couple of venue changes, Andrew and Wendy decided to have their wedding at a quaint little chapel in Bradenton, FL. The yellow from the sunflowers contrasted nicely with the dark, rich colors from the wood that that permeated this old restored landmark.

The Collins Family

2011-10-02T23:50:00.012-04:00

Jelks Preserve on River Road in North Port, Florida is a protected area that shows the "true Florida". It was the perfect setting for this family that loves nature and being out doors. This was an early morning shoot, so the sun was still very low and shining through the trees. This made for a very nice and comfortable shoot that day!

WeddingWire Rated 5 Stars

2011-10-02T23:48:00.003-04:00

Troy and Etienne

2011-09-02T18:06:00.007-04:00

Maci and David Goldstein

2011-09-01T23:17:00.003-04:00

2011-09-01T23:15:00.002-04:00

Andrew and Brittany

2011-08-15T15:59:00.004-04:00

Miriam at the Train Station

2011-08-07T11:51:00.007-04:00

The old Venice Train station in Venice, Florida was restored a few years back and is now a converted Bus station for Sarasota county. I use this area for several kinds of shoots, but on this day we actually dressed for the occasion! The outfit, the luggage, shoes….everything was Miriam's idea and I was more than happy to work with her plan! We started here at the station, and ended up at Casperson's Beach just down the road. It was a perfect ending to this somewhat overcast day.

2011-08-07T11:50:00.003-04:00

2011-08-07T11:45:00.002-04:00

2011-08-07T11:40:00.002-04:00

2011-08-07T11:35:00.001-04:00

The Compilation of Kendra's Amazing "Kicks"

2011-04-16T07:08:00.001-04:00

2011-04-16T07:07:00.002-04:00

Ryan and Kendra

2011-04-16T07:06:00.005-04:00

2011-04-16T07:05:00.012-04:00

Yes, I have to get involved sometimes! What can I say? The music moves me!
I handed my camera over to my BPF (Best Photog Friend) Heather Hadnagy for this!!

Mario and Amie

2011-01-28T00:06:00.000-05:00

10 / 10 / 10

As I drove my car down the winding little backroad of Siesta Key in Sarasota, my heart began to beat a little faster (as it always does when I am about to meet potential clients). My GPS was closing in on the address that Amie had emailed me the day before.
So there it was. Mario's parents home where the wedding was to be held in a couple of months. I walk up to the old iron gate that seperated the road from the first courtyard of the front veranda, and awkwardly shout through the bars: Hello?…..(more coming soon)

2011-01-28T00:05:00.001-05:00

2011-01-28T00:04:00.002-05:00

What can I say? They loved to kiss!!

2011-01-01T23:52:00.009-05:00

2010-10-31T21:45:00.001-04:00

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