90 Minutes with Sam Koay

Posted on April 28, 2016

by LaRae

Photographing Writer and Director, Sam Koay, in Miami, FL

Lifestyle + Portrait Shoot

Hi there, remember me? Yah, I know it’s been a while since I’ve blogged. OK, it’s been a really long while. But I’m back and happy to share with you a fresh session right here on PhotoSister.com!

There are a couple huge differences shooting people portraits on location here in Miami vs. Seattle where I spent most of my career as a photographer. The summer heat is intense; the sunlight blasts down intense heat through a thick layer of humidity as if you were a tiny ant under the magnifying glass of a giant. The quality of light is amazing, up until 8:30am when it turns into a full-blast spot light casting harsh shadows on your model’s face and every other object in the frame.

So the ultimate trick to photographing here in the Miami heat is to basically start early, end early, and spend the hot afternoon at the computer editing in the comfort of air conditioning while drinking ice tea. Ahhhhhhh…… Now that’s a perfect day.

As was this day, photographing writer and director, Sam Koay.

Now, everyone who knows me is well aware that I am not a morning person. At all. Basically, before 8:30am don’t talk to me. Don’t even look at me. Just let me sit and inhale my cup of coffee, then I am good to go with a big smile and pep in my step! However, when working with someone as fun and charismatic as Sam, I couldn’t be anything BUT enthusiastic, happy, and excited the entire morning; even when my alarm went off at 4:30am for a 6:00am call time. He’s THAT awesome!

We concentrated our shoot in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Coral Gables, covering the territory of the famous CocoWalk and Coconut Grove Playhouse, the latter which still sits in it’s empty baby blue shell with an uncertain destiny. I really love shooting a variety of looks on location with both polished and gritty backgrounds. It gives my clients great options for promotional usage; a mix of lifestyle and portrait photos.