Benson's Blog » studio

Miss Hampton Portraits ’08

Benson Blake Photography — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:39:50 +0000

Congratulations to Shannon Cooper, Miss Hampton University 2008-2009. She was crowned on October 11, 2008 and will serve as an ambassador for the University for the current academic year. The day after the pageant, we held a portrait session in Hampton to capture some promotional images. The 2009 “Black College Queens” issue of Ebony Magazine will feature a photo from this session. Good luck to Shannon, as she will compete for the title of Miss Virginia in the Spring 2009 pageant.

The Garcia Family

Benson Blake Photography — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:25:41 +0000

On last weekend, I had the joy of photographing the Garcia family in Dumfries, Virginia. The newest addition to the family is their 5 month old son, who was ready for his close-up! Big brother and sister also had their portraits done… then the whole family piled up for a casual portrait. These are just a few of my favorites from this family’s session. Enjoy!

Amber’s Portraits

Benson Blake Photography — Sun, 18 May 2008 13:50:43 +0000

I recently held a studio portrait session for Amber, a music major at Hampton University. We created lots of great images to be used for her upcoming vocal competition. Hopefully we can narrow them down to just one for the program. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Pageant Committee

Benson Blake Photography — Sat, 10 May 2008 14:08:05 +0000

On Wednesday, I held a studio portrait session for a few members of the Miss Southeastern Virginia Pageant committee. I thought it was neat how they just happened to show up wearing red, white & blue. Their solid-colored clothing worked great for these promotional images. Here are a few from our studio session.

Bishop Thomas’ Portraits

Benson Blake Photography — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:51:32 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to photograph Bishop Ted Thomas Sr., pastor of New Community Temple COGIC. This session included studio portraits and images created on location at his church in Portsmouth VA. Here’s a sample of images from that afternoon.

Ciara’s Portraits

Benson Blake Photography — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:18:48 +0000

I recently had the honor of photographing Ciara in the studio. She is a contestant in this year’s Miss Virginia Pageant, and currently holds the title of Miss Southeastern Virginia. The goal of this session was to have a couple of strong images to use for the pageant’s publicity. Well… we got more than a couple. Thanks to Ciara’s pageant director, makeup artist and other supporters for helping to make this a success. Here are some of my favorites…

Ciara

Makeup artist, Natalie

Naomi’s CD Cover

Benson Blake Photography — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 11:03:08 +0000

I was recently asked to photograph gospel artist Naomi Thomas for her upcoming CD release. We were able to capture lots of different looks for her CD packaging and promotional materials. Part of her session took place at our studio, and the rest on location at New Community Temple COGIC in Portsmouth VA. Here are a few of my favorites.

Miss Hampton Portraits ’07

Benson Blake Photography — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 14:52:23 +0000

I recently had the pleasure of photographing Javicia, the newly crowned 2007-2008 Miss Hampton University. One photo from her session will be published in the April 2008 “Black College Queens” issue of Ebony Magazine, as well as official Hampton University publications.

Jamie’s Senior Session

Benson Blake Photography — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 22:49:25 +0000

I had a great time photographing Jamie for her senior portraits. This was a fun studio session with a couple of casual outfits, and a formal portrait for her yearbook. Seniors are always encouraged to bring items that will help show who they are at this point in their lives. It can be a sports uniform, instrument, or something like their favorite hat. For Jamie, it was her trumpet that she enjoys playing in the school band. Here are some of the images from her session…