St. Petersburg sessions

No. 01 — In Alle's words

St. Pete is one of my favorite cities to photograph in — modern, intentional, a little more urban than Sarasota, with a creative pulse that you can feel walking the Central Arts District on a Saturday. It's a regular part of my service area and I'm here often, for engagements, families, brand sessions, and the occasional wedding.

My favorite St. Pete locations, in rough order: the new St. Pete Pier and the wide green space around it (a beautiful engagement backdrop, especially the approach from the north end where the water opens up); the murals throughout the Central Arts District — there's a rotating collection of incredible large-format pieces, and I scout the current ones a week before each session because some get painted over without warning; Vinoy Park along the waterfront with its banyans; the Renaissance Vinoy Resort gardens with permission; Crescent Lake Park, which is quieter and full of old oaks for family sessions.

For the beach side of St. Pete, I almost always choose Pass-A-Grille at the south end of St. Pete Beach. It's narrower than the main strip, quieter, and the old beach houses behind the dunes give it a much more editorial backdrop than the high-rise stretch. Sunset there is one of the best on the Gulf, full stop.

What I love about working in St. Pete is the range you can cover in a single evening — a downtown corner, a mural wall, a banyan-shaded park, a quiet stretch of Gulf beach, all within a short drive. Few cities give you that variety inside one golden hour.

St. Pete clients often book combo sessions — start downtown for the urban, edited feeling (murals, the Pier, a coffee at a corner spot for the in-between moments), then drive south to Pass-A-Grille for golden hour at the water. It's a lot in one evening, but it photographs as two different stories woven together, and it's some of my favorite work.