Sarasota Mitzvah Photographer- Temple Emanu- El

Planning a Mitzvah in Sarasota?

Planning a mitzvah can be a daunting task. Luckily for the Schwimmer’s they were lucky enough to find Laura Detwiler with Laura Detwiler Events to help plan the day! Luckily for us, Laura shares some inside secrets to this “Old Florida” bat mitzvah. My favorite part was having all the food trucks there and seeing the kids devour all of the goodies. This Sarasota mitzvah was filled with little details and lots of love and laughter! A good time had by all!

What was the theme and how was it decided upon?

The theme was “Old Florida.” It was decided upon by the Bat Mitzvah girl herself. She loves the look of the vintage palm trees, flamingos, and the colors associated, which include light blue, turquoise, and orange.

How did you decide on the venue?

They decided on Temple Emanu- El because there were no extra minimums to hit or specific hours to follow. There were no restrictions on decorations either, so we could get very creative with setup. The temple ended up being a great choice.

What was your favorite part about the Mitzvah?

My favorite part of any event is seeing all the pieces come together and observing the reactions of the family and guests during the event. Over months, there is so much hard work that goes into the planning, that it is a joy to see the success when the event takes place.

What is your advice for planning a Mitzvah?

Make a list of the 5 most important items for your event. This not only helps you think about what is important, but also helps the planner where to most concentrate. This could be food, the hora, a photo booth, the centerpieces, etc.. In addition, it is good to make sure that all the Jewish traditions are organized in a timeline that works for you. This is your Mitzvah to decide how it should flow.

How many guests did you have?

They ended up with 163 guests–almost half of them were kids.

Sydney and her friends had an excellent time and at the end of the night a trolly brought them all back to the hotel. Great way to end the night with a fun trolly ride!

To see more mitzvah images from Robin Reiss Photography click here!

ALL-Wedding 01-NEWCover

Senior Photography … Highlight on FSU bound – Reagan Wimberly!

Senior Photography Highlight of the week!

A Senior photography session is a great way to capture this moment in time and really focus and celebrate all of the graduates hard work and success. It is certain that this teen has a lot to celebrate! As you can see she is not only gorgeous, but has such a sweet, calm, soul and demeanor. Not only that but she is the oldest of one of my favorite families ever! I am highlighting these senior photography sessions to give these seniors a little bit back from the rest of the senior year that was lost due to this pandemic. Teens are such an inspiration, I hope these bring joy to others seeing that life is still moving forward in a positive direction.

Oh the places you will go!

Reagan wanted a session that was in somewhat of an urban session and also beachy. For that reason, Dunedin was the perfect spot! Reagan choose 4 looks, casual, dressy, cap and gown, and FSU college shirt! I always suggest at least 4 outfits and props if you were in a club or an activity. Some kids even bring their car as a prop! To see more senior portrait session tips click here!

At Sickles Reagan had 8 AP classes, an A average in all her honors classes, honor roll all the way through. With all of these accomplishments she was awarded an AP capstone diploma!

All these hard classes didn’t stop her from being extremely active. She was in Interact Club for 3 years, American Sign Club, PTSA Club, Kids First Club, and National Honor Society.

This girl is so well rounded! Sports are one of her passions as well! Juggling all of the above plus was captain of the Lacrosse team, Varsity Soccer Team at Sickles and also was team captain for Tampa Bay United Soccer Club.

Volunteering also kept her busy with a total of 114 hours through various mission trips, homeless meals, 5k’s and more!

Florida State University is lucky to have this top notch kiddo! With out a doubt, she will knock her pre-med studies out of the park! Eventually, Reagan wants to go to PA school. This well rounded girl is also looking forward to tailgates and sorority life ❤️💛❤️💛!

Tampa senior pictures Bella Class of 2020 from Alonso High School

Tampa senior pictures Bella- Alonso High School, Class of 2020

As a result of the Coronavirus, tampa senior class of 2020 and all over the world are not getting the send off that every senior dreams of. They have put in hard work, loads of time and their blood sweat and tears into getting to this point that they should be painting the town red! But now with the home lock downs, they are far from that. Without a doubt they deserve some recognition! Robin Reiss Photography has done tampa senior pictures for some amazing young adults and will be spot lighting some of our very special seniors that were born in the year of 9/11 and now graduating during a pandemic.

Meet AHS Class of 2020 Senior, Bella!

With spring upon us, hers is a gallery to inspire you for your spring or summer senior session with Robin Reiss Photography! If you live in Tampa, you know how well Alonso’s girls flag football team did last year! Obviously, with the state title win Bella had to include her uniform, football and even her ring and medal as part of her senior pictures! I always encourage seniors to bring as much as they can to tell their story. Bella did a great job in bringing lots of props to incorporate into her shoot! For more ideas for senior pictures check out this recent blog post!

Alonso senior is more than just an athlete and a pretty face…

Yes, she is cute as a button and all in all a skilled athlete. Bella is also a very well rounded student. She will graduate as an Honor Grad and is Secretary of the Senior Class, President of the Key Club, 2 -year Editor in Chief of the Yearbook, Captain of the Alonso Girls Varsity Golf Team, Secretary of FBLA, member of the girls Flag Football team, Beta Club, NHS, Rho Kappa, and Environmental Club. As a result of all of her hard work she was accepted into every Florida School she applied to. She will be a welcomed addition to FSU in the fall where she is going to study Journalism, communications, and marketing.

Personality Plus!

Above all, Bella is outgoing, with a sweet personality, kind heart, positive attitude, and is accepting of everyone. She is the total package which is going to take her far in life!

Best of luck to you Bella! We can not wait to see how your life unfolds! I’m so thankful I was able to spend time with and was able to get to know you and your mom!

Westchase photographer photographs families on their doorsteps. #thefrontstepsproject

Westchase photographer offering doorstep shoot to support local businesses.

It’s a really perplexing time for makers, restaurants, service professionals, small business owners and event professionals so it’s time to get creative on how to help one another during this coronavirus pandemic! At this time, I think we all feel a little (or a lot) stressed out, giving back to others will help. As a westchase photographer I wanted to give back to my community, but how? Then I had several of my friends tell me about #thefrontstepsproject.

As a photographer I capture moments in life. Creating a few more smiles and laughs during this crazy time will help overall anxiety. Robin Reiss photography is doing something a little different during the next few weeks. In other words, I am offering front porch photo session while keeping a distance. Obviously social distancing is so important so we will not making direct contact. You will have a time when I am coming and we will spend 5 to minutes capturing your families portrait on your door step! Afterwards, I will send you the digital copies of what we capture.

Contact us to schedule your time.

This is a pay what you can opportunity- buy any denomination gift card from a local business in the Westchase area. Then give it to someone who works in either the events, hospitality or service industry. As a westchase photographer this will help business in the westchase area where we live and also help those who are in the same industry as I am the wedding and events industry. You can choose to give the gift card directly to someone who you know personally. In addition, I can take the gift card and give it to the people I know who are affected. Or Waterchase resident Stephanie Wilson had a great idea! She asked me for the name of a person and she is personally going to mail the gift card with a note of encouragement. Just love this extra step to give an extra does of love and support!

I will be doing these sessions in the Westchase area for the next few weeks.

Do you feel like a bum and need an excuse to shower and get ready? Great! If you are hanging in your jammies, and kids are in dress up outfits? Even better! This is to capture this moment in time as we are.

It’s a win win, you help businesses in the westchase area and those who have lost their jobs! Ready to sign up? It’s easy! Click the link to contact me to set up your time… www.robinreiss.com

#thefrontstepsproject

westchase photographer tampa famiy photographer — Westchase family photographer is offering doorstep photo sessions to raise money to those in the hospitality industry who have lost their jobs.