They chose Downtown Norfolk because they had wanted to get a shot with the U.S.S. Wisconsin battleship as part of their backdrop.

While the sun was still pretty high in the sky, we photographed them along the Japanese garden at Pagoda Park.

We all then walked around the surrounding neighborhood for some fall-like look with all the leaves on the ground.

There were lots of great spots just right next to the Pagoda Park where the neighborhood had old brick-stone homes and cobble streets.

We then walked a few more blocks in and around the surrounding homes, and photographed them a few more for their portraits before heading back out to the U.S.S. Wisconsin.

Once we got back to the battleship, the sun was just beginning to set and gave us some great lighting to get some shots of Matthew and Maggie.

We had a great time photographing Matthew and Maggie! If you are interested in booking a portrait session with us, please feel free to contact us at anytime!

Melissa won our FREE Portraits contest on Facebook and had decided to do couple portraits during her college break with her boyfriend Lance.

Both chose Northwest River Park in Chesapeake because of the natural setting that produced beatiful fall colors during this time of the year.

We started out walking through trails and just went through the park together and stopped along key points where we photographed them.

The session began early in the morning where the sun was just at the right position where the light just started to penetrate through treeline and leaves.

Lance and Melissa were such a great couple to photograh which truly shows in the photos we took, they were very open to ideas and allowed us to work freely and get the right shots.

If you’re interested in booking a portrait session, please feel free to contact us to book today.

“Words can not express how happy my husband and I are with our pictures that Mark and Crystal took. There are so many great shots that we are having a tough time trying to decide which ones to chose for the CD because we want them all. They were professional and were happy to work with our ideas and creativity to produce exactly what we wanted. Thank you Mark and Crystal for everything. My husband and I recommend Gamboa Photos to anyone that is looking for a great photography service in Hampton Roads and beyond!”

- Jenny A., 11/12/2011

View Travis and Hannah’s Engagement Portraits

Crystal and I photographed Kathleen, Kyle, and their two awesome kids Ryan and Charlie at their home and a nearby by park this past Sunday for their family portraits in Virginia Beach.

As soon as we pulled right up their driveway, the kids came out and happily welcomed us with excitement ready to get their photos taken.

After photographing the family in front of their home, we headed out to a nearby park to capture them playing and getting a few candids of the kids.

The shot above was when I had them throwing a frisbee towards me to get a shot of the kids trying to catch it, it’s also about the same time I got pegged on the leg with the frisbee! But… I got the shot

After getting a few more shots of the family at the park, we headed back to their house to get a few more of their photos taken there.

As Kathleen, Kyle, Ryan and Charlie were walking back, I managed to get the shot above.

We had them play around a few more times at their front yard and then captured the below. We had them lay on the grass surrounded by the colorful leaves that had fallen on the yard.

Photographing this amazing family was a real treat! Ryan and Charlie were very energetic and were fun to photograph. Overall we had a great family portrait session with them and it couldn’t have gone any better! And at no time was I injured by getting pegged by the frisbee on the leg (Great shot Kyle) !

Book your family portraits today and contact us!

On 11/11/11 Veteran’s Day, we photographed Travis and Jenny at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens for their couple portraits.

We met up with Travis and Jenny at the welcome center and walked towards the Rennaisance Courtyard.

They had requested to be photographed in multiple outfits, and the first was with Travis in his Navy dress blues with Jenny in her black dress.

Then for their second choice of outfits, fall sweaters with jeans which really matched the fall colors all around.

We had asked them to bring out some props, and so they did! Travis and Jenny had created outlines of two states, Illinois (where Jenny is from) and Oregon (where Travis is from) with red hearts in the middle

While walking towards the Renaissance Courtyard, we found a Gazebo hidden within the trails and trees along the way, we stopped by and took some quick shots.

We then found ourselves right next tot the courtyard where Travis and Jenny had wanted to be photographed after they have scouted the Botanical Gardens the other day.

Once we had take care of the shots at the Renaissance Courtyard, Travis and Jenny had switched to their third and final outfits which was their football team shirts with jeans.

They also brought over a football as another prop, which they used and played with while Crystal and I captured their moments.

This particular portrait session was just simply awesome! Travis and Jenny were such a great couple to work with, very easy going and very open to ideas we threw out!

Overall we are very pleased and happy with the shots we had taken today, and Crystal and I had a great time photographing these wonderful couple!

If you are interested in booking a portrait session with us, please feel free to contact us!

I searched all over Hampton Roads for a great photographer that I loved and I am so glad that I choose Mark & Crystal! They made our photo session effortless and they were such a joy to be around. Our photos are unbelievable… they are better than what I was hoping for! I can’t wait for them to shoot our wedding!

- Hannah O., 11/11/2011

View Travis and Hannah’s Engagement Portraits

Their engagement portrait session started just about an hour before sunset and the sun was setting along the Back Bay side of Sandbridge.

John and Hannah wanted to capture more candid shots rather than formals during their session and also had created awesome props to use.

One of the props they had created was a sign tied along a string that had their wedding date written on it. We then found a spot along the nature trail where we were able to hang the sign and photograph them along a tree that Hannah found very beautiful and interesting.

They had also created a second prop in which Hannah had painted a pink heart-shaped board with their initials pictured a the top of this post. We very delighted that they had brought props with them to add on some more creativeness to their photos!

Although John and Hannah made it look warm during their engagement session, it was actually quite cool and the wind had started to pick up along the water side.

We were able to time it just right that day so that by the time we had gone through the trails for the most part that near the end of the session, the sun was just setting perfectly along the horizon.

John and Hannah did an amazing job during their engagement session, they were very easy to work with and was able to add further creativity with the props they had created! If you are interested in booking your engagement session, please feel free to contact us!

Crystal and I have been so busy with doing lots of shoots in the past couple of months, that lately we haven’t had a chance to just have fun for a night and just hoot for the heck of it.

Having shot Heidi before, we invited her to the Town Center in Virginia Beach to shoot under different conditions the new gear and to record behind the scenes video of the session.

Although it was a bit of a cold night, we marched on around the streets of Town Center which was actually pretty well lit, enough for me to get away with shooting with no flash. I was shooting with a Canon 5D mk II with a 24-70mm f2.8 mounted with 580ex II speedlite.

While I shot Heidi, Crystal recorded behind the scenes video with the Canon 7D with a 50mm f1.4 mounted while occasionally switching with the Rokinon 8mm f3.5 fisheye lens for some of the street shots.

Overall the test shoot at Town Center in Virginia Beach went well, got to try out the Canon 5D mk II in various conditions and at the same time just having fun with a good friend of ours while at the same time grabbing some neat video with the Canon 7D. Afterwards, we headed out to our favorite Korean Restaurants in Virginia Beach called ASAHI right off of Independence Boulevard – we highly recommend it, awesome food and great people

Hope you guys enjoy the photos as well as the behind the scenes video that we just put together real quick!

Alex and Kristy had decided to go with two locations because Kristy likes an outdoor natural setting, while Alex enjoyed the beach.

Although the weather was quite cold that day, Alex and Kristy made it seem like it was still summer during the session!

Around the time of the shoot, the sun was setting just behind the trees giving us a great backdrop for some of shots like the one pictured above.

Before heading out to the north-end of Virginia Beach, we sat them down on a nearby bench along the trail to get a nice shot of Kristy’s engagement ring.

After about an hour of shooting at Red Wing Park, we drove out to the north-end of Virginia Beach and photographed Alex and Kristy at the Lynnhaven Pier area.

Despite the cold weather and wind at the beach, we were able to all work through it and get the shots for Alex and Kristy’s engagement portraits! They were a great couple to work with and their chemistry through the shoot was fantastic! They were very easy to work with and open to many of the ideas we had in mind.

If you’re interested in getting your engagement portraits taken, feel free to contact us today!

Corey and Sarah had requested to be photographed where their proposal had taken place, so with permission from Keagan’s were able to do so during a weekend in the summer.

We were fortunate enough that day to be able to photograph them at the bar where there were less people and we were able to get our equipment setup.

As the session progressed forward, less and less people came to the bar, giving our team a chance to take advantage of the moment and make use of the entire scene.

Another request from Corey and Sarah was to post up the same banner Corey had used to propose to Sarah, so with the help of our trusty assistant Kevin, he was able to hold out the sign for us while taking the shot

The whole team had a great time photographing Corey and Sarah at Keagan’s Irish Pub & Restaurant at the Town Center in Virginia Beach, and we had blast at their wedding just this past weekend! We can’t wait to share those teasers to everyone so stay tuned!