Spotlight: Brian Tietz for Florida Trend Magazine

Fort Myers, Florida-based photographer Brian Tietz recently did a shoot for Florida Trend Magazine. Brian is a well-versed contributor to Florida Trend, a monthly business publication that covers news, issues, and trends affecting Florida’s economy, industries, and leaders. The client needed images to tell the story of the Fort Myers community in Southwest Florida, overtaken by a direct hit of a Category 4 hurricane. The goal was to show how businesses and people recovered two years after the storm. The full recovery from Hurricane Ian is likely another three years or more away. The images needed to show the recovery efforts and the challenges that remained as the area worked to rebuild.

Ironically, shortly after the story came out, we were hit with 2 more storms, Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, and even though these were not a direct hit, they did a significant amount of damage to the recovery efforts on Fort Myers Beach, as well as Sanibel and Captiva Islands.

Pre-Planning

The assignment began when Gary Bernloehr, Art Director for Florida Trend, reached out to Brian with the story concept and a list of subjects who were interviewed, hinting at its potential as a cover story.

I do a lot of environmental portraiture for editorial publications. It is one of my favorite things to shoot. I have a background in photojournalism as well, and of course there is the drone work that I have really embraced and that has given me a whole new way to view things differently.

Challenges

The portraits were primarily captured on Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel, both of which bore the brunt of Ian’s force. The conditions posed challenges due to the region’s intense heat and humidity, even during early morning shoots. Working under mid-80s temperatures, Brian’s approach was efficient, ensuring the sessions wrapped within 10-15 minutes to keep subjects comfortable. A single light in a large octa was used to maintain consistent lighting.

Brian shot this project without an assistant, which he didn’t mind since it helped him get stronger connections with his subjects. This setting allowed for open, candid conversations as subjects shared personal experiences of Hurricane Ian, from evacuation stories to the long wait for power and internet restoration. These interactions not only eased the subjects into the shoot but infused the portraits with a genuine emotional layer.

Brian was able to get everything shot within 2 weeks. Since summer is a rainy season in southwest Florida, he had to reschedule a few shots because of the weather, but everything went smoothly.

A rewarding outcome of this assignment was Brian’s relationship with the City of Sanibel’s Public Information Officer. Impressed by his work, the city later commissioned him for a series of environmental portraits of City Council members and headshots of city employees.

See more of Brian’s work on his website.

Credits
Florida Trend Art Direction: Gary Bernloehr

Further Reading
Read more articles about Brian Tietz.
Read more Photographer Spotlight articles about our other photographers.

Let us help you Find Photographers, source Stock Images,
Produce Your Shoot — or just reach out to hear more!