Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/4 ISO 400 1/1250thAfter the training portion of the MIC event at the Treasure Island Yacht & Tennis Club came the social and relaxing portion.  Besides a large buffet spread there was a roving magician and a live 7-piece band performing.  During a break, I had a chance to meet some of the members of the John Kelly Band.  They were all very friendly.

Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/4 ISO 200 1/1250thThere was a bit of a challenge in photographing the band in the form of a very large pool being right in front of the stage (lengthwise).  Now when I photographed a band on the very same stage for New Year's Eve 2009, the pool was covered with a very expensive plexiglass cover.  At first I almost walked into the pool just trying to get a more natural shooting angle.

Tim Poole - Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/2.8 ISO 200 1/1000thShooting from extreme angles I tried to get as clean of backgrounds as I could.  I used my Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens wide open at f/2.8 and sometimes a bit stopped down at f/4 (for improved sharpness).  

Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/8 ISO 320 1/160th with Nikon SB-800 Speedlight hotshoe mounted in TTL mode with diffuser capI switched lenses to my wide angle for the one vantage point I could get close to the stage from the, right rear side.  The band was being mostly front lit by the late afternoon sun so I used my SB-800 to add some needed fill light while still being able to keep the blue of the sky.  Manual exposure mode was necessary for the above shot to produce the results I wanted.  

John Kelly - Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/4 ISO 400 1/1000thTo be honest, when I am concentrating on shooting as much as I was to figure out how to best photograph the band, I am not too aware of much else.  So I heard the songs the John Kelly Band were playing, but only in the background of my senses.  Thus I cannot really comment too much on what type of music they play.

Geni Poole - Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/2.8 ISO 400 1/1000thMore information about the John Kelly Band: 

• John Kelly Band on Facebook 
• official website

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Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/4 ISO 800 1/200th Nikon SB-800 Speedlight hotshoe mounted with diffuser capA professional photographer needs to be both very flexible and always ready to take a job.  Out of the blue this afternoon a contact at Treasure Island Yacht & Tennis Club called me asking if I could photograph an event going on . . . now.  When I got the call at 2:31pm I was actually at the Rusty Pelican in Tampa scouting it out for a wedding I will be photographing there in a few weeks and I was supposed to take care of two other things even further away from St. Petersburg where the yacht & tennis club is.  I did not want to turn down the job, so I said I could make it back across the bay and be on site by 4pm.    

Bill Edwards giving a presentation at the Treasure Island Yacht & Tennis Club

I had to first stop at home and pick up my photography gear and grab a quick sandwich as I would be shooting for 3 hours (4pm to 7pm).  This is another important point, a photographer should always have his/her gear at least semi-ready for shooting.  I plan on writing a full blog post on this soon.  I have photographed two other events and a wedding at TIYTC so I am very familiar with shooting there and also the layout of the club.  This of course gave me confidence about being able to just swoop in and start shooting.

Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/4 ISO 800 1/40th Nikon SB-800 Speedlight hotshoe mounted with diffuser cap

I was told to try and use flash as little as possible, which means high ISO shots.  They also requested a group shot of everyone in the conference room right in the middle of the event so there was no time to place any strobes in the back of the room or anything.  I just moved a few placards out of the way, went to the far back corner of the room up on a little stage, set my shutter speed as slow as I dared (1/40th) and was thankful that 17mm was just wide enough to get everyone in plus a bonus staff member on the far left.  

This event had a whole other outdoor phase to it which will be in a future post.

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Sand Key Florida -- Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/11 ISO 200 1/100th Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/2 power with diffuser cap on light stand to frame left

Being patient and persistent allowed for these images of Olivia for this Bride Series collection, as well as spontaneous.  Soon after her wedding ceremony, a huge storm rumbled across Sand Key Beach forcing us to take cover for over twenty minutes.  It was already getting close to sunset time and I really thought we would have no more portrait opportunities.  Then as suddenly as the storm arrived, the rain ceased leaving behind a dramatic sky background over the Gulf of Mexico.

Nikon D80 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8 lens @ f/8 ISO 200 1/640th natural lightThis is Olivia as she is getting ready to walk down the sandy beach aisle, before the storm.  The weather was still calm then and the sun was giving off its usual warm glow of late evening.  It is the ideal time for natural light portraits.  

Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/11 ISO 400 1/100th Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/2 power with diffuser cap on light stand to frame leftI mentioned before being spontaneous helped.  This photograph was very impromptu (as was the lead image).  As we were leaving our respective shelters, they from their cars (too hot for me) and me from the changing room covered open air deck, on our way to the beach I liked the green grass background and thought it would be a unique shot to have amongst all the other on sand shots.  Olivia was willing to leap up onto the railing of the boardwalk.  I quickly setup my light stand and dialed in the settings.  I was very happy we made the effort to get these shots.  

Nikon D80 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/8 ISO 200 1/400th natural lightSo what could have ended up as a very shortened wedding portrait session turned into an opportunity for portraits with a unique and dramatic backdrop.  Over this summer I have come to actually prefer stormy sky backdrops over ordinary calm sunset skies.  Thanks to Olivia for being so open to all my ideas.

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Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/4 ISO 200 1/1000thSt. Petersburg children's loss was St. Petersburg dogs' gain.  With the end of the summer swim season at Fossil Park Pool (info), it was opened up to canines.  No humans allowed in the water at all.  This event was very popular.  When we arrived at 11:20am the pool was at maximum capacity already.  We had to wait until a dog left before we could get in, but only a short time.

Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/4 ISO 200 1/1600thProbably the St. Petersburg Times was even at the pool earlier covering it because as I was shooting with my somewhat long Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens, several people asked me if I was with the press.  I said thank you, I am a professional photographer, but I am not working today, only photographing my own dog, Kiki (other dog photos taken with permission).

Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/4 ISO 200 1/2000thI am glad I asked if I could photograph other dogs because even though Kiki is a very good swimmer, and really loves to swim, her first time at a pool seemed to be a scary experience for her.  That expression on her face above would be panic.  I encouraged her to go in the water, but she immediately turned back toward the wall of the pool and tried to pull herself out.  I think she did not want to swim because I was not allowed in the water also.  At the dog beach, she always waits for me to go into the water with her, never going in by herself.

sad puppyAll the other dogs were having a great time diving in, retrieving noodles and lying submerged on the steps of the pool.  All Kiki would do was jump on the first step getting her feet wet.  

Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/4 ISO 200 1/1250thAfter shaking off the pool water she went back to her usual dark park mode, which is looking for another willing dog to wrestle and chase.  She made several friends and started a dry land game of chase the noodle.

Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/4 ISO 200 1/1000thThe great things about dogs, though, is that they recover almost instantly and after the pool swimming trauma Kiki was almost immediately all smiles again.  For dog lovers this was a great event and I am glad I heard about it (via a friend on Facebook).

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Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/11 ISO 200 7-bracket HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseFor me it is always nice to get a commercial real estate job because it provides a welcome change of pace to the usual people-based photography I do.  In some ways, it is much easier to photograph a bedroom or a kitchen or a living room.  Nothing is moving around, nothing blinks, nothing is camera shy, and perhaps best of all it's air conditioned!  Then again, lighting a room or small or large size presents its own challenges.  Furniture does need to be posed, or rather arranged, for best presentation.  Which angle most flatters the room?  What elements get left along the edges of the frame (bit of crown molding above) and which get cropped out (painted wall to the right)?

Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/11 ISO 200 9-bracket HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseI chose to use mostly HDR to make the photographs for Barefoot Beach Resort in Clearwater.  I tried some two-strobe setups, but in the end all but one image I delivered to the client was HDR.  The one non-HDR shot was of a small kitchen where I could not setup my tripod, but rather had to climb up on a counter and almost lay down!  That was actually kind of fun.  

Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/11 ISO 200 7-bracket HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseOther challenges of doing open window room photographer include reflections.  The above photograph of a master bedroom had a window to the right of the frame which I wanted open (well the blinds actually) as it provided needed light, but it also caused a huge reflection on the painting on the wall above the bed.  You cannot see it now because of some careful, and tedious cloning work.  Then there was the setup.  French doors lead out to the Florida room (middle photo) and are a main feature of the master bedroom.  Working with the client we decided that just that much of the French doors in the shot was enough to portray them to viewers while still showing a good portion of the bedroom as well as the hallway to more show some of the layout of the condo.

Working with a tripod and without people as subjects meant I could really take my time and setup and frame the shots exactly how I thought best with input from the client too, without worry of the subject matter getting tired.

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