Model Portfolio Shoot in Vinoy Park St. Petersburg at Sunset with Shane

Featuring The Pier in the background of this model portfolio shot - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 @1/2 power with diffuser cap to frame left & SB-600 @ 1/4 power with diffuser cap to frame rightI met Shane through Model Mahem and we soon setup a model portfolio shoot deciding on Vinoy Park in downtown St. Petersburg as the location and I suggested having the main shot idea to feature The Pier in the background, since in its current form it will only be around another two years or so.  That is the photograph featured above with me shooting from flat on my stomach to get the composition I wanted.  In the fading dusk light I thought that black & white suited the image better than the minimal color left in the original.

The setting sun blazes the sky yellow in this model portfolio shot - - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/250th Strobist: SB-600 @1/4 power with diffuser cap to frame left & SB-800 @ 1/4 power with diffuser cap to frame rightScheduling our model portofolio shoot just in time to catch the last bit of the sunset, I was able to make the above shot featuring a vivid yellow sky as the background from our vantage point in Vinoy Park and still include some of the local features in the background to put the photograph in a specific setting context, instead of a generic sunset that could have been anywhere.  Once again I was lying flat on my stomach to make the above shot.

The lights of The Pier provide the bokeh in this night shot - - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 @1/2 power with diffuser cap to frame left & SB-600 @ 1/4 power with diffuser cap to frame rightThis was the final shot I took of the model portfolio session.  I always like to end on an image that I know I will actually use, whenever possible.  In my model portfolio shoots quantity is not the goal, but rather producing a select few images that neither I nor the model already have in their portfolios, unless a model approaches me to recreate one of my shots.  I knew even before scheduling the shoot I wanted to make a shot like this featuring the lights of The Pier as bokeh in the background.

Shane was a great model and expressed the exact right emotions I was looking for in order to make these photographs.