Entries in model (14)
Model Portfolio Shoot at the new Dali Museum St. Petersburg Florida with Abby
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 2:16PM Jason Collin 
Model Portfolio Shoot - Abby with New Dali Museum background - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/4 ISO 640 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 Speedlight to frame left & SB-600 Speedlight behind model
I was first in contact with model Abby back in October when she was in the process of moving to and getting settled in St. Petersburg. We were able to schedule a model portfolio shoot this week on a beautiful Florida winter evening using the new Dali Museum as a backdrop, a location I had been wanting to use for awhile.
Abby surrounded by bokeh using "sandwich lighting" - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR Micro @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame right both @ 1/4 powerNot only did I get to try out a new location for this shoot, but also some new strobist techniques, like what I am calling the "sandwich lighting" technique seen in the photograph above. I placed one speedlight on each side of Abby with no front or backlight intending to create dramatic and defining shadows. The bokeh is a result of lights strung on trees.
Abby was a tireless jumper! - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5 ISO 200 1/200th Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame right about 45 degrees eachWhen I first mentioned my thoughts for this shoot with Abby, I said I wanted to make some of the images dynamic, involving motion in some way. She was all for a jumping shot and I did not realize while shooting just how many times she jumped until I started the editing process at home and saw over 20 shots to choose from! Abby's vertical leap is very impressive. This was a fun shot to make.
Abby among the ribbons of the wishing tree at the Dali Museum - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1/200th natural lightWe started out the shoot with some natural light shots around what I call the "wishing tree" behind the Dali Museum where visitors tie their entrance bracelts to long green ribbons, often with wishes or messages written on them.
A famous Dali melting clock on a bench with model Abby - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1/200th natural lightAnyone familiar with Dali's work will recognize the melting clock image. This is part of a bench in the very nice grounds surrounding the museum. I had Abby start by lying down on the bench, but I found myself liking this pose much more as overall I was looking to make less traditional model looking images.
A view of downtown St. Petersburg behind model Abby - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/200th Strobist: SB-800 just to camera left & SB-600 to model's rightOver the course of the shoot Abby and I found out that we have some very rare things in common, including our college majors, having visited Thailand and that our parents currently live in the same small area of Florida. Along with Abby's ability to come up with numerous, great poses, this made the shoot one of my most enjoyable ever.
Dali lights up at night in this model portfolio shot - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/4 ISO 400 1/20th Strobist: SB-800 to left of camera & SB-600 behind modelWe started the shoot at the ideal time allowing us to begin with natural light shots, moving toward twilight shots before ending with some night shots making use of the lights of the Dali Museum for the background.
Lens flare on purpose modeling portfolio image - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/200th Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightIt was very nice to meet and work with Abby and I would recommend her for anyone who needs a model for a project as she is professional, very easy to work with and of course beautiful. You can see more of her work on Model Mahem.
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Tampa Model Urban Portfolio Shoot with Stephanie
Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 11:36PM Jason Collin 
Pay phones may not be around much longer, I will be sad to see them go -- Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-600 to frame left
During this portfolio shoot with model Stephanie in and around downtown Tampa a telephone theme began to just naturally get created. I did not think about it at the time, but upon editing the above photo I realized that pay phones will not be around much longer. Probably anyone under age twenty today has never nor will ever use one. I find it very interesting the things that become obsolete in a society.
Similarly, phonebooks will become relics -- Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/80th Strobist: SB-600 to frame leftIt seems only natural that if pay phones disappear, so too will phonebooks. I cannot say that the last few phonebooks did anything but immediately go into the hallway closet and then eventually the recycling bin. We found this old, decaying phonebook near an equally old and decaying house. It was my idea to add the cellphone to the shot to contrast with the phonebook.
Analog technology in ruin -- Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/2.8 ISO 400 1/400th Strobist: SB-600 to frame rightI really enjoyed making these nontraditional modeling shots with Stephanie and I appreciate her being open to so many unusual ideas. She interacted with all the urban props we found in juxtaposition to how she was dressed, in flowing summer dress.
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Florida beach bikini model commercial photography
Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 3:22PM Jason Collin 
Model: Monica Location: Sunset Beach Treasure Island Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/2.8 ISO 200 1/3200th
If you are looking for a place to warm up this winter, Sunset Beach on Treasure Island, St. Petersburg, Florida is a great choice. In this collection of natural light photographs bikini model Monica makes a strong case for Florida tourism if not out right relocation!
Model: Monica Location: Sunset Beach Treasure Island Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/2.8 ISO 200 1/2000thOne does not swim in the ocean on the west coast of Florida, but rather the Gulf of Mexico. This means much warmer water year round as well as calm conditions out on the water. Dolphins are a common sight. In the above photograph Monica emerges from the Gulf in dramatic fashion.
Model: Monica Location: Sunset Beach Treasure Island Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/2.8 ISO 200 1/2000thThose warm and calm conditions also make Florida's gulfcoast beaches ideal places to put your beach towel down on the white sand and just enjoy the tranquility. The end to most days on the gulfcoast is punctuated with a fantastic sunset like the one Monica is watching above.
Model: Monica Location: Sunset Beach Treasure Island Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/2.8 ISO 200 1/1250thIf you live in a cold place and have to suffer through a harsh winter, well then I hope these images have helped to warm you up a little and that you visit Florida to thaw out on your winter vacation. Be sure and contact me for great Florida beach portraits while you are here.
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Commercial Wedding Shoot with Models at Courtyard Marriott St. Petersburg Florida
Friday, August 12, 2011 at 3:13PM Jason Collin 
Commercial Wedding Photography on historic tile floor at Courtyard Marriott -- SETUP: f/5.6 1/80th ISO 400 STROBIST: SB-800 @ 1/2 power with shoot-through umbrella on light stand 9' high behind model & SB-600 @ 1/4 power with diffuser cap to frame right held by assistantThis was my most complex indoor shoot to date involving two models, two makeup artists, a dress designer, a florist, a caterer, a hotel sales manger and one photographer's assistant. I am very happy to say it turned out to be perhaps my best indoor photography work to date. It is very satisfying when a big team effort results in such final images.
I had worked with the bride model, Nancy, before on a commercial fashion shoot in Safety Harbor. The sales manager, Ryan, of the Courtyard Marriott, who hired me to makes these images, I had met in weeks past at a networking event then in subsequent meetings discussing various photography projects. My photographer's assistant was Natasha, a former DSLR Photography Lesson student. When you can have that many people you already know on a photo job, it makes it much more comfortable.
The above shot of Nancy sitting on the historic tile floor of the hotel was my idea, which I came up with on a survey of the hotel a few weeks before the shoot itself. I am standing on a marble staircase (pictured below) offering the perfect logistics to make this kind of shot. I wanted to go with a muted light setup producing a bit of a natural vignette to the image as I chose to most prominently light the model in the center.
St. Petersburg Commercial Wedding Photography - Models Brad & Nancy framed by arching historic doorways - SETUP: f/4 ISO 200 1/60th STROBIST: SB-800 @ 1/4 power with reflective umbrella on light stand to frame left & SB-600 @ 1/4 power with diffuser cap to frame right held by assistantThis archway shot was another I had previsioned during a location scout of the hotel. I really like repeating patterns and these archways caught my eye right away. There were actually three arches, but the first one could not be worked into the shot. This photograph turned out just as I had imagined.
St. Petersburg Commercial Wedding Photography - Nancy reflected in the swimming pool - SETUP: f/5.6 ISO 200 1/100th STROBIST: SB-800 @ 1/2 power with shoot-through umbrella on light stand to frame left & SB-600 @ 1/2 power with diffuser cap to frame right held by assistantThe bride reflected in the pool was another pre-planned shot. As you might be able to tell, being able to scout a location some time before the scheduled shoot is advantageous as one then can move from location to location and concentrate more on executing the shot at best as possible rather than where will the next shot even be. Again, I am pleased with how the shot turned out because due to the width of the pool I could not get my speedlights that close to Nancy, but as it turned out there was no lack of light for the shot.
St. Petersburg Commercial Wedding Photography - Models Brad & Nancy on the historic marble staircase - SETUP: f/4 ISO 400 1/100th STROBIST: SB-800 @ 1/2 power with shoot-through umbrella on light stand 9' high behind me & SB-600 @ 1/4 power with diffuser cap to frame right held by assistantThe original marble staircase was something the hotel sales manager definitely wanted to showcase in one of the shots. I previsioned perhaps the bride walking down the staircase or maybe the bride on the bottom of the staircase being helped down by the groom, but thanks to the models' creativity with their posing, I liked this shot the best of the staircase series. I cannot say how much it helps a photographer to work with great models! It makes my job so much easier.
St. Petersburg Commercial Wedding Photography - Models Brad & Nancy facing the original hotel elevator - SETUP: f/5.6 ISO 400 1/80th STROBIST: SB-800 @ 1/2 power with shoot-through umbrella on light stand 9' high behind models & SB-600 @ 1/4 power with diffuser cap to frame right held by assistant
To feature the hotel's original elevator I chose to once again use the nearby marble staircase as a vantage point. Shooting straight on to the elevator produced a flat shot. I felt shooting from above like this created a dynamic image showing the bride & groom's anticipation, while at the same time including the elevator in the shot, as well as the original tile floor. I chose also to again keep the lighting soft & muted, to help create that classic look.
St. Petersburg Commercial Wedding Photography - carrying the bride over the threshold - SETUP: f/5.6 ISO 400 1/80th STROBIST: SB-800 @ 1/4 power with shoot-through umbrella on light stand to frame left & SB-600 @ 1/8th power with diffuser cap pointed at back hallway wall handheld by assistant
There was no trouble to light up the models from the front (within the room), but this meant the hallway looked very dark. The solution was to place one speedlight on the left of the door frame pointing toward the opposite wall. Not only did this fill the hallway with light, it provided a strong backlight to the shot.
St. Petersburg Commercial Wedding Photography - models using their own creativity - SETUP: f/4 ISO 400 1/100th STROBIST: SB-800 @ 1/2 power with shoot-through umbrella on light stand @ 1/4 power in bedroom to the right & SB-600 @ 1/16th power with diffuser cap to frame left directly on the floor pointing straight up Both Nancy and I had the same idea for a through the doorway bedroom scene shot. However, her and Brad came up with the pose and prop setup (shoe placement, jacket coming half off) on their own, which I would say made the shot nearly entirely if not for the tremendous challenge I had trying to light everything. It was by far the hardest shot to light for me ever. Getting rid of shadows behind Brad was the main challenge. Putting the second speedlight on the floor behind him solved it, after lots of trial and error. Ultimately I did have to clone out one shadow along the right side of the bed from umbrella edge spill. This was also the last shot of the day (3.5 hours of straight shooting!) so it was great to end on one so challenging.
I appreciate the work of everyone at the hotel that day helping make the images in this photo story.
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Cadillac CTS with Model Tampa Commercial Car Photography Part 2
Monday, June 13, 2011 at 10:54PM Jason Collin 
Model: Amber Car: Cadillac CTS setup: f/11 ISO 200 1/100th strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power to frame left, SB-600 @ 1/2 power to frame center-right
This second set of photographs featuring model Amber and a Cadillac CTS photographed in front of the Tampa Convention Center feature some of the images chosen by the client (part 1 featured my initial favorites from the shoot). It is always interesting to me to see which photographs the client chooses as compared to the ones I chose. This time, only one photograph of the client's ten purchased images overlapped with one of my top three. We were close on a second, with the client choosing just a slightly different pose than the one I did. Too bad about that too because I had already done the major edit (removing several background buildings) on the pose I chose!
Model: Amber Car: Cadillac CTS Setup: f/10 ISO 200 1/200th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power to frame left, SB-600 @ 1/4 power to frame center-rightAll that said, the three featured client choices in this post are now also in my favorites as well. I believe it is really important to get one or more sets of eyes on all the photographs from a shoot in order to really discover all the best ones. If the client had not chosen these, I may never have bothered to give any of them a full edit and thus they would have never made it onto my site or into my portfolio.
The idea to have Amber look at her watch as if she were bored or waiting impatiently on someone was my own. The client had told me at the beginning of the shoot that he wanted an element of the unattainable, of something hard to maintain, hard to keep. So I thought if you want to have a beautiful woman and a cool car, you better arrive on time, at the very least!
Model: Amber Car: Cadillac CTS Setup: f/11 ISO 200 1/100th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power to frame left, SB-600 @ 1/2 power to frame center-rightThis was a great project to work on as the client provided me with a clear vision for the photographs while at the same time letting me put my own creative touch on the setup of the shots. Plus, add in a model who can pose gracefully on the hood of a car (not easy!). That equals pretty much the ideal situation.