Entries in strobist (94)
Social Media Portraits with Kevin in Tierre Verde St. Petersburg Florida
Friday, May 10, 2013 at 3:18PM Jason Collin 
Social media portrait with a puppy in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/125th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in 43" brolly to frame right & SB-600 @1/4th power in 43" shoot through umbrella to frame left
I will be working with new client Kevin on several photography projects. The first of which was this social media portrait session. Kevin wanted to have some good portraits of himself showing what he likes to do in his own home setting for social media and also for dating websites. I have been trying to find a way for years to reach people who use dating websites who are trying to find their dream matches with horrible cell phone mirror photos of themselves. If you are going to spend money on a dating website, and are serious about finding someone, then I think there is great value in having professional portraits of yourself made showing you having fun and doing things you like to do. You will definitely stand out from 99% of the other profiles on any dating website just by having high quality and most importantly flattering images of yourself.
That is Kevin's puppy Dash with him above. I had fun playing with Dash while I was getting my strobist gear setup as she was particularly fond of my light stand bag and tumbling over it!
Formal social media portrait with photos of his children in the background - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/125th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in 43" brolly to frame right & SB-600 @1/4th power in 43" shoot through umbrella to frame leftKevin wanted one shot of him looking more formal. It was his idea to have photographs of his children in the background. I liked the idea also. There was a challenge to overcome in not having any reflections from my speedlights in the photo frames on the wall, but after a few adjustments I was able to produce the glare free shot above.
Social media portrait showing pool & billiards hobby - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/125th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in 43" brolly to frame right & SB-600 @1/4th power in 43" shoot through umbrella to frame leftThis photograph shows Kevin by his pool table which tells the story of one of his hobbies. He is still the main subject of the photograph, but including the pool cue and edge of the table shows what Kevin likes to do for fun.
Social media portrait showing in kitchen cooking hobby - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/125th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in 43" brolly to frame right & SB-600 @1/4th power in 43" shoot through umbrella to frame leftKevin's house had a great kitchen which I thought should definitely be featured in one of his social media portraits. This shows him in an inviting activity where a person on a dating website might imagine they would like to visit sometime. In the right background of the shot is Kevin's new Italian ice machine! He can make his own sno-cones.
Next I will be photographing Kevin's GT-R. I am looking forward to it!
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Two Chefs Commercial Headshots on digital white backgrounds Belleair Bluffs Florida
Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 2:08PM Jason Collin 
Chef Scott & Chef Erwin posing for an updated look - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/6.3 ISO 200 1/160 - Stobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in 43" brolly to frame left & SB-600 in 43" shoot through umbrella to frame rightThis morning I drove over to Belleair Bluffs (surprisingly little traffic) to photograph two chefs. Networking friend Allen who works in marketing referred this job to me, thank you! (if you need marketing, see his site) The chefs needed updated headshot style photos for new marketing materials, including a billboard! So if you are driving around Belleair Bluffs keep a lookout for these images!
Chef Scott individual promotional shot Belleair Bluffs Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/6.3 ISO 200 1/160 - Stobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in 43" brolly to frame left & SB-600 in 43" shoot through umbrella to frame back rightI photographed them inside the restaurant itself, but all that was desired by the client was a final image on a clear background. To make it easy to cut them out of the shot I setup a white background. The white background in these images here was added in Photoshop. The client though can add any color or type of background as needed.
Cheff Erwin individual promotional headshot Belleair Bluffs Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/6.3 ISO 200 1/160 - Stobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in 43" brolly to frame left & SB-600 in 43" shoot through umbrella to frame back rightI have photographed with clients with glasses before, and have had some challenge getting know glare or reflection showing up. This time the challenge was a bit more than usual. I think I learned a tip for eliminating glare/reflection in glasses, have the subject look down slightly. That was how I was able to make the above photo of Chef Erwin with signature glasses on.
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Couples Model Portfolio Shoot in downtown St. Petersburg Florida
Wednesday, April 24, 2013 at 2:35PM Jason Collin 
Couples model portfolio shoot in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power in 43" brolly foreground & SB-600 @ 1/2 power in collapsed shoot through umbrella in background
This shoot was with returning client Mark, but was by far the biggest contrast between photography services with the same client. In November 2012 he reserved a car photography shoot for his Mustang Cobra and as you can see this time it was a model portfolio shoot, involving himself and his girlfriend too no less! He saw some of my previous modeling shots at a brick wall and vintage door location and asked if we could use that same downtown St. Petersburg Florida spot.
Using my favorite brick wall background in downtown St. Petersburg Florida model portfolio shoot - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power in 43" brolly foreground & SB-600 @ 1/2 power in collapsed shoot through umbrella in backgroundFor the shoot Mark wanted some individual shots of himself, individuals of his girlfriend, and then also shots of them together as a couple switching between the brick wall background and the vintage door. They also did a wardrobe change. For the above shot I used the pinhole filter in Silver Efex Pro to create that shadowy black & white look.
Dynamic model portfolio shoot in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/160th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power in 43" brolly foreground & SB-600 @ 1/2 power in collapsed shoot through umbrella in backgroundNot being professional models I suggested various ideas in addition to the ones they wanted to try too. I always like to try and get a dynamic look shot, so I suggested a hair toss. It took several tries and different starting points and remembering to smile even though she was flicking her head back, but in the end I got the result I envisioned for the shot.
Urban model portfolio shoot in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power in 43" brolly to frame right & SB-600 @ 1/2 power in 43" shoot through umbrella to frame leftFor their first model portfolio shoot they both did great and I am of course always happy to work with a previous client again. I look forward to whatever type of shoot Marks wants to do next be it model, car or something else!
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Indian Rocks Beach 12 Person Candid Family Portraits in the afternoon
Thursday, April 18, 2013 at 3:35PM Jason Collin 
Baby in the air on Indian Rocks Beach candid family portraits - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/250th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power frame left & SB-600 @ 1/2 power frame right rearIt was an unusual family beach portrait session for me in two regards. First, it was a large family of 12 people out on Indian Rocks Beach. The more people the bigger the challenge of course. Secondly, the client requested a 4pm start time since there were very young children in the shoot who could not stay awake for a more traditional sunset shoot which that day would have been until 7:50pm. This latter condition though led to a new style shot I had not tried before (above) that I really like having one parent hold the baby in the air with the other parent looking on behind.
Afternoon on Indian Rocks Beach large 12-person family beach portrait - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/9 ISO 200 1/250th - Strobist SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightIn order to fight the power of the afternoon sun and still have the water in the background, I had to set my speedlights to 1/2 power to fill in the light on everyone's faces and also carefully angle everyone to get as much blue in the sky as possible. That along with basically four babies in the photo made for a bit of a challenge! I was very pleased with the result though. It came out better than I thought possible for a middle of the afternoon portrait in direct sunlight.
This family told me they make this same photo year after year - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/250th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightThey told me that they all make this same pose year after year and having many photos over time showing it. I am glad to contribute the 2013 version of it!
Candid kids playing on Indian Rocks Beach - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/9 ISO 200 1/250th natural lightGetting all the babies close together was a no-go even with parents sitting them right next to each other, so leaving them to their own devices I had to do some moving myself to make this candid shot.
12-person family walking down Indian Rocks Beach candid portrait photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/500th natural lightA big action shot with 12 people on Indian Rocks Beach which was at least not crowded at that time of the day on a weekday afternoon!
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Treasure Island Sunset Beach Family Portraits with Elizabeth
Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at 2:15PM Jason Collin 
Elizabeth & her family on Sunset Beach Treasure Island, it was actually freezing! - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/250th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightOn perhaps the coldest evening of the year, I met Elizabeth and her family on Sunset Beach on Treasure Island for a family beach portrait session. Not only was it cold, but it was also very windy with clouds of sand at times sweeping down the shoreline. However, her family was great and braved the cold. As for me, I was fine . . . inside my windproof Mountain Hard Wear jacket!
Teen romance on Sunset Beach Treasure Island portrait photography - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/250th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame right & SB-600 to frame leftYou can see the sand at their feet blowing in the wind. I never experienced that before on Sunset Beach or any other Pinellas County beach. I thought though it made for a cool photo effect shooting with a long focal length.
Watching the sunset on Treasure Island Florida family beach portraits - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/160th - Strobist: SB-800 frame left & SB-600 frame rightThough it was frigid and windy, at least Mother Nature also provided a great sunset as a backdrop to our family beach portrait session.
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