1-on-1 Canon 5D Mark III DSLR Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg Florida with Gail

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Yours truly as the model for this off camera flash strobist portrait lesson on Sunset Beach Treasure Island FloridaOn a beautiful evening in Treasure Island, Florida I met Gail for an off camera flash portrait lesson on Sunset Beach.  She had found out about my photography lessons doing some online searching and decided to come all the way over from Vero Beach on the other coast of Florida!  We had two lessons.  The first was on the beach at sunset time showing Gail my 2-strobe technique for making off camera flash portraits.  I helped Gail setup her radio triggers and showed her how I position two speedlights for a variety of shots, including the walking one above.  The second strobe is directly in front of me (not visible in photo).

A strobist portrait of my DSLR photography student Gail on Sunset Beach made during our evening lesson.Gail switched out and became the model as I showed her more shooting tips for using her Canon 5D Mark III.  The second part of the lesson was showing Gail my editing workflow and helping her use her MacBook Pro much more efficiently too!  It was very nice to meet Gail and I am flattered she came all the way from the other coast.  She did of course stay a few nights in the area and made a trip out of it as well.

Photography Tip - leave your DSLR camera on!

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If my Nikon DSLR was not on and ready I would have missed this surprise chance in Vinoy Park FloridaPoint & shoot digital cameras, especially early ones, really used up batteries a lot.  So much so that people would turn them on and off between shots all the time.  I have noticed this practice continues with some of my DSLR photography students as well.  However, with a DSLR camera, there is no reason to turn it off between shots.  These cameras automatically go into a meter-off (sleep mode) that you can choose to happen in a set amount of time, and with the meter off and the backscreen off, a DSLR uses basically no battery power.  Thus, there is no reason to turn your DSLR off until you are putting it back into your camera bag at the end of shooting.

In fact, this practice of turning off the camera can lead to missing shots.  I was walking along the seawall in Vinoy Park one time and all of a sudden a dolphin surfaced right below my feet!  My Nikon was on and already set in default settings for getting a good shot in the light I was in, which allowed me to in just a split second be able to make the above dolphin photo.  Having to turn my camera on would have caused me to miss it.  Be sure and keep your DSLR on from the time you take it out of your camera bag until the time you put in back in to make sure you are always ready to capture any sudden photography opportunities.

Sunset Beach Treasure Island Florida Winter Family Beach Portraits

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Watching the sunset on Treasure Island family beach portraits - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/6.3 ISO 200 1/200th - Strobist: SB-800 & SB-600 left & rightVisiting Florida from South Dakota, Sarah and family had to brave an unusually chilly and windy evening on Sunset Beach Treasure Island for our candid family beach portrait session.  At least Mother Nature provided clear skies and a bright sunset for a background.  

Mother & daughter test the waters at Sunset Beach on Treasure Island Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1/400th natural lightEveryone was pretty tough and still put on a smile, except for the youngest who was not impressed at all by the beauty of the beach!  She was crying the whole time, but in mom's arms tried out the water.  When she's older I wonder what she will think of these photos?

Bright sunset on Treasure Island family beach portraits in Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/6.3 ISO 200 1/200th - Strobist: SB-800 & SB-600 left & rightThe family chose color over the usual white and blue jeans.  I think it was a great choice and I will suggest such attire to future clients.  I think colorful clothing pulls the color out of the sky even more.

Not a happy baby at Sunset Beach Treasure Island Florida portraits - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1/320th - natural lightOne smile out of two is not bad!  As you can see the wind was blowing pretty strong from the west.  

The kids out of the picture for a little romance time on Sunset Beach Treasure Island Florida portraits - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/10 ISO 200 1/160th - Strobist: SB-800 & SB-600 left & rightA little break for romance letting the kids play on the sand behind camera for Sarah and Matt to have the frame to themselves.  

Photography Tip - shoot at eye level to your subject

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Seeing eye-to-eye with Kiki (left) and two friends. Shot from one knee at the same eye level as the dogs.One very easy way to start making photographs like a pro is to simply stop only shooting from your own eye level.  Getting down to the same eye level as your subject immediately transform a photograph, for the better.  I often see people in the dog park standing and shooting down on their dogs playing.  That will just show you what you already see when looking at your dogs, so why would you want to see a photograph of that?  Get down on one knee (or your stomach if you have a very small dog!) and suddenly you will see in photographs your dog from a very different perspective.  

In the above photo Kiki is running with two friends.  The expressions on their faces are all very clear and it looks like the dogs are looking right at the viewer of the photo in the eye.  This creates a connection to the subject of the photograph not possible if shot from me standing up over five feet in the air.

The next time you go out shooting trying taking a knee or even lying down to get to eye level and see a world from a new perspective!

A trio of Ferrari Supercars at duPont Concours d'Elegance St. Petersburg Florida Car Photography

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Ferrari California 30 the updated version on display in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDRFerrari of Tampa Bay brought a trio of Ferrari to the duPont Concours d'Elegance 2014 in St. Petersburg, Florida.  These three supercars show the great diversity currently in the Ferrari range from a hardtop convertible like the above Ferrari California 30 to the ultimate GT supercar in the Ferrari F12berlinetta below.  

Ferrari F12berlinetta the most powerful Ferrari to date in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDRI was very surprised and very glad to get to see the F12berlinetta in person.  It is still a very rare car, though one Ferrari staff person said three clients had taken delivery in the Tampa Bay area.  Resting in the shade on green grass it is hard to imagine the capabilities of the F12berlinetta with its over 700hp V12 mounted up front.  Basically the car is unstoppable on the road!

Ferrari FF an amazing 4-seat supercar in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR

Actually, maybe the most unstoppable Ferrari is actually the Ferrari FF above.  It is the first Ferrari with an AWD system and it can also comfortably seat four people.  It has a hatchback design allowing for good road trip gear storage too.  This makes the FF to me very unique.  If I could only have one car, it would be the FF.  It is a supercar that can be driven in all weather (even snow!) and you can bring your friends and backpacks along too.

duPont Concours d'Elegance St. Petersburg Florida 2014 Car Event Photography

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Dressing to match your classic car at duPont Concours d'Elegance St. Petersburg Florida 2014 - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/125thThanks to a future car photography client, I had the opportunity to literally hitch a ride in his BMW into the duPont Concours d'Elegance in St. Petersburg, Florida.  This 2014 show was in cooperation with the Museum of Fine Arts set in North Straub Park.  Things started out very overcast, as has been the case many winter mornings this year, but after 9:30am the sun did break through and I of course had my camera with me.  I asked the couple above if I could photograph them as they had dressed up to match the era of their car.  They are in the classic car restoration business.  Visit their website for more info.

A Ferrari California 30 at duPont Concours d'Elegance St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseFerrari of Tampa Bay brought three cars, including the F12berlinetta, which will be featured in its own post.  Above is the latest Ferrari California 30, upgraded with more horsepower and a new suspension from the original model of a few years ago.  It is for sale!

1957 Buick Caballero at duPont Concours d'Elegance St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseI talked for a while with the interesting owner of this very interesting 1957 Buick Caballera station wagon.  He had original ads from the 50s showing that side view mirrors were only options back then!  As you can see, this car has no side mirrors.  If you can believe it, seatbelts were options too!  This car does not have that option either.  So with no seatbelts and bench seats front and back, you can have the fun of your sweetheart sliding into you around fast turns.  

Classic BMWs at duPont Concours d'Elegance St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseI arrived in the white BMW 2002 pictured above, but only was in it for one block.  Both BMWs are owned by a future client so I am hoping to have featured shoots of both of these cars coming up soon to share.  There will be subsequent posts featuring specific cars from this car show, including my current favorite of them all, the Aston Martin Vanquish.  

Photography Tip - go minimalist with subject & background

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Composed and exposed for minimalism in subject matter and background.One way to create visual appeal in a photograph is to compose for minimalism in both subject and background.  This also results in a very clean looking image.  Sometimes the lack of visuals can create a strong visual.  Nothing ruins a photograph like a busy background.  In the above photo instead of showing the sky, I chose settings that totally blew out the sky creating a pure white background.  This allows the old cable tower to be shown cleanly.  Only part of the cable tower was put in the frame to again focus the subject matter and create a minimalist look.  

The next time you go out shooting try composing for minimalism.  This can be done with any subject matter.