Largo

Heritage Village Largo Florida HDR photographs

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Railroad station at Heritage Village Largo Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mountedOne of the most popular places for local photographers to go and make photographs is Heritage Village in Largo.  As is often the case with these commonly photographed places, I had never been there until this past weekend where I had my first opportunity to make a brief photo survey of the old building interiors and exteriors, with the former being much more interesting.  The railroad station shown in the above and below images was perhaps the most interesting of all since it was fully decorated with old time suitcases, signs, etc.

Railroad station at Heritage Village inside out view with suitcases - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mountedThere is no question that suitcases of the past with how they showed wear and tear are far cooler baggage than modern luggage and their bland plastic housings.  However, I cannot say I would want to lug one of those bulky suitcases around with it banging against my leg.  Of course none had wheels for pulling effortlessly behind oneself.  

Classic Florida log cabin at Heritage Village - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mountedI imagine many people still live in log cabins similar to the one above, but with perhaps a few more modern touches inside.  

Early 20th century style classroom at Heritage Village Largo - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mountedThis old classroom was very cosy and free of electronic distractions.  I could fit comfortably in the desks and appreciated their ambidextrous design.  Being a lefthander, I suffered through many right-handed designed desks in elementary through high school.

Big tools at Heritage Village in Largo - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 3-exposure HDR tripod mountedI thought to myself how strong farmers from a century ago must have been to be able to wield such large and heavy tools.  None of the tools were available to touch.  I would have liked to have given them a try!

Real Estate Photography Lesson in Largo with Kelly & her Canon XS

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Real estate photography often involves working in small spaces!This year I have started to teach more commercial photography lessons, that is teaching photography to those who will use those photography skills to directly help their own businesses.  To that end I met Kelly this morning in Largo for a 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson on how to photograph real estate, as she is an agent and wants to improve her listings with better images.  She was a referral from Angela, another photography student and also family portrait client.  Thank you Angela!

The photography lesson with Kelly this morning was a combination of the usual 5-step methodology (in manual mode) I teach everyone for creating a well exposed and sharp image in any given situation.  However, I limited the scenarios this time of course to shooting indoor interiors.  In this way I showed Kelly everything from how to properly change lenses, how to get the most stability out of a tripod, why you would want to purposefully overexpose certain images and also how to compose and frame shots to best showcase each room of a house.

It was a nice change of pace for me to teach this kind of commercial lesson and I look forward to seeing the no doubt improved real estate photographs Kelly uses for her upcoming listings!  Visit her official business website if you are looking for a home in northern Pinellas.

Golden Glow Medical Spa & Mahajan Medical Center Largo Commercial Photography

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Reveal face & skin reading camera - f/5.6 ISO 200 1/50th SB-800 @ 1/4 power hotshoe mounted (both shots)The doctors and medical specialists of Mahajan Medical Center and Golden Glow Medical Spa in Largo, Florida recently moved both facilities into a new building.  I was hired to photograph the examination rooms, procedures while they were being performed, as well as staff headshots and building exterior photos for use on their business website and in future promotional materials.  

For me, it was my first time seeing such spa related medical equipment and I have to confess it all looks rather scary to me.  I was asked what treatments I do for the skin on my face, and I of course replied that I am a Man and take after Clint Eastwood.  I can only hope to age and have such a rugged looking face as he has.  

Golden Glow Medical Spa neck skin treatment device - f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th SB-800 @ 1/4 power hotshoe mountedPhotographing the procedures meant working in very tight spaces.  I normally prefer to use off-camera-flash, but that just was not possible this time.  Since the rooms were small though, there was always a wall or a low ceiling to be able to bounce my SB-800 Speedlight off of while it was mounted on my Nikon D300's hotshoe.  

Medical procedure & examination rooms - Golden Glow Spa Largo FloridaThe medical center and medical spa rooms were intermixed with some looking like traditional examination rooms seen in hospitals as well as rooms with a much more relaxed vibe.  All the rooms also had wall-mounted HDTVs!

Therapeutic massage at Golden Glow Medical Spa - Largo, Florida - f/5.6 ISO 200 1/40th SB-800 @ 1/4 power hotshoe mountedThe woman giving the massage above was a real character.  From a distance she looks very petite, as she is hardly five feet tall.  Up close though you can start to see her muscles.  She proudly told me that she is a bodybuilder.  Seems like a very good quality to have in a masseuse!  She suggested I come back sometime and get a massage myself as she saw all the heavy camera equipment dangling from my neck and around my shoulders.  Maybe I just will.

Brand new building housing both Mahajan Medical Center & Golden Glow Medical Spa - 7-bracket HDRI arrived on site very early (at least for me) at 7:45am in order to be able to photograph the exterior of the building without any cars in the parking lot.  The sun had not yet risen above the roof of the building which I think coincidentally added a sunrise glow to the Golden Glow Medical Spa facia.

DSLR Photography Lesson with Carmen at Taylor Park in Largo

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Carmen on her second DSLR Photography lesson making a portrait of her son in Taylor Park in Largo

The wind continues to blow through all DSLR photography lessons in the Tampa Bay area lately.  I met Carmen for her second photography lesson this morning at Taylor Park in Largo.  She brought her son, Aiden, this time to be her practice model for action shots and portraits.  We had Aiden running all over the place through the woods, climbing over everything in two playgrounds and even pausing for a few moments for a portrait or two.  

Today I taught Carmen how to really track and get a focus lock on a moving subject, even in challenging lighting conditions like the heavy overcast skies we had to deal with most of the time.  To help maintain a fast enough shutter speed we used the auto-ISO feature of her Nikon D5000.  Auto-ISO is a great feature that has been added to DSLR cameras in the past few years.  You set the minimum shutter speed you want and the maximum ISO you want, and the camera then actively chooses the ISO to maintain at least that minimum shutter speed.  When the sun keeps jumping in and out from behind clouds, auto-ISO is a great help.

Using flash to freeze action in cloudy overcast conditions

We finished with using flash for both portraits and actions shots.  I told Carmen that I basically never photograph a person without using flash, unless they are playing sports.  Using even just the D5000's on camera flash Carmen was able to make portraits of Aiden with good fill flash in the shadows of the playground.  We set ourselves the challenge of trying to freeze Aiden in the air jumping off a "cliff face," though I must admit I cheated and used my Nikon SB-600 Speedlight off camera for the above frozen action shot.  Shhhh.

I felt by the end of our fun and active 2-hour lesson that Carmen was really starting to put together how aperture, ISO and shutter speed relate to one another and I am sure she will have some great photographs to show me before our next lesson.