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Commercial Photography
Business Headshot on white background in Clearwater Florida with Kathy
Business headshot done on location in Clearwater, Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power in 42" brolly to frame left - white background added digitally in PhotoshopThis afternoon I drove to Clearwater to meet Kathy to make her business headshot. Earlier in the week we discussed the specifics, like how she needed both a standard vertical headshot and also a full body headshot, both of which needed to be on fully white backgrounds with no shadows. This is easy enough to do if working in a studio, but I made these shots right in her office. Therefore, I needed to maximize the amount of blank wall I could get behind her in the space given to make it as easy as possible to add the white background later in post. For the above standard vertical headshot, it was no problem to do.
Full body business headshot - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power in 42" brolly to frame right & SB-600 @1/4 power with diffuser cap to frame left - white background added digitallyNow for the above full body shot, adding the white background was much trickier because as of about two-thirds of the way down the skirt the border of the wall started and then the dark blue-gray carpet began. This made selecting the edge of the subject using the Quick Select tool in Photoshop somewhat in exact, even after refining the edges. After placing just the subject onto a new layer and painting in a white background, I then took that same 100% white Brush Tool and tediously smoothed the edges especially around the border of the shoes, ankles and lower skirt where the carpet was. Still, this technique allows me to make on location shots with any background the client requests.
Kathy was a great subject easy to pose and we also had help from her cheerful office mate Rosemary.
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Mother's Day Photography Gift Packages 2013 Florida
Business Headshot CEO in Pinellas Park - Barbara
CEO Business Headshot in Pinellas Park Florida - glasses on - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/100th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in brolly to frame left SB-600 @ 1/8th power with diffuser cap to frame rightEarly this morning I braved U.S. 19 to go and make an on location headshot for Barbara in Pinellas Park. With making headshots on location I never really know what kind of space, light and background I am going to have to work with. In Barbara's office the light and background (clean white) were good but the space was a little awkward. I had to setup my brolly kind of around a corner at the end of a hallway. Everything thankfully just fit!
CEO Business Headshot in Pinellas Park Florida - no glasses - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/100th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in brolly to frame left SB-600 @ 1/8th power with diffuser cap to frame rightFor clients that wear glasses I usually make one headshot with glasses on and another with glasses off. I also provide a vertical headshot like the one above and a more tightly framed headshot like the first image that can be cropped into a perfect square since many sites, including Linkedin, display profile photos in squares.
Barbara was a natural in front of the camera and I believe her headshot was finished in the quickest time ever! Thanks Barbara!
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Model Portfolio Shoot in downtown St. Petersburg Florida dusk to night with Amy
Model Portfolio Shoot - Amy in North Straub Park in downtown St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 800 1/50th Strobist: Nikon SB-800 @ 1/4 power in 42" brolly to frame left & Nikon SB-600 @ 1/16 power on ground to frame right
Amy told me she just started modeling only three months ago, which surprised me a lot because I saw her resume before we scheduled our model portfolio shoot and it was already quite extensive! We met in North Straub park in downtown St. Petersburg at 7pm for a dusk to night shoot. For the above shot I broke the rules and had the subject look out of the edge of the frame instead of into the empty space of the frame.
Model Portfolio Shoot - model Amy in a thoughtful pose with bokeh in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4.5 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 in 42" brolly above to frame left & SB-600 @ 1/16 power on ground to frame rightFor this shoot I debuted a new piece of gear, a "brolly," which is a reflective umbrella with softbox like ability. Unfortunately, a windless evening suddenly produced gusts at two different times resulting in two crashes and the brolly getting partially damaged. I have already ordered another since they cost less than $20. When the new one arrives I will write a full review of it then, but I definitely like the lighting results.
Model Portfolio Shoot lighting from below - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1/125th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in brolly to frame left SB-600 @ 1/8 power behind model's footShooting late in the evening makes it easy to produce shots with pure black backgrounds (learn how) that look like they were done in a studio. A little ambient light did get into this shot, I should have used a bit faster shutter speed, but the bright spots were easily brushed out in Photoshop.
Model Portfolio Shoot lighting from below - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1/125th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in brolly to frame left SB-600 @ 1/8th power behind model's foot
The above photograph was the shot I had in mind as the main goal of the shoot, though I ended up liking other shots better. I will continue to experiment with ground level backlighting of subjects.
Model Portfolio Shoot with motion blur - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/6.3 ISO 800 1/20th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in brolly to frame leftThe last shots of the evening were an attempt at motion blur portraits. The shot was made by setting the focus on the model and then while pressing the shutter flicking the camera to the right creating motion blur in the lights behind the subject while keep the subject herself in focus.
I had a very good time during this shoot. Amy was very patient and professional to work with and had very good balance on one leg as well! I look forward to being able to work with her again in the future.
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St. Petersburg Commercial Photography Shoot Lumber Liquidators exterior
St. Petersburg Commercial Exterior Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 5-exposure HDRAs a full-time professional photographer, I have to always have my photography gear ready (batteries charged, gear stowed in bags, etc.) in case the phone rings out of the blue with a time-sensitive job. Such was the case this afternoon when I was alerted to a possible commercial exterior job that needed to be done right away. After a quick e-mail inquiry I was called by the client and given the requirements for the type of photos they wanted. They were looking for exterior shots of a Lumber Liquidators store featuring the store's signs especially and also showing the retail store in context to its surroundings.
Commercial shot showing retail space in context to surroundings - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 5-exposure HDRThat was a simple enough assignment, and the client said it only needed to be so, but I still went ahead and made mostly HDR images of the retail space exterior as they yielded much better results in the harsh afternoon Florida sun. The store was in a nondescript strip mall on 22nd Ave N, but I used the surrounding trees to try and frame the building and show the space in its best context.
Commercial storefront photography St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 5-exposure HDR
This may seem like rather non-glamorous photography work, but I actually find these kind of "assignment" jobs to be fascinating in their own way. I like being given a required shot to get out on location by a client. It somehow makes me feel like an old newspaper photographer, out on assignment!
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Business Headshots done in St. Petersburg Florida - Brian
Corporate Business Headshot for St. Petersburg Florida professionals - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm lens @ f/8 ISO 200 1/200th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power through 24" softbox to frame right & SB-600 @ 1/16th power with diffuser cap to frame left; background digitally addedBrian and I connected via Linkedin back in the fall of 2011. I noticed that he did not have a profile photo and I asked him if that was on purpose or if he was in need of a business headshot to use on sites like Linkedin, etc. He said he was so this morning he came to my apartment where I did my first photography work in home! I warned him attend of time that beloved puppy Kiki is a very enthusiastic greeter and of my Asian custom of removing shoes upon entering. He said he was fine with both and Kiki (mostly) behaved very good during our headshot session.
Like many non-models, Brian does not necessarily like to have his photograph taken. Part of my job as a professional photographer besides getting lighting and strobist things correct, is to make the person feel relaxed and confident so that a flattering headshot can be made. In this regard Brian was very cooperative in following my suggestings for positioning himself and showing his smile in the shot. Hopefully this experience will make him more comfortable the next time he has his portrait made.
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