Commercial Photography

Engineer Professional Business Headshot in St. Petersburg Florida with Terry

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Professional headshot for Tampa Engineer - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/9 ISO 200 1/160th - Strobist: SB-800 in brolly & SB-600 in shoot through umbrellaEldest friend Terry called me up about coming for a visit to St. Petersburg, which is not unusual, but also about having a professional headshot made while he was here.  It is always great to photograph people you know well as things are naturally more relaxed.  So soon after he arrived, after Kiki calmed down, Terry put on his tie and dress shirt (photography secret, he was only wearing casual shorts underneath!) and I placed him in my home photography studio setup.  

I have been making Terry laugh for decades, so when I needed some material to loosen him up and get his smile to be more natural, I had a plethora of topics to choose from.  I was ready with the shutter to catch that first, most natural smile expression.  After a quick background change (we started with my neutral gray collapsible background) and another joke, we were all done.  The second headshot was shot in front of a white background so that I could then more easily cut Terry out of that image and place him on any color digital background.  The gradient background used in the above image was added digitally in Photoshop.  

After the headshot shoot it was off to the dog park to Kiki's delight!

Realtor Professional Business Headshot in St. Petersburg Florida with Maria

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St. Petersburg real estate agent Maria came to my home studio for a professional business headshot - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/200th - Strobist: SB-800 & SB-600 A few years ago Maria bought some fine art prints from me and in that time she has become a real estate agent.  She contacted me about having a professional headshot made she can use on her business card and on your agent profile page.  She came to my home studio in St. Petersburg, Florida where I setup a portable background and two light stands.  She was seated actually to help put her into a more natural position and to avoid leaning backwards, etc.  She was a natural though and the headshot shoot went smoothly.  Next I will actually be helping Maria learn how to use her new MacBook Pro!

Lawyer Headshot in St. Petersburg Florida with Katie

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Business headshot done for a lawyer in her office on location in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 in brolly & SB-600 in shoot through umbrellaI came to make headshots for Katie in St. Petersburg Florida because she works with a past photo lesson student, Bill.  He has been working out of state, but is back in St. Pete and asked me to come in to photograph his colleague.  It is always nice to see past clients and catch up.

Natural setting business headshot in St. Petersburg Florida - see photo above for setupKatie was a natural in front of the camera so for me it was just a matter of squeezing my lights into her office so they did not cast shadows on the background walls.  Bill had some of his own headshots made out of state which showed him in more of a 3/4 view in a working environment, so he asked me to make similar images of Katie instead of the typical neck high only business headshot.  That was fine with me I am always glad to be able to create something a little different than usual.  

Disston Heights New Homeowner Portrait Real Estate Photography St. Petersburg Florida

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A new St. Petersburg home owner and her daughter - commercial Florida photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/125th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/1 power in 43" brolly to frame left & SB-600 @ 1/1 power in 43" shoot through umbrella to frame rightThis was my second time (see first shoot) making a promotional photograph of a new homeowner for Crown Group Realty.  I really like these kinds of shoots going out on location and only needing to produce one or two images.  Rhonda and her baby daughter were great and the shooting part took less time than it did for me to setup my speedlights!

Mom & daughter in front of their new home - commercial Florida photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/125th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/1 power in 43" brolly to frame left & SB-600 @ 1/1 power in 43" shoot through umbrella to frame rightI intended to make the above shot only, but after seeing how active her daughter wanted to be I took some shots like the first one with her walking on her own.  I ended up delivering both to the client as a bonus.  I hope they enjoy their new home!

Courtyard Marriott St. Petersburg Bistro Renovation Commercial Photography Florida

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The newly renovated bistro & cafe area of Courtyard Marriott in downtown St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 5-exposure HDRLast week I went back to the Courtyard Marriott in downtown St. Petersburg Florida to finish making commercial photographs of the newly updated interior of the hotel.  In 2011 I photographed both the exterior and interior of the hotel, followed later by a wedding model shoot.  Courtyard have been very good clients and I am always glad to return their and work with Ryan and Kathy.

A quiet spot in the new Courtyard Marriott bistro St. Petersburg commercial photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1.3 secThe newly updated bistro/cafe area looks great and photographed well.  I used a combination of HDR and single exposure images.  For the photo above with only a single major light source coming from behind camera, I felt HDR was not needed and achieved the results I wanted with a single long exposure.

Dining spaces with TVs at newly renovated Courtyard Marriott St. Petersburg Florida commercial photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 5-exposure HDRTo pull detail out in the corners of these eating areas that had an open window in each, I did use 5-exposures to make the HDR image image above.  Overall I made less HDR images than I did when I first photographed the hotel two years ago as I am always trying to improve my shooting techniques and choose the best style for each particular shot.  

Commercial Photography License downtown St. Petersburg Florida skyline by Free Art Friday DTSP

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I was contacted this week by Free Art Friday DTSP about licensing one of my many downtown St. Petersburg skyline panorama images for use on their new Facebook page.  After the client finalized their choice for what photo, since it is for a Facebook cover image, which needs to be 851x315 (crazy, I know) a specific crop of the image had to be decided upon.  I then provided the client with the image in exact resolution to fit neatly into their Facebook cover image space.  Of course, unfortunately, for some unknown reason Facebook remains the only major website to reduce image quality of images uploaded to it.  Still, the image chosen holds up well and works complimentary with the standard Facebook background color.

Be sure and visit and "like" support this new project to showcase and promote local St. Petersburg art and culture.

Guitarist Playing into the Sunset St. Petersburg Commercial Photography

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Guitarist commercial promotional photography on St. Petersburg Florida beach - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/7.1 ISO 200 1/80th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame leftA shoot on Pass-a-Grille Beach a few years ago of a guitarist for his album cover and promotional materials remains one of my all-time favorites for several reasons.  I edited quite a few shots from the shoot at the time, but thought now that over two years have passed, might I be able to find another shot I could add to my edited archives? (and also send the client a nice unexpected bonus shot)  Going through the remaining photos I liked how the sun was just at the tip of the guitar and I thought by cropping a good amount off the top and bottom the focus can be put on that particular point in the image.  

I did not do much editing to the shot, mostly actually just darkening the subject to make him standout against the bright sunset sky background more.  Go back to one of your favorite shoots and see if you cannot mine another gem or two out of it.