Event

DJ Joey Jam Performing on New Year's Eve 2009

in

DJ Joey Jam at the Treasure Island Yacht & Tennis Club on New Year's Eve 2009

RESERVE THE BEST EVENT PHOTOGRAPHY FOR YOUR NEW YEAR'S PARTY THIS YEAR!

While photographing the grand New Year's Eve party at the Treasure Island Yacht & Tennis Club, I saw this energetic person in a white baseball cap buzzing from room to room.  I did not know who he was.  Maybe someone who worked for the club?  Maybe just a popular member of the club?  Maybe a celebrity MC I was not familiar with?  All I knew is that anytime I pointed my lens at him he was definitely ready to be photographed and always pulled the people around him into the shot as well.  It turns out he was a DJ, to be more specific DJ Joey Jam.

DJ Joey Jam performing his craft in the post-midnight afterglow

DJ Joey Jam is an endlessly friendly person, and to use a Japanese word, genki!  I was impressed by his ability to liven up the party, and still have the energy to spin well into the late hours of New Year's Eve.  

DJ Joey Jam likes to get at eye level with his turntables

   
  • Reserve an event photography package for your company or business today
  • More information on event photography packages
  • View more event photography photo stories 

    •  

    DJs, Musicians, Entertainers -- reserve the services of Jason Collin Photography today for your:

    • live performances
    • promotional materials
    • album covers

    Treasure Island Yacht and Tennis Club New Year's Eve Party 2009

    in

    Dancing on top of a pool at Treasure Island Yacht & Tennis Club on New Years' Eve 2009

    This was only the second time in my life, and first time since high school, that I worked on New Year's Eve.  From 7pm December 31, 2009 to 2am January 01, 2010 I was photographing the Treasure Island Yacht & Tennis Club's lavish New Year's Eve Party featuring John Secada and The Commodores.

    No expense was spared to impress guests as they arrived at the Treasure Island Yacht & Tennis Club on New Year's Eve 2009

    The Treasure Island Yacht & Tennis Club's New Year's Eve event was my highest profile job to date.  It was also my most prolific job too nearly filling to capacity three 8GB memory cards.  Over the course of the 7 hours of shooting I literally only stopped shooting for four minutes as I ate half the sandwich I had packed away in my stowed camera bag.  Ultimately, I delivered over 700 edited images to the client in just a one week turnaround.

    There were three different dinner areas all very well decorated.

    There was no lack of activity during the New Year's party as there were three distinct areas for guests to dine, dance and party in.  In the yacht club building itself there were two floors of entertainment.  The second floor was an intimate setting with John Secada performing, and the third floor was a large and lively dining hall with The Commodores rocking the place.

    2010 made it easy to fashion eyewear of itself.

    The third location was actually right on top of a pool (see top photo), covered in a $90,000 system of plexiglass sheets that formed a see-through dance floor--that could only be used once as it would be too scratched to use again!  Here a cover band called Stormbringer provided rock and pop stalwarts.   

    There were many chances to dance cheek-to-cheek.

    While it was great to have three areas to find candid event scenes to photograph, it made for a lot of stair climbing and grounds walking!  Also, since I never took a real break and always had my Nikon D300 with a Nikkor SB-800 (thanks Pedro!) mounted on it around my neck, not to mention a Nikon D90 with Nikkor 50mm 1.8D lens too, by the end of my night my right arm had never been so tired from shooting before!

    Romantically ringing in the new year on the dance floor at the Treasure Island Yacht & Tennis Club

    Despite the endurance challenges, this was by far my most exciting photography job.  The guests, yacht club staff and the entertainers were all very friendly and made my job easier with their help.  The guests were all in a really good mood and mostly loved to have their photograph taken.  The staff was fun to talk to and get behinds the scenes info from (like suggestions to shoot from behind the bar).  Special thanks to Sara for thinking of me for photographing this event.  I could tell she put a tireless effort into making this a great event.

    Philosophy of Antiques in the Park Gulfport Florida

    in ,

    Lots of glass items at Antiques in the Park. It seems Cs were in short supply in 1945.

    I recently put on Facebook this statement that popped into my mind, "Only things that are old have any value."  One person commented, a 40+ year old guy, "tell that to my wife."  I meant it to be a serious statement though on the extremely disposable and commodified nature of all items, goods and personalities being created in 2010.  In 40 years will anyone admire a 2010 Toyota Camry the way they would a 40-year old Shelby Cobra today?  

    All wonder over air travel has now been replaced by fear and routine, making a trunk like this one all the more valuable.

    How is this for you?  iTunes DJ has just selected a classic song from the Amelie soundtrack to play.  The most modern form of playing music choosing a classic tune from before computers even existed while I write about the past on a wireless keyboard in front of two digital screens.  Perhaps this is the way of the future . . . using modern technology to help preserve the value of the past.

    Hard to imagine a world only as big as the distance a wagon wheel could take you.

    And by no means do I believe technology is advanced at all right now.  Computers and the Internet are still very much in their infancy.  How rough is it to use a computer still?  Not even my Mac "just works."  

    This collection of old circus tumblers fascinated me. If I had $39 cash on me I just might have purchased them.

    While browsing the tables of Antiques in the Park in Gulfport I came across the very green glass goblets my mother used to fill with pudding and jello when I was a child.  I had a very strong reaction to seeing them.  So strong I did not even thing to photograph them.  I was probably going to purchase them as I passed back by the entrance/exit on the way out.  I did not even have the chance as someone else, perhaps wanting to eat pudding from them once again, had already bought them and carried them cheerfully home as I would have done.

    Nothing made now will rust like this oxidized tractor.

    This was the first antiques show I went to in the south and I was surprised to see the legacy of slavery and racism in explicit messages on several antique decorative plates and even old 8x10 advertisements.  One recurring theme I saw was black people being pursued or victimized by alligators, suggesting I guess that white people would never be attacked by these apparently discriminating creatures.  It was a bit surreal and uncomfortable to see these items.  

    I plan to visit a few more antique shows in the near future and I hope to find perhaps another set of those pudding goblets and maybe an old camera or two for decorating my desk with some photography history.

    Birthday Party for Olivia and Christian

    in

    Birthday Party wishes being made captured with candid photography in Tampa (c) 2009 Jason Collin Photography

    Besides being a professional photographer, I also teach Mac & OS X lessons.  Carlos is a longtime Mac student of mine who hired me to photograph his children's birthday party.  It was a unique experience for me to have a client that I already knew well and to shoot on location at his home in Tampa.  His family could not have been more friendly and his backyard could not have been a better outdoor location for photographing a birthday party.  

    Birthday Party activities can be potentially hazardous to your health! (c) 2009 Jason Collin Photography

    Olivia was both not camera shy at all and also able to act totally naturally despite a long lens being pointed her way most of the party.  Again, I could not ask for a better combination!  She also was a very active birthday girl making for a wide variety of candid action shots.  A large rubber ball and a helium balloon are great props!

    All the birthday cupcakes a boy can eat! (c) 2009 Jason Collin Photography

    The birthday boy was a bit more reserved, showing wisdom beyond his years in securing direct access to some scrumptious birthday cup cakes.  I can testify to their deliciousness myself having eaten one.  

    Thanks to Carlos, Olivia, Christian and the rest of the family for making it a great afternoon of birthday photography!

    ********************************* 

    Setting up for my haikyo exhibition

    in

    The gallery space in RAW Vibes as we bring the very first haikyo photographs in.This late night RAW Vibes owner Jeff and I worked tirelessly for as long as our eyes could stay open to get up all the 16x20 prints for Friday night's haikyo exhibition.  It was fun, but tiring, but we made good progress.  I am writing this with an exhausted mind....so just enjoy the sneak preview photos of the exhibition for now.  I'm going to sleep.....

    With all the haikyo photographs catergorized and put next to their respective wallspace, we were ready to start hanging.

     

    Jeff has good hanging skills and we got the haikyo prints all within a single millimeter of each other.

     

    All the 16x20 haikyo prints up! I left after this, but Jeff may have labored on as all the 16x9 and 24x36 and 8x10 images still needed to be hung.

    Tampa Children's Birthday Party in Black & White

    in

    The birthday girl thinks of something to wish for - location: Tampa, Florida

    This past Saturday's birthday party shoot was in a near ideal photographer's location:  backyard with lots of shadows but still bright with lots of play space for the kids.  My specialty is candid photography, and the kids at the party obliged that style greatly by mostly ignoring me and going about their play naturally.  However, some of them loved to pose without any prompting, which will be the subject matter of a future post.

    The birthday boy chooses a cupcake over birthday cake.

    There was a lot of great food at this birthday party, and the hosts graciously let us eat anything we wanted to.  I, myself, sampled one of the above cupcakes and the touch of lemon in them made for a very tasty cupcake.  

    No sibling jealousy despite having birthdays very close to each other's.

    The brother and sister's birthdays were only separated by a few days allowing for a two-for-one birthday party scenario.  As long as his sister continues to love him as much as she does now, I foresee no sibling squabbles about who may or may not have gotten a better birthday present.  She was always hugging and kissing her brother, as seen above.

    The birthday boy's grandfather siphons a beverage into his mouth.It's always great when there can be three generations (or more) at family gatherings, such as the case at this birthday party.  I wonder what grandpa's childhood birthday parties were like?  No doubt he doesn't have as many photographs from his childhood birthday parties as children will have of their birthday parties nowadays.  Blowing out the candles on her birthday cake.

    If you would like the candid moments from your child's birthday party captured by a friendly and professional photographer, then make your reservation today.

    Historic Roser Park Art Festival 2009

    in

    Historic Roser Park - a surprisingly nice area for an art festival.

    I thought there were no hills south of Brookesville.  So it took me a minute to realize what exactly was different about the Historic Roser Park area of Saint Petersburg.  My eyes were focused on the stream at first, until a sign told me I was in a ravine.  I looked up and saw houses on hills, like San Francisco or somewhere like that.  This was enough for the art festival to be a win in my book.

    Booths stretched down along a small stream and actually contained many unique items beyond the usual festival fare.

    The festival was not crowded so we could amble in and out of booths at our ease.  There were several photographers with booths there.  I always like to check out the competition.  As always I thought, if I just had my own booth...but if there were any money to be made from having a booth then surely the best photographers in the area would have booths as well?

     These were ingenious crafts that can transform from a vase into a pretty women's hat! For $15 I was tempted to buy one.

    Beyond the fine art on display were a good variety of crafts.  I always find myself very interested in crafts, but never quite buying any.  There were sculptured wooden bowls that could flatten by lowering their handles.  I was impressed with the craftsmanship.  

    I first saw a living statue artist on a fell day in Zurich, Switzerland many years ago.

    Not to spoil the secret, but under the heavy makeup is actually a friendly woman.  Aya gave her a dollar tip and got a handshake from her, as well as two lollipops and for me this photo chance.  She was good.  I could not see her ribs moving at all.  I would like to know what she thinks about to maintain her concentration?  Maybe nothing?  I should have tried to ask her.

    HISTORIC ROSER PARK MAP


    View Larger Map