Event

Doyle Wealth Management Ribbon Cutting Event with Mayor Bill Foster

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Mayor Bill Foster of St. Petersburg on hand for the Doyle Wealth Management ribbon cutting

I met Anne Drake of Doyle Wealth Management at a new member orientation for the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce a few weeks back.  She told me of her company's relocation and ribbon cutting event so I attended it in an unofficial capacity, i.e. just a networking opportunity for me, but of course I brought my camera.  Got to see Gary (photo left) again of WUSF, an interesting fellow.  I see him at most of the networking events I go to.

In his brief appearance, Mayor Bill Foster shook a lot of hands, but not mine.

If I had had a chance to talk to Mayor Bill Foster I would have asked him to fix up the North Shore Dog Park as the cold winter has really destroyed most of the grass in the park.  Alas, I had no such audience with him.  Last year I did have a chance to directly ask a question to former Mayor Rick Baker.

Should have let me take take the photo!

The most interesting person I spoke with at the event was Sylvia Doyle, who I did not realize right away was the mother of the president of the company!  She said she had been living in St. Petersburg since 1957, when it was of course a far different place.  She thanked me for keeping her company, as no one was talking to her before, but I said on the contrary I like listening to your stories and there is very unlikely anyone else there that I would have anything in common with.  

I heard that to be a client of this wealth management group you need to have a minimum of $500 million in assets.  It blows my mind that there are enough of these people living in the area to keep a business like this in business.  

UPDATE:  according to their website it's a minimum of $500,000 I knew the other number was way too high, there are only so many people in the whole world with that much money, never mind in St. Pete

"New Visions" f8 Consortium Photography Exhibition

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My three photographs are on the left, all from my time in JapanTonight was the opening of the f8 Consortium's "New Vision's" photography exhibition at the Menaul Fine Art gallery.  This was the third time in six months my photographs have been featured in an exhibition in Florida (1st solo, 2nd), and the second time that all the photographs were from my Japan collection.  

A very respectable crowd turned out to see over nine different photographers' works ranging from HDR to digital art to sequential photography.  My photographs were not the only ones from abroad as Europe was represented as well.  I actually enjoyed talking to several people about the stories behind my shots, especially of "Coming of Age in Vivid Kimonos," one of my top five photographs from 2009.  I finally got to meet Brenda Knoll in person also, as well as her husband.  We had been Internet friends for awhile.  

There were many gallery wraps (right) in the exhibition, which are photographs printed on canvas

I cannot take any credit for this exhibition's great opening.  All that goes to other f8 members like Bob Kroll, Scott Menaul, Marc Norton, Patti Krumeich and all the others here.  Thank you everyone.  And thank you to everyone that came out to see our photographs and helped support local artists. 

Ceridian Healthcare Panel in the Vinoy Grand Ballroom

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Rita readies the sign in table for the Ceridian event at the Vinoy Grand Ballroom

Part of being a professional photographer is being ready to shoot anytime you have a free spot in your schedule.  I have been a member of the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce for almost a year now and have developed a good relationship with many of it staff, including Rita pictured above.  However, it was Bonnie who called me on a Wednesday afternoon asking if I could photograph an event the next day.  I had no scheduling conflicts so I said, "I'd love to, thank you for thinking of me for this job."  

Inside the Vinoy Grand Ballroom - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm manual mode @ f/4 ISO 800 1/40th SB-800 Speedlight hotshoe mounted

This was also my first chance to photograph inside the famous Vinoy Resort Hotel.  Having photographed inside the Don Cesar last year, I have now worked in the two most famous hotels around.  The Vinoy's Grand Ballroom at first glance looked to be well lit, but of course what our eyes think is good indoor light and what a DSLR thinks is almost never the same.  

Listening carefully - Nikon D300 with Nikkor 80-200mm manual mode @ f/2.8 ISO 1000 1/250th SB-800 hotshoe mounted

The panel discussion was on the new healthcare bill President Obama recently signed.  For the first thirty minutes of the close to 90-minute discussion I was very focused on getting at least one good shot of each of the six panel members, with a good shot being mouth not in a strange position, eyes open, hands not obscuring their face, etc.  Even though they were sitting down and just talking, it took quite a few frames to finally get each panelist frozen in a normal looking talking posture.

candid moment between panelists - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm manual mode @ f/2.8 ISO 1000 1/250th SB-800 Speedlight hotshoe mounted

After I got the standard looking shots I of course looked for some fun candids of the panelists, like the shot above featuring some friendly microphone hijacking.  The panelists had to share two microphones between the six of them.

In the exif data I provided in the notes for each shot, you can see that even when shooting at f/2.8 with a powerful Nikon SB-800 Speedlught hotshoe mounted, I needed the ISO to be at 1000.  This is because the ambient light in the room was only so-so and the panelists were a good distance away forcing me to have to shoot at a focal length of 200mm to fill the frame.  All the shots were handheld too so I really had to use solid camera holding technique, and when I could I wedged myself against a wall or window sill.  

Candid Q&A session - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm manual mode @ f2.8 ISO 1000 1/250th SB-800 Speedlight hotshoe mounted

The local debates leading up to the healthcare bill, as you may recall, were rather animated.  However, this was a very polite Q&A session with the panelists, and the panelists themselves were very civil with each other.  After I settled in and got the shots I needed to and dialed in the exact settings for shooting with the two lenses I was using to photograph this event, I could take in some of the discussion and found it to be very interesting.

There were also some great cookies spread out in the back of the ballroom that went mostly ignored!  I ate two while shooting and must confess took another 4 home inside my camera bag!  I did not want them to just get thrown out, of course.

Jake's Bar Mitzvah at Temple Beth-El St. Petersburg

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Jake rehearses for his Bar Mitzvah at Tempel Beth-El in St Petersburg Florida

Early this morning I drove to Temple Beth-El to photograph my first Bar Mitzvah.  On a very rainy afternoon last month I went to the temple to check it out in preparation for this morning's shooting.  I liked the dome design of the temple.  I thought it was interesting architecture.  I was also pleased to see that lighting would not be a problem, as even on that rainy day, with the lights turned up, my single strobe style of photography would work well.  

On the tip is a hand shaped pointer, which I thought was pretty interesting.

I searched for Bar Mitzvah photographs for reference, but did not find that many actually.  I was able to find enough to know which certain types of shots are "must gets" for a Bar Mitzvah.  The two above photos of reading from the torah (wide shot and close up of the hand) are Bar Mitzvah standards.  

Jake held this heavy scroll through many different Bar Mitzvah portraits with his family and the by himself.

Jake was a very good sport during the one hour+ of shooting.  He always had his smile ready and had no problem with multiple takes as various family members entered and exited the frame with him.  

Jake with his extended family in Temple Beth-El just before his Bar Mitzvah was to begin.

Jake's Bar Mitzvah was both an interesting cultural and photography experience for me.  Temple Beth-El was a great place to shoot in.  In fact, I will profile the interior of the temple in an upcoming post.  I look forward to photographing my next Bar Mitzvah.   

Florida Holocaust Museum - Networking Event

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Despite the threat of very stormy weather, the turnout for this networking event was strong.

I have been getting on the local business networking scene more and more lately.  By the number of familiar faces I see at these events, I am not the only one following the calendar of events on the Saint Petersburg Chamber of Commerce website.  I did not know what to expect for the mood and atmosphere of this networking event with it being held at the Florida Holocaust Museum, but as I approached the room and heard the usual vibrant conversation I quickly realized that there was nothing to be unusual about it at all.  I was greeted by the friendly curator of the museum and soon had a conversation with the public relations consultant for the museum about photographing their next official event.  

Kathy, on the right, I met at last night's Young Professionals networking event in Clearwater.

I took a brief tour of the museum after signing in.  One of the two exhibit floors is dedicated to revolving art collections.  A series of large paintings inspired by the Holocaust was on display.  I did not expect to see a fine art collection in the museum, so was pleasantly surprised.  The first floor contained exhibits more toward what one might expect in a Holocaust museum.

I turned my SB-600 speedlight off for a few shots and let the display lights provide the backlighting effect.

As always with such networking events, I felt the most comfortable when my camera was up to my eye.  In the right center is Ford Kyes, someone I have gotten to know through the Chamber and these networking events.  He is a master at that, and in fact makes his living as a business coach.  He was generous with his time to me tonight offering advice and encouragement for my photography business.  
 
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    • Abilities Foundation Charity Auction at Tropicana Field

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    Nothing draws attention like a Ferrari. There were two prominently placed on Tropicana Field for the Abilities charity event.

    Photographing this event brought two firsts for me.  The first, first was to volunteer my photography services to a charity event.  The second was to represent f8 Consortium in an official capacity as a staff photographer.  The Abilities Foundation held its 21st annual silent auction charity event right on the field at Tropicana Field.  f8 Consortium was a sponsor of this event with some members donating framed prints, others photography services, or both.  

    A rather clever tray design for carrying food and beverage.

    Many local restaurants had tables serving out tiny samples of presumably their best cuisine.  The only thing I ate all night was a brownie sample.  It was not bad, but not good enough to be called gourmet or whichever adjective their marketing people bestowed upon it.  The most impressive thing related to food was the very functional trays handed out that took away the challenge of trying to have to balance a glass upon it.  

    I wonder how many of the people who saw this photograph thought to themselves, "PETERson."

    There were a number of silent auction items that I would have liked to have myself, including the above autographed photo of one of my favorite football players, Adrian PETERson.  In the background is an autographed Mike Vick helmet that the announcer was really stressing she wanted to be bought before the end of the night since no one bid on it last year.  I checked, the minimum bid of $100 was met.

    I like the idea of wearing cowboy boots, but I never would.

    As the night went on and I saw that most items did not even have one bid on them, I commented to someone behind a table that it does not look like many of these items were going to move.  He said that a silent auction is just like e-Bay, no one bids until the end when there is a flurry.  

    I found myself not being impressed at all with this Rolls Royce, would take a used Porsche 911 Turbo over it any day.

    On the technical side of things, the photography, as usual, was in challenging settings.  They did not turn on the lights on the field, and once the sun set and no more natural light permeated through the dome, it was really dark.  Obviously no ceiling to bounce a flash off of and few backdrops of any kind.  In the beginning I was actually using off camera flash to photograph some of the items.  Once the guests starting filing in, I went with my usual event settings of f/5.6 and ISO 800, but still wasn't getting the results I wanted so I went up to f/4.  Maybe some day I will have a chance to photograph an outdoor daylight event!

    Selected for an HDR exhibition at the St. Petersburg Museum of History

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    The Mirror Lake Library HDR shot I submitted for the exhibition.Late last year I agreed to participate in a photography project for the St. Petersburg Museum of History.  I was intrigued by the idea for the project:  making HDR image replicas of historical photographs of various Saint Petersburg landmarks and buildings.  My HDR image of the Mirror Lake Library was selected as one of the thirty-two HDR images for the exhibition.  I was honored and thankful to be chosen, even though my own feelings about my image find it to be only a so-so shot.  

    The turnout for the exhibition was huge, relatively.  Certainly much larger than for my own solo haikyo exhibition last year.  There was a free buffet table with really great punch and very good cookies as well, in ample quantities no less!  This made the night a win for me automatically!  Of course it was nice to talk with the other photographers and guests who came to see the exhibition.  I tried my best to explain how an HDR image is produced and how this process comes to make the final product they were seeing on the walls.  It found no up turned noses to HDR as a technique amongst the crowd, which I must say I was a little surprised at.  I know HDR does not appeal to everyone.

    Thanks to Velva and everyone else who put a lot of time and effort into organizing this exhibition and to everyone who came out to see the images and make the night a very fun social event.  

    The exhibition will be open for several weeks.  More information on the events page of the St. Petersburg History Museum.

    My photograph is the one on the left, with the original historical image below it (sorry for the poor video camera snapshot, I took the night off from being an event photographer)