Photo Stories

St. Raphael Festival Modern Midway Snell Isle Florida 2013

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After 10 seconds, a swinging ship on a pendulum looks elliptical at St. Rafael Church Festival Snell Isle Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/16 ISO 200 10.5 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseEven though I merely observe, come the start of every October I find myself looking forward to the St. Raphael Festival that transforms a soccer field in the middle of a Snell Isle neighborhood into a carnival.  What really amazes me is how fast it comes and goes.  Sunday night at 8pm the festival is full of people on the rides.  By 9:30am Monday morning every ride is already packed up and loaded onto a truck.  It is only open for three days.  How fast it appears then disappears adds a lot to its mystery for me.  It just does not seem possible.

Of all rides, the ferris wheel holds the most nostalgia for me - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/16 ISO 200 2.3 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseAgain this year I did not go on a single ride.  I did, though, continue my custom of eating deep fried Oreos.  They warmed my insides for hours after.  

St. Raphael Festival in Snell Isle Florida is a mystical neighborhood carnival - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/16 ISO 200 1.4 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseWhere does the carnival go after it leaves Snell Isle?  I am very curious about that, but would not want to know the answer.  It occurred to me today that this could be its last stop of the year before winter, and that is why everyone packs up so quickly because vacation starts as soon as they finish.  As much as I like this annual visit, for many reasons I hope I am never here to see it again.

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Bilmar Resort Hotel Treasure Island Beach Sunset Portraits with Lisa

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Lisa on the beach at sunset at Bilmar Hotel Resort on Treasure Island Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/200th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightVisiting from Chicago, Lisa wanted to have some professional portraits made of herself on vacation.  I met her at the Bilmar Hotel, a place I have shot at before.  The weather the three days prior to our shoot were nearly constant rain, and Lisa was concerned, but my lucky weather streak for beach portraits continued as you can see we had a near ideal sunset.

Twilight beach portrait at Bilmar Hotel on Treasure Island - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/200th - Strobist: SB-800 behind subject & SB-600 in front rearLike many people, Lisa told me she was not that comfortable having her photograph taken, but as is often my experience, they turn out to be much better models than they ever thought they could.  I may see Lisa again for a photography lesson in the spring when she returns with a Nikon DSLR of her own.

Private Jet at the Tampa Jet Center HDR Event Photography

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Private Jet for sale at Tampa Jet Center - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 9-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseThis is what it would take for me to be able to travel internationally now, a private jet, as I would not travel anywhere without Kiki and commercial air travel is far too dangerous and risky for a dog.  That is ok though, there is plenty of North America yet to be seen that can all easily be reached by car, which is my much preferred method of travel anyway.  Still, there is no doubt a private jet has a certain allure.  You can go anywhere in the world anytime on your own schedule.  On the other hand, it would also seem to be the greatest negative impact an individual can make on the environment in a single act. 

Hong Kong Street Photography May 2002

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Hong Kong street photography - made with my first digital camera Olympus 2040ZI visited Hong Kong in May of 2002, but it was not exactly on purpose.  By that I mean I did not think to myself where do I want to go for a three-day trip?  Hmm, Hong Kong sounds good.  I went to Hong Kong, it could be said, just to see a movie.  Of course it was not just any movie, but rather EPISODE II.  I was living in South Korea at the time and the movie was not opening there for months later, which was unacceptable.  The movie opened on a Wednesday if I recall, and I did have a job teaching in South Korea then.  I just told them I needed a few days off, no reason given, and certainly not that I was leaving the country!

I do not remember how, but I made a contact with someone in Hong Kong, a fellow Star Wars fan.  Tickets would of course sell out so I could not just stroll up to the ticket counter on opening night, so he said he would buy one for me when he bought his ahead of time.  Now I was a total stranger just reaching out to another fan, and he totally came through for me.  I guess we just agreed to meet at the theater as I had no cell phone with me to use in Hong Kong or anything like that.  The power of fandom!

It felt like the buildings were leaning over you in Hong KongI saw the movie three times in those three days in Hong Kong!  I did manage to get out and explore a bit too though.  Hong Kong felt very intimate to me, like everything was packed together and happening out on the streets.  The buildings themselves felt like they were leaning over you, closing in even more.  

Sign overload in the shopping districts of Hong KongAll these photos were taken with my very first digital camera, a 2.1 megapixel Olympus 2040Z.  

You have to weave your way through pedestrian traffic in Hong KongIt was a great three days in Hong Kong.  I stayed in touch with the guy who got me the tickets for awhile afterwards.  I also made friends with the guys in the PC cafe near my hotel that I visited often to read about reaction to the movie, etc.  Somehow I bought a white Mountain Hardwear t-shirt at a shop there that I still wear to the beach this day.  In the airport I bought a portable alarm clock that I have been using since then too.  All in all, it was a very memorable trip.  I watched the sun set from the airplane window as my time ended and I flew back across the Sea.

 

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    Psychedelic Pelican of St. Petersburg Florida

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    A psychedelic pelican composite image made using a layer mask in PhotoshopI had two images lying around in my random folder for months.  One was a graffiti wall I photographed knowing someday I would use it as a texture background.  Then I had this kind of wide-eyed pelican photo.  This afternoon I thought to combine them for a psychedelic looking fine art photograph.  In Photoshop I placed the graffiti wall image right over the pelican photo.  Then using a layer mask I was able to brush away the wall to reveal the pelican underneath, as well as choosing the blend mode for the overall look.  This is actually a fairly simple Photoshop skill.  To get more of an idea of how the combo process works, check out this blog post.

    John's Pass Madeira Beach Large 12-person Family Beach Portraits Florida

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    Just the adults from a John's Pass Beach family portrait session - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightThe weather was fine all day as I made my way to the beach at John's Pass to meet a 12-person family all from Canada for family beach portraits.  However, once on the beach there were storm clouds everywhere to the south, west and north, but none passed over until the shoot was finished.  Lucky again!  In this shoot I really tried to stress avoiding just having people line up side by side (the picket fence look) and asked for more hands on interaction, like in the above shot.  I placed the man in the pink shirt on the sand first, and then had everyone else stack on top of him.

    Sisters having fun on Madeira Beach Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/7.1 ISO 200 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightThese sisters needed no prompting to take up a more fun pose on the beach.  The challenge with them was getting them to do something not too crazy with each other!

    Just the boys during this Madeira Beach family portrait session - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/7.1 ISO 200 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightOnly the guys in this shot and the best way to keep two active boys under somewhat control is to have them under wraps!

    All twelve family members walking down Madeira Beach at John's Pass Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/4 ISO 800 1/500thThe whole 12-person family walking down the beach.  Overlap by someone walking too fast is a concern in these shots, so I instructed everyone to walk at the same pace and not get in front of each other.  By the second take they had gotten it down.

    Cousins all stacked up on Madeira Beach family portraits Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/7.1 ISO 200 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightNothing like a small stack of cousins as the kids when on their own in front of the lens seemed to be more willing to smile and stay put.

    The whole family portrait all 12 on Madeira Beach Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/200th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightThis was actually the first shot of the evening, everyone together in a large group shot by the sea grass.  Even in this type of shot I encouraged some overlap getting everyone to sit as close to each other as possible to show more emotional connection between the family.