Photo Story

Observing the potential and the uncertainty

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To this day I wonder what he is looking at, thinking about.

The above photograph has long been one of my personal favorites.  It may have no meaning to anyone else, but the main reason I make photographs is for myself actually.  I remember this day clearly.  I had just bought a Nikkor 50mm 1.8D lens, after thinking about it constantly for over a week.  I wanted a fast lens, and a sharp one, and on my Nikon D80 at that time, it was both.  

This pedestrian bridge was my favorite place in all of Tokyo.  Connecting to Shinjuku station, the busiest public transportation hub in the world, the potential there is tremendous.  Yet there is so much it can be and is overwhelming.  The pedestrian bridge puts you just slight above it all, in a safe position where the potential, as well as the uncertainty of all things, can be observed.

I saw this ojisan taking a long stare down the street I actually lived on for 4 years.  Looking at this photo now, after one of the most chaotic days of my life, it makes me feel calm, and reminds me that potential is still out there, along with uncertainty.

Pole Dancer Model Portrait Session at Raw Vibes

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Pole Dancer Marla in the Black Box room of RAW Vibes in St Petersburg FloridaSunday evening I had a portrait/model session with Marla, a pole dancing instructor at RAW Vibes, the art and performance space run by Saint Petersburg art community friend, Laly, whom last year exhibited my haikyo photographs.  

It was very easy to work with Marla, who posed very well on her own.  I do not believe I said a word to her about posing the entire time, she just went from great pose to great pose.  This allowed me to focus on just making and composing the photographs as best as I could.

The "DANCE" painting was already on the wall, so I cannot take credit for thinking to include it in the photograph.  I did of course notice it and tried to make best use of it for this photograph.  I position myself so that no part of Marla overlapped with the frame of the painting, and also to make it seem like the person in the painting is gazing upon Marla, unbeknownst to her.  I imagined the viewer of this image to be like the viewer in the painting.  

I chose the "antique plate" filter in Silver Efex Pro 3 because I wanted to really accentuate Marla as the subject of the photograph and put into shadow most of the background.  

How I made this photograph:

  • Nikon D300 with Tamron XR Di II 17-50mm lens handheld
  • f/8, 1/60th, ISO 200, aperture priority
  • strobist:  Nikon SB-600 Speedlight on light stand high to frame left triggered by commander mode on the D300
  • processing:  RAW file in Aperture 3, image clean up in Photoshop CS4, conversion to black & white in Silver Efex Pro 3

Classic Late 19th Century Military Couple Portrait

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This couple kindly agreed to let me make their portrait on the University of Tampa Campus

EXIF DATA:  Aperture priority f/8 1/60th ISO 200 - Nikon D300 with Tamron XR Di II 17-50mm

STROBIST:  Nikon SB-600 Speedlight full power with cap diffuser hand held to frame upper left triggered by commander mode on Nikon D300

(Whenever possible, I will be including the EXIF and strobist information with each new photo story.)

This is maybe the sharpest portrait I have ever made using the Tamron XR Di II 17-50mm lens.  I was teaching a DSLR Photography Lesson on the University of Tampa campus when the student and I came across this couple.  The student first approached them and asked if she could take a photo.  After she finished I made my portrait using my "quick and dirty" portrait method of just holding my SB-600 off camera in my left hand extended as far out as I can, while balancing my Nikon D300 in just my right hand.  I believe it is a method I am getting good at!  Of course I would prefer to be able to setup my light stand, put the SB-600 right up on it, and have two hands on my camera to carefully get the exact composition I want, but unless I am working with a portrait client, that usually is just not possible (unless you setup a street model shoot!).

So I have been working on my "quick and dirty" portrait method while making the portraits of my students during their lessons.

This couple was standing on the front porch of the Plant Building looking very dignified, quite in contrast to the attire, or lack there of, that many of the student body choose to decorate themselves with these days.  I had no trouble addressing the couple as sir and ma'am.  Even if it was just acting or just the costumes, they had an aura of class and dignity about themselves.  

No doubt wearing such outfits back in the pre-airconditioning days of Florida no less would be intolerable to those accustomed to t-shirts, shorts and 70 degree controlled climates.  Heck, I cannot even wear cotton as that is too stuffy for me, all synthetics only.  Still, I am very enamored by the formality such attire creates.  I thank this couple deeply for offering me a few minutes of time travel.

Lucas? Spielberg? or other portrait?

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Lucas or Spielberg lookalike

When I first saw the man pictured above, something caught my eye about him.  I did a double take of sorts.  I did not see it at first, but after awhile it finally came to me:  this man looks like either George Lucas or maybe Steven Spielberg.  Tell us in the comments below what you think, Lucas or Spielberg?

I made this candid portrait using a single Nikon SB-600 Speedlight off camera on a light stand.  I just slowly walked over, set the light stand down, and boom! portrait made before he even knew I was there (he was a member of another event I was shooting).  Most of the processing was done using Nik Software Color Efex Pro 3 via Aperture 3.  I cannot recommend this great set of software filters enough. 

Sunny Florida at f/11 project #02 - Downtown St Petersburg

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Downtown St Petersburg is not exactly Manhattan, but then again I would not want it to be.

Finally the "Sunny Florida at f/11" project continues.  When I was visualizing this photograph, I thought the large cloud above really dwarfed downtown St. Petersburg's minimal skyscrapers.  It seemed almost like some large, natural mothership looking down upon lesser, artificial creations.  So I composed the shot with the buildings very low in the frame to stress the largeness of the cloud even more.  

Also, a first:  using Photoshop's "lens correct" filter.  This made all the buildings stand up straight, not just the one in the dead center.  To apply this filter in Photoshop CS4:  FILTER --> DISTORT --> LENS CORRECTION  Then use the Vertical Perspective slider toward the bottom until all the buildings stand up straight.  Thanks to Ken for first explaining this tip.

In my mind I want the next photograph in this series to be of palm trees along the beach, a more traditional Florida landscape.  I will see what I can find.  If you have any tips for a location like this in the St. Petersburg/Clearwater areas, please let me know in the comments below.

Unedited Series 01 - Yurakucho Lantern

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No post editing done on this jpg of a Yurakucho lantern in Tokyo Japan

I have said several times lately to some of my DSLR Photography Lesson students that I edit every single one of my photographs, that I never post any online without at least some editing, and that post-processing can be up to 50% of the process of producing the final photograph.  Then earlier today I was talking with Bob Kroll, a photographer far more experienced than I, about how just even a little over one year ago my post-processing workflow was embarrassingly simplistic.  

So this gave me an idea for a new series of posts called "Unedited."  By unedited I mean a jpg straight out of my Nikon D300, with no post-processing done outside of the camera in any photo editing application, not even any cropping.

The debut image for the Unedited series is a shot I made back in February of 2009 after meeting with great Tokyo-based photographer Alfie Goodrich.  We had met at the Foreign Correspondents Club which is in the very photographic Yurakucho area of Tokyo.  Alfie has photographed a lot there himself.  The lantern in the above shot does not have any deep spiritual meaning or anything like that, it is merely a small restaurant's sign.  Looks much more impressive than some rectangular corporate signage doesn't it?  

Could this image be improved with some editing?  Sure.  The reds might be toned down a bit and maybe some shadow detail pulled out.  A little sharpening might help define the kanji characters as well.  However, I am satisfied with the results I got just from the jpg, and at least for me personally, this photograph is a nice reminder of a well spent day with another photographer during my time in Tokyo.

SHOT DATA:

  • Nikon D300 
  • Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D
  • aperture:  f/2.8
  • shutter speed:  1/250
  • iso:  800
  • handheld

Kosodate-zizou and pinwheel

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A kosodate-zizou statue staying cool with its own pinwheel fan

 The temples and shrines of Japan are full of a wide variety of photography opportunities.  On this particular occasion, the whirring pinwheel caught my eye.  I did not have a tripod with me, but I thought the pinwheel might be spinning fast enough that I could handhold a shot and capture it in motion blur beside the very still statue.  

The statue is called a kosodate-zizou, and they are for the well wishes of a newborn child.  They are adorned with various hats and scarves.  I had never seen a statue "dressed up" before going to Japan.  Something about it is just very curious to me and causes my brain to have to think on the paradox of putting soft material on a hard statue.  Somehow it seems to be a very compassionate thing to do, like, just because the statue is made of stone does not mean its head does not get chilly from time to time.