Photo Story
FIREWORKS OVER DOWNTOWN ST. PETERSBURG FLORIDA NEW YEAR'S EVE 2012
Thank you to everyone who has supported Jason Collin Photography in 2011 . . . I look forward to serving the Tampa Bay area in 2012 with even better photography services and products . . . Jason
This is a collection of my ten personal favorite photographs that I made in 2011, with roughly each image from a different category. I somehow totally forgot that in the past I only selected my "Five Favorite" shots (2009, 2010), as I from the start set out to choose ten this time. All photographs were made in the greater Tampa Bay area using a Nikon D300, various lenses, various techniques and various lighting. My process for selecting the images was based on if the photo made me feel emotion, and also if the particular photograph was a breakthrough for me in terms of technique or content.
Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1 sec tripod mounted10 - Carnival Time Machine - category: motion blur
In 2011 I finally invested in a proper tripod. This allowed me to explore the world of motion blur photography when the annual carnival came to the church right across the water from where I live. This tilt-a-whirl image appeals to me because of its perfect roundness on a pure black background. It has a cleanness of form that appeals to me aesthetically. (read original photo story for this image)
Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/100th Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/4 power to frame left & SB-600 Speedlight @ 1/4 to frame right9 - Close Family on Colorful Sunset Beach - category: strobist
This family were repeat clients from 2010. It is always great to photograph people you already know and have photographed before. Last year it was their daughter's seventh birthday party. For this year, they wanted family portraits on the beach. As you can see Mother Nature did her part providing a spectacular sunset over the Gulf of Mexico. Using my 2-strobe off camera flash technique I caught the family in a candid exchange of daughter from father to mother. (read original photo story for this image)
Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1/1600th8 - Great Blue Heron Sunset Silhouette - category: nature
I had pretty much never made a silhouette shot before the one you see above as I thought them too common, too easy to do. However, when I saw a great blue heron right in my own backyard with the sun setting behind it, I thought, why not? The result to me is a classical representation of Florida, the Sunshine State. I feel a sense of near and far with the image as well, with the great blue heron so close, and the Sun so far. Sunset is my favorite time of day and this shot will always help me remember what it was like living here on Snell Isle. (read the original photo story for this image)
Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable release7- New Salvador Dali Museum at Twilight with Moon - category: HDR
This very well could have been my #1 image of the year. I had a print of it made for my portfolio, which I only do for a very select few images. I made the shot while teaching a DSLR Photography Lesson, otherwise I would never have been there that evening. I have always from the beginning tried to make my HDR look realistic, to use the HDR technique to show images in a more real sense, rather than hyper-real as a lot of HDR tends to look. Using HDR allowed me to expose the people inside the glass enigma feature of the museum, as well as the purple twilight sky surrounding the waxing moon. This is yet another image taken at sunset/dusk, my favorite time of day. This image appeals to me because of its futuristic sense. (read the original photo story for this image)
Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 to frame right SB-600 to frame left6 - Fashion Model With Dog Statue - category: fashion
I can tell you that photographing models for money is rather enjoyable. Photographing a model is totally different because they know how to act in front of the lens, and like being in front of the lens. When working with a model I can focus on the creative much more since keeping the subject's interest and coaching them into a flattering pose requires little to no effort. It was my idea to introduce the dog statue into this shot as an element of pure curiosity. (read the original photo story for this image)
Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/2.8 ISO 1250 1/60th ambient light5 - Old High School Friends in Dennys - category - candid
This is by far the most personal image for me out of the ten, and the one that in ten years will have the most personal value to me. I had it printed and mounted and it resides on my desk as of this moment. On the left is old high school friend Rick. On the right is eldest friend Terry. We were all best friends in high school. I had not seen Rick in ten years. It was the first time for all three of us to be together since we could remember, possibly as long as 1996. As is the case with childhood friends, ten years might as well be ten seconds once back together again. This candid portrait perfectly captures how I remember these friends in my mind, which to me is the best result one could ask for in a photo, capturing something as it really is. (read the original photo story for this image)
Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/160th SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame right4 - Family Facing the Sea & Setting Sun - category - family beach portrait
The beach is not an environment with that many features. Basically there is the tall grass at the edge of the beach, the sandy beach itself and then the water. Therefore, family beach portraits can all tend to look similar. I am always trying to think of new ideas for photos as I do not like to repeat myself. This portrait was the first time I had a family face the setting sun, thereby putting their backs to the camera. For me creatively, this makes the impact of the photo totally different than if you could see their faces. The mood is entirely different, mystery is added, and their reflections in the wet sand add yet another dimension to the image. When the family looks at this photo in ten years, I want them to wonder what they were thinking about in that moment. (read the original photo story for this image)
Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm lens @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable release3 - Binocular Viewer Relic of the Past - category: black & white
This is another image that was made while teaching a DSLR Photography Lesson. This image ranks so high among my favorites because it haunts me. In a world rapidly becoming all digital, I am taken aback that suck an analog relic from the past still exists. I am very pleased that it does. An object made of thick metal, so heavy that it simply cannot even be moved using one's full strength. It is such a tangible object. I chose to use black & white processing to show my nostalgia for the binocular viewer and its links to childhood in general. I will have a print made of this photograph soon. (read the original photo story for this image)
Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable release2 - Lexus IS F in Abandoned Ybor City Tampa - category: car
This is the one image not made in St. Petersburg. I scouted this location in Ybor City, Tampa before the day of the shoot as the client wanted a brick warehouse background. For a short time, the Lexus IS F was my favorite car in the world. So when the opportunity came to actually get paid money to photograph one, I was ecstatic. This also marked a transition in my business toward car & commercial photography. I liked this image so much that I have been using it on the front side of my business card for most of 2011. I need to get a print of this one made sometime very soon too. (read the original photo story for this image)
Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/7.1 ISO 200 1/160th SB-800 to frame right & SB-600 to frame left1 - Guitarist Playing to the Sunset - category: commercial
Quite simply, I believe this was the best time I ever had making photographs, at least professionally. The client gave me the ideal instructions: just photogrpah me while I play. In this way, I was able to combine a commercial shoot with essentially candid street photography. Thus, it was my ideal photography job. Since he was actually playing, the music also set the tone for the shoot as well. I never shot a greater variety of photos using all my lenses, both natural light and strobist shots, wide shots, tight shots, sunset shots, silhouette shots, basically a little of everything from all the other above images. Once again, the image that appeals most to me is one where you cannot see the subject's face. I already have a print of it in my portfolio. This is my favorite photograph made in 2011. (read the original photo story for this image)
My Favorite Five Images of 2009
My Favorite Five Images of 2010
--please post links to your own favorite photographs in the comments below
This is one of my personal favorite photographs - Location: Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan December 2008I can no longer remember what I saw and what I was thinking before I pushed the shutter to make this shot back in December of 2008 while I was still living in Tokyo, Japan and making daily trips to shoot in and around my tower apartment in Shinjuku. I know I had been on to photograph some of the millions of Christmas lights in the city. Japanese really, really like Christmas lights. All of Tokyo is covered with them. They refer to them as "illumination."
This night it was just me and my Nikon watching the thousands of people walk by watching the thousands of lights. There is a comfort I feel when I am out with my camera, almost a kind of security, that I would not feel if I were just one of the others out enjoying the lights.
What do you see in the photo? What of the two people? Does it look like a couple about to kiss? Actually, they were just strangers passing by and I happened to push the shutter just at the right instant to create the kissing illusion. As I mentioned above, I can no longer remember if I intended to do this. I am not even sure if I intended any people to be in the shot at all.
Nevertheless, this illusioned shot of a couple's kiss is one of my personal favorite shots because it makes me think and try to remember.
Santa an an elf (?) playing baseball before Christmas!If you were wondering what Santa was up to two weeks before his lone out of home work day, it seems he was out playing baseball here in St. Petersburg. I thought this was a pretty funny subject matter to have Christmas lights for so I was glad I had my DSLR with me. Such photographs can be made handheld no problem as one only needs to expose for the lights of the subject. Having the background remain all black is a plus for a lights shot.
What are the funniest, most unusual Christmas or holiday lights in your town?
Jam packed with photographers and gear getting ready to start Help-Portrait 2011 in St. Petersburg, FloridaToday was the third annual Help-Portrait global movement for providing free printed portraits as a way of giving back to those in need. It was my first time to participate. I did not know what to expect exactly as I was having a hard time imagining what it would look like with so many mini-studio setups in one place. I was surprised to walk into the room and see the above scene . . . so much gear!
What Help-Portrait is all about - Nikon D300 Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power & SB-600 @ 1/8 power behind shoot through umbrellasThis was the first family I had the opportunity to photograph this morning. I always like to, when possible, have the family members be in contact with each other somehow, which is why I asked the boy on the right to put his hand on his little brother's shoulder.
Having fun having their portrait made at Help-Portrait 2011 St. Petersburg FloridaThe atmosphere in the room was great and there were big smiles all around. It is really fun to make photographs in such an environment. It was also a chance for me to see other photographer's portrait setups and learn a few things myself.
Help-Portrait photographer volunteers wearing t-shirts with the Help-Portrait logoWhen there was some time between photographing families we made portraits of ourselves with the other volunteers we met this day. If you have a lighting setup and people standing around, photographs will get made!
One of the photographers from Help-Portrait with her own custom made Help-Portrait t-shirt!I really enjoyed being involved with Help-Portrait and hope to be able to do so again next year. For more information about Help-Portrait please visit their official website.
Pine cone stuck to a swinging bench - Nikon D300 Nikkor AF-S 105mm VR f/2.8G lens @ f/4 ISO 200 1/100thFall and winter in west-central Florida are not constants. For example, just Wednesday a cold front came through bringing hours of rain and arctic (for us) 48 degree weather at night and 50s during the day Thursday. Today is Friday and I am writing in shorts and short sleeves with the ceiling fan on and all the windows open. Summer returned.
So it is difficult to be a traditional seasonal photographer in this part of Florida. There are no autumn leaves to photograph to time stamp an image to have been made in the fall. There is of course certainly no snow to illustrate any given photo is from winter.
Seeing this pine cone wedged on a bench swing was the most autumnal scene I have observed this year. Post a link to your photographs that represent fall and winter in Florida to you below in the comments, and for non-Floridians, I enjoy seeing what real fall and winter look like too!
Vinoy Renaissance Hotel east view - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 3-exposure HDR handheld
Through my DSLR Photography teaching I am often out with students around various St. Petersburg landmarks. Each of the three photographs in this post were made on different days while out on a lesson in the evening time.
The HDR image above is of the Vinoy Renaissance Hotel & Resort looking at it from the east along 5th Ave North. At this time the setting sun was sidelighting the hotel and the tall palm trees in front of it. The lighting is what made me stop and suggest to the student I was with that she photograph it from this angle. I made my own shot of the hotel. I knew HDR would produce the best results so even though I did not have my tripod with me I steadied my shooting position and fired off a 3-bracket exposure.
Mahaffey Theater east view - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mountedThe Mahaffey Theater was not the primary subject matter during this particular photography lesson, the new Dali Museum was, but I had always liked the architecture of the Mahaffey even when it had this area all to itself. The sky was a fantastic purple that evening.
The Pier at twilight south view - Nikon D300 Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D @ f/8 ISO 200 1/80th handheldThe Pier is by far the most well known landmark of St. Petersburg, and perhaps the one with the least amount of life left as three new designs to replace the inverted pyramid have just been finalized by the city. This landmark is most often photographed from the north and west, so I was glad to have a unique chance to photograph it from the south from a restricted access point at a marina I was able to get access to thanks to the photography student's mom having a boat docked there.