Photo Story

Bird's Eye View of Tokyo from Shinjuku Nikon Headquarters Black & White

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Bird's eye view of Tokyo from Nikon Headquarters in Shinjuku - Nikon D80 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/40thAll you see above I could navigate precisely on foot, by bike or on train, for this was my home neighborhood for six years.  Yet I never saw it from so high above until the very end of my time there.  If it looks like a maze I can assure you it most certainly was.  Passing through it on foot or by train was a constant series of turns, not just left and right, but also up and down in and out of stations, underground street passages and long, very long tunnels.  By far the fastest way to get from point A to point B was by bike, especially if one had the nerve to ride out in traffic, though by day or night I only ever found a section of about a quarter mile of road in that entire maze to be risky to ride on.

When friends visited it was a point of pride to lead them on a dizzying path through routes that took months to learn.  

I made this photograph from the Nikon Headquarters high up in a skyscraper in Shinjuku, the hub of Tokyo, if not its heart.  I lived a 10-minute walk from here, which in Tokyo walking time, is a short distance.  You could get hands on with every lens Nikon makes and also bring your Nikon DSLR in for a free sensor cleaning if it was still within warranty.  You were also treated to the view you see above.  I of course had to shoot through windows to make this shot.  I erased the spots on the windows visible in the sky portion of the photo.

If you can believe it, this place felt as much like home to me as any place I have ever lived.  

Hillsborough River State Park Relaxing with Canine & Human Friends

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Relaxing at Hillsborough River State Park with canine & human friendsIf you make the effort with your photography, you will be rewarded.  Sometimes that effort just comes from physically lugging your gear with you when you might feel like just leaving it at home or in the parking lot.  I met some canine and human friends yesterday at Hillsborough River State Park, a very dog friendly place that is also one of the best nature experiences in the Tampa Bay area.  Many parks do not allow dogs on boardwalks, but in HRSP they have free reign.  So four people and as many dogs were able to roam the banks of the Hillsborough River, walk through the slash pine forest and later relax hig above the river and just enjoy the view.  

Certainly it was a bit of an effort to carry my Nikon D300, Tamron 17-50mm lens and Nikon SB-600 Speedlight flash on this 2-hour trek, but not that much because I only brought one lens.  I knew ahead of time that the kind of shots I would want to make would require a wide lens.  So to save weight and my back I brought the minimum amount of gear to be able to make those shots.  Why bring the flash?  For fill light in all those three shots above.  They just would not have turned out as well exposed and lit without it.  

So since I made that bit of effort to carry that minimum gear with me, I will have forever visual aids to help me remember that afternoon spent with great canine and human friends.  

My photography tip to you is:  yes, do make the effort to bring your DSLR with you, but help yourself by bringing just the one lens you know you will use for the shots you want to make.

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    • Super Moon or Perigree Moon Over St. Petersburg Florida May 5 2012

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    Super Moon or Perigree Moon May 5, 2012 over Smacks Bayou St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/8 ISO 200 5-exposure HDR mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseWhat is sure to be one of the most photographed subjects of the year is the so-called Super Moon or Perigree Moon that rose in the twilight sky tonight on May 5, 2012.  Luckily for me I had a good vantage point of the Super Moon right from my back patio allowing me to make the HDR image above.  I chose to center the moon between two palm trees.  Uncharacteristically, I did not try any other compositions, so I hope I wake up tomorrow still liking how I framed this shot and not regretting trying a simpler framing!

    Did you photograph the super moon tonight?  

    Sun setting through downtown St. Petersburg Florida HDR

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    Sunset through the trees in Vinoy Park St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 9-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseVinoy Park is my favorite spot in all of downtown St. Petersburg.  It juts out offering panoramic views of the downtown skyline and also The Pier and Tampa Bay too.  It is the best public place to watch the sunset in the area also, well, maybe the top of The Pier is just as good.  I am always looking for different perspectives, trying not to just use my own eye level for composing shots.  For this one I closed the legs of my tripod so that I was shooting just from about a foot off the ground.  This also allowed me to get the sun right under the tree's lowest branch.

    • Photography Tip:  Use your tripod at its lowest height, or lay on your stomach if no tripod required for a unique, low perspective.

    Marina view from Vinoy Park St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 9-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseMoving in front of the tree in the lead photo reveals a marina, on the far right Vinoy Renaissance Hotel and in the center 400 Beach Drive tower.  There are benches to sit on to enjoy this view.  I cannot imagine there are many sunsets they go unused.

    North Straub Park in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 9-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseAll along the downtown St. Petersburg area are parks like North Straub Park above that offer quiet places to sit and enjoy the green environment that city developers very wisely preserved.  It is these parks that in my opinioin make St. Petersburg the most beautiful area to live in all of Tampa Bay.  

    Banyan Trees on Beach Drive in downtown St. Petersburg

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    The two famous banyan trees on Beach Drive in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 9-exposure HDR on tripod with cable releaseThere are banyan trees throughout the downtown St. Petersburg area and nearby surrounding areas, but no banyans are as famous or more photographed than the two trees above located right on Beach Drive NE.  As large as they are, they always seem to appear all of a sudden to passersby who often audibly gasp upon seeing them.

    I first photographed banyan trees in the St. Petersburg downtown area back in August 2011 when walking back to my car after a meeting I passed by this pair.  

    Photographing the famous Beach Drive NE banyan trees is rather challenging.  Their large branches and wide trunks create deep shadows and on one side of them is always a row of parked cars not making for the greatest background.  The angle of composition I chose was the only one I could find that included almost no man-made objects in the shot.  I used my Induro CT214 tripod with all the legs collapsed, shooting from just about a foot of the ground.  I chose to make a 9-exposure HDR image in order to get detail from within the trunk shadows as well as in the bright sky above.

    St. Petersburg dumpster named after fighting meth?

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    A randomly named dumpster in St. Petersburg? - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/4 ISO 200 1/500thI took some time a few weeks ago to just walk around downtown St. Petersburg with my Nikon D300 attached to my Induro CT214 tripod with my Nikkor 80-200mm lens attached.  Before I left the house I had the idea to bring just this gear and make what shots I could using this somewhat unusual gear grouping for shooting an urban environment.  

    I came across this dumpster beside a building in a nondescript location.  It seems that dumpsters for some reason are named in St. Petersburg.  Long ago I photographed one named "KRESS."  Now that I think about it, these "names" very well could be applied by a third party and not the city sanitation department itself.  In light of that, I feel sure now that this dumpster named C.U. METH. is not random.  So it seems there is a further story behind this photograph lying with the person who painted the name on the dumpster and why.  One guess, this is where the person tossed away the last remnants of items used for taking meth.  

    Now that I have realized St. Petersburg dumpsters have given names, I will keep an eye out for more.  If you see any, be sure and get a photograph of them to share.  

    Seashells in Black & White Macro fine art images

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    Nature's spiral black & white seashell macro image - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/32 ISO 200 2.5s tripod mounted with cable release Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/4 power in 42" brolly to frame left using Yongnuo radio triggersPhotography is mostly about observing.  To be a good observer, I believe one needs to practice silence in mind and body.  The seashells featured in this photo story would not found along a quiet beach where I was taking a contemplative stroll.  They were, in fact, found in the middle of the chaos of my neighborhood dog park, but since my mind was silent, I was able to observe them.

    This seashell reminds me of an anklyosaurus - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/22 ISO 200 1.6 sec tripod mounted with cable release Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/4 power in 42" brolly to frame left using Yongnuo radio triggersBy the newly installed water station there is a ring of seashells, not crushed, but small and mostly whole.  As I pushed the nozzle to let Kiki drink, I observed this unusual fact.  Mostly one finds crushed seashells used in landscaping purposes so to see a bed of intact seashells surprised me.  You have to bend over quite a bit to trigger the water flow allowing me to notice the details in the shells.  I thought to myself, "I will take a few home to make macro photographs of."

    Into a cavern of a seashell opening - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/22 ISO 200 1.6 sec tripod mounted with cable release Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/4 power in 42" brolly to frame left using Yongnuo radio triggersIt fascinates me to think that such objects once resided untold miles away at untold depths in the sea.  Where were they from?  How old are they?  Of all places they end up in a dog park, albeit one very close to the sea.  In fact, you can see a part of Tampa Bay from the park.  Now these seashells have journeyed a few more miles to inside my apartment.  They have felt air conditioning.  However, I shall return them shortly to the dog park and their water fountain resting place.  

    How did you get cracked seashell? Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/32 ISO 200 2.5 sec tripod mounted with cable release Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/4 power in 42" brolly to frame left using Yongnuo radio triggersPHOTOGRAPHY TIP:  always be observing, and you will always be improving your photography