Photo Story

Jason & Kiki Holiday Family Portrait 2013

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Me and Kiki Holiday Portrait November 2013 at photography student Stacy's house in Treasure Island, FloridaThere are not many chances to get a portrait made with me and Kiki.  When I try self-portraits, Kiki looks like she is being tortured.  Otherwise, I have to resort to composite photo gimmicks.  So I was glad that photo student Stacy was able to make one of Kiki and I using the same lighting setup I had just used to photograph her daughters in her house for their Christmas Card photo.  Kiki still looks a bit tortured, but at least she is looking at the camera this time!

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.

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.

    Shinjuku Tokyo Japan light trails

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    The view I had walking home at night when I lived in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo, Japan - Nikon D80 f/29 ISO 200 5 sec tripod mountedThis is a photograph from my archives, taken back in October of 2008 at the start of my DSLR shooting from when I lived in Tokyo, Japan.  I lived in the heart of the city, Shinjuku, and getting home required walking over a pedestrian bridge with a great view, day or night, but especially at night.  I brought my Nikon D80 with me and a tripod I had just bought allowing me to make light trail images like this one.  Note that the brake lights appear on the left side of the road, as Japanese drive on the opposite side to the U.S.

    Severe Lightning Storm & Waterspout over St. Petersburg Florida June 2013

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    Severe lightning strikes in St. Petersburg Florida during a powerful June 2013 storm - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 bulb mode lens covered until strike tripod mounted with cable releaseWhile out teaching a 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson in downtown St. Petersburg on June 25, 2013 my photography student and I were treated (?) to a spectacular view of a powerful storm that produced a waterspout, funnel clouds and ground shaking lightning.  While keeping a safe distance, I was able to quickly setup to try and capture some lightning shots.  This means setting the shutter speed to bulb mode and covering the front of the lens until lightning is visible and keeping the lens exposed just long enough so the overall shot looks good.  I only had three chances and was lucky enough to get the above lightning photograph on that third try.

    Waterspout over Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg Florida June 2013 - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1.6 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseThis waterspout attracted a lot of onlookers.  In grew in size greatly and I could not get my camera around the tree in the foreground to show its full length.  It was eerily translucent and silent dipping up and down from the clouds above.

    Oncoming ominous storm clouds approach St. Petersburg Florida waterfront - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 5-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseThis is the approach to the storm before we saw any lightning, waterspouts or funnel clouds.  I had never seen such a long, thin band of angry looking clouds stretch all the was from Tampa Bay to south St. Petersburg.  The sun was going down adding a bit of pretty color to the underside of what really was a menacing stormy sky.

    Funnel clouds came from this cloud band along the downtown St. Petersburg Florida waterfront - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 5-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseTurning and looking to my right from the same spot as the previous photo shows just how long that band of clouds stretched too.  Right above the sailboats two funnel clouds would eventually form right in front of us!  They never touched the ground and all we ended up was a little wet once the rain came, but the storm added a lot of excitement to our photography lesson!