Portrait

Holiday Photo Cards 2012 featuring your existing portraits (or new ones!)

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Now available for all past portrait clients of Jason Collin Photography is a very easy and convenient way to order professional quality Family Holiday Photo Cards using your already existing photo gallery!  Simply visit your secure portrait gallery (via Jason Collin Photography on SmugMug) and follow the steps detailed below to order either a traditional 5x7 folding holiday card or a stunning 4x8 flat holiday card.  If you cannot remember the link to your gallery, contact Jason for a reminder.

AFTER YOU VISIT YOUR GALLERY ON JASON COLLIN PHOTOGRAPHY VIA SMUGMUG

  • Click on the Buy button (it can be for any photo, all will show up in the card creator)
  • Click on "Create a Card" in the drop down menu (see screenshot above for reference)
  • You will be taken to the simple and fun card creator interface 

TWO CARD STYLE CHOICES:  4x8 FLAT CARD OR 5x7 FOLDING CARD

 

THIS IS WHAT THE CUSTOM CARD CREATOR LOOKS LIKE

The custom card creator has a simple drag and drop template along with text boxes you can add your personalized titles and messages to.  There are dozens of card styles to choose from in 5x7 folding card form or 4x8 flat card style.  Once you create your card simply choose how many you want and the order is sent to a professional printing lab and then delivered right to your door for the most convenient holiday photo card ordering process possible. 

Social Media Portrait St. Petersburg Florida for Facebook with Kate

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Portrait made right in Kate's living room for looking smart on social media - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/9 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 in 43" brolly to frame right & SB-600 on floor pointing at backgroundI made this portrait of Kate for the intended use of looking good on social media websites from Facebook to Linkedin.  It is a mix of formal and casual made right in her own living room!  I brought my mobile studio setup saving Kate the trouble of having to leave home to get a great portrait of herself made.  The setup consists of a collapsable background leaned against a wall, a speedlight on a light stand in a brolly and another speedlight on the floor pointing up at the background.  

So if you are using a profile photo on Facebook that you are not happy with, stop!  Reserve your social media portrait session today as  I can come to you or we can make a great shot at your favorite outdoor location too!

Professional Headshot for Businesswomen in Clearwater Florida on location

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This morning I returned to a Clearwater business office to finish making headshots of the entire staff.  I photographed a majority of the staff in August, as seen here.  Having shot on this location before and having taken detailed notes, I was able to setup very quickly and produce a consistent business headshot like I had two months earlier.  The staff were again great to work with, which makes shooting a headshot much smoother.  

I used my same two strobe setup, a SB-600 @ 1/8th power with diffuser cap pointed at the portable background and a SB-800 @ 1/4 power in a 43" brolly to subject's left with camera settings of f/7.1 ISO 200 & 1/100th shutter speed on my Nikon D300 with Nikkor AF ED 80-20mm f/2.8D lens.

Professional business headshots are available to be made right in your office, home or in my St. Petersburg home studio.  The headshots are available for individuals or an entire business staff.

Dreaming in black & white portrait of a young woman

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Dreaming in black & white portrait of a young woman - Nikon D80 Nikkor 50mm @ f/2 ISO 200 1/200thSome photos you edit immediately, some you get to years later, others you put aside because you know eventually you will want to edit them.  The latter is the case for the above photograph.  It was made two months ago, but it was not in the right mind frame to edit it until apparently today.  Occasionally I would look at it in my Random folder in Aperture 3 and think, do something with this photo now?  No, not yet, but keep it here, I will do something someday.  

I wanted the image to have a dream-like feel to it, so the choice to process it in black & white was natural.  I chose a push process filter in Nik Silver Efex Pro and to that applied a yellow filter to really soften the whites and leave just a few shadows for contrast.  I used the glamor glow filter in Nik Color Efex Pro to also soften the image.  

In composing the shot I did not want the young woman's face to be seen directly, as that would lead the viewer away from vague dreaming and more to wondering who she was.  The profile view shows a little, but leaves a lot a mystery, especially what might she be looking at or what is the expression on her face?

St. Petersburg Florida Professional Business Headshot Photography Service with Buddy

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Professional Business Headshot made in St. Petersburg Florida home studio - Buddy in formal attire - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/7.1 ISO 200 1/100th Strobist: SB-800 in 43" brolly to frame right & SB-600 in snoot pointed at backgroundBuddy came to my home studio in St. Petersburg Florida to have his professional business headshot made to improve his online business appearance.  This is exactly why I offer this business headshot service either in my home studio or on location right in your own office or home.  The more Linkedin profile photos I see made with an awful camera phone the more I wonder why anyone would want to represent themselves in that type of unprofessional manner.  

Business casual style professional headshot done in my St. Petersburg Florida home studio - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/7.1 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 in 42" brolly to frame right & SB-600 in snoot pointed at backgroundBuddy was a natural in front of the lens and very fun and uncomplicated to photograph.  He was even wearing eyeglasses with an anti-glare coating that showed no reflections in them at all!

Office Staff Business Headshots on location in office in Clearwater Florida

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Part of the staff I photographed on location making business headshots for the entire office in Clearwater FloridaThis morning I drove to Clearwater to photograph nearly the entire staff of a business.  It is actually a planned two-part shoot that will entail me returning on another date yet to be determined to photograph the remaining staff.  It was my first time to make so many headshots in a row, all told thirteen different shots.  It was kind of fun for someone to walk in for a few minutes, see how they choose to smile, and then move on to the next person.  No one was really camera shy so all I had to do was tell there where to point their toes and then which way to twist and look.

camera settings for headshots: f/7.1 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 in brolly @ 1/4 power & SB-600 with diffuser cap at 1/8 power pointed at backgroundI was provided with a near ideal space to make the headshots in--a long rectangular room free of obstacles and even a large table for me to spread all my gear out on.  I leaned the collapsible photography background against the wall, setup my lights, dialed in camera and strobe settings, then it was just a matter of getting the best smile out of each person.  No mess, no fuss!  Nice.

Using a collapsible background to make a home photography studio St. Petersburg Florida

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Kiki & I in a self-portrait featuring my new Botero Collapsible Background - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 in brolly to frame right & SB-600 pointed up at background with blue gel and HONL snoot (open)I am always looking to improve the range and quality of photography products I can offer to clients.  In the pursuit of this I invested in a collapsible photography background (view on bhphotovideo.com) that measures 5'x7' is neutral to dark gray and folds up like a car sunshade into a circle when not in use.  Such a background allows one to setup a small studio space virtually anywhere, including your own living room.  

My new home studio setup featuring a 43" brolly on a light stand, 5'x7' collapsible background & gelled speedlight (behind me)The collapsible background does not require any special holder or stand.  I simply took a canvas print off the wall and rested the background up against it.  It took a little fiddling and flipping it over to get it to stay in the space I wanted it too, but all-in-all a pretty easy setup.  The background is easily big enough for two people, and maybe three or more depending on how they are posed.

This self-portrait headshot took MANY takes to make!If you like to make portraits and do not have the space to maintain a dedicated photo studio in your home, then my photography tip is to invest in a collapsible background that can be used in any room in the house and easily taken over to the homes of friends and family too.