Urban Wedding Engagement Portraits in downtown St. Petersburg
Improvising using the one-way sign - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/5.6 ISO 400 1/100th Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight with diffuser cap 1/2 power on light stand above and to frame left Nikon SB-600 Speedlight 1/4 power with diffuser cap on tripod eye level to frame right
Back in May I had an engagement shoot with Mary and Jason at the often used University of Tampa campus. They were wanting to add a few unique, urban shots to their engagement package so I had them meet me in downtown St. Petersburg one evening. I had a few spots in mind to use, but as often happens, my favorite shot of the day came via improvisation and just happening upon something. We were finished with one location and walking toward a corner and I thought a lone one-way sign could be a great prop. I set up my two strobes and shared my vision with Jason and Mary. After several tries they both performed their roles just as I had envisioned and the result was one of my favorite shots of the summer.
Improvising using the one-way sign - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/5.6 ISO 400 1/100th Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight with diffuser cap 1/2 power on light stand above and to frame left Nikon SB-600 Speedlight 1/4 power with diffuser cap on tripod behind and belowThe experimentation continued with adding more urban elements into the shot like a fire hydrant and traffic light. I further pushed things by using a filter in Topaz Adjust 3 to achieve the vivid, painted look. This was also one of the first times to use one strobe for backlighting/hair lighting (seen in the glowing edge around Mary). This is a technique I will definitely be repeating.
Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/3.5 ISO 200 1/100th Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight with diffuser cap 1/2 power on light stand above and to frame left Nikon SB-600 Speedlight 1/4 power with diffuser cap on tripod eye level to frame rightThe engagement shoot was a very fun and creative experience for me and I got to know Mary and Jason a little bit better before their upcoming September wedding. I am looking forward to photographing their big day!
Aperture Digital Photograph Editing Lesson with Kathleen
Photo by Kathleen, Editing by Jason - red barn in Ohio before and after using Aperture & PhotoshopMy DSLR Photography students are increasingly wanting to learn how to edit their photographs, in addition to how to use their DSLRs out in the field. I am of course very happy about this as I highly recommend learning to shoot and edit simultaneously (read here). I always say that publishing and printing photographs "straight out of the camera" or "getting everything right in camera" are nice myths that never existed, not even in the film days. Of course one should show skill in the field and produce a very well exposed and composed shot in camera. I do believe in the common axim of today that one should not think, "oh, I'll just fix that in Photoshop later." If you realize a flaw in the field, do your best to get it fixed/corrected right then and there. I often shoot weddings on beaches, if I can pause for 5 seconds to let a person passing by in the background get out of the frame, I will totally do that rather than thinking, "I'll just clone them out at home." Cloning out the person would take a lot longer than 5 seconds!
Kathleen took a shooting-based DSLR photography lesson back in early June. Since then she had been shooting some scenery in Ohio, including old barns (above). She requested a lesson on editing and since she is an Aperture user as I am, I could show her my exact workflow from importing photographs to producing a finished photograph. We also mixed in Photoshop (Elements) into her workflow from right within Aperture.
The red barn is her photograph. What I showed her in Aperture was getting the exposure and contrast corrected to remove what I call the "gray film" that coats many digital photographs, especially those taken on overcast days. Note the overall lack of a dull gray cast on the bottom photo. This is usually the number one flaw I see in people's digital photographs, the dull gray film coating.
Next we gave the image a little pop using the vibrancy slider in Aperture and then started to bring in some details using the definition slider. At that point we exported the image to Photoshop (Elements for her, CS5 for me) right from within Aperture and worked on selective editing. We selected the red barn walls and adjusted the contrast just on that part to bring in even more detail and pop without effecting the rest of the image. We did the same to the roof, but that did not cause much change. Lastly, we applied unsharp mask (my preferred sharpening method) which brought even more detail, especially in the window shutters.
I also taught Kathleen all the keyboard shortcuts that are massive time savers when using complicated, multi-tool apps like Aperture and Photoshop. She filled a whole notebook page with them. We have already scheduled our next editing lesson for two weeks from now!
Tranquil Florida Wedding on Sunset Beach Treasure Island
I hope they do not mind the guest in their Sunset Beach wedding portrait!After many stormy evenings out on Pinellas County's Gulf of Mexico beaches, Maria and Michael's wedding night weather was tranquil, as was everything about their wedding. On a week day evening Sunset Beach on Treasure Island is largely empty, save for shore birds and a passing dolphin or two.
The bride before her wedding, photo helped out by a timely wind gust
All this was a relief to me not having to worry about having the wedding ceremony and time for photography cut short by an imposing thunderstorm. The nearly empty beach also allowed me to choose backgrounds at will. I could concentrate more on the lighting and composition. I even had time to wait for the wind to catch Maria's dress.
Maria continued my perfect streak of having nothing but utterly pleasant brides to photograph and work withI really like to have negative space in portraits when shooting them in either landscape or portrait orientation, especially when there are two people in the portrait. Filling the frame is great for portraits as well, but when shooting on location at the beach, I think in a vast majority of the shots showing the beach as the background is best. I could crop in on the above shot to create perhaps a more personal image, but then who would know they were at the beach?
An increasingly requested shot -- couple facing the sea with backs to the camera
Having the portrait subject not looking into the lens directly, or having the subject's face not visible at all is a shot I like to include in any portrait session to help create in the future a sense of wonder. Not wonder in like Wizard of Oz wonder, but rather in making the subject wonder what they were thinking as they looked upon the vast sea, holding her/his wedded partner's hand for the first time. If they can remember, how does it compare to the present?
Thanks to Maria and Michael for a calm, creative evening of photography.
Photography Tip - always wear appropriate footwear
Waterproof trail running shoes make great go anywhere do anything photography gear
All of my adolescent and adult life I have worn very high quality footwear. I believe in this strongly. When I see the flip-flop wearing trend of recent years I just cannot fathom it. Never in my life have I ever exposed my toes to trauma, or filth, in public. Footwear is also a key piece of photography gear. Yesterday I was out trekking in Brooker Creek Preserve. A sign said that some of the 2-mile trail may be flooded as they want to keep the natural trail grade. For the first half mile I did not even see any mud, but the middle mile was walking down a track of 2-5inches of water over a bed of what looked like green angel hair pasta. The trail was not such that one could just skirt around the water the whole time. Mostly the water was unavoidable.
If I had not been wearing my dominant Salomon XA Pro 3D Ultra GTX trail running shoes (they have a waterproof Goretex XCR membrane) I would have had to of either turn back and not get any shots that day, or walk a mile with soggy socks. I had no idea that the trail would be flooded, but I knew that hiking anytime in Florida's forests in summertime means that flooded paths are possible.
Not only do my Salomon's protect me from water, but their cushioning and support help me get through all day wedding jobs as well. They are one more piece of gear that I have absolute confidence in, which in turns contributes to my overall confidence in my ability to do photography. When I am doing photography work, I want to have no weak links in either my camera bag or on my person. Thus, to me, wearing the right footwear for a job is as important as using the right lens.
What is your footwear of choice for what kind of photography? I have worn Salomon's for the past seven years and they keep getting better with each new model.
Tripod DSLR Photography Lesson from The Pier with Cindy
Cindy from atop The Pier with her Canon T1i mounted on her new carbon fiber tripod!
My DSLR Photography students continue to accumulate new gear, which is exciting for me too! For out second lesson Cindy got a Benro carbon fiber tripod, no small investment. Coincidentally, this was the second tripod based DSLR Photography Lesson I taught this week. It's funny how such themed lessons, that are themselves rare, happen so close to each other. The same thing happened with 50mm lens lessons earlier this summer.
Despite our 10am lesson time start, things up on the roof of The Pier (5th story) were not that hot as there was a constant breeze and the sun was to our backs. That latter fact helped us with photographing the downtown St. Petersburg skyline. Not only did Cindy get a new tripod, she also got a cable release and wireless remote control, two very useful items that are very wise to pair with a tripod purchase, especially the cable release.
We actually started out by figuring out how to setup her Benro carbon fiber tripod including locking the legs securely into place and adjusting the ball head, not to mention securely tightening the mount plate to the bottom of her Canon T1i.
After shooting from all angles on the roof, we headed down to photograph some pelicans looking into the sun. We did this because Cindy asked me what happens if on her trip to Alaska next year the whales are backlit by the sun. Obviously it is not ideal at all to have backlit subjects, but getting such a subject decently exposed is still possible by adjusting the exposure compensation, usually the +/- button. This will of course blow out the sky and overexpose much of the image, but getting the whale, or in our case yesterday, a pelican, exposed well enough to see details, not just a silhouette.
Sunny Florida at f/11 project #07 - Tampa Bay Panorama in Portrait Orientation
click for larger version - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/11 ISO 200 6-shot panorama in portrait orientation (handheld)
I have taken my new interest and excitement over panorama images to the Sunny Florida f/11 project. I have used the area in and around Vinoy Park for a majority of my f/11 project photos because I am simply in that area the most with my camera due to it being a prime spot I use for my DSLR Photography Lessons. It also happens to be my favorite spot in all of St. Petersburg both for photography and just for the feeling of openness and Freedom I feel when I am there.
For this shot I turned my Nikon D300 into portrait orientation instead of the usual landscape orientation used to make most panorama shots. In my mind one cannot use portrait orientation enough as landscape orientation dominates so much. So let's make that a mini-photography tip, use portrait orientation more than you currently do!
Florida's best natural feature for landscape photographs is its sky, in my opinion. Florida from Tampa down is a pancake and there are few tall buildings. Thus, many places have near 180 degree or greater wide open from the horizon to the stars views. Throw in the subtropical weather patterns and that makes for dramatic skies on nearly a daily basis. Then of course there are the fantastic sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico here on the west coast of Florida. Therefore, since there are no mountains or other large natural features, I often look to the sky for making landscape shots. What about you?