Lake Manatee State Park

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Kayaking opportunity on Lake Manatee - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 5-bracket HDR tripod mounted with Nikon MC-30 cable releaseI was excited to spot Lake Manatee State Park on Google Maps.  It seemed like it was an exciting find as I especially like to visit state parks with lakes or rivers.  In fact, it is a very modest state park with one small, but nice access point to the lake, which is itself somewhat nondescript.  In other words, the place was basically a desert.  The campground was booked solid with it being Labor Day, but the park still felt rather empty.  This is normally ok with me, but it seems there was a reason for it being so.  Kiki was with us so we could not swim in the lake (against its alligator attracting rules), a prudent precaution by the park, but with a number of people swimming, including children, it would seem quite safe enough and any alligator would be avoiding the human contact of the area.  Still, we could have rented a canoe and brought Kiki on the lake that way, and since you can only rent a canoe at the entrance, we thought we should have just rented one then and saved the return trip.  However, we ended up being glad we did not fork out the $10 for a 2-hour rental ahead of time as the lake offered no cover and we would have only boiled on its surface with minimal sightseeing opportunities.

Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 5-bracket HDR tripod mounted with Nikon MC-30 cable releaseDespite all that we enjoyed window shopping as we walked through the campground wondering what all the trailers and RVs looked like inside and had a nice picnic lunch on one of the numerous covered table areas.  We even made use of the playground for a bit.  

Visit this park in cooler weather and I do not recommend bringing a pet/dog since the park's best feature, the lake, is basically off limits to them. 

Handfasting Wedding Ceremony at a 400 Beach Drive Condo

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Everyone at one point held hands during the handfasting wedding ceremonyFor perhaps the first time in my life I used valet parking as I pulled up to the condo skyscraper at 400 Beach Drive in downtown St. Petersburg.  Since I was going there to photograph a wedding and know how hard it is to park in that area, I did not even ask the price and just hoped it would not be outrageous.  Turns out its a service provided by the building and you just pay a tip to the valet person.  I was immediately impressed as I entered the 11th floor condo that was to be the setting for Hunter and Larry's wedding handfasting ceremony.  For four years I lived on the 11th floor of a state of the art apartment building in Tokyo, and I was immediately reminded of how nice it is to have a view.  Apparently Hunter and Larry are extremely popular people as their friend's condo was totally packed.  I had to watch every step I took roving around photographing the handfasting ceremony.

Hunter before the ceremony - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 640 1/60th SB-800 hotshoe mountedThe condo was huge and I have no idea exactly how many rooms it contained, with the master bedroom being exceptionally huge.  This is where I began photographing once I arrived.  Hunter and Larry and some other close friends who would be in the ceremony were all getting ready at their ease.  Once it seemed like everyone (100 people?) was there, it was on with the ceremony!

Presenting a ring with part of the great downtown St. Petersburg waterfront view in the backgroundI had heard of handfasting while a grad student in religious studies at USF and always thought it sounded like a great custom.  I believe I saw a photo in a reference book of a white ribbon binding the wrists of a couple together during the ceremony.  Other than that long held mental image, I had no idea what else to expect.  I liked the ritualistic presentation of the rings by members of the wedding party.

Not the white ribbon I had imagined for 10+ years

The practitioner did not bring out a wide, white ribbon as I had imagined for years, but actually a series of thin ropes that were placed on one-by-one with a description of the meaning of each in between.  They were also not tightly bound around their wrists.  I am now curious about what variations exist in handfasting ceremonies.  

Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 640 1/60th SB-800 hotshoe mountedThe handfasting ceremony took some time, which I appreciated as it allowed me many opportunities for both shots of the couple themselves as well as all wedding party members and even some reaction shots of the guests.  In comparison, most beach wedding ceremonies are over in less than five minutes so I mostly just have time to focus on the couple as things progress rapidly.  

Their cake may have been the best I ever tasted in my life.Now the couple feeding each other cake custom I am of course very familiar with.  Neither made things get messy though, unfortunately.  However that would have been perhaps a food crime of sorts to waste even one bit of the cake, as it was quite possibly the best cake I ever tasted, and I am a long-time cake connoisseur often on the search for a palatable piece of cake after living in Asia for 9 years, a continent where good cake seems to go to die.  The cake itself was light, but solid with a touch of raspberry spread between layers and an extremely tasty frosting.  

I had a great time and experience photographing Hunter & Larry's wedding and seeing how the downtown St. Petersburg condo lifestyle really is (it's excellent).  Now if I could just get that cake recipe . . .

Epic Aerial Portraits in Downtown Tampa Part 1 -- yours truly

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Photo by Vadim - Nikon D700 Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 - yours truly pulling a trademark Liu Kang aerialWhen a trio of friends gets together who have not all seen each other in awhile, and they happen to be photographers, hardcore portraits can, and in this case, did, ensue.  I met my boys Vadim and Pedro in front of the Tampa Theater.  We started out semi-tame, just a 2-strobe setup in front of some huge spiral modern art with each of us straddling a small fountain waterfall.  However, at Vadim's urging we soon packed away the lights and we all decided to take to the air!  This is nothing new for me.  I pulled a Liu Kang air (photo) (update see below!) over a huge gap in a cliffside in Mesa Verde National Park back in 2000, something I called the "Leap of Faith."  So doing an epic drop (unverified) from a skyscraper as seen above was only my latest epic aerial.  

Photo by Vadim - Nikon D700 Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 - yours truly pulling a Jackie Chan parkour move for a shotGood photographers can get shots anywhere.  Luckily Vadim was with us and spotted this alley behind a restaurant and said we should try it out.  I immediately suggested I could do parkour off the wall for some shots.  Vadim got who knows how dirty to get this creative angle.  Pedro was getting dirty too on the ground between the trash can and the dumpster.  Me?  Well, you know my disdain for getting myself into a state of disrepair.  

Photo by Pedro - Nikon D300 Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 - yours truly using The MatrixOne may point out that all these jumps were done while holding my not so inexpensive camera (not to mention lens) in my hand.  That's what makes things real.  Everyone jumped with his gear.  We wanted to get some different (and in my case hardcore) photographer's headshots.  I think we succeeded in that.  

Next up will be the shots I took of Vadim and Pedro! 

UPDATE:

Mese Verder National Park -- Digital Photograph by unknown circa 2000 model, possibly a Sony, owned by traveling friend Steve. - yours truly making the "Leap of Faith"This is my original Liu Kang style jump from March of 2000.  I met two guys in Mesa Verde Park and we explored the place and jumped off of everything we could find.  The photo taken by Steve was with perhaps one of the very first consumer digital cameras.  It might have been a Sony.  I think it was just a 1 megapixel camera.  The original file was only 640x480 as memory cards had very small capacities back then and were super expensive.  Digital photography really has advanced in just 10 years.  Read more about this awesome day and see more epic feats:  Mesa Verde 2000 Adventure 

John Kelly Band performing at Treasure Island Yacht & Tennis Club

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Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/4 ISO 400 1/1250thAfter the training portion of the MIC event at the Treasure Island Yacht & Tennis Club came the social and relaxing portion.  Besides a large buffet spread there was a roving magician and a live 7-piece band performing.  During a break, I had a chance to meet some of the members of the John Kelly Band.  They were all very friendly.

Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/4 ISO 200 1/1250thThere was a bit of a challenge in photographing the band in the form of a very large pool being right in front of the stage (lengthwise).  Now when I photographed a band on the very same stage for New Year's Eve 2009, the pool was covered with a very expensive plexiglass cover.  At first I almost walked into the pool just trying to get a more natural shooting angle.

Tim Poole - Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/2.8 ISO 200 1/1000thShooting from extreme angles I tried to get as clean of backgrounds as I could.  I used my Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens wide open at f/2.8 and sometimes a bit stopped down at f/4 (for improved sharpness).  

Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/8 ISO 320 1/160th with Nikon SB-800 Speedlight hotshoe mounted in TTL mode with diffuser capI switched lenses to my wide angle for the one vantage point I could get close to the stage from the, right rear side.  The band was being mostly front lit by the late afternoon sun so I used my SB-800 to add some needed fill light while still being able to keep the blue of the sky.  Manual exposure mode was necessary for the above shot to produce the results I wanted.  

John Kelly - Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/4 ISO 400 1/1000thTo be honest, when I am concentrating on shooting as much as I was to figure out how to best photograph the band, I am not too aware of much else.  So I heard the songs the John Kelly Band were playing, but only in the background of my senses.  Thus I cannot really comment too much on what type of music they play.

Geni Poole - Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/2.8 ISO 400 1/1000thMore information about the John Kelly Band: 

Jason Collin Photography:

MIC Event 2010 at Treasure Island Yacht & Tennis Club

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Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/4 ISO 800 1/200th Nikon SB-800 Speedlight hotshoe mounted with diffuser capA professional photographer needs to be both very flexible and always ready to take a job.  Out of the blue this afternoon a contact at Treasure Island Yacht & Tennis Club called me asking if I could photograph an event going on . . . now.  When I got the call at 2:31pm I was actually at the Rusty Pelican in Tampa scouting it out for a wedding I will be photographing there in a few weeks and I was supposed to take care of two other things even further away from St. Petersburg where the yacht & tennis club is.  I did not want to turn down the job, so I said I could make it back across the bay and be on site by 4pm.    

Bill Edwards giving a presentation at the Treasure Island Yacht & Tennis Club

I had to first stop at home and pick up my photography gear and grab a quick sandwich as I would be shooting for 3 hours (4pm to 7pm).  This is another important point, a photographer should always have his/her gear at least semi-ready for shooting.  I plan on writing a full blog post on this soon.  I have photographed two other events and a wedding at TIYTC so I am very familiar with shooting there and also the layout of the club.  This of course gave me confidence about being able to just swoop in and start shooting.

Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/4 ISO 800 1/40th Nikon SB-800 Speedlight hotshoe mounted with diffuser cap

I was told to try and use flash as little as possible, which means high ISO shots.  They also requested a group shot of everyone in the conference room right in the middle of the event so there was no time to place any strobes in the back of the room or anything.  I just moved a few placards out of the way, went to the far back corner of the room up on a little stage, set my shutter speed as slow as I dared (1/40th) and was thankful that 17mm was just wide enough to get everyone in plus a bonus staff member on the far left.  

This event had a whole other outdoor phase to it which will be in a future post.

Bride Series - Olivia

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Sand Key Florida -- Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/11 ISO 200 1/100th Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/2 power with diffuser cap on light stand to frame left

Being patient and persistent allowed for these images of Olivia for this Bride Series collection, as well as spontaneous.  Soon after her wedding ceremony, a huge storm rumbled across Sand Key Beach forcing us to take cover for over twenty minutes.  It was already getting close to sunset time and I really thought we would have no more portrait opportunities.  Then as suddenly as the storm arrived, the rain ceased leaving behind a dramatic sky background over the Gulf of Mexico.

Nikon D80 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8 lens @ f/8 ISO 200 1/640th natural lightThis is Olivia as she is getting ready to walk down the sandy beach aisle, before the storm.  The weather was still calm then and the sun was giving off its usual warm glow of late evening.  It is the ideal time for natural light portraits.  

Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/11 ISO 400 1/100th Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/2 power with diffuser cap on light stand to frame leftI mentioned before being spontaneous helped.  This photograph was very impromptu (as was the lead image).  As we were leaving our respective shelters, they from their cars (too hot for me) and me from the changing room covered open air deck, on our way to the beach I liked the green grass background and thought it would be a unique shot to have amongst all the other on sand shots.  Olivia was willing to leap up onto the railing of the boardwalk.  I quickly setup my light stand and dialed in the settings.  I was very happy we made the effort to get these shots.  

Nikon D80 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/8 ISO 200 1/400th natural lightSo what could have ended up as a very shortened wedding portrait session turned into an opportunity for portraits with a unique and dramatic backdrop.  Over this summer I have come to actually prefer stormy sky backdrops over ordinary calm sunset skies.  Thanks to Olivia for being so open to all my ideas.

Fossil Park Pool Dog Day August 2010

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Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/4 ISO 200 1/1000thSt. Petersburg children's loss was St. Petersburg dogs' gain.  With the end of the summer swim season at Fossil Park Pool (info), it was opened up to canines.  No humans allowed in the water at all.  This event was very popular.  When we arrived at 11:20am the pool was at maximum capacity already.  We had to wait until a dog left before we could get in, but only a short time.

Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/4 ISO 200 1/1600thProbably the St. Petersburg Times was even at the pool earlier covering it because as I was shooting with my somewhat long Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens, several people asked me if I was with the press.  I said thank you, I am a professional photographer, but I am not working today, only photographing my own dog, Kiki (other dog photos taken with permission).

Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/4 ISO 200 1/2000thI am glad I asked if I could photograph other dogs because even though Kiki is a very good swimmer, and really loves to swim, her first time at a pool seemed to be a scary experience for her.  That expression on her face above would be panic.  I encouraged her to go in the water, but she immediately turned back toward the wall of the pool and tried to pull herself out.  I think she did not want to swim because I was not allowed in the water also.  At the dog beach, she always waits for me to go into the water with her, never going in by herself.

sad puppyAll the other dogs were having a great time diving in, retrieving noodles and lying submerged on the steps of the pool.  All Kiki would do was jump on the first step getting her feet wet.  

Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/4 ISO 200 1/1250thAfter shaking off the pool water she went back to her usual dark park mode, which is looking for another willing dog to wrestle and chase.  She made several friends and started a dry land game of chase the noodle.

Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/4 ISO 200 1/1000thThe great things about dogs, though, is that they recover almost instantly and after the pool swimming trauma Kiki was almost immediately all smiles again.  For dog lovers this was a great event and I am glad I heard about it (via a friend on Facebook).