Luxury Real Estate Tampa Bay Apollo Beach Home

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Sweeping view of Tampa Bay facing west - Luxury Florida Real Estate PhotographyI believe the view of Tampa Bay from the Apollo Beach side is best because, for one, it faces west allowing for prime viewing of Florida's amazing sunsets.  Another reason that may only bother me is that there is a large electric plant on the Apollo Beach side.  So if you live on the St. Petersburg side this small spot of smoke stacks jars what is otherwise a flawless view.  It would slowly drive me crazy.  Of course if you live on the Apollo Beach side, then you have to be neighbors with the power plant.  Hmm, which would you choose?  

This luxury home in Apollo Beach had a great "backyard" for entertaining, i.e. no grass, an infinity pool and expansive covered and uncovered seating areas.  Personally, I would take a grassy backyard over pavers and a pool any day because I would want a place to run and play with beloved puppy Kiki.  Plus I am a recluse and never entertain.  However, if you are the opposite of me, as most people are, this type of space would be ideal.

Great Room opening wide to Tampa Bay - Luxury Florida Real Estate Photography

All along the back of the house are a series of sliding glass doors that all open in a cascading fashion into a pocket in the wall creating a completely open feeling to the great room as if Tampa Bay itself flowed to the doorstep.  

Estate-like Apollo Beach Home grand entrance - Luxury Florida Real Estate PhotographyRoyal palm trees do their best to create a curb appeal for the home to try and keep up with the million dollar water views from the back.  I think the front definitely holds its own.

Cushease commercial product photography Clearwater on a boat

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Model: Lindsay; Cushease product shot on location in Clearwater; f/11 ISO 200 1/250th with 42" reflectorA commercial product photography shoot with models for Cushease in Clearwater was my first experience shooting on a boat.  As soon as I came aboard I instantly realized that doing photography on a boat will be an all new challenge, with not the least challenge being not slipping overboard strafing back and forth to the bow.  I also learned that you will definitely need assistants while working on a boat.  I had already confirmed that the models when not in front of the lens would be willing assistants to hold either the 42" reflector or a speedlight.  On dry land you can setup a light stand to hold speedlights and reflectors, on a rocking boat, that is not possible.  

University of Florida Gator embroidered products by Cushease - Clearwater commercial photographyThe client was actually Karin, one of my new, dedicated DSLR Photography Lesson students.  Her company, Cushease, has a large product catalogue featuring weatherproof chairs, cushions and pillows.  The images from this shoot will be used to update her new website, print catalogue and in various advertising mediums.  That is Karin's dog on the Gator pillow above.  He was very well behaved and a willing model.

Cushease weatherproof chairs for boat & outdoor use - Commercial Photography in ClearwaterI made many of the shots from the upper deck of the boat, which required climbing up a very narrow ladder with my Nikon D300 dangling precariously from its strap.  I was pretty nervous at first but by the end of the 2-hour shoot had gotten pretty good sea legs.  I spent a lot of time on boats in my childhood and this commercial shoot started to make me miss the unique feeling one has when spending time on a boat.   

Snell Isle Series - 05 - Great Blue Heron Sunset Silhouette

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Great Blue Heron sunset silhouette - Snell Isle - f/4 ISO 200 1/1600thIt is far, far too rare that I take my Nikon D300 out for personal shooting, even to my own back patio.  This past Sunday night, most likely due to the lack of sports on TV, I was sitting on the back patio enjoying the view of Smacks Bayou and the setting sun when I noticed a pelican diving and a great blue heron getting annoyed by that diving.  I saw this as an opportunity to continue my slow moving Snell Isle Photo Series.

Great Blue Heron sunset silhouette - Snell Isle - f/4 ISO 200 1/1600thThe conflict with the pelican I will save for another post, while here I will only feature the placid and mostly stoic stance of the great blue heron.  I very rarely make silhouette shots, mostly because they are too easy and too common, but recently my interest in them has started to grow.  Manual exposure mode is a must of course to produce them.  A fast shutter speed causes everything that is not the sun or its immediate surroundings to remain dark, producing a silhouette shot.  

Great Blue Heron walking sunset silhouette - Snell Isle Florida - f/5.6 ISO 200 1/1000thGreat blue herons in this area of Florida have little fear of people.  They are quite approachable.  This means with only my trusty Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens, I can get close enough to pretty much get as tight of a shot as I want.  They walk very deliberately, never scurrying.  I like that.

Great blue heron sunset silhouette - Snell Isle - f/4 ISO 200 1/1600thThe great blue heron featured in these shots did not mind to be photographed at all.  In fact, I believe the same great blue heron returned to my back patio last night and stood just a few meters away dead staring at me.  It was very strange.  This bird is over three feet tall, almost person like.  We were unable to clearly communicate to each other what the other wanted.  Perhaps the dialogue will continue tonight?

DSLR Photography Lesson Furniture Product Shots 3 light setup

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Three continuous light sources made for easy lighting setup with no undesired shadowsEach new DSLR Photography Lesson with Karin we add a little to the complexity of product shot we practice.  This time we needed a setup much larger than that for the pillows we previously photographed.  After some office space rearranging we used all three of her continuous lights for getting only the wanted shadows on a large, stuffed chair to be photographed for use in her website catalog.  This was surprisingly easy as the strobist techniques for photographing people largely apply to continuous light product photography as well.

Yours truly demonstrating classic remote trigger techniqueKarin now has all the photography tools to make product photography like this very simple with no mess, no fuss.  Putting her new Nikon D5100 on a tripod, attaching the cable release and using Live View mode to see the image right on the back on the camera, plus using continuous lighting, means once we got all settings locked in and all lights positioned, the settings could be noted on paper and the light positions marked on the floor with tape so that consistent results can be produced shot after shot week after week.  This is the benefit of shooting in studio-like conditions.  

For our next lesson, we may add tethering to our setup so that the images appear instantly right in Aperture 3 for preview on Karin's MacBook.  Exciting! 

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    • Ferrari 458 Italia Photographs in Detail

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    Ferrari 458 Italia front left fender and wheel arch - St. Petersburg Car PhotographyAt a recent car show in St. Petersburg I had a chance to see and photograph my current favorite car in the world, the Ferrari 458 Italia.  As I described in this other photography tip post on the Ferrari it is very hard to get good full car photographs at a car show.  Therefore, I focused on detail shots more than showing the 458 Italia in full.  

    Ferrari 458 Italia designed by Pininfarina logo - St. Petersburg Car PhotographyThe few badges that decorate the 458 Italia are all classy, like the above Pininfarina logo, whose meaning is not obvious unless you are a fan of Italian sports cars and supercars.  

    front grill air spoilers bookend the Prancing Pony logo on Ferrari 458 Italia - St. Petersburg Car PhotographyThese flexible spoilers on the front facia of the Ferrari 458 Italia are designed to change shape at speed to improve downforce.  In the middle of the rest of the matte black spoiler resides the Ferrari Prancing Pony logo.  

    Ferrari 458 Italia LED headlight - St. Petersburg Car PhotographyOne of the most striking design features of the 458 Italia is its elongated LED headlights.  These are a new design element being featured on all new Ferraris (California, FF) and ad a distinctive look that to me signals a new generation of Ferrari.  They are radical, but I like them even though the remind me of the head of an Alien from the Alien series of movies.  

    Ferrari 458 Italia LED taillight - St. Petersburg Car PhotographyThe taillights also contain LEDs but maintain the traditional circular Ferrari design, although they are in a single cluster, while the previous F430 model featured dual clusters.  I prefer the dual design as a single cluster seems a bit small and in the middle of no where looking.

    Ferrari 458 Italia rear view - St. Petersburg Car PhotographyThe rear of the 458 Italia is Spartan with just another Prancing Pony logo and the Ferrari nameplate on top of the engine cover.  Not pictured is a triple, centered tailpipe cluster.  For some reason I did not think to photograph those!

    Ferrari 458 Italia engine block detail - St. Petersburg Car PhotographyThe engine cover is transparent showing off the massive V8 that looks more like something that would power a spacecraft rather than a mere automobile.  Obviously the engine sounds even better than it looks.

    Ferrari 458 Italia Brembo carbon ceramic brakes with red calipers - St. Petersburg Car PhotographyAny supercar nowadays has to come with carbon ceramic brakes and usually brightly color brake calipers.  The 458 Italia is no exception.  The wheels themselves are a kind of generic pentastar looking design that seem conservative in comparison to the styling of the rest of the exterior.

    Ferrari 458 Italia 2011 model right side view - St. Petersburg Car PhotographyHere again is the full side view photograph I made by cloning out many distractions.  I may someday have a chance to properly photograph this particular 458 Italia as the owner did express interest at having photographs.  I of course gave him my business card.  Hopefully he will call soon!

    DSLR Photography Lesson with Rose and her Canon 50D

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    Rose with her Canon 50D Vinoy Hotel in the backgroundMany of my DSLR photography students have abruptly gone from a regular point & shoot pocket digital camera to plunging into the DSLR world.  Then the DSLR sits on a shelf somewhere for a few months due to the initial hurdle in learning how to use it.  This is the exact situation my 1-on-1 private DLSR Photography Lessons are designed to remedy.  I met Rose on a pleasant Monday morning in downtown St. Petersburg for our first lesson.  She was a beginner not even knowing basic photography terms.  By the end of the 2-hour lesson, I had her using her Canon 50D in manual mode!  

    Now, I do not expect Rose to stay in manual mode from here on out, but she took thorough notes (recommended) throughout the lesson carefully noting what aperture, ISO, WB and focus mode we used for the various photography situations we practiced.  Therefore, she does not have to rely on her memory alone the next time she wants to make a shot with bokeh or freeze a fast moving subject.  She can refer to her notes and at least have a starting point for getting the type of shot she wants.  

    Rose, also like many other students, was surprised to learn that buying the DSLR itself (and accompanying kit lens) is just the start of the expense that is actively doing photography.  She was a bit shocked to learn the price of software (she asked about full Photoshop) for editing digital photos, plus that before she heads to New York later this week she really should buy an external flash if she wants to get the best results of photographing her friends & family inside restaurants and other dimly lit places.  I always advise the best value for money solutions, but even those are often several hundred dollar options.  My top advice is learn how to use the gear you have now as best as you can, so that you can clearly see where you have outgrown that gear making it also very clear what you should purchase next.  

    I look forward to seeing Rose's photographs of New York and to helping her use her new external flash! 

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    • Photography Tip - long lens for landscapes

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    Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/8 ISO 200 1/500th - Pelicans in front of new Dali Museum St. PetersburgYou do not need to use a wide angle lens to make a landscape or panorama shot.  For the above photograph of two pelicans out on The Pier with the St. Petersburg waterfront in the distant background I used my favorite Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens at 80mm.  To create the panorama look I simply cropped the image.  Shooting at f/8 and 80mm allowed the distant background to not be totally blurred out (bokeh) while at the same time still create a unique sense of depth to the image that one cannot produce using a wide angle lens.  

    In the comments below link to your long lens landscape/panorama shots.