Mt. Fuji above the clouds

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Mt. Fuji above the clouds as seen from the summit of Yatsugatake - blue color is natural - 200mm focal lengthMy friend i-cjw is the premiere mountain summit photographer in Japan.  He has the photography skill to produce such images, but what makes his images all the better are how rare they are because few have his mountaineering skills to get to the mountain tops he does.  His most recent photo story (view here) made me miss being around mountains even more than I already had been.  In case you did not know it, Florida is basically a pancake.  So I had to dig into my archives to find my own mountain summit images of Mt. Fuji taken from the summit of Yatsugatake.  The above photograph shows Mt. Fuji peaking just above the clouds.  It was not visible again the rest of the time I was at the summit after I made this shot, so I am glad I took out my Nikon first and sandwich second!

Mt. Fuji photographed from the same Yatsugatake summit but at a 42mm focal lengthAs you can see, Mt. Fuji was actually quite a distance away.  The lead photograph is a good example of how a 200mm lens can actually be a very good lens for landscapes.

Japanese Alps from the summit of Yatsugatake JapanThese photographs have no editing done to them other than vignetting removal (due to the not so great 18-200mm lens I had at the time) and some cropping on the above image.  The blue tones are natural.  

It is an absolutely unique feeling to stand atop a mountain summit after spending the previous hours hiking up it.  When you finally return to the base and look back up at the summit, I always do not believe my legs had just carried me up to such a high place.  I have always enjoyed a view.

These Mt. Fuji photographs are available for as fine art prints & commercial license, inquire today!

Photography Tip -- photograph green before Autumn colors arrive

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Shoot green in Autumn - Tokyo, Japan - Nikon D80 Nikkor 50mm @ f/1.8 ISO 400 1/100thWhile I was still living in Japan, a random photo of green leaves and bokeh (view here) happened to garner the most attention of any photo I had taken to that date.  I think it had more to do with the title than the shot itself.  I called the photo, "Last Green Leaves Before Autumn."  Tokyo has four distinct seasons so green leaves do not last year round like they mostly do here in Florida.  So my thinking for this photography tip was to go against the grain and recommend shooting green one last time before autumn foliage takes over the photography world.

PHOTOGRAPHY TIP -- photograph the last green leaves of Autumn

 

Show us the last green in your neighborhood with a link to your photo in the comments below.  Does anyone live where this already no green left?? 

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    • JCP POLL: Have you ever broken a lens by dropping it?

     

    I was photographing a ribbon cutting this morning and there was another person there with a DSLR. As I was browsing a shelf full of super expense eyeglass frames, I heard a sound of glass smashing on the floor.  Naturally I thought someone had dropped some eyeglasses.  It was the woman's (Canon) lens, fallen clean off the camera body!  I have no idea how that could have happened.  The only glass that broke was that of her UV filter.  However, a portion of the front ring element was bent inward so unscrewing the remaining parts of the filter were not possible. 

     

    A few years ago I was teaching a DSLR Photography Lesson in downtown when someone with a big camera bag walked past.  About ten seconds later I heard a crash.  Her (Canon) lenses had fallen out because the bag was not closed all the way. 

     

    This is where I got the idea for today's poll question.  If the unfortunate has happened to you, please tell us the circumstances surrounding it in the comments below and if your lens(es) were able to be fixed.  If you have never had any lens break, also let us know why you think that is.

    St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster Ribbon Cutting at VIP Eye Care

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    St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster helping Dr. Mona Henri with the ribbon cutting for her boutique's new location.This morning was my fourth opportunity to photograph St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster at a ribbon cutting for a local business.  VIP Eye Care has been my source for contact lenses since moving back to Florida 2.75 years ago.  I chose Dr. Henri's (in red above) eye care facility because I wanted to support a fellow independent St. Pete business rather than a chain with outlets across the country.  As you would expect, the service is great and Dr. Henri's eye exams are actually kind of fun.

    Warning, looking closer may cause sticker shock! - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 800 1/60th with Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/4 +2/3 power hotshoe mountedMost of the times I visit VIP Eye Care I am just in and out to pickup my contact lenses.  At the ribbon cutting this morning I had a chance to browse the many designer brands of eyeglasses on display.  Now, I have been a loyal Oakley man since I was 16 years old, so I am accustomed to paying a not insignificant sum for eyewear.  However, Oakley provides "thermonuclear protection" which I absolutely believe in.  Thus, $300 to $400 sticker prices for just an empty pair of frames was shocking to me!  At least the ones for $400 were made of carbon fiber!

    Candid Mayor Bill Foster trying on a pair of square lenses at VIP Eye Care in St. Petersburg FloridaMayor Foster declared himself as a person who really loves wearing glasses having no interest in lasic surgery or contact lenses.  I liked that.  You do not often hear people being proud to wear glasses, although I think it has gotten a lot cooler to do so in the past few years compared to when I was a kid.  

    Visit VIP Eye Care official website

     

    Youth and High School Soccer Photography Tampa St. Petersburg Clearwater Florida

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    YOUTH & HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER PHOTOGRAPHY

     Dynamic -- Fun -- Vivid -- All Ages

    Full-time professional photographer Jason Collin makes youth & high school soccer photography up close & personal.  The results are strikingly vivid images that capture a soccer player's character, emotion and skill.  Reserve your soccer photography experience today.

    RESERVE YOUTH & HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER PHOTOGRAPHY WITH JASON TODAY!

       

     YOUTH & HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER HOURLY COVERAGE -- $75/hour*

    • exclusive candid soccer action shots of your player or team
    • 10 professionally edited images per hour of coverage (artist's choice)
    • Secure online gallery for quick viewing, printing and downloading

    reserve hourly soccer photography coverage

     

    CUSTOM YOUTH & HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER COVERAGE **

    • full match and tournament coverage
    • unlimited number of images
    • secure online gallery for quick viewing, printing and downloading

    reserve custom soccer photography coverage


    * $75 minimum nonrefundable deposit required

    ** pricing determined after consultation

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    Follow jasoncollin on Twitter

    Candid Birthday Party Photography Tampa St. Petersburg Clearwater Florida

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    CANDID BIRTHDAY PARTY PHOTOGRAPHY

    for St Petersburg  Tampa  Clearwater  all Tampa Bay 

    Memorable -- Fun -- Vivid -- All Ages

    Full-time professional photographer Jason Collin makes birthday party photography more than just cake & candles.  The results are strikingly vivid images that capture your birthday party's character, emotion and fun.  Reserve your birthday photography experience today.

    RESERVE YOUR BIRTHDAY PARTY PHOTOGRAPHY WITH JASON TODAY!

     

     SPECIAL CANDID BIRTHDAY PHOTOGRAPHY PACKAGE -- from $149*

    • photography of the birthday party up to 45-minutes
    • 8 professionally edited images
    • Secure online gallery for quick viewing, printing and downloading

    reserve a special birthday photography package

     

    DELUXE CANDID BIRTHDAY PHOTOGRAPHY PACKAGE -- from $249*

    • photography of the birthday party up to 90-minutes
    • 15 professionally edited images
    • secure online gallery for quick viewing, printing and downloading

    reserve a deluxe birthday photography package

     

    GRAND CANDID BIRTHDAY PHOTOGRAPHY PACKAGE -- from $399*

    • photography of the birthday party up to 3 hours
    • 30 professionally edited images
    • secure online gallery for quick viewing, printing and downloading

            reserve a grand birthday photography package

     

    BIRTHDAY PHOTOGRAPHY PACKAGE PRINT & PRODUCT OPTIONS**

    reserve options with your candid family beach portrait session

    *  $75/$125/$200 special/deluxe/grand nonrefundable deposit required; prices are starting prices depending on location & types of photographs

    ** buying any photo product requires tax to be charged on entire photography package

    Photography Tip -- travel (or live) abroad

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    Scenes from my 2-week trip in Cambodia July-August 2001, the greatest time of my life; Clockwise from upper left - Me with some children who live on a lake, sunrise over Angkor Wat, a Ta Prohm silk cotton tree before it was made famous by the Tomb Raider movie, yours truly surveying the jungle from Angkor WatI cannot state strongly enough how important I think it is to travel abroad, even better, to live abroad.  In July of 2001 I crossed the western Cambodia border from Thailand in the bed of a small truck.  This was my first time to visit Southeast Asia and the first time to really use my new digital camera, an Olympus 2040 EZ (2.1 megapixels).  This was still the very beginning of digital cameras, very, very few people had one.  I cite this event as my true birth into photography.  

    Therefore, my photography tip is a simple one:  travel abroad for as long as possible

    By long, I mean at least one month (four weeks).  If you have not yet gotten into photography as much as you would like, there is nothing like traveling abroad to be the catalyst to do it.  If you are already a frequent photographer, having a whole new world of subject matter will boost your creative output like nothing else can.

    You might just end up having the greatest experience of your life, and having the photographs to remember it years later.  

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    •  

    --I have never yet written extensively about my time in Cambodia, but creating a long photo story from my archives and journals is always on my mind.