Social Media Photo Set Portraits at New Dali Museum

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I met Angela at my new favorite photography spot in all of St. Petersburg -- the new Dali Museum for a Social Media Photo Set portrait session.  This special photo package is for those who like professional images representing themselves on Social Media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin as well as photos cropped to fit perfectly on their iPhone or other digitial device.  For me, I cannot understand why people would want to represent themselves with some crummy camera phone photo they took themselves by holding the phone in front of them.  I offer the Social Media Photo Set to help people look more professional, more attractive and more themselves online.  

We used the great tree behind the Dali Museum that has long ribbons tied with messages for the majority of shots.  The melting time bench is another great prop to use for portraits as well.  I look forward to seeing how Angela uses her photos in Social Media!

 

Classic Car Photography Florida Tampa St. Petersburg Clearwater

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Jason Collin Photography wants to help you always remember your classic car with a custom classic car photography package.  Available for the St. Petersburg, Tampa, Clearwater, Orlando and Sarasota areas.  Contact Jason today, a car lover himself, to preserve your beautiful classic car for the future with digitial photographs and the present with fine art prints.

Carnival rides motion blur at night St. Raphael Festival Snell Isle Florida

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Carnival rides intersecting motion blur - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable release

I feel lucky to live just a few hundred yards from a field that is home to an annual carnival.  Where do the come from?  Where do they go?  I do not know.  For three days and two nights they bring their rides, their prizes and their deep fried Oreos (delicious!) and delight this small island community.

Concentric circles ferris wheel motion blur - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/16 ISO 200 15 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseYet, the cost of enjoying the carnival to its fullest is too expensive for me.  Each ride is about $5.  There is the option of buying an unlimted ride pass for . . . $30.  I did not go on a single ride.  Each food item, likewise, is basically $5 or more.  I could not resist a huge sign declaring, "DEEP FRIED OREOS."  They were not what I expected.  Basically funnel cake batter surrouned a very warm Orea cookie that loses all of its crunch in the frying process so it warmly dissolves in your mouth leaving the familiar Oreo aftertaste.  If they were not $1 a bite, I would have eaten ten!

Fiery Ferris Wheel reflection - Nikon D300 with Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/16 ISO 200 5 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseSince I could not enjoy the carnival in its intended purposes, I instead had to appreciate it only for its night photography opportunities, of which there were many.  I stood at the east edge of my apartment complex in complete darkness before my tripod pointing my lens at the lights just across the water.  I felt like an astronaut observing an alien world.  Mine was dark and silent, theirs filled with dazzling light and laughter.

 The time machine conductor - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseThe pilot of the ferris wheel remains stoic as carriage after carriage passes through time and space.  Who knows what speed they pass by?  

like a spool of colorful thread - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseYet the ferris wheel almost seems a snail in comparison to this machine which lifts its subjects into the night sky spinning so fast that one appears to be a constant at once everywhere and only there.  

Night Over Carnival motion blur - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/16 ISO 200 25 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseSurely when one visits Mars the view from outside of town mirrors the one above.  Hopefully they have deep fried Oreos on Mars as well.

Ride first, eat second - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseIn the warped world of the carnival, food is the only constant.  Everything else flirts between dimensions.

Tilt A Whirl motion blur - Nikon D300 with Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/16 ISO 200 15 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseHaving no Martian technology the semi truck in silhouette is like the octogenarian observing the child with today's digital devices removing one from the present.  For me, I will remain with the truck on the outside, as always only the observer.

Photography Tip -- photograph your friends

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Nothing like a candid photograph of your best friends - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/2.8 ISO 1250 1/60th ambient lightI had not seen Rick (on left) in over ten years.  Terry (on right) is once again only about a city and a half away, though for most of the past ten years I was on the other side of the Pacific from him.  So this August marked a mini-reunion a long time coming.  Terry is by far my oldest friend, since the 7th grade.  I have known Rick since the 10th grade.  Few things are more valuable than childhood friends.  

PHOTOGRAPHY TIP:  photograph your friends acting how you remember them

On our one evening mini-reunion I met Rick's family for the first time, then just Terry, Rick and I went out and tossed the frisbee in a park in downtown St. Petersburg before ultimately ending up in a Denny's.  Back in our day (1990-1992), we used to frequent Perkins and became known for leaving messages spelled with silverware & $2 dollar tips.  The tip was better this time and there was not enough silverware on the table left for any message.  

I had my DSLR with me of course and used an assortment of lenses while we were seated.  It turned out my wide angle lens produced my favorite image of the night.  I have this photograph residing on my desk printed and mounted right now.  I believe it to be the first photograph of all three of us together since we took a group portrait together our senior year in high school, along with two other friends.  Shocking isn't it?  Now in the digital photography world I am sure the average high school student will graduate with thousands of photos of themselves with their friends.  

Still, I am happy just to have the above photo and our high school group shot (residing on a shelf behind me right now).  This way, my memory will never fade of my best friends. 

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    • Two heads are better than one - Florida Pelican Fine Art Photography

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    quizzical brown pelican - Florida Fine Art Photography - Nikon D300 Nikkor AF-S 105mm VR micro f/2.8G lens @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/160thThe many brown pelicans that make St. Petersburg home are a frequent photography subject of mine.  These birds are often very approachable, allowing one to look deep into the bird's eye, a rare human-non-human-animal close-up encounter.  I am always curious what animals are thinking.  Since they supposedly have a much different perception of time, how does this affect how they think?  If pelicans cannot think of the far future and who knows how far back their memories of past events go, what occupies their minds?  Perhaps nothing enabling them to live in a blissful present?  I often get the impression pelicans look upon humans with contempt, "go on with your life and quite gawking at me," I imagine them saying.  Are humans the only animals that feel wonder toward other animals?  Does a pelican look upon a great blue heron and think it is beautiful or merely a competitor for food?

    unimpressed brown pelican - St. Petersburg Fine Art Photography - Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/4 ISO 200 1/1250th


    Nikon D300s DSLR Photography Lesson St. Petersburg Florida with Ron

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    Ron with his Nikon D300s & Nikkor 28-300mm VR lens under a banyan tree in downtown St. PetersburgOn the first somewhat chilly morning of the year I met new DSLR Photography Lesson student Ron at my usual spot in downtown St. Petersburg.  Ron has two Nikons, the D300s and the D90, as well as a bag full of all Nikkor lenses (what Nikon brands its lenses).  He shot with film cameras before and knew what photography terms like aperture, ISO, bracketing, etc meant, so in our lesson I showed him how to apply and use them in the DSLR world.

    Ron had been shooting in aperture priority mode which is fine.  However, he never changed his aperture so I can only guess all his shots were at the largest aperture for whichever lens he was using at the time.  I started the lesson with giving him an in-depth tour of the menus and buttons on his D300s since I am extremely familiar with it from shooting with a D300 for years.  

    Throughout the lesson I got to learn about what an interesting life Ron has lived.  He currently runs a super successful home pet sitting & walking business that he said has him (and his wife) working every day of the week!  If you need a pet sitter contact me and I will pass your info on to Ron.

    We concluded the lesson with a photo critique of all the dog photos Ron takes of his pet sitting clients as well as his other photography interests.  I was impressed with his mural and graffiti photo collection focusing on the central St. Petersburg area.  I look forwad to seeing Ron again soon for our next lesson.  

    Florida Family Beach Portraits with Dramatic Skies - South Dakota Family

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    Family Beach Portrait - Sunset Beach on Treasure Island Florida - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/6.3 ISO 400 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power above front & SB-600 @ 1/8 power directly behind family 

    A few months ago Melanie contacted me from South Dakota about having family beach portraits here in Florida when her family was to come down on vacation.  I always like to photograph out of state families as they have full appreciation for the beauty of our Gulf beaches.  Locals I guess get used to spectacular sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico.  A large storm was scheduled to roll over central Florida around the time of our scheduled portrait session, but we stayed dry and were treated to dramatic stormy skies for use as backgrounds.

    Sunset Family Beach Portrait - St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D80 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens @ f/5.6 ISO 400 1/100th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power to frame left & SB-600 @ 1/4 power to frame rightThe sky kept changing from dark blue (see top image) to fiery yellow (above) to metallic purple (see below).  I had never seen it go through such a range of color before.  Often the intensity of one color will vary, but to get three distinct background colors was unprecedented.  

    Family Beach Walking Portrait - Sunset Beach St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 with Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 800 1/250th natural lightOne other good thing about the stormy weather is that it kept almost all the people away from Sunset Beach, so we had no trouble making the above shot of Melanie's family talking a long walk down the shoreline.  I was able to make the shot I wanted to in just one take.

    Father tossing children in air - Nikon D300 with Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 640 1/250th natural lightWhat a great feeling to be tossed up into the air, especially when you never know if you will land in the ocean!  Too bad it is not common for someone to be able to toss 185 pounds into the air.  I would like to be able to touch the sky too!

    Young boy candid beach portrait - St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 with Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 640 1/250th natural light - sepia landscape filter applied in Silver Efex ProI titled the above photo, "The Fighter."  I would say he is a southpaw by the looks of things.  I am glad I was using my Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens from a distance for this shot and was at no risk of that left hook!

    Purple Twilight Florida Family Beach Portrait - Treasure Island - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 800 1/50th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 +2/3 power frame left & SB-600 @ 1/4 power frame rightTheir dad had all sorts of shall I say "unique" expressions to get the children to look at me, such as "Elmo is coming out of the top of his head," and the like.  I had not heard that one before but it worked so that's all that matters.  It was a fun challenge photographing this family of five and I am very pleased with the results the stormy skies provided.