Flamenco Dancer in Black & White at Ceviche St. Petersburg Florida Commercial Photography

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Carolina dancing at Ceviche in St. Petersburg - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/2.8 ISO 800 1/60th SB-800 Speedlight hotshoe mounted at 1/4 power - black & white processing in Silver Efex Pro

--please note all these images were made live while performing, not in a studio

These black & white flamenco dancer images were created in the basement of Ceviche, a downtown St. Petersburg restaurant.  Through editing I have created shots with an entirely different look that the ones I made of my primary client that evening, Vanessa.  She was not always on stage so she said to be sure and photograph the other dancers as well because they might be interested in purchasing images too.  Thus, Carolina selected these three photographs of herself among others.  

Carolina flamenco dancing at Ceviche in St. Petersburg - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/2.8 ISO 800 1/60th SB-800 Speedlight hotshoe mounted at 1/4 power - black & white processing in Silver Efex ProCarolina did not request black & white images.  I edited her selected shots in color as I did Vanessa's.  These edits are my personal take on the feeling I wanted the images to create.  The basement of Ceviche is already very dark, so it was not hard to make the background completely disappear.  I used differen filters in Silver Efex Pro for each shot to create the B&W conversion I felt best suited the particular photograph.

Carolina flamenco dancer with zoom effect blur in Ceviche - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/4 ISO 800 1/13th SB-800 Speedlight hotshoe mounted at 1/4 power - black & white processing in Silver Efex ProThis last shot was made by zooming out while pressing the shutter creating the blur effect in the room's lighting.  This is achieved by using a slow shutter speed, in this case 1/13th of a second.  

--Vanessa's flamenco dancer images in color

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Jumping Matrix Style with help from layer masks

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Yours truly leaping a chasm! This is a blending of 4 different action shots using a simple layer mask technique.In case you missed it last week, I do take time away from being behind the camera to continue my love of rock hopping and leaping objects (see here).  I made the leap over the above chasm-ish span several times each time trying to go further.  I did not actually move fast enough to be seen multiple times in 1/500th of a second.  How I made the above image was to combine four of the shots taken in one burst of shots on my Nikon D300 (capable of 6 frames per second).  Since the DSLR was on a tripod all the background matched up perfectly, as does the exposure since that was set manually.  The only thing moving over the series of shots was me.  Then, it was just a matter of using layer masks in Photoshop to produce the multiple exposure, or Matrix, looking image.

These shots layered on top of each other produced the above shot.Using layer masks to blend multiple images is not a difficult type of digital photography editing.  I have written a tutorial on how to use layer masks here.  Give this photography tip a try and post your results in the comments below!

Tampa Theatre Marquee Glowing at Night & Day Landmark

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Tampa Theatre glowing marquee & sign at night - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseContinuing a recent trend of photographing Tampa Bay area landmarks, in particular ones I had never really photographed before, I was glad to finally have the opportunity to make these shots of the historic Tampa Theatre located right in the middle of downtown Tampa.  There is no better place I know of to go and have an old time movie experience.  As cool as the theater looks on the outside, it is 10x cooler on the inside.  It is easy to create images with atmosphere when photographing such a place.  

Tampa Theatre marquee in daylight - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseI have not actually seen a movie at Tampa Theatre since the 90s, when I used to go semi-regularly.  I was living abroad for most of the 00s and since returning to Florida and moving across the bay from the theater, have not made the journey at night to see the more independent movies the theater features.  

Panorama Tampa at Twilight Views from a Parking Garage

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Downtown Tampa Panorama at Twilight Bird's Eye View - click for 1200px image - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 5 sec 3-frame panorama tripod mounted with cable release

It is hard to pry me out of St. Petersburg.  Thankfully, a new client hired me to make some images of Tampa for their new website giving me the opportunity to cross the Howard Frankland Bridge with my DSLR and tripod in tow.  Of all the photographs I took that afternoon and evening, in this post a selection of images taken all from the same spot atop a parking garage are featured.  I had never been to the top of this parking garage before.  I just stumbled upon it as I was searching for bird's eye vantage points of downtown Tampa.  It was a little hard to get into, as I had to risk walking up the narrow entrance ramp before I found an actual parking level that had elevators to the top.  I later found out the actual entrance is inside a building on the other side.  After walking the last three flights to the roof (the elevator I was in did not go to the top) carrying all my gear, I was glad I as always was properly attired with the best footwear possible.

University of Tampa from above at dusk with light trails - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/16 ISO 200 5 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseIt was a very unique feeling being alone on the top of that garage.  There were only two cars left parked on the far side from me.  It was after 5:30pm and everyone had already gone home for the day.  I felt like I was in a secret spot with a view of all downtown Tampa.  All this added up to a feeling of peace.  My Nikon D300 was on my Induro CT214 tripod, so I had no weight on my body from gear.  I could move about freely looking for shots.  At first there was too much light to make the light trail shots I wanted to, so I passed the time by observing and wondering.

Blue Skyscraper to Blue Infinity with Moon - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1.6 sec tripod mounted with cable release - lens correction in Photoshop CS5 to straighten buildingBehind where I knew I wanted to do most of my shooting stood a tall blue skyscraper trying to reach to the Moon.  I thought it interesting how the color of the building nearly blended in perfectly with the twilight sky.  I debated for awhile on which to include in this post, the lens corrected image you see above (building is straight) or the non-corrected one with the building bending inward appearing to reach for the heavens.  

Sykes Building Downtown Tampa Twilight - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/16 ISO 200 10 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseI really enjoyed being alone atop that parking garage waiting for the evening to transition from dusk to twilight.

Edward Medard Park and Reservoir Trees HDR & Jumping

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Live Oaks showing their roots in Edward Medard Park - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mountedIt had been too long since a couple of old college friends and I had one of our outdoor adventures together.  That was remedied by a recent visit to the surprisingly amazing Edward Medard Park and Reservoir in Plant City.  They said it had hills, so I was expecting some modest plain grass covered round and soft hills.  I never expected to step into an alien environment where live oaks sat perched upon angry hills of clay-like dirt with all their roots exposed in a display of their might.

A fearless tree climber in Edward Medard Park - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/8 ISO 200 1/40th tripod mountedAfter a few handheld shots with my 80-200mm f/2.8 lens, I quickly relized that was not the setup ideal for photographing this environment and switched to my 17-50mm f/2.8 lens and mounted my Nikon on my Induro carbon fiber tripod the rest of the day.  Without that wide lens I would never been able to capture one friend who is an avid tree climber surprisingly high up in the branches of this long limbed live oak.

uprooted tree in Edward Medard Park - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mountedEdward Medard Park has more traditional looking Florida outdoor areas by the reservoir itself offering shady live oaks, with roots all neatly underground, well, save for one that was uprooted long ago.

Jason performing trademark "Liu Kang" leap - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/2.8 ISO 800 1/800th tripod mountedJust to show you I did not spend the entire time behind the camera, in the above shot you can see yours truly performing my patented "Liu Kang" method air leap over some roots perfectly shaped like hurdles on a tricky downslope.  Some of you who have know me well will already have seen my debut of this move, which was over a much more dangerous gap.  I set up this shot with my Nikon D300 mounted on my tripod with all the settings dialed in.  

photography tip:

As you can see shooting an action shot into the sun required some very unusual settings.  My DSLR photography lesson students should be able to see I used settings I have told them probably never are needed, such as using f/2.8 on a wild angle lens.  In order to expose the subject (me) enough, a long shutter speed is needed especially shooting into the sun like this.  However, to freeze the action, a fast shutter speed is needed.  The solution to this is to go ahead and set the needed shutter speed, 1/800th of a second, then adjust aperture and ISO until there is enough exposure to show me and not worry if the sky gets blown out.  So that is my photography tip for action shots into the sun!

Using the tripod all day did not slow me down, but rather freed me much more to make the photographs I wanted to and still enjoy all the action with my friends.  Shooting on a tripod is not physically demanding and the setup is pretty easy to carry, so I did not get tired from having a camera hanging off me all day.  Plus, since I did not have to constantly keep taking a camera strap on and off, but rather just let the tripod stand up on its own, it was really easy for me to switch from photographer to adventurer.  I just had to leave the camera standing where it was on the tripod then explore the area as I liked.  

As you can see Edward Medard Park, despite the unfortunate name, is a great place for photography and adventure!

--official website and directions 

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    • Canon 60D DSLR Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg Florida with Julie

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    Julie with her great new Christmas present a Canon 60D during our first DLSR Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg, FloridaMy first DSLR Photography Lesson of the new year was with Julie who just got a new Canon 60D as a Christmas present.  She chose my 4-pack of lessons so I will have the opportunity to really help her get going with her photography hobby.  Today happened to be the coldest day of the season, by far, but as always the sun was still out and shining making it a fine afternoon for a lesson.

    Julie claimed to not really have any previous DSLR photography knowledge, but thanks to her great memory and some tips on aperture from someone she recently talked to at a wedding, she already had a working knowledge of aperture, to which I added ISO, WB and focus mode information.  I was impressed by how quickly she started to demonstrate skill in adjusting the necessary settings for the variety of types of shot we practiced.  

    I often give advice to my students as they always want to know what photographer gear they should get next.  For those who already have lenses that cover from 18mm to 200mm, I suggest getting a 50mm f/1.8 lens and also an external flash as both are very useful and are in the camera bags of pretty much every serious photographer in the world.  

    I am looking forward to the next three lessons with Julie and helping her get the most out of her Canon 60D.