Family Beach Portraits at Sunset Beach Treasure Island Florida - Demiduk Family

in

Watching the sunset as a family on Treasure Island Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left rear & SB-600 to frame right frontOnce again I had the opportunity to photograph a client I already knew as DSLR Photography Lesson student Kristin booked a Family Beach Portrait session for Sunset Beach on Treasure Island.  As I have mentioned before, it is always a plus to photograph people you are familiar with, and of course as a pro photographer it is flattering that a client would give you repeat business.

Baby Naomi was in constant motion when not being held close by her parents!Kristin's nearly 2-year old daughter was a very talkative little girl, and as one might expect a very active one too.  I usually recommend that parents hold their child as the best means of keeping them in the frame!

Having family fun in front of tall beach grass on Sunset Beach Treasure Island FloridaThe whole family had a lot of personality which made it fun to photograph them as they were never at a loss for smiling in front of the lens.  A willingness to get a bit sandy allowed us to make the above shots in front of Sunset Beach's tall grass dunes.

2-year old preparing to be a ballerina - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 to frame center right & SB-600 to rear rightUsing a mound of sand that was the remains of a castle, Naomi practiced her ballerina moves as I framed her with the dusk sky out over the Gulf of Mexico.

Gliding down the shore black & white family beach portrait - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 500 1/400th natural lightKristin has two more photography lessons with me where I will help prepare her to be able to make her own family beach portraits in the future!

1-on-1 Nikon D7000 DSLR Photography Lesson St. Petersburg Florida with Tim

in

Tim with his new Nikon D7000 with the St. Petersburg Pier in the background during our 1-on-1 photography lessonLike many of the people that take my 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lessons, Tim just recently purchased his first DSLR making a not insignificant investment in both the body, a Nikon D7000, and accessories and did not want to be stuck shooting in auto-mode.  Prior to our first of four lessons yesterday evening Tim had done a lot of reading and video watching so he was already familiar with the most common photography terms and settings.  During the lesson I helped him understand how all those things (aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focus mode) work together in order to produce a well-exposed and sharp photograph.

Tim's technical expertise from his job I believe also helped him understand things quickly, like how to read the histogram and which way to adjust the shutter speed in order to improve a shot.  We basically stayed in manual mode the entire lesson, a far cry from auto-mode!  

We also had a few other things in common like spending time in Japan to talk about.  For our second lesson we will focus on using his 50mm f/1.8 lens.

The Pier Trolley at St. Petersburg Florida Fine Art Image

in

The Pier trolley in its own lane on The Pier causeway in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/250th on Induro CT214 tripod with cable release

Sometimes a shot just appears and if the photographer is fast enough, it can be captured.  Such was the case with this photograph featuring The Pier in the background and The Pier Trolley coming (very closely) toward me as I made this image from the narrow median dividing the causeway for public usage and trolley only usage.  The seagull in the shot I can take no credit for.  It was just a happy coincidence the bird ended up in the shot.

I was not out specifically to make images of my own as I was in the middle of teaching a 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson, but after I helped the student set up her shot (same as above) I had a chance to quickly get my tripod into position to capture this scene too.  I already knew as we approached I wanted both of us to have our tripod legs fully closed so as to be as low to the ground as possible.  I wanted an exaggerated point of view.  At the time I had no idea any trolleys would be passing by.  I was hoping simply for a shot of The Pier using the curb as a leading line.  Again, when an opportunity presents itself it really helps to be quick with your photography gear to give yourself the best shot at getting the photo.

Induro CT214 Tripod 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson St. Petersburg Florida with Chris

in

Chris at The Pier with her new Induro CT214 tripod with her Nikon D90 mounted on the Induro BDH2 ballheadTo my great surprise Chris showed up for our third of four lessons with an Induro CT214 carbon fiber tripod, the exact same one I have!  I gave her some tripod buying advice, but for a truly no comprimses tripod, I can only recommend the one I, myself, bought last summer, which was the Induro CT214 (reviewed in detail here).  After I got over my initial surprise I went about the business of showing Chris all the features of the Induro CT214 that I have amassed in a year of using it as well as good tripod practices in general, like making sure the lens always points out over a leg of the tripod.

She even had new Yongnuo speedlight radio remotes for triggering a flash off camera, but they can also be used to remotely trigger the shutter too, a really cool bonus feature.  This way she was able to shoot from the tripod without adding the risk of camera shake from physically pushing the shutter.  Now that we had all this exciting new gear to use, all we needed was a great location, and The Pier in the evening time always provides one.  There was even a nice breeze making the temperature almost pleasant.

We concluded the lesson up on the top of The Pier photographing the sunset as it dipped below the St. Petersburg skyline (example of the view).  Chris has ample opportunities to photograph the sunset and other great vistas so I look forward to seeing the images she takes between now and our fourth lesson.

Business Headshot St. Petersburg Studio with digital background - Carol

in

Business Headshot made right in my St. Petersburg home studio for a client - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in 43" brolly to frame right & SB-600 @ 1/8th power with diffuser cap to frame leftCarol visited my home studio this afternoon for a new business headshot.  She was an excellent client and knew how to get into position well.  Before we started shooting I showed her a few different lighting and background options.  Through the process of making the headshot we decided upon a slight shadow and a digital background for the image seen above.  The real background was a light tan wall that I removed and in its place inserted a gray-blue one.  

Making a portrait of any type is a collaboration between photographer and subject, and this time I involved the client in more of the process than I usually do as I was even able to show her on my computer monitor a rough sample of what the headshot would look like on a given background.

I offer business headshots both at your location or in my home studio (as long as you do not mind Kiki).

Use DSLR self-timer on a tripod photography tip

in

Use the self-timer on a tripod to reduce shake after pressing the shutter on a DSLRLast week I wrote at length about the benefits of using a cable release when mounting your DSLR on a tripod.  What if you do not have a cable release?  How can you then eliminate camera shake from physically pressing the shutter button?  You can use the self-timer function on your DSLR.  By setting the self-timer to activate the shutter, the camera can come to rest again on the tripod after pressing the shutter to activate the self-timer countdown.  

I have read that some photographers do not believe that 2-seconds is long enough for a camera to completely stop shaking.  2-seconds is typically the first setting for a self-timer.  I have not done my own experiments to see if that is just some serious nitpicking or if shake does still linger.  Given that the next setting for a self-timer on a DSLR is usually 10-seconds, that is quite a long time to wait!  If your DSLR has an option for 5-seconds, that seems like the best choice.

Treasure Island Sunset Beach Florida Large Family Group Portraits Lemle Family

in

Young family and baby candid beach portrait on Treasure Island Sunset Beach St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightI returned to Sunset Beach on Treasure Island in St. Petersburg Florida once again this time for a large group family beach portrait session.  Normally I work with no shotlist on family beach portrait shoots, but due to there being six adults and two children composing three family groups and three generations I did ask the client to provide one to make sure we got all the pairings desired.  The shot above features another new pose I have not done before.  I asked the family if they were willing to get a bit crazy and they say yes for sure so with the will to lay down on the sand there, we were able to make this shot which was my favorite of the evening.

Large group family beach portrait on Sunset Beach Treasure Island Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/160th - Strobist: SB-800 to left & SB-600 to rightThe key to reducing and even better eliminating shadows when making a large group family portrait on the beach is to have the family not stand in a concave line as seems to be everyone's natural instinct, but rather a convex or at least straight line so that the people for example in the far right of the above image do not cast a shadaw on the people next to them.  I start by setting up a shot like this by having the person in the center be the anchor, and then placing everyone else around that person.

Another vivid sunset on Treasure Island St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/6.3 ISO 200 1/125th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightWhen working with essentially three different groups with the every present sunset as a countdown timer, the photographer has to work even more efficiently and try to provide as best as possible variety in the shots, but of course an entirely different image cannot be made for each group each time within a 60-minute session.  This was really my first time to work with this many pairings on a family beach portrait session and I was pleased with the variety of shots I was able to make, though as you can see there was only time to work with one camera and lens where I usually shoot with at least two and sometimes three lenses.

Tall beach grass family portrait on Treasure Island Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightThis is the same grass location as her sister's family, but a different pose makes for a very different feel in the final image.  I also shot from a different angle and a bit wider.  Luckily, Sunset Beach's tall grass has survived well despite the recent tropical storm.

Large group family beach portrait walking at dusk - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/80th - Strobist: SB-800 in front & SB-600 to front rightThis semi-complex group walking shot was made on the first take which was great as you can see the sun was already below the horizon and light was fading fast.  My advice for this type of shot is for everyone to start walking with the same foot forward, while holding hands and continuing to walk even after I take the shot to maintain a natural look to the image.