1-on-1 Nikon D5100 DSLR Photography Lesson with Quincy in St. Petersburg Florida

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Quincy with his Nikon D5100 keeping a very close eye on his expired parking meter during our photography lessonQuincy came over the bridge from Tampa with his Nikon D5100 for a 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson on a too warm to believe it is December afteroon.  As he talked to me about how he currently shoots, using aperture priority mode and what I call "gaming the system" by metering off of brighter or darker objects and then recomposing to get the exposure he wants, I told him using manual mode will greatly simplify your life and avoid having to trick the camera into doing what you want!  Since he did have this understanding about how exposure works though, in a rough sense, teaching him my 5-step manual mode shooting process organized what he already knew and eliminated things he no longer needed to worry about.

Thus, as we walked around the downtown St. Petersburg area I answered his many questions and explained to him why such and such settings would not be logical to use and explained that certain parameters dictate when to change certain settings, like there is not really any reason (in 90% of shooting situations) to increase ISO until the limits of aperture and shutter speed are hit first.  With a few key pieces of knowledge like that, one can more easily shoot in manual mode and get consistent results in any given shooting conditions.

1-on-1 Nikon D3000 DSLR Photography Lesson with Georgia in St. Petersburg Florida

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Georgia getting to know her Nikon D3000 during our photography lesson in St. Petersburg FloridaTaking a break from her normal Monday morning, Georgia met me in downtown St. Peterburg with her Nikon D3000 for our first of four 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lessons.  We started the lesson by going over how to use her DSLR and adjust the settings that need to be adjusted for making well exposed and sharp images in any given shooting conditions.  I believe strongly in knowing your camera well.  If you do not know how to adjust your ISO then how can you fix an underexposed image.  Of course you need to know what ISO is in the first place and exactly when you should start to increase it.  Thus, 99% of the first lessons I teach start with such explanations and camera overviews.

After giving Georgia a crash course in how to use her DSLR in general, we started to get a little more specific ending with some natural light portraits like the one I made of her (above) using a huge Christmas tree as the festive background.  Each of our next three lessons will be even more specific as we build on the general photography skills from this first lesson, which was an information packed one!

1-on-1 Nikon D60 DSLR Photography Lesson with Carol in downtown St. Petersburg Florida

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Carol with her Nikon D60 during our 1-on-1 photography lesson in downtown St. Petersburg, FloridaIt was another afternoon time 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson in downtown St. Petersburg on a fine December day with Carol and her Nikon D60.  She had her D60 for awhile, but like many of my photography students, was only using it on auto-mode.  Having other recent experience with the Nikon D60, I confirmed again that its meter can easily be tricked into producing lackluster results.  This was apparent when making the exact same shot in manual mode and aperture priority mode back-to-back.  Thus, I am more convinced than ever that even my beginner students should start out learning how to shoot in full manual mode.

While teaching Carol my field tested 5-step process for making a well exposed and sharp image in any shooting conditions we visited the St. Petersburg marina area, the Museum of Fine Arts and ended up in North Straub Park for a little natural light portrait practice in the shade using a 200mm focal length.  

I look forward to hearing how Carol now loves manual mode and never has to return to auto-mode again, I hope!

1996 Ford Mustang Cobra Mystic color Tampa Car Photography in Ybor City

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1996 Ford Mustang Cobra mystic color (green purple) in Ybor City Tampa Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/125th complex composite of 7 strobist shotsI returned to an Ybor City location I used some time ago to photograph a Lexus IS F.  This time I met a client with a 1996 Ford Mustang Cobra in the rare mystic color that can look green or purple depending on the light.  The above shot used a new technique that I tried for the first time involving taking many shots as I walk around the car with a speedlight in a brolly.  Then all those shots are blended together into a composite showing the best list portions of each one.

Afternoon clouds over a Mustang Cobra in Ybor City car photography shoot - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 9-exposure HDRFor this shoot the surrounding environment was really included as-is, which meant the dumpster with graffiti was composed in the frame to contrast with the car, the ominous sky and the distant city skyline.  Using a 9-exposure HDR composite allows for shooting into the sun like this.

Ford Mustang Cobra car photography shoot in Ybor City Tampa Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDRMore subjects of varying contrast in this shot starting at the top with the American flag waving coming down to an American icon in the Ford Mustang.  The flag was waving but appears without blur in this HDR image because the final step I took in editing was to mask in a single frame of the flag.

Highly stylized HDR image of a Ford Mustang Cobra - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDRIn the above shot you can see some interesting "hearts" graffiti on the brick wall.  I wondered who would make such an expression in such a place and thus definitely wanted to feature it in the background of some of the shots.  

Profile view of a Ford Mustang Cobra - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDRNo hearts in this rectangle of red graffiti.  Maybe a yet to be finished work?

Abstract tunnel gate photograph

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A regular building gate made into a mystical tunnel with photography knowledge - Nikon D300 Nikkor 50mm @ f/3.2 ISO 200 1/125thSometimes I like to make photos that offer an impression or a feeling or a dream, rather than producing as realistic a representation of a subject as possible.  The above shot features a metal gate half-opened leading to an open air hallway through a building.  I thought if I focused on the gate using my 50mm lens at a large aperture, the bokeh that composition and settings would produce would make for a very abstract "light at the end of the tunnel" kind of shot.  If I had made this shot look as it did to my eyes, it would have been pretty boring.  Instead, using a few simple photography shooting skills, a more interesting shot was produced that will make any viewer stop and wonder what is in the light at the end of this tunnel?

Free Christmas Tree Ornament Bokeh Background

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Free Christmas tree ornament bokeh background - click to download the full resolution versionJason Collin Photography is offering a free Christmas tree ornament bokeh background to use as a digital background for composite images, as a texture to overlay or simply as a desktop wallpaper.  Click the above image to download the full resolution version.

The above portrait was made outside.  I simply cut out the subject and placed her upon the Christmas tree ornament bokeh background to add a festive holiday look to the photo.  Tell us how you used the background in the comments below.

Where to put the horizon in landscape photographs

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When composing a photograph, especially a landscape shot, everything needs to be considered, and that includes where to put the horizon.  By where the horizon is placed in the frame determines much of the overall impression of the photo.  One simple way to help with horizon placement is to follow the rule of thirds, by that I mean placing the horizon in the lower or upper third of the frame often results in an appealing shot.  

The horizon dead smack in the middle, not a very exciting shot.Without any formal photography training, most of the time picking up a camera and making a landscape shot of sky and water would result in the above image with the horizon dead centered.  Unless there is some kind of cool reflection or vertical symmetry, this results in a boring shot.  The photographer has not chosen which to feature more of in the frame, the sky or the water?

Placing the horizon in the upper third showcases the foreground.In the above shot the horizon is placed in the upper third of the frame, showing that the photographer chose to feature the water.  Putting the horizon in the upper third highlights the foreground.  So you have to ask yourself, is the foreground nicer than the background?  If so, compose with the horizon in the upper third.  However, for most water shots here in Florida, including the one above, the water is not as beautiful as the sky so the shot can end up looking like a lot of brown with a peak of blue at the top.

Putting the horizon in the lower third often results in the best Florida landscape compositionFinally the horizon is placed in the lower third showing more of the beautiful afternoon sky and less of the nondescript water.  This framing showcases the best feature of the shot, the sky, and just enough water to let the viewer know it is a waterfront shot.

So when framing your shot, decide what you want to feature, and then place the horizon accordingly.