Custom F77 Porsche 911 in black Tampa Car Photography Ybor City

Custom black F77 Porsche 911 Tampa Car Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/40th blended with another exposure (for the sky) tripod mounted with cable releaseBen called me up about photographing his custom Porsche 911 in Tampa Florida which I learned was done at Champion Porsche, as you can see by the 911 on the back being replaced by F77.  The Porsche 911 has long been my favorite sports car, since I was a kid, and I have not had the opportunity to photograph one for a client yet so I was very excited.  This shoot was a little different though as Ben wanted photos for selling the car!  Many of the shots I made for him were stylized, but a bit less so than I might normally making them more like the shoots I do for big auctions houses that just want the car show from all angles.  Thus, some of the shots you see here were edited just for my portfolio, and not necessarily included with the ones I sent to the client.

Custom F77 Porsche 911 photographed for sale in Ybor City Tampa - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseThe above shot was my first time to photograph a car from this above and behind angle, partially to show the vents over the rear engine hood on the Porsche.  This shot also features the custom "F77" badge.  Oh, and if this location looks familiar to you, this is the fifth car shoot I have done at this Ybor City location!  Clients see my previous images from here and want to have it for their own cars also.  

Porsche F77 custom black 911 on the streets of Ybor City Tampa Car Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseThis shot I made black & white for myself, as I thought it made the 911 look even more agressive and menacing just waiting there in the middle of the street for any challengers.

Porsche 911 custom F77 model on brick street Ybor City Tampa - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 9-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseThis was the first time at this Ybor City location that there were no cars parked on the street, which allowed for just parking the Porsche in the middle of it and getting some new shots I have not made here before in the previous shoots.  That said, some dude did just show up and park his car right by our shoot!  Now this is a desolate area, and after 5pm everything is shut down for blocks around.  So we politely asked the guy if he could move his car, which he did.  Then he proceeded to walk way off to who knows where.  Why park here then??

Lights on modified Porsche 911 with F77 options Ybor City Tampa Car Photography - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105 VR micro @ f/8 ISO 200 1/80th tripod mounted with cable releaseHDR is not always needed to shoot in mixed lighting, as seen in the above shot.  No sky is featured in the shot, so I just let the shutter speed stay open until I got the exposure I wanted.  Shooting with my Nikkor 105mm VR micro f/2.8G lens, which of course is a prime lens, resulted in the starburst look coming from the headlights.

Stylized Porsche 911 Carrera S type 997 interior with manual shifter - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power in 43" shoot through umbrella frame rightThis exact interior shot was my first attempt, and the lighting looked cool and dramatic, but not appropriate for the purpose of trying to show the interior for selling the car.  I liked the image for myself, though, and made it more stylized by converting it to black & white.  For the client, I introduced another speedlight on the driver's side to produce an evenly lit shot.

Yours truly (on left of course) with client Ben after the photo shoot of his Porsche 911 in Ybor City TampaI never remember to get a shot of me at my shoots, but this time the lights were already setup and I asked Ben if he would mind getting in a portrait with me and his Porsche.  Good luck selling it Ben!

Photography Tip - shoot vertical subjects in portrait orientation

Photography Tip - for vertical and/or tall subjects shoot in portrait orientationWhen I first moved back to Florida some years ago now, I went to an early morning photo review with a local photography Meetup group.  I brought my print portfolio with me and the piece of feedback I received that stuck most in my mind was that I had no shots in portrait orientation.  My print portfolio was of course a very small sample of my work, but from then on whenver I went out to shoot I had in my mind think about shooting in portrait orientation.  This means holding the camera vertically, rather than the more natural horizontal (landscape orientation) position.

Since that time my photography experience has greatly increased and I have been teaching photography lessons for years.  In those lessons I see the same thing with many students, almost never shooting in portrait orientation.  One way to start to train yourself to shoot in this orientation more is to first try and photography vertical subjects in it.  

In my above photo of a flag pole, the tall nature of the subject naturally fills the frame from top to bottom when shooting in portait orientation.  I chose to make the subject off center as well with the flags blowing into the empty (negative) space.  Had I made this shot in landscape orientation, there likely would have been too much negative space resulting in the subject getting lost in the frame.

Madeira Beach St Petersburg Florida Family Photography at Sunset

Family Beach Portraits on Madeira Beach Florida at sunset - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/250th - Strobist: SB-600 @ 1/2 power to frame right & SB-800 @ 1/2 power in frontI met Lisa and her family visiting from Georgia at their condo on Madiera Beach in St. Petersburg Florida for a candid family beach portrait session.  There were never any worries about the weather all day, which is rare for July, but I did not know what the beach would be like on that particular stretch of Madeira either.  Thankfully, there were not that many people and there was some sea grass to use as a background that blocked out the adjacent condos.  

Three generations in this Madeira Beach family portrait in Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/125th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightThough there was no rain this evening, there were plenty of clouds along the horizon to make for a dynamic background over the Gulf of Mexico.  I personally like a lot of clouds in the sky as opposed to a cloudless sunset only background.  I chose to convert this particular portrait to black & white to add even more impact.

Sea Oats background on Madeira Beach family portraits in Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/10 ISO 200 1/250th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightA willingness to get on the sand allows for a wider variety of shots, and the above style photo has been my go to first photo for beach portait sessions letting the sun go down a bit (it's too strong to shoot against an hour before sunset) and making use of the existing flora.

Canon M & Canon 5D Mark III DSLR Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg Florida

Lois and Isaac with their Canon cameras on a bit of a rainy photo lesson in downtown St. Petersburg FloridaOn a somewhat rainy evening last week I met Lois and Isaac for a photography lesson in downtown St. Petersburg.  They have a big international trip coming up later this year and Lois wanted to get better at using her mirrorless Canon M, a camera I had never seen before.  Isaac had the Canon 5D Mark III and knew how to use it pretty well.  So while learning the tricky Canon M's methods for shooting in manual mode with Lois, I fielded more advanced photography questions from Isaac.  

I am still not sure about micro-four-thirds and other mirrorless cameras.  Their advantage is their small size with an interchangeable lens ability.  They are not good for sports or action due to a number of reasons, but for still subjects in non-dynamic situations (i.e. where you need to often change settings) for someone who does not want to carry a lot of weight, they could be an alternative for a DSLR.  

By the end of the two hours Lois was able to use my 5-step method for getting a well exposed and sharp (still) photo with her Canon M by using its touchscreen to change the necessary settings.  This will allow her to not have to rely on the auto modes and be able to shoot in a more creative way.

Photography Tip - anchor your photo composition with a foreground subject

Use a foreground object to anchor the composition of your photographs.One way to improve photograph composition is to use an anchor in the foreground.  This foreground object will give the viewer a place to start looking and then keep their eyes on the photograph.  If the sailboat in the above shot was not there, then it would just be a loose photograph of some water and sky with nothing to grab the viewer's eye.  Having an anchor adds strength to an image.  In composing landscape shots especially, try to include an anchor in the foreground.

1-on-1 Nikon D4 DSLR Nikkor 24-70mm Photography Lesson with Stacy in St. Petersburg Florida

Out scouting portrait locations with Stacy & her Nikon D4 in St. Petersburg FloridaI met Stacy again this week in downtown St. Petersburg for our 13th 1-on-1 photography related lesson (some computer based lessons for editing & workflow).  Since last week she had used her Nikon SB-910 for the first time to photograph an indoor event organized by friends, so we began by reviewing those photographs and me reminding her that if the subjects appear to be too bright due to flash, either lower the power of the flash, or use a smaller aperture.  Changing the power on the SB-910 is not as straightforward as it has been on past Nikon speedlights, part of an overall over complicating of functions on their gear for no reason (see also how to change focus modes on current Nikon mid to pro bodies).  

After practicing how to use her speedlight more effectively, we actually went out scouting some locations in the downtown St. Pete urban area for portraits Stacy wants to make of her daughters later this year.  So I took her to my favorite brick wall location, tiled wall location and also a very gritty alley for as urban of a background as you can get!  Next lesson we will return indoors for more workflow related photography learning.

Madeira Beach St Petersburg Candid Portrait 3 Generations Family Photography at Sunset

Father holds his baby girl in the air at Madeira Beach Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/6.3 ISO 200 1/250th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power beside camera & SB-600 @ 1/4 power to frame rightI returned to Madeira Beach Florida last week for a family beach portrait session at sunset with a three generation family.  There has been very unpredictable rain this July here in Florida, but two early day rain showers allowed for a nice clear sky with plenty of clouds for an ideal backdrop.  I made use of that great sunset in the above photo of a father holding his baby girl high up in the air.  I have made this kind of shot a few times before (see here), but I tried a new strobist lighting position that produced the best results yet.

Black & White family beach portrait on Madeira Beach Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/9 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightI like clouds in the sky for a beach portrait session, and all the ones in the above shot in my view add drama to the overall family portrait.  I framed this shot very carefully, so that the viewer would have no idea of the line of hotels just outside the left edge nor all the people walking down the beach just outside the right edge.

Baby Girl at sunset on Madeira Beach Florida candid beach portraits - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/200th - Strobist: SB-800 & SB-600 somewhere near the baby as she was roving aroundToward the end of the session we let the baby loose for some truly candid shots, as she never even looked my way once.  That was actually fine with me because I like the results of her looking perhaps at her own reflection in the water or maybe just the sparkle of the setting sun?

Gathered around sunset family beach portrait Madeira Beach Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50m @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/200th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightThis is a new-ish pose I like for a group of five adults (plus baby ok too) with one person anchoring the entire pose and everyone wrapped around.  Just lining people up like a picket fence makes for a mundane beach portrait to me, so I am always trying to not take the easy way out and encourage the clients to get in the sand and of course interact with each other to produce more personal beach portraits.

Sisters sunset portrait on Madeira Beach Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/250th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightThe same for this shot above of two sisters.  They were just going to stand next to each other, until I used the trusty Posing App to suggest a more sisterly bonding look for the photo.  When this photo is looked at by the sisters twenty years from now, if they were just standing side-by-side, that would evoke no physical feeling, where this photo in contrast will hopefully make them remember what it felt like to hold their sister in their arms.