Just the legs of a seagull - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/1000thOne of my photo habits is to photograph only parts of things. Seagull photos are pretty common as they are a common bird, so my thinking was to add a little mystery to the image by only including the legs of the bird. Now maybe the viewer will think, what is on top of those legs? I cropped the image to purposefully have a leading line end flush in the lower left corner too.
Photography Tip - how to spice up oft photographed places
Using a long exposure and converting to black & white to create a nature and architecture shot
I am often teaching 1-on-1 photography lessons in downtown St. Petersburg and have personally photographed almost everything there is around that area. For my students, this is good because I can show them all my favorite spots. For me to make an image of some interest for an oft photographed place, sometimes I need to spice up the image. So for the above shot I went off axis, used a long exposure to blow out the sky, and then finally converted it to black & white using an infrared filter. I also tried to combine nature and archicture in one image. These are all photograpy tips to try for when you are at a place you have photographed a lot before, but still want to try and come away with something new.
Let me know what you do to spice up photos of places you have shot in many times before.
Photography Tip - Screen should be the brightest light source in the room
Your computer screen should be the brightest thing in the room when editing digital photos. This is my editing setup as seen in the middle of a sunny afternoon.Editing digital photographs in a consistent environment is the key to getting consistent results. When editing photographs during the day, I make sure that my computer screen(s) is the brightest thing in the room. I close all the blinds tightly and even let my eyes adjust to the ambient light before starting to edit. This way, if I continue to edit photos from the same set at night, the results will be consistent. Not only does editing photos in a bright room not allow one to properly see contrast, etc, it also means that if you edit another photo at night in a dark room it is very likely to turn out different.
So when editing photos during the day be sure and close all the window blinds and make sure your computer screen is the brightest thing in the room.
Cars & Couture 2013 Tampa International Jet Center Florida
Cars & Couture 2013 new Chevrolet Corvette Stingray C7 - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-esposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseFor the second year in a row I was given a media pass (thanks Dona) to Cars & Couture 2013 at the Tampa International Jet Center. It is a charity event featuring supercars, models and private jets. This time there was only one car I had not seen before, the brand new C7 Corvette Stingray (I have more photos just featuring that Corvette coming).
Inside Cars & Couture 2013 at the Tampa Jet Center with Lamborghini Gallardo Spider - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDRThe light was not as good as last year, especially inside the hangar, which meant it did not take long for me to shoot the event.
Private jets & supercars were featured at Cars & Couture 2013 Tampa Event Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDRI did talk to a representative from ExecuJet and may soon be photographing their line of private jets. It would be a great opportunity to photograph a new subject matter. The jet center at sunset time provides a great backdrop too.
Ferrari 458 Spider in the foreground of Cars & Couture 2013 Tampa Event Photographer - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDRThere was no formal Ferrari presence this year, just three total, and they were all the exact same model, the 458 Spider! That has long been my favorite car actually, but seeing three together almost made it seem common in my eyes! Subsequently, I am now all about the Lexus LFA!
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Courtyard Marriott St. Petersburg Bistro Renovation Commercial Photography Florida
The newly renovated bistro & cafe area of Courtyard Marriott in downtown St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 5-exposure HDRLast week I went back to the Courtyard Marriott in downtown St. Petersburg Florida to finish making commercial photographs of the newly updated interior of the hotel. In 2011 I photographed both the exterior and interior of the hotel, followed later by a wedding model shoot. Courtyard have been very good clients and I am always glad to return their and work with Ryan and Kathy.
A quiet spot in the new Courtyard Marriott bistro St. Petersburg commercial photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1.3 secThe newly updated bistro/cafe area looks great and photographed well. I used a combination of HDR and single exposure images. For the photo above with only a single major light source coming from behind camera, I felt HDR was not needed and achieved the results I wanted with a single long exposure.
Dining spaces with TVs at newly renovated Courtyard Marriott St. Petersburg Florida commercial photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 5-exposure HDRTo pull detail out in the corners of these eating areas that had an open window in each, I did use 5-exposures to make the HDR image image above. Overall I made less HDR images than I did when I first photographed the hotel two years ago as I am always trying to improve my shooting techniques and choose the best style for each particular shot.
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Photography Tip - use the subject to block the sun in portraits
Photography Tip - when the sun is still strong in the sky, block it with the subject to soften its effect.
Making sunset portraits is a photography skill unto itself. When shooting on a beach at sunset the conditions are rarely the same. Thus, not only do you have the usual variables to deal with when shooting on location, and not only is there a ticking clock with the sun getting closer and closer to the horizon, there is also the unknown of how the sun will effect your shot according to its strength.
If you find the setting sun is overpowering your portrait, then a good photography tip to use is to block most or all of the brightest part of the sun with the subject. This will reduce lens flare too.
Of course unless you want the subjects to be silhouettes, you will need a speedlight or two off camera to light them up. The sun is then used as a backlight source complementing your portrait instead of dominating it if the subjects were not blocking any of the strong light coming from the setting sun.
Commercial Photography License downtown St. Petersburg Florida skyline by Free Art Friday DTSP
I was contacted this week by Free Art Friday DTSP about licensing one of my many downtown St. Petersburg skyline panorama images for use on their new Facebook page. After the client finalized their choice for what photo, since it is for a Facebook cover image, which needs to be 851x315 (crazy, I know) a specific crop of the image had to be decided upon. I then provided the client with the image in exact resolution to fit neatly into their Facebook cover image space. Of course, unfortunately, for some unknown reason Facebook remains the only major website to reduce image quality of images uploaded to it. Still, the image chosen holds up well and works complimentary with the standard Facebook background color.
Be sure and visit and "like" support this new project to showcase and promote local St. Petersburg art and culture.
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