Tampa Portrait Photography Mother & Baby Son in black & white University of Tampa

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Mother holding her young son up in the air at University of Tampa - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 400 1/250thThese are a pair of black & white images from my first ever paid portrait session in Florida.  Somehow I had never written about them before.  These mother and baby son portraits were made on the University of Tampa campus.  I learned a lot from this portrait session, especially to not rely on the Nikon Creative Lighting System's commander mode for triggering speedlights!  I soon switched to using dedicated radio triggers.

Mother holding her baby son - Tampa Portrait Photographer - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/8 ISO 200 1/125thI chose the above photo out of several others of similar composition because in this one the baby boy is grabbing his mother's necklace producing a natural smile in mom and a natural act that I believe all babies do.  

Engineer Professional Business Headshot in St. Petersburg Florida with Terry

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Professional headshot for Tampa Engineer - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/9 ISO 200 1/160th - Strobist: SB-800 in brolly & SB-600 in shoot through umbrellaEldest friend Terry called me up about coming for a visit to St. Petersburg, which is not unusual, but also about having a professional headshot made while he was here.  It is always great to photograph people you know well as things are naturally more relaxed.  So soon after he arrived, after Kiki calmed down, Terry put on his tie and dress shirt (photography secret, he was only wearing casual shorts underneath!) and I placed him in my home photography studio setup.  

I have been making Terry laugh for decades, so when I needed some material to loosen him up and get his smile to be more natural, I had a plethora of topics to choose from.  I was ready with the shutter to catch that first, most natural smile expression.  After a quick background change (we started with my neutral gray collapsible background) and another joke, we were all done.  The second headshot was shot in front of a white background so that I could then more easily cut Terry out of that image and place him on any color digital background.  The gradient background used in the above image was added digitally in Photoshop.  

After the headshot shoot it was off to the dog park to Kiki's delight!

Photography Tip - leave your camera out ready to shoot

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Photography Tip - keep your camera on a shelf with lens cap off ready to shoot at any time!If you are not shooting much from home, maybe it is because your camera is packed away in a bag in the closet somewhere.  A very simple way to start taking more photos at home is by keeping your camera out on a shelf, or table, lens cap off, all ready to just be picked up, turned on and shoot.  Just seeing your camera and having it out will remind you, hey I should be taking some photos to keep in practice.  Another reason to keep your camera at the ready is if you are always seeing good photograph opportunities, but miss them because your camera is four steps away from shoot ready.  For example, if I know I want to make a shot of the sunrise, the night before I have my camera out and on the tripod ready so when I wake up, that is one less hurdle to getting the sunrise photos I want.  

Tampa Hotel UFO ceiling HDR photography

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I thought this ceiling was very interesting looking in a Tampa hotel - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 5-exposure HDRThis image is from a wedding I photographed a few years ago in a hotel in Tampa.  I was at the reception area early to shoot the table settings, wedding cake, etc.  Upon entering the ballroom I was immediately taken with the ceiling.  To me it looked like a UFO floating right on top of everything.  In editing I added some effects to heighten the alien look to the ceiling and room in general of this HDR image.  What does it look like to you?

Just at Sunrise in St. Petersburg Florida Snell Isle Florida Panorama

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A view of Smacks Bayou in Snell Isle St. Petersburg Florida at sunrise - 4 image panoramaKiki wakes up around 6:30am each morning wanting to go out and depending on the time of year it is totally dark or already full daylight.  At this time of year, January, it usually times out so that I get a glimpse of the sunrise.  Instead of just going right back into bed as I usually do, this morning I came back inside and got my camera to go and make a few photos.  I ended up hand holding four consecutive shots that I later stitched together into a panorama in Photoshop.  

Realtor Professional Business Headshot in St. Petersburg Florida with Maria

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St. Petersburg real estate agent Maria came to my home studio for a professional business headshot - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/200th - Strobist: SB-800 & SB-600 A few years ago Maria bought some fine art prints from me and in that time she has become a real estate agent.  She contacted me about having a professional headshot made she can use on her business card and on your agent profile page.  She came to my home studio in St. Petersburg, Florida where I setup a portable background and two light stands.  She was seated actually to help put her into a more natural position and to avoid leaning backwards, etc.  She was a natural though and the headshot shoot went smoothly.  Next I will actually be helping Maria learn how to use her new MacBook Pro!

Photography Tip - point your shadow at the subject

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Point your shadow at the subject to get the best exposure chance.Pointing your shadow at the subject is the photography tip I have given the most perhaps.  I have told it to every past photography student (300 and counting!).  The most common way to express this though is to say put your back to the sun to help get the best exposure when shooting outside on a sunny day.  I find it is even easier just to point your shadow at the subject.  For a subject you can move, then definitely place yourself between the subject and the sun so that your shadow is pointing at the subject and your back is to the sun.  Sometimes of course the subject cannot be moved so then you have to compromise or come back at a different time when the sun would be behind you.

For moving subjects I follow this same rule.  I will position myself as much as possible with my shadow pointing in the general area of the subject and wait for it to move in front of me.

Pointing your shadow at your subject will give you the best chance at getting a good exposure throughout the photo when shooting during the day.  It's a very simple way to dramatically improve your final image.  Let me know how it works for you.