Saint Petersburg

Photo Tip - put a major subject focal point in a third and a third

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Many of my hundreds of photography students start out always centering the subject in the frame during our first lessons.  That is understandable as they are busy learning my 5-step process for making a well exposed and sharp photograph in any given shooting situation.  Once the technical apsects of photography take up less of the process of making a photo, then one can begin to focus on being creative, and the first step in that is composition.  

The rule of thirds is a good way to start getting more appealing composition, but I like to think in two dimensions with the rule of thirds as well.  By that I mean putting a major feature of my subject in a vertical thid and a horizontal third.  In the above example of a model at the Dali Museum, the upper third and left third interset right by the model's face.  Then the lower third and left third intersect by her hand and the melting clock.  There is still a good amount of negative space in the frame, but that is put to the far upper and left parts of the photo.  I would not want a lot of negative space on both sides of the subject (as in if I had centered her with no focal points other than along the midpoint of the photograph).

So the next time you go out shooting, especially a portrait, try putting a major subject focal point at a third and a third in the frame.

The final version of the photo putting a major focal point at a third and a third

Crown Jaguar F-Type Client Event at Dali Museum St Petersburg Florida Photography

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Guests arrive to pose in front of the new Jaguar F-Type at the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg event photography - Nikon D300 tripod mounted with cable release Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 & SB-600 both in brolly

The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg was host to an event put on by Crown Jaguar for guests to come and see some of its cars, including the stunning new Jaguar F-Type Coupe (see above).   This was my second time working for Crown, as I photographed the Audi A3 premiere event back in April too.  This time they hired me to photograph all the guests as they arrived in front of a F-Type.  This was my first time doing this kind of arrival portrait photography actually.  The shooting began just before sunset so early arriving guests got a colorful background like in the above portrait.  Soon night came and the background became just a few distant lights.

My setup for making guest arrival portraits a speedlight in each broody and my camera tripod mounted so I got the exact same framing and background for each shot - photo made by iPhone 6

This was my setup for all the portraits.  My camera was on a tripod so every shot was in the same framing.  I advised people to stand in front of the front wheel of the Jaguar F-Type Coupe to further insure similar photo results.  I had two speedlights each in a brolly and kept the one to frame left constant, but as night fell moved the one to frame right to also light the car more.  Unfortunately, the provided lighting for the car was not very bright at all.  I compensated for that by moving one speedlight and tweaking a few camera settings.  I ended up pleased with the results of night portraits using just two speedlights with a large background object (the car).  

Some guests at the Crown Jaguar F-Type Dali Museum event arrived in costume - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 400 1/60th - tripod mounted with cable release - Strobist: SB-800 & SB-600 both in brolly

Some guests wore costumes as Halloween was just three days away.  It was interesting to look up and see who might appear before my lense each shot.  Many people joked asking if this photo was their opportunity to win the car or something like that.  I only ever replied simply, "umm, no."  

From dusk to night shooting guests arriving in front of the Jaguar F-Type at the Dali Museum St. Petersburg Event Photography - Nikon D300 tripod mounted with cable release Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/30th - Strobist: SB-800 & SB-600 both in brolly

The Jaguar F-Type Coupe received universal praise for its looks by everyone.  As of the time of shooting, Crown Jaguar did have this particular F-Type for sale!  

The Jaguar F-Type coupe made for a stunning backdrop for portraits at the Crown Jaguar Dali Museum in St. Petersburg - event photography - Nikon D300 tripod mounted with cable release Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 320 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 & SB-600 both in brolly

It was a fun and challenging evening of photography, my favorite kind, and I got to stare at a beautiful car the whole time too.  Two Crown Jaguar employees helped make sure each guest would receive their print of the photos I made by writing down the photo number as I shot, thank you ladies!

Kool & the Gang perform at Vinoy Resort St Petersburg Florida PARC Sapphire Ball 2014

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Kool & the Gang horn playing at PARC 45th Sapphire Ball St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D90 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/2.8 ISO 1250 1/200th

Concluding the festivities at the PARC 45th Annual Black Tie Sapphire Ball at the Vinoy Resort St. Petersburg Florida was a performance by Kool & the Gang.  This gave me an opportunity for live concert photography after several hours of general candid event photography.   

Kool & the Gang rocked the small stage at Vinoy Resort St. Petersburg Florida Concert Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/4 ISO 800 1/30th

They played over an hour set of their hits making it seem like it was the 1970s, even asking the crowd, what were you doing in the 70s?  Many in attendance were similar in age to the band so they could very well have been dancing to Kool & the Gang back then at one of their first concerts. 

Kool & the Gang still have dance moves on stage at Vinoy Resort PARC 45th Sapphire Ball St. Petersburg Concert Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/4 ISO 1600 1/100th

Kool & the Gang still had all their trademark dance moves and seemed to hold nothing back jumping in the air, cavorting around the stage and giving a max energy performance for those attending the PARC 45th Annual Black Tie Sapphire Ball.

Kool & the Gang still feeling it during Vinoy Resort performance St. Petersburg Concert Photography - Nikon D90 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/2.8 ISO 1600 1/320th

I used a variety of lenses to get different shots of the members of Kool & the Gang.  It was not really possible to get right in front of the stage due to the crowd and lack of barrier between them and the stage, so I mostly shot from the sides.

Kool & the Gang reflective moment on stage PARC 45th Sapphire Ball St. Petersburg Concert Photography - Nikon D300 Nikkor 50mm @ f/2 ISO 1600 1/500th

There was pretty good lighting during the concert which I tried to use as best as possible to enhance the concert photographs I made.  

Kool & the Gang bathed in sapphire light during PARC 45th Sapphire Ball concert at Vinoy Resort St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 50mm @ f/2 ISO 1600 1/320th

This low sapphire lighting seemed to glow like a fog on stage, a very cool effect.

Kool & the Gang taking it to heart performing at PARC 45th Sapphire Ball St. Petersburg Florida Concert Photography - Nikon D300 Nikkor 50mm @ f/2 ISO 1600 1/200th

I kept wondering where one can get a Kool & the Gang style sequin animal print shirt?  Is there like a 70s rock star store one can go to?  Are they custom made?  Do they travel with hundreds in a case?

The crowd was very into it as Kool & the Gang performed at PARC 45th Sapphire Ball Vinoy Resort St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ 5.6 ISO 800 1/25th SB-800 speedlight hotshoe mounted

Though many in the crowd matched or surpassed the ages of Kool & the Gang, the dance floor was packed and they were getting down on it, celebrating and keeping it too hot.

PARC 45th Annual Black Tie Sapphire Ball at Vinoy Resort St Petersburg Florida Event Photography

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Welcoming guests at PARC 45th Annual Black Tie Sapphire Ball - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 800 1/60th SB-800 hotshoe mountedPhotography often puts me into places I would otherwise never be.  Such was the case Saturday when I went to the Vinoy Resort in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida to photograph an event -- PARC 45th Annual Black Tie Sapphire Ball.  Somehow the "black tie" part eluded my mind so I was surprised to see everyone that dressed up when I arrived at the Vinoy!

Inside the Vinoy Resort showing why this was the Sapphire Ball for PARC 45th annual black tie event - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 4 sec tripod mounted with cable releasePeople were not the only ones all dressed up, the ballroom in the Vinoy Resort was as well reflecting the Sapphire Ball theme.  The chairs especially stoodout to me with their shape and striking sapphire blue covering including a sparkling diamond circle on the back.  I made this shot when I first arrived before the guests were allowed in.  Since I used a tripod and wanted to focus on the decorations, it was necessary to start with this type of shot first when photographing the event.  For sure the ballroom did not look like this by the time 11pm came around and Kool & the Gang had the place jumping!

Candid event photography before the PARC 45th Annual Black Tie Sapphire Ball - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 800 1/60th SB-800 hotshoe mountedAfter photographing the ballroom and some other outside establishing shots, I put away my tripod and went more mobile photographing the guests mingling out in the lobby.  I walked right into this scene and had my camera ready to catch this amusing reaction shot.

Encouraging high bidders during a charity auction for PARC at Vinoy Resort St. Petersburg Event Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 800 1/60th SB-800 hotshoe mountedWhile dinner was being served, several items were auctioned off from charity ranging from a week vacation at a house on a private island to a custom diamond ring.  Many items went for over $5,000!  

Gayle Guyardo was an electric presence at PARC 45th Annual Black Tie Sapphire Ball event at Vinoy Resort St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D90 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 800 1/100th SB-600 speedlight hotshoe mountedFor many years I have kind of had a crush on Gayle Guyardo.  It was a very pleasant surprise to find out she would be presenting the winners of the Magnetic Man award at the event.  Seeing her in person only further strengthened the crush!  

Mike Alstott accepts the Magnetic Man award at PARC 45th Annual Black Tie Event - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 800 1/60th SB-800 hotshoe mountedAnother surprise was seeing former Tampa Bay Buccaneers great Mike Alstott.  He still looked like he could step onto the football field and play this Sunday!  He received the first of thirteen Magnetic Man awards.  

Kool & the Gang perform at PARC 45th Annual Black Tie Sapphire Ball St. Petersburg Florida event photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/4 ISO 800 1/30th SB-800 hotshoe mountedOnce the awards were handed out and the auctions ended, Kool & the Gang took the stage and played a very enthusiastic set.  I am always impressed when artists can do this and make it seem like it's the biggest show they have ever done.  More shots from their performance to come in another blog post.

Photographing this event for PARC was exciting and a chance to have an evening I definitely would never have experienced otherwise.  Thank you Susan and Kelli!

1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson in commercial studio in St Petersburg Florida with Marquita

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Marquita as the model during her commercial photography lesson in her own photography studio!I met Marquita for a second 1-on-1 commercial photography lesson yesterday, this time at her photography studio in the artisitc Grand Central district of St. Petersburg.  She had been practicing since we first met a few weeks ago in Curtis Hixon Park and was having some white balance issues shooting on a white background using her studio light setup.  Even though she was shooting in RAW using auto white balance, the images coming out of the camera were looking warm, and thus skin tones did not look natural, etc.  To solve this problem I showed her how to set a custom white balance on her Canon T2i which was thankfully not too difficult to figure out just by looking in the menus.  Sure enough, once she used the new custom white balance, her photographs came out looking true to color straight from the camera, not post-processing white balance adjustments needed.  

She also wanted her white background to look more white, such that it was invisible.  I put one of her studio lights directly on the background to essentially blow it out, and that combined with the custom white balance made the subject appear to be on a pure white background, again no post-processing editing needed to fix.  

We concluded the lesson by seeing what just one speedlight off camera with a reflector can do (see the above portrait of Marquita).  Marquita will be investing in a better speedlight for her event photography work, which she can also use in her studio too.  

For the next lesson we will tackle Photoshop and how to add any color background to a subject shot on her white studio background!

For party planning services, visit Marquita's website.

Canon T3 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson with Kristen in St. Petersburg Florida

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Kristen points her Canon T3 out at Tampa Bay during our 1-on-1 photography lesson in St. Petersburg FloridaOn a very humid, but thankfully overcast, Monday morning I met Kristen in downtown St. Petersburg for a 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson with her long owned but never used Canon T3.  She received it as a present for Christmas, in 2012.  With an upcoming trip to Iceland planned, she decided she wanted to learn how to use it.  I am always glad to help someone make use of a long owned but little used DSLR.  There is a learning curve of course to manual photography, but it is not an overly steep one and with my 5-step process, I can actually teach someone theoretically all they need to know in less than 2-hours!

Kristen was a very careful notetaker during the lesson, something I encourage because even though I send a PDF photo guide of the things we cover during the lesson, having notes in your own words can really help.  She also asked questions too, which actually showed me she was grasping things very well about how to go about getting the exposure right and when to adjust aperture, shutter speed and ISO in the correct order to maximize image quality and exposure.  I look forward to seeing her results with all the knowledge she now has to shoot in manual mode with her Canon.

1-on-1 Nikon D90 DSLR Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg Florida with Chris

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Chris with his Nikon D90 during out 1-on-1 DSLR photography lesson in downtown St. Petersburg FloridaOn a rather warm spring morning I met Chris in downtown St. Petersburg for a 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson with his Nikon D90.  He has had the camera for four years, but was only mostly shooting in Program mode and other auto-modes.  He has a couple of significant trips coming up and wanted to make the best travel photographs possible with his Nikon, so getting him off of Program mode and onto Manual Mode was the first step in that process.  

Chris had two lenses allowing us to practice a variety of shooting techniques for making photos with a shallow depth of focus, moving subjects and also natural light portraits.  Using his Nikkor 70-300mm lens at a focal length of 200mm and f/5.6 I showed Chris how to make the background essentially disappear so that a busy background could be eliminated and not distract from the main subject.  This is just one example of the many specific and practical topics we covered in our 2-hour 1-on-1 DSLR photography lesson.  I look forward to meeting Chris for a second lesson in the near future.