urban

Photography Tip -- shoot gritty

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Just a coincidence in the name of this dumpster or a sly joke?It seems a majority of photographs are about beautiful subjects, like sunset landscapes, Aston Martins, flowers, etc.  Where you mostly get to see other types of photographs are in press photos.  When I lived in Tokyo, I used to always go to the World Press Photo exhibit and there I was able to see gritty photos.  

So the next time you go out shooting, try not to look for only beautiful subjects.  Go out with the purpose of photographing something gritty, something less than beautiful, something that will force the viewer to think.  

Couples Model Portfolio Shoot in downtown St. Petersburg Florida

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Couples model portfolio shoot in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power in 43" brolly foreground & SB-600 @ 1/2 power in collapsed shoot through umbrella in background

This shoot was with returning client Mark, but was by far the biggest contrast between photography services with the same client.  In November 2012 he reserved a car photography shoot for his Mustang Cobra and as you can see this time it was a model portfolio shoot, involving himself and his girlfriend too no less!  He saw some of my previous modeling shots at a brick wall and vintage door location and asked if we could use that same downtown St. Petersburg Florida spot.  

Using my favorite brick wall background in downtown St. Petersburg Florida model portfolio shoot - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power in 43" brolly foreground & SB-600 @ 1/2 power in collapsed shoot through umbrella in backgroundFor the shoot Mark wanted some individual shots of himself, individuals of his girlfriend, and then also shots of them together as a couple switching between the brick wall background and the vintage door.  They also did a wardrobe change.  For the above shot I used the pinhole filter in Silver Efex Pro to create that shadowy black & white look.

Dynamic model portfolio shoot in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/160th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power in 43" brolly foreground & SB-600 @ 1/2 power in collapsed shoot through umbrella in backgroundNot being professional models I suggested various ideas in addition to the ones they wanted to try too.  I always like to try and get a dynamic look shot, so I suggested a hair toss.  It took several tries and different starting points and remembering to smile even though she was flicking her head back, but in the end I got the result I envisioned for the shot.  

Urban model portfolio shoot in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power in 43" brolly to frame right & SB-600 @ 1/2 power in 43" shoot through umbrella to frame leftFor their first model portfolio shoot they both did great and I am of course always happy to work with a previous client again.  I look forward to whatever type of shoot Marks wants to do next be it model, car or something else!

Nikon D7000 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg Florida exposure & composition

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Shooting in an urban environment with a Nikon D7000 during a 1-on-1 photography lesson in St. Petersburg FloridaLong-time dog park friend and current 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson student, Mari, has had two weeks to practice since our last lesson, and she certainly has been doing her homework as she is now showing a good grasp of how to shoot in manual mode on her Nikon D7000.  After she read my photography tip on default daylight settings something seemed to click and now she can consistently adjust her exposure settings (aperture, shutter speed, ISO) to produce the exact kind of results she wants, be it a neutral, over or under exposed image.  This allowed us to start to really focus more on composition and "seeing" shots as we walked around downtown St. Petersburg.

Mari will soon be getting a new telephoto lens so our next lesson will no doubt feature birds, hopefully in flight!

Vintage Door Model Portfolio Shoot St. Petersburg Florida with Rita

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Framing the model, Rita, with detailed architecture and a vintage door - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/9 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in 43" brolly to frame left

For my model portfolio shoot with Rita in downtown St. Petersburg, I finally had a chance to use a very small part of a building I had been wanting to feature in a photo shoot for a long time.  Many times I walked past this spot while teaching 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lessons and kept making mental notes to use the features of the spot (long brick wall, medieval looking door) in a shoot someday.  Finally, that day was yesterday evening with model, Rita (her official website).

Featuring a brick wall in this panorama model headshot - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in 43" brolly to frame right & SB-600 @ 1/16th power with diffuser cap pointed at the wallThough we only shot in a space of about 10 feet, we were able to produce a variety of different shots by featuring the brick wall or the metallic door as the background as well as close-ups and wide shots.  I also switched between using a 2-strobe setup like the one above, and a single strobe setup like the lead image.  

Model positioning her arm as a triangle to be symmetric with the door handle - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in 43" brolly to frame leftRita's style of changing poses after each time I pushed the shutter made for a flow that I had not experienced with a model before.  I really liked it as it kept the shoot moving giving the process a dynamic feel.  

Bokeh made by traffic lights - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in 43" brolly to frame right & SB-600 @ 1/16th power to frame leftI liked being able to make soft looking images, like the one above, along with gritty images in the same shoot as no matter how long or short of a shoot, I do like to create a variety of looks for the model.  For the above shot, I thought the straight perpendicular composition looked too rigid, so I tilted my camera to remove the boundary feeling of the 90-degree angle framing.

This images features a vertical line theme - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/9 ISO 200 1/100th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in 43" brolly to frame leftI was again impressed with the lighting job my 43" brolly did.  I will feature it in a proper gear review soon.  As you can see it does not take a lot of lighting equipment to make an effective portrait.  The above shot features a single speedlight off camera in the brolly.  All I did was place it about 45 degrees to the left of the model on a light stand using inexpensive Yongnuo radio triggers (to be reviewed soon also).  Of course it also helps to have a beautiful and talented model like Rita to work with!

St. Petersburg dumpster named after fighting meth?

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A randomly named dumpster in St. Petersburg? - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/4 ISO 200 1/500thI took some time a few weeks ago to just walk around downtown St. Petersburg with my Nikon D300 attached to my Induro CT214 tripod with my Nikkor 80-200mm lens attached.  Before I left the house I had the idea to bring just this gear and make what shots I could using this somewhat unusual gear grouping for shooting an urban environment.  

I came across this dumpster beside a building in a nondescript location.  It seems that dumpsters for some reason are named in St. Petersburg.  Long ago I photographed one named "KRESS."  Now that I think about it, these "names" very well could be applied by a third party and not the city sanitation department itself.  In light of that, I feel sure now that this dumpster named C.U. METH. is not random.  So it seems there is a further story behind this photograph lying with the person who painted the name on the dumpster and why.  One guess, this is where the person tossed away the last remnants of items used for taking meth.  

Now that I have realized St. Petersburg dumpsters have given names, I will keep an eye out for more.  If you see any, be sure and get a photograph of them to share.  

Street Portrait Series 03 - Downtown St. Petersburg

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Model: Savannah -- Nikon D300 Nikkor AF-S 105mm VR micro f/2.8G natural lightAfter a long absence, my Street Portrait Series continued this time in downtown St. Petersburg.  I met up with some fellow local photographers, including Michael Thompson of lightenupandshoot.com fame.  I first learned the street portrait approach technique from Michael last year.  I always have a lot of funning doing street portraits so I hope not to take as long for the next entry in the series as I did this time.

Pictured above is Savannah who volunteered to be a model before heading to a concert at Jannus Live.  Savannah said she had never done anything like this before, so to make her feel more relaxed I had her swing around the stop sign post and do a little leg keep to encourage a more natural, and more fun pose.  I think she did a great job!

Model: Clare -- Nikon D300 Nikkor AF-S 105 mm VR micro f/2.8G natural lightClare was the first person photographed that evening and a super good sport as several people gathered around her shooting away.  With more than one lens around, you definitely need to feel comfortable giving the person/model instruction to get a shot you want.  Someone had already asked Clare for an angry look, then I asked her to look at my lens so I did not have to settle for just a profile shot.  She works at Frankie D's Tattoo on 1st Ave North in downtown St. Pete.

Models: Rob & Ashley -- Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens Strobist: SB-800 on light stand to frame leftThere is often a great purple toned twilight sky backlighting the buildings of downtown St. Petersburg, and that evening was no exception.  I asked Rob and Ashley to stand on the corner so I could include as much of that purple twilight sky as possible in the shot.  I chose to shoot off level horizon to avoid some obstructions in the shot.  Even with that, I had to delete a building from the right side of the frame.  

Thanks again to all the volunteer models.  I have already sent them all a copy of the photos I took of them, which is proper street portrait etiquette.  I hope to be back out making street portraits again soon.  If you want to learn more about DSLR Photography and combine that with doing street portraits, I have 1-on-1 photography lessons available!

Urban Wedding Engagement Portraits in downtown St. Petersburg

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Improvising using the one-way sign - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/5.6 ISO 400 1/100th Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight with diffuser cap 1/2 power on light stand above and to frame left Nikon SB-600 Speedlight 1/4 power with diffuser cap on tripod eye level to frame right

Back in May I had an engagement shoot with Mary and Jason at the often used University of Tampa campus.  They were wanting to add a few unique, urban shots to their engagement package so I had them meet me in downtown St. Petersburg one evening.  I had a few spots in mind to use, but as often happens, my favorite shot of the day came via improvisation and just happening upon something.  We were finished with one location and walking toward a corner and I thought a lone one-way sign could be a great prop.  I set up my two strobes and shared my vision with Jason and Mary.  After several tries they both performed their roles just as I had envisioned and the result was one of my favorite shots of the summer.

Improvising using the one-way sign - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/5.6 ISO 400 1/100th Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight with diffuser cap 1/2 power on light stand above and to frame left Nikon SB-600 Speedlight 1/4 power with diffuser cap on tripod behind and belowThe experimentation continued with adding more urban elements into the shot like a fire hydrant and traffic light.  I further pushed things by using a filter in Topaz Adjust 3 to achieve the vivid, painted look.  This was also one of the first times to use one strobe for backlighting/hair lighting (seen in the glowing edge around Mary).  This is a technique I will definitely be repeating.  

Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/3.5 ISO 200 1/100th Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight with diffuser cap 1/2 power on light stand above and to frame left Nikon SB-600 Speedlight 1/4 power with diffuser cap on tripod eye level to frame rightThe engagement shoot was a very fun and creative experience for me and I got to know Mary and Jason a little bit better before their upcoming September wedding.  I am looking forward to photographing their big day!