Jason now serves the SW Florida area with the best beach wedding photography!
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Clearwater
DSLR Photography Lessons with Models - St. Petersburg Tampa Clearwater
Cushease commercial product photography Clearwater on a boat
in Commercial
Model: Lindsay; Cushease product shot on location in Clearwater; f/11 ISO 200 1/250th with 42" reflectorA commercial product photography shoot with models for Cushease in Clearwater was my first experience shooting on a boat. As soon as I came aboard I instantly realized that doing photography on a boat will be an all new challenge, with not the least challenge being not slipping overboard strafing back and forth to the bow. I also learned that you will definitely need assistants while working on a boat. I had already confirmed that the models when not in front of the lens would be willing assistants to hold either the 42" reflector or a speedlight. On dry land you can setup a light stand to hold speedlights and reflectors, on a rocking boat, that is not possible.
University of Florida Gator embroidered products by Cushease - Clearwater commercial photographyThe client was actually Karin, one of my new, dedicated DSLR Photography Lesson students. Her company, Cushease, has a large product catalogue featuring weatherproof chairs, cushions and pillows. The images from this shoot will be used to update her new website, print catalogue and in various advertising mediums. That is Karin's dog on the Gator pillow above. He was very well behaved and a willing model.
Cushease weatherproof chairs for boat & outdoor use - Commercial Photography in ClearwaterI made many of the shots from the upper deck of the boat, which required climbing up a very narrow ladder with my Nikon D300 dangling precariously from its strap. I was pretty nervous at first but by the end of the 2-hour shoot had gotten pretty good sea legs. I spent a lot of time on boats in my childhood and this commercial shoot started to make me miss the unique feeling one has when spending time on a boat.
DSLR Photography Lesson Furniture Product Shots 3 light setup
Three continuous light sources made for easy lighting setup with no undesired shadowsEach new DSLR Photography Lesson with Karin we add a little to the complexity of product shot we practice. This time we needed a setup much larger than that for the pillows we previously photographed. After some office space rearranging we used all three of her continuous lights for getting only the wanted shadows on a large, stuffed chair to be photographed for use in her website catalog. This was surprisingly easy as the strobist techniques for photographing people largely apply to continuous light product photography as well.
Yours truly demonstrating classic remote trigger techniqueKarin now has all the photography tools to make product photography like this very simple with no mess, no fuss. Putting her new Nikon D5100 on a tripod, attaching the cable release and using Live View mode to see the image right on the back on the camera, plus using continuous lighting, means once we got all settings locked in and all lights positioned, the settings could be noted on paper and the light positions marked on the floor with tape so that consistent results can be produced shot after shot week after week. This is the benefit of shooting in studio-like conditions.
For our next lesson, we may add tethering to our setup so that the images appear instantly right in Aperture 3 for preview on Karin's MacBook. Exciting!
"Why is this bride smiling?" New Tampa Clearwater St. Petersburg wedding photography campaign
in Wedding
The new look & slogan for Tampa Clearwater St. Petersburg wedding photography promotionsFor Spring 2011 I am launching the "Why is this bride smiling?" promotional campaign for St. Petersburg, Tampa and Clearwater wedding photography. The ads themselves are more colorful using the same tone of blue found in my logo and feature a floating circles design theme.
"Why is this bride smiling?" -- The intention behind this question is to promote the emotional aspect of my wedding photography for Florida brides-to-be (and grooms too!). Instead of initially focusing on specific package details, pricing, etc., I first want the engaged couple to think of the emotion they want from their wedding photography, what they want the experience to be and how to capture those emotions and experiences. If the engaged couple feels connected to the emotions of my wedding photogrpahs and wishes to experience and preserve what I have done for others on their wedding day also, then the time for discussing package details & pricing can follow.
I realize price is a strong factor in purchasing decisions, but wedding photography is not like buying a refrigerator.
For all of the above reasons I offer a free, in-person wedding photography consultation to determine if my wedding photography philosophy matches with a specific couple's wishes. Even if someone looks through my full online portfolio, downloads and reads my Wedding FAQ, reads all the raves and reviews, I will always highly encourage meeting in person before the couple decides on myself or another photographer for their wedding so I can in my own words answer the question, "Why is this bride smiling?"
Thank you . . .
Barefoot Beach Resort condo commercial HDR shoot
in Commercial
Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/11 ISO 200 7-bracket HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseFor me it is always nice to get a commercial real estate job because it provides a welcome change of pace to the usual people-based photography I do. In some ways, it is much easier to photograph a bedroom or a kitchen or a living room. Nothing is moving around, nothing blinks, nothing is camera shy, and perhaps best of all it's air conditioned! Then again, lighting a room or small or large size presents its own challenges. Furniture does need to be posed, or rather arranged, for best presentation. Which angle most flatters the room? What elements get left along the edges of the frame (bit of crown molding above) and which get cropped out (painted wall to the right)?
Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/11 ISO 200 9-bracket HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseI chose to use mostly HDR to make the photographs for Barefoot Beach Resort in Clearwater. I tried some two-strobe setups, but in the end all but one image I delivered to the client was HDR. The one non-HDR shot was of a small kitchen where I could not setup my tripod, but rather had to climb up on a counter and almost lay down! That was actually kind of fun.
Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/11 ISO 200 7-bracket HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseOther challenges of doing open window room photographer include reflections. The above photograph of a master bedroom had a window to the right of the frame which I wanted open (well the blinds actually) as it provided needed light, but it also caused a huge reflection on the painting on the wall above the bed. You cannot see it now because of some careful, and tedious cloning work. Then there was the setup. French doors lead out to the Florida room (middle photo) and are a main feature of the master bedroom. Working with the client we decided that just that much of the French doors in the shot was enough to portray them to viewers while still showing a good portion of the bedroom as well as the hallway to more show some of the layout of the condo.
Working with a tripod and without people as subjects meant I could really take my time and setup and frame the shots exactly how I thought best with input from the client too, without worry of the subject matter getting tired.
More information about:
Commercial & Real Estate Photography:
Golden Twilight Beach Wedding Photography on Sand Key Florida
in Wedding
A rare golden sunset for this beach wedding portrait - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/8 ISO 400 1/80th Strobist - Nikon SB-600 Speedlight @ 1/2 power on light stand to frame left triggered by Yongnuo radio remotes
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When photographing a beach wedding in Florida, you really never know what kind of sunset, if any, mother nature will provide you with that particular evening. For Lynn and Stephen's wedding, we were treated to a very rare golden twilight sky. Stephen wearing white along with his bride Lynn helped them not overpower the golden light, but rather blend into it. Given such fantastic light conditions, I made sure to do my part to make the best possible wedding photographs for the newlyweds.
golden hair and sky - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/8 ISO 400 1/80th Strobist - Nikon SB-600 Speedlight @ 1/2 power on light stand to frame triggered by Yongnuo radio remotesAnother rarity this time was being able to see the sun make its way all the way down to the horizon itself, unobstructed by clouds. Once I found the settings that I liked best: f/8 ISO 400 1/80th manual mode I put a mark in the sand and just moved and had either the couple or just the bride stand on that mark for various shots. This allows me to maximize the variety of shots I can take while the sun continues its accelerating trip to the southern hemisphere.
Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ ISO 200 1/100th Strobist - Nikon SB-600 Speedlight @ 1/2 power on light stand to frame rightNow I am not one for gimmick photographs like drawing hearts in sand, etc. However, the heart in the above photograph was already there in basically in their path so I asked them if they wanted to include it in the shot. They said yes and we were able to make this shot on the first take. How do you feel about including things like hearts drawn in the sand?
Thanks to mother nature and Stephen and Lynn for making this a unique and colorful wedding photography experience.