palm tree

Palm Tree Horizon Twilight Pink to Blue Fine Art Photograph St Petersburg Florida

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A low angle view of The Pier with a palm tree horizon & pink to blue twilight sky - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens @ f/11 ISO 200 1/60th mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with Nikon MC-30 cable release

The most interesting period of the 24 hours we call a day, for me, is the transition from day to night.  Surprisingly, this is something that can be captured in a photograph.  The blue sky of day first turns pink (as seen above) in twlight before sinking to complete black at night.  What if the Earth always faced the sun as the Moon always faces the Earth?  What type of creatures would have evolved on a world with constant sunlight?  Everything on Earth is so cyclical.  I wonder about a world where everything is constant. 

Photography Tip - take the camera back out of the bag

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Madeira Beach twilight sunset - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/4 ISO 800 1/60th handheld

  • use this image on your business website or decorate your office with a print -- contact for pricing 

I had just finished an hour-long portrait session on Madeira Beach and already packed up my camera and all photography gear.  My hand was on the back hatch of the Lexus to close it shut.  Yet I could see through the windshield a beautiful twilight sunset . . . but I was tired.  All my camera was already back in its bag.  I just had to close the hatch and get in the comfortable driver's seat and head home to shower and dinner.  Then I told myself in my mind what anyone who thinks themselves a photographer should think: 

  • Don't be lazy, a REAL photographer would make the effort to get the shot 

I took my hand off the back hatch, pulled my camera bag to the edge, opened it, took out my Nikon D300, took the lens cap off and was now once again ready to shoot.  You may note one lingering laziness, I did not use my tripod.  I handheld the above shot, but at 1/60th a second that is not hard to do if using proper DSLR holding technique.  

After taking about a dozen shots of various composition, I felt satisfied that I had both not been lazy and got the shot I wanted.  The portrait session was for my client and my business, the last sunset silhouette shots were just for me.  Even if you have already put your camera back in your bag, do not hesitate to take it back out and get a shot if you see one.  That's what a real photographer does.

New Personal Photography Project: Sunny Florida at f/11

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A view of Tampa Bay from Vinoy Park on a sunny Florida afternoon

I had been trying to think of a photography project for myself for awhile now.  During yesterday's photography lesson I was shooting at f/11 to make the portrait of Danielle using my Nikon SB-600 strobe in strong sunlight.  I found myself really liking the detail in that image.  I was also thinking that I have virtually no sunny Florida landscape photographs at all, despite being nearly a year back in Florida by now.  Thus I got the idea to combine those two things, f/11 and sunny Florida landscapes, and make it an ongoing photography project just for fun (or more?).  

Now I thought I had shot the above image at f/11, but in actuality it was made at f/5.6.  Why did I use it in this post then??  Well, it at least fulfills one of the project requirements, that of a sunny Florida landscape.  

The loose goal I have set for myself it to produce one sunny Florida landscape at f/11 per week.  However, the weather has been extremely poor this winter in the Tampa Bay area, really a never before seen amount of rain, clouds and cold.  Of course this happens the first winter I am back in a decade, of course.  

If anyone would like to join me in this project I would enjoy the company, and please post links to your photos in the comments.  Even if you are not in Florida, I would enjoy seeing sunny landscapes of where you live.