stormy skies

Lightning Photographs over Smacks Bayou Snell Isle St. Petersburg Florida

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Lightning branched out high and low over Smacks Bayou Snell Isle St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/16 ISO 200 25.2 sec (but card covered most of the time) tripod mounted with cable releaseThis evening I finally had the opportunity to photograph lightning conveniently right from my own back patio.  While I was eating dinner I watched and listened to a strong storm approach.  First came very heavy rain, always needed for the flaura and fauna of the area, and it also cools things down nicely outside.  

Lightning trickling out from the clouds above Smacks Bayou Snell Isle St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/16 ISO 200 31.8 sec (but card covered most of the time) tripod mounted with cable releaseThe rain for the most part ceased, but numerous lightning strikes were still visible from exiting storm.  These conditions allowed me to first get out onto my back patio and then even out into the open to try and capture a few of the lightning bolts dancing all over the sky, as many bolts did not touch the ground, but rather spread like cracking ice parallel to the horizon.

A single strong lightning strike over Smacks Bayou Snell Isle St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/16 ISO 200 1.2 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseI used the same techniques for photographing fireworks to make these lightning images.  I detailed the shooting process here.  I hope to have more chances for different kinds of lightning shots as the summer thunderstorm season continues into August.

Thunderstorm approaching St. Petersburg Stormy Sky

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Click image for larger 2000px version - 4-shot panorama stitched together in Photoshop CS5This is almost a real-time weather report panorama image as just a few minutes ago this massive thunderstorm was approaching St. Petersburg, Florida from the east.  In the time it took me to stitch it together and edit it in Photoshop it has began its pouring of a deluge of rain and striking of thunderbolts.  The rain is much needed here and hopefully the storm will pass quickly so Kiki and I can still go to the dog park as usual in the evening and I can play in the weekly ultimate frisbee pickup game even later in the evening!

Making a panorama image like this is not difficult in Photoshop CS5.  Using an 80-200mm lens, setting my exposure in manual mode, then locking in the focus, I took the four shots handheld using the gridlines in my Nikon D300's viewfinder to lineup the overlap needed between each shot.  Then using the Photomerge feature in CS5 it was just a matter of choosing spherical in the settings and letting my MacBook Pro's CPU do the heavy lifting.

Wide Panorama of Pass-A-Grille Beach St. Petersburg Florida Fine Art Photography

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Click for 2000px version - 5 shot panorama of Pass-A-Grille Beach St. Petersburg Florida available for commercial license & fine art printOn the same stormy evening I photographed the kiteboarder out on Pass-A-Grille Beach I made this 5-shot panorama of the beach as empty as you will ever see it.  This shot was made handheld which is surprisingly not hard to keep aligned if you have a grid view inside your DSLR's viewfinder.  I put the lower third of the gridline in the viewfinder straight on the horizon allowing me to make the shot without the tripod.  What I had to watch for was leaving enough overlap (about 1/3 of a frame) so that Photoshop could work its stitching magic with its Photomerge automation.

Pass-A-Grille Beach is one of my favorite spots in all of Tampa Bay as it represents the very tip of the main Gulf Blvd beaches in Pinellas County.  It definitely has a "land's end" feel to it, especially at a time like this after a storm at twilight.

Kiteboarding at Pass-A-Grille Beach Florida in Stormy Skies

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Kiteboarding at Pass-A-Grille Beach Florida - unusual settings needed - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/2.8 ISO 800 1/500thPass-A-Grille Beach exists at the very southern end of all the gulf beaches of Pinellas County on Gulf Blvd.  It is a quiet place, especially in February.  It is a very quiet place in February just after a storm passes by.  The length of the sandy beach was empty.  The only other human around was floating out above the water kiteboarding under stormy skies.

Kiteboarder floating over Pass-A-Grille Beach Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/2.8 ISO 800 1/500thAs is usual when walking around with my DSLR, I had only one lens with me.  I knew before I left the house the types of photographs I wanted to make, so I brought the appropriate lens for that job, my Tamron XR Di II 17-50mm f/2.8 lens.  However, this meant when I saw the kiteboarder I could only make wide sweeping shots in which the kiteboarder himself appeared but as a speck.  I felt limited by that then, but now I realize I would not have wanted to make the shots any other way because the story of these shots was largely in the storm itself.  Showing the kiteboarder in the context of the weather was more dramatic than if I had made tight actions shots of him in flat light.

Kiteboarder zooming against the wind at Pass-A-Grille Beach FloridaIf you are looking for a quiet place to just "be," then I highly recommend Pass-A-Grille Beach for its forgottenness, it's end of the land feeling and for its sweeping views of the Gulf.  If you go there in winter, after a storm, you might see someone with a dog and a camera passing you by.  

Florida Family Beach Portraits with Dramatic Skies - South Dakota Family

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Family Beach Portrait - Sunset Beach on Treasure Island Florida - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/6.3 ISO 400 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power above front & SB-600 @ 1/8 power directly behind family 

A few months ago Melanie contacted me from South Dakota about having family beach portraits here in Florida when her family was to come down on vacation.  I always like to photograph out of state families as they have full appreciation for the beauty of our Gulf beaches.  Locals I guess get used to spectacular sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico.  A large storm was scheduled to roll over central Florida around the time of our scheduled portrait session, but we stayed dry and were treated to dramatic stormy skies for use as backgrounds.

Sunset Family Beach Portrait - St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D80 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens @ f/5.6 ISO 400 1/100th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power to frame left & SB-600 @ 1/4 power to frame rightThe sky kept changing from dark blue (see top image) to fiery yellow (above) to metallic purple (see below).  I had never seen it go through such a range of color before.  Often the intensity of one color will vary, but to get three distinct background colors was unprecedented.  

Family Beach Walking Portrait - Sunset Beach St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 with Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 800 1/250th natural lightOne other good thing about the stormy weather is that it kept almost all the people away from Sunset Beach, so we had no trouble making the above shot of Melanie's family talking a long walk down the shoreline.  I was able to make the shot I wanted to in just one take.

Father tossing children in air - Nikon D300 with Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 640 1/250th natural lightWhat a great feeling to be tossed up into the air, especially when you never know if you will land in the ocean!  Too bad it is not common for someone to be able to toss 185 pounds into the air.  I would like to be able to touch the sky too!

Young boy candid beach portrait - St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 with Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 640 1/250th natural light - sepia landscape filter applied in Silver Efex ProI titled the above photo, "The Fighter."  I would say he is a southpaw by the looks of things.  I am glad I was using my Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens from a distance for this shot and was at no risk of that left hook!

Purple Twilight Florida Family Beach Portrait - Treasure Island - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 800 1/50th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 +2/3 power frame left & SB-600 @ 1/4 power frame rightTheir dad had all sorts of shall I say "unique" expressions to get the children to look at me, such as "Elmo is coming out of the top of his head," and the like.  I had not heard that one before but it worked so that's all that matters.  It was a fun challenge photographing this family of five and I am very pleased with the results the stormy skies provided.

   

Dramatic Stormy Sky Over Tampa Bay From The Pier

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Dramatic Sky over Tampa Bay - 5-bracket HDR f/8 ISO 200 tripod mounted with cable releaseI have been starting to miss mountains the past few weeks.  I watched every stage of the 2011 Tour de France as the riders first went over the Pyrenees and then the Alps.  The helicopter views of the French countryside were often as stunning as the cycling action.  With the option to make landscapes of mountains and architecture shots of old castles, I was thinking, "Florida really has nothing in comparison."

Well, Florida has almost nothing.  Here we do have near daily dramatic sunsets and stormy skies.  Each twilight brings a slightly different cloud pattern, sky color and reflection over Tampa Bay (if looking east from The Pier as in the above photo).

Still, once one lives around mountains, it is hard to forget them.  I imagine it is the same for living by the Sea.  Perhaps the combination of mountains and sea are why so many songs are written about California.  

This Tampa Bay landscape is available for commercial license and fine art print, inquire today!

Auburn Storm Sky Wedding on Sand Key Florida

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Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 400 1/100th Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight on light stand to frame leftYou may already recognize Olivia from her bride series entry several weeks ago, so allow me to introduce her husband Felix.  Their Florida beach wedding on Sand Key finished just before a huge storm swept in.  That was the good news.  The bad was Olivia really wanted sunset backdrop portraits and in my long time Florida resident opinion, it was just not going to be possible.  However, I was obviously proven wrong as the storm was extremely fast moving and left enough time for the portraits Olivia hoped for.  The bonus was the leftover stormy skies provided a unique and dramatic background.

Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/800th Nikon SB-800 Speedlight hotshoe mountedEven during the ceremony the storm clouds were already visible.  The above is my first try at a new wedding ceremony shot for when a bride wears a long veil -- using the veil to frame the foreground in order to feature the groom.  The bride always gets so much attention, I want to try and do something for the groom when I can.

Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/200th Strobist -- Nikon SB-800 Speedlight on light stand to frame rightThis throwing stones into the ocean was a new custom for me to photograph at a beach wedding.  The beast of a storm in the background is on its way south to rain upon St. Petersburg.

Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 400 1/100th Strobist -- Nikon SB-800 Speedlight on light stand to frame leftThe flower girl and her big sister were no worse for ware after the rain delay.  They were staying dry in their family van, me I was out in the semi-protected cover of a changing area listening to the storm carefully.

Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 400 1/60th Strobist -- Nikon SB-800 Speedlight on light stand to frame leftSo it all turned out well and ended with smiles and even a pirate ship!  Rain is a reality in Florida, especially in the summer time, but even if it comes, a photographer should be patient and wait it out until the last possible moment to see if a few more shots can be made.  Plus I always am aware of my surroundings and note where I can take cover should sudden rain come besides keeping a rain jacket next to my gear.