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Stunning Vivid Dusk Sky over St. Petersburg Florida from The Pier

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Downtown St. Petersburg vivid dusk south view from The Pier - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 11 sec tripod mounted with cable release

And to think, making this photograph will not even be possible in a year's time because the location I shot this from, the roof of The Pier, will be demolished.  I certainly hope the structure that replaces it will offer similar or better views of the downtown St. Petersburg, Florida waterfront, otherwise there will be no more photos showing its beauty at dusk, twilight and sunset.

Cotton candy coated downtown St. Petersburg vivid pink dusk - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 6 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseI had the opportunity to make these photos only because I was teaching a DSLR Photography Lesson focusing on tripod usage.  Otherwise, I would have been home and never witnessed this amazing view.  In fact, both my student and I had just earlier remarked how gray the sky was and how we would not be able to get any keepers this lesson, but at least I was able to teach him the technical aspects of using a tripod for long exposure photography.  I told him since there is so little color that I would shoot thinking to convert the images to black & white!

Orange dusk breaks over downtown St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/2 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseThen all of a sudden a hint of orange light appeared reflected off the low clouds, as the sun had already actually set.  We took immediate notice and thought, at least we got to see a touch of color.  Then as the sun slipped further to the other side of the Earth, the dusk sky started to explode in color and as we adjusted the length of the shutter speed on our DSLRs, we were able to pull more and more color back over the horizon and into our lenses.  The photographs above are actually posted in reverse chronological order, with the above orange image the first I took.  Each was made almost exactly five minutes after the other.  That is the power of putting your DSLR on a tripod and using shutter speed to create an amazing long exposure image finding light and color the naked eye cannot see.

Treasure Island Sunset Beach Florida Family Portraits Vivid & Dramatic Sky Poe Family

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Mother Nature provided a very dramatic sky for the Poe Family Beach Portraits on Sunset Beach Treasure Island St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightVisiting all the way from Nebraska, the Poe Family were worried about the weather for their candid family beach portrait session.  I told them on the phone in the morning that is is impossible to predict what the weather conditions will be like eight hours from now so do not worry.  As you can see from the above shot, the rain did not fall on the beach, but the fact that there were storms all around provided for a very dramatic sky background for many of our family beach portraits.

A sister and her two brothers vivid sunset beach portrait on Treasure Island Sunset Beach Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 in front & SB-600 to right rearThe youngest and I share the same name which he told me with some great excitement when we met.  It is good to know parents are still choosing it as a name.  For this shot I tried to compose just so that the remaining sun appeared to be resting on his shoulder between his other two siblings.

My favorite shot of the session as it tells a story the most - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/80th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightThe father requested this shot having seen an example of it with another family on my website.  I believe I first came up with the idea for this type of shot last summer.  For me to not be able to see the subjects' faces allows the viewer to wonder even more what the subjects might be thinking of as they look out upon the horizon with all the Sea and Heavens before them.

Mother & Daughter candid beach portrait on Sunset Beach Treasure Island Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/6.3 ISO 200 1/250th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 to frame rightI did not have to say anything to neither mother nor daughter for this shot.  I just placed them within my two speedlights, went back to be able to fit them within the frame and as I turned around they were already having fun so all I had to do was then push the shutter and voila!

Hands on to show the family bond on Sunset Beach treasure Island St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 behind subjectsThe sun itself was really only visible once it dipped below some clouds just above the horizon.  From experience I knew this would be the case and I had everyone ready to take advantage of the little time we would have with the sun in such conditions.

Husband and wife romance novel cover shot on Sunset Beach Treasure Island Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 to frame left & SB-600 behind rightIn our hour and a half portrait session we made a great variety of shots, which is always my goal as I do not like to shoot a similar shot and always provide the client with very different images, not merely just variations of the same shot.  In this session the shot list ranged from of course all the family members, to each individual child shot, to husband and wife and then each parent with one of their children.  It was a full session!

Snell Isle Smacks Bayou Sunset HDR Fine Art Image purple to yellow

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Sunset over Snell Isle Smacks Bayou St. Petersburg Fine Art Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable release 

At this time of year, it is no surprise when a thunderstorm rolls through in the late afternoon or evening in this part of Florida--Snell Isle, St. Petersburg.  There was still a light rain falling when I went out with my Nikon D300 mounted on my Induro CT214 tripod.  I was drawn outside by the golden light I saw coming through the sliding glass doors of my back patio.  I set all the gear up inside so I only had to spend minimal time out in the rain to make the shot.  

I kept the tripod legs fully closed to shoot from this low, about 2-foot high perspective.  I used a cable release as I knew some of the 7-exposures required to make the HDR image would be at least 5 seconds long, far too long to leave one's finger on the shutter for and not shake the camera, even on a very stable tripod.

Vivid brown pelican with purple pelican bokeh St. Petersburg

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Brown pelican with friends at The Pier - Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/1250thIf you do not have any pelican photographs in your portfolio, you can head to The Pier in downtown St. Petersburg at almost anytime of day and have the opportunity to make one of a number of types of brown pelican images.  The male brown pelican was resting on the deck along with a few friends waiting for a tourist to mount the feeding platform and toss out a few free snacks.

Photographing pelicans at The Pier is also a chance to get very close to a very large bird.  They are used to having people around so you can find yourself being able to get close enough to them for it to start to kind of feel weird.  The pelicans will look you in the eye kind of saying, "what?!"

First Sunrise of 2012 Florida Sunshine Skyway Bridge New Years

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First light of dawn on New Year's morning 2012 Sunshine Skyway Bridge - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 10 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseI was just thinking about a week ago how I have no photographs of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, one of the top landmarks in the entire Tampa Bay area.  With New Year's Day 2012 approaching it seemed then a great chance to continue a Japanese custom, watching the first sunrise of the year, while finally photographing the bridge.  I learned from a photographer in Japan that the best morning light is actually way before the actual sunrise.  The above image was taken approximately 49 minutes before sunrise.

Dawn light surrounding the peaks of Sunshine Skyway Bridge - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/16 ISO 200 5 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseDawn photography is similarly easy to night photography.  If you have a stable tripod and a cable release, then it is basically just a matter of choosing the best shutter speed to produce the most vivid color and also of course composing the shot in an interesting way.  With my Nikon D300 mounted on my Induro CT214 carbon fiber tripod, making these shots was no mess, no fuss.  By that I mean the tripod takes away the physicality of holding the DSLR and heavy lens, correcting a shot just means turning one dial for shutter speed, and the act of making the shot itself is just holding the button on the light cable release.  Painless!

The sun first peaks over Sunshine Skyway Bridge St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/16 ISO 200 1/60th tripod mounted with cable releaseIn the fifteen or so minutes before the actual sunrise the light is already poor, especially compared to the light fifty minutes earlier.  So in that time I did not even bother making any photos.  Thus, it is important to know the exact minute of the sunrise so you can keep an eye on the time because once the good dawn light is gone, all that remains is to photograph the sun itself rising above the horizon.  Once it is above, that is the end of the excitement.

Vivid orange sunrise Sunshine Skyway Bridge Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/16 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseSince the sunrise is well in the distance along the horizon, using a longer lens with a focal length of 200mm is very handy for being able to fill the frame.  The above shot was taken at 200mm (300mm effective focal length).  

Please put links to your New Year's sunrise photographs in the comments below!

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Classic Car Photography - The Judge Packard Corvette Hot Rod Mustang

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Pontiac GTO The Judge - a very famous car - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-bracket HDRClassic Car Shows are a fantastic opportunity to photograph cars, almost.  The benefit is hundreds of amazing classic cars all in one walkable space.  The main disadvantage is that there are hundreds of classic cars all in one very small space.  This means there is no lack of subject matter, but there is a severe lack of space and clean backgrounds to photograph the cars.  So when I shoot a car show I often choose to only show a portion of the car in order to be able to fill the frame with just the car I want to include in the shot as much as possible.

The Pontiac GTO Judge was the first classic car I photographed that afternoon and one of my own personal favorite classic cars.  I cannot think of a better nickname for a muscle car than "The Judge."  I just love it!

A red hot rod engine - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-bracket HDRAs soon as I saw this hot rod I knew I wanted to shoot it in a way that highlighted the exposed engine.  I considered an even tighter crop on the engine itself but decided to show it more in context for the final edit.  I like to look at hot rods, but personally they do not do much for me from the aspect of ever wanting to own one.

1960 Corvette convertible - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/2.8 ISO 200 7-bracket HDR

Now this first generartion era Corvette convertible (1953-1962) is my absolute favorite classic car and the one I would personally most like to own.  It is the best looking roadster there ever was.  It looks best in profile, but there was no space to photograph it that way unfortunately.  

Vivid red Packard - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-bracket HDRI chose this perspective for photographing this Packard because of the wheel repetition.  Also, it provided the cleanest background as well.  A Packard is a very classy looking car appropriate for showing up at black tie affairs.

A blue 1965 Mustang Convertible - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-bracket HDRI think the most interesting thing to me about classic cars are their interiors, even over the exterior body work.  The purity of the analog dashboard really fascinates me.  I cannot help but think that the first time the owner sat behind the wheel, they thought to themselves, "this is as modern as a car looks."  Now, as with this 1965 Mustang, 46 years later the interior looks ancient, or rather, classic.  It really makes me think, as modern as car interiors look now with large LCD displays, even color LCD gauges and info screens, plus carbon fiber interior trim, in twenty years how dated will they look?  In forty years?  Most importantly, how high tech will interiors have to be to make today's look as quaint as this Mustang's?