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1-on-1 Canon 5D Mark III DSLR Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg Florida with Dan 2

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Dan learning how to shoot in natural light with his Canon 5D Mark III during our St. Petersburg Florida photography lessonIt has been five weeks since I met Dan for our first 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson in downtown St. Petersburg and he has decided to turn that single lesson into a 4-pack of lessons.  He told me he also basically forgot everything from the lesson and we changed our plans of him photographing his dog to having a refresher on the process needed to shoot in manual mode with his Canon 5D Mark III.  

We began by him showing me some photographs he took at a chalk festival to see where in the 5-step process of getting a well exposed and sharp photograph he went astray.  While he was getting the meter to show neutral before pressing the shutter on some shots, it was not the ideal way of doing so, i.e. with a high ISO and super fast shutter speed rather than a minimum ISO and slower shutter speed.  

After getting things sorted out with the workflow for when to increase aperture, shutter speed and ISO, we then walked around the downtown area putting it into practice making a few natural light portraits and starting to introduce some composition tips too.  I look forward to seeing Dan's improved results next time we meet!

Custom F77 Porsche 911 in black Tampa Car Photography Ybor City

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Custom black F77 Porsche 911 Tampa Car Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/40th blended with another exposure (for the sky) tripod mounted with cable releaseBen called me up about photographing his custom Porsche 911 in Tampa Florida which I learned was done at Champion Porsche, as you can see by the 911 on the back being replaced by F77.  The Porsche 911 has long been my favorite sports car, since I was a kid, and I have not had the opportunity to photograph one for a client yet so I was very excited.  This shoot was a little different though as Ben wanted photos for selling the car!  Many of the shots I made for him were stylized, but a bit less so than I might normally making them more like the shoots I do for big auctions houses that just want the car show from all angles.  Thus, some of the shots you see here were edited just for my portfolio, and not necessarily included with the ones I sent to the client.

Custom F77 Porsche 911 photographed for sale in Ybor City Tampa - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseThe above shot was my first time to photograph a car from this above and behind angle, partially to show the vents over the rear engine hood on the Porsche.  This shot also features the custom "F77" badge.  Oh, and if this location looks familiar to you, this is the fifth car shoot I have done at this Ybor City location!  Clients see my previous images from here and want to have it for their own cars also.  

Porsche F77 custom black 911 on the streets of Ybor City Tampa Car Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseThis shot I made black & white for myself, as I thought it made the 911 look even more agressive and menacing just waiting there in the middle of the street for any challengers.

Porsche 911 custom F77 model on brick street Ybor City Tampa - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 9-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseThis was the first time at this Ybor City location that there were no cars parked on the street, which allowed for just parking the Porsche in the middle of it and getting some new shots I have not made here before in the previous shoots.  That said, some dude did just show up and park his car right by our shoot!  Now this is a desolate area, and after 5pm everything is shut down for blocks around.  So we politely asked the guy if he could move his car, which he did.  Then he proceeded to walk way off to who knows where.  Why park here then??

Lights on modified Porsche 911 with F77 options Ybor City Tampa Car Photography - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105 VR micro @ f/8 ISO 200 1/80th tripod mounted with cable releaseHDR is not always needed to shoot in mixed lighting, as seen in the above shot.  No sky is featured in the shot, so I just let the shutter speed stay open until I got the exposure I wanted.  Shooting with my Nikkor 105mm VR micro f/2.8G lens, which of course is a prime lens, resulted in the starburst look coming from the headlights.

Stylized Porsche 911 Carrera S type 997 interior with manual shifter - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power in 43" shoot through umbrella frame rightThis exact interior shot was my first attempt, and the lighting looked cool and dramatic, but not appropriate for the purpose of trying to show the interior for selling the car.  I liked the image for myself, though, and made it more stylized by converting it to black & white.  For the client, I introduced another speedlight on the driver's side to produce an evenly lit shot.

Yours truly (on left of course) with client Ben after the photo shoot of his Porsche 911 in Ybor City TampaI never remember to get a shot of me at my shoots, but this time the lights were already setup and I asked Ben if he would mind getting in a portrait with me and his Porsche.  Good luck selling it Ben!

Nissan GT-R in white with 360 Forged Wheels Ybor City Tampa Florida Car Photography - part 1

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Nissan GT-R with custom 360 Forged wheels in Ybor City Tampa Car Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/15th tripod mounted with cable releaseI received a phone call last week from 360|Forged about photographing a Nissan GT-R in Tampa owned by one of their clients.  They make custom wheels and wanted a shoot of the GT-R focused on showing the wheels.  They saw my Lexus IS F shoot and liked that Ybor City location so the whole GT-R shoot came together quickly. (view Part 2 night strobist images)

A white Nissan GT-R custom photographed for 360 Forged wheels in Ybor City Tampa Car Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/3 tripod mounted with cable releaseI had done three previous car shoots at this particular Ybor City location that I found on my own during a scouting trip a few years ago for the IS F client.  I never like to repeat myself when I go out shooting, but having already made close to three dozen car photographs in this spot, I had to really look to find some fresh angles and backgrounds.  Luckily, there were still plenty of new setups to mine from that Ybor City location as the above shot I had never done before.  I utilized the ONE WAY sign in the shot, pointing in the opposite direction of course to create a more rebellious nature to the look of the image.  

White Nissan GT-R supercar photographed in Ybor City Tampa Car Photography - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1/20th tripod mounted with cable releaseI knew for the photo above I wanted to make just a front quarter panel composition of the Nissan GT-R in a long shot using an 80-200mm lens.  I shot from downhill to further exaggerate the angle.  Quite a bit of distraction was cleaned up from the backround leaving just the white Nissan GT-R on red brick framed by white clouds.

Nissan GT-R (white) with custom 360 Forged Wheels in Ybor City Tampa Florida Car Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/13th tripod mounted with cable releaseI often shoot with a lot of extra space around the intended subject.  This was the case in the above photograph.  In the uncropped version the sky was visible as well as the intersection down the street.  I liked that shot as it was, but I decided to crop in and put more of the focus on the car and the red brick background.

Thank you to the GT-R's owner and his friend for assisting in lining up the car for these shots.  This collection of Nissan GT-R photos is just part one, all in daylight.  Part two will feature strobist twilight images.

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!

What does love equal? free brick wall texture

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What does love equal for you? Click to download full resolution textureWhile walking around downtown St. Petersburg with camera and tripod in tow, I came across the above chalk drawing on the side of a brick wall of a church.  I stopped and paused as it really caught my attention.  To me it meant, "what does love equal to you?"  I was glad to have the proper photo gear with me to make the best high resolution texture of the drawing I could.  You can download the same full res texture here.

Beloved puppy Kiki used with brick wall heart textureI used some Photoshop skills to create the above composite image using the brick wall chalk heart texture.  What would you put in front of the equal sign?

There was more, a + sign! Click to download the full resolution textureThen I realized the artist had not just drawn an equal sign and a heart, there was a + sign also so that two things could be put together to show what creates love.  Due to wall space constraints the space before and after the + sign were not equal so I photographed them the best I could.

Might Jason + a Porsche 911 = love?Using the same Photoshop skills I made a quick mockup of what yours truly might add with to create love!  Anyone who knows me knows my love for proper sports cars, and nothing is better than a Porsche 911!

Put a link in the comments below to the composite images you create with the brick wall chalk heart textures. 

Canon 60D DSLR Photography Lesson 50mm lens St. Petersburg Florida

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Julie with her Canon 60D and new Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens during our second photography lesson in St. Petersburg FloridaSince our first DSLR Photography Lesson Julie has invested in the absolute best value in photography, a 50mm f/1.8 lens.  It is the cheapest lens to produce for manufacturers (around $110), but is a lens that is in every photographer's camera bag.  Among my photography students who started out with just the kit lenses (18-55mm, 55-200mm), by far the most common next purchase was a 50mm lens.  

Julie and I met in the usual downtown St. Petersburg spot.  We both were traveling light with just the 50mm lenses.  That is another benefit of the lens, it is very light and portable.  Since covering a lot of the nuts and bolts of how to just get a correct exposure and focus during our first lesson, for this 50mm lesson we discussed composition much more, in particular with the 50mm producing the best bokeh and DoF possible.  Much of this comes down to framing the shot with a complementary background trying to include objects that will result in pleasing bokeh and setting the focus on the subject in a way to maximize DoF.

When dealing with a DoF of a centimeter or two at most, setting the focus and recomposing will result in a lack of sharpness on the intended subject.  Therefore, one needs to frame the shot as desired, and then using a single focus point, manually in the viewfinder select the focus point to fall upon the intended subject.  Some DSLRs make this much easier to do than others (hint, Nikon D300 makes it easy).

I look forward to seeing Julie's shots of Gasparilla and the portraits she makes with her new 50mm lens.

Brick Walls of Ybor City Tampa

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Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/11 ISO 200 1/320th - Ybor City Tampa FloridaSeveral lifetimes ago I actually occasionally visited Ybor City by choice at night for a multi-month stretch.  I remember knowing of this "secret" location to park for free thinking it very clever.  As a lifelong non-drinker I did not go there for any particular liquid, but for concerts and even sometimes, if one can fathom it, to dance in rock clubs (Empire!).  I have long since retired from dancing, so this visit in broad daylight to Ybor City was to scout locations for an upcoming car photography gig.  This lead to a most unusual mini-set of photos with a brick wall theme.

Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/11 ISO 200 1/160th +1 ev - Ybor City Tampa Nobody noticed me hanging out behind this warehouse & "showroom."  You could feel the oldness of the place just standing next to it.  It was still functioning in some capacity though as you can see a truck picking up or dropping something off.  I stood there wondering, "is there really any glory in tagging a dumpster?"

Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/11 ISO 200 1/200th - Ybor City TampaAlong another road the brick walls of this building seemed to stretch the entire block.  No tags to be seen on its walls though, which I guess means whoever the owner is that person commands a lot of respect.  The white vehicle would be mine.  In this part of Ybor City the brick just goes on and on making one feel strongly confined, as if in a drivable prison.

CLICK PHOTO for LARGE version - 4-shot panorama - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/11 ISO 200 1/320th

There was a way out of all these walls . . . and you could even hop a train to the modernity of downtown Tampa!  One rumbled by me giving me a good scare just as I finished making this panorama shot.  

It was a pleasant reacquaintance with Ybor City this afternoon . . .