Booray's Better Pictures Class!

I'll be starting a new session of my beginner photography classes in January!

The class will be three weeks, every Sunday starting 1/9 (1/9, 1/16, 1/23).  Cost is $50 per class.

As usual I will cover all the basics of photography from composition to exposure.  When we are done you will be a photographer!  At the very least you will finally be able to understand that expensive DSLR that you have been carrying around and using on "auto."

Contact me right away because space is limited.  booray@boorayperry.com

Santa pictures at Hyde Park Village

I'm spending a week taking pictures of Santa Claus at Hyde Park Village and it's really a wonderful experience.

First, a little inside scoop on photographers.  Most photographers specialize in one sort of photography.  Some are wedding photographers and some are baby photographers.  Some shoot sports and Little League and some shoot school portraits.  Which field you specialize in is based on what you like, what you're good at and what makes money, not necessarily in that order.  There's also some ego stuff involved sometimes... fashion photographers would never lower themselves to shooting a wedding, wedding photographers would never stoop to shooting Little league. That sort of thing.

My problem is that I like to work.  If someone asks me to do a job and I'm not already booked, there's a good chance I'll do it.  I have a family to support and there's pride to be had in working but the main reason is that I enjoy being a photographer.  Any kind of photographer.  There's joy to be had in the work, the people you meet and the pride of doing a good job.  That's why it's not unusual to see me photographing a high-end wedding one day and a High School prom the next.  I've turned down jobs before for various reasons but I don't know many photographers who work in as wide a variety of fields as I do.

This is the first time that I've ever signed on for such a long session (6 days total).  I'm two days in and I can't tell you how much I'm loving it.

St. Petersburg Beach Wedding

I recently had the privilege of shooting another wedding for Perfect Florida Beach Wedding.  I say "privilege" because I don't really get paid for it since my wife, Bobbi, owns the company.  It's more like:

"Are you working on this date?

"No.

"Good, your photographing my wedding."

It's good to be the king.  :)

This particular beach wedding was different than most because they booked a lot of extra time with me.  Usually, beach weddings run about an hour, although sometimes the client will book an extra hour of photography.  Rebecca and Ben booked me for 6 hours so it was almost like a normal wedding for me in which Bobbi just happenned to be providing all the trappings.

Tampa Wedding Photography at Renaissance International Hotel in Tampa



 Tampa wedding photographers busiest day?
This year's big wedding date was Oct. 10th.  Why October 10th?  Well, if you were married on Oct. 10th of this year than your wedding date was 10/10/10 and that's a cool wedding date to have!  I'll bet there wasn't a single wedding photographer in Tampa Bay that wasn't working on that day.  I personally had at least three couples meet with me about getting married on that day but the ones that got me were Jeff and Jessica.

I love a client who loves good wedding photography.
Not everyone is as concerned about their wedding photography as they should be.  Jeff and Jessica are the kind of clients that I love because they not only felt that their photography was the most important thing but they had ideas.  You might remember them from the engagement session that we did in the Ybor section of Tampa.  They showed up dressed up and ready to rock.  We got incredible images.  I even entered a couple of them into photography competition this year.

Wedding lighting with off-camera light

I recently posted this picture on Facebook and I know that some of my photographer friends might be interested in the lighting so here's complete breakdown of the shot:

First, the settings
f2.8 - 1/160 - iso1600

This was the first wedding where I used the PocketWizard MiniTT1 and FlexTT5.  I've already talked about the advantages of having TTL control with off-camera lighting but this is the first time that I've also used zone control.

I set up my off-camera strobe (Canon 580EX) at the corner of the dance floor.  In this shot, it's to my left.  I pointed it at the ceiling with about a 45 degree angle.

On-camera is my 580EXII pointed straight up with a bounce card pointed forward.

The Ritz, Ybor and a Canon 5d mkII

Yesterday I was at The Ritz in Ybor for an open house.  I wasn't sure what to expect when I was invited.  Is it a bridal show?  A showcase for the venue?  It's actually a little of both.  They put bands on-stage in three rooms doing 20 minute sets all night.  If you're looking for a band, it's a great chance to audition a bunch of different people in one night.  They also invite some vendors, and that's where I came in.

A couple of months ago I met Okie at a luncheon.  He works for The Ritz and I told him that I was shooting a Bat Mitzvah there in February.  I also mentioned the new portrait stations that we were doing and he asked me to come set one up at the open house.  Everybody that came by our table got a free 4x6 printed right there.  It was quite popular and we met a lot of really nice people. 

PocketWizard Mini TT1 and Flex TT5 review part 3

These reviews are getting to be a habit!

Tomorrow I have a shoot at the International Mall in Tampa.  The Janie and Jack store gives away a free 8x10 to customers once a year and this year I'm the guy taking the pictures.

As I always do whenever I'm taking my studio gear on location, I first set everything up in my living room.  I have a studio in my house but I'm so paranoid that I move my gear to my living room and set up.  Then, I take pictures of my kids.  Finally, after everything checks out the way I want it to, I break the equipment down and stack it by the front door.  It's a little obsessive/compulsive I know... but it guarantee's that I have everything I need with me since it's unlikely that I will leave something behind in the middle of the living room (something I could easily do in my cluttered studio.)