Casa Monica St Augustine FL 1955 Chrysler Imperial shot on Hasselblad 500C with Ilford BW Film

I love Cars and trucks. My instagram feed is full of them. The older, the better. We traveled to St. Augustine Florida in 2012, and I packed my grandfather’s Hasselblad 500C, bought some Ilford 120 film in St Petersburg at Zebra Color and decided to bring the Blad on vacation. I used to be a Kodak TMAX girl, but Zebra Color recommended the Ilford.

After walking around town, I spotted this beauty. Casa Monica Hotel. 1955 Chrysler Imperial. Just lovely. Well photographed I’m sure, but who’s counting?

1955 Chrysler Imperial by St Petersburg FL Photographer Kristen Sloan

1955 Chrysler Imperial by St Petersburg FL Photographer Kristen Sloan

I love the sound of the shutter when it releases and the crank of the film advancing on the Hasselblad. I was very proud to shoot this camera in college, as it had belonged to my grandfather who purchased it in 1958, the first year the Hasselblad was available in the United States. He had the Zeiss 60mm, the 80mm and the 150mm, along with a beautiful leather case, glass filters in every color you would desire, a polaroid back, film backs and a prism focus viewfinder. Nice setup for a college freshman at CU Boulder. I put a ton of Tmax 100 through this camera and usually printed on Ilford Multigrade glossy fiber base.1955 Chrysler Imperial by St Petersburg FL Photographer Kristen Sloan

1955 Chrysler Imperial by St Petersburg FL Photographer Kristen Sloan

1955 Chrysler Imperial by St Petersburg FL Photographer Kristen Sloan

So in response to the recent BW challenges posed by fellow photographers, I decided to finally show these images. BW film is still my all time favorite photography medium, especially when printed on fiber base paper. And Zeiss lenses are amazingly sharp. When processing my digital images, I hand select images which I think would look great BW and then apply a warm tone BW effect in Lightroom.

Northshore and Flora Wylie Park Sunset Family Photos Saint Petersburg FL

It is fall in Saint Petersburg Florida and we are enjoying the weather! The humidity has dropped, temps are in the 70’s to  low 80’s and outdoor activities have become enjoyable again. Scott and I took Ana on a walk to Northshore Park this weekend and enjoyed the perfect temps and sunset. I had recently upgraded my 50mm nikon 1.8 lens from the D series to a G and wanted to test the lens. We walked along the bay through Northshore Park and arriving at Flora Wylie Park for these casual photographs of our family.

Scott helped Ana sit up, while I quickly got a few shots of her. I wouldn’t say she can sit up on her own quite yet, but we have been practicing with her at home. Most of these images were shot between F2.5; I rarely shoot at 1.4 so I decided the Nikon 50mm 1.4 wasn’t a necessary upgrade. This lens tends to be used more when I photograph weddings, but comes in handy sometime when I am taking photos of Ana. For an amateur photographer, this is the first prime lens I would buy to get away from the kit zoom with variable apertures and at $200 isn’t a major investment. I shoot this lens a lot on vacation… lightweight, decent for impromptu portraits and nice for low light details.

Ana and I happened to be wearing matching greens, which I think makes this photo of us look nice. Thanks Scott!

Northshore Park St Petersburg FL Baby Family Photos by Kristen Sloan Photography

Northshore Park St Petersburg FL Baby Family Photos by Kristen Sloan Photography

CONTACT KRISTEN SLOAN PHOTOGRAPHY TODAY TO SCHEDULE YOUR PORTRAIT SESSION

Ybor City Tampa Florida Natural Light Portraits of Amber Osborne aka Miss Destructo

I photographed Amber Osborne, social media extraordinaire, while photo assisting Scott Krebs’ portrait session in Ybor City, Tampa Florida. I grabbed Scott’s Fuji X-Pro camera with a 60mm lens and captured some natural light shots of Miss Destructo in the late afternoon light. These images were taken a few days before Amber relocated to Seattle, WA.

CONTACT KRISTEN SLOAN TODAY TO BOOK YOUR PORTRAIT SESSION!

Hollywood Glamour Lighting Studio Portraits, Saint Petersburg Tampa Bay Florida

It had been quite some time since I had photographed a studio portrait session and I wanted to emulate the dramatic, elegant and flattering light of old Hollywood portraits of the 1930’s and 1940’s. I kept the lighting very simple: continuous light from my Visatec modeling lamps with barn doors. Camera was my Nikon D700 with the 85mm lens, with most aperture settings at F4 or F2.8. Very little post production in Lightroom was needed because this lighting setup is extremely flattering to skin tones and my model Megan has amazing porcelain skin.

Natural Light and Strobed Portraits at Vinoy Park and North Shore in Saint Petersburg Florida

After a rainy and cloudy day, the sky let up for some late afternoon portraits of Fritzi. The wind on North Shore beach in St. Petersburg Florida was fairly intense and I was not being kind to my subject’s hair. We moved off the beach to a grassy area of the park, and then mother nature intercepted with some beautiful cloud diffused sunlight.

I lit the scene with two SabersStrips in an inverted L pattern as main light and then eventually as the sunlight increased, as hair light and side fill.

Shooting in Florida presents its own set of challenges; windy beaches, sand and high humidity.  But what I love about photographing in Florida is the soft diffused light that  lingers at sunset, many times described as the golden hour.

In many parts of Colorado, the sun dips behind the mountains and our overall daylight can be a little more contrasty in full sun. This week I am in Calgary,  where the Alberta blue skies are warmed by 9:55PM sunsets which slowly fade into twilight. Photographers are always chasing the light and its fun to see the nuances of every geographic location.

CONTACT KRISTEN SLOAN TODAY TO BOOK YOUR PORTRAIT SESSION!

Vintage hand painted Fiat at Mazzaro’s Italian Market, St. Petersburg Florida

I am obsessed with photographing vintage cars and trucks. This hand painted Fiat located at Mazzaro’s Italian Market caught my eye. You gotta love the color and motifs. Mazzaro’s  is a Tampa Bay gem for its amazing butcher, wine & cheese selection and its market made bakery, pasta, and gelato.

I recently began printing my iPhone car art as 5×5, 8×8 and 10×10 photos in glossy, lustre and metallic photo paper finishes, as well as Float Mounted Metal Prints.  If you are interested, these photos are available for purchase on my website.

Portraits of Delila at Mirror Lake Park St. Petersburg FL

I had the pleasure of photographing Delila on a beautiful breezy and sunny Florida winter day as part of the meet-up.com group, the Tampa Bay Strobists and Photoshop Collective. For my lighting, I used one SaberStrip, triggered by Radio Popper Jr’s and powered by my nikon SB-800 flash.

model portraits mirror lake st petersburg florida

model headshots st petersburg floridamodel photos  mirror lake st petersburg florida

VW Car Show at St. Petersburg Pier

On March 24, 2012 I stumbled upon the Bugs on the Pier VW Car show setting up at the St Petersburg Florida Pier while I was out for a morning cruiser bike ride.  Unexpectedly, I ran into our former mailman arriving at the show, along with his brothers who are all VW enthusiasts. Raced home to grab my camera and had a blast shooting these details of the Volkswagens on a beautiful winter Florida day.

To purchase and view more of the images from this VW Car show visit my Kristen Sloan Photography website

VW Volkswagen Car Show Florida

Volkswagen Bug St Petersburg

VW type 3 car show florida

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