There is something always happening is Miami Beach, and this past weekend was no different celebrating Miami Beach Gay Pride. The streets were packed and the festivities were in full effect.
This is a really cool event, there is a parade and people dress up for the occasion. From drag queens to people wearing almost nothing it makes it for a fun event specially if you have a camera in hand.
My good friend had access to a roof top and thats where I spend most of my time, shooting down at the madness. I was also lucky enough to have access to the stage where some cool shows were happening. If you are ever in this side of the world during pride weekend you have to come check it out.
My friend Karla reached out to me to do a really cool photoshoot on the beach. Somehting different, somehitng that was not your typical Miami photoshoot on the beach. After she showed me her outfits I imediatelly thought of a goddess with some sort of super power.
I think we accomplished what we were looking for. I mean with such a beautiful and talented model its hard to mess it up. We shot at sunset for about an hour.
The crazy thing about shooting on a public place is that you start to get quite the crowd around you as the shoot goes on, as if it was some sort of public performance… Well I suppose it kind of is.
When I shoot a model, I usually narrow photos down to 1-2 photos. I decided to pic a few so you guys can check them out and see that its possible to get a nice variety of photos with in an hours time. You just have to plan, have a good team around you and execute. You can find Karla here.
As if paddleboarding was not hard enough, paddleboarding through the Miami River can has its fair share of challenges.
This is the Miami River Rally and it was a SUP race in the Miami River. In this video you can see how the dark waters, tug boats, ships, and just all around traffic can create a very challenging situation for these athletes.
It was also challenging to fly thought the river to get some of these shots. All in all it was a really fun day in the sun watching this guys rip up and down the murky waters of the Miami river.
I have been photographing these lifeguard towers for the past 6 years. I have a series on them that took me 2 years to complete. They are all so different and so unique. Not one of them is the same.
There are a couple new ones that were recently put up, and they look really cool. This is the new 4th street lifeguard tower in Miami Beach. I have been getting up to check out the sunrise just about every other morning and photograph this things. I just find them super cool.
When you are out there you have to remember to keep moving around as the sun starts to come up. The light will start changing quickly so you have to think on your feet and try to get as many compositions as you can during sunrise.
Here is a video I put together on how I edit my long exposure photos. I always try to get close to what I picture in my head with my camera settings, this way I do not have to spend too much time on the computer and more time out shooting.
It all started the day before, when I decided to go out on my motorcycle. (If you ride then you will understand this read). Next thing you know its really late at night and I had to get home, I had completely lost track of time, and could keep riding through the night. I got home and I fell asleep for about 3 hours before my alarm started going off, super loud, I had forgotten that I had a meeting on the beach to do a shoot at sunrise (I was the model this time, but thats a different story). Feeling like an asshole that I was almost late (maybe 30 minutes late) I threw on a pair of pants, a T-shirt and ran out the door.
When I got to the beach about 3 minutes later I realized it was really really cold, and really really windy. So I pulled out my camera and went to seek for cover. I found a beach hut that was blocking about 90% of the wind. By this time I saw that the sun was coming up and started to scramble to snap a flik. I pulled out a filter and my shutter release cable and thought about a composition in a matter of seconds. I took one photo from here, and thats what you see here.
To this day this is one of my favorite Miami Beach Sunrise photos of all times.
Settings:
102 seconds F13 ISO 100 10 stop ND filter.
The sun rises over Miami Beach painting the sky orange
What is an ND filter? What is it for? How do you use it?
ND or Neutral Density filters are dark filters and are designed to reduce the amount of light reaching the sensor of your camera in order to increase exposure times, without affecting the color of the image.
There are many different manufacturers, and if you decide to get one, make sure you don’t get a cheap one. This filters usually start from light and go to really dark. They reduce your F-stop by 1 stop, 2 stops, etc. etc.
I like to use a 10 stop filter. This is a very dark filter, it reduces light by ten stops. You have to set up your shot before you attach your filter. Here is a video I made on how to use these filters.
This is the filter I use for all my daytime long exposures. 77mm 3.0 ND MRC 110M Filter, Every photo here has been shot with this exact filter, and I could not be happier.
Long Exposures Using ND Filters
So when do you use these filters? I like to use them when the weather is crazy, usually when the clouds are visibly moving really fast and the colors are vibrant. During sunrise and right after sunset is usually a good time.
You can use these filters in the day time that’s how you get the crazy movement of the clouds. Below are a few examples of how I use these filters. All these photos are shot in bulb mode and are from 1-3 minute exposures.
