Partially submerged environmental portrait of cave divers Aletheia and Andre Lange in Church Sink in Tallahassee, Florida. © Scott Holstein/Rowland Publishing

The Tallahassee, Florida region lays claim to a unique topographical feature – the Woodville Karst Plain. The karst plain is made of irregular limestone and underground water channels which are tied into the Floridan Aquifer. The Woodville Karst Plain is home to first magnitude springs, sinkholes, and the longest underwater cave system in the United States. As such, the region has great appeal to a courageous and adventurous type of person – the cave diver.

Tallahassee magazine was featuring in a story a local couple who cave dives – Aletheia and Andre Lange – whom I was to photograph. While I would have loved to photograph them in action in an underwater cave, I am in no way trained to do so, nor do I own an underwater camera housing. Still, I wanted to take an environmental portrait of them in the water. But how?

Tallahassee, Florida environmental portrait photographer Scott Holstein photographs cave divers Aletheia and Andre Lange in a sinkhole in Tallahassee, Florida. © Saige Roberts

With the poor man’s underwater housing! By enlisting the help of a small, 10 gallon aquarium, I could achieve a partially submerged look for under $15. I placed the camera inside the aquarium with a wide-angle lens, sans lens hood. Next, I gaffer-taped the lens to the glass to hold the camera in place and prevent reflections. By tethering the camera to a laptop, I could see what the camera was seeing and control the camera settings as I carefully dunked the aquarium a few inches into the water. Bisecting the lens with the waterline gave me a frame partially above water and partially underwater.

Please keep in mind if you use this technique that you are entrusting thousands of dollars of water-shy electronics to a cheap, glass box. While it can create a unique look, I don’t necessarily recommend you try it, so please use caution! Place water absorbing material such as paper towels inside the aquarium to soak up any drops of water from splashes, keep a dry towel handy, oh, and carry plenty of insurance.

Aletheia and Andre Lange in Church Sink in Tallahassee, Florida. © Scott Holstein/Rowland Publishing

I took the portrait of the Langes at Church Sink in Tallahassee, Florida. I was perched on a rock ledge in shallow water, my legs, camera/computer aquarium setup, and the photo subjects were all hanging over a deep drop-off.

I lit the divers with one speedlight shooting through an umbrella, placed above and in front of the divers with a long pole held by assistant creative director Saige Roberts. Interestingly, the divers maintained their correct floating height in the water throughout the shoot by using a breathing technique paired with adjustable air bladders in their wetsuits.

An underwater cave resides in this sinkhole and the Langes actually dived it that night after the photo shoot. When I inquired while packing up my things at dusk, they told me with a chuckle that it doesn’t matter what time of day or night one cave dives; it’s always dark underground.

Jack Rudloe with a green sea turtle. © Scott Holstein/Rowland Publishing

An earlier use of the aquarium technique produced the cover image for Forgotten Coast Magazine’s 2009 edition, featuring an environmental portrait of Jack Rudloe of the Gulf Specimen Marine Lab with a green sea turtle in Panacea, Florida.

Photographer Wes Skiles

To view some amazing cave diving photos, check out Wes Skiles’ photography website. A very talented photographer, Wes tragically succumbed to the dangers of diving in 2010 while on assignment for National Geographic in Florida.

A daub of peanut butter helped to create a moment between Christian Ponder and Dallas in Tallahassee, Florida. 1/250 sec f/8 at ISO 400. © Scott Holstein/Rowland Publishing

Tallahassee Magazine was doing a story on the local animal shelter – the Tallahassee-Leon County Animal Service Center – which was recently awarded $25,000 from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for inspiring the community and adopting out 1,200 animals in 90 days.

As it turns out, local celebrity Christian Ponder, star quarterback for the Florida State University Seminoles’ football team, had recently adopted a dog from the shelter. So a couple of days before his last game in his college career, I photographed Ponder with Dallas, his black Labrador retriever.

Lighting for this shot was simple; I placed Ponder in the shade of a tree in his back yard and lit him with a Profoto 7b in a 5’ Octa. Since Dallas is black and will act as a light sponge, the light is on his side of Ponder. The background greenery is lit with dappled sunlight.

Ponder has since been drafted by the Minnesota Vikings to play in the NFL.

iPhone photo of a dragonfly at sunset on Lake Jackson in Tallahassee, Florida. © Scott Holstein

You will have to forgive me because this post has nothing to do with people. A few evenings ago I was scouting a location for an upcoming photo shoot (which will involve photographing a person on location, I promise). I had already scouted a half dozen locations, none of which were really working for me. This particular evening I headed to Lake Jackson, which is on the north side of Tallahassee, Florida. I had been to this particular spot but really didn’t think it would be ideal for this shoot. I was wrong.This spot had water that was the right depth, it had some nice vegetation to work with, and best of all, it had a great view of sunset. In fact, the sunset was so amazing that evening, I was kicking myself for not scheduling the shoot then! Here’s a few shots I took on my iPhone while wading around and checking out the angles.

[View with PicLens]

Connie Osborn is featured on the cover of Tallahassee Magazine's "Top Singles" issue. © Scott Holstein/Rowland Publishing

I photographed Emerald Coast Magazine’s Top Singles in Destin, Florida recently and wrote about it here. Now I’ve shot more Top Singles for the feature in the current issue of Tallahassee Magazine. Over two days I photographed 14 of the area’s most eligible bachelors and bachelorettes at Hotel Duval in downtown Tallahassee. The hotel pretty much gave us free reign of the place as we shot everywhere from the valet to Level 8 Lounge, where Connie Osborn and the view of downtown made the cover.

Tallahassee Top Singles Event

For you locals, the fun doesn’t stop with the feature in the magazine. This Friday, July 16th, Tallahassee’s 14 Top Singles will be auctioned off for lunch dates and the proceeds from the bids will benefit each Single’s favorite charity. The event starts at 8pm at Hotel Duval in downtown Tallahassee, Florida. Visit www.tallahasseetopsingles.com for details and to order tickets.

[View with PicLens]

© Scott Holstein/Rowland Publishing

When Rowland Publishing launched its newest title, 850 Business Magazine, a feature on Florida’s governor, Charlie Crist, “The CEO of Florida,” was the cover story in the inaugural issue of the new magazine.

On the day of the shoot, I arrived at the governor’s office in the Capitol and waited to get set up. I had never been in the his office and never seen the layout nor the décor. I was not granted access to the office ahead of time to scout my location and set up, so I asked his assistant to draw me a map of the room to give me a head start on planning.

The writer was to do the interview at the same time as the photo shoot so we had to split our time. Due to Governor Crist’s hectic schedule (wildfires had recently broken out in the state), our time was cut from an hour to 30 minutes total.

When the governor was ready, the writer began the interview and I had 15 minutes to look around, plan my shots, haul in the equipment, and get set up while a second photographer covered the interview. I needed to get a cover shot and an inside shot.

I began with a curtained window for the backdrop (unfortunately, it was an interior wall so there was no sunlight coming through the window and backlighting the curtains). The governor finished the interview and came over just as I was finishing setting up. I directed him where to stand and took several frames. Problem was, I wasn’t feeling it. The curtains were rather bland as the backdrop, so I took it in another direction.

© Scott Holstein/Rowland Publishing

We moved to his desk and I quickly readjusted my lighting. I shot for several more minutes, got what I needed, and we wrapped.

In the end, I had him for less than 7 minutes. While I would have loved to have been able to spend more time on this shoot and to scout and set up beforehand, we worked with the limitations, got the governor out a few minutes ahead of schedule, and I walked away with images that met the magazine’s needs.

Setup info:
Both shots of Governor Charlie Crist were lit with a Profoto 7b power pack and a Profoto  2×2’ softbox at camera left, close to and slightly above the subject.

I recently traveled to HarborWalk Village in Destin, Florida to complete a marathon of 10 shoots in a day for Emerald Coast magazine’s “Top Singles” feature. Efficiency is the name of the game – with a schedule like that I’m running-and-gunning – setting up and shooting quickly and moving on with very little time to spare.

A few shots into the day I had one of those lovely moments that makes me want to pull my hair out: my Canon 1D Mark III stopped responding. The LCD that displays my settings went nuts for a moment and then everything went blank. I changed the battery, flipped switches, checked all the connections; nothing worked. The camera was fried and I had a good half-dozen shots left for the day. What to do?

The cover of Emerald Coast Magazine's 10th Anniversary issue. © Scott Holstein/Rowland Publishing

I walked over to the car and got my spare camera, with batteries fully charged and ready, and we continued shooting after a minimal delay.

Any number of equipment issues can ruin an assignment when you least expect it, so it is imperative to travel with backups. Being prepared for the unexpected can not only save your butt, doing so will help keep your clients happy.

Setup info:

For Rosalynn’s cover shot, the couch was in direct sunlight so we dragged it around the corner and into the shade. It is easier to control the light in the shade than in direct sunlight. She is lit with a Profoto 7b power pack and a Profoto 5′ Octa. Shot with the Canon 30D and 24-70mm at 48mm, 1/250 second at f/8.0, ISO 100.

For Haim’s shot, it was late enough that the ambient light was nice for the background, but I still wanted him to be shaded so I can add in softer light. He is  lit by the 5′ Octa, which is also shading him from direct sunlight. Shot with the Canon 30D and 24-70mm at 24mm, 1/200 second at f/10, ISO 100.

“Quagmire.” 1/5 second at f/3.5 ISO 800 Canon 1D Mark III with 16-35mm at 16mm © Scott Holstein

I had this image in my head for some time – a beautiful young woman in a boat, deep in a Florida swamp at dusk. She’s holding a lantern, peering out into the darkness, searching for something.

I enlisted McKenzie Burleigh, a model with whom I’ve worked several times in the past, to pose for me as the beauty in a cypress swamp outside of Tallahassee. Accompanying her was Ed Tiley, a local actor, posing as a drunkard with her in the boat.

I positioned them in the boat amongst the trees in the evening and shot beyond sunset, dragging the shutter to draw out the fading ambient light. The only strobes I used were speedlights hidden inside the lanterns, triggered with radio slaves. The short flash duration of the strobes froze the models in place despite the slow shutter speed of about 1/5 second.

I made the lanterns from home exterior lights by gutting the electrical innards and modifying them to hold the flashes. The speedlights are gelled with 1/2 cut CTO (Color Temperature Orange – a full cut converts daylight to tungsten) for warmth and are aimed straight up. I lined the top of lanterns with aluminum foil for bounce and taped copy paper to the sides of the lanterns to diffuse the light like a small softbox and to hide the flashes. This setup was not very efficient when it come to output, but it was just enough to work. The flashes were on manual at very near full power.

My talented videographer friend Carlin Trammel, of Stormspeed Entertainment, made this two-minute behind-the-scenes video of the shoot.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This blog will give insight into environmental portraiture by providing a behind-the-scenes look at assignments I shoot for publication as a full-time professional photographer.