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“Soul Portraits” – Reflected in One’s Own Eye

 

One day back in college, I realized I could see my reflection in my own pupil while looking into a mirror. I thought it might make a neat image so I enlisted fellow photographer Joel Fluty to endure some pretty strong off-camera flash blasts to the face. After sacrificing Joel’s vision, I determined that it was theoretically possible to photograph someone’s reflection inside their own eye, but it would not be easy to accomplish. (more…)

“Rambabe” – One Woman Army

Rambabe Firing M249 in Lake

A bikini-clad Rambabe, a tall, blonde, warrior woman, emerges from a lake at sunset while firing an M249 machine gun at the enemy. 1/160 f/9 at ISO 800 © Scott Holstein

“Rambabe” is my latest personal project, done just for kicks as a creative recharge. It is, of course, inspired by the Rambo movies; I own the ’80s trilogy. While watching it one day I decided it would be fun to make a photo that changes it up a bit and has a beautiful, tough woman as the “one man army” instead of a sweaty dude (no offense, Stallone).

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Cave Divers and the Poor Man’s Underwater Housing

Cave Divers Portrait

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? (more…)

FSU Quarterback Christian Ponder in Tallahassee

Christian Ponder

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. (more…)

Scouting at Lake Jackson

Dragonfly at sunset

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. (more…)