Archive for the Landscape Photography Category

A sailboat sits on the horizon during a vibrant beach sunset in Venice, Florida.

Beach Sunset in Venice, Florida

By Scott Holstein

Filed under: Landscape Photography


One evening while visiting family, the sunset was shaping up to be interesting. I grabbed the camera to do some landscape photography of the beach sunset in Venice, Florida. The sky was fairly cloudy, and as the sun set, it gave the clouds some nice color. After the sun dipped below the horizon, though, the sunset kept getting better. Although already set, the sun was still lighting the clouds in the west and we got a very vibrant, colorful sky and reflection off of the water. It became one of those amazing sunsets that only come around every once in…
Portrait of actor Tony Hale with a yellow toy duck by Tallahassee photographer Scott Holstein.

Tony Hale Portraits in Tallahassee, Florida

By Scott Holstein


I had the opportunity to create portraits of Tony Hale, Tallahassee, Florida’s Emmy Award-winning actor, when he visited home recently. Hale is known for playing Buster Bluth on the Fox comedy series Arrested Development and for playing Gary Walsh on the HBO comedy series Veep. Hale studied his craft at Tallahassee’s Young Actors Theatre while growing up. During his televised Emmy Award acceptance speech last September, the pinnacle of his career so far, he gave a shout-out to the theatre, its executive director, Tina Williams, and its musical director, Alison Grimes, both of whom had taught him some 25 years…
Portrait of Florida Governor Rick Scott in front of the mansion by Tallahassee photographer Scott Holstein.

Portraits of Florida Governor Rick Scott

By Scott Holstein


When 850 business magazine was launched in 2008, I photographed then-Florida Governor Charlie Crist in his office at the Capitol in Tallahassee for the cover of the inaugural issue. As the magazine recently celebrated its fifth anniversary, I had the opportunity to photograph current Florida Gov. Rick Scott on location at the Governor’s Mansion for the cover story of that issue of 850. The best way to photograph a politician or celebrity who has little time to pose for portrait photography is to get each shot set up in advance in order to be efficient with their time. That way,…
Photo of a single Christmas tree glowing on a tree farm by professional photographer Scott Holstein.

Merry Christmas from Scott Holstein Photography!

By Scott Holstein


Merry Christmas from professional photographer Scott Holstein! I took landscape photos of this single Christmas tree shining with lights in a sea of trees on a tree farm in Havana, Florida for the cover of Tallahassee magazine. After I picked the best tree and chose my composition, creative director Larry Davidson and designer Saige Roberts styled it by decorating it with Christmas lights powered by a generator that we hauled on location. I shot at dusk to get a proper exposure so the glow of the Christmas lights stood out in relation to the darker, unlit evergreens in the foreground…
Photo of cat feeding time at Caboodle Ranch in Florida by editorial photographer Scott Holstein.

Craig Grant’s Caboodle Ranch for Cats in Florida

By Scott Holstein


Out in Madison County, near a place called Lee, Florida, lived a man with 500 cats. Craig Grant loved cats so much that he bought 30 acres of rural property and opened Caboodle Ranch, a safe haven for unwanted felines. Feral cats, stray cats, abandoned cats, unwanted cats, shelter cats who would otherwise be put down – Grant welcomed them all. Tallahassee magazine caught wind of Grant while doing a story on the effort to trap, fix, and re-release feral cats in Tallahassee. So I headed out to Caboodle Ranch to do some editorial photography for a magazine article of…
Creative photography of a woman’s face reflected in the pupil of her own eye.

Portrait Reflected in One’s Own Eye

By Scott Holstein

Filed under: Personal Projects


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 interesting and creative photography 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 make a portrait of someone’s reflection inside their own eye, but it would not be easy to accomplish. I recently revisited the idea with some better equipment and a handful of patient models. This was indeed a very technically difficult…
Creative photography of a warrior woman emerging from the water while firing a machine gun.

Rambabe: Warrior Woman with Machine Gun – Rambo Parody

By 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 creative images that change it up a bit and have a beautiful, tough woman as the “one man army” instead of a sweaty dude (no offense, Stallone). And since I’m from Florida, there was never any question that she would be in the water. I scouted several places in the Tallahassee region, originally looking for something swampy that might…
Photo of two cave divers floating in a sinkhole, created using a cheap underwater camera housing.

Photography Tips: The Poor Man’s Underwater Camera Housing

By Scott Holstein


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. An article in Tallahassee magazine was featuring a local couple who cave dives – Aletheia and Andre Lange – whom I was to photograph. While…
Portrait of NFL quarterback Christian Ponder's dog licking his face by Tallahassee photographer Scott Holstein.

FSU Quarterback Christian Ponder With His Dog, Dallas

By Scott Holstein


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, quarterback Christian Ponder for the Florida State University Seminoles football team, had recently adopted a dog from the shelter. I was tapped to work with Ponder to create the Tallahassee magazine photography that would accompany the story. A couple of days before his last game in his…

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