DASO Photo

5 Windows, 5 Walls

2012-03-10T21:05:00.000-08:00

Views and non-views from 5 windows in my house.

A Night of Creation

2012-03-09T22:18:00.000-08:00

Last night I had the opportunity to create with a friend who's been blessed with a beautiful home and a great studio space. As some of you know these nights typically end up mostly in conversation but some work was generated, as small as it may be.

Before I went to Matt's home I prepped a couple of screens, for screen printing, to try and print from. Here is one of the screens shortly after being exposed and cleaned.

So here's the concept, as literal as it may be, God is everywhere. Therefore God Is Here. In every situation in every atmosphere...everywhere. I chose to attempt to start this series with the most obvious of obvious, God Is Here in prayer. I like the boldness of the phrase as well as the contrast of yellow on black and white. It feels strong. I don't know if the image is 100% right for the project but its a good start.

Clean up.

I also sometimes try my hand at drawing and was feeling quite inspired...so here's a piece I threw down in a sketch book. I was feeling pretty rusty with the markers but really needed to reconnect with the paper and this was a perfect opportunity.

Since I'm staying in this vein of creativity daily, ideas, concepts and work are beginning to come to fruition. I'm excited and can't wait to see what God is going to do with me. God Is Here.

Vintage Me, Vintage You - Thanksgiving 2008

2012-03-08T23:13:00.000-08:00

In 2008 we spent our Thanksgiving in Lake Tahoe with my wife's family. It was great we had a blast. Here are some of my favorites from that trip.

An iPhone and the New York Yankees

2012-03-07T22:24:00.000-08:00

I came across this posting on a blog I follow yesterday and it blew me away. Here's the link: Nick Laham. Nick decided he would photograph the New York Yankees with...his iPhone. He claims to have shot them with an "actual" camera, and I'm sure he did, but whats the point, these photographs are gorgeous.

He set up shop in a bathroom at the Yankees spring training camp in Tampa, FL, shot with a continuous light source and processed the photographs through Instagram. Now you tell me, would these photographs be as appealing, or aesthetically pleasing, if they were gigantic high resolution files? I think that there is something beautiful and nostalgic about the way they look. And you can't really capture that unless you use something of a lower quality. Not to say that the iPhone is by any way of low quality but from a camera standpoint there are obviously better choices out there.

It makes me look at and reconsider my obsession with camera gear. Its all a bit unnecessary.

Ultimately Getty, one of the largest stock libraries in the world, licensed the images. You can read a little more about that story on the f-stoppers blog.

I find it very impressive and I am inspired more and more by what people are doing with camera phones and Instagram. Bravo to Nick for taking a chance and doing something really special.

Technical Tuesday - White Sheet Backdrop

2012-03-06T21:13:00.000-08:00

This is a very simple and cheap technique. All you will need is a king size white sheet, some shop clamps and a place or a structure to hang it on. A king size white sheet at Wal-Mart is $16, Harbor Freight carries the spring loaded clamps I use, $5 for 22 clamps, and for the structure...just find something to clamp it to that doesn't block light from shining through the back. You could use an awning, a porch, a swing set, etc... I haven't used this technique in a while but it is a really effective look, especially with black and white work.

Once you have the sheet hung and there is nothing blocking the light from landing on the sheet you can focus on your exposure. To get the exposure you want, first step back and look at your subject, then decide what part you want to expose for. Then move in close and get your exposure only for the part of the subject that you want to expose correctly. Shooting directly into a white background can be very tricky for your cameras light meter. That's why its important to get in tight and expose only for the section of your subject that is most important. Most likely this will be their skin. But its your image, expose for what ever you want.

The image on the right was made using this technique. With the sunlight not falling directly on the sheet it offers a nice soft look to the image. And look at the beautiful highlights on his skin, very soft and it wraps right around his face.

This image was made in the same manner but the sunlight was falling directly on the sheet. You can see how it offers a blown out look to the image. It softens the edge of the skin, but is a much harder light. I really like how it wraps around her cheeks in a much more high dynamic look.

Moving in tight gives your image a different look, but still retains the feel that it has shot wide.

Next time I'll discuss shooting on the other side of the sheet.

David and Sheree - Wedding Photography, Carpinteria, CA

2012-03-05T17:06:00.000-08:00

I had the glorious opportunity to photograph David and Sheree Davis' wedding in beautiful Carpinteria, CA last year and I'm just getting around to posting about it. Here is how the album laid out.

Point of View - My Back Yard, Seated

2012-03-04T21:04:00.000-08:00

Scout asked me to go outside and play with her today, and I'm a little embarrassed to say that I was reluctant. I took my camera with me...just like always and had a thought. Why don't I see how many photographs, different looks, I can capture without moving my position. Here's what I got.

It was a neat little exercise in perspective and composition. Give it a shot.

3 iPhone Apps Every Photographer Should Own

2012-03-03T23:50:00.000-08:00

I've been shooting more and more with my iPhone. First of all because its always with me, but secondly if you know how to use it, its not a bad camera. Not only is it a decent camera but there are a lot of really cool outlets for printing your photos from your phone now and most of them, in one way or another, link directly up with my first choice for iPhone photo apps:

Instagram - Instagram is a free download for your phone and gives you your own channel to stream photos you take to.

You can add numerous amounts of different filters do your photos. The filters in Instagram are actually good compared to a lot of the other apps out there.

So after you've taken and manipulated your photo you upload it to your channel. Your channel has followers and they can comment on your photos. But the really cool thing is all the available products you can have printed from your Instagram channel. The coolest thing I've found is the Instagram book from Blurb. They're just beautiful. They'll take the photos straight off of your channel and put them in a book...its that simple.

The second app I like is the TiltShift Generator. Bottom line is this one makes big things look little. You can process your photos in TiltShift Generator, save them to your phone, upload to Instagram and then print them on Blurb. Crazy simple to have millions of people see your work now. I love it.

The final app I recommend and its totally for fun, but its really cool, is the ShakeItPhoto app. It is exactly like a Polaroid. To the point where you actually have to shake your phone to process the photo.

I love that it leaves the shape of the Polaroid in the image.

There are a million great photo apps out there, but these are the ones I love. The ones I have the most fun with. You may have your own favorites and I'd love to hear about them. Try these out and let me know what you think.

Vintage Me, Vintage You - Las Vegas Aerial Photography

2012-03-01T21:29:00.000-08:00

I've previously talked about my brief stint as an aerial photographer in Las Vegas and that I had some additional images to show. Well tonight is that night. Here is my very direct approach to aerial photographs of Las Vegas. You probably wouldn't recognize that this was the desert surrounding LV unless I told you...so I did. I have a pretty direct approach to everything I shoot, but this is even more direct than normal and I love it.

You may be asking what I mean when I say "direct", by that I mean that I don't use strange angles and I don't ever ever ever tilt the horizon in a frame to try and make the photograph interesting. I shoot almost in a grid, very square, and I let the subject matter stand on its own. It actually bothers me to see tilted horizons in photographs or even really low perspective shots unless they have a good reason for being so.

Enough of my soap box, here are the images.

On take off (or landing) in the helicopter. I particularly like how the left side of the frame looks like it is in motion but the right side looks still.

Washed out and abandoned road.

Fences and culverts.

The next two frames were actually the exact same location on separate trips up. I photographed them without realizing I had shot it before. Similar but very different frames.

Tire patterns in the desert floor.

Trench, fence and aerial survey location.

I have been wanting to go back up and shoot some more, but the cost to do so without actually doing business in the air is very high. Maybe someday I'll get the opportunity to again. So these will have to do for now, they keep the memories and the feeling fresh. Thanks for reading, God bless.

Kid Photography - Lee Family - Lodi, CA

2012-02-29T22:58:00.000-08:00

Technical Tuesday - Zack Arias

2012-02-28T21:15:00.000-08:00

Here's a great post by Zack Arias on a fun little lighting setup. http://zackarias.com/editorial-photography/buckhead-bottle-bar-for-the-atlantan-magazine-lighting-diagrams/ I've used this lighting scheme on a couple of occasions and it works really well. Thanks for sharing Zack.

iPhone Photography

2012-02-27T16:00:00.000-08:00

I've been on a pretty serious online video hunt. Not necessarily looking for inspiration but just seeing what other people out there are doing and this is a pretty cool one. Richard Koci Hernandez uses instagram from the street, while shooting with his iPhone, layers app upon app to get different results out of the images and then seamlessly integrates those instagram photos with Blurb books to print his work. I particularly like what he calls himself, a "multimedia journalist", using whatever tools are at his disposal to tell the story. I would consider myself the same. He does very good work and as always its interesting to see the artist at work. Enjoy.

Street photography and Instagram photobooks by @koci from Blurb Books on Vimeo.

Ben Van Hook - A Fair Film

2012-02-26T12:00:00.002-08:00

This is a beautiful little film. Ben shot over 40,000 frames for this stop motion piece. Really cool to watch.

An Artist and a Superman

2012-02-26T00:26:00.000-08:00

While doing a family shoot today my friend Matt, an incredible painter and graphic artist, showed up to the shoot and I couldn't help but snap this frame when I saw it happening. He hates the camera...sorry Matt. The more we hang out the more you will love it.

Superman is dead...well at least this gigantic toy one is.

Mary Ellen Mark

2012-02-24T22:39:00.000-08:00

This video really hit home with me. So often I compare myself to other photographers and how beautiful and clean their imagery is. But that's not necessarily who I am. I'm not a glossy photographer. I like things gritty and real. She says something towards the end of the video that made me feel good about what I do. Mary Ellen Mark says that magazines may be looking for someone really commercial, even if that's not who you are, if you feel like you must photograph...then you must. No matter what kind of photographer you are. If its in you, you must do it. That's at the core of why I do this, because its in me.

Vintage Me,Vintage You - July 4, 2009 - Sam Rayburn Lake, TX

2012-02-23T21:39:00.002-08:00

My beautiful and amazing Grand Parents, Emory and Eunice Quarles, gave my brother and I a cabin near the lake several years ago. It's a very modest place on nearly an acre that my Grandfather built, with his own two hands, a long time ago. I have stacked up so many memories growing up here. Going to the lake in the summer time, riding four wheelers, building fires, roasting marshmallows, and the list goes on and on. The really beautiful thing about the place is all the hours my Papa spent studying the word and praying there. Its like a haven from the world.

My brother and I really cherish this place and I wanted to share the last 4th of July get together we had there in 2009.

My Papa and Nanny and my mom is on the left. That's Sadie lying in the dirt, they love her, she hates me.

My brother getting a plate ready for his daughter Katelyn. We had a giant table and it looks like not all that much food.

Circle of chairs, with a box fan...pretty sure that wasn't helping the heat. Not sure if you know much about deep East Texas summers, but they're brutal.

My wife, Aunt Marsha, Aunt Alice and Glen, all wondering exactly what it is that Scout wants. Thats her little head down there in the middle.

Oh there she is.

Scout I think Sadie just stole your hot dog. Aren't they cute. She was Lincoln's age here, time really flies.

He gives the same smile every time the camera comes out, and the truth is...I love it. I miss these two like crazy. I don't get to see them that often anymore, but I wish I did.

There's a good use for the box fan, use it to blow bubbles. God knows it wasn't good for anything else.

Sweaty kisses. That's Miranda, Katelyn's mommy.

My bubba.

Trying to teach Papa and Sadie how to blow bubbles. They both look pretty interested.

And now trying to teach momma too. Notice all eyes are on her, she loves that...she loves it even more now.

Still playing with the bubbles. Look how red her little cheeks are. It was super hot.

I've always loved this photo, so much movement, just a beautiful tone to the image. How gross is that water though? She was all up in it too.

Posted up by the fan still.

This photo really shows what the heat and humidity were like. That's condensation on the window. So bad.

Hopefully I'll get to spend a 4th with my family again soon. Really miss and love all of them.

The Shot - VH1

2012-02-22T22:19:00.000-08:00

Several years ago there was a show that aired on VH1 here in the U.S. called The Shot. It's from the same producers as America's Next Top Model. The gist of the show was the same as most reality shows. Stick a group of people in a house and let them compete against each other till one is left standing. Unfortunately the show only made it one season. I found the changing competition and forcing people to shoot different things every couple of days was very cool. And I'm sure they all grew from the experience. Anyways, I was able to find one episode online and I thought I would share it.

Watch The Shot S01 E01 in Entertainment | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Hope you enjoy. Maybe if we petition VH1 they would bring the show back! (Not likely)

Technical Tuesday - Multiple Focal Lengths, One Flash Set-up

2012-02-21T22:03:00.000-08:00

Tonight I'm going to share how different focal lengths of the lens effect the overall look of an image. So here's the technical info first.

Camera:
Nikon D700
ISO 100
Shutter 1/15

Lens:
Nikon 24-120mm F3.5-5.6
Aperture F5.6

Flash:
Nikon SB28 DX
Camera Left
1/32 Power
3 foot from subject

120mm. Obviously very tight. It was difficult to frame and focus these images, seeing as I was the one taking the photographs. The light in the background is ambient...its just a garage work light.

85mm. They say this is the best portrait length...what do you think?

70mm.

50mm. Eyes closed. I always shoot with a 50mm, and its starting to get old for me. I'm ready to move on to a new go to focal length.

35mm.

28mm.

24mm. Too wide the subject seems too far away.

The camera never moved, the flash never moved and I got 7 very different images.. 35mm is my favorite perspective. I like the amount of the environment that it captures, the size of the subject in the frame and the lack of lens distortion. If you are considering buying a prime lens and you currently own a zoom lens, this is a good test to figure out what lens you should buy. Any questions?

Ira Glass - Phases of Disappointment

2012-02-20T14:19:00.000-08:00

Here's Ira Glass speaking on the phase of disappointment. Its good to hear that someone who became successful as Ira did, went through a lot of the same struggles that I go through. The thing that stuck out to me, and it's in line with The War of Art, was that he says, (and I'm paraphrasing) "Even when your work falls short of where you want it to be, you have to continue working and do a large volume of work." It's the process of working and working in bunches that gets your work to that professional level. I hope you can gain something from this conversation as I did.

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

Sunday Morning Coming Down

2012-02-19T23:40:00.000-08:00

Have you ever heard the song Sunday Morning Coming Down, written by Kris Kristofferson and performed by Johnny Cash.

One of my favorite songs of all time and a perfect title to the new section of the blog. I want to get back to the real reason I started shooting, the glorification of God. That's the reason I went to college, to gain the technical knowledge I needed to see my visions through. God blesses us all with a talent, or two, or even three, but if you don't nurture them...you squander them. I don't want to squander them. So, to make sure I don't do that I have to shoot continually and shoot what God really wants me to shoot, His work. That may seem crazy to some who aren't believers, and thats OK, we all answer to someone or something. And I'm not mad at you if you think I'm crazy, I'll keep moving forward and we'll still be friends.

So here's my first leap back into photographing church. I used to feel really comfortable getting right in peoples faces, right in the mix and snapping off a frame or two. Not that comfortable anymore. That's exactly what I needed to feel right now. That's the push I need to pursue and get better at shooting.

I really focused on the strong silhouettes and shadows from the lighting. I was hoping for more hands raised and more encroachment on the light. But you work with what you're given.

Really liked the light shining, seemingly on this one individual.

I was drawn to this shadow (of the guy in the above photograph). This sparked me to start looking for the things that could represent worship without being so obvious. That's something I'm going to work on; looking for the things that aren't so obvious.

Being prophecied over.

I like the graphic element of this image. It almost forms a W.

This young man came to the front for prayer.

You'll notice there aren't a lot of photographs of faces. That's my current deficiency. There was a time when I would have been about a foot from peoples faces. You really gain a greater feeling for the moment that way. I have the permission of my pastor to photograph freely at church and I'll take advantage of that. Robert Capa once said, "If your photographs aren't good enough, you're not close enough." I'll get back there, I'll gain that comfort level again.

I hope you enjoyed the first installment of Sunday Morning Coming Down. BTW, this is post 100!

American Master's - Avedon

2012-02-18T23:04:00.000-08:00

Thought I would share this tonight. PBS does these great 1 and a half hour documentaries on American Masters. They've done them on Charles and Ray Eames (mid century architects and designers), Annie Leibovitz, Jasper Johns and countless other great artists. If you have the time to watch this do it, its incredibly insightful into the way a true master works. Hope you enjoy.

Cousins - Santa Rosa, CA

2012-02-18T12:29:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we were in Santa Rosa for Brandon and Amy's house warming party and decided to stay the weekend. The cousins don't get enough time together so any time that they do, we try and make it as lengthy as possible. They get along so good and love each other so much, its hard to separate them. You'll see.

Early morning cereal fest. None of these kids sleep in.

Crazy boys.

Pretty girls.

Evy moving in for a hug on Lincoln, I told you they love each other.

Then they both wanted to shoot me. But I shot them first (With a camera!).

Then Evy found the mud in the backyard.

Scout found a Storm Trooper helmet.

Lincoln found a bike.

And Bryden couldn't find anyone to play with. Its OK buddy, you'll be up and running with them soon enough.

We were able to squeeze off a family portrait. I love how disheveled the kids look.

Here they are (Bryden gone and Lincoln napping) just before we went home. They were getting all the time they could together, even reading books!

The kids had a great time together. I feel like its my duty as the unofficial family photographer to capture these times when we do get together. I know for me, I still have vivid memories of the great times I spent with my cousins and my parents have the snapshots to show for it. I don't want them to ever forget there youthfulness and love for one another. You don't have to be a great photographer to document your children's lives, trust me, you just need a camera and a willingness. God Bless.

Vintage Me, Vintage You - San Francisco 2002

2012-02-16T20:11:00.000-08:00

The following photographs were made on a trip to San Francisco in early 2002. I know this because that's what my wife told me! I'm not that old but my memory isn't that good either. Bryony and I had just let everyone know we were in a relationship, something Brandon wasn't too open to. But he learned to deal with it. Brandon and I were friends for quite a while before I started dating his sister. You may not know this, but there is somewhat of an unspoken rule between friends, that states you do not date your friends sister. I ignored this rule and married one of my best friends sister. Classic example of rules are just a loose guideline to life! And Brandon and I are still best friends. Having your best friend as your brother-in-law is pretty cool too.

Anyways, about the photographs.

I shot this at the top of the world (the highest point in Frisco). The light is just broad daylight but it looks so beautiful. Brandon is pretty much a natural in front of the camera too. He makes it look easy.

The photo on the left is Brandon and I. I really like the look of the photo on the right. The light again is awesome. Very bright but it seems to be shadowless when it lands on people.

My beautiful bride to be in the middle of the left photo.

Brother and sister in the top. Best friends in the bottom.

I'm not sure if Brandon and Amy were technically even dating yet here. They weren't quite as gung-ho about sharing there affection as Bry and I were. That's me on the right. My hair was a little longer then.

Love this image. It seems very voyeur-esque.

Two beautiful girls on the left and a cute couple on the right.

The image of Brandon on the left is pretty timeless for me. I love the American flag. I love the way he's sitting, the diner feel, the on-camera flash, and again the voyeur look to the image. On the right, its kind of hard to tell, but Brandon talked his way into a ride in a Lamborghini. Yeah. Not fair. The funny thing is he left me waiting at the top of the world for almost an hour. Happy for him but mad at him.

I shot all of these images with a Canon Sure Shot TELEmax. It was a great point and shoot 35mm. No thinking just shooting. There's something special about that. I'm often tempted to set my camera to full auto now and not even think about anything but composition. But I know too much now, at times I feel smarter than the camera. Probably not true but I do know what light in an image I want to expose for, that's one thing a camera cant do.

Glad I got to capture some of Brandon and Amy's earliest moments. Glad they got married. Love them to death.

Redefining.

2012-02-15T22:34:00.000-08:00

Since I started this blogging process I've been committed to putting out a post every day. Whether that be from a shoot, writing about photography or just sharing links from other blogs or photographers that I like to follow. The point is that I've been committed. And I can honestly say that it is beginning to pay off for me. More mentally than anything else. The biggest thing its helped me with is identifying my strengths and my weaknesses and defining who it is I am as a photographer. That person I'm becoming is an editorial photographer and a story teller. This image, from a relatively unsuccessful shoot, sums up where it is that I'm going:

After editing my images and critiquing all aspects of this shoot, I asked myself what was I trying to say here? I wanted to express something youthful, something fun, something that captured where Brittony was in her own life at this moment in time. I thought to myself how can I feed off of a single word and create an entire shoot off of one thought. This image captures a lot for me. It is helping to define who I am. I want every image I take to tell a story or at the very least evoke something from the viewer. I want my images to speak, to be alive, not just be snapshots. I find myself falling into the snapshot concept. Maybe because its easy, it certainly takes less thought. This blogging process has caused me to push myself and to ask "Why?", with every image I make. I'm growing because of it. And as difficult as it is doing this every day, I'm thankful for the struggle. I'm redefining who I am as an artist.

Not So Technical Tuesday - Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T22:43:00.000-08:00

This post is more a series of thoughts than technical by any means. Come on...its Valentine's Day! My wife wanted to surprise me tonight and not let me in on what the plan was for the date. She succeeded. First she kept me distracted while we were driving so I wouldn't pay attention at all to where we were. And when we pulled around the back of the building and there was no signage she had me again. So we entered this hallway on the back side of the building and this was the first thing I saw:

You can imagine my dismay. However that black door on the right was the actual entrance. At this point I was laughing so hard I was sure this was a joke. Then I saw this and it totally made up for it:

Seriously! A giant mustache over the entrance. Are you kidding me. Perhaps the single greatest piece of decor that I have ever seen. She took me to a great little pub here in Stockton, called the Abbey. The food was amazing...

...and the laughs continued. Bryony ordered a "Mexican Coke", fully expecting something exotic and fun, but what she got was literally a Coca Cola Classic made in Mexico. How great is that?

Bryony thought that was hillarious and so did I. Doesn't she look beautiful? This is our 10th Valentine's day to celebrate together. Two dating and eight married. Time really flies.

I loved her jewelry selection for the night.

Yeah that's my name on her heart. Pretty cool huh. I bought her the hot pink necklace for V-day. She said she liked it. She wore it. I believe her. Here I am with my smorgasbord of food. Tri-tip sandwich, potato salad and raw oysters. I told her oysters were like sushi only really squishy. She still didn't want to try. I thought I made them sound amazing. Hmmm, more for me.

We finished dinner off with these "Fried Dough Fries". They were incredible as expected. Serious side effect though...bodily enlargement. Not gonna lose any weight eating these bad boys. Especially when I'm dipping them in that chocolate sauce.

Here is the sign I missed on the way in. I guess the joke was on me. Thank you baby for a great night out. I love you so very very much and can't wait to spend a lifetime of February 14th's with you!

Santa Rosa, CA - Brittony Miraflor

2012-02-13T21:08:00.000-08:00

When ever I go to my brother and sister in law's house I make it a point to shoot. The light up in the hills of Santa Rosa is amazing. My little sister went up for the weekend too and made the perfect subject. This was someone experimental, so it was hard for me to cut images. I was testing my ability to capture good images in camera versus fixing images in Lightroom. I did OK, I like most photographers, still have room to grow and learn. Here are some of my favorite images. Enjoy.

Santa Rosa, CA - Miraflor House Warming

2012-02-12T21:42:00.000-08:00

We spent the weekend up in Santa Rosa again, to finally warm the house of Brandon and Amy. They have done a ton of work to the house and it looks amazing. I'll have several full length posts from the trip but for tonight I just wanted to show a single portrait. It is very very rare that we get all of the family together. And all of us were here this weekend, I mean all of us. All the children, son and daughter in laws and all the grand babies. So we had to make a family portrait. The kids are all in miss matched pajamas and rain boots, because they woke up and just wanted to go outside and play. So we all obliged, a little peace and quiet never hurt. We had such a great time this weekend and I hope this photo shows it.

I know it will be a long time before we can all get back together and that's why it was important to me to make this photograph. As mixed up and miss matched as we are, its us at this moment in time and I'm thankful for it. God Bless and good night.

I Photographed a Birthday Party

2012-02-11T23:34:00.000-08:00

I was asked a couple of weeks ago to shoot b-roll footage at a birthday party. Not sure what b-roll is? B-roll footage are video clips that aren't main footage, they're clips used to fill in voids in coverage. For example, if a news crew were interviewing a resident of a neighborhood about a recent flood, during that interview they would cut to clips of people paddling a boat down the street, or stranded on roof tops etc... In between b-roll clips I was able to shoot some stills. The birthday girl was Roseann, she was turning 60 and she was surprised.

This is the venue, Papapavlo's, a great Greek restaurant in Stockton, CA.

So inviting.

The menu was short, but very well planned.

When she arrived, she was shocked, then she hugged everyone...literally everyone.

Her cake looked delicious...and it was, but I only had one slice. Scouts honor.

They played a game to see who knew Roseann the best. One person knew about half of the answers, and that was good enough to win a Starbuck's basket.

Everyone got up and spoke. There were so many wonderful things to say about Roseann, I don't know her but she seems like a pretty awesome lady.

They laughed with her.

They toasted her.

And they talked about the good times with her.

She cried.

Happy birthday Roseann, I hope you have many many more.

Link Share

2012-02-10T23:30:00.000-08:00

Here are a few links I found this week that I think could be helpful to any aspiring photographer.

The first is a great rundown on lighting, lens choice and communication with your model for a portrait shoot.

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;iframe&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;This ones almost 15 minutes long, but its a treat to get to watch Zack Arias work. &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;Very cool portraits, not a whole lot of technical info, but none the less. &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;He gets a lot of different looks out of, basically, the same lighting setups.&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Xc0vyC9Uy5c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;iframe&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Chase Jarvis shows us how to photograph Ninjas. &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;The interesting thing about this shoot is he was able to turn this piece of personal work into a large job for a video game company. &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;A perfect example of chasing what you want to photograph and people hiring you for it. &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;You don't have to conform to what all the photographers are doing around you. &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;Do your own thing, it will most likely pay off.&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p style="text-align: left;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ISek2kkSWEU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;iframe&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Cheers!&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

This ones almost 15 minutes long, but its a treat to get to watch Zack Arias work. Very cool portraits, not a whole lot of technical info, but none the less. He gets a lot of different looks out of, basically, the same lighting setups.

Chase Jarvis shows us how to photograph Ninjas. The interesting thing about this shoot is he was able to turn this piece of personal work into a large job for a video game company. A perfect example of chasing what you want to photograph and people hiring you for it. You don't have to conform to what all the photographers are doing around you. Do your own thing and it will most likely pay off.

Cheers!

Vintage Me, Vintage You - Leroy Verdin

2012-02-09T22:05:00.000-08:00

A few years ago I spent the summer in Louisiana working construction. My brother and I would drive to Houma, Louisiana early on a Monday morning and stay anywhere from 10 to 16 days. Doing nothing but working. Like 12 hour days hanging sheet rock in the swamp. It was horrible. But a beautiful church did come out of it. You can check it out here, The Life Church. The upside to that is I made a good friend, Leroy Verdin. Leroy is an aspiring actor working out of New Orleans and we wanted to do a shoot before the summer was up. So one hot muggy muggy night we went out and shot. Shooting at night has some serious challenges, but you get to create your own light. So you can completely construct a look to an image out of nothing. There is something very cool about that. Here are some of the photos from that session.

Good luck in your acting career Leroy.

I Lead A Small Group At Church

2012-02-08T23:13:00.000-08:00

I have assembled a small group at church, a small group for artists. It was something I felt led to do, to be a channel of inspiration for creatives. I want to encourage other artists, who may or may not be struggling, to create every day because its there gift. If we don't use our gifts what good are they? I took the opportunity to photograph 6 people that I don't know very well, or at all.

Shane: Artist/Mixed Medium

Stacy: Artist/Mixed Medium

Jeff: Graphic Designer/Director

Mario: Artist/Mixed Medium

Maria: Animator

Kay: Painter & Tom: Writer

Photographed these with the Saberlight at camera left and ambient light over head.

Technical Tuesday - Saberstrip Light Modifier

2012-02-07T22:59:00.000-08:00

I've owned the Saberstrip light modifier for several months now. In fact I bought it on cyber monday and got a killer deal on it, 1/2 price. I think it was $60. I've been anxious to try it out but just haven't had the opportunity. And to be quite honest I was wven pressed for time to test it out tonight.

Here's what it looks like.

The bottom piece (where the little yellow twist knob is) loosens and pops off. Then you just attach your strobe and wireless trigger.

Here's the set up I used for the test. I love overhead soft lighting and this is a great tool to use for that. I attached the Saberstrip to the head of a tripod and placed it on top of the dining room table. Simple enough. I actually love how incredibly simple this set up was. I hate long arduos light setups. Its not that I don't care about lighting, its just that I love simple lighting. Thats why I use available light a lot and modify that to exactly what I want. This modifier is just about as easy as that.

Front view:

Back view:

I started photographing my children first. But they lost interest fast. For the record using your kids when you are trying to test out a new piece of equipment is not a good idea. They have no patience for it and could care less about what your testing.

I snapped this of myself, at arms length.

The only image I got of Scout before she decided what I was doing was lame. I love how soft the light is but it still maintains really good shadows. Sometimes shadows can be lost if the modifier wraps too softly around all the features of a person.

Lucky for me my wife came home right when I was testing.

I love this too. With a little more direction to her I could have made a really good photograph here. I love the black in this image.

Lastly my wife grabbed a frame of me before I shut everything down. Its actually way better than the ones I took of them. I love how the flash looks like a white line across the frame, very graphic.

All in all I think its a pretty cool modifier. Its light weight, strong and easy to use. The long slit in the tube gives a nice direction and width to the light. Its very soft, but because its so small you still get good shadowing on the subject. I would recommend it to other photographers, especially if you can get it for what I payed for it.

I will be experimenting more and more with studio lighting, but starting with the very basics. I want to take my portrait game to a new level, and I want it to have a very painterly quality to it. I think this modifier will really help that journey.

Here's the technical info:

Camera: Nikon D700
ISO: 100
File Format: RAW
White Balance: Auto, corrected in Adobe Lightroom 3
Lens: Nikon 50mm F/1.4
Aperture: F/4
Shutter Speed: 200
Flash: Nikon SB-28DX
Flash Power: 1/128
Flash Distance to Subject: 6 inches to 1 foot
Flash Triggers: Alien Bees CyberSync's

I Photograph Reflections

2012-02-06T22:28:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you come into an environment and it just doesn't seem to have a good angle or the scene is just flat. That's when I hunt reflections, or silhouettes or even shadows. Reflections are an interesting way to incorporate the scene and the exterior of it as well.

In this image, there were several gentlemen surveying a location for a new radio station being built in a church in Buenos Aires, Argentina. All in all the scene was pretty boring, but on the exterior wall there was a window which gave some pop to the guys in the room. Between the room I was in and the one they were in was a large piece of glass, that's where you see me. I love the layers in this particular image. I consider it a self portrait. Had I changed the framing a little I could have got a great image without me in it.

We were shooting inside a coffee house in Santa Cruz, CA for this image of the band Wavorly. The inside was nice but shooting into that window didn't allow me much more than silhouettes and that isn't what I wanted. So I composed them and stepped out of the shop to take this. Its one of my favorite images. I love the tone and the color saturation that came out of it. That's one of the interesting things about shooting reflections, if the glass is tinted you can get really great color shifts or any number of other unexpected beautiful things can happen.

Shooting reflections doesn't mean that you have to shoot into glass either. reflections are all around you, rain puddles, car paint, the obvious...mirrors. Use your imagination. This image of From Indian Lakes was really just a grab shot. The shoot was basically over, they were standing by that pillar in the right side of the frame and I looked down. There they were in the water...so I took it. I like it and so did they. Could it be better if it was more planned? Yes. Is it OK like it is? Yes.

Try using this technique with photographs of your children for an entirely new perspective. If you want to check out a master of reflection photographs, give Matt Mallams a look. Thanks for reading.

Do You Pinterest?

2012-02-05T22:24:00.000-08:00

I recently opened a Pinterest account at the suggestion of my brother and sister in law. Not sure if you are even aware of what Pinterest is, I wasn't, so I'll explain. Pinterest is basically a web based bulletin board. I can create a bulletin board on my page and post whatever images or videos I find on the web to that bulletin board. That's the pretty simple version of what Pinterest is. But here's what Pinterest can do for you. Exposure. You see anything you post on a bulletin board can be liked by other Pinterest followers as well as re-pinned. That means they can post your images you pin onto there bulletin boards. Every image you pin comes with the link where it was pinned from. That means if someone clicks that image it takes them to the original page that it was pinned from.

So here's the deal. I pin my own work on my own bulletin boards, because it brings web traffic and interest in my work. Is that vain or is it intelligent marketing. I believe its the latter. Imagine if the right person saw your work. It could be life changing. You could be photographing for your favorite designer tomorrow because they saw your work today. Cool right? Yes.

I thought I would show you some images from the Pinterest web site and interface and maybe you can get an understanding of the flow of it all.

Front page. Notice its blanketed with my images, that's because at that moment in time I had pinned a bunch of my own images so they were on the homepage for a brief amount of time. And guess what? People liked them and re-pinned them. Scoreboard me.

This is what the behind the scenes part looks like. These essentially are my bulletin boards.

Here's the inside of one of my boards if someone were going to look at it.

I'm beginning to love Pinterest. Learning it was a little weird in the beginning, but understanding what it can do for me was enlightening. Check it out and don't forget to follow me.

Busy Busy Busy

2012-02-04T23:29:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of things going on today as a family. First, Scout started her new small group for children. It's kind of a baby bible study group. I think its pretty cool. She probably already knows more about the bible than I do. Then we had to run out and buy a gift for Bryden, we celebrated his first birthday today. Happy Birthday Buddy! Then I had to leave the party early and go straight to photograph another birthday party. The young lady turned 60 and there were 60 people their to celebrate. How cool is that? I also got paid to shoot video tonight which was my first paying video gig, so look out for a whole lot more of that. That was incredible. So I really don't have a whole lot to say tonight. I'll let you off easy. I just wanted to share a few photos of the kids and one from Bryden's birthday party. Take care.

I let Lincoln pick out his clothes for church last Sunday...so this is what I get!

Then we went to Target, where he felt the need to go surfing in the buggy. Just like his Daddy. Maybe we'll live somewhere coastal one day buddy and Dad can teach you to surf for real.

And lastly here is the birthday boy with his beautiful Momma. He's a little bewildered by all the noise and people, I'm sure he did quite fine with the cake though.

Disclaimer: All photos shot with an iPhone...sorry for the image quality.

Hoover Dam

2012-02-03T22:32:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I like to shoot landscapes, and I say sometimes because it is definitely not a strong point of mine. But if I see something I really like, I find a way to take home an interesting photograph of it. And who doesn't like the Hoover Dam. It really is a beautiful thing.

Vintage Me, Vintage You - Old Aerial Cover

2012-02-02T22:57:00.000-08:00

Here's a little known fact about me. I had an aerial photography business for a short period of time in Las Vegas. It was awesome. We photographed construction job sites mostly, but I took advantage of every opportunity I had in the air to make something I loved. I recently had some hard drives crash and thought that I had lost all of those images. Well tonight I unearthed some of those photographs and I'm pretty excited about that. Unfortunately they are all relatively small jpeg files, but I'll take what I can get. At least they aren't lost forever. I'll be sharing some of my favorites in the coming weeks.

On an older version of my website I used to change the cover of the page every month or so. I typically would do some kind of graphic design work that was often inspired by a moment in my daily life. A lot of those covers revolved around Scout, or something she did. But I happened to find this one. It gives a good look at the types of things I would focus on from the helicopter. Looking for graphical elements in the desert floor or cityscape. I love things to fit in little boxes in an image. I love very strong lines, almost Piet Mondrian-esque. He was a master of compartmentalization in his art work. That's what I call it anyways. Strong grid like creations. I would consider him the father of web design to tell you the truth. His work is amazing.

I am not Piet Mondrian, but I can find inspiration in what he did. It was very direct and unapologetic. I love that. Anyways here is that cover I was talking about. I'll share more covers and more aerial work soon. Enjoy!

Q and A

2012-02-01T22:51:00.000-08:00

I had my first small group meeting with other young artists in my church tonight. It was interesting to sit and talk to like minded people. To try and learn and grow from what they are doing. I think its important to surround yourself with people who have similar goals and outlooks on career and life that you do. I can tell I will gain a lot from this and I hope others do as well.

So tonight I'm going to take a few moments to answer a couple of questions from Brandon, a loyal blog reader:

Q: What are the top 2-3 most memorable moments you experienced there? (in regards to attending Brooks Institute of Photography)

A: The first would definitely be the experience of being a part of an international documentary. I was one of six students chosen to go to Argentina to work on a documentary for six weeks. The ups and downs, the emotional highs and lows were so intense and so unforgettable. We really poured out our souls in those 6 weeks in Argentina and the two months in post production. That trip really exposed the intensity and the dedication that it takes to be successful as a photographer. Not to mention the passion it takes. If you aren't passionate about your story, or about photography in general, you're not going to make it and the story you are trying to tell won't do the subject justice.

The second most memorable moment would be getting to sit in a room with Nick Nichols and hear him speak first hand about his work and the sacrifices he had to make to get it where it was. The marriages he lost and the time he lost with his kids. He produces amazing work, but was it all worth it. Thats something I address every day, something I address right now as I'm blogging instead of spending time with my wife and kids. I often think about that lecture and how innovative he was with a subject that seems so typically photographed, wildlife, and what he is capable of doing with the subject matter. And I think why can't I do the same with people. There were a couple of lectures from professionals that were life changing, but to sit in a room with a National Geographic legend and to try and apply some of the principals of his work and learn from his mistakes was priceless.

Q: How critical were your professors on you while critiquing your work?

A: The critiques were pretty harsch at times. It wasn't so much that they would tear your work up for aesthetic reasons, though they did, they would break it down for content reasons. You have to consider that I was in a journalism program. I remember they told us that they didn't care what we used to take photographs with, a $5000 digital slr or a throwaway film camera from Walgreen's. What ever you use, there better be content in your images. So you could have the most beautifully composed image of the critique, but if there wasn't any content, if there was no moment, it was garbage. We weren't still photography students in the traditional sense, every image you took had to contribute something to what was trying to be told by the story. So they were very critical, just not for aesthetic reasons.

Brandon I hope I answered your questions to your satisfaction and look forward to hearing from you and all the readers soon.

Technical Tuesday - Open Shade White Seamless

2012-01-31T22:29:00.000-08:00

I'm starting a new section of the blog, I'm calling it technical Tuesday. I'm doing it for a couple of reasons.

I don't feel like I've been divulging enough technical information.
I think you guys want more techniques than family photos.
It makes it a whole lot easier to have set days where I know exactly what I'm going to blog about.

For my first Technical Tuesday post, I'm going to discuss shooting on a white background in open shade. I like to share ideas that don't take a whole lot of technical knowledge and can be done with minimal equipment. This is definitely one of those ideas.

The first thing you need to do is acquire a seamless white backdrop or a large piece of white poster board. You will take that seamless/poster board and tape it to a wall on a porch or a wall in open shade. Open shade is defined as an area that is shaded on a sunny day. Essentially it removes all shadows from your subject.

Here's a tip for anyone using the "in camera" light meter. When shooting in manual mode (always recommended) get in close on the white poster board, take your meter reading, and overexpose by one full f/stop. The reason being, in-camera meters work off of 18% gray. What that means is the camera always wants to make whites gray. The same applies to snow. Ever taken photos of snow and they don't look quite as white as you remember it was? That's why.

Here's a photo showing the set up from the shoot.

See how simple it is? So here are some of the photos from this little session with my kids. The thing that a plain white background allows you to do is completely focus on the emotion and angle of your camera. Find moments, find perspective, find something to say.

Give it a shot. Literally. Let me know if this was beneficial to your photography and please share your photos and your attempts with me. I'll be glad to answer any technical questions about this post. And in the mean time check out where I got the idea from, photographer Clay Enos:

Notice how beautiful the catch lights in the eyes are here, Clay is a master. Enjoy.

Flash Outdoors

2012-01-30T22:02:00.000-08:00

A video answering the question, "Why to use flash outdoors and how?"

I Photograph Heads.

2012-01-29T21:48:00.000-08:00

I used to make it a habit that everyone I met I photographed a head shot of them...I don't do that anymore. But that's going to change. I plan on starting it again in the coming weeks and regularly posting head shots for the week. I always use whatever light is available. I don't do anything tricky. Its a great study and a great lesson on how good something can look if you just use whats available. Sometimes they are lit very flat (without many shadows) and sometimes the available light is amazingly dramatic and almost impossible to recreate. Here are some of those head shots taken from only a couple of occasions. Trust me there are more.

Sanctus Real - Las Vegas, NV

Theory of Flight (and company) - Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Las Vegas, NV

Sanctus Real - Austin, TX

Nick Rose - Austin, TX

Tattoo Artist - Austin, TX

I honestly believe that this exercise helped me hone the one thing I think I am best at; the tight portrait. It teaches you to find good light, make catch lights in the eyes and draw an honest look from your subject. Try it, it might fill a hole in your game.

Swings

2012-01-28T23:15:00.000-08:00

When I came home yesterday Lincoln, way more than Scout, was so excited to see me. All Scout wanted was to know if I got her a surprise or not. I did. I got her and Lincoln both really cool gifts:

That's just not the kind of greeting I wanted. What I wanted is what Link gave me. Love and joy. He was so happy just to see me. He wanted me to play with him. He wanted to snuggle with me. He wanted to share whatever he was eating with me. He was awesome. So we went out in the back yard to swing. At first I just put him in the swing:

But he wanted me to swing too.

I taught him how to lean back and look at the sky when you swing.

He thought that was pretty cool. I love my kids and I'm so glad to be back and be near them. Even if they only love me for the gifts.

Hard Ground

2012-01-27T22:36:00.000-08:00

Well it finally arrived. My sister in law Charity ordered me the book Hard Ground well before Christmas and it just arrived. An it was worth the wait. Beautiful poems written by Tom Waits and portraits of homeless by Michael O'Brien. This book is stunning. I've seen used copies selling online for as much as 2,000.00. Crazy.

I took some photos of the book to share. If you can possibly find a copy or splurge to get a used one, I recommend it, its gorgeous.

Front cover. (fresh out of the box)

Back cover.

These two images are mind blowing to me.

I'm home safe and sound from Scottsdale. A little beat but what a treat to come home to this book. Thanks Bryson and Charity, I will cherish it.

Vintage Me, Vintage You - Dartmouth Street Boys

2012-01-26T21:26:00.000-08:00

I grew up in a pretty large sister city to Houston, TX, called Pasadena, TX. I grew up on a street named Dartmouth. I grew up with all of these guys. I'm 31 and I'm still in contact with every one of them. Maybe not as often as I'd like but I still call them my friends. I think that's rare. We were incredibly close growing up, we had to be. We've all scattered across America but on rare occasion we make an effort to get together. Here is one of those occasions. It was a few years ago, I'm the one with the long blond hair.

Adrian Moss

Chris Sowers

Shane Moss

Shane again.

And again...

OK stop Shane.

Jesse Bales

Miss you guys.

Scottsdale Day 4 - Desert ATV's

2012-01-26T15:17:00.000-08:00

The highlight of my trip to AZ has definitely been getting the opportunity to go ride Tomcar's in the desert. Apparently Tomcar's were designed by the Israeli military to be desert assault vehicles. And for the record, I made sure the desert got assaulted. I tried to roll that thing at every opportunity and I couldn't do it. It was a blast. So when my client asked me to follow some of there reps into the desert for a day of fun, they didn't exactly have to twist my arm. I was on board. Here are some of the photographs from that trip. Keep in mind I was horrified to get my camera out because of all of the sand, so I was somewhat limited on what I could do. But here's the best I could come away with.

Here they are, desert assault vehicles. Allegedly.

The walk to our rigs. I didn't really want to take photographs. I just wanted to drive. But the client must be pleased.

This is Greg. He was our guide. He knew a whole lot about the desert and about driving Tomcats. He talked, I listened. He accommodated us photographers quite well too. Thanks Greg.

I got to shoot first, my driver and I switched half way and he shot video.

The views in the desert were insane. Its a 25,000 acre reserve where we went riding. Beautiful.

I think this was a dry river bed. Well it was definitely dry, but I don't know if it was a river bed.

Tree.

Greg stopping to make sure everyone was OK.

My driver and video extraordinaire, Ed Clay.

Yes the bandannas were mandatory. And I still had an exceptional amount of boogers accumulate.

Keep your hands on the wheel! Or that giant cactus could end up on your face.

Stopping at the river.

This is why those bandannas were mandatory. The dust and sand were insane.

Happy client.

Plotting his next shot.

Coming down the ridge. These things were so cool. Each wheel had thirteen inches of travel in the suspension. Insane.

This guy was loving life.

And so was this one

Pretty much every guys dream.

We had a bunch of Tomcar's on this trip. We left two of them on the trail too, yeah we broke them.

Greg telling us all about the giant cactus' behind him. I don't remember a whole lot about them, sorry Greg.

Except for each one you see here is a couple hundred years old. And only one in four million seeds germinates. That's pretty crazy.

All of us having a great time.

Tracks in the sand. Obviously.

The lesson continues.

Client meet cactus.

Laughing but not really happy. The guy on the right happened to have some pliers to yank it out of his leg. Thanks!

Cheesy tourist photo.

That was apparently the tallest water fountain in the world until Dubai built a bigger one. Thanks Dubai, Arizona doesn't have a lot. You had to take that away from them too. They do however have more boats per capita than any other state in the US. I did remember that Greg.

They had a blast.

And unfortunately the trip is coming to an end.

Check out the dirt rings on his face! I love it.

So did everyone else.

The sun is setting and so was our excursion.

Unfortunately I can't mention who the client is, but I want to say thanks for taking me along. I had an amazing time!

Scottsdale Day 3 - Sunset Time Lapse

2012-01-25T22:44:00.000-08:00

A little AZ desert time lapse. Enjoy!

Scottsdale Day 2

2012-01-23T21:29:00.000-08:00

Shooting events can sometimes become laborious. Sometimes boring. Sometimes mind numbing. To break the monotony I sometimes look for images in the surroundings, or in subjects not related to the subject I'm supposed to be shooting. So I introduce you to Ed Clay. Ed owns a production company out of Naples, FL called EJC Productions. He does great video work, if you're in the market. He too gets bored with shooting the same things over and over. So at sunset tonight Ed and I headed to the roof of a parking garage looking to shoot some vistas at sunset. But I got better than the vistas, the light was just right to make this portrait.

I love the overall feel to this image. I love the gleam in his eye. I love making images like this. Sometimes you can setup and over think an image to death. And then sometimes the light is just there. You cant recreate it, its free. The moment is free. The subject is free and everything just feels right. This was one of those moments. Thanks Ed.

Scottsdale, AZ

2012-01-22T21:21:00.000-08:00

Well I made it to Scottsdale OK this morning. I had to wake up at 3:15, leave by 4:15, get to the airport by 5 and leave the airport at 6:00. It was brutal and I'm exhausted. I've been shooting all day. I drove all around Scottsdale today finding landscapes to shoot for some scene setters, photographed the crew setting up the stage and equipment backstage, as well as photographed a dinner. Not the most exciting stuff to photograph, but its a nice change. It keeps things interesting. While photographing the dinner I got a text from my mother in law. Its texts like this that make working on the road hard to do.

It kills me to miss moments like this in my families life. My little boy is crashed out on my wife. That never happens, he must have been WORE out! I wish I could have been there. That's the trade off for taking larger paying jobs, its a sacrifice. I miss these moments, but I'm able to make sure that my family gets to have moments like this. I can't wait to get back and hug that little guy.

I'm excited about this week here in Scottsdale too. I have the opportunity to make some really cool images. That always gets me going. See you tomorrow.

Packing It Up

2012-01-21T22:40:00.000-08:00

Quick note:

I've been packing all evening. Got a hair cut and I have to catch a 6 AM flight in Sacramento. I have a week long shoot with a great client, AVD, in Scottsdale, AZ. This is the second time I'm working with them and hopefully there are many more to come. I'll be sure to post some photos from the trip. Take care!

David

Brittony's Birthday Party

2012-01-21T00:04:00.000-08:00

My sister in law Brittony turned 23 last week, so we had a party for her tonight. It was the only time we could all get together. I didn't take many photographs, in fact hardly any at all, but I did shoot a couple with my iPhone. Bryony made a delicious shepherds pie, Brittony made guacamole, then we had a Baskin and Robbins ice cream cake. It was a fun night. We ended up playing some Texas hold 'em poker. None of us really knew what we were doing, so we just played for fun. Well, I cleaned house. I beat everyone that sat down at the table and I took some photos to demonstrate.

This is the end of the game, notice that I have all of the chips. This is what happens when I don't play for money.

This is what would actually happen if I ever played in Vegas...for money.

See I don't have the skill or the luck to win at anything, so I just don't play!

Here's the birthday girl, half asleep on the couch. She lost really fast, but Shane bought her a bunny for her birthday so she couldn't have cared less about the game.

We had a great time tonight. Its always a great night when you get to spend it with family.

And I'm blogging to you from my new MacBook Pro. So thats pretty great too.

Good night.

Vintage Me Vintage You - Summer Sprinkler Day, TX

2012-01-19T21:22:00.000-08:00

Scout and I use to love playing in our backyard in TX. We would play soccer, catch, tag, slip n slide, anything just to get outside and run around. On this particular hot Houston day, we set up the sprinkler to run around in. Most of the photographs are of Scout, but rest assured I was running around in that water with her.

That may or may not all be sweat on her, Houston in brutally hot in the summer.

Bryony coming to check out what all the ruckus is about.

Fun?

What exactly is my sister doing? Yeah at one time Lincoln had brown hair, he's pretty new here. They are sitting on the front porch of a studio I had built in the backyard. I actually use to be a carpenter. The studio was really cool.

Lincoln please come play with me! No.

She looks a little dejected here that Lincoln won't come play with her.

She quickly got over it.

Just trying to stop the sprinkler with her bottom, no big deal.

Dad put the camera down and come play with me.

I can't even express how much I love this shot on so many levels. One of my favorite photographs that I have ever taken.

Miss those Texas summers a bit, Bryony doesn't at all. Apparently some people hate fire ants, humidity , consistent 100+ degree days and lots of rain. But not me.

Me and Scout Made Monkey Bread

2012-01-18T23:48:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when I have a free Saturday morning from work and Scout has a free Saturday morning from cartoons, we cook together. This day we made monkey bread. For those of you who aren't familiar with monkey bread, its basically biscuit pieces covered in cinnamon, sugar, pecans and butter. Sound delicious? It is.

She's pretty proud of the fact that she's helping me in the kitchen.

Here's the basics in the bunt pan.

Lincoln likes monkey bread too...can you tell? You should see him after he ingests the 1/2 pound of sugar coating the bread, he goes bananas.

the finished product of our labors.

The proud little girl. And what an amazing cook she is.

Halloween 2011

2012-01-17T22:54:00.000-08:00

Since I'm in the business of posting photos way way behind schedule. Here's some portraits of my children from this past Halloween. Scout, obviously, was super girl. She played the part quite well and threw down some entirely new poses. My personal favorite would be the one where she is about to take off into the air, one arm raised. Perfect form. Lincoln was a scarecrow. Bryony fashioned some "hay" for his ankles and his wrists out of felt. He thought they felt poorly and took them off after about 30 seconds. They were cool while they lasted.

The perfect form I was speaking of.

Unfortunately for Bryony's perfect scarecrow costume for Lincoln, she let me paint his face. Uhmmm, not so perfect.

You didn't know that Super Girl had rainbows on her cheeks.

Notice here that the wrist cuffs are gone. That's why he's laughing, because I wanted them on him. So essentially he's laughing in my face.

They both look incredible. I love these two like crazy.

So happy January Halloween everyone. Its a new tradition.

Pumpkin Patch - Yeah I Know Its Old

2012-01-16T21:38:00.000-08:00

I was thinking pretty hard about what to blog about tonight and guess what, I drew a blank. So rather than not posting at all, because that isn't an option. I started thinking about all of the photographs from 2011 that never saw the light of day. So I'm going to make sure they get shared this year. For my first post about the 2011 year in review, I found some photos from a trip of cousins to the pumpkin patch. (notice how hot and sweaty the kids are)

Dad can you put the camera down and show me how to play bocce ball?

OK he's not putting the camera down, Evy can you show me? Or I'll literally throw this ball at your face. (That's exactly what he was thinking)

Seems no one could figure it out. They are all wandering around in circles.

But they all look so incredibly cute!

Don't you just want to squeeze her.

Pretty sure Lincoln is twice this size now, well at least his hair is twice as long.

Scout doing one of her trademark poses.

We had pumpkin ice cream, or should I say I tried to have pumpkin ice cream but the kids ate it all before I could have any. Look at Evy's face, she is so serious right now!

After murdering the ice cream we cleaned up.

Then we cried some. Probably because that hay was excruciatingly painful. Thanks a lot dad.

We tried to snap a Grammy and grand kids picture. This was the best frame of several full of chaos.

Then we left.

I love that time of year, so many great holidays back to back. Can't wait for next year.

Resistance - Stockton, CA

2012-01-15T19:16:00.000-08:00

Some of you may know this, I'm reading through The War Of Art by Steven Pressfield again. I recommend this book to every single artist that I come in contact with. It was recommended to me, I read it, it changed my ways, and I continue to spread the Pressfield word.

It really is a game changer, no matter what your endeavor may be. It headlines three major topics, resistance (we hate her), combating resistance (how to be a professional), beyond resistance: the higher realm (who do you answer to). Resistance seeks to destroy all of us. Its ingrained in our DNA and wants to keep us from succeeding. The book tells you how to beat her...and it works.

Today resistance reared her ugly head on me. I took my camera to church this morning fully expecting to photograph during service and hopefully come away with some images that the staff at the church could use for outreach or whatever. Turned my camera on when I got there and guess what? No memory card in the camera. Of course there wasn't one. I wanted to create something. So rather than getting upset, I turned the camera off and placed it quietly under the seat in front of me. I worshipped and I enjoyed the service.

Luckily for me I would get another opportunity to create today and this time I didn't forget the memory card. I only shot about 60 frames. Nothing I was really crazy about but I shot none the less. Which brings me to another point from The War Of Art:

It's three, three-thirty. The office is closed. How many pages have I produced? I don't care. Are they any good? I don't even think about it. All that matters is that I've put in my time and hit it with all I've got. All that counts, is that for this day, for this session, I have overcome Resistance.

So, so true. I, by no means, produced great work today. But I produced. And I gave it all that I had. So in this case, I win. Don't let resistance win. Put in the work daily. Some times you hit home runs creatively and sometimes you just get a base hit but the point is you wouldn't have hit either if you didn't show up for the game.

I shot this today. Its not my most creative work, but its a base hit.

Caswell Memorial State Park

2012-01-14T21:47:00.000-08:00

We had a pretty busy day today, which is cool when its spending time with your family. When its life stuff, work, blah blah blah...no one wants to do it. But when its with family its cool to run around and stay busy all day.

So today we went to Caswell Memorial State Park for a short hike with the kids. We've been wanting to do some more active things as a family and the weather was so perfect it seemed like a great day to get outside. Caswell is about 25 or 30 minutes from the house and had a couple of trails to hike. It was pretty nice but really limited. I found this great web site today for finding, logging and rating hiking trails, All Trails. It totally syncs in with facebook, you don't really have to do anything but say log in with facebook...it does the rest. Turns out there are a whole lot of places to go hiking within 30 miles of the house. So we'll be exploring more as a family.

Here are some photos from our day.

Lincoln doing the right thing and opening the door for the ladies. Unfortunately for him he doesn't have a drivers license.

Scout waiting patiently for this train to get moving. That patience didn't last long, she literally asked if we were almost there when we pulled out of the drive way and turned around the corner. Crazy.

We arrived quickly. Here's the map of the park.

Lincoln's first time hiking and as you can see, he was pretty excited about it.

They did have some really nice picnic areas, this one especially had beautiful light in it. Think I will come back here for some portrait sessions.

I told Scout the river was just up ahead...it wasn't. but I got a good photo out of it. Muahahahahaha!

Made it to the river and Scout's athleticism quickly exposed itself. If I remember right it took her about 4 minutes to get down a 12 foot river bank. Lincoln passed her.

He wanted in. Little side note about Lincoln's hair today, it looks awesome!

Looking for gold pieces. Unfortunately we didn't find any.

"Seriously with the camera dad, how many photos do you need to take?" As many as I want, now look cute, now!

Once again...the athleticism.

In case you didn't know. Don't spread New Zealand Mud Snails.

You didn't know that Lincoln could write already. You're 1.5 year old can't?

Again I did something to get a face like that out of Scout. Not sure what it is that I do, but I do it well.

Family trail portrait. I've started taking these everywhere we go, I really like them. Its funny because the kids even know right where to stand. One frame, perfect picture.

Wait MOM!

Caught you! And now you're gonna pay, carry me.

"Seriously another portrait? I told you that you had to wait till after snack time!" Wrong Scout, I don't make deals like that...look happy.

And again with the camera.

A solid 15 minutes into our trip everyone was tuckered out and needed a snack. This would be the reason we need to be more active as a family.

Mom, he's standing on the table again. You don't let me do that.

Dad I love granola bars...and oranges, and chips, and bananas, and string cheese, and fruit snacks, and cereal... That kid eats like a horse. I'm not kidding. This morning he had three bowls of cereal, a granola bar and some string cheese. Not normal.

These shoes haven't seen a hiking trail in far too long.

Who's that trip trapping across my bridge?

The first overlook of the river.

Where I found this sweet downed old tree. Which I of course had to walk out on.

Bry said I looked handsome. Almost 9 years in and she still makes me blush.

How's this side of my face look?

Scout please go stand in that light right there. Scout, "What light?" The only light shining through on the trail. Scout, "Where?" Yeah that really happened.

The hair fully illuminated. Beyond awesome.

She's going potty! Thats what Lincoln yelled and ran and pointed at. (For the record, he doesn't actually talk, I make all this up for him.)

He makes it look so easy.

One of her many incredible poses.

He already cheese's. Not sure what to think about that, but its kinda cute for now.

The sun felt really warm on my face so I did this. P.S. check out that sweet nose hair hanging out. In 20 years I'll look back at this and wish I only had this much nose hair.

And so did Scout.

We all thought it felt good.

Except for him.

But he did make these exceptional faces. I love how happy he can get!

Is that a rooster on the back of his head? Nope. Its the remainder of a nap.

And why wouldn't the bathroom be closed, my 5 year old didn't have to pee at all. I like how they don't specify exactly how long the "Season" is.

Inseparable.

Scout fell off a parking block and scraped her leg.

Lincoln thought it would be good if he showed his big sister that he could climb on it and not get hurt. Jerk.

Who's the jerks now? We're leaving you meany pants.

Not if I'm driving dad!

We had a great day, thanks for reading. God Bless and Go Texans!

TGIF - The Next 2 Are Going To Be Crazy

2012-01-13T21:31:00.000-08:00

It has been quite a week for me and I'm glad to see the bulk of it coming to a close. I've been working on closing out a lot of projects, so those of you waiting on things from me, please be patient I promise yours is almost finished.

Now I'm starting to gear up for the weekend. I have a meeting with the other leaders of small groups at my church tomorrow morning. For those of you who don't know I'm going to be facilitating a small group for artists. Its something I'm very passionate about and really excited to get to do. Help other artists find there way in a sense. Then on Sunday I have a the first of a three part shoot with a local city council woman. So I should have some work to post from that.

Otherwise I'm honestly hoping to get to relax some. The next two weeks are going to be insane. I'll be finishing up this series with the council woman and then I'll be in Phoenix shooting for a week. I know its a terrible job I have!

I'm going to check out early tonight and hopefully lay on the couch and watch a movie, something I never get to do anymore. But I did want to share one photo with you, Lincoln and Scout were snuggling on the couch this morning watching cartoons. I loved these days when I was a kid. God Bless and have a great weekend!

Vintage Me, Vintage You - Happy Holidays!

2012-01-12T23:08:00.000-08:00

This week I wanted to post a holiday photo. Not because the holiday's are over and I'm sad, because I am, but because we didn't do cards this year. This is our Christmas card photo from 2009.

There are several things I love about this photo:

I love the lines crossing through the top parts of the frame. I think they are a nice contrast to the vertical lines of the fence pickets.
I built this garden fence for Bryony for our anniversary and I miss it. By the way this is when we were still living in TX.
Scout looks so adorable standing on the gate.
Thats Lincoln in Bry's belly!
Bearsky felt like he belonged in the picture too.

So sorry we didn't send out holiday cards but Happy Holidays anyways, even if it is a few weeks late!

Maybe I'll do a How I Lit it post on this image too. What do you think?

How I Lit It #3 - Wavorly

2012-01-11T22:01:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite sections of the blog. I should start doing more of these how "How I Lit It" segments. I like being able to show the technique in action.

This image is from a shoot I did last year with the band Wavorly. They've been categorized (and not by me) as a Christian rock band and there most recent record Conquering the Fear of Flight was released on Flicker records. They hale from Tupelo, MS and have accents as thick as Mississippi mud. They were really cool to work with, super laid back and would've tried just about anything. You can't ask more from a subject.

I chose to show this image because it has a little more complexity to it than the last post I did on lighting, How I Lit It #2 - From Indian Lakes. That post had no complexity at all, it was just window light. This one, on the other hand, has two strobes and a couple other light sources.

So when approaching a shot like this, the first thing I do is nail down an exposure of the things that you can't change. For this image, I couldn't do anything about the intensity of either the headlights or the interior lights behind the guys. So I found an exposure that balanced both of those light sources well enough that they weren't fully blown out. I wanted them to maintain some sort of detail.

The next thing I did was put a small strobe on a light stand and place it just outside of the drivers door. I used a Nikon SB-28DX with a LumiQuest UltraSoft bounce for this light. It looked OK initially but there just wasn't quite enough to it.

I thought it would be cool to have a light coming through the rear of the car, like headlights behind it. So I set up a Nikon SB-24, zoomed to 85mm, bare and pointed right at the back window from above and left in the image. I really like the way it highlighted the particles on the window and gave a rim light to the two in the back seat.

If I could go back there are a couple of other things that I would tighten up, but all in all I think it was a pretty successful image. Thanks for checking back with me!

Black and White Filter Comparison

2012-01-10T23:23:00.000-08:00

Here is a comparison of what you can achieve by adjusting the different color channels inside of the black and white filter in either Photoshop or Lightroom:

The Photoshop panel:

*This panel is made available when you add a "black and white" adjustment layer to your photo.

The Lightroom panel:

*This panel is made available when you are in the development tab while working on a given photograph.

This is an example of zeroing out all channels except for the red channel, which I have converted to 100%.

Notice how bright the skin becomes and how dark the eyes are. Photographers manipulate the red channel, mostly, to apply an infrared look to images.

Now for the green channel. Achieved by applying the same technique as above with the exception of zeroing out all channels but the green, which is increased to 100%.

Here we gained skin tone back as well as detail in the grass.

And the blue channel. Achieved by applying the same technique as above with the exception of zeroing out all channels but the blue, which is increased to 100%.

With the blue channel you will increase the intensity of the shadows but more than likely will maintain good skin tone. It offers a slightly darker look to an image.

You will typically find a balance between using all three channels. In Photoshop I'm partial to leaving blue around 60 or 70% and altering the other two channels to my liking. The sum of all three channels should be 100% or very close. Otherwise you start to get images that do not look natural.

Photoshop and Lightroom, as well as other image editing applications, have made this very easy. This use to be achieved by literally putting red, green or blue filters on your lens. Then you had to adjust your exposure accordingly, normally by 2 or 3 stops. This was of course when we were shooting film.

You could still do it this way with digital. However applying the filter post image capture allows you to change the look of the image and leaves you open to a lot more options. If you use the filter on your lens you are essentially filtering that channel of light from ever hitting your sensor. Thus removing it from the file information. Less file info, less image quality.

Thought this could be useful for those wanting to learn more on the editing side of things. Keep your questions coming, I have been getting some good ones.

Textures

2012-01-09T17:47:00.001-08:00

I often take photographs of textures for no apparent reason. I think to myself, "this would be cool hanging on a wall" or "I could drop this in the background of a photo". When I know that isn't true because I neither have the patience or the skill to do such a thing in photoshop. See I use photoshop for its original intention, to work on photos at a rather basic level. If I really wanted to mess with a photograph I would do it the traditional way, with paints and crayons and scissors and whatever else may tickle my fancy. Any of you who have seen any of my "art" could attest to that. But I digress. I can't simply take a photograph of something for the enjoyment of photographing. Why not? Does there always have to be a purpose for it. Can't it just be for the love of snapping the shutter. So just for the love of pushing the button, on my iPhone, here are some textures I shot today. The cool thing about shooting just to shoot, is it forces your to focus on compositions and think outside the box of what you normally do. Try it.

P.S. I got a couple of more good questions today that I am going to try and answer this week, one in particular, photographing the moon. So keep the questions coming.

Advertising or Art

2012-01-08T20:09:00.000-08:00

Where is the line between commercial advertising and art drawn? Does there have to be a line drawn? Shouldn't everything we create be considered art, like it or not? The recent Levi's campaign, "Go Forth", really got me thinking. These are some of the most beautifully shot, directed and produced commercials I have ever seen. I chose to share one that was suitable for all viewers, some of them are risque. The print campaign is just as good, and just as edgy.

I think what's interesting about this campaign is the return to vintage. It is unapologetic and raw. No visual trickery. Just straight forward black and white beauty. There is seriously something special about the work that the Levi's advertising team has been putting out. And I for one see it as art. Its expressive, its well thought out. It's moving.

Bottom line is it makes me want to buy Levi's. But it does it in a way that is convincing. There is nothing shown in the commercial that I am not or that I don't want to be. It opens up emotions of youth and being completely free. And it does it from a point of view that is real, its documentary, its not glossy. Its everything that art should do to you emotionally. And I like it. So go buy Levi's.

Moving On Up

2012-01-08T18:44:00.000-08:00

How many places have you lived in your life time? Me? Not that many, but if you count the amount of times I've lived in different places its pretty significant.

Bryony and I started out our marriage Living in Houston, TX. I was working at a chemical plant at the time and the world seemed awfully small from where we were sitting. So I found a really good and really expensive school in southern CA and we thought to ourselves, "why not?"

So then we moved to Ventura, CA for a couple of years. Where I attended the Brooks Institute of Photography. I got an amazing photographic education there, but more importantly it gave me and Bryony the opportunity to really grow as a couple. It was one of the most trying times of our lives. I was going to school more than full time and working about 35 hours a week on top of that. It was a struggle to say the least, but we made it through. If I could go back to Ventura and have a successful career, I would do it in a heart beat. Beautiful weather, great beaches, great surf, relaxed atmosphere...I don't think you can ask for a whole lot more.

We still have a lot of friends there. We went back to visit a couple years after we left and Scout couldn't help to get in the pacific...fully clothed of course.

We left Ventura and moved back to Houston. Big city, tough photography market. There is a lot of competition there so I took up a job with a real estate development company. I moved up fast and took every opportunity I could at growth. Promotion? Growth? Las Vegas? Of course.

This is from our last day in Vegas. Scout was mad we were leaving.

I had the opportunity to photograph the band, Theory of Flight at the Hard Rock Hotel.

And Sanctus Real.

I've actually photographed Sanctus Real twice, the next time would be in Austin, TX. I'll post about that on another day. I also started a pretty successful aerial photo business there too. That will also be another post for a later date.

So Vegas was cool, but unfortunately it didn't last very long. About 6 months after we arrived the real estate market crashed. Big time. So we were off for another move. We owned a home in Houston so there was only one place to go. Back to the lone star state.

We loved our little house. Scout learned to paint here.

We had all kinds of fun.

We had Lincoln.

But it wasn't meant to last.

California here we come...again.

I'm so tired of moving and I vow that this will be one of my last. Only one of the last because I really want to live in Ventura, not Stockton. But its nice here for now. We've already made a lot of good friends and found a great home church. I believe this is where God wants us for a season. To set some roots. Life is funny, it throws you some curve balls. I've always tried to make home runs out of those curve balls and enjoy the ride. Maybe we've lived a few places but we've loved every minute of every one of them and made the best of our time there.

This is the first second Lincoln met Poppy. Literally.

Lincoln likes it here. I guess we better stay.

365 or 364

2012-01-07T22:15:00.000-08:00

When I embarked on this journey of posting something every day for a year, I certainly forgot to take into account the possibility of illness. And I was violently sick last night. I threw up every thirty minutes for about 12 hours, my stomach is still in knots and I have zero energy. So this is going to be short. I recently shot this photo of Scout's bear, Bearsky, one Saturday morning and it just seemed so sad to me. See, Bearsky has literally been around since before Scout was born. They are inseparable. But as she gets older I can see the ties between them getting weaker. This image just captured all of that for me.

I feel so bad for him, he looks so sad.

I will be posting twice tomorrow to catch up to what I missed. Pray for me I still feel pretty terrible. God
Bless and good night.

Vintage Me, Vintage You - Scout and Sophia

2012-01-05T21:52:00.000-08:00

For this weeks episode of Vintage Me, Vintage You, we go all the way back to Texas. Bryony and I have lived in a few places around the country but spent most of our years together in the Houston area. We owned a home there for several years and these were shot at a park near our house. The little girl in the center there is my daughter, Scout, my how she has grown. She's five now and I can't believe how quickly its all gone by. She's as beautiful and smart as I ever thought she would be and I can't wait to see what happens in the next five years. The other little girl in this image is Sophia. She's the daughter of one of my best friends, Donny Faulkner and his wife Savannah. She was SO squishy. Scout and her were inseparable, I wonder if they would even know each other now? I think its my duty as a father and a documentarian to help my children remember these moments. Its basically circling around to last nights post about printing your photographs. Its an obligation to share and record our history for our children and grandchildren. Some day I believe that Scout will appreciate all the effort I put into documenting her and Lincoln's lives. Even if she doesn't, I want to be able to look back at these times when I'm old and remember things this way.

Tangible Photographs

2012-01-04T22:31:00.000-08:00

Did you know that 65% of digital images will never see printer paper. My thoughts on printing photographs and the consequences of us not doing so.

The Best Camera Ever

2012-01-03T22:39:00.000-08:00

People often ask me what the best camera is, or what camera they should buy. My response can sometimes me very lengthy and very technical. There are so many variables: camera type, sensor size desired, or film, what size film do you want to use, purpose, desired accessories, do you own any lenses or do you have access to some, if so what brand, this can effect your decision. But at the bottom of it all...it doesn't really matter. The best camera, is the one you have with you. Cell phone cameras are amazing now, there are great point and shoots available and the digital SLR market offers unbelievable quality to consumers.

What it boils down to is knowing how to use what gear you have. You should be able to shoot great photos of your family and friends, and even clients with the gear you have available to you. There should be no reason to have to go out and buy a bunch of gear until you get to a point where you can not perform at a higher level without the addition of a piece of equipment.

To demonstrate my point here are some photos, that I'm proud of, that I shot with my iPhone.

I want to challenge you to choose one camera and one lens and work strictly with that combination for a month. What you will find is that it pushes you to learn your equipment better and to explore and experiment with what your shooting. Get closer to your subject, move further away, lay down, climb up. Whatever it might take to push that piece of gear to its maximum.

I would say that 90% of my work is shot with a Nikon D700 and a 50mm f1.4 lens. Make that 95%. The Miraflor and Byrd family shoots were both shot entirely with this combination. And I wouldn't change a thing. I know this combo and its capabilities like the back of my hand. It just works for me. But it works for me because at some point I said this is what I want to work with because its good and I already own it.

Most importantly above everything else is that you get out and shoot, no matter what equipment you have. And have fun with it because the best camera is the one you already have.

The Byrd's - Lodi, CA Family Photo Shoot

2012-01-02T22:18:00.000-08:00

You don't get the opportunity to photograph someone you hold a very high level of respect for all that often. I got that opportunity this weekend. My pastor, James Byrd, asked me to photograph his family. I was totally honored but had no idea what I was in for.

James and Shurece have three boys, three wild boys. Noah, Luke and Seth are like little balls of fire and when one starts getting out of control its a ripple effect. And that's what makes my job awesome.

Here are some of my favorites.

Miraflor Family Photo Shoot - Stockton, CA

2012-01-02T00:38:00.000-08:00

I couldn't sleep yesterday. I was too excited to sleep. I had the opportunity to photograph two of my favorite families on the planet. The Miraflor's and the Byrd's. I'm going to share the Miraflor shoot tonight and the Byrd's this coming week sometime.

I'm a little tired right now so I'm going to save the long narrative for another day. Here are some of my favorites, I hope you enjoy.

Jake was so done!

Christmas 2011 - Again

2011-12-31T23:10:00.000-08:00

As I sit here writing the final post for this year, I have to say I feel like I really achieved something personally. I wrote 36 consecutive blog posts, this one included. I can't say there have been a whole lot of things in my life that I did for that many days straight. And you know what? It feels good, almost empowering. I'm looking forward to the next year and to what God has for me. I hate to make new years resolutions but I'm going to anyways. I'm pretty sure I made mine on thanksgiving, my new years resolution is to post on this blog every day, and every day do something in, about or around photography. Simple right? We'll see. But I'm going to give it my best shot.

I pray you set new goals tonight and attack them with everything you have. Luck, though it doesn't exist in the form we commonly think of, is nothing more than preparing yourself with the right tools for when an opportunity presents its self. Seize the moment. Lean forward.

We had to postpone our Christmas with my wife's family, due to many reasons, from the weekend of the 17th to the weekend of the 30th. I'm glad we did. It stretched our holidays out one more weekend and I love Christmas. Though sitting here waiting for the proverbial ball to drop on this year, I'm glad its all over and I have a couple of days to recuperate.

Here are some images from the final Christmas party of 2011:

Evy found Lincoln's new rocking horse.

Bryson found some crazy pills.

Circling the wagons to listen to Grammy read the Christmas story. Jake is about to ninja kick Evy in the back. For real.

Scout is waiting so patiently in her new recliner. Easy to do when you're that relaxed.

Grammy has begun reading the story of Christ's birth.

And the chaos begins.

Not sure what I did to warrant these looks, but the gang is headed for me. Seriously feels like I just stepped into "The Children of the Corn".

Not sure anyone is actually listening to Grammy at this point.

Certainly not Poppy. Note to Grammy: Next year read a shorter version ;)

This is Bryden, he's Bryson and Charity's baby boy. He's precious and boy does he love Uncle David. He's the only kid I know that I can bring to tears by just walking in the room. He doesn't take his eyes off of me for fear something terrible will happen. New new years resolution, make Bryden love me!

Angel got a KNEX roller coaster set, he's pretty excited about it. And for the record that thing is already built and functioning tonight.

Jacob got a hat that bore a strange resemblance to a rooster.

Jake thanked Scout for it. Scout acted a whole lot like a rooster when he gave her a hug. Easy Scout.

Evy got a Fancy Nancy dress.

So she immediately put it on. Doesn't she look beautiful?

Bryson and Charity ordered me the book Hard Ground. I've been wanting this book for a long time and Charity apparently had to stalk my facebook page to find out what I wanted and that was one of the only things I ever posted about wanting. Go figure. I'm holding the receipt for the book, because I wasn't the only person who wanted it, it was on back order for weeks. Thank you so much for the book, you guys couldn't have done any better.

Bryony got a beautiful gift basket from Amy, with all kinds of pretty things.

I gave the gift of photography to Brandon, with a DIY pinhole camera. I may have been more excited about this than he was.

Link could care less what he got, he's just a happy kid. And yes that's a real smile.

Jake rocking that sweet hat. You look good nephew.

Grammy is literally in heaven right here. A bunch of her grand babies laying on her; it doesn't get much better.

Scout refusing to believe that the lights are going out and its really time for bed. Sorry baby, Christmas will come next year and you'll be bigger and I'll be older and that will be one less Christmas that I get to spend with you. You'll grow up and start a family of your own and Christmas with dad won't be so important. I love you like crazy and don't ever forget that. These are the best years of my life honey.

At the end of the night I think Evy, in her own little way, was trying to get all of us to remember what the season was all about. Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

We had an amazing holiday season with so many things to be thankful for. I look forward to sharing more memories with you this coming year. God bless you all.

Full On Play Day

2011-12-31T00:45:00.000-08:00

I had nothing booked and nothing scheduled for today. And sometimes thats the best thing that can happen to me. It allows me to shutdown, check out, re-focus, re-connect, enjoy my family, etc... It's easy to miss the fact that my kids are growing up and I work so much that at times I miss a lot.

Today was an exception, I got to play with my son for a while. Just me and him. I loved it.

So please forgive the fact that this isn't necessarily a photographic post and enjoy the slide.

Vintage Me, Vintage You

2011-12-29T22:18:00.000-08:00

I'm going to start a new section of the blog...obviously titled Vintage Me, Vintage You. This is going to be posted on Thursday each week. I'm going to post some of my favorite photos that I've shot, for clients or of family. It will be a good time for me to share things that are out of my wheelhouse, like landscape work, aerial, etc... I really want to share your work too, so make sure and send me your photos with a short write up about the image.

I have been photographing Jason and Hannah for years. It dawned on me when I typed the title to this blog that I had some vintage photos of them. They were actually one of the earliest engagement sessions that I shot. Its strange to see how much they've changed in that time. Hannah hasn't changed much but Jason looks entirely different to me.

Its interesting to see my style then and my style now. I can see the beginnings of what I have become, stylistically. But I have refined that style so much more and am still in the process of doing that.

Look at those eyes. I love the subject separation from the surroundings. They're outside but they feel isolated. Perhaps its the tone of the clothing and the surrounds, maybe its the depth of field. Love it.

Use to love shooting here when I lived in Houston. It was a concrete wall by the Glassell School of Art, MFAH, sculpture garden. It had the most amazing texture to it. In fact I want to shoot there right now!

One of the best kissing shots I've ever taken. The light is both hard and soft. They look so young and in love. Its just a nice tender moment.

I love this couple and I'm so glad I shot their engagement, stood in their wedding and now I've photographed their baby boy Conrad. I hope I continue to photograph them for years to come.