Having Fun, Part 2.

     One of the greatest things about my work, is choosing who I work with, or more accurately, who I choose to work for me. My oldest son Seth is quite a character, but incredibly smart for his age (6 yrs old). I have already started teaching him little things about the basics, and he knows enough of my jargon with regards to lighting to be a pretty decent assistant too. Pictured here is his last assignment as a VALS   ( voice activated light stand ). These things are great! You tell the light stand to move back a foot, and it does! Move 45 deg. camera right... Already done! In this setup, he is a 40 lb. sandbag that I don't have to lug around on location.

    There is a downside though.... Maintenance costs and salary. Most kids his age would be fine with a couple of bucks for a morning of light duty responsibilities, but not Seth. He informed me he HAD to have $50 for the 2 hours he put in on the shoot! He is a shrewd negotiator but I have him down to $5 right now and possibly a trip to a pizza buffet, we will see if that's a deal breaker or not. Fortunately his younger brother is much less demanding. Unfortunately he is much less attentive and therefore not as much help. It's not his fault, he is only 5, but I know he will be a great asset one day soon like his brother. Even as young as they are, I could not imagine my business not involving my family. If my wife would only let me have more freedom with the business checking account though, I might be a bit happier than I am now!

    Here are some shots I took of the kids on that location ( The Dallas Arboretum ) Seth was helping at. They make great models as well!

 

 

Jason

J Photography

Having fun at what I am doing.

I have had more jobs than I care to count a few jobs. None were anything special, only a couple even peaked my interest enough to actually like going in for a short amount of time. Tonight reminded me why I like photography SO much, and it's not a "job". Sure I am the boss- but don't tell Tamara, and I try not to schedule much before 9am so I can sleep in more, but I genuinely have fun and look forward to taking pictures. Even when things do not go as planned, paying customers are scarce, and people criticize me about something (there is ALWAYS someone who thinks a photography business is only taking pictures and they will gladly tell you how they would do it better, but they have never ran ANY business themselves), I still get up in the middle of the day morning wanting to do what I do.

Tonight was a great shoot at a kid's sports homecoming dance. The theme was Halloween, everyone dressed up and I was fortunate enough to have several of them stand in front of my camera. What other job can I take my kids and lovely wife with me to work, have fun with them and occasionally make money while doing so? No other job I have had can offer me that. So even if the money isn't what I wanted it to be, I still have the greatest job in the world!

Jason
J Photography

Simple still works...

I recently blew more money because I wanted something purchased another monolight and a softbox. This is my first softbox, so naturally I needed to play with study its characteristics before taking it on paid gigs. As we all know Seth loves to have his pic taken, so long as I can make him look like a thug, orphan or the Incredible Hulk,  I figured pool shark would fit right in.

Seth and I had quite a bit of fun for a half hour while I took several shots from various angles and lighting configurations, but I still kept it simple. One light, one lens and a radio trigger (no sync cables for me unless it's crisis time!) were all that was used. The only "photoshop" work they recieved was the watermark too. I have REALLY been on a mission to speed up my workflow with Lightroom, and for the last few months, unless a client wants extreme skin work or other graphic effects, I have done 98% of my editing in Lightroom only. These were done with my variation on another commercial preset that I didn't like, but I figured out what I didn't like about it, and fixed it. From start of the shoot to posting on the web was less than an hour of work, which in my opinion is still too long, but it sure beats the 3 or 4 hours it would have taken me 2 years ago. I really like keeping it simple.

 

Jason

J Photography

New Sports Products at J Photography!

We are proud to announce our offerring of the hottest sports products around!

  If you have kids in sports, you have been there, and so have we. Poor photos, lousy selection, high prices and waiting months to get your photos. This kind of service is one of the reasons I started shooting youth sports. J Photography delivers quality roducts at competitive prices - On Time! Check out a few samples below of the many we can customize for your team/player. All items are printed on Kodak professional Metallic paper and color coordinated to your child's team colors. We have just strted using these and the feedback is aleady overwhelming!

 

  

(7.5" x 20" panoramic)

 

  

 

  

(10" x 30" Panorama)

(10" x 30" Panorama)

Jason

J Photography

Creativity....

  While I try and think creatively with every shoot I do, it's NOT easy. Everyone hits a roadblock at some point, and it is very easy to get in a rut rather than regroup and pull out of the "ditch". When I hit one of those ruts, I always look around for inspiration or a new angle on what I am already doing. We live in such an incredible time. People who have more talent in their pinky toe than you or I will ever have freely share technical  information, behind the scenes footage and knowledge they learned the hard way, hopeful saving others a valuable lesson or two. Even if I am not in a creative rut, I can find the answer to a technical issue I am having in seconds, from someone I never met or called, by doing a Google search from a phone that will fit in the palm of my hand!

  I am forever grateful to these individuals such as Chase Jarvis, David Hobby, Joe McNally, Zack Arias and a list of others that is probably miles long, for sharing what they know through that amazing little plug in the wall that has internet flowing through it into my computer. Their advice and creativity has taken me from someone who bought a nicer camera than he needed and shot film I really couldn't afford to waste ( but made to many mistakes to count!), to someone that can make a quality image with minimal gear. This is one of the greatest achievements of my life, and works out well also, since I cannot afford a $30,000 Hasselblad! Check out the video below for a BTS look at a campaign Chase Jarvis did for the HD Network's Kung Fu channel. If that doesn't inspire you to be a little more creative or try something new, then not much else will either!

Jason
J Photography

Maternity session with Kristy...

My wife and I just finished up our session with Kristy, and her husband Jeremy. What a blast! I just love these type of shoots, since they require you to be a bit more creative than a standard portrait session. Here are a few preview images, be sure to check back in a few days for the final set!

 

 

Jason
J Photography

Welcome to my blog!

Here I am with a blog. If you know me at all, you know I was never a fan of these, but things change. I would be lying if I didn't confess to wanting the SEO benefits of a blog attached to my website, but its only a small percentage of why I started this. I have been getting numerous requests for behind the scenes footage, tips/tricks, and other miscellaneous bits that really do not have a place on my website or Facebook fan page.

Check back here often, as I will be updating this more frequently once I get accustomed to the user interface (and have free time!). As always, check out my photos at J Photography .

Jason
www.jphoto76.com