Jul 30, 2012

Monday Photo Roundup July 30

Don C. Johnson: Blog &emdash;

Enjoyed shooting a fun wedding for awesome couple Alan and Nevada on Saturday.  It made a great transition for me too, as tomorrow is my last day as on the newspaper staff.

If you haven't seen this yet, it is worth a mesmerizing look ... a compilation of shots by astronauts from the International Space Station.

View from the ISS at Night from Knate Myers on Vimeo.

Are phone cameras the future of photography?  Dan Chung is doing a pretty good job of covering the Olympics with one... follow along here.

Or how about shooting players from the New York Yankees with an iPhone.  In a bathroom.

Watching the Olympics and I keep wanting to push a shutter button. Probably annoys my wife when I make shutter noises to go along with it.

I have also enjoyed the Olympics commercials. Chevrolet made great use of photos in their 100th anniversary ad.
Cool photog T-shirts.  Did I mention my birthday on Thursday?  Oh, I did? Ok.

Not many wedding venues have a cool welded metal wall to shoot against, so I had no choice but to take advantage of it :).
Don C. Johnson: Blog &emdash;

Jul 23, 2012

Monday Photo Roundup July 23

And now, from the department of too cute... a quick portrait of a coworker's granddaughter.
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Canon unveiled its EOS-M small mirrorless camera this week.  I have played with the Nikon in this class and was not impressed... I probably won't put out the cash for this one either.


Dog owners... I did a blog post about getting better photos of your best friend over on the Terrell Animal Adoption Center's blog.  Here's a hint though.. it is just about the same as getting good people photos.

Less than a week until summer Olympics time.  Of course, I will be following some of my favorite sports photogs as much as I will be watching the athletic competition.  Honestly, it seems to be just as intense a competition for great photography as it is for the athletes.  The photogs who get that assignment are the best in the world at what they do as well.

Here is what Mark Rebilas will be taking in his camera bag...

Speaking of sports shooters.. the monthly contest amongst the folks over at SportsShooter is always worth a look.

It is my last week at the Tribune.  Fun times ahead.

Have a great week everyone.

Jul 20, 2012

Quick Pic - Road Hazards

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One thing that keeps life interesting at the newspaper office is shooting photos for ads.  Our advertisers come up with all kinds of ideas that they think will sell products, and translating those ideas into pictures can be a creative challenge.

The main goal in this situation is to give the graphic artist who makes the ads something useful to work with.  Most of the time, the ad concept will change throughout the process, so it is also good to get a variety of shots to choose from.  It is essentially the same as shooting stock photography, but with a little bit of direction from the advertiser.
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Now... go get your tires checked.  At the very least, check your pressures for fuel efficiency.

Jul 16, 2012

Monday Photo Roundup July 16

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Even within a planned photo session, some of the best photos are the random life moments that you can grab between posed shots. The photo above isn't well lit and has nothing to do with the newborn and family photos we had planned, but the way he was pushing that buggy around just works for me visually.

I was happy with some of the newborn shots as well... you really never know how that is going to work out with the little ones!
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For other photogs early in the photo career journey, here is a nice post about utilizing time as the valuable resource  that it is... (H/T @ Strobist for the link)

After mentioning David Duchemin in last week's post a good friend of mine has let me borrow his copy of Photographically Speaking. Book  I will let you know what it is like when I get a chance to look at  it.

In August, I will start a series of posts highlighting area photographers ... sort of a bio and photo talk session.  There are a lot of talented folks in the east Texas area, but it would be nice to get to know them a little better... any recommendations on who you would like to see first?

We have had some nice storms roll through north Texas over the last few weeks, but none look like these works of art...

The best sports photographers are headed to London for the Summer Olympics.  What sport would you most like to see and/or photograph?

Jul 8, 2012

Monday photo roundup

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I have great anticipation for the days ahead when Joshua (above, now 15 months old) is able to join me for some photo shoots.  This story, however, breaks my heart...  4 year old dies helping dad take photos.

That story also reminded me of this one.. where a photographer fell to his death while getting to a unique shooting spot here in Dallas.  Sometimes the camera can really make you blind to your surroundings, or cause unsafe decision-making just to get the shot.

Photographer and author David Duchemin survived a 30' fall which he talks about here...
His books are inspiring by the way. Within the Frame is as much a book about seeing the world in photographic terms as it is about taking pictures..


My birthday is right around the corner... any of Duchemin's other books would be just fine, thank you! David Duchemin on Amazon

 Finally, on a more upbeat note... how about doing some really fun photos with your kids instead of just snapshots?  Here is some inspiration for you.

Jul 5, 2012

Quick Pic - Screen TIme

Look for a feature on this young man in Sunday's Tribune...   He got screen time in several scenes of The Amazing Spider-man as an extra.

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Lighting was an Elinchrom 500bxri full power with a grid about 20' out in front to create the shadow, and two lights in softboxes to fill in a bit.

Fireworks ... how'd that work out for you?

How did fireworks photos work out for you this year?  I did OK, I think, at least for the newspaper.

I am thinking for next year it would be fun to shoot a senior portrait or engaged couple with fireworks going in the background.  Any willing subjects out there?

OK..
My fave was this.. fireworks look like a heart behind a couple watching... FireAug6-6721

I started with the 70-200 to try to bring the fireworks a little bit closer, but I was in a bad spot to put anything in the foreground.. FireAug6-6603

I tried to get some subjects sitting on the ground, but letting in enough light for that overexposed the fireworks..

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Red, White and Blue
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A little further back from the foot bridge in the park... FireAug6-6656

I hope yours were even better. Have a great end of the week, Don J.

Jul 4, 2012

Independence Day

Here is a quick video montage from last year in Terrell...


Happy 4th of July, Independence Day and the 'birthday' of the United States.

Our revolution received a lot of help from France and others, which should give us a little bit of perspective on the help that we give to other countries who are struggling for freedom from tyrannical governments.

Don't forget that we have a whole lot of young men and women fighting today.
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Have fun and be careful, Y'all.

Jul 1, 2012

Looking forward to August

Curious about camera lenses?  Here is a VERY thorough discussion of everything lens related.

Feel like wedding photography is too expensive?  Here is a pretty well thought-out photog viewpoint on that.  It may seem a little bit defensive, but the point is valid ... as with most things, you get what you pay for.

I would like to interview and feature some local photogs on the blog.  Is there anyone in the Dallas and east Texas area you would like to know more about?

Looking for gifts for a shutterbug?  You must visit Photojojo.

Microscopic photo contest winners on Big Picture are intriguing.

Finally ... now is the time to start booking photo sessions for August and September!

Have a great week, y'all.