East Texas Photo

What color is chrome anyway?

2012-02-03T07:59:00.000-06:00

For a story in Sunday's Tribune...

(Door) Framed

2012-01-22T21:52:00.005-06:00

They say when one door closes, look for a window. I say when you don't have a window, find a nice open door.

Any nice indirect natural light source can be beautiful if it is in a nice scenic spot. I like to find nice open doors on bright sunny days to make location portrait light.

In this case, an outdoor portrait showing the red barn, blue sky, horse and owner was my first choice. Unfortunately with a horse, strong breeze and one person to help out, setting up an umbrella was not going to work out. On camera flash looks like bad photoshop. I like the scene, but not the photo.

Before we headed out for that one, I had these two step to the edge of the barn door. We used one of these in the Tribune ... and it was in black and white, so the colors did not matter.

Horses can have such personality...

Another example from a year ago.. also a horse owner and a big barn door. Close to the door, the light fills in like a giant floor=to-ceiling softbox and is nice flattering light.

It can even get under a cowboy hat. And with his head turned to the side, horse blocking the fill from the left, the light is a little bit more dramatic here..

So frame somebody this week... with a door.

Couch Baby Photos (Part 2)

2012-01-15T21:23:00.002-06:00

A quick trip to visit the in-laws was in order with the early arrival of a new baby. Of course, that meant photo time as well.

With almost zero time to pack, I left the strobes behind and went with a DIY lighting combination of two previous blog posts...

Couch baby posing, and the cheapo clamp work light/sheet diffuser.

This little guy is quite a character already, but he was awake and not all that happy with the experience.

With the help of three family members holding up the sheet and light, it was a quick and painless experience to get some reasonably good photos of the baby... (Black sheet on couch, processed in lightroom)

and the details...

Light was a clamp work light with 200w equivalent fluorescent bulb and a white sheet.

The good.. this was quick, easy (with lots of helpers) and decent photos considering the time used. Also good, no flash shock assaulting the baby. He still did not like the light as it was.

The bad.. still not all that bright. Hi ISO and low shutter speeds make for fewer keepers, shoot a lot. Without a lot of help, this setup would be tedious and painful.

Seeing Spotlights

2012-01-08T20:40:00.005-06:00

On a theater stage, a spotlight lets you know where the action is without a doubt.

When taking pictures anywhere else, having a beam of bright light can make for a difficult situation. Too much bright, direct light wreaks havoc on the camera meter, and blows out parts of the scene...

But if you treat the situation the same way you would work with spotlight on the stage, you can wait for something happening in beam of light and make that picture.

In this case, soldiers from the Texas National Guard preparing to leave for deployment were lined up facing into the sun. Many of them squinted their way through the event.

Exposing for the brightly lit areas eliminates the background, pulling subjects out just like a spotlight on stage.

This building is the same place Terrell High seniors prepare for their graduation...

Use manual mode or careful use of spot metering to get the correct exposure in the "Spotlights."

Another interesting effect to look for is softer light reflecting from the floor or walls.

Want to see this done well in sports photography? It's hard to beat Mark Rebilas for seeing the light and making great photos in it. Check out his best of 2011 football and baseball posts for what he gets by using the brightly lit areas well.

At a certain point ...

2012-01-04T21:30:00.003-06:00

I've been working on some concept covers for our next Kaufman County Life magazine. After a while the photos start getting an attitude... crazy huh?

I suppose you can guess what the cover story is about.

Turn your Christmas lights into a softbox?

2012-01-01T20:50:00.002-06:00

Making better photos involves a seeing, finding and using light for the look that you want. My goal for the blog in 2012 is to do something fun with light every week and talk about it here.

Don't store your Christmas lights away just yet... How about turning them into beautiful photo light instead?

When I first got back into photography in 2007, I saw a guy's use of a Christmas strand to make a Christmas Ring Light. That must have stuck with me because this year I had the idea to make a softbox style light out of the Christmas tree lights this year.

I started with a 2'x3' piece of foam board. With small slices into each end, I was able to put two strands of lights covering one side... these are the tiny lights.

Joshua was due for another chair photo so I used the DIY project for that. Set up in front of the chair, the Christmas light softbox added a some nice directional illumination to the existing room light.

Overall, the light helped, but wasn't all that bright. Shutter speeds were low, so a tripod helped get some reasonably good shots...

The real magic happened by moving the light closer and turning off the main room light so that there was more shadow definition.

Moving in close, you can see the Christmas light contraption in the eye highlights.

After the chair photos, Joshua played on the floor. I propped the DIY softbox on the floor in front of the couch and took photos. Because it is a constant light, there is much less "flash shock," so he just sat there and let me snap away. Good stuff.

The verdict? It definitely works. This is easy, cheap, beautiful light.

The good?

This was a very easy, low-cost project. Wrap the lights and turn them on.

It isn't a flash, so for the baby, it was great.

Also, because it is constant, you can use this with any point-and-shoot or video camera. You may need to do some +/- exposure compensation to get that right.

I think this would also be good for objects, close-ups, food or anything else where you use a tripod.

The negatives?

It is not very bright. Shutter speeds will be low, ISOs will be high.

Positioning it is not simple. Standard spring clamps work, or you could hang it on a wall, but you will want a light stand or something similar to move it exactly where you want it.

To make it better...

I would like to try lights with brighter bulbs. Unfortunately I don't think the newer LED bulbs will be have the same light quality.

Covering the board with foil or reflective tape would probably add a lot of efficiency without degrading the light quality. Same with more strands of lights.

Multiple points of light, if they are close together, can be as good as one big light. Have fun, wrap something in light... and of course get some pictures. Happy New Year!

Don J.

Quick Pic - Smooched

2011-12-27T20:42:00.001-06:00

Quick pic - Baby Baby

2011-12-06T22:57:00.002-06:00

I had a special request to shoot some photos of this beautiful newborn. Photogs who specialize in newborn photography, I salute you.

The only major request was to photograph the baby in/on a guitar case... I was pleasantly surprised by the parents' great green wall and wood floor to go along with it...

Big brother got to 'play along' as well... and see what I mean about that floor... good stuff!

Make it a great day (and make some photos!)

Don J.

Christmas song-of-the-day

2011-12-04T23:13:00.002-06:00

This kid is growing up way too fast!

Here is a Christmas song... at this rate it maybe it should be song of the week instead of song of the day.

Have a great Monday.

December holiday song of the day....

2011-12-01T10:00:00.001-06:00

First... a gift for you...

For you high school sports and band kids and parents, Web-sized digital images are currently free over on the print-ordering page, www.doncjohnson.zenfolio.com. You still have to go through the order process, but it is $0.00.

A two-fer.

Bela Fleck, Victor Wooten and an unknown drummer...

Basketball in the hall

2011-11-30T13:23:00.002-06:00

Sports portraits (or "sportraits" if you like the lingo) are always a chance to have some fun.

In this case, we were doing a shot of a basketball player at SWCC in Terrell who hails from Sudan via Egypt and Australia.

Time is generally short for these kinds of things, so the first thing to do is get there a little early and find a unique looking place to shoot. The facilities are pretty old at the school, so everything has an older feel, which is nice. Beside the gym was this nice baby-blue tiled hallway. Perfecto. The key is to use an interesting setting without letting the setting take away from the subject.

My mobile lighting kit is straight out of the Strobist playbook.. two hotshoe flashes, stands, umbrellas, Lastolite EzyBox, reflector and some grids and snoots.

That test shot was the camera's metering at -2/3, which came up with 1/20 at f5.6, iso 200.

To underexpose the ambient further, and get my shutter up where I needed to be for a basketball player coming down the hall, I went to ISO 400 and set the shutter at 1/200.

I used a Canon 580exII in a shoot-through umbrella high and to the left of the camera, and a 430ex at the end of the hall for a test shot that looked like this..

I raised the back flash to the height of the window and had Karor dribble down the hall toward me for shot #1, which I was OK with (processed in Lightroom). The guy is 6'7" so I was standing on a chair for this..

The chair I was standing in was a retro arm chair thing, and quite short. I put him in the chair, which, with a 24mm, made him look huge for shot #2.

Karor decided to play around a bit... always a good thing to show some personality.

OK, that was a fun exercise. And that was less than 15 minutes to set up and test, then after Karor arrived, we shot for less than five minutes.

The first test shot shows 4:42 p.m., the last shot of Karor was at 4:55 p.m. (still haven't moved my cameras back an hour).

Here are a few more outtakes that I played with in Lightroom...

Light test revisited..

Non-firing flash creates silhouette, and shows what light the back flash was providing to the scene...

Wider-angle version of pointing shot..

Have a great week...
Don J.

Finding a challenge

2011-11-20T22:40:00.004-06:00

Sometimes shooting at an event can get a little boring. After a lot of high school football games, everything really starts looking the same.

To combat boredom, it is fun to make up little challenges for myself. In the case of the North Forney drill team, that meant trying to catch a face inside one of their hoops while they danced.

Most of the time, what you get is this...

And then, with a little luck and timing, you can get this instead.

Not perfect, but at least something a parent might buy and unique compared to most shots of the dancers that night. Out of about 35 total shots of this routine, three had faces in hoops.

Happy Thanksgiving week, folks.

A song of the day?
Well, here is a thankful song we played in church this morning...

Quick pic and song of the day

2011-11-03T09:30:00.003-05:00

The last few days have been a blessing and a curse, dealing with the very unexpected death of my uncle. How could it be a blessing? It is only after hearing stories of his life from his closest friends that we are getting to know the great things he did in his life. He didn't talk about himself or his accomplishments.

He did a lot in life, but never wanted to be in the spotlight, or in pictures for that matter. He was always on the other side of the camera capturing images of everyone else.

Song of the day? Well... Everett's collection is about as varied as you can get. When Renee and I were just dating, he told me that all I needed to win her heart was to give her some Dean Martin music. Seemed to work just fine.

Seasonal levity

2011-10-27T22:03:00.005-05:00

No, the pumpkin was not added in post.

Here is some encouragement for World Series Game 7.

Quick pic and song of the day

2011-10-24T17:24:00.002-05:00

Cross country is fun to shoot for a few minutes. The rest of the time you are walking across countryside and waiting for runners. And waiting. And waiting.

Unfortunately the course for this meet was not very scenic. So I played with some motion blurry stuff...

Song of the day?
Well... I did not get enough sleep this weekend, so here is a lullaby. Albeit a little mixed up version of one.

Have a great week!

Tag, you're it

2011-10-22T23:32:00.003-05:00

Guns and Hoses boxing tournament for 2011... a lot of good fights this year.

Fall festival on the way, and Song of the Day

2011-10-20T09:15:00.000-05:00

My church does a pretty nifty 'Fall Festival' event every year on halloween, and I have been doing a photo booth there for the last couple of years.

It is a great time to try new lighting setups.. last year was playing with a nifty Profoto ring light. It does get a little bit crazy averaging more than one subject/group per minute for two hours.

I haven't decided what the setup will be this year, but hopefully it will be good.

Song of the day you ask?

Sara Groves performs "Eyes on the Prize," an old spiritual that she recorded in support of International Justice Mission.

Don J.

Surprise! and Song of the Day

2011-10-19T10:00:00.000-05:00

Seriously dad, do you have to bring the camera when I'm having a bath? Really?

Song of the day.. Braid Paisley's "You'll never leave Harlan alive." I like songs that tell stories.

Interesting to make a slideshow of photos from the Harlan area to put with the song... Guess there isn't a good song to do that for Dallas.

Lightning + Song of the day

2011-10-17T23:24:00.002-05:00

A little thunderstorm rolled through Monday evening... nothing too wild in the Seagoville area. Also not much lightning on the back side of the storm. The front of the storm was quite active, but also too wet to get out and shoot in it, even on the front porch.

This was best of the bunch..

And I like it even more after playing around some in Lightroom..

Another Renee fave for the song of the day.. Kristin Andreassen's 'Crayola doesn't make a color for your eyes." Way too catchy.

Have a great Tuesday!

Photo prop of the day, and Song of the day

2011-10-17T13:00:00.001-05:00

Best photo prop I have seen in a while? A giant gnarly tree at White Rock Lake Park off of Buckner Blvd. in Dallas. (this is plotted on a map in flickr)

And song of the day you ask? I was made aware of the band "Trampled by Turtles" over the weekend. The name alone warrants Song of the Day mention. Oh, and it is unique bluegrassy fun stuff, which I always like.

Happy Monday!
Don J.

Song of the day- Dave Weckl: The Chicken

2011-10-13T11:09:00.002-05:00

Dave Weckl's version of the Jaco Pastorius' The Chicken. (that's for you Josh G.)

Jaco was an interesting character and amazing talent... with an interesting story.

Quick Pic - Sunset car

2011-10-12T10:01:00.002-05:00

Saw a cool sunset happening under clouds on the way out of a volleyball game, but with no tripod, no view and no time, I just wanted a quick snap that was somewhat creative. Luckily there were cars coming by from time to time.

Song of the day- Lyle Lovett: Don't cry a tear

2011-10-12T09:00:00.001-05:00

Lots of Lyle on my playlist. Renee picked "Ain't no more cane," for today's song, but I could not find a version that I liked on the web.

I heard this song first live and it was gripping. If you have an inclination to go see Lyle, Bass Hall in Ft. Worth is the place to do it.

Don J.

Song of the Day-Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers

2011-10-11T10:48:00.001-05:00

Sure Steve Martin is funny..

But I'm more impressed by his musical talents :) Not that this is his best, but it is fun.

Flag football

2011-10-10T14:17:00.003-05:00

There was some flag football going on Friday night before the varsity team took the field.... lots of fun for these kiddos, and fun to shoot as well. I wonder how high school football would change if they played with flags (and not pads or helmets). Could be crazy.

Song of the Day-Sara Groves: Setting up the pins

2011-10-10T10:20:00.003-05:00

On top of my iTunes most played... good Monday morning song to get the week started..

Have a great Monday

Song of the Day - Listener: Seatbelt Hands

2011-10-07T09:02:00.001-05:00

Have a great weekend everyone!

Song of the day - Gungor: Beautiful Things

2011-10-06T12:45:00.003-05:00

I was impressed by this band Saturday night. Actually it was only a small portion of a larger group, but I like the songwriting and musicality and... well... its all good.

FBCKaufman peeps... get that tune stuck in your head for Sunday.

enjoy.

Don J.

September

2011-10-03T12:04:00.000-05:00

September has come and gone in a flash. Football season has a way of taking up a lot of time, and so far, I haven't had any football photos that I really liked. There is always this week.

I'm archiving last month's photos and decided that my favorites are from this impromptu session with J. Blundell's boys. There were some newsworthy things as well, but you'll have to look for those on the Tribune site :).

Have a great start to October!

Don J.

Lightning, again

2011-09-18T23:16:00.003-05:00

Finally, we had some moisture falling from the sky... I know there are a lot of happy plants and ranchers out there....

Clouds starting building in the evening... a sign of things to come

We sat and watched a PBS mystery as the storm rolled through, but afterwards, the fireworks were too much to resist...

These are uncropped images to see what the camera takes in with the old 5D and a 14mm. That is a lot of sky. The lightning was occasionally going beyond my field of vision from one roof line to the horizon etc.

If you look closely at the image, you can see dozens of red and blue pixels. Some of this is from a dirty sensor.. some may be just because the camera is aging rapidly. When the shutter is open for a long time, bad (hot) pixels really pop out.

Even photos of lightning are made better by a foreground element... in this case, my second attempt at getting a car passing down the street in the shot. The first time, it was more than 30 seconds before any lightning flashed and the shot was toast. This one took 19 seconds.

Be safe out there and have a great week,

Don J.

Fires at night

2011-09-14T21:25:00.004-05:00

It is a little bit awkward to talk photography in a situation where something much larger, namely a house fire that destroys a family's home, is involved. Certainly nothing here is meant to lessen the impact or tragedy of what is going on in these pictures. Not far from where I was standing was a distraught mother who escaped with her children. One poor kid had run out without clothes. The debate on whether to take or show those pictures is for another time.

But as fire photography goes, night time fires provide the most drama and light character. It is a constantly changing situation because the fire itself is up and down, and the lights from the fire trucks and other emergency vehicles are literally moving all around with lots of red and blue in the mix.

This would be a good photo during the day, but at night, the contrast makes the fire pop.

You can shoot Aperture priority and just pay attention to + or - exposure compensation for how much bright light is in the scene.. Manual exposure is much the same, just watch the meter and know what the bright areas and dark areas are doing to your exposure. Are you exposing for detail in the fire itself or for detail in the darker areas?

Here -2/3 gave a useful mix and still left detail in the flame.

And here -2 gave an image that is pretty close to what it looked like in person.

After the major firefighting operations are over, the unique lighting situation is a very interesting shooting gallery for firefighter portraits. By this point at this fire all daylight was gone so I switched over to Manual and just worked with what the meter was telling me...
Lots of directional light from the trucks creates lighting you would have a hard time duplicating (or predicting).

Including the fire trucks in the photos means lots of light shining directly into the camera, but that isn't all bad either.. again, manual exposure is a must to keep any detail in faces as the constantly flashing lights will drive the camera meter to madness.

Again... this is a situation where something terrible is happening in peoples' lives, so photography can seem trivial. But if you are going to do the job of photojournalism, you better do it as well as you can to justify being on the scene, and to honor the people risking their lives to put out the fire.

Don J.

Rodeo Terrell

2011-09-10T23:48:00.003-05:00

I know it has been too long between blog posts when my computer drops the blog site from my "Top Sites" screen.

The first "Rodeo Terrell" event was fun.. and made me want to shoot more rodeo. There is plenty of 'expect the unexpected' even though a lot of shots turn out to look the same. Of course, it is dusty, dark and half of the time you wish you were on the opposite side of the arena.

Barrel racing is one event where you can get reliably decent shots at predetermined spots.. at the barrels.

For almost everything else, the peak action may take place anywhere. Not my favorite shot of the night, but seriously, these guys risk a lot for their sport...

Slideshow...

Have a great rest o' your weekend, everyone. (and go get some nice pictures.. the weather is great!)

Don J.

How fast is a sunset?

2011-08-16T22:55:00.002-05:00

Sunsets go fast. Just how fast? I was cruising home yesterday and saw this scene happening in front of me (driving west, obviously) so I quickly found a spot to park, jumped out of the car, put on the 70-200 and took some shots…

This was at 8:08.33.

Exactly one minute later, the sun is half obscured by the clouds…

Finally, by 8:10 the drama was gone. Obviously the clouds didn't help, but the effect is the same.. it is amazing how quickly the sun drops.

I didn't like any of my shots much… somehow left it on f2.8. Mostly I was trying to find a composition point to minimize the power lines.

So I played in Lightroom. Fun times.

Quick Pic - Volleyball outtake

2011-08-12T17:09:00.002-05:00

We are working on our annual Fall Sports Preview edition over at the Tribune.

Special sections are fun for us at the paper, because we get to get a little more creative and have fun with staged photos, unusual graphics and unconventional design.

For me, it is a great time to play with lights on the clock.

Here is an "almost" picture from the shoot with some of our volleyball ladies. They were great sports. The final image? Well, you'll have to wait and see it in the paper!

Don J.

(Almost) Baked Rats

2011-08-10T22:30:00.004-05:00

So it was a fiery day in the local news business... I will work backwards through the day..

As I got back into Seagoville, I saw serious looking smoke coming out of a neighborhood and went to see what was happening. A house had flames coming out of the back of the roof and it wasn't looking good.

When the firefighters got to work on it, a lady asked them to rescue her pet rats just inside the back door. The obliged and somehow the little fellows seemed like survivors... notice what is happening above the ceiling while the firefighters work inside.

Judging by the melted siding on the outside of the wall, I'm not sure how they survived.

Because the wind was blowing away the smoke, you could see inside the attic space...

Props to the homeowner and a neighbor who were hitting that with a garden hose as SFD got their gear in place.

At the beginning of the day, a fire in south Terrell did extensive damage to a home. TFD had the flames knocked down by the time I got there, but there were still some photos to be had...

Like a firefighter walking into a spot where the sun didn't wash out the smoke..

and firefighters working inside to put out hot spots...

Then there is this one. I thought it was just a firefighter working to punch a hole in a ceiling just inside the front door. As I played with it in Lightroom to see if there was any detail left in the shadows, I noticed his eyes looking right into the camera, sharp as can be in the circumstances... kind of eerie.

OK, now everyone be very fire safe and stay cool.

DOn J.

THSCA Football All-Star game

2011-08-08T23:03:00.004-05:00

An opportunity to freelance for the Bastrop Advertiser at the annual Texas High School Coaches Association proved to be a good football season warmup. Or, rather, proved that I was out of shape for the football season, both physically and photographically.

It is nice to have only one real 'assignment' and some time to play around when that guy isn't doing anything interesting. In this case, the target was Josiah Monroe, a standout player from Bastrop who graduated this year.

I've never met him, but he seems like quite a character.. joking around with his temporary teammates on the sidelines as introductions were made...

I had the 14mm so I tried to get a pic of him being introduced from both sides at once. Unfortunately also got myself the shot if you know where to look. Goober.

For most of the first half, I was frustrated by missed shots, other players in the way or just being in the wrong spot. Persistence does pay off though, and late in the game Monroe had a great run up the near sideline and almost ended in my lap.

With the THSCA signage as background..

Same run, as he got closer..

After the run, he flipped the ball back to the ref... Never stop when the play is over.

And it is good to get non-action action as well ... like getting a play from the coach

Here are some of my other favorites from the game...
As I said, the end of the game got better for me shooting-wise. It helps if you get nice plays right in front of you.

Touchdowns are always nice

Sideways guys are usually good too.

This was a catch. Barely, but a catch indeed.

Playing with the big screen before the game...

Sequence - QB Throws..

Completion!

Sequence 2
Receiving the Kick.. Eyes on the ball.

Do I hear footsteps? Better get a move on.

I hate when that happens..

Finally, getting a shot of a play happening along with the penalty that takes it back is a fun treat that you can't plan for. Just a gift. This would have been a big gain for the South team... opened up by that nice block in the back.

Volleyball starts this week.. football scrimmages next Friday... the fun and madness begins for another year.

Don J.

If high school stadium lights ...

2011-07-26T23:52:00.002-05:00

... were like Cowboys Stadium lights, Friday nights would be much more fun!

Kaufman Jamfest

2011-07-17T21:39:00.004-05:00

It was a good thing that the Kaufman Jamfest folks went indoors for Saturday's event... and not just because of the heat. For me, the giant windows of Jackson St. BBQ made the photo fun better as well.

Here is the setup.. small stage in the corner with evening indirect light from storefront windows. The renovated space has great character. If I was opening a studio, I would want something like this.

From inside, shooting toward the windows was interesting... dial in some exposure compensation to make up for the brightness..

Getting closer to subjects made for nice rim lights. The background is cluttery, but at least all of the clutter is informative.. guitar case, other players, rocking chair...

I also played around with the wide angle 14mm to get a view of the interior.. low angle highlights the great old wood floor.

Shooting from the window side gave beautiful soft light, but even busier background. Getting in nice and close helps, and the black ceiling works too....

Same thing, big window light...

Still working on mastering DSLR video and editing.. probably need some more toys in that department :-).

Have a great week everyone...

Don J.

Tortoises are cool.

2011-07-13T19:00:00.000-05:00

Some assignments are tedious. Waiting for someone or something to happen can get old.

But sometimes, even when the light is bad and there are lots of other things to be doing, you get to step back and realize that the world out there is pretty amazing.

Terrell's library has a summer series of kid events called "Terrific Tuesdays." The kids have a great time, the adults, not so much.

But then sometimes you get to see a giant tortoise, which doesn't happen every day. It took me a minute to get un-jaded and say.. "wow, that is a huge tortoise."

Because huge tortoises are very cool. And we should be careful to recognize the cool things when we see them. Even if the light is bad.

Don J.

That Sky

2011-07-12T17:31:00.001-05:00

Beautiful sky out there today.. blue with lots of puffy clouds. If you are a photoshopper, it is a good day to get some sky shots to use in composite images later. Just be sure to grab some at different focal lengths and angles so that you can match up well with whatever subject you want to put in front. If you don't the sky replacement will be obvious and possibly ugly.

Also, shoot some that are out of focus. Open up the aperture and focus on something closer to the camera then take the cloud shot. This will be more convincing if you shot the subject with a short depth-of-field, and be less distracting in the final composition.

Of course, for the newspaper we can't do crazy stuff like that, but we do get to play when mocking up concepts or creating non-news graphics.

This young cowboy made a nice news photo last year. The overcast evening sky made the light on his face perfect (And a giant white arena wall to the right as reflector helped).

But a new sky makes the whole thing look nicer for this cover concept as we work on the look of a new quarterly magazine we will begin producing later this year.

Creating a catalog of images for art use is tedious, but worth the effort. Just be sure to tag your photos with good keywords when you import so that you can find them when you need them.

Don J.

Fun light on the cheap

2011-06-22T23:26:00.003-05:00

I thought it would be fun to try a photo setup on the cheap just to play around a little bit. It was basically a step back three years to before I started collecting lighting gear.

The idea was for some fresh baby pictures as Joshua hit 10 weeks old today. He can sort of sit up, so I wanted to put him in this old wingback that I inherited from my grandparents.

Since he looks at the light instead of the camera, the photo in my head will have to wait a few months.

Anway, here is what I did to make fun light cheaply.

Using ideas gleaned from years of reading Strobist and Joe McNally had me putting some sticks in buckets to hold up two white trash bags that had been split open and taped together to make a big diffusion panel. Behind that, a single 55 watt compact fluorescent bulb in a clamp lamp bulb holder. Simple as can be.

Well, simple is a relative term I suppose. It is actually a real pain to gather all of the things to put this together. Cutting up trash bags, using lots of clamps and chairs to put things where you want them... lets just say that we pay money for easy-to-use gear for a reason.

But light is still light, regardless of the money spent to produce it.

Joshua got tired of the chair very quickly, so I moved the setup to the floor. Same concept... a directional, somewhat diffused light source just makes pictures more interesting.

Tried some fun background materials.. like a rug thing from Peru..

And different angles relative to the light. One big downside is that adjusting anything is difficult. It is easier to move the subject around than move the lights.

This is shooting from ground level, putting the camera directly under the diffusion panel.

Little detail shots pop nicely with fun light...

And to really make it all worthwhile, the lovely wife joined in for some shots. The light setup is just out of frame above their heads.

The up side? Making fun lighting setups doesn't require dedicated photo gear and lots of money. You can have a lot of fun with flashlights.

The down side? It isn't all that bright and takes a lot of time and effort to set up. If you are using a point-and-shoot camera, you will want to use lots of light behind the diffuser to get decent shutter speed. 500w halogen work lights do the trick well, but they will heat up the room in a hurry.

Have fun making some pictures!

Coach shots - refined

2011-06-21T19:33:00.004-05:00

OK, with some extra time to refine yesterday's setup, I finally got it about where I want it to be for the rest of the coach head shots.

Here is the new setup... similar to yesterday, but the flag is now on the background stand and lit with the same flash/grid setup, but now hitting from behind the flag. Only 10' between the softbox in front and the background... the wide angle lens makes it look further.

Tighten up the background with the 70-200 and voila..

Full frame almost straight out of the camera (Lightroom auto output sharpening when I resized and added the watermark)

I like the light a lot, and I hope it reproduces well in the paper. Hard to say when it goes black and white.. could use a little more defining highlights for that. I do like the look of the flag better with the light coming through from the back.

And a little tighter crop with more processing.

I'm still not sold on the tiger paw as a backdrop, but it is what we will use for this series of coach shots anyway.

Thoughts?

Don J.

Quick Portrait setup- Coaches

2011-06-20T17:30:00.001-05:00

We have a new slate of coaches coming to Terrell this year, something that a lot of people in town are interested to know about.

As we work on features about the coaches, of course we need some head shots to use throughout the year.

In trying to come up with a concept to take a decent shot of each coach, I thought about our 'Tiger Paw' flag that we fly at the Tribune on home-game Fridays.... instant backdrop.

The time for the first interview snuck up on me so I did not have everything ready to go when new offensive coordinator Henry Hill came in today, so I made the setup quick.

The flag went on the wall, lit in the center by one Elinchrom bxri500 monolight with a 10 degree grid to center the light on the paw print.

After that, it was just a matter of setting up a small softbox and reflector for the subjects about 10' in front of the flag. The 70-200mm lens did the trick to draw it all together.

Unfortunately, the tiger paw really doesn't work as a tight head shot... it just sort of grows out of his head.

WIth more background included, it is a little better.

I will try some adjustments to the setup and share those later this week.

Old machinery

2011-06-10T16:46:00.002-05:00

There is something beautiful about old machinery. Everything is so purposeful and strong, but somehow that leads to beautiful lines and classic design elements that are merely decoration anymore.

So I'm looking forward to getting out to the North Texas Antique Tractor and Engine Club's annual show in Terrell this weekend with dad. (Here is last years post)

Along with the classic toys are classic tales from old guys that have been there, done that, lived to tell the tale and maybe even add a few new twists in the retelling.

From the looks of the tractors and machines rolling into the park on Friday, there will be plenty of new old stuff to look at.

7 on 7 football

2011-06-07T20:17:00.003-05:00

Terrell is playing in the Kaufman 7-on-7 football league this summer, which is generally a lot of fun to shoot photos of.

The upsides -

Good lighting. Plenty of beautiful evening sun for good shutter speeds, neat shadows and nice face detail. No helmets in the way.

Great action. Every play is a pass and a chance for a great leaping catch or interception.

The kids really get into it too, making for nice expressions. It is also a very relaxed, fun atmosphere most of the time.

The downsides? Takes away your Tuesday evenings.

But if you want some action shooting practice, this is tough to beat. If you shoot football in the fall, it is great to work on timing your shots.

Quick Pic - Graduation is a ...

2011-06-03T13:14:00.001-05:00

Blur.

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T07:54:00.002-05:00

"Now as I sit here safe at home
With a cold Coors Lite an' the TV on
All the sacrifice and the death and woe
Lord I pray that I'm worth fighting for"

Lyle Lovett-Natural Forces

The first two major events I covered for the Tribune were the return of Staff Sgt. Shawn McNabb and Spc. Joseph Lewis. Those two men will be forever in my mind as the faces of our heroes who fight our very real battles. We are forever in the debt of those who serve.

Quick pics - Baby in the back yard

2011-05-27T20:38:00.003-05:00

Took young Joshua out to the back yard, where Mrs. Easttexasphoto spends a lot of effort keeping things beautiful despite two years of hail storms.

Of course, my favorite shot is one of the moments between the 'posed' shots... when the lovely wife of mine was taking him to another part of the yard for more photos.

With a baby only 6 1/2 weeks old, he cannot sit up for photos, so you have to get creative.

Mom's arm holds the baby, but is quite noticeable in the picture.

Use the blanket as a backdrop over mom's arm... I think it is less distracting. Almost like furniture. Maybe not.

And the fun expressions are always a nice fun catch.

Have a great and meaningful Memorial day weekend, y'all.

Don J.

Quick Pics - Lightning (Again)

2011-05-24T20:52:00.002-05:00

Yet another major thunderstorm and tornado warnings in the area. I can't imagine what the folks in Joplin, Alabama and elsewhere are feeling.

More lightning in my neighborhood... here are some bolts I caught before it got uncomfortable to be standing next to a lightning rod known as a tripod.

Early, with nice cloud forms and light.

And as it got darker, longer shutter open times meant more captures..

Saturday evening

2011-05-22T21:01:00.002-05:00

Got to take a few minutes to get some editing done.... but that was interrupted by some spectacular thunderstorm happening overhead. Most of the lightning was in the clouds, but I caught a few bolts from the front porch before blowing rain forced me back inside.

What am I editing? Photos of pure love, joy and unabashed cuteness...

Quick pic - hanging out with mom

2011-05-17T19:45:00.002-05:00

Took a few minutes to get some more couch photos today with young Joshua ... as is often the case, my favorite shot came in a candid moment.

Baby photo accessory #1 - Bumbo

2011-05-09T19:20:00.004-05:00

Disclaimers first ... not everyone is a fan of the Bumbo, and you have to take precautions that any baby in front of your lens does not take a dive onto a hard surface.

With that out of the way (and a little common sense), the nifty foam Bumbo seat is a very handy photo accessory. Luckily I was given one as a gift from a mom after a family photo shoot, but the $35 would be an easy spend for me. And if I could find one in black or white, I would probably buy a second. Maybe I will go with pink and blue eventually.

One baby photography problem is that they aren't very good at sitting up. The Bumbo does solve that problem as long as you are OK with having the seat in the shot.

Get in nice and close for a baby portrait without the chair.

And once the baby is set and happy, you can just shoot away and wait for some fun expressions and..... fun moments

And of course, there are the moments between the moments..

Of course you don't have to drag out a strobe to have fun... just some nice window light and a wide open aperture to take care of background clutter and you're done.

All of these photos were taken with the 50mm.

Don J.

Quick pics - Sleep deprivation

2011-05-03T16:22:00.006-05:00

It's all in the eyes... and in lots of messing around in Lightroom just for the fun of it.

Couch as baby posing spot...

2011-04-19T19:15:00.000-05:00

Even before the new addition to our household last week it was clear that a lot of my friends and family expected large quantities of photos. Many asked, "Are you going to take lots of pictures?"

Which I think was a rhetorical question because I take lots of pictures of much more mundane stuff than my own new baby.

What is remarkable is that simply having a new baby at home alters what was previously a good chunk of free time, sleep time and such, so actually setting up and taking photos is quite a task.

But we did need some baby pics so here you go. Couches make great baby photo spots, just drape a cloth on there and you have a nice seamless spot, black, white or otherwise. These are all taken with a single 500ws monolight turned way down low with a 2x2 softbox.

Softbox in close...

... can make the baby cranky. Turning on room lights to get their pupils closed a bit seems to help with the flash-shock.

Black background, moved the light up almost to the ceiling (about 10')for a little bit harder light source. Black cloth gives good shadows..

I also tried the softbox down at eye level, just so-so on the look though. Maybe if it was more to the right, toward the top of his noggin.

OK, so get yourself a baby and start shooting! Just be flexible, patient, and prepared with fresh diapers.

Don J.

Quick Pic - Lightning in Dallas

2011-04-14T23:53:00.003-05:00

Our room in the new-baby section at Methodist Hospital in Dallas has a great view of the Dallas central business district, so when a nice spring thunderstorm rolled through, it made a great first shared photo experience for me with our new baby Joshua.

Missed a lot as always with lightning, but you have to take advantage of unique photo opportunities, right?

And the results.. nice!

I had debated bringing the Gorillapod, assuming I would shoot most everything hand-held. I'm glad I did!

Don J.

Delivery room photography?

2011-04-13T13:34:00.002-05:00

Well, the day has finally come ... the day for my lovely wife to have our first child... how awesome is that!?

So, as a photog, I've been pondering about what camera and tech gear to bring to the hospital with us... here is what I came up with.

Laptop- Wifi in the hospital is great.

Cameras-
1D & 5D - justified 1D in my head because not sure how much light we will have to work with, also capturing some video.
SD4000- pocket cam for walking around the hospital and video capture.

Lenses- 14mm, 50mm, 24-70 zoom. - 14mm is sitting on the 5D to get an 'around the room' view.

card reader, audio recorder, gorillapod, etc.

Is it overkill? Probably. Don't really need two DSLRs, but they are much different in what look you get with the different lenses. Is it so much that I will lose photos switching between? I don't thinks so, because during the key moments, it will be the 1D/50mm or 24-70 combo and the rest will just be for details and video at random.

Anyway, what would you take? It is a very unique shooting situation, looking forward to the results. And the baby, of course!

Don J.

Insurance Shots - Pitchers

2011-04-11T13:30:00.001-05:00

When you are covering events photographically, especially for a news outlet, getting a decent photo is part of the job. Of course you want a great defining moment of the game or peak action, but you have to have something, so usually it is wise to get something quick and safe as 'Insurance' before trying crazy things that may not work out.

In baseball or softball, the simple shot is the pitcher. Even if the rest of the game gives you nothing, the pitcher shot is always there. If you happen to have great evening light, even better, just find a cleanish background and you have a photo. The trick here is to catch a nice moment in the pitching motion or expression of effort.

Layering in some other background players or something can work nicely as well...

Given harsh, boring or otherwise unhelpful lighting and background situations, framing the pitcher with the batter works well. It generally takes a lot of shots to get this right given the narrow window of space and everyone moving during the process.

Once the natural light goes away, look at how the lights are playing on the pitcher's face. If you are lucky it will get under the cap and make a unique look. Lights at high school baseball stadiums is spotty and difficult, but unique if you play around with it.

Finally, a fun shot is using manual focus for a spot between the pitcher and the batter, with a high enough shutter speed to catch the ball as the focal point. Again, it takes a lot of shots to get one good one.

Taking light away

2011-04-09T10:55:00.003-05:00

Adding light to any situation is fun. Pop a reflector or flash and boring light turns into fun light. Learning to mix existing and added light to get a look that you want is challenging and fun, so that seems to be what I do a lot of.

Over the last year or so, especially working for the newspaper, I have leaned more heavily on using existing light and finding ways to take light away to create contrast. This is called subtractive lighting...

Here is a practical application.

A few weeks ago at the Dallas Arboretum we had a nice overcast sky. The color from the flowers was really popping and there was lots of light (and photographers) everywhere.

This is all fine and good for snapshots, but with so much light from so many directions, the light gets flat and funky.
My lovely wife is beautiful and pregnant, and not flattered by this light.

And this is why many reflectors have a black side. So that you can remove light from one side to get definition.

Of course, this was a pleasure trip, so I brought only one camera, one lens and no reflector. What to do? Find another location that naturally blocks light.

The Arboretum has some "Fairytale Castles", including the one with deep window sections. Voila. Compare with the other picture.. the light highlights her face and adds dimension.

Here is another one... in this case a cloudy morning at an elementary school "Career Day" event. Again, in overcast outdoor light. However, when I put this sharp-dressed young man under an awning and close to a building, it was as if he was lit by a giant softbox to the left.

Looking for good light includes looking for ways and places to take away unwanted light. That can often be easier than adding light. And if you are shooting alone, there is a lot of freedom gained by not dragging out a light stand and a flash.

This is true for non-human subjects also by the way. Sometimes to get a nice look, you have to look at where to remove light to get some shadows and definition.

Don J.

A fair affair - The Bunnies

2011-04-07T19:19:00.004-05:00

The Kaufman County Fair / Junior Livestock Show is all kinds of fun. Unfortunately this year I did not get to spend much time there taking photos.

One thing I caught that I had not seen before was rabbit judging. And of course, it doesn't get any cuter than bunnies, right?

I tried for an interesting shot of this girl and her dad watching as the judge checked out her rabbits, but it just wasn't working. 14mm on the 5D was just too wide to bring in the judge.

From the side though, it was a nicer moment when the girl came up and looked over the cages and the judge wiped his brow.

And this little guy was just looking for a way off of the table alltogether.

Finally, my favorite shot from the event was not at the rabbits...... instead this lovely cow made my day.

Baby Joshua is due Saturday. Pray for me :-)

Don J.

Track attack

2011-04-01T21:21:00.004-05:00

High school track season is in full swing. Aside from the incredible frustration of waiting for particular participants that you want to cover and missing events because different things are going on at the same time, it is really a lot of fun photographically.

If you aren't looking for particular team members, there is a chance at repeated action in the same place, which gives you a chance to try different things and different looks in a short time frame.

With great access for photogs and the kids going all out to do well, good photos are everywhere you look.

Finding a good background can be difficult, so sometimes it is just best to shorten the depth of field (low aperture #) and get in tight.

Sometimes if the background is other participants, the blurred out people can add a little to the photo...

Go low, low, low and the sky makes a nice background. Of course, in some harsh daylight, you may need to watch the shadows.

Or find the sports that get way above like pole vault.

But sometimes the distracting, busy background is just there and there isn't much to do about it.

Finally, if you get some broken-cloud blue sky, use it for all its worth. A wide angle lens makes it all good, but you have to get very close to your subject. This is a full-frame camera (5D) with a 14mm, on the ground and about 6" from the edge of the long-jump landing pit.

Same thing, crazy wide angle for sky, sitting closer than I probably should... you have to watch out to make sure you aren't distracting athletes or getting hit by a piece of equipment.

Covering all of the bases

2011-03-23T10:49:00.005-05:00

One of the fun things of all the technology and photo sharing capability we have these days is seeing the shots other photogs get at the same events.

And, I must admit, it can get competitive. Not that it amounts to anything, but it keeps me, especially as the newspaper guy, on my toes and looking for good shots. It also lets me know when I am not on my "A" game :-).

Case in point, baseball last night as Terrell travelled to Forney. Jim over at Terrell Daily Photo was on hand and posted these shots...

Ah.. for me, not so good. The curse of really good and fast autofocus is that if you get off your mark, the grass makes a great focus target.

And, if you focus on the opposing team's player, well.. your guys are just fuzzy. This has to be within a millisecond of Jim's shot... makes it fun to go back and forth between the two for the different perspectives.

OK, enough of that. It has been nice now that with Daylight Saving time in effect. The games start in beautiful evening sunlight, so the first two innings are great.

Here is about the best I could take advantage of it on an off day.
Bouncing one off of the dirt..

.. and a reach for the out at first base.

Don J.

They grow up so fast!

2011-03-21T16:17:00.004-05:00

One fun thing about taking kid pictures is seeing them grow up in photos.

For example.. near the end of April last year I had this young man in front of the lens, and already he was quite a model. At this point he was just a crawler.

He happened to be here last week and I grabbed a few quick photos... time does fly. Now he enjoyed running around the studio space.

With our first baby due in about three weeks, it will be fun to share pictures, techniques and kid photo ideas here on the blog. Which is to give fair warning... there will be a lot of baby photos on the blog for the next couple of years!

Don J.

Mooned part 2

2011-03-20T21:01:00.003-05:00

Soooo... the lovely wife was gracious enough to join me for some moon watching on Saturday. As I was going to find a bridge to observe from, but a place with water seemed like a better idea. (That is true of a lot of photography... water makes photos more interesting in almost any situation.)

The longest lens I had at home was a 70-200mm zoom, so there would be no real astro-photography going on. It was more of a date, and looking for some shot other than just the moon.

The moon did rise dramatically enough.. caught it with some brush in front.. not much to it except finding an exposure and ISO that worked. (this is a very small crop of the frame)

Once the moon was high enough, the reflection became more interesting than the moon itself. This is also heavily boosted in Lightroom to get some neat shadow detail.

This one is closer to what it looked like, also getting down close to the water with the camera.

After that, the ADD kicked, so I started playing with slow shutter speeds and the moving water (it was quite windy). This is 1.6 seconds open shutter.

Even slower, 4 seconds, little different processing in LR3

OK, I hope everyone had a great weekend.

For some really nice supermoon shots, check this entry in the Flickr blog... amazing stuff there.

Don J.

Mooned

2011-03-18T22:50:00.002-05:00

Look out everyone, tomorrow is Supermoon!

Just in case we have clouds, I got this shot tonight. Looks like it might be time to get a telescope and camera converter to really get into the details. This is only at 200mm on the 1D, equiv to about 260mm on 35mm full frame.

Morning trip to the arboretum planned for tomorrow... that is always a fun, photogenic place to shoot.

Have a great weekend,

Don J.

Waiting

2011-03-16T13:51:00.003-05:00

There are many times when being stuck in one place can help you find interesting photos.

To get inside the fence at our softball field, you are pretty much stuck inside the dugout. The one convenient 'door' is fine to shoot out of, although the view is often blocked by an umpire or first-base coach.

But if you sit in one spot long enough, secondary pictures start to jump out at you, like this one of the coach sitting in the other dugout opening, making expressions as the game progressed.

There were claps of encouragement, but as the score went the wrong direction, a more telling picture was there for the taking...

Or maybe it was just a headache?

Either way, when you get stuck in a spot, look around for the less-obvious photos. Get a different angle or start to look past the main subjects for graphic elements, colors, shadows, lines... whatever grabs your eye.

Don J.

Quick Pic - Hoops for Heart

2011-03-15T08:54:00.004-05:00

Some teachers really go all out for the Hoops for Heart fundraiser at Long Elementary.

And, while I often mention watching the background for better pictures, this colorful addition was completely by accident. I was trying to get him without people or obstructions, but color can be just as problematic (or helpful) if you aren't careful.

Happy Tuesday everyone,

don j

Butterflies

2011-03-13T23:47:00.003-05:00

Photographing birds in flight with long lenses is hard to do well, but I think I have found something harder... capturing flying butterflies.

It is easy enough to get them enjoying a snack in the Jasmine...

But once they take off, they are out of the depth-of-field for the focus spot you just had...

I still had better luck using single-shot focusing rather than continuous tracking because of the erratic flight, but in general, the little fliers were at least partially out of focus before I could react with a shot.

Our back yard is abuzz with the sights, smells and photo opportunities of spring thanks to Mrs. Easttexasphoto's tireless gardening efforts. Be sure to look around at the emerging springtime and look for the amazing creation awaiting your artistic interpretation!

Don J.

Quick Pic - Jump into spring break

2011-03-11T09:22:00.001-06:00

Have an excellent weekend, everyone!

Quick Pic - Cliff

2011-03-04T17:06:00.003-06:00

Former Tribune sports editor Cliff Gibson stopped by to say hello and stepped in to be a model for testing a light setup... Thanks Cliff.

Lighting is a single monolight (elinchrom 400bx) with a 10 degree grid slightly behind camera right for the spotlight shadow.

Portrait - Extreme Horseman

2011-02-24T20:30:00.003-06:00

Check out Sunday's Tribune will have a profile of a local horseman who has quite a resume in the movie business... Thomas Bentley.

He spends his time training horses for movie roles and training people to ride horses, among other talents.

The afternoon was bright, harsh sun, but Bentley's barn had plenty of nice big open doors to let in really nice light, even under that black hat.

Don J.

Track Silhouettes

2011-02-22T17:54:00.004-06:00

Terrell's practice track is adjacent to the softball field, and up a hill. When I looked up and saw how the sun was beaming through the clouds and silhouetting the runners, softball looked much less interesting and I went for a walk.

Then it was just time to play with timing, perspective and framing. Since running around the track can be a really boring shot, silhouettes are often one way to get something interesting out of it. Of course, that can also be overdone. I think in this case, the sky becomes the subject of the photo, and the foreground elements just give it a moment in time.

Of course, it is also a good reminder to be prepared for things other than what you thought you'd be shooting. If I had only brought the 70-200 and 300 lenses, I would have been kicking myself.

DJ

Quick Pic - French Fry?

2011-02-18T17:46:00.002-06:00

This youngest of baseball fans did not seem all that pleased with her french fries at the Terrell vs Desoto scrimmage Friday afternoon.

Quick Pic - The Word

2011-02-17T11:34:00.002-06:00

Took some quick pics of our youth pastor and his Bible... Aaron is one of those guys that gives me hope about the next generation of leaders, church and otherwise.

When in doubt, a big computer screen makes a nice little softbox.

Don J.

Quick Pics - Bass Man

2011-02-15T09:16:00.002-06:00

Let's hear it for the bass man. This guy didn't get any solos or glory, but he was really good all night.

As in life, without a solid foundation, all of the stuff on top would fall flat.

Don J.

Quick Pic - Fire Call

2011-02-11T16:54:00.002-06:00

Remember it is all temporary, folks....

Have a great (and fire-safe) weekend!

Don J.

Quick pics - eyes on the ball

2011-02-09T12:41:00.005-06:00

Baseball batting practice is a great chance to get some photo practice as well, and a unique perspective that you can't get during the game without a monster lens and a center field seat.

Almost ball-on-bat.

Stay warm everybody,

Don J.

Quick Pic - Blocked out

2011-02-07T22:30:00.004-06:00

Some days the best shot seems like it will never happen.

We had a rare Monday night basketball game in a week that will be full of makeup games from last week's snow-and-ice festival.

The shot after this one, for instance, would have been nice.

Some of the others made me happier.. not bad for shooting only one quarter.

When not strobing, my new favorite basketball lens is the EF 85mm f1.8 by the way. Gets close enough to shoot from the corners, but under the basket is still workable.

Quick Pics - Snow day

2011-02-04T15:06:00.004-06:00

Terrell Library Asst. Director Mr. T was nice enough to help push my truck through the slick parking lot after standing out in the cold for a picture.

I-20, my preferred route to work, has been turned into a milder version of "Ice Road Truckers."

Equine friends are always fun to take pictures of, but these weren't all that excited about the cold and snow.

dj

Quick Pic - Model of the day

2011-02-01T11:18:00.002-06:00

Model of the day today (in addition to cars on ice) is the Tribune Cute Baby Photo contest winner...

He will be featured in Thursday's paper.. cool kid!

Quick Pics- baby on the way

2011-01-31T16:03:00.003-06:00

Finally settled down to take some pictures of the lovely wife and Joshua, due April 9... Life is good.

Light is an Elinchrom Bxri 500 in a 3x4 softbox.

1DmkIV, ef 85mm f1.8

Quick Pic - Waiting for Summer

2011-01-27T13:11:00.004-06:00

I was out at Sky Ranch in Van, Texas this morning getting some shots of local fifth-graders learning science in the woods. With the beautiful weather it was hard to leave. The wife and I did not do any camping in 2010. Definitely should make that happen in 2011, baby and all.

Quick Pics - All in a day's work

2011-01-18T15:38:00.002-06:00

Working for the Tribune over the last year has been great for many reasons, but sheer variety of work has been great as a person with a short attention span.

The last 25 hours has been a pretty good example of that...

Yesterday's fun included a bunch of Girl Scouts visiting the office for a cookie tasting feature...

In the evening, there was a program honoring Dr. Martin Luther King at the school. Lots of good photo ops at that, but my favorite all involved the praise dancers. They are so expressive, it was hard to pick which one to look at through the camera.

On the way out the door, one of the TISD police officers told me about a call regarding a 'bad accident' on one of the highways out of town. Someone's horses had escaped to the roadway and it really made a mess of a full size Chevy truck. I think this gentleman is probably counting his blessings that he was not severely injured.

This morning, I took some photos of a wallet that my dad made so that we can use the texture and stitching as part of a business directory cover...

For the afternoon, a quick corporate portrait for a local executive...

Still to come, a school board meeting. That is always exciting.

If you have any desire to get better at a wide variety of photography very quickly, go work for small newspaper.

Don J.

Quick Pic - Sand ceremony

2011-01-11T23:47:00.003-06:00

Nikki and Mark's wedding was the first time I had seen a 'sand ceremony,' which was a neat twist on a unity candle etc. Since both have children, it was a cool way to include them in the ceremony as well.

The table was set back in a corner (not much room in the chapel) so they granted me permission to place a remote camera back there. It worked out pretty well. Luckily there was a light on the wall directly to camera left, but it was still pretty dark as you can see by the noise in the image.

Quick Pic - Basketball with Strobes

2011-01-11T23:15:00.003-06:00

Finally dragged out the big lights for some basketball this evening. I still need to work on placement and whatnot, but it definitely makes for more interesting photos. Not every game, but there will be more of this.

There are downsides too, but I will do a better blog on the experience soon.

Don J.

Quick pic - The problem with mirrors

2011-01-08T17:44:00.002-06:00

Mirror shots are a must for the 'getting ready' pictures at a wedding, but getting a good one depends on all kinds of variables..

I liked the light and expression on the father of the bride as he prepped for the ceremony...

Of course when I finally got a perfect gesture, my bald head and camera are in the mirror too!

Don J.

Quick Pic - Wedding Sparklers

2011-01-08T00:40:00.003-06:00

If you are going to have a night-time wedding, definitely go out with sparklers.

Tonight was the first time I've seen a couple do that, and it was very cool. I was not all that pleased with the shots for the night until then, but when I got to the end of the row and the Father of the Bride was still waving his sparkler around, I knew I could go home on a high note.

Have a great weekend everybody,

Don J.

Victorian House in Kaufman

2011-01-06T20:55:00.005-06:00

Had a rehearsal this evening for a wedding tomorrow night at the Victorian House in Kaufman, which was a lot of fun. Like any venue, this space offers its own unique challenges. Nice wooden ceilings eat up light and a large set of windows can be problematic with both reflections and light from outside.

The inside lighting is almost entirely from wall fixtures and isn't very bright, but as a whole it is useable, even light.

Just after sunset, with incandescent white balance for the indoor lights, it is a really nice effect because the windows are a cool blue.

As you can see, the reflections are just there. Careful shooting should take care of some of that but there is not very much room to move around, especially when you add people. Seating capacity is supposed to be 250, but it feels smaller (cozy if you prefer) with only a center aisle.

After the sunlight goes away entirely, the picture changes quite a bit, with some sort of street light just behind the center window.

Here is the view from the front looking back. Note that the entry lighting is compact fluorescent bulbs so it will take correction or custom white balance for that area.

In case you are wondering, from the right angle those windows make big, beautiful softbox light during the daytime.

Of course from where you would have to be during a wedding, they make a big wall of light directly behind your subjects.

I did wander around a little bit outside before the light went away entirely, and I think this place would be great for a dusk outdoor wedding if the weather was nice.

And looking up makes a fun artsy shot... (still on incandescent white balance gives the crazy blue sky).

The people who run the place were very helpful and accommodating. The reception hall also has a very nice look. I look forward to seeing what images come out of the ceremony tomorrow night.

Don J.

Farkle

2011-01-03T20:29:00.002-06:00

I hope everyone has started off the new year well. Here is a quick pic from one of our holiday festivities ... we played farkle while celebrating dad-in-law's birthday.

I'm not one for new year resolutions, but if you are, I hope some of them are photography related. Take more photos, organize the ones you have or learn more about your camera... it's all good.

Happy 2011!

Don J.

Santa letter section cover

2010-12-21T08:51:00.003-06:00

It is Santa letter time at newspapers across the nation, and of course we needed some fun cover art for the special section.

Our super-awesome graphic artist Jan is always up for a creative challenge, so I took some shots of my wife's favorite holiday decoration... a whimsical flying santa figure. Collaborating with other creative people is one of the most fun and gratifying things in this line of work.

I first shot Santa a few years ago and used him on some Christmas cards. It was when I had first discovered Strobist and was playing with off-camera lighting. In this case a pair of cheap clamp-lamps.

After mocking up a cover, this pic was just too dark and flat, so I did a quick re-shoot. I wanted to keep the head-on angle but add a shadow of Santa below him for some depth. Also, I have more light toys now, so it was a chance to play.

First up, the Santa is on a dark wooden base, so creating the shadow in the right spot was an issue. Even with the plan of cutting out the base, the shadow fell too far to one side for the look we wanted.

Creating the shadow is an Elinchrom bxri500 monolight with a 10 degree grid all the way up at the 9' ceiling. The key light on Santa is the same light with a 20 degree grid up close.

To get the shadow in the right place, I poked the stand through the paper... Also, I did not have enough flagging material or time to get everything perfect in one shot (and it was being 'shopped anyway) so I turned off the key light for a good shadow exposure..

Turned the key back on for an exposure of Santa himself.. The overhead is still on as well. If not, the shadow looks very out of place when you put the two shots together.

Jan chose to use a more processed version of Santa and put it all together to make our cover..

That is just a screen shot of the Indesign doc, but you get the idea. I look forward to seeing the final version on big newsprint.

Don J.

Remotely functional

2010-12-20T21:08:00.005-06:00

I have used Pocket Wizard remotes with some success in the past, generally at stage events where I can prefocus and know pretty much what I will get.

After seeing this photo I decided to go ahead and break out the remote for basketball.

The fun thing is having two perspectives of almost the same moment of the game...

Here is the view from my handheld camera with the 70-200..

And the remote set up under the basket..

That is all fine and good, but setting up is a real hassle, so you have to be prepared for that. I was using a big gorillapod with no tripod head, so getting the camera pointed where I wanted it was somewhat time consuming.

You must pre-focus the camera and settle for what you can get. And if you leave it on autofocus (which I did after changing lenses above) the camera may or may not focus where the action is. In this case, It was happily focused on the back wall for the last quarter of the game. Details Details....

Finally, with the remote set and firing, you also have to be careful not to ruin your own backgrounds.... Like this.

Have a great week, and Merry Christmas all around,

Don J.

Quick Pic - Cows on parade

2010-12-18T11:32:00.002-06:00

My favorite catch from Terrell FFA's show today... More pics over at the Tribune blog.

Quick Pic - Sunset Drive

2010-12-17T23:45:00.005-06:00

Operating a camera while driving a vehicle is not recommended.

Foreground elements almost always make a photo more interesting. As beautiful as the sunset is by itself, there is more to see and more context of place when you include something about your environment.

This shot makes a statement about so many things... including the simple fact that there are so many things blocking the beautiful sunset view.

I had high hopes for catching trucks in the sunset, but the height of my dash meant that the vehicles on the other side just blend into the horizon. A real photographer would have stopped at a nice spot to silhouette the vehicles into that sky. Or something like that.

Have a great weekend everyone... go take some great photos!

Don J.

Quick Pic - Basketball with a 300

2010-12-09T18:06:00.002-06:00

Sometimes it really is the camera.

The nice thing about having a newer camera with really good high-ISO performance is being able to use my 300mm F4 lens for basketball, and without a flash. It is still grainy, but retains enough detail at ISO 5000 for decent shots from up in the bleachers or from the opposite end of the court.

Of course, if anyone wants to send me a 300mm F2.8...

Don J.

Clowning Around

2010-12-05T20:29:00.003-06:00

Part of getting good pictures is finding good subjects. People with interesting stories or unique lives tend to be great subjects, as was the case with Kenny Petet last month. While in college for a business degree he found himself in the rodeo arena and loving it. The rest is history. Now Kenny works as a bullfighter, rodeo clown and entertainer with his company at www.westernentertainment.org.

I set up before Kenny arrived with both white and black backgrounds, one large and one small softboxes, one light with a grid and another in a straight reflector.

I liked the look with the big softbox close in front and gridded light opposite behind to define the hat.

Same setup, looking into the camera ... my favorite of the shoot.

Then it was time to get out the makeup and bull barrel...

I cannot imagine trying to get into one of these things with a bull charging at it. Apparently if you don't get in all of the way, it can be very bad news. Like break you in half bad news.

The barrel was covered with metallic duct tape... kind of distracting with the lights, and we did not have time to finesse the light so much...

And this was probably my favorite with the 'uniform' on..

Is it December already? Why yes...

Please feel free to come by my new blog about becoming a dad over at www.learntodad.blogspot.com ... baby is due in April and I have a lot to learn!

Don J.

Quick Pic - Shadows and such

2010-12-01T22:28:00.004-06:00

Shadows and silhouettes are fun because they always draw the eye for a split second. There is something about human form that already grabs us, then when we can't readily see detail, we look a bit longer.

Of course, I'm still playing with perspectives and this one is fun for that.

The right way looks more like this... and hurts my head less.

Hometown photo spot-Fall color in the cemetery

2010-11-23T13:01:00.004-06:00

With the oaks, maples and crape myrtles (and trees with names I don't know) turning all sorts of fall colors, it is hard not to want to get some pictures.

A normal place to check out would be the local park, which is great, but you may also want to check the oldest cemeteries in your area. They are usually peaceful and quiet, well-kept, and a photo with a headstone is generally more interesting than one without (even a poorly composed photo as below).

Some things to think about...

Look for contrast. Find a spot where you can photograph some brightly lit leaves against a dark, shady background. This will make the colors pop and keep the viewer's eye on the pretty parts...

Also, contrasting colors work great. Find a spot where the color of one tree contrasts the one in the background...

Go on a blue-sky day and the background takes care of itself...

Finally... these photos are from a five-minute drive through the Oakland Memorial Park in Terrell. It would be much better to park the car and walk around. You will no doubt find some great detail shots of leaves on memorial markers, interesting tomb stones or color combinations that you would miss from the road.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Don J.

Quick Pic - Perspective

2010-11-15T10:21:00.002-06:00

In life, as in photography, sometimes it works wonders to take a step back and change your perspective a little bit.

Don J.

KCHC Christmas Card Fundraiser

2010-11-04T18:37:00.002-05:00

These are the card choices for Sunday's Kaufman Christian Help Center Christmas Card Fundraiser...

If you are available from 2-5 p.m. on Sunday (Nov. 7), come get some cards made.. the sitting fee is only $15, all of which is going to KCHC.

Call the Help Center for a time slot... (972)932-8866 or stop by and we will make it happen.

Yes, I reused some photos from the FBC directory to make the demos, thanks friends.

FBC Fall Festival Quick Pics

2010-10-31T23:10:00.007-05:00

It is Halloween again, and once again it was time to play with some lighting tricks in the photo booth. Events like this, where hundreds of people are filing through, provide great opportunities to try new things with real pressure. ( last year's results)

For 2010 I decided to get a ringlight, which I had not used before. Dallas Camera's Alien Bees AB800 was out of commission so I got upgraded a Profoto Acute 1200 ringlight setup. Very cool, although I really need to spend more time with a ring to play with ratios and such.

First things first.... as you might expect, in a poorly lit room (big pupils) the ringlight is a red-eye monster. I should have expected that. Other than that (and needing more experience with it) it was a lot of fun.

The rim/separation light is two gridded Elinchrom bxri500 monolights.

Here are some pics

One of my favorites... a very sad clown

Buzz and Woody

There were lots of witches, but this one had a great expression and eyes for the costume.

The Profoto ringlight is light and nimble enough to pull it off of the tripod from time to time.. like when kids are crawling around on the ground... fun stuff.

There is no place like home...

There were lots of Star Wars folks, but this guy is intense. And he has cool light sabers.

Have a good week out there,

Don J.

Cross Country is fun (and exhausting)

2010-10-16T23:35:00.005-05:00

I made it over to Samuell Farm in Mesquite for a high school cross country race this morning. While I don't know how this spot rates for runners, it was a lot of fun as a photographer. It was a big meet with lots of schools present, and the weather was perfect.

If anybody wants to know how I approach finding photo spots and the thought process for that, here is a quick run-through of the event.

Initially, I went to the starting line. Cross country starts are boring affairs, and this one had a freeway for a background. A little slow shutter panning made the photos look as jumbled as the real thing... this is 1/25 of a second.

Even with intentionally blurry shots, you need a focal point that is sharp. I was tracking the ladies from Rockwall Heath in the red uniforms.

I was happy to see Marcos Quintana and Andre Leighton shooting the event. They were helpful in showing me around the course a bit, thanks guys.

Closer to the finish, there were a series of loops that went out and came back to the middle of the property, giving opportunities to catch the runners at several spots without too much trouble.

First up, the runners coming into the nice early morning light... but terribly busy background with all of the team tents.

Looking left from there a nice old barn with a Texas flag had possibilities as a nice background, but it put the runners in spotty shade from trees. I like a few of the shots, but the lighting was just too inconsistent.

Shooting from closer to the course, the runners went through a nice bright spot with a shady tree background which I liked too, but it was hit or miss for runners getting into the light and me catching them there...

Just across the course, there was a low area that gave a good visual perspective without laying on the ground. From one angle, it was the runners coming around a corner and into the sunlight

And another angle looked through some trees, again with nice light. Just need to work on timing the runners in a good spot with more sky or something.

The finish was close by, and that is the place to go to get the emotional / drained / exhausted photos. I did not take any of those. Instead, I tried some slow-shutter stuff as the runners sprinted to the end. Next time I may spend time trying to catch the exhaustion in pictures.

The final races had no Terrell runners, so I started to wander around. At the far end of the course was a pond that the runners were going around. Reflections on the pond? Well, not exactly. The runners were on the pond dam about five feet above the water line. I still like the idea, but I could not get it to look like the picture in my head.

Meanwhile, that also placed the runners right above me as they went by (with some strange looks). I wonder if the yellow weed flowers are producing the pollen that is killing my head?

On the way out of there, I saw a red barn that seemed like a good background prop. It probably could have been too, but the runners were facing out of the sun by this point. Also, it was the last race and I was getting tired and hungry, so maybe next time.

OK, so... find good light and nice backgrounds and the photos make themselves (sort of)...

Have a great week everybody,

Don J