One more thing ... Time-Lapse

See this ... artsy time-lapse shots created for the Conan O'Brien show..


Then some great how-to from the guy who made them..


An option for controlling your camera for time-lapse is the Trigger-Trap app and cable.  It is cheaper than the camera controllers from Canon or Nikon, with a lot more features for triggering your camera with sound, motion detection, WiFi etc.

Monday Photo Roundup - Jan. 21

Very often getting very close to an everyday object looks otherworldly.  As is the case with this ceramic pitcher.

And on the topic of exploring ... National Geographic is celebrating 125 years of existence.  This is a nice collection documenting the society's history.

Interesting personal projects do not have to be exotic, but unique is good.  How about faces on glass?  (via @ibarionex)

Tackling (photographically) whether the moon landing could have been faked ... and the deeper meaning of what is real and important in what we want to believe. (via @jdblundell)

Need some inspiration to do great and significant work in photography... check out the Framed awards nominees.  (on the other hand, it may also inspire feelings of inadequacy etc. :))  While you are there send a vote for Jeremy Cowart's Help Portrait project in the "Big F" category.

Also interesting in that is that they have some separate categories for film and digital.

I really 'need' to get a GoPro.  So many possibilities.


Send me a note if you want to read a blog post on some cheap and simple macro techniques for shots like this


or this


Texas Photogs don't forget, sales tax is due tomorrow :-/.

Have a great week.

Don J.

Friday Featured Photographer - Amy Lunceford a.k.a. Amylu

Throughout 2013, I plan to feature various east Texas photographers who catch my attention.

For the first installment ...  Amylu photography first caught my eye on Facebook sometime in early 2012.  From what I have seen, photographer Amy Lunceford, shows great consistency in finding good light, color and attention to small details in her images.

With four years under her belt doing photography professionally, Amy said her extensive background in the advertising world has been very helpful in developing as a photographer.

"After 15 years in advertising I found myself stepping back and leaving the creative world professionally serving other clients," she said.  "I began focusing on my love for photography and with abundant blessings, incredible support and a fire to continually improve I found that Amylu was born and thriving before I really think I realized what was happening.  It just became a natural part of who I am.  Now I am back in advertising and still focusing on Amylu which is a creative dream marriage for me."

Family photography is a competitive world these days.  To set herself apart, Amy said that she strives to make her subjects feel more like her own family rather than clients or business associates.

"Amylu is VERY fun and laid back," she said.  "It is known that I 'shoot on the fly' a bit.  I see images as I shoot them and move through a shoot.  So there is no stuffy, stiff posed, formality going on.  A great deal of laughter, adventure and heart goes into my shoots.  I like my clients to leave feeling like family."

According to her website, Amy shoots primarily with available natural light.  Take a look through her galleries and you will note that she knows how to find good light and backgrounds.  Again, her history in advertising comes into play as she also emphasizes pre-visualizing the final image as she is shooting.
"I have worked with some amazing design talent nationally for my entire advertising career.  Access to that has given me an extremely strong love and appreciation for color, texture and the ability to relay a story and feeling in an image," she said.  "I feel it is my gift of seeing a shot as I shoot it just as I know I want the end edited image to appear to convey that moment in time that sets my work apart from others and defines my personal artistic voice."

As for gear.. a quick look at her images shows Amy's tendency toward fast lenses to get the super soft background bokeh.
"I am a prime girl," she said. "My bag is pretty simple. A Canon 5dMarkii and 50D as backup, 50L 1.2, 85mm 1.4, and when needed for specialty shoots I use the 24-70L and the 70-200 f/2.8, a Speedlight  580EXii."

Which goes to show (despite my best efforts to collect photo gear :) that more cameras isn't the key to success.
"I am a believer that it is all about using what you have to its fullest versus having mounds of lenses and toys," she said.


Follow along with Amylu on Facebook or her Blog.

Have a great weekend, it looks like great weather for making photos!

A little flash on the side?

A little bit of dramatic lighting can go a long way, especially when you are shooting outdoors or somewhere that studio-style lighting is unexpected.

This is straight out of the Strobist playbook...

With the setup of a hay bale, a beautiful young lady and one excellent mom/assistant we came up with some nice shots.

Equipment was simple ...
Canon Canon 430exII flash fired with Elinchrom Skyport radio triggers
Canon EOS 5D
and for the shot above, a 40" diffuser/reflector .

The flash is on a stand about 7' away to the right of the subject.  You can see by the shadows that it is overpowering the ambient light for a dramatic look.

Here is a wider shot showing the placement of the diffuser...


Here is another pose with the same setup.  Adding the flash allowed the sky to be darker, although with some low clouds, it wasn't as dramatic as I would have liked.

Monday Photo Roundup - Jan. 14

Happy New Year everybody.  I hope that you have had a great Christmas holiday season and that your 2013 is off to a great start.

Around the Johnson household we had guests for good portions of the last month.  That means test models for new lights and such, including my niece, above.  New additions include a ring flash, mobile battery power for strobes and a few other goodies.  Wherever you need studio-lit photos, we can do that.

I like Norman Rockwell's art, so I liked this collection of photos he used in the creation of his work.

Old meets new ... the marriage of an old Speed Graphic 4x5 camera and a Fuji digital mirrorless camera.

Interesting post by photographer Chris Crisman about failure. (via @davehillphoto)

Being a second-shooter includes the fun part of actual photography without the post-processing and marketing (or credit :).  Here is some help in being good at it so that you will get called again.

And, while  on that subject, there is a whole website dedicated to second-shooters.  I added myself to their list but without any results so far.

Ahh, the value of photographs as propaganda.  It happens everywhere, but North Korean dictators have it down to an art form :)

Actually, Russia's Vladimir Putin is probably tops in the political photo-op management business.

Meanwhile in the US, political photos get scrutinized and critiqued from every angle,  especially if it looks like image manipulation.


Finally, cooperative photo subjects are great, and when they let you experiment a bit, even better.  After getting some sunset photos with this cool character, he let me try something a little different...


Have a great week,

Don J.