Over the last month, I've been steadily working towards a site update that was pretty significant. Most of which was focused around the photography sections. Taking pictures every day is the easy part. Figuring out how to display them properly and professionally, well, therein lies the challenge. New galleries have been put up and organized a little bit better, with the addition of slideshows as well. Now, you don't have to keep clicking on thumbnail previews. You can just sit back and watch each image transition. The pricing for prints has been added to the contact section of this site too. I don't think I'm too over-priced on my photography, as I think great images should be affordable to everyone.
Last month, I was asked to design a t-shirt for one of our local teams participating in Relay for Life here at Notre Dame. I was honored to be a part of this, as I have my own history with cancer itself. The link for our local team can be found here. A few of my photos will also be included in the auction at the event.
I know from personal experience that these kind of events do benefit the local charities and organizations that help people battling treatment for the disease. It's a great cause and is truly appreciated by those who need it. Even if you don't participate in the relay, make the effort to donate even a few dollars. Every little bit helps.
Tell them that Jonathon Rose guy sent you, and that he takes pretty pictures. :)
I couldn't narrow my list down to just 10 photos. So I made it 'Best 11.' Originally, I wanted to do a video slideshow of this with some good background music, and I still may, but I also wanted to be able to share the stories from behind the lens of each of these photos. So for now, a blog post will have to suffice. The photography section of this site as well as the slideshow on the home page has all been updated. With that said, let's get on with it!
This shot was taken right outside of Gatlinburg Tennessee. While vacationing there in August, a friend of mine took me to an area that was accessible from the mountain-side roads along the river one day. I've always wanted one of those silky, smooth flowing water photos. We found the spot, set up my tripod and took the shot. The scariest part was keeping one eye on the traffic coming down the winding roads there, and one eye on where I was stepping, as it was both close to the cliff-side, and the edge of the road. Special thanks to Adam for his patience and watching my back.
This photo actually came from the same week as the one above. Roaming around Gatlinburg, my sister and my friends Matt and Jess wandered into the distillery they have there. Inside, to the right of where the bar was, was this scene. My sister was in line in front of me trying the moonshine there (which, oh man...you ever try their White Lightning Moonshine...that'll put hair on your chest), at which time, I looked back to my right and snapped this photo. I didn't realize what I had taken at the time, because as soon as the shutter clicked, my sister called my name and I turned away to try the moonshine with her. It wasn't until that night when I got back to the cabin, downloaded my photos and found this gem. It became a family favorite.
This shot was taken of Nicole at her wedding in February '11. I was the backup photographer to my buddy Kiely Carlson. We did Nicole's and Scott's wedding/family portrait photos outside in the bitter cold at the Valle Vista Conference Center, in Greenwood Indiana, which is just outside of Indianapolis. The sun was setting and Nicole was off to the side patiently waiting for the other family members to finish their photo sessions, when I took this shot of her. Special thanks to Nicole, Scott and all of her family who froze their butts off with us outside that day.
In June '11, Kiely and I reunited for another wedding shoot. This time around, the wedding was in the Indianapolis Botanical Gardens, just next to where the Zoo is. The gardens there were absolutely beautiful. A photog's paradise, really. After the ceremony, Ryan and Julie walked with us around the complex, shooting in different areas. This shot was actually taken from a long ways away, with a 300mm lens. Kiely and I were perched atop a small hill in the gardens, when Ryan picked up Julie in front of the pond that separated us, and kissed her. Thankfully, I was paying attention, quickly zoomed in and was able to make the shot.
This shot was taken at the same wedding for Ryan and Julie near one of the entrances to the gardens during their ceremony. Kiely was shooting down the isle straight on the ceremony at this point, and I was meandering around, shooting what I could at the same time. If you look close at what the child is looking at, the stone inscription reads 'Wedding Gardens.' I rounded a corner and noticed a child squatting there studying it. I believe the gentleman standing in front of him was his father.
This bridge goes over a river along side Riverside Drive in South Bend. I've driven by this bridge a thousand times, so finally, after work one day, I stopped and started shooting. My wife actually chose this photo to be a part of the list. It's a neat looking bridge from nearly every angle. I may go back again one day.
In the Fall of last year, the my whole family got together for a some family portraits at Leeper Park in South Bend. At one point, in between things, my brother Justin hoisted his son Ryan up on his shoulders, at which time Ryan grinned happily and started patting his father on the head. Luckily, I was in the right place at the right time to capture this shot of them. Ended up being a favorite of the year for us.
I have two people I owe this shot to. First, to Alex who was kind of enough and patient enough to take me inside some of the more hidden areas in the Performing Arts Center on Notre Dame's campus. This shot was taken from the 2nd floor balcony, looking out toward the magnificent organ they have inside the Organ Hall. And secondly, I'd like to thank my sister, Jen for setting me on this journey to begin with. In December of last year, she made a comment about enjoying a Notre Dame photo theme that I had going for a while. It's because of that comment that I started searching for more interesting places to shoot around campus. When we were setting up for this shot, there was a woman playing the organ in there. Even to me and my impaired ears, it was very loud in there, and the visceral, mighty sound of that organ will never be forgotten.
The story from this shot actually came from an idea that my wife Katie had. In nearly every photo I have of my wife, she's always smiling. She and her family are extremely photo-genic and the camera just loves to be around them. So, the challenge was presented: embrace my wife's idea with this photo, and capture her NOT blatantly smiling. Trust me, this is no easy feat. I love this shot, simply because you can't quite tell what it is she's telling you with this look. It's mysterious, and it makes me nervous. It's a look of approval and disapproval at the same time. It's a look I see a lot, actually. I love it when a photo can do that to you.
Every person has a photo idea of something want to have some day. In the long list that resides in my head, I've always wanted to take a shot of a city-scape or something similar where the car headlights are streaking and almost have a sort of laser quality to them. This is known as 'dragging the shutter.' It's essentially a long exposure. You set up on a tripod, and set your camera up accordingly. In this case, 3-4 seconds for the exposure captured the light streaks from the cars entering and exiting, but kept the building and un-moving objects in the background in focus. This shot was taken in Green Bay, Wisconsin at a beautiful movie theater, called Marcus Cinemas.
This shot is probably my favorite of the year. Building off of the Notre Dame theme I had going, I walked into the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on campus one day and captured this. At the entrance, there's a large holy water basin that resides at the center of the isle. The water in the basin reflects the surrounding lights perfectly. Unfortunately, I walked into the church without my tripod, out of caution not to draw too much attention to myself. Instead, I rested my camera on the basin and took the shot. The planets aligned, and somehow I came away with a brilliant shot that wasn't a blurry mess. I was scared to death that my camera was going to baptize itself in the basin though.
As 2011 comes to a close, it goes down as a good productive year for me, in terms of growth, knowledge and even some business. To find what I'm up to almost daily, visit www.facebook.com/jonathonlt1. I'm also on Google+ here. Thank you to all my visitors and family who have helped in some way make all these great photos a reality for me. Keep shooting and enjoying your photos. Because at the end of the day, the best camera you can have, is the one that's with you.
My interest in photography began when we received our wedding photos back for the first time, over 6 years ago now. I've talked about that before. Since that time, I wanted to pursue it more and develop a skill in it. The problem was having the time to do that. I already worked full-time as a graphic designer and part-time as an illustrator. Unless I was willing to give up sleep, photography, then, didn't fit into my life. There just wasn't room.
Winter 2009 - The News No One Wants to Hear I was diagnosed with Leukemia (ALL) in January of that year. Over the months that followed, treatment ensued, and I wasn't able to return to work for 9 months. The radiation and chemo had stolen my ability to draw, write, and accomplish simple tasks. There were days that I couldn't even button my own shirts, let alone draw something with my numb, tingling hands. It was depressing to have something you were good at your entire life be stripped away. Even after returning to work, my ability to draw the way I used to, hadn't returned yet. I needed another avenue for venting my creativity. It became clear that learning about photography was now or never. So, I did what any husband would normally do - I turned to my wife and said, 'I want to do this, and I need you to help me.' And she did. My wife has this incredible ability that's both mesmerizing and maddening in the same sentence. I'll go to her with an idea that I think is fabulous and she'll say, 'well, that's cool...now take that, plus this, and THIS, and do that instead.' And you walk away thinking, how the hell does she do that? My neurons just don't fire that way.
Christmas 2009 - A Surprising Gift
I was pretty sure I was getting my Nikon that I currently use that year as a gift. What I didn't know, was what would accompany it. As my wife knows, if you give me the tools and the means necessary to do a job, I'll get it done, on time, and to the best of my ability. In addition to the camera, she got me a book. She said, 'I've talked to a lot of people about this, and if you want to learn about photography, Scott Kelby is the man to learn from.' She handed me a copy of The Digital Photography Book, Book 1, written by Scott Kelby. I read the book cover to cover in an evening, and then read it again the next day. Then I went and bought Books 2 and 3 and did the same thing with those. These books are really amazing and here's why. They're not all techy. I'm a show-me kind of guy. Don't give me a book with a bunch of specs and technical garbage that I have to decipher...show me how it's done. And these books do that. It says in there explicitly - if you want to get this kind of a shot, do this.
2010 - Experimentation and Learning
That year was spent mostly learning. I'd shoot whatever I could, whenever I could. I learned about f/stops, shutter speeds, long exposures, focusing, tri-pods, and the difference between lenses. I took my camera everywhere with me. Even to the grocery store. I read somewhere that a photographer's first 10,000 photos are the worst, and from there, you get better. So, I figured I'd better get busy. I couldn't draw, but I could push a shutter button. And being that I was graphic designer and had been for years, my experience with Photoshop had been very familiar. I love it. It's my comfort program. If there is such a thing. It was another tool in my arsenal of graphical weapons. Photography and Photoshop go together like Kool-Aid and sugar. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Spring 2011 - On Meeting Scott
In April, my buddy and fellow photographer, Kiely and I went to one of Scott's Light it, Shoot it, Retouch it, seminars. If you ever get the chance to see him in action and you want to learn about the field as a whole, go to one of his seminars. Don't think. Just go. He makes it fun, interesting, and keeps people passionate about photography. We were in a room with over 400 other people and while he was talking, you could of heard a pin drop. And when he finished, the silence was quickly diminished by the roar of applause. I met him later that day, and he was very humble. He wasn't too proud to take a minute and talk with me. I admire people who do that. In spite of their success, they don't treat you as if you're beneath them.
Autumn 2011 - Inspiration
Illustrating used to be at the forefront of my interests. It has since taken a passenger seat, along side photography. Not a backseat, because I still do it often enough. And here's why. There's no drawing I could personally draw on the planet that would replace the rewarding feeling of downloading an image from my camera and thinking, damn, I totally nailed that shot. And I owe those continuing rewards to Scott Kelby, my wife Katie, my buddy Kiely, and several other people who have helped in my learning process. Do yourself a favor...If you are thinking of learning photography, or you just want to look at some great photographs, look at these people listed below, and let the inspiration consume you.
Yesterday was my sister's 30th birthday. Earlier this week, I decided to have a plant delivered to her at work. She lives 90 minutes from me, so taking time to drop in and see her, isn't always easy. I had no idea what local florists were around her area, so I went to www.1800flowers.com, picked out what I wanted, paid for it, done. A little while later, I received the confirmation email and then the shipping notification. Cool. I'm good, right?
The next day I received a call from them. This is how the conversation went:
Operator:We shipped your order on time, but UPS is telling us there's a weather delay and the shipment might not arrive until tomorrow.
Not good. Her birthday was that day. I was about to cancel my order.
Me:What can you do in a situation like this?
Operator:What we can do is contact a local florist and have them deliver a bouquet of flowers. We saw that it was her birthday and didn't want her to not receive something from you.
Me:That sounds great, but how much is that going to cost on top of what I've already paid?
Operator:Nothing. Free of charge. We're just really sorry we're not able to come through because of a shipping issue that's out of our hands. But at least she'll get flowers and receive something from you on her birthday. Your original gift may still show up to her today, but at least this way, it's guaranteed.
Both orders ended up showing up to her that afternoon. She was happy, surprised, but wondered why I sent her two things. I could then tell her what happened. Now, because of that, will I order from them again? You betch-yer ass. It's nice to know there are still a few of us out there in the world today, even businesses, that care about getting the job done, and will go to great lengths to see it through to completion.
Over the last few months, I've become immersed in ancestry.com. So much so in fact, that I've became a paying subscriber. It's a very interesting website and lays everything out for you in terms that's easy to understand. You still have to do your research as much as possible with verifying family member's names, birth-dates, death-dates and that sort of thing, but in the end, this makes the process much easier. What's really nice, is being able to connect with other members and access the information that other family members have put up. It helps expand your knowledge of your own family tree, quicker, I think.
My great grandfather and great grandmother on my Mom's side
Before digital photography, most people had real albums for their photographs. Albums you could hold in your hand and flip through. And if you are like my wonderful Aunt Evelyn, you wrote people's names and dates on the back of those photos. Now, if I could only get my memory to be as astoundingly awesome as hers. But I'll get back to that in a minute.
How far have I been able to trace back? On my father's side, to the early 1600's. On my mother's side, to the mid 1800's. So far. The search for more information, I've discovered, is a never-ending quest. This isn't a short-term project, for sure.
Am I related to anyone famous? Yes. Well, more like infamous and then later famous. My 11th great grandfather was someone pretty darn savy. But I'm not going to say who, yet. I will tell you that he was born in England, where he became sought after by the Bishop for his religious teachings. When I say sought after, I mean, he wasn't exactly on the Bishop's Christmas card list, if you know what I mean. After leaving England, he came to our country and founded what would later become Hartford, Connecticut. Like I said, savy. I'll talk more about him in a later post.
Getting back to what I was saying about older photos...with the advent of digital photography, nobody writes on the back of their photos anymore. Sure, we archive with hard drives, backup drives, rely on Flickr, or Picasa. But how are you archiving them so that in 40 years, your kid's kids will know where those pictures came from, or what day they were taken? After going through a ton of old photos in the last few months, proper archiving of the pictures I've recently taken, is becoming a high priority. And trust me, the digital camera data that's embedded in the photo itself, isn't always reliable.
My final opinion came to fruition on this just last night, after weeks of experimenting. The iPad and iPhones are great for what they were designed to do, as tools. I own both and love them both, for what they do. Drawing however, is not something they're good for, in my opinion, unless you've got a ton of patience and a whole lot of time. I don't have an abundance of either, but I decided to give it a fair trial before placing judgement.
My first obstacle was using finding a decent stylus pen that would work on my iPad. Before I began the hunt for that, I made a drawing with it, using just my finger. Mind you, this is just using the Penultimate app...nothing more. (I'm aware that there's a lot of others out there.)
It was just the first thing that popped in my head. Nothing too extravagant. It is after all, a finger painting.
After buying a stylus pen that was somewhat reasonable, I tried yet another drawing. This time more detailed.
The black lines and some color were all done with the iPad. But here's the kicker, I got so frustrated with trying to complete it with the iPad, that I gave up, and finished the drawing's colors in Photoshop. I spent all of about 10 minutes on the color in PS. The app wasn't the problem. The stylus pen was not the problem. The problem was with the screen on the iPad itself. Like the iPhone, it senses everything you touch. Whether it's with your finger, or even your palm. Most people I know rest their palm on what ever it is they're writing or drawing on, right? (And yes, I did tweak the wrist protection settings.) That becomes especially hard to control with lines and color you don't want in certain places. You find yourself constantly erasing your 'palm marks.' I'm not Rita Skeeter, and I can't write with my stylus pen by just waving my hand. But I would like to be able to apparate. Now, that would be sweet. And a dragon. I want a dragon. A big scary one. Anyway.
Not willing to give up too easy, I decided to try it instead for just writing and taking notes. I watched a 2 hour webinar last night on photography. When the show got into some issues I wanted to write down as notes, I grabbed the iPad and started writing. The same thing happened. I had half a page of notes that were messy and had unwanted garbage all over the page that I had to keep erasing. That lasted about 10 minutes before I literally just grabbed a real paper and pen, and continued on.
At the end of the day, the iPad is a great tool and has its uses. For me, drawing is not one of them. I'll stick with my Wacom. And my dragon. While apparating.
Below is a brand new short video I made very recently. It's time-lapsed to nearly 3X normal speed, but you can get a better idea of how using Illustrator can be effective.
Like anything else software-related these days, Illustrator has its uses. And it's very good at it's own uses. Illustrator is not Photoshop. They're similar in a lot of ways, but different in just as many. Photoshop is a raster-based application that's confined to the realms of resolution, as it should be. Illustrator is vector-based, meaning resolution doesn't become an issue until the project goes to print. That's the short, long, er, short of it. Some of you may be thinking, I have no idea what he just said there. I understand. It took me years to get it too. Try thinking of it in terms of HD Television. In Photoshop, you can make your image [this big] in HD. In Illustrator, you could take an image [that's this big] and make it billboard size, in HD, without losing resolution. Make sense now? Good. Now we'll start doing astrophysics. Let me grab my telescope.
As mentioned before, it has its uses. For my digital inking, Illustrator wins, over Photoshop WHEN I'm not having to create the drawing from scratch. If I'm starting from the ground up with an idea that I need to sketch, Photoshop wins. Photoshop is way faster, simpler, less clicks, less layers, less everything. Now, you're wondering, ok, so which one does he prefer? I'll give you my answer. Both. And I see it staying that way for the future too. People have their own styles. They have their own ways of creating things and using what works for them. It's not predictable. It's not foreseeable. It's just the way it is.
Next, we'll finally get to iPad art, and what I've discovered with it. Stay tuned for more.
It all starts with a company called Wacom. I'm pretty sure they wrote the book on this and revolutionized the graphics industry ever since. These tablets are used in illustration, photo-editing and countless other ways. Chances are, if you think it might be able to do it, it already can. These tablets are really, really, really great. Why? One word. Well, two. Production. Fast production.
Those of us who operate under strict deadlines every single day, know that time is short. People want results and they want them fast. Any edge we can get to combat this from day to day, helps. These tablets help. I like help.
Illustrators like myself in years past, and even today, grab a piece of paper and a pencil and start sketching. They finish their sketch, maybe ink it, or color it, depending on the artist's style. All with pencils, markers, fancy ink pens or whatever they want. There's nothing wrong with doing it that way. It's art. You can create whatever you want, when you want, how ever you want.
The next step would be to scan the work, make the appropriate crops, or other edits. Then you can publish it online. All this take time.
Wacom Tablets work in nearly every application on your PC or Mac. It's not a replacement for your mouse, but more like a supplement to it. I have been known to use my tablet for surfing the web even. My Tablet is actually tired and in need of replacement, as it is about 4-5 years old.
In the children's book, An Ant - Learn to Read, all the inking and coloring was done digitally, using Adobe Illustrator CS4, with a Wacom Tablet and pen. What people might not know also, is that all the drawings I did were also exchanged through email. There was no paper involved at all. My publisher would send me 4 drawings attached in an email at at a time, and I would ink them and send them back to her the same way. I should mention that no scanners were harmed in the making of this blog post.
In the next post, I'll unveil a brand new video that I put together. And I'll go into my review of using Adobe Illustrator - the good and the bad. Stay tuned for Part 3.
The children's book I helped ink is now available for purchase on Amazon. It's called An Ant - Learn to Read (Book 1 of 3). That can be found here. It was very neat to see the culmination of everything come together for the first time. In a book. Published on Amazon. Holding it my hands for the first time was a bit of a surreal moment. I haven't had a large number of things published and on the market, so seeing this was a big deal. Like, huge.
I have gotten asked a lot about this, so I thought I'd try and make things easier for people to understand. Keep in mind, this is just the art process. The writing portion/publishing is a completely different animal. Let's go behind the scenes on the art.
As you can see in the layout below, there's 3 images. The sketches (top) in blue pencil; The inks, (middle); And then the color (bottom).
Example Illustration 1
I'm basically bringing the sketch artist's vision into black and white, and giving the colorist a map to follow.
Example Illustration 2
Now, you're automatically thinking, oh ok, he just grabbed an ink pen and went over it. Nope. The inking and colors were both done, never having touched a real pen or marker. How? This is where the plot thickens...
I'll show you for the first time how this is done; Where it's taken me as artist; What processes I'm currently using; And what the future holds for me and Illustration. I'll give you a hint...it doesn't involve real pens and pencils. But it does involve iPads and iPhones and two Adobe products. Stay tuned for Part II.
Earlier this month, a friend of mine and I attended a 400+ people photography seminar in Indianapolis, hosted by worldly known photographer Scott Kelby. The seminar was wonderfully done, easy to understand and exciting to attend. Before returning from our lunch break, I ran into the restroom. As I rounded the corner, I noticed Scott was washing his hands alone at the sink. I said the only words that came to mind. Thank you for doing this Scott; This is so great. He turns to me, with a big smile and says, Are you kidding? Thank you for coming! Are you having a good time? I explained to him that I was there with a friend/fellow photographer, and that we were having a great time, and that him and his team had made this a fun, exciting day. He asked me if there was anything I would've changed about the seminar. Not a thing. He even asked me what my name was. As we re-entered the lobby area, I shook his hand and we went our separate ways. Scott was incredibly humble and easy to talk to. Him taking the time out of his insanely busy schedule to just talk to me for 5 minutes, completely made my day. Or, my month for that matter. I sat back down in the seminar room next to Kiely and said, dude, you'll never believe who I just ran into in the bathroom...
With a HUGE special thanks to my wife for being instrumental in this long, tedious process, this site has finally taken new form, and should be working fairly smoothly. I still have a few issues to work out, and let's face it, certain details are never finished, but the core of the redesign is complete. If you see find something that isn't working, please email me and let me know. Thank you for your patience and understanding, and I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused in the last 24 hours. MUCH more to come.
In addition to my anniversary, my brother's birthday, my nephew's birthday, and my aunt's birthday all happening in the last few weeks, I sort of forgot my own little birthday. This website turned 6 years old last month. Doesn't seem like it's been that long. I'm going to have to see if I can dig out my old previous designs. That could take a pretty big shovel. I'll save that for another post. So, let me say this...
Happy Anniversary to my wife. She's been putting up with my crap for a long time. And my mud-flinging dog for that matter. I've told her a thousand times, she's the light in all my dark places.
Happy birthday to my brother, Justin. After all these years, you're still crazy. We tried to warn Amber early on, but that feat was proven fruitless.
Happy 2nd birthday to Ryan, my little tip-toed nephew. Kid's got better balance than I do.
And happy birthday to www.jonathonrose.com. It's been a great 6 years and this site has grown tremendously in that time and continues to do so. Thank you to all my visitors, fellow bloggers, commenters, photographers, illustrators, Cardassians, Borg, Hobbits, and even Transformers. I love you all and I'm extending my respect knuckles from the chest.
I need a housekeeper, a carpenter, a painter, and someone to take care of my yard. Only problem is that my wallet of course, disagrees. My ideas and my wallet aren't usually on speaking terms. They're not friends. I'm taking my lunch to write about this, because I can't seem to squeeze it in anywhere else any more. Time is becoming too valuable. I need a blogger too. Did I mention that? I mean, someone who can read my thoughts and type what I'm thinking, so that way, I won't have to. Right. That'll happen Jon. Right around the time I get a degree in Astrophysics. I need a web editor too.
I need a clone. A clone of me. I don't know how to contact the planet Kamino on the outer rim, so that idea is out. My manners aren't good enough for them to like me anyway.
While all this sounds bad, stupid or even crazy, I'm loving it. I'm having fun doing all the things I want to be doing. I'm up to 90-some drawings with the children's books. Photography starting to bust loose. Which by the way, to my 3.8 readers - the Photography section was recently updated with some pictures never before seen. Really. They're from another planet. And they have Nikon Cameras there. And Photoshop.
I don't know how people with children take on two to three jobs. Or four, with hobbies. Something's gotta give somewhere. And I don't even have kids. Spring hasn't even started yet, and we're wondering how our yard is going to get mowed this year. I spend on average about 12-14 hours per day behind a monitor doing something. Sometimes more. I actually squeeze in guitar playing while my backups are running to relax me a little. I've been virtually non-existent on Facebook. Except for the occasional exploding hot dog. Those who saw that know what I mean. I'll link this post on FB, and then people will think I'm lying, because if I don't have time, what the hell am I doing on Facebook? Then we'll go in circles and there will be drama. And anarchy will prevail. Cats and dogs will live together. And I'll still be drinking Coke. With a smile.
I got married in 2005. I know. Shockingly surprising...but I did. At a restaurant, no less. I actually had not one, but two receptions. Even after 6 years, I still haven't figured that one out. The 3.8 people that read this who know me will think this is mildly entertaining, but understand why. I'm getting to why this is important...just bear with me. At the time, we wanted to splurge for our wedding photography, because we thought that if you're going to have one thing that you can physically document and keep, it should be be timeless, right? So spend the money where it counts. To us, that was photography. We didn't need a $4000 wedding cake, and my wife spent WAY less than that on her dress. And trust me, you're not going to eat that leftover cake slice on your one year anniversary anyway. You'll take one look at it and think, I'd rather punch myself in the face. With a shovel. Twice. Please note that these photos are NOT mine.
After careful weeding out of the photographers we didn't want, we hired the best one for the job. Soon after the wedding, we got our prints back. This was a moment of shock and awe for me. I was taken aback by the quality and the moments that our photographer captured in a photojournalistic style.
Ever since then, I made it my mission to someday be THAT good. To be the one that captures those moments. To be the one that provided people with that same shock and awe that I felt when I first opened our print book. I'm on that road still. I may be traveling by horse and buggy, but I'm moving forward nonetheless.
A week or two ago, I was asked by my good friend Kiely to be her assistant photographer at a wedding this weekend in Indianapolis. After careful consideration, I accepted it. We're going. She's taking me under her wing so I can learn. At a wedding. Where it all began.
I have a completely new respect for photographers these days. Last week, a gentleman in our department at work was retiring. Over the last few weeks, people began planning party for him. As time went on, a co-worker noticed I had a decent camera, and asked if I would be interested in shooting the party. I responded, with absolutely!Sure! While thinking, holy crap, what did I just step in to? The dog lover in me lifted my foot to my nose to double-check. Nothing there. Jon, what the hell are you thinking? You're not a photographer. Oh, shut up...it'll be a piece of cake.
Almost immediately, I sunk myself in Google and photography books. I think I was reading with one hand and typing Kiely with the other. Thank you for the tips Kiely!
As a result, my perspective on photography has changed. You have to approach the meanderings of the event, whatever it may be, with a different set of eyes. A different angle. For instance, there were several speeches given. During those times, most people's eyes would be on the speaker. Not mine. I was looking at the recipient's reaction to those spoken words to get the shot. I feel like in some ways I missed parts of it because I was trying to so hard to capture it all. Being responsible for someone's memories is tough. And this was just a retirement party. A wedding? Senior pictures? Those are the things that only happen a few times in someone's life. No pressure or anything, I can do this.
Ironically enough, my favorite photo among the 120+ photos I took, ended up being of a slice of cake. I probably shouldn't post pictures of all the photos I took because most of them have the 56,786 people who attended, whom I don't have permission from to do so. I don't know where it goes from here and if I have the ability to the learn the profession at that level. But I know one thing for sure - My father asked me over the weekend, so after all that,would you do it again?
After getting permission from my publisher today, I'm able to share with my readers what portions of the children's book drawings look like. I'm sure the 3.8 readers I have will be excited to see them.
There's a lot of talent involved with these books and I'm grateful to be a part of it. Someone does the sketches, which are in blue pencil. Following that, the drawings come to me to ink digitally in Adobe Illustrator using my Wacom Tablet. Afterwards, they receive color which is again, done by someone else. It's very similar to the process of how comics are published.
Spammers and trolls have sunk to a new low. You ever get one of those emails that starts off, 'My name is Xanita Iamspammingyouwitz. My father has become deathly ill and we are in desperate need of means to transfer our life-savings...blah blah.' Yeah, ok. Let me get right on that for you. Let me introduce you to the delete button. Him and I are friends. You and I are not. This wasn't an actual email, but in a private message sent to me from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's message forums. I'm like, really? As if scamming of that nature isn't bad enough, we're going to scam off cancer too? Nice.
I changed my banner up top, in case you hadn't noticed. Ah, the power of HDR.
I need to update the photography sections and some other things too. I've been pretty occupied with working on the illustrations for the children's books and our new photography blog. Which can be found here. In the meantime, I'll see if I can post parts of the inking I've done on the books so my readers can have I idea of what they look like.
I need to explain my geeky reasoning behind this before going too far. A few months ago, I was researching modeling. As in, car model kits. Not modeling for Victoria's Secret. As much fun as it would be to see me in heels, cars and actual models don't go together. Oh wait. Yeah they do. Nevermind. As I was saying...concerning car models...I discovered that no one as of yet, had manufactured any Transformer models. They have diecast models and things like that, but nothing you could actually build and paint yourself. At least yet. In my search, I found that people (modeling folk like myself) had actually started buying the Transformers toys and painstakingly detailing them, with weathering, more accurate colors, etc. I thought it was an interesting idea and am going to try it. So, when my wife said, 'honey, I need your Christmas list', I added Optimus Prime to the list. In toy form. Yep. That's right. Optimus freakin' Prime. For those that don't know, he's the semi.
Much to my wife's dismay, she obliged, and believe it or not, I unwrapped him at Christmas with no shame. I felt like a kid again. It was great. I think I did hear her say at one point, 'I can't believe I'm bought a Transformer for my 35 year old husband.' Like I said - no shame. I have a plan for this dude.
As I opened the box, I noticed on the front cover it said '5 years and up.' I thought, shit, I can handle this. I couldn't have been more wrong. As I removed the packaging surrounding Optimus, I pulled out a folded instruction sheet. My eyes widened as I unfolded the sheet, outlining all 27 steps to transform him. 27 steps! It came 'untransformed' as Optimus in character form. So, my goal became to transform him into the semi. My attempt lasted a few hours before I gave up and handed it to my brother.
Could Justin do it? Nope. He gave it a valiant effort though.
Could Amber do it? Nope. Although, she got him farther along than my brother or I did. (Notice the instruction sheet she's holding.)
After even more dismay, my wife, never to back down from a puzzle challenge, decided to try it. 90 minutes later, she got it.
Remember the part where the box read, '5 years and up?' Yeah, how in the world a kid is supposed to be able to handle this, let alone a whole series of these things is beyond me. It took 4 grown adults to transform one toy. I'd hate to see what Megatron is like. Mean little bastard.
Now I'm afraid to try re-transforming him. Could be another whole day shot. I know these things weren't that complicated when I was a kid. I know it.
Thanks to the chump who took my parking spot at Meijer the other day. Despite the fact that I had my turn-signal on, waiting for that spot. I used to not care about things like that, but at the end of the day, at times it can be hard for me to make a long walk like that. So I'm patient-er in finding a better spot than what's in the nosebleed section sometimes. That's okay though chump. Remind me to run you over when I come back out. You and your tattoo that's on your leg. Wait. It's 20 degrees out and I can see your leg? Wait. Oh. It's 'cause you're wearing shorts. When it's 20 degrees outside. Gee, that's smart. You're awesome...dude. Now I'm really gonna run you over.
I'm happy excited though. It's Christmas. I think my shopping is done. I'm sure there will be that - 'oh crap...I forgot about them' - gift...but oh well. That's why they created the iTunes gift card. It's for all those times when you forgot the real gift. It's the fake gift that's to the rescue. But everyone loves them. I can drop $25 on iTunes in 4.8 seconds flat. In a pear tree.
And now, a word from Maya -
I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday. Merry Christmas!
What if we all got together and started a photography blog?
As if I needed one more blog to manage or be a part of. Here's the rub: This one will benefit not only the readers, but also the users. Different, right? Well, in my mind it is. With every photo that's posted, we're going to do our best to describe what it is we did to achieve it. For instance, for those that are photography-savy or just want to learn, we're going to tell you what we did to the camera's settings prior to taking the picture and after. (i.e, f-stop, shutter speed, ISO settings, flash usage, etc.) We'll also tell you what camera gear we used and what we did in the editing room post-shot with Photoshop, Lightroom, or other editing programs. In the end, we'll not only be educating our readers and dazzling them with what we hope are only great photos, but learning ourselves about the different ways we all shoot things and edit them afterwards. I'll be the first to admit, there's not one photo out there from me that hasn't been in some way altered by my 3rd wife, which still remains to this day, Photoshop. It's become as natural as getting in the car, putting on your safety belt and driving. You take the photo; edit it in Photoshop; done. It's the way of things. And then a few days later, you look back on it and think crap, I should'a done that instead. Damn you, hindsight. Reminds me of something Leonardo da Vinci said, and this is not a joke:
"Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen." This is true for so many things besides photography and art. I don't have a man-crush on Leonardo da Vinci, but when someone says exactly what you're thinking, but you can't express it in words, you tend to remember it. Like you won't forget that one time when you came walking out of the bathroom with toilet paper hitchhiking on your heel. And then your co-worker said, Um...dude...
There. Write it down. Copy and paste it to your forehead. Tune in next week for another episode of Jonathon's Stolen Catchphrases. I'm going global with this.
Don't say you weren't warned about my tangents. I do this. A lot.
Re-routing...
If we don't do this with every photo, don't come chasing us with baseball bats and the I told you so fingers, please. We will do our best with the details based largely on all of our schedules.
Details are still forthcoming, but I'm trying to get several of photographers I know involved in this. The site will launch January 1st, 2011. We will try and post as frequently as possible to keep it fresh, hopefully around 2-3 times per week, maybe more, depending on how big our author-base grows.
