Carter Albrecht CD release party...

I thought I'd share a few images from the Carter Albrecht CD release party last week... 

I might post more, if I get caught back up on real work.  I have several shoots to go through on the computer, and a video to edit from this concert.  It might be a while... 

Seriously...

Read the June issue of PDN.  I started working my way through the articles last night, and it is the best issue I have read in a long time!  Pick it up, if you care about photography.  

Interview with the one and only Jason Janik...

I'm proud to be the feature of this Friday's Art Star Interview on the Photopol.us website.  

http://photopol.us/2009/05/29/friday-art-star-jason-janik/

www.Photopol.us is a great place to find out about North Texas photography.  They regularly feature interesting photographers and artists, and always share wonderful images with their readers.  Check it out now!

Newest Quick...

I thought I'd share some of my pictures from the current issue of Quick.  That bold, wild, red cover should attract a few readers!  

June PDN...

I have never seen so many useful articles for us working, freelance photographers in one publication, as I've just seen in the new (June 2009) issue of PDN.  I haven't had a chance to really dig in and read it yet, but just skimming through the pages has me VERY excited!!!  

Articles on creative ways to expand your business, economical mailers/promos, freelance art directors, videography as a viable income solution, and a million more things to help us out.  Really, you need to pick up a copy, if you don't already subscribe...  

As soon as I find some free time, I will be reading this issue from cover to cover at least once.

Warped Tour, warped fans...

I was going through some old stuff tonight and ran across a folder with images from the Warped Tour.  I forgot to check and see if it was from 2007 or 2008, but the year isn't necessarily important.  Instead of showing off band after band, I thought I'd share some fan/audience pics:  

 

As you can see, there were a few odd/interesting/weird moments to capture.  The banana crowd surfer was just plain odd.  I guess bananas have the right to crowd surf, just like the rest of us, but still...  

The second shot is of people dancing to a Ska band.  If you've never seen a Ska dance pit, they move around in giant circles and do these cool looking, exaggerated dance moves.  

The third shot isn't that out of the ordinary, but I thought it was still worth sharing.  I just like seeing the energy of a crowd as they scream for more.  I should post some of my Austin City Limits crowd shots here sometime.  I have some really fun audience photos from there...

Clouds at night...

I'm not sure why clouds interest me so much.  They do, though.  This shot was taken at 12:45am when I looked up and saw some wonderful textures in the sky.  Clouds can be really fun to shoot at night, but it requires a very high ISO or a tripod (or both).

Dead sexy...

If you pick up a copy of Quick currently on stands, be sure to check out my cover image.  It was interesting trying to do a cover shoot while the club was open and busy.  People were bumping into me, dancing into my shot, and making it hard for the model to hear me.  

Even with all the issues, I'm still very happy with the shot.  I think it has all the energy and sex appeal that the story does.  It's about sexy drinks, and I think my photo is kind of sexy...

Volkswagens...

I love old Volkswagens.  I've owned two, but never had the chance to drive them as much as I wanted to.  I would love another.  Tonight, I was stuck at a shoot on Lower Greenville that was taking forever.  Luckily, I had this beauty to look at and keep me happy:  

I know this post doesn't really have much to do with photography, but I just HAD to talk about it.  I've got Volkswagens on the mind right now...

Another video...

Yup, I did another Cinco de Mayo video, this one was of a middle school celebration.  If you just can't get enough of the May 5th celebration every year, you may need to watch this video ASAP:  

http://lakewood-dallas.blackwhiteread.com/view/article/10421

Keller's at night...

Who in Dallas doesn't like Keller's drive-in?  I am forced to drive by it almost every night, thinking about it's tasty, greasy, salty goodness.  Often, I drive past when it's closed, with only a few lights on and an empty parking lot.  

Last night, around 1am, I decided to stop and grab a quick pic of the burger joint.  It just looks so interesting when there's nobody around.  So quiet, so peaceful... like something out of another era in time.  

I bet I could get a much better image if I actually went with a tripod and waited for a bold night sky.  This was just handheld at 1600 ISO, 1/50 sec, and f3.5 - so you can't expect to get a wonderful poster-sized print out of it.  Maybe one day I will go back at night and shoot it right.  The place deserves it...  

Birthday video...

Here is the other video I mentioned earlier.  It is a documentary short on the 25th anniversary celebration of the Dallas Children's Theater:  

http://lakehighlands-dallas.blackwhiteread.com/view/article/10781

I have two more videos that were recently finished, but it may be a few days before they get published.  When they are finally up, you can bet I'll be sharing them with you.  I'm really enjoying the whole video thing.  Hopefully, you are, too.

Cinco De Mayo video...

I have another video up today.  Actually, I have two new videos, but I'll post the other link in a little bit when I find it.  In the meantime, enjoy this first video - a Cinco de Mayo celebration at a local high school:  

http://lakewood-dallas.blackwhiteread.com/view/article/10416  

Though I mainly do editorial and advertising still photography, I definitely enjoy video.  It's still new to me, so I'm not quite at a David Leeson level yet.  But, I'd have to say my little documentary shorts aren't too bad so far...

Kids and cameras...

I spoke to an elementary school class today, during career day.  A couple of them said they would like to be photographers, but most of them said stuff like football star or astronaut.  I speak to classes once every few months, though mostly it has been middle school, high school, and college level classes.  It was quite different talking to little kids.  It was definitely fun, though.  

  

Now it's back to the real world again.  I have a mountain of work to do.  I need to get as much done as I can tonight, because I have three shoots tomorrow...

You deserve a break today...

Guess who I got to meet while shooting for a client this weekend?  The coolest clown around:  

 

The shoot was pretty early in the morning, so please excuse my less than stellar looks.  However, Ronald McDonald still looks absolutely perfect!  

Sitting on the dock of the bay...

I was at the Chandler's Landing Yacht Club the other night for a shoot.  While I was waiting, I decided to take this shot:  

For those of you who like to know technical details, it was at about 8:51pm, hand holding my Canon 5D and 16-35mm 2,8L lens.  Other important details...  ISO - 3200, Aperture - 5.0, Shutter speed - 1/4 sec.  

Since I didn't have a tripod, I had to go for a maxed out ISO.  This means the full-sized image will be pretty grainy, to use an old film term.  It is very sharp, considering that I did it hand held at a quarter of a second.  

I feel good!

I should feel pretty bad right now.  I should be close to death.  Well, not literally death, but pretty exhausted.  You see, I started my Saturday by waking up at 6:45am and heading to my first shoot at 7:30am...  my first of three shoots.  

7:30am doesn't sound that rough?  Well, that's not the big deal.  You see, I should feel bad because I didn't stop shooting until 9:30pm tonight.  That's fourteen hours of work.  Fourteen hours on my feet, non-stop.  I had about thirty minutes of down time in between each of the shoots, so really it was more like thirteen hours of actual work, but you get the picture.  

Oh, and add the fact that I didn't get to bed Friday night (well, more like Saturday morning) until 2am, thanks to some late night shoots.  Yup, I have had very little sleep and a whole lot of work this weekend...  

Anyway, I don't feel bad at all.  I feel absolutely wonderful for some reason.  I think it's due to my post-work events.  After 9:30 rolled around and I packed up my camera, I headed down to Deep Ellum.  A friend of mine - Randy - was having a sort of going away party at the barry Whistler gallery.  He worked at a local newspaper for over thirty years and was recently let go thanks to budget cuts/the economy/bad luck.  

I've known him for the ten years that I've been freelancing for the paper, and he's been a great friend to talk to and an influence on my photography.  We share a lot of friends and coworkers in common, so the party was sort of like a family reunion.  It felt so good talking with these people that I don't get to see very often anymore (thanks to digital photography and the internet, there's just not a need for face to face interaction with clients these days).  

I wound up staying until midnight, talking with old friends.  I eventually made it back to the car and headed home.  However, I noticed something as I went up Elm Street.  There were four people inside Kettle Art Gallery, even though it closed a couple hours earlier.  I just had to stop and say hello.  

I went inside and talked with Frank and his daughter, and met two new people.  We wound up talking about art, Deep Ellum, music, and other stuff for thirty minutes or so.  I'd seen Frank's name around town for years...  practically forever.  However, I didn't actually get to know Frank until last year.  He is such a great guy and it was so good getting to talk with him again.  

I got home around 1am, which made for one REALLY long day.  But, like I said, I don't feel bad at all.  My feet hurt like mad, but my heart and soul feel so lively and energetic after getting to see and talk with so many friends.  I'm so lucky to be in an industry with so many great peers.  

People Like Randy, Allison, Courtney, Michael, Mike, Rex, Mona, Evans, Frank, Amber, and many others that I got to spend time with tonight - they all make the local creative community here in Dallas so special.  How could I not feel great tonight?!?  

Enough rambling.  I'll go back to regular blogs about more practical photo topics.  I just needed to point out how great the people who actually make up the Dallas photo community really are.  They make being a photographer fun... even after a fourteen hour work day.

To stock or not to stock...

I've been shopping my book (photo portfolio) around lately, and I was talking to a potential client today.  The client said he'd love to look at my work, because they had a lot of stuff coming up.  Then he said something interesting...  He said, "But lately, we've had a lot of clients ask about using stock photography.  We've had to try and steer them away from that."  

That reminded me of a shoot I once did for a client.  Their ad agency used stock images one year, and the client thought everything looked way too generic and impersonal.  They wound up hiring me the next year to shoot some very specific images that better matched their brand identity.  It made more sense than using stock images designed to fit "everybody's look".  

This isn't to say that stock images are always bad.  There is a need for stock, though it is often based on budget rather than the actual image.  When a company has a tight budget, the cost of a stock image (often half the cost of making a new, unique image from scratch) makes more sense.  However, it becomes very hard to find an image that specifically meets a company's needs, unless it was shot specifically with that company in mind.  

Think about Coca Cola (or any other big company).  Pretty much any international company will have a very well-defined brand.  They know what their product and their image is supposed to be.  They hire photographers to match that brand with 100% accuracy.  I'm sure there are several stock images out there (just because there are millions of stock images available) that would fit the company's brand, but sometimes it just makes more sense to create the image from scratch.  

And remember, most stock images can't be purchased with exclusive rights.  That means a company may find the perfect image at a great "stock" price, but then another company winds up using the same exact image in their campaign.  Not exactly the way to stand out from the crowd...  

Usually, stock makes the most sense for background images, secondary images, or images that just aren't the main focus.  Like, a website banner, a small image on the back of a newsletter, or a soft, blurry, background image in an advertisement.  

And there is one other factor that affects the stock vs original image debate:  Timeline.  What if the client needs to put out a last-minute ad in a trade publication, but the ad is due Friday afternoon.  Not a big deal, until you realize the ad placement was approved Thursday morning!  

It would be pretty hard to pull together a photo shoot so quick, and there may be a "good enough" image available as stock.  You just need to spend a couple hours searching to find it.  It gets purchased online, downloaded, designed into the ad, and sent off to the publication.  Done.  And it is in by Friday afternoon.  

I had a client call me up for images of Shakira.  They were running an ad in Billboard or Pollstar or one of the music industry trade pubs.  It was a rush deal, so they asked if they could use one of my shots I had available as stock.  No big deal.  Her next concert was too close to deadline, and they loved the image I already had.  I made money, Shakira's people are happy.  It all worked out.  

If they had more time, they could've emailed me a comp of the ad layout, and I could've shot an image that fit exactly what they had in mind.  However, time just wasn't on their side...  

So, you can see that stock isn't always the way to go, but it does have a few positive points to consider.  Mostly, it will fit any tight budget or time constraints.  However, it doesn't always meet a client's needs perfectly and the same image will often pop up two or three other places... ruining a brand's exclusive feel and look.

Hugh Van Es...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090515/ap_on_re_as/obit_van_es

Talk about fun!!!

Look what I'm going to be documenting/photographing this Friday night/Saturday morning:  

www.natureandscience.org/kids/sleepovers_night_at_the_museum

I won't be staying the whole night, since I have another shoot on Friday evening.  However, I will be there long enough that evening and the next morning to capture plenty of museum-style mayhem.  Man, if I were a kid, I'd LOOOVE this event.  Actually, I probably will, even as an adult...  

Video master...

Are you familiar with David Leeson?  If you are interested in documentary video, you should be:  

www.davidleeson.com/protegefilms/home.html  

I first met david almost ten years ago, and his work has been inspiring me ever since.

Rhett Miller interview...

Rhett Miller is starting to do interviews regarding his upcoming self-titled solo album - the one I did all the photography for.  So, enjoy looking at my beautiful cover photo, as you listen to him discuss each track on the new record:  

www.kera.org/artandseek/content/2009/05/11/track-by-track-with-paul-slavens-rhett-miller/

Video light...

You can bet I'll be adding one of these to my video bag, as soon as I can afford to buy it:  

www.calumetphoto.com/store/LitepanelsMicroPro

Since I'm not making a gazillion dollars off my video work yet, I can't really justify dropping $500 for a light right now.  However, I've seen this thing in action (a friend of mine has one for his doc work), and it is perfect for handheld documentary shooting.  

Dancing with a star...

Check out my latest video story, about a local dance class:  

http://lakewood-dallas.blackwhiteread.com/view/article/10402  

And, as always, feel free to visit www.janikphoto.com and www.jasonjanik.com to see all my still photos...

Got Korn?

I've photographed a lot of rock bands over the years, but I still feel bad when I have to turn down an opportunity to shoot another show.  This weekend was the second time this month that I was already booked with another photo shoot, so I had to turn down an assignment to shoot a concert.  

This time I was asked if I could shoot the Edgefest all day concert for the news.  However, I already had two shoots booked - one was my museum client and the other was a wedding.  I've already shot most of the bands on the Edgefest bill before - Korn, Blue October, etc - so I wasn't missing out on some rare chance to shoot a reclusive musician.  But still...  I'd rather shoot a band for the third or fourth time than not shoot them.

I looked in today's paper and they wound up sending fellow shooter Ricky Moon in my place.  It looks like he got some real nice photos, so I don't feel too bad.  I feel worse when a client can't get me, so they wind up getting some blah photog in my place.  If I had looked in the paper today and seen some lame images, then I would've been bummed.  I'm glad that Ricky did such a great job!

But, don't get me wrong.  I still would prefer that a client sends me over another shooter, even if he/she gets some great images.  I'm hoping I won't already be booked the next time someone calls me for a concert or band shoot.  I don't mind missing a show here or there, but I don't want to miss them all.  I'd much rather shoot Korn again and again than not shoot a concert at all.

May wedding, number two...

I don't book many weddings.  I keep my bookings pretty exclusive.  I try to book just enough to keep me really excited about shooting them.  If I book too many, I get burned out and need a long break from them.  That's not fair for the bride and groom, and that's not good for me.  I've found that a dozen or so is the magic number for me.  

However, I was lucky enough to meet a few REALLY great wedding couples getting married in May.  They seemed so nice, that I broke my normal rule and booked a few extra weddings for the month.  So far it was a good plan, because I have done two weddings in May (out of three booked) and I've had such a great time at them both.  

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few pictures from this weekend's event.  I've only had a chance to look through the first half of the day, so that's all I will be posting for now.  I'll try to look through the reception later and post some more pics soon.  In the meantime, enjoy these images from the first half:

For all the CEO's in the house...

I just noticed the current issue of D CEO has my handy work in it.  I shot portraits of two lawyers for a story they were doing.  I always try to keep an eye out for when my images run, but I thought I was going to miss this one.  Seeing as how I don't subscribe to anything smarter than Rolling Stone, I never expected to see a copy of D CEO in front of me.  

It actually looks like a pretty cool publication.  It takes the normal D Magazine style of showcasing the Metroplex's local flavor, and it mixes it with intelligent, productive, business info.  If only I were a bit smarter or more savvy, I might just have to add it to my subscription list...  

Anyway, if you happen to be one of the hip, smart CEO's that receives the publication, keep an eye out for my photo credits in this issue:  

Seamless background care...

Every studio you walk into keeps their seamless paper backgrounds stored standing vertically.  I never had the room to do that, so I stored mine horizontally.  The reason you are SUPPOSED to store them vertically is to keep them in top shape.  

If they sit horizontally for an extended period of time, the weight of the roll eventually starts to distort the circular shape.  The roll looks less like a circle and more like a capital D.  When you unroll it, your background looks a bit wavy.  Not a big issue if you are using black and keeping it black, or if you are using white and throwing a ton of light at it.  However, it can be very unflattering for colored rolls.  

Well, I always figured that I go through my rolls fast enough that it didn't matter too much either way.  They wouldn't really sit long enough to deform.  Wrong!  A couple of my specialty colors are starting to look very wavy.  I am so stupid.  

They only cost about $40 a piece, but still...  why throw away money?  I'm going to find the extra space somehow, and I'm going to store my backgrounds vertically from now on...  like I am supposed to be doing.

For those of you who love Ben Kweller...

I don't think I mentioned this in detail, but I sold number four in a limited edition of five 20x30" metallic prints of Ben Kweller's infamous ACL Fest nose bleed the other week.  This means the only print left in this limited edition is 5/5 and it is available for $1,000 (for those of you who still have spending money in the terrible economy).  

For those diehard Ben Kweller fans, Austin City Limits Music Festival fans, or rock and roll fans, this might be something you saw at my Texas Music gallery show last year.  If you missed it, you missed the chance to get up close and study each drop of blood dripping down his guitar.  You missed the detail of his blood-stained clothes and fingers.  Yes, that is REAL blood and NOT paint!  

I'm guessing I will probably have this final print in my possession for a while, but you never know.  There might be someone out there who has a grand burning a hole in their wallet and an undying love for all things rock and roll.  I figure, if four other people loved this image enough to put it in their home, there must be a demand for it!  

Greg Watermann in LA...

I know this isn't a Dallas show, but I thought it was worth mentioning anyway.  If, by chance, you are in Los Angeles tonight, you might want to attend this show:  

Greg Watermann is a well-known Hollywood music photographer.  He's been doing concert and band photography for a long time now, and he has some pretty good images.  You can see some of his work here:  

www.gregwatermann.com  

You'll have to sift through a handful of really cheesy images, and a few bad ones (why does he leave a few of those duds on his site?!?), but for the most part, his website will blow you away.  He works mostly with hard rock and metal-ish bands, so expect to see plenty of dark and muted images.  

Being a big Nirvana fan, I'd love to see his show just for the "unpublished" Nirvana images promised.  I wish I could've shot them, but I never did.  I started shooting shows around 1995 or 1996, and they were just ultra-small, local bands.  In 1997, I upgraded to regional and national acts, but Nirvana was long gone history by then.  

Imagine getting to shoot that Nirvana show at Trees in 1991 or so, whenever it was... the one where Kurt got in a fight with the club's bouncer.  That show must've been crazy to see live.  But enough about me.  Here are the details of Greg's show:  

Lucie Foundation Member Greg Watermann celebrates the opening of a new show entitled "I Photograph Rock Stars". 

 

Join A and I Photographic Lab on May 7th from 7pm-11pm for the opening reception of the Greg Watermann collection, "I Photograph Rock Stars."The exhibit takes a walk through Watermann's career, ranging from early portraits of Julia Roberts to more recent portraits of Ozzy. Unpublished and unseen treats will be unveiled for the first time, including the outtakes from Nirvana's first magazine shoot for the cover of Spin Magazine and the debut of a new multi-media presentation documenting System Of A Down's last concert with hundreds of live photos cut to music.

 

Exhibit books, prints and posters will be sold to benefit Nrani, a non-profit organization established in 2003 in Armenia to help provide adequate therapy for children up to eight years old with disabilities. 

 

Greg Watermann is currently one of the top music photographers in the world. Over the years, his unlimited access at concerts has routinely involved him standing on-stage with of some of the biggest names in Rock n' Roll. This perspective combined with Watermann's "in the trenches" style gives photography and music fans alike a perspective of really being there and has earned him the rights to photograph such bands as System Of A Down, Linkin Park, Coldplay and Mudvayne.

Nrani is a non-profit, early intervention program established in 2003 in Armenia to help provide adequate therapy for children up to eight years old. The organization is taffed with a multidisciplinary team of physicians, psychologists, educators, and speech and physical therapists. These experienced professionals provide free therapeutic services to improve the development of cognitive, personal/social, motor and language skills. Nrani also provides counseling and education to help families cope and adapt to their child's disability.

The event is generously sponsored in part by HP and Neenah Paper.

Now THAT is a lens!!!

Maybe if I had more money than I knew what to do with, or had regular paying work in a very specialized field (like stealthy photographs of something a mile away?!?), I could see buying one of the twenty or so 1200mm Canon L series lenses in the world.  B&H Photo currently has a used one for sale.  I didn't even bother checking the price, though.  I know it will be more than my car cost me.  

Here is a review of the lens, in case you wanted to dream about it:  

www.bhphotovideo.com/find/newsLetter/Canon-EF-1200mm.jsp  

*** update:  Curiousity got the best of me.  I looked up the price on the used 1200mm lens.  I figured it would be around $25k.  Nope.  You want to buy that lens?  Get ready to put down $120k in cash!!!  Yikes!!!!!

Dallas creatives get some love...

So, I finally had a chance to read through some of my magazines this last week, while I was sick.  I've let some of my favorite publications pile up over the last few weeks, because I've been so busy with photo shoots.  I guess that's the only good thing about being so sick that you can barely move... there's finally some time to sit and read, watch those movies that have piled up on the DVR, and catch up on sleep.  

So, after clearing through a few shows on my DVR, I picked up my April issue of PDN (I KNOW you subscribe to PDN, right?  If you are or plan to be a pro photog, you NEED to be reading PDN), and I started thumbing through it.  I came across a section on pages 74 and 75 about some cool, new print ad campaigns and one caught my eye.  

It had a real retro feel to it, and was beautifully done.  I couldn't help but stare at it - it looked cool.  Then I read the details next to it, and I realized it was done right here in Dallas at The Richards Group!  It's nice that the home team is getting a little love for such a worthy effort.  Kerstin Fredrickson was listed as the Art Buyer on the project.  She's the same person I recently showed my portfolio to, and she seemed super-nice when I talked with her.  I'm so glad that someone as nice as her is getting some recognition for her efforts.

I've never met the photog before, but a peek at his website lets you know he's top notch:  www.briandoben.com   I think his travel and fashion images are much better than his portrait stuff.  However, everything on his website seems very good.  I can see why someone would hire him for a fashion-related campaign...  

Anyway, it was just nice to see some positive press about something created here in Dallas.  So many publications favor New York and LA, so any kudos thrown our way is a good thing.  Here's a copy the feature of PDN:

Buy my art...

You have two chances to buy some of my music images.  Read below:  

This WEEKEND!
Saturday May 9th at Club Dada in Deep Ellum
2720 Elm Street, Dallas
doors at 8pm
$7 minimum donation at the door!
bring your friends... it's fun!

ART AUCTION
7 GREAT BANDS
PHOTO BOOTH
TSHIRT SILK SCREENING
and more.. more... more!!!  

I have one print in this show.  It is of Austin band Spoon.  It is limited to an edition of five metallic prints.  This is number one of five.  

The other show is the Ear Candy show at Life in Deep Ellum.  It opened April 25th, and I contributed three Texas music images.  The images are of Dave Williams of Drowning Pool, Bowling For Soup, and The Feds.  I think there is still the closing reception, maybe this Thursday?  Don't hold me to that, though.  I'm sick at the moment, and everything stored in my head is a jumble.  Here's info about the opening:  

http://cellaarts.blogspot.com/2009/04/get-your-ear-candy-tomorrow-in-deep.html  

Let them eat cake!

Just thought I'd share a photo from a recent wedding I shot.  I couldn't help but laugh at how cute all the children were, huddled around the cake... anxiously waiting for it to be cut and served.   

  

I book an exclusive number of weddings each year.  Take a look at www.jasonjanik.com to find out more...

No sick days...

I'm sick.  I feel terrible.  However, I have work that is due Monday morning, and there are no sick days when you are a freelance photographer.  Who is going to finish the work if you call in sick?!?  

Old video...

Here's a link to some video shot last year, related to my Texas music photo exhibit at Kettle Art Gallery:  

http://finelinelive.com/2009/04/21/  

Thanks to Cindy and the Fine Line Live blog for replaying/reposting it...

Zacuto?!?

have you seen this company before?  They seem to have some pretty unique gear for sale.  As Digital SRL's become more and more like camcorders, more and more new/interesting/cool accessories will start popping up for sale:  

http://store.zacuto.com

Recent fashion shoot...

I can't share a ton of images from this shoot, but I can let you sneak a quick peek.  I did a fashion and style shoot for an upcoming issue of a Texas fashion magazine.  I think the shoot went well, and I'm looking forward to seeing everything in fancy, glossy print.  I'm expecting for this to become a regular client (things seemed to go really well), so maybe I'll have more of these shoots to share with you in the future?!?  

camera baby...

I'm not sure that I want him to go through all the hassles that are associated with this profession, but I'm happy that my oldest boy (who is three and a half years old at the moment) loves playing with his camera (or, his wamwa as he calls it).  Maybe he'll enjoy photography, but won't take it up as a career...

Driving home...

Friday night was a pretty busy night for me.  I started at 10 pm and got back home at 2 am.  I had three nightlife shoots to complete, and for some reason, none of them went smoothly.  It just wasn't my night for easy shoots, I guess.  

I don't want to complain about things, because the three shoots were not horrible.  Nothing crazy happened, like a broken flash or a fight with a drunk person.  It was really just a bunch of small stuff.  Anyway, the point is that I was feeling beat down and exhausted by the end of the third shoot.  I just wanted to go home.

Of course, I knew there was one thing that always makes me feel better...  

 

For some reason, driving through the streets of Dallas late at night with the windows down feels SOOOOO good.  It has to be night, hopefully late enough that the streets are almost empty.  And, obviously, it needs to be windows down weather.  Tonight it was 78 degrees out.  And most importantly, I think it needs to be near downtown Dallas.  

I've driven a lot of cities at night, and none of them brings me peace like Dallas does.  Maybe I'm biased, since I grew up here.  I don't know...  All I know is that a rough night can turn into a perfect night pretty quick.  All it takes is a mile or two.  

Now for the fun part:  In the above shot, I was going the speed limit, which was around 40 miles per hour.  But what about the bottom shot?  Even though it looks faster, it was still just 40 mph.  That's the exciting thing about photography...  All I had to do was drag the shutter and the lines start streaking across the image, like I'm blasting down the road at 70 mph or something!  

Oh, and don't try this at home.  I was not looking through the viewfinder while driving, and there were no other cars around me.  I had the camera set up near me, but I was able to drive like normal with nothing blocking the car's controls.  I can just imagine someone trying to shoot and drive at the same time and crashing into a pole because they had the camera up to their eye.  

Don't do it!!!  Or, don't do it, unless you can find a way to rig the camera out of the way of normal driving like I did.

Workshops...

Remember, just because a photographer offers a workshop, it doesn't necessarily mean that he's a great photographer.  Anyone can "offer" a workshop, but that doesn't mean it will be money well-spent.  I'm not directing this at any one photography workshop - and I know there are several amazing workshops out there.  

I'm just saying, make sure you spend your money wisely.  Ask around and make sure other people on your same skill level learned something from it, before you go dropping a bunch of money.  There is no government entity that regulates workshops, so the only way to know what you are getting is to do some serious research beforehand.