Out With the Old, In With the New – Photo Journal Has Moved!

Well the sun has set on the old version of my home website and photo journal. Withe the close of 2010 and the start of 2011 I am closing this old version of the daily photo journal and going forward it is being continued on the home page of my brand-new web site design at JRSphotos.com. Things will continue as in the past with postings happening 5 days a week, just at a different web location. If you have this web location bookmarked to follow my journal simply switch your bookmark to: http://www.jrsphotos.com/

It’s going to be easier for me and a time saver to have the journal run directly on the home page. See you there!

The Stars are in Alignment

Well, at least they are in alignment in this photo I that took of a storefront window display. Astrologically speaking, I am hoping that the stars are in alignment for all of us as we continue to forge our way through the second decade of the new millennium. Have a great holiday this weekend and come back to jrsphotos.com on Monday Saturday for my brand new web site.

Old Subject, New Angle

Another view of a little shrine in Albuquerque where I have taken so many shots that I really like. I don’t mind at all returning to the same place many times to photograph it. It makes me step up the creative process in an effort to find different perspectives each time. Being forced to look for new angles when revisiting a familiar location I am often rewarded with images that I couldn’t even conceive of when documenting a subject for the first time. I have made many, many photographs here over the years as this is one of the places that I like to bring people to during my guided photography tours but I have never included this window in a shot before. The necessary angle to do so required more physical contortions on my part than I would normally care to endure but I simply wouldn’t allow myself to leave here without a fresh perspective.

Stripe

I was testing a lens recently and this was one of the shots I made during my tests. Just for fun I’m not going to say what it is right now and see if anyone cares to guess. Personally I thought this was easy to identify but the folks I’ve showed it to so far have been stumped. Here is a closer view:

Rust Never Sleeps

I just can’t stop myself from making mental associations with, and references to music when I work with images. My brain does work in unusual ways with respect to a lot of things and I have no idea what causes the music/image association. I just have to (rock and) roll with it when it happens.

Screech Posing for a Head Shot

I made it a point to take some pictures at home for myself over the holiday break. I was on a mission one afternoon to corner a few of the cats with the camera and get some decent pictures of them. Screech who is quite a little devil around the house was actually the easiest to shoot. He was happy pose for me and spoiled me for the task of shooting a few of our other feline friends.

Quick Holiday Post

Even when relaxing in the company of family for the holidays I still keep a camera handy and like grabbing a few shots here and there. Surprisingly, even though I am enjoying a lot of family time right now I have managed to cross a few items off of my to-do list that have been on the back burner for a while. I guess it’s that sense of preparing for a new year that’s driving me. I have some plans for the near future and I’m eager to get everything caught up and organized in preparation. Hopefully all of you who read my journal are enjoying the season and looking forward to bright prospects in 2011 as well.

Red and Green

So I’m pretty caught up with work for clients now and have turned my attention to the holidays. With Christmas in my subconscious as I began browsing through material from the recent NM trip I noticed there were some images in there that didn’t exactly have a holiday theme but certainly were strong in the dominant colors associated with Christmas. Here are a few of them.

The Art of Rain

I like the way that this image of a rainy field actually looks more like there is snow in the field than rain. Flat light, low-angle perspective, limited depth of field, raindrops on the front of the lens, and fog on the lens from my breath all contributed to the dreamy appearance of this image. This is one that I recommend you click on to see it a little bigger and get a better feel for the look of it.

Overgrown Bone

I discovered a few old bones scattered about in the woods and I liked the fact that this one was covered with moss and lichens and also had some small ferns sprouting from it. Life after death and such.

In the Deep, Dark Woods

I love being out in the rain with a camera and while on my shoot on Sunday I had plenty of free time between the sporadic action to amuse myself and shoot some personal work. Trees are a favorite subject of mine and these gnarly old oaks looked terrific in the rain.

Standoff

I spent a few hours shooting at this spot on a ranch in the rain yesterday. This cracker cow was where I needed to be and made it obvious that I wasn’t welcome. I refused to give up my spot and decided to be assertive, making the cow my subject for a few shots. When the cow realized that I would not be intimidated we arrived at a sort of truce. I stayed there shooting and the cow returned every so often to moo loudly and glare at me.

Complex Simplicity

If you look close enough at simple things it often turns out that they are complex in nature. But of course if you step back far enough from the complex things they can look quite simple. Photography with a dose of philosophy. Granted, it’s awfully simplistic philosophy but as I was saying…

Upstairs Ghost

When I spotted this dress and and shoes on display in a dark upstairs bedroom the first impression I had was that of a ghost so that’s how I went about processing this shot just for the fun of it.

If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d've Baked a Cake

It’s been a busy week already filling print orders for the holidays and teaching classes. Through the magic of the internet I have even been teaching some classes to folks thousands of miles away on the west coast. I have a couple of shoots scheduled to wind up the week along with the holiday meeting of the Tampa Bay Camera Club. Now that I am President I have been fitting some priority projects for the club into my schedule as well, not the least of which being the club’s new web site. I’m already looking forward to the weekend when I can catch up on some rest.