Photolog

My random life, infront of the lens.

Look at me...

This is one of my favorite photos from my trip. This man had no idea I was going to take this image, it appears that he is angry, staring me down, and has a look of disgust on his face as if taking his image is the absolute most invasion of privacy. When in fact he is just working. The man looked my way by chance. I was in China town and there was an argument going on behind me. One man yelled "LOOK AT ME" I already had this man framed up, shooting from my hip (literally) and took the photo as he glared at the man behind me. The man in this image didn't even see me, he looked through me as if i was not there. "An image is worth 1000 words." This is a very true statement, the trick is knowing what words are real....... 

Jon

A beautiful lie....

I'm Terrible...

Well it appears that I have been ignoring my website/blog for quite some time now. Unfortunately I have been extremely busy lately, and it has not been in the photo side of things. Over the next few days the plan is to post a few of my favorite photos from my recent trip to Philadelphia. 

Here is the first. 

Path to the city...

Gear check.

My gear.

Alright, the number one question I receive is "what do you shoot with". Now normally this is easily answered with "Canon". Lately though I have been getting more serious inquiries as to what gear typically gets used. This is nothing super special and personally I do not have the super high end stuff... Yet... 

Going left to right. The first image is the bag I have recently began to use a little more. I enjoy having a couple lenses with me at all times, and since acquiring my 70-200 it's hard to have that on the camera, this bag allows that. This is an Amazon bag that was found for $10 online and could not be passed up. I have been looking into a camera backpack for a while and this was the winner due to the price. As you can see with the second picture a few things get crammed into there.  Not pictured is my iPhone 5 that literally is a life saver and took the photos you see here. Not the greatest due to the lighting, but did the job. 

Canon 50D with strap; yes i still like the strap, and spare battery and charger. Canon 70-200 F2.8 NON-IS, Canon 28-135 F3.5-5.6 IS, Canon 50 prime F1.8, Sigma 17-35 F2.8-4, Rokinon 8mm Fisheye all manual, Yongnuo YN-468 ii speedlite, Cowboy Studio wireless triggers for the speedlite, spare CF cards, a knock off cable release/intervolometer, GoPro hero2, small cleaning kit with lens pen, Square credit card reader, and shoe strings and zip ties. 

Basically this covers a little bit of everything so I can be ready for almost anything. Of course when going on a shoot I will not be carrying this exact set up, but you never know on a day to day basis what you might see, or need. Yes those are shoe strings, they tend to get used a lot when I need to stick the speedlites in a weird spot or hold branches, or other things out of the way for a little bit. They have saved my shots plenty of times and will always be in close reach. 

the 4th photo is the other stuff  may be used depending on what I need. Lowepro 150 shoulder bag, this thing is my day pack/travel life saver. My iPad fits nicely and I can carry a couple lenses and a speedlite. This is usually what I carry when I know what will be needed or for a daily bag. For traveling it works perfect as well as my personal bag, I DO NOT check my camera, ever. Too many horror stories of gear getting stolen. Included in this shot is my old manual lenses. these were some of my first purchases and helped me learn how to operate my camera and understand the basics. They are both M42 lenses with EOS adapters. 28mm F2.5 Vivitar and a 70-210 F3.5 MACRO Soligor. The Sigma 70-300 F4-5.6 is my cheap telephoto that gets used rarely, it also has a MACRO setting that will get used for some off the wall stuff that gets shot. Cokin ND and polarizer filters and adapter ring for landscapes (ND and grad ND filters not pictured). Another Yongnuo speedlite, this is the yn-560 manual. Some shoot through and reflective umbrellas and a couple tripods. 

Finally my daily bag for random other stuff is my Timbuk2 bondage laptop bag. This little bag is an amazing example of efficiency and awesomeness. Macbook Pro mid 2009 for editing and emails/internet/Facebook machine/time waster. Bose MIE2i ear buds, and my iPad. This was included in the photo, but it usually goes everywhere with me. Also included is my back up 500GB hard drive and card reader with cables. Wallet... yes my TGT wallet is included as i have used my ID and some tape to use as a makeshift bounce card for my flash or help as an optical slave with the on camera flash. 

So there you have it, nothing super special or crazy. These tools are what get used to create the images you see, and like on a daily basis. I plan on doing more gear related stuff as i get new toys. If there is something specific you would like me to single out and review or explain, please email me or leave a comment below. 

Jon

Beyond the haze.

This shot was due to our weather in South Dakota being, well, less than normal. Almost the middle of January, and we have rain, and fog. I drive by this location a lot, and have always wanted to try to shoot something here. The problem is behind the tree is not the best back drop for a photo. This time I was on my way to pick up my son for his first wrestling tournament. As I turned the corner I knew I couldn't pass this shot up again. I parked the car and jogged down to the corner in the rain and mud. The fog, and mist totally wiped out the background and the road next to it.  3 shots later and it was done. Simple shot with the set up I have been waiting for. Black and white is not my normal "style" per se, but this image would not be the same in color. Lets just hope I did it justice. 

Let me know what you think.

Jon