American flag, curious pit bull in the window, and a little whit house. That's the American dream, right? Love walking with my camera.
Canon 6D
50mm 1.8
Edit with vscocam for iPhone.
Photolog
My random life, infront of the lens.
Let's play....
The versatility of the 50mm is amazing. It's very similar to the filed of view of the human eye. Taking bad photos with a 50mm is just a hard thing to do! Even everyday objects look vivid and interesting.
Canon 6D
Canon 50mm 1.8
Edit done with vsco cam for iPhone.
50mm...
I have been talking about a little project where I shoot with only one lens at a time. This kicks off a week with only my 50mm, but first.... Let me take a selfie.
San Francisco...
Walking around San Francisco yesterday, all I had with my was my iPhone (kicking myself). We went to Pier 39 for the touristy stuff. I could only imagine the HDR shots I could have tried. My 6D will be with me the rest of the time now.
Of course I snagged a couple wing shots too, and a silhouette shot inside the MSP airport. These are all edited with Snapseed on my iPhone 5 the plane and airport shots where taken with my 6D and wifi transfer to my iPhone.
Collecting.....
Random cart full of cans... This is probably how this person will pay for food, or shelter. They more than likely put in longer hours, and work harder then most will, just for cans. Cans make this person who they are, and what they are to become. Something as simple as an aluminum container, drives this person to pay rent, buy subway tokens, and feed their family.
Just think, you wouldn't look twice or notice this on your daily commute to wherever you may be going. These are the common struggles that the "average" person doesn't see. I say pay attention and look harder at your every day. You will be amazed at the things you are blind to.
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
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.
Hanging out....
Just hanging out at the Prudential Center.... Love my job sometimes.
Icepocalypse 2013. Day 3...
So after 2 days of crazy ice and rain, we were awarded 6 inches of snow... Again this is the craziest Spring in a long time.
lazy day
My son and I decided to have a lazy day due to the impending SNOWPOCALYPSE. As usual I was tinkering with my camera and left the fisheye on. My son started playing with it and took this shot of me nerding out on my computer.
Jon
Gear check.
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
Rain in January
walking with my camera on a rainy January day in Sioux Falls, SD. Read More
Photo Walk.
Recently I joined a local Facebook group called VISION|HEIRS on a photo walk in Downtown Sioux Falls, SD. It was Bitter cold, windy, and the most fun i have had in a while. We didn't stay outside too long as the feeling in my toes was lost rather quickly.
The adventure moved indoors to a local bar called Lucky's. They used to be known as the pool hall and now there are only a few tables left over. After a beer, some bar food, and a major amount of photo geeking i managed to snag a few photos. This was one of my favorites of the night.
Awesome night, new friends, and more knowledge. We need to do this again soon.
Jon
51/52...
there are very few things that i enjoy about winter. one of them is the beauty and randomness that it produces. no matter how many times you see ice, snow, or frost it is never the same. constant change and transition is something that makes for beauty in the smallest things.
in this shot i used my 50mm f1.8 to shoot a very large icicle coming off our roof. i had the aperture maxed out to get the fastest shutter i could to freeze the drop as it fell. i took plenty of shots of this and loved the macro style of this shot.
Jon
50/52...
well i only have a couple weeks left on this project. this year has flown by, and i am still deciding if i will continue with the same project, or do something new... only time will tell.
Jon
scarred land....
this was shot on a short vacation to the Black Hills of South Dakota. i took a trip out there with my girlfriend for the 4th of July in 2012. this was out by Jewel Cave.
i shot SO MANY photos out there and i am just now finally getting around to taking a peek at some. pretty sure i over shot. this was back when i was on my HDR kick and everything was bracketed. this is not and HDR shot, just a single exposure.
shot at F22 1/8th of a second ISO 250 using my Sigma 17-35mm lens.
first snowfall... part 4
now for my final post on the first snowfall at Falls Park in Sioux Falls, SD.
the whole shebang.... this is a panorama of the whole park, with our city's skyline in the background.
Jon
@thejonseaton - twitter @jonseaton - instagram
first snowfall... part 3
this is the waterfall in the background of the previous post. nothing exciting happened during the capture of this image. it was a pretty straight forward shot. i wish i had a good story to go along with the shot, but i don't. it was just pretty.
Jon
@thejonseaton - twitter @jonseaton - instagram
first snowfall... part 2
here is my second shot from my snow day at Falls Park in Sioux Falls, SD. this one is a little more mellow. this one is using the same Cokin filter system that i used in the first shot and i had to get a little wet for this one... not by choice.
as i was setting up for this shot i realized a low angle would be the most dramatic, and i would be able to capture the waterfall in the background as well. unfortunately i was in a bit of a hurry, you see it was friggin cold outside! being next to the water falls when it was only about 25 degrees out really made it hard to stay too long. as i was setting up this shot i stood up to move around and get warm and my foot slipped. i almost went butt first into that stream you see rushing by. in the process i managed to bump my tripod and watched in horror as it slid off the rock it was so precariously sitting on. both hands in the water and not being faster than the effects of gravity i watched my camera slide back and land. i was lucky enough to watch it land with the handle of the tripod pointing down and my camera about 2 inches above the rocks and water. so lucky.
i took a few more minuets and set the shot back up and made sure to pay attention to every movement i did. i managed to get a couple decent shots and moved to the next image i wanted to capture.
i have included the non cropped version and one for the Facebook cover photo.if you enjoy the image feel free to use the cover photo provided. please leve comments and share the posts as well if you wish.
Facebook cover photo:
Jon
@thejonseaton - twitter @jonseaton - instagram
first snowfall....
this week i plan on sharing some photos that were shot on Sunday morning. we were getting our first real snowfall of the season and i decided to take a walk around our famous Falls Park in Sioux Falls, SD. i recently purchased a Cokin filter kit, and was extremely impressed with how easy it is to use.
all of these shots are with my Sigma 17-35mm and the Cokin filter kit. i was using the ND filters 8 and 4 to get some long exposure shots of the water. as you can see there is only a light snowfall. it gives a beautiful clean look to the shots.
i will also include a shot that is cropped, and can be used for a Facebook cover photo. if you enjoy the shot you are more than welcome to use the cover photo.
jon
@thejonseaton - twitter @jonseaton - instagram