Digital Wizardry Photography Blog

Newborn Portraits - Joy

2011-12-29T00:32:00.004-06:00

I had the opportunity to photograph the very cute (and very young - 6 days old!), Ms. Joy.

I met this wonderful family through some friends of mine.

This family is extremely nice and I KNOW Joy will enjoy being a part of this family!

Here are a couple of my favorite shots -

Enjoy :)

-JM

Kelli + Milla Portraits

2011-12-18T17:10:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Kelli!

Here are some of my favorite portraits that I took this weekend for my good friend Kelli and her little puppy, Milla. I love how these came out and I love the colors - of course, with a subject this beautiful,

it's hard to take a bad photo!

This was a unique shoot too - this was first use of an iPhone app called Sun Seeker 3D - I used it to plot where the sun would be, so that I could better predict the best lighting for the photos.

I am amazed at how well it worked. I highly recommend it.

-JM

Danner Family Photos

2011-12-18T16:58:00.001-06:00

My last post was in September? I have got to get better at blogging! LOL

Anyways...

Here are some family Christmas Portraits that I did for a good friend.

The entire family is adorable - the kids got a little stir crazy towards the end of the shoot, but they were excellent! The little one had these eyes that were just captivating -

you can really see them in the last 2 shots.

Merry Christmas everyone!

-JM

The 9/11 Memorial Flag in Joplin

2011-09-11T20:09:00.001-05:00

9/11/2011 is a day that will forever be tattooed in our memories. Many lost their lives in The Twin Towers - I honestly don't have the words needed to express my sincere sorrow for those whose lives were taken from us due to the acts of Terrorism. There are times when you need the words of a poet, but you are stuck in the body of a simple man. (As as many of you already know, for me to be rendered speechless is a amazing to begin with).

The 9/11 Memorial Flag was born from this travesty. (Link) Rescued from Ground Zero, and restored by the loving hands of Americans, it has had a long journey. Through 50 states and countless hearts, its final stop was in a town that, before May 22/2011, many couldn't have pointed out on a map - my Joplin, Missouri. A better stop, there couldn't be. The people in this previously unknown Missouri city came together after events that destroy cities three times their size...and the world found a community within the rubble of a Tornado. To say that I'm proud to live here is an understatement, to say the least.

Below are a couple of photos that I took from participating in this historic day.

"Buildings of Stone and Metal can be torn asunder and rendered to sand and scraps - and replaced. Not so easily, Man-kind". I've heard this quote for so long, and I couldn't begin to tell you where it came from... but to me, it exemplifies the human condition. Buildings go up - Building go down. We have a limited number of years on Earth, but have the ability, with help of God's Grace, to leave lasting effects that outlive the lives of our grandchildren's grandchildren. This is is our mission - to leave the world a little bit better than we found it. If we can say that we did that when God calls us home, then our life was worth it all. A building can be replaced, but the lives within those walls are entirely different.

On 9/11/01, many people where called home too early. They left this world all to soon, but we will never forget their memory, nor the actions that many did for others. They made the world a little bit better, and for that, I'm proud to be an American. Still, I cry for their loss and my prayers stay with their families.

Since I started blogging years ago, my original intent was merely to focus on photos. There are many blogs that people have and update regularly (including my own wife!) that are much more interesting. The whole reason I even started blogging was because I had this love that I wanted to share - Photography. I have always stressed to minimize words, in lieu of focusing on photos...as you can see from this specific blog post, I have gone a different way. This is because I am moved by this day...if my words go no further than this web page, at least I was able to express what I had in my heart.

I will conclude this post by reciting the words of a song known to many of us...

"O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming.Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming.And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.O say, does that star-spangled banner yet waveO'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."

God Bless America.

-JM

Tutorial - Photographing the Moon

2011-09-11T01:26:00.002-05:00

I wanted to do a different kind of post - this time I actually wanted to teach how to do something. One of my favorite things to do is to photograph the moon...I've actually photographed it in 5 different states. (My wife gave me the great idea to make a collage of all of these that I will probably do at some point).
So, here's how you can photograph the moon...of course, others have their own opinions, this is just mine.

Recipe for a good moon shot:
1. Clear sky
2. Manual Mode for Exposure
3. Good Tripod (due to mm that you will be using)
4. Remote Trigger and/or Exposure Delay Mode on your camera.
5. Moon in your desired phase (I am partial to full moon, but you can do waxing, waning, etc - your call)

Does the sky have to be completely clear? No, depending on how you want the image to turn out.
You will need to have your camera on a sturdy tripod. You will need to be using a lens with a far reach - something in the 400-500mm range. A cheap way to get around this is to use what is called a Teleconverter. These take whatever you scene you give them, and multiply the image based on whatever their magnification is (ie 1x, 1.4x, 2x, etc).
For the following, I used a Sigma at 500mm with a 2x Teleconverter, which functionally gives me a 1000mm lens. If you use a camera body that is not full-frame, you will also get a magnification of the image - this is called a "Crop Factor" and is different for different styles of cameras. This is one side-benefit of having a non-full-frame sensor.

Here you can see my setup: A Nikon D700 with a Sigma 150-500 set to 500mm, on a Gitzo Tripod (low to the ground to help with stability). I have a USB hooked to it, which I used Adobe Lightroom to act as my remote trigger.

When you get the moon in sight, you will likely have difficulty keeping it in the scene. You may need to zoom out and recompose, because slight movements will move your view great distances.
Autofocus may or may not work - if you are using a Teleconverter, it normally doesn't. So manual focus will be needed. Look at the moon and focus on the ridges and craters, which will help you visually focus the scene.

My little girl decided to come and try and help me out :)

Next, to figure out your exposure, this is tricky. If you have your camera on automatic, it will look at a scene with one "bright ball and a bunch of black around it", and it will probably meter the scene incorrectly. Switch your camera to manual mode and take your aperture to something like f8 or higher (I used F22 for a couple of them because I was having trouble with my exposure). You can then either:
1. Use your camera's point meter to balance the scene, or do what most do...
2. Take a bunch of shots until it balances it. Long exposures (1, 2, 10 seconds, don't work, due to how "bright" the moon is).

If you camera has a "Exposure Delay Setting" (most SLRs have this), then is a good time to use it. Exposure delay merely gives a short time after the curtains move over to expose the scene - the physical motion of the curtains moving can cause slight vibration to the sensory, which can make the scene less sharp.

Now take your shot. Take a couple. Then bring them into your photo editor of choice, apply a small amount of sharpening, and you are done.

Here's my shot at it:

Nikon D700 with a Sigma 150-500 @ 500mm with a 2x Teleconverter,

Shoot Manual Mode/Manual Focus - F14 at 1/160th of a second, ISO 400

-JM

Photo Restore Project - Tina

2011-09-08T18:57:00.002-05:00

Glass, Moisture, and Air - 3 enemies of great framed photos.

What you see here is a photograph of a friend, Tina. It is of her and her father dancing when she was a little one. This is a perfect example why I love photos...they are 2-dimensional memories that we can keep forever. Memories fade in our minds, but they can "rekindled" with a good photo.

BUT, time (mixed with moisture, glass, and air) can do unfortunate things. If you click and see, the photo is actually partially adherent to the glass...moisture has found its way into the frame. Because of this, you can not remove the photo from the frame. Doing so would tear the photo and ruin it.

SO, if you can't take it out and scan it (which would be the best way to do it), then work around it.

Nikon D700, fitted with a 24-70mm @ 70mm, F5.6 at 1/250th second,@ 250 ISO

Notes: F 5.6 is a good aperture to shoot from. I did do an exposure at F8, which didn't look near as good. I used the lowest possible ISO, in order to make a "clean" exposure, as I was going to do photo restoration, and hence a lot of noise would not help.

Step 1: Take the photo into a well lit place (sun light is easiest to correct for)

Step 2: Clean off the glass to avoid unneeded dirt (if you can't take it out of the frame - if you can, just scan the photo on a flatbed)

Step 3: Shoot at a slight angle (no too much to avoid distortion) to help minimize reflections .

Note: If you have a circular polarizer, this further cuts down on reflections...for this lens, I did not have one.

Step 4: It is best to meter from the image on the plane of the photo, but you don't HAVE to do it. For this image, I used a hand-held meter, and adjusted it to get the settings I wanted

Step 5: Best to use a tripod to shoot from - however, mine was messing up, so I had to do this hand-holding. Due to this, I wanted a fast shutter speed, in order to minimize motion artifact.

Now, step in a little bit of patience and Photoshop CS5 magic. I am extremely proud of how this photo restore came out - I took a photo that was about 4x4, and I was able to restore it enough to get a 8x10 out of it..and more importantly, she has an extra copy that she can keep forever :)

I blogged a different photo I restored quite a while back - please feel free to check this out

Note: The above images have been watermarked NOT because I hold ANY copyright to the photos, but I watermarked them to minimize the chance that these photos are used in any other way then for illustrative purposes on this blog

-JM

The Joplin Tornado #2

2011-09-04T00:55:00.001-05:00

Here is my second image in the series. I ran across this spray-painted remnant of a foundation - a chilling reminder to say the least...Yet, it is loaded with positivity.

I processed this photo with high contrast and color saturation - it is almost HDR in appearance, and this is one reason that I love how it appears.

...Restore Joplin

Image Details: Nikon D700 fitted with 24-70mm @ 44mm, F 2.8 at 1/5000sec, ISO 200

Note: I should have shot it at a different Aperture (like 5.6 or F8), but I didn't...I don't know why :)

The Joplin Tornado #1

2011-08-03T02:44:00.000-05:00

Here is my first image in a series that are inspired by daily experiences in the town of Joplin. I have numerous images that I have captured, but thus far this is one of my favorites. The black and white conversion forces you to look at the patterns and textures, and in my opinion really makes the image powerful. One can really see the devastating impact of the tornado. More to come.

..."Restore Joplin"

-JM

Image Details: Nikon D700 fitted with a Nikkor 24-70 F2.8, shotat F6.3 at 1/3200 sec, ISO 200

Baby Portraits - Ava Rose

2011-04-15T23:07:00.001-05:00

I had the pleasure of practicing my Baby portrait skills with some good friend's newest addition, Ava Rose. She is a beautiful little baby - these photos do not do her justice! Congratulations to my good friends :)
-JM

**All Photos are with Nikon D700 @ either a Nikkor 24-70 or 70-200,

lit with a single Jumbo Alien Bee Softbox.

Family Portraits - Teresa & Katie

2011-04-06T22:45:00.000-05:00

I'm so behind! I took these family photos several weeks back, but I'm just now getting around to posting them! Either way, a good friend of my wife contacted me to get some photos of her little one for her upcoming birthday...we got several cute shots, and even several great ones with both of them in there!
It was difficult picking out my favorite ones to post, but here is a good sample of my favorites. (I included exif data after each shot for those of you who are interested). Enjoy!

-JM

F 5.6, Shutter 1/125th, ISO 200, Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200 @ 105mm, + External Flash

F 8, Shutter 1/250th, ISO 160, Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200 @ 155mm, +External Flash

F 4.5, Shutter 1/250th, ISO 200, Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200 @ 102mm, - External Flash

...and my favorite shot of them all...

F 7.0, Shutter 1/100th, ISO 200, Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200 @ 190mm, +External Flash

University of Washington - Seattle

2011-03-31T01:08:00.002-05:00

I am currently spending some time in Seattle, Washington, for a review course. After lectures one day, my friend and I decided to head to see the Cherry Blossoms at the University of Washington -

this was a truly beautiful site! Of course...I took some photos :)

Here are my favorites - I've got some more from the Seattle area that I will post soon.

F8, Shutter 1/125th, ISO 1000, Nikon D700 with Nikkor 24-70 @ 24mm.

F5.6, Shutter 1/125th, ISO 900, Nikon D700 with Nikkor 24-70 @ 62mm

F2.8, Shutter 1/320, ISO200, Nikon D700 with Nikkor 24-70 @ 70mm

Valentine Photos!

2011-02-01T17:35:00.000-06:00

It was a perfect combination - my wife wanted photos, my girl was in a modeling mood, and I wanted to take photos...perfect! Here are some of my favorite shots from our "Valentine's Session".

For those photographers amongst you that are interested in the setup for the above photos, here is a shot illustrating the setup.

Pink Lighting Setup: I used a pink background w/o a specific background light (as my subject was "small", the key light was able to light it enough for me). I used a Alien Bee 1600 with a Large Softbox, at camera right. She stood on a plexi-glass sheet (thanks Kristen Brooks!). I metered the scene with a light meter, which read about F16 with a shutter speed of 1/250th. All photos taken with Nikon D700 with Nikkor 24-70mm. Comment if you need to know any more about the setup!

-JM

2010-08-08T13:59:00.000-05:00

I am still trying to catch up with my blogging - don't know if it is going to happen, so I will just add as I can. Just the other day I went out to a garden center with my family and saw these beautiful drops on the edge of this flower... I knew I had to have this shot! It was quite tricky, as they had a fan which kept shaking the flower (which made it less sharp then it could have been). I tried out various apertures and shutter speeds to get one I liked. Let me know what you think! Leave a comment or click the quick comment options below (which do not require you to sign in)
-JM

Wedding Photography - Jamey and Keejet

2010-05-17T03:59:00.000-05:00

I had the pleasure of shooting a portion of wedding this last weekend with a friend from Goody Two Shoes Photography (Click for link). We had a good time and I think some really great shots, but of course I'm biased :)

Congratulations to Jamey and Keejet!

-JM

Mid-America Games for the Disabled

2010-05-17T03:18:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks back, I was the official event photographer for the Mid-America Games for Disabled in Kansas City. (Click the name for link) These games are sponsored by the US Paralympics and The Hartford Company and give athletes with disabilities the opportunity to compete against each other. This is actually the 2nd year that I have volunteered for the games, and I plan to continue as long as I can - the spirit of these athletes is simply amazing. The Paralympic Athlete this year was Anjali Forbr-Pratt (Click for link to her website) Congratulations to all the participants!
-JM

An impromptu Family Portrait

2010-05-16T23:57:00.001-05:00

While I was out enjoying enjoying some local areas, I came upon these rail-road tracks. Walking on the track, there was a family that you see pictured below - I just loved how the colors worked!

So I offered them an impromptu portrait, and they were nice enough to oblige.

-JM

A Flower...

2010-03-20T18:18:00.000-05:00

Haven't had much time lately to do anything photo-related - then today, I decided to do some macro photography. I stopped by a local florist and picked up several beautiful Gerber Daisies.

Here is one of my favorites from this "session". Enjoy!

-JM

Details: F/16, Shutter: 250th second, Light from 1 Jumbo Softbox from an Alien Bee 800 light

Union Station

2010-02-04T00:44:00.000-06:00

Here is a photo that I took recently while spending time with the family last weekend. The location is Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri - beautiful architecture!

Enjoy!

-JM

My Experience with Time Machine

2009-12-27T16:11:00.001-06:00

Ask anyone who knows me - backing up is a passion for me. If you want to see me depressed, have me lose my photos/videos.

There is an old saying in the computer world - "It's not IF a hard drive is going to fail, it's a matter of WHEN". Although I am no stranger to hard drive failures, it did get me the other week. The HD in my Mac died - it was fine when I went to bed, but I awoke the next morning to find it going SUPER SLOW, then a reboot showed to me that it was, in fact, dead. A quick jaunt over to the Apple Store got me a brand new HD (at no cost, thanks to Apple Care, by the way), but it left me with a completely clean hard drive.

At this point, you would begn the task of restoring your hard drive. However, I did have Time Machine running via a Time Capsule, and I decided that I would try to restore from it.

The first screen show shows beginning of the restore via Migration Assistant.

I left Time Machine running over night (as it was restoring 300 gigs worth of data).

After it ran, I had my previous hard drive back! This even includes my background and all my settings/programs. A quick update to the system component and I was ready to go. Long Story short: I'm impressed. Time Machine has always been a good option for restoring files here and there, but I can attest that it actually serves very nicely for a full system restore.

Some things I have discovered though:

1. Give it time to assess the drive and make full estimation of size of directories/files. Also give it time in the restore (as it may take a LONG time to finalize)

2. Make sure that you have the same version of the operating system before the migration (the Apple Store put Leopard on my system, when I actually had Snow Leopard. When I went to try to restore from my Time Machine, it gave it all sorts of problems...thus I had to upgrade the system first, then do a system restore)

3. Do NOT name the temporary name of the system as the same as the drive you are going to restore. (For example: If your previous name of your mac installation was Administrator "X", and you have time machine backup "X" - If you have to do a restore, don't name your new directory/file structure as "X" as it will give you errors when you try to restore to it). Instead, name the new directory as something like "TEMP", restore "X" (both as Administrator), then delete TEMP.

4. If you need more of an immediate restore, try other programs such as Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper!

I have not personally restored from these, but many people have restore without incident. I personally use Super Duper (in this specific case, I didn't have a current Super Duper! backup, which was stupid on my part)

That's it! And as always, DON'T FORGET TO BACK-UP YOUR FILES! -JM

Jenna - A Portrait

2009-12-04T20:19:00.000-06:00

It's been forever since I have blogged! This is a photo of my little girl that I took the other weekend - she just turned 2 (hence the 2 candles on her shirt!) and she keeps getting more beautiful!!! -JM

More Austin Images...

2009-10-30T21:48:00.001-05:00

Here are some more images from my recent Austin Trip. Enjoy!
-JM

The Bridge...

2009-10-27T22:05:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since I have blogged - been keeping busy!
Above is a shot that I took when I was recently visiting Austin. I saw all of these kids standing on this bridge and thought it would make a neat silhouette shoot. What do you think? Leave me a comment and let me know!
-JM

Out at the Park

2009-09-08T23:08:00.003-05:00

I haven't gotten around to updating in a while!
I had the opportunity of accompanying my good friends out to a local park, and of course the camera came along for the ride! Below are my favorites from the day :)
(All Photos were taken with Nikon D700 with 70-200mm F2.8 Lens)
-JM

Some B&W Kidd-o Shots!

2009-08-10T20:15:00.002-05:00

These are a couple B&W photos that I took the other day - Enjoy!
-JM

WHOOO!!!!!!

2009-07-29T22:53:00.005-05:00

I participated again this year in the Annual Kelby World Wide Photowalk a few weeks back. I just learned that I won the local submission for Kansas City, MO!
Here is the winning submission!!!
--JM

Portraits - Sara and Brad

2009-07-16T22:37:00.002-05:00

I was hired about week ago by a friend of mine to take some photos of her and her husband. We went to a downtown location with beautiful backgrounds. Below are my favorites from the shoot. Enjoy!
-JM

Wedding - Dennis & Susan

2009-06-07T14:17:00.003-05:00

Recently, I had the pleasure of photographing the wedding of Dennis and Susan with the assistance of Brian from Envision Photography Inc. The bride and groom were a pleasure to work with and the entire day was great! Below are my favorites from the day - I did not include any of his shots, as I figured he would probably post some on his site/blog at some point!
Enjoy!
-JM

P.S. During the service, I had a chance to talk and hang-out with the DJ, who proved to be both an excellent DJ and a real professional. If you have a few moments, check out his website, DoctorDJ.com

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T23:07:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day! To all of the Men and Woman of our Military that we have lost along the way, we give you our sincere thanks and will not forget what you have done...
-JM

Wedding Photos - David & Raelene

2009-05-24T04:38:00.002-05:00

I had the opportunity to take some photos at the wedding of my good friends, David & Raelene. These are 2 of the nicest people you will ever meet! I took a ton, but below are my favorites from the day. The 1st image of them against the brick wall is my favorite!
-JM

Family Portraits - Sally & McClain

2009-05-24T04:25:00.004-05:00

Last week I had the pleasure of photographing my good friend and her little kiddo. We went out to a local park for these shots. Here are my favorites from the session. Enjoy!
-JM

New Updates are on their way...

2009-05-19T23:58:00.001-05:00

Stay tuned - got a ton of new photos that I have to go through :)
-JM

2009-05-09T23:38:00.002-05:00

Had a packed weekend hanging out with the family. Went to the Zoo, went downtown, had a great time. Here are some of my favorites, so far. Enjoy!
-JM

Urban Lil' J

2009-04-26T21:46:00.002-05:00

Building on the previous post, here are some of favorites from the reason we went there...to get some shots of Lil' J! To make these shots more perfect, my beautiful wife stepped in as well :)
Enjoy!
-JM

Urban Shots...

2009-04-26T21:26:00.003-05:00

We met up with Brian, a good friend of mine today at a down-town location that was a "run-down urban" area that is on the upward slant. I went for a hard-gritty processing of these images because of this. Here are some of my favorites. Enjoy!
-JM

Spring has Sprung :)

2009-04-24T21:50:00.003-05:00

I have no clue why, but since these dandelions have started popping up everywhere, I have been dying to take some photos of them. Today, I had the pleasure of enjoying a spring day with my wife and lil' one, and I took the opportunity - enjoy! (The first one is one of my all time favorites now)
-JM

Baby Photos - Little Nicholas

2009-04-15T20:29:00.002-05:00

Here are several of my recent favorites of my newest nephew, Nicholas. He's a cutie :)
Enjoy!
-JM

Saturday wth Friends

2009-04-05T15:35:00.002-05:00

After some morning meetings for work, we met up with some friends for a fun afternoon at a local outdoor mall. We had a great time!
-JM

I love the post-processing on this one in particular...

My New Project

2009-04-01T21:27:00.002-05:00

This is my most recent project featuring my lil' J. These feature frames from 5 second frames that I have been interested in for a long time. Basically, these frames have pre-cut back mounts that allow you to have quick access to the matted area, so you can quickly change out photos w/o having to open the frame and change it out. Check out the link for better explanation.
-JM

Out in the Snow...

2009-03-28T18:58:00.003-05:00

It started snowing, so we decided to take the little one out into the snow. She cried initially, but then she laughed and loved it!
-JM

Photography Meet-up

2009-03-25T20:24:00.001-05:00

A small group of us involved with a local photography club had a chance to meet-up at a local park and enjoy the afternoon. It turned cold really quickly, so our time got cut short!
Here are my favorites of the event - Enjoy!
-JM

Lil' J in the Park -

2009-03-22T21:32:00.002-05:00

Yet another wonderful day, so we took our little girl out to the park (again!). In a departure from my usual photographic style, I used only one lens today (Fixed 50mm, F1.8). Here are my favorites from the afternoon. Enjoy!
-JM

A Spring Day at the Park

2009-03-21T21:32:00.004-05:00

It was a beautiful day today, so me and the family decided to go out and enjoy the wonderful day. My little girl keeps getting bigger and more beautiful everyday!
-JM

Lil' J

2009-03-20T21:59:00.002-05:00

I haven't updated in a while. This is a shot of my lil' girl from a while back :)
-JM

Model Photography

2009-03-07T23:56:00.008-06:00

I had the distinct honor of attending a meeting this weekend, organized by a local photography club. The members were amazing in their ability to share ideas/visions and suggestions for lighting setups and composition techniques. The models and subjects for the day were from various backgrounds and had different reasons for needing photos (muscians, senior portraits,etc), but were all extremely social. The coordinator of the event, Jim (Link to be added once his new website is up) was particularly excellent at teaching and illustrating photographic tricks - I appreciate his work in setting this event up! Here are my favorite shots from the day - Enjoy!
-JM

2009-03-05T20:46:00.006-06:00

I have been out for the last couple of days with an illness and have just set foot back into the real world today. When I got home, my two beautiful girls were already outside - it was so nice outside! So, I grabbed the camera :)
Enjoy!
-JM

Snow Daze... (Part 2)

2009-03-01T13:23:00.002-06:00

Some more photos - Enjoy!

-JM

Snow Daze... (Part 1)

2009-03-01T13:20:00.004-06:00

It has been a lazy weekend due to the snow that layered the area recently.

I grabbed my camera and braved the treacherous snow to take some photos

Enjoy!

-JM

Baby Pictures - My Nephew!

2009-02-22T22:38:00.003-06:00

My sister had her 2nd little boy this past weekend - of course you know the camera came along for the occasion! Here are several of my favorites of the photos that I took, but I have several others that I will post soon.
Congratulations Sis!
-JM

ADDENDUM: In the first picture, that is my wife and my lil' girl (not my sister) :)

A Day at the Park (Part 2)

2009-02-01T22:47:00.001-06:00

More Pictures...

A Day at the Park (Part 1)

2009-02-01T22:45:00.003-06:00

It was a gorgeous Saturday up here, so we decided to meet some friends at a local park. It was a great time and we got some good photos!
-Enjoy

Full Moon

2009-01-12T20:50:00.000-06:00

It was a full moon out the other night, so I decided to take a couple photos of it.

This is definitely one of the best ones. Enjoy!

-JM

YES! It finally happened :)

2009-01-05T21:24:00.008-06:00

OK, I'm going to break my tradition of keeping these blog posts to a minimum...
After years of waiting...and waiting...and waiting...GOOGLE FINALLY DID IT!!!
The ONE program that has made me regret switching to Mac is finally here :)
Yes, one of THE BEST programs for managing/viewing of large numbers of images is (and has been) by Google - Picasa.

Now, for professional purposes, this program is not for you - it's just WAY to basic and it's ability to handle high-quality image files (ie RAW formats) leaves a LOT to be desired....but that is not what this program is about. It's about being able to QUICKLY view several thousand program and find the file you want - and FAST. The next obvious questions is, "John, what about iPhoto". In my opinion, iPhoto has and probably will continue to be a bad program - I just don't like it. Picasa is the iPhoto replacement in my eyes.

For you Mac People out there, check it out at: http://picasa.google.com/mac/
Still, if you have a PC and have not tried out Picasa yet, give it a try...you will not be disappointed

-JM

P.S. A few of the folders in the screen-shot were blurred to protect family privacy

ADDENDUM (1/6/09) Apple has also announced iLife 2009. It appears to offer some nice new functions...might render picasa obsolete? Let's see...

Sleeping Beauty...

2009-01-04T11:27:00.002-06:00

OK, this was just WAYY to cute not to take a picture of :)
-JM

2009-01-01T20:42:00.001-06:00

Just another great afternoon with my family...I love days like this :)
Happy New Year, everyone!!!
-JM

Engagement Photos - David & Raelene

2008-12-21T21:51:00.002-06:00

I had the distinct honor of taking some engagement photos for some good friends of mine a couple of weeks back.
We did a combination of indoor (studio) and outdoor photos - it was really cold (< 20 degrees or so!) so we had to do the outside shots quickly! We had a great time and the shots came out great :)
-JM

Christmas Portraits...

2008-12-21T21:08:00.002-06:00

This setup was completely my wife's idea - she got it from another website, but it worked great!
Lil' J keeps getting bigger, cuter, and more adorable every day!
-JM

A Christmas Laugh...

2008-12-20T19:53:00.001-06:00

I saw this lamp in the window of a house tonight, and I almost ran off the road laughing!
(If you don't know where this is from, show it to someone else - I'm sure they will tell you!)
LOL!
-JM

You just THOUGHT I fell off the planet...

2008-12-13T22:21:00.004-06:00

Tree Lighting

2008-11-22T21:56:00.002-06:00

This is one of my favorites as of late. This is a tree lighting that we attended tonight at a local shopping center...I am so ready for Christmas Time :)
-JM

Zoo Pictures...continued

2008-11-08T20:42:00.001-06:00

Finally got around to finishing some of the photos from the other day - Enjoy!
-JM

A Day at the Zoo

2008-11-02T22:56:00.004-06:00

My wonderful wife and lil' J spent this afternoon visiting the zoo. Now, I normally try to limit the # of photos that I post, but I am gonna have to break that trend...I took a lot that I really like. This is just the first series that I am posting. Enjoy!
-JM

This isn't exactly zoo subject matter so to speak, but we did TAKE this one AT the Zoo...this officially stands as one of my top 5 of all time pics of my gorgeous wife and Lil' J. :)

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T09:34:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!!
Lil' J had her first Halloween Trip Last Night - I think she enjoyed it :)

A beautiful Afternoon...

2008-10-30T23:06:00.002-05:00

Just another afternoon with the fam - I love these days!
-JM

More Macro Shots

2008-10-24T21:23:00.001-05:00

I didn't have anything to do today, so I stopped by a flower shop and picked up some fresh flowers. Enjoy!

I got tagged...

2008-10-24T20:50:00.001-05:00

Thanks Cindi!

There are probably only a couple of people that I would do this for :)
1. I can not resist a picture frame
2. Throughout the day, I sing random songs
3. I absolutely hate it when people don't answer their phones
4. I have watched some family guy episodes >10 times in a row
5. I learn to play most guitar songs by listening to them over and over again until I can "hear" the notes
6. In the morning, I shower in the dark
7. Everyday before I go to work, I kiss my wife goodbye

OK, that's enough random stuff...more photos coming soon!

Another New Project

2008-10-22T21:28:00.003-05:00

This is a new project that I just recently put together. The image, as you might recognize, is one I actually posted earlier. It still is one of my favs ;)

What you see is called a standout, which is an image mounted onto a piece of thick foam. The neat thing about this is that the image actually seems to "standout" from the wall (hence the name). The image is printed metallic paper, which has an awesome sheen to it. It was made by a company called mpix. I have heard lots about this online photo processing lab and decided to give them a try....gotta say, I'm impressed.

Some Random Saturday Shots

2008-10-05T12:38:00.002-05:00

Just some random photographs while out with my wonderful family :)
-JM

Lil' J

2008-10-02T20:14:00.003-05:00

This is a different perspective than I usually do, but I like it!
-JM

Family Portraits

2008-09-30T18:01:00.001-05:00

Several shots of some good friends :)
-JM

Portraits...

2008-09-28T23:24:00.003-05:00

I had the distinct privilege of photographing a good friend of mine and his beautiful little girl (who is a natural born model!). We got several great poses - my favorite is the last one where he is holding her upside down (totally their idea),
-JM

My Family...

2008-09-27T23:43:00.002-05:00

My wonderful family just hangin' out :)
Photo courtesy of Envision Photography, Inc.
-JM

Random Photo

2008-09-25T20:42:00.001-05:00

Black & White Beauties...

2008-09-23T20:39:00.003-05:00

Enough Said :)
-JM

Which Way to San Jose?

2008-09-22T22:47:00.001-05:00

Shot on the beach of Corpus Christi, Texas...

My Newest Project

2008-09-22T20:58:00.003-05:00

My wife gets all the credit for this one! We have seen these types of framed art for a while (such as this - click) and I have had the idea in the back of my mind for a while. THEN, the other day when we were out and about, my wife makes the suggestion of taking a picture of a funky-looking letter on a sign, and B-A-M...the idea hits me. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
-JM

More Street-Life shots

2008-09-21T00:09:00.002-05:00

I really like how the the car shot came out :)
-JM

Day 5...

2008-09-19T21:16:00.000-05:00

In case you didn't figure it out, my wife won the bet :)
-JM

Day 4...

2008-09-19T21:14:00.000-05:00

Whoops...missed a day :)
-JM

Day 3...

2008-09-17T20:38:00.004-05:00

God, this lil' girl can not take a bad photo :)
-JM

Day 2...

2008-09-16T17:39:00.001-05:00

Continuing the challenge from my wife...
-JM

Day 1...

2008-09-15T20:38:00.003-05:00

This week begins my wife's challenge - she feels that i don't blog enough...
She has set forth the challenge of blogging one photo a day - and I accept!

A Day to Remember...

2008-09-11T22:26:00.005-05:00

In remembrance of all of those who were taken from us to early...

To the families who lost loved ones in the blink of an eye...

To all of those who struggled valiantly to save the lives of their fellow man/woman...

To all of those who continue to battle for our Freedom...

We will remember.

More Hi-Key Photos

2008-09-02T21:04:00.003-05:00

More cute photos of my little one - with a cool chair courtesy of my wife :)
-JM

2008 - Photowalk Pictures Part 2

2008-08-23T22:57:00.003-05:00

More Photos :)

2008 Photowalk Pictures - Part 1

2008-08-23T22:44:00.002-05:00

I had a pretty busy day. I participated in the 2008 World-wide Photowalk, organized by one of my favorite authors Scott Kelby. I joined up with my friends from Envision Photography Inc. and took a ton of photos. More to come...
-JM

New Photos

2008-07-26T19:22:00.003-05:00

I had the distinct pleasure of meeting up with a local photography club in the area. I shot a lot of photos, but here are a couple of my favorites so far.
-JM

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Now playing: Howie Day - Collide
via FoxyTunes

Some Photos from Today...

2008-07-19T16:43:00.001-05:00

Just a couple random photos from shooting today.
-JM

Hi-Key Lighting Setup

2008-07-15T20:41:00.003-05:00

For those of you interested, here is a schematic of how to do the hi-key portraits. The concept is to "blow-out" the background (translation = overexpose the lighting for the background, so it goes to white, while keeping the subject within the realm of correct exposure). In this schematic, I have both a soft box and a shoot-thru umbrella pictured ... I did not do the pictures with both of these sources. Instead, I used one or the other on different pictures - I just illustrated them in the same picture for simplicity sake. Here's a photo taken by my lovely wife, since a picture is worth a 1,000 words. To protect the background paper, there is a large sheet of white board from Lowe's. It is white, but also somewhat glossy so it creates a nice little reflection (but not too awful strong).

-JM

P.S. Many pardons for the omition - a fellow photographer Kristen Brooks helped me with this lighting setup...I actually called her the day I was getting the materials so I was sure that I got the right stuff. Thanks KB!

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Now playing: The Ataris - The Boys Of Summer
via FoxyTunes

My Attempts at Hi-Key

2008-07-12T21:19:00.004-05:00

She gets bigger and more beautiful everyday!!! These are a few more attempts at a lighting style called "hi-key", as popularized by many companies such as the Picture People. My good friend, Kristen Brooks also excels at this style of photography. If you like what you see, don't hesitate to leave a comment!
-JM

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Now playing: Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah
via FoxyTunes

Fireworks...Fireworks...Fireworks!

2008-07-05T20:42:00.003-05:00

Here are some more photos of the 4th of July fireworks - I hope everyone had a great holiday!!!
-JM

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Now playing: Rascal Flatts - My Wish
via FoxyTunes

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-04T23:57:00.003-05:00

I will have a few more to post in the next couple of days, but here's so far one of my fav's from this annual event!
-JM

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Now playing: Godsmack - Shine Down
via FoxyTunes

Natural Light

2008-06-29T20:43:00.004-05:00

This shot of my beautiful little girl was made with all natural light (are ya proud Kristen!)
There is a strong backlight, so to light my little girls face, I used a piece of white board to bounce back some light onto her face...this also yields what are called "catch lights" in the eyes of your subject.

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Now playing: Rascal Flatts - My Wish
via FoxyTunes

2008-06-29T17:16:00.001-05:00

Happy Father's Day / Happy Mother's Day!

2008-06-15T18:57:00.002-05:00

"A Child can obtain any dream they want, but it is a parent's job to put the dreams there"

This is a combo-post - wishing both my Dad a Happy Father's Day, and my Mom a belated Happy Mother's Day (I was messing with that other blog during the month of May and I didn't get a change to give her the honor she deserves).

Everything I have ever done is because they gave me the strength and the fortitude to do it. I can't even begin to tell them how much they mean to me - I just hope they realize that I couldn't have done it without them...

Thanks Daddy-Dude and Mama-cita Nuffin!

-JM

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Now playing: 3 Doors Down - It's the Only One You've Got (Acoustic Version) [Bonus Track]
via FoxyTunes

The Hedingham Family

2008-06-12T20:51:00.004-05:00

I had the distinct privilege of taking some family photos for one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. This is his lovely family as well as their most recent addition - 2 months old if I am correct. Congratulations, My Friend!
-JM

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Now playing: Jimmy Eat World - Hear You Me
via FoxyTunes

2008-05-25T10:07:00.004-05:00

OK...I hate that other blog ;)
So, let me officially announce the return of this blog!
-JM

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Now playing: Dragonforce - Through the Fire and Flames
via FoxyTunes

Check out the new site...

2008-04-06T19:59:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone, I haven't forgotten about my blog - I am just changing/updating my new site:

www.JohnMichaelHardin.com

Check it out!

Will the Baby Photos ever stop?

2008-03-16T00:40:00.005-05:00

The Simple Answer...No! She's just too darn cute :)
The last one is actually a Photoshop Composite formed from 4 photos individually - the film strip is actually one I picked up from a website somewhere some time ago.

These photos are in a style called "High-Key" lighting, which is very popular presently. A friend of mine Kristen Brooks is especially good at this style of photography - check out her website by clicking on her name, or the link on the right side of my blog.
-JM

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Now playing: The Fray - How To Save A Life
via FoxyTunes

The Lokey Family @ the Beach

2008-02-23T20:52:00.004-06:00

Here are a few photos of some of the greatest people I have ever had the honor of meeting.
They have been there for us on so many different occasions that I can not thank them enough - my friendship will always be theirs.
-JM

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Now playing: Lifehouse - Whatever It Takes
via FoxyTunes

Cute as a bug :)

2008-02-22T21:25:00.003-06:00

She is just too photogenic!
-JM