How are all y’all doing out there? It’s been a long time and a lot has changed. I no longer work with Full Package Media but now work at NTT Data. I left FPM because we moved out of Oak Cliff and was going to try and find a full-time job in the Frisco/Plano area. Well, it just happened to work out that the old company I used to work for Dell Services, was bought by NTT years ago and my old co-worker happened to mention they were looking. Within a week of moving, I had a job! It’s the 3rd time I’m working for the same company. If I would have been able to stay with the original company, Perot Systems, I would be celebrating 16 years in just a month. But I’m happy that things went the way they did. I’ve been able to work elsewhere and continue to evolve as a person and learn new tricks. I’m sad that I won’t be able to ride my bike down the block and be in the heart of the city(Dallas) but it is a whole lot quieter and we’re closer to more bike trails. I’ve been missing my bike as well and can’t wait till I can put some more miles down.
2018 was a year of a lot of changes. I had several big clients and then I had the opportunity to work with some existing clients. I changed cameras and started shooting more old school. I sold the Canon 60D that I had since 2012 to purchase a friend’s Canon 5d MK I. So I’ve had to learn how to shoot full frame as well as learning manual focus lenses. I have several lenses that my Dad’s Mom used on her Olympus OM-1 back in the 70s. My Dad kept all the lenses and filters from when she passed and he used the gear all through my childhood. I’ve found that the almost 50-year-old Olympus lenses have more character and are cleaner glass than the 16-35mm L glass I have. So I’ve slowed down while shooting and started focusing on the complete picture. I even used the lenses on a commercial shoot and the images came out amazing. It is a change that I hope will take my photography to the next level. And I hope from the news that I’m reading in the camera/photography world that this might be the renaissance of bringing life and character in images again. I have a 21mm 3.5, 50mm 1.4 and 1.8 and they are amazing. Since mating these lenses with the original 5D, I’ve found others doing the same. A new inspirational character that I found on YouTube is Jamie Windsor that had a great post about the amazing film-like quality of the Canon 5D MKI. So it’s awesome to see that others are finding a renewed life in the old systems.
Recently I announced that I was going to put my professional Instagram post on hold and possibly just shoot what I want. I did this in frustration because I’ve found that anyone with the camera these days can take great pictures. I feel that the reason for this is that the new technology today puts the Artist on Auto and not the Artist learning how to work a camera, lights or metering. I’ve photographed all sorts of styles over the years and it’s nice to see all these new gadgets assisting us with creating our vision. But I feel as if some of the programmable world drains the life out of what we’re creating. So often we have a happy accident that is the greatest image we’ve ever created and forget how simplicity is overrun with the whiz-bang gadgets, that we miss out on some great art.
There is a great magazine that came out over a year ago, Wheel Hub. It is the Automotive Photographer’s equivalent of Playboy. The imagery created by these Editors and Photographers is the reason why most of us get into photography. I want to create art with my imagery. Just as the guy in a garage creates amazingly built rides. While drooling over the images I can see the time spent creating a photo. Getting the timing right…the lighting correct…the exposure perfect but also exposing the craftsmanship of what they are photographing without making it look like every other picture on the market. That is why we do our best work and why we keep the life of our art alive. And I think that’s where this new technology has erased that love of what we do. I’ve been on so many shoots where something isn’t working right or I’m not getting the results I want but I figure out a way to get it done. If you have technology do that for you…then why not just hand the camera over to the new technology and let the robot take the photos for you. Too much cookie-cutter stuff going on.
Here are some of the images I’ve captured over the past several months with the Canon 5D and Olympus lenses.
Does it ever get in the way, ours has been very busy and crazy lately. I’ve been so busy with the real estate photography that I haven’t had much time to breathe. It has taught me a lot about photography and slowing down. So much has happened in the past few months it’ll be hard to wrap it all up. About a month back I had two companies contact me about doing some work for them. Both conversations went deep until almost a conclusion but they didn’t. One just never got back to me and they were ready for me to do the work. It’s sad that a large company would just stop responding to you when we were at the table and about to sign the contract. The other had me sign a Non-Disclosure before we could speak about the project. Talks went well and it seemed if I hit the budget right on the mark and then POOF! Over. I asked what would have helped me win the contract and the response was crap. “We got someone from the Bay Area” Thanks for not helping me. It’s very frustrating to put as much time and work into your freelance career and love and then just be shoved out the door. I know that there are a lot of photographers out there and there are only a few that do really great work. But we get treated like trash just to get in the door to work with large companies. Large companies that have large budgets and they elect to go with the cheap because of their bottom line. But we continue on and keep working at what we do.
After all this, I decided to step away from pushing the business and trying to get more clients. Focus on life, family and the future. Our goal is to one day move to Washington. It’s getting too hot here in Texas and we want to live more amongst nature than concrete. Therefore we’ve got to start thinking about transplanting us up there. How do we go about that and how do we gather the money to do so. Photography is a skill, although a very saturated market skill, it’s one you can take anywhere and find a job. With it being a very easy skill to learn and how advanced it has become, nearly anyone can do it. So finding a job that will pay you for your skill and talent, that you can live off of, is tough. How do you prove your skill or knowledge better than another photographer? I used to be in IT, except for the past two years, which is another trade that you can take anywhere. Since I’ve been out of that for a while, it would be difficult to get back into. Relying on the photography skill to take me to our dream location is what I’m hoping will get us to a life that we’re going to enjoy for a long time. We are always looking and planning for getting up there. My wife has been at her job for almost 10 years and hopefully, that will help us move North and then I can find a photography job up there. But to leave this Car Meca of Dallas and into the land of nature, it’ll be very difficult. Move to an area that is saturated with Nature/Landscape photographers and try and nibble on my piece of that, is almost crazy. I don’t shoot just cars but it’s where my passion is and what got me started in photography.
So, for now, I’m going to keep going to the shows, finding cars to photograph for fun and hope it doesn’t get much hotter. Because 7 am shoots are starting to get steamy already. I have a few cars lined up in the coming up weeks. So you’ll be seeing some fresh work coming out soon!
It’s been a month since we returned to our trip to the Northwest. I’m not going to Seattle because Seattle is just another Dallas to us and we enjoyed everything else about the trip more than visiting the city. Our plan was to camp in our Prius all the way up to Seattle and explore the area. We camped all but 4 night in the Prius which wasn’t that difficult to sleep in. The first night we traveled to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. We arrived at the sunset and had to set up the tent in the headlights and swatting at all the bugs. Once we got everything arranged in the tent and out of the car we prepared the car and little one to lie down. What was nice, was this is the only night we needed to run the car all night to keep cool and the only night we had to fight the bugs. We got a little sleep and learned a lot. We woke when the sun came and packed the car and went into town for breakfast. Our next stop is Moab, Utah.
Our next campsite is almost 11 hours away. I never really thought about it but just knew we had to do it to get where we were going. But our next stop is lunch in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Elissa is excited about it. Being a photographer, you know I want to slow roll it everywhere I go so that I can stop and get photos. Well, that is the last thing we need on this road trip so I did what I could to get some photos from the driver seat. I just sold my Canon 60d and bought a 5d MK I just weeks before this trip and I had to learn it quickly to know how to get shots. When I switched cameras too, I lost a few lenses. All I had to shoot with was my 50mm and 100mm. I tried to get an adapter for some Olympus lenses that I had and hoped I could use on the trip and I’m glad there was a hiccup with the delivery because the lenses aren’t auto-focus. So I did what I could with what I had. More about the Olympus soon (lots to talk about with this setup). We arrive in Albuquerque and chow down and roll out. We didn’t get to stop anywhere but we’ll return one day because it’s a beautiful city. It’s crazy to think back now and think that it was going to take forever to get anywhere. But it flew by.
We made a few more stops along the way and arrived in Moab about 10 or so. We get to the site where we’re going to stay and it is CROWDED! Moab is the playground of the outdoor enthusiasts. So we decided to stay in a hotel and take it easy for one night. We wake and order some food and I walk down the block to Denny’s and what a view!! It’s amazing what you can’t see at night. We’re in the middle of these beautiful mountains. We load our gear up and head to Arches National Park just up the road, no, like 2 miles from the hotel. We arrive and Elissa starts to get anxious because of the heights. We pay and start driving up the steep entrance road. I have to stop at the first spot to get of a shot of Moab down below.
This park is amazing! There are some many turn-offs for you to get out and look at all the beautiful surrounding. I didn’t want to leave because I could have taken a billion photos. The sun was just right and the clouds were in and out making for gorgeous photos. The family loved seeing such beauty. We even got out and hiked up to the Devil’s Playground area in the park. WOW! Not just for the beauty but the deer that leaped across the hiking trail just 2 feet from Avery and I. I heard it in the are just behind us and as we turned it leaped passed. Avery loved it, excited and scared. It stopped nearby so we got to have a look at it. We headed back to the car and set off for our next stop.
Salt Lake City is our lunch destination. The road is being good to us and we didn’t think we’d run into too many issues. We arrive in Salt Lake City and it is MASSIVE! I never knew it was so big. We stop for lunch and let Avery burn off some energy for a while. We didn’t stop to see anything because we still have a few states to get through. We’re making good time and decide to push a little further on into Ontario, OR. We get out of SLC and get to northern Utah and it is BEAUTIFUL!! I never knew Utah was so pretty, we joked about just moving there. Elissa loved seeing all the different terrains and I couldn’t stop taking photos out the windows. We blow through Utah because of the 75mph speed limit and into Idaho, where it’s 85!! Idaho is a place I could call home. I loved the contrast between the jagged rocks of Utah to the smooth rolling mountains of Idaho. One of my favorite albums is Paradise Valley by John Mayer and I knew that he created the album because of his time in the area but didn’t know there was a city named Paradise Valley. I didn’t get a photo of the sign because we were flying but I have a feeling we’ll be back by there soon enough.
We’re already 1500 miles into our trip and it’s starting to set in. We opt for our 2nd night in a hotel because it’s going to be close to midnight when we arrive in Ontario. Avery is being great with a few hiccups but we’re happy she isn’t causing any big issues. We’ve done well so far. The goal for the next day is to get through Oregon and meet our friends in Portland for a pint at Widmer Brewing. We load up the car and need coffee and food. So Elissa looks up a place and sees that there is a small coffee place just down the road. We get a few things at the store and head over to Dutch Brothers Coffee. We pull up and a young girl comes up to the car. We start ordering and tell her that we need some good coffee to get us to Portland and asked if she could fill our thermos. She asks where we’re from and we tell her Texas. We order 2 coffees and the thermos and she said that going to give us a deal for our long travels. She only charged us $2.75!! We tried to give ‘her’ a tip but she wouldn’t take it and stuck it in the tip jar. We pull up to get out coffee and I see they have some really cool stickers on their windows. So I asked about getting one and they said they were out but one of the employees had some in their car. I said that was ok but they gave them to me anyway. Really awesome experience and helped us have a great start on the road.
Off we go!! But before we leave we have to cross the Snake River so that we can get a photo of the Welcome to Oregon sign. We have about 6 hours before we’re in Portland but there is so much to see. We travel along the Colombia River for many miles and just across it is Washington. This is the part of the trip that gets us the most excited about being in this area. It is beautiful and lush scenery that we’ve been waiting for and it doesn’t disappoint. We get to Portland about 2 pm and pull up to the brewery. A guy comes over and asks if I can take him up the road. He didn’t look like a bum but I was confused. Told him that I was from Texas and I was on vacation. I get out and go to get Avery and he comes up again and he is shocked to see that I’m getting a kid out of the car. I tell him again that I’m on vacation. We make it into the Brewery and wait for our friends. Avery finds that the stage and starts putting on a show. David and Emily arrive and the real party begins. We have a flight and some food as the kids play. We talk about what is going on in life and talk about what to do while we’re there. We leave there and they take us to the Pittock Mansion that overlooks Portland. The kids get to run around as we watch the sunset. We decided to offload most of our stuff at their place where we’re staying and go get a bite to eat. They live in Hillsboro and the drive through the town is just amazing. Elissa and I are just enjoying the scenery and wishing we had more time to explore. We have dinner at this really cool place that you could only pull off in Portland. Most of it is outdoors which was awesome and made us want to stay more. We had back to the house and crash for the night because we’re leaving for Seattle in the morning. We get up and out the door may be around 10 am and have some breakfast. Back to the house and load up the car. We were worried that the kids were going to throw a huge fit over leaving because they all really enjoyed playing together. David and I grew up down the street from each other and have known each other for over 30 years. It was great to hang out with them and SUPER thankful for their hospitality. It was great seeing and talking with his dad as well. I can’t wait till they finish the cars in the garage because I’m ready to return to photograph them.
This is when we get to start making lots of stops to see things we have been wanting to see. Time to Explore! We head to Route 101 for a beautiful trip North. I haven’t been in this part of the US in almost 30 years and I have the same feeling that I did when I was 15. The land is so lush and green and there are proper windy roads. Our first stop of the day is Cannon Beach. Elissa planned a few places just for me. This is the first and I’m excited to get there and get me some photos. I know the beach and you do as well but being there is so much different. I didn’t get a lot of time there because we had a lot to see but I captured the images that I wanted.
I could have stayed the day there and shot so many images. I totally would have got on that island, it was so cool. This was Avery’s first time going to a real beach and the Pacific Ocean. She was so happy to get dirty in the sand and chase seagulls. I had to go park the car so the girls got to play on the beach before I did. When I found them I ran over to Avery and she started telling me about everything she saw. I asked her if she wanted to put her feet in the water and you know she said yes. I let her know that it was going to be cold but I’d be there with her. We get up to the water line and her feet get a little wet. Then the tide came up and she didn’t know it was going to do that and she LOVED it!! We stood there a bit and just enjoyed the water. I felt her start to shake and knew she was cold. I go to pick her up and her shorts are wet. I know that the water didn’t get that high so I figured the cold made her pee. No biggie, we were having a blast and enjoying the sand. I went and got my photos and then went and got the car. We changed Avery right there and set off for our next stop, Astoria! Goonies Forever!!
Off to find the Goonies’ house in Astoria and finally, cross into Washington. Route 101 up is just stunning, trees for days!! And it is making us ready to move or just not return to Texas. It takes a while up going up Rt 101 but we’re in no rush. We arrive and it’s like the picturesque harbor towns you see in the movies. I’m guessing that’s why they filmed the Goonies’ here and War Games and several other movies. We get into town and it’s time to eat and Elissa wants me to enjoy some fresh fish. We dine and look around the pier and start looking for the house. Emily warned us that she had heard the owners covered up parts of the house because they had so many visitors. Well, we found that to be true. We find the Jail and we find the house and it was covered up. The next stop Cape Disappointment, no, not the house covered up. An actually place called Cape Disappointment, which it doesn’t disappoint at all. We cross into WA over a long bridge (which Elissa is terrified of) and make it into the park within a few minutes. We pay to get into the park and the Ranger said that where we were going to is run by the Coast Gaurd and to be careful. We park and find the trail and start hiking and almost get lost in this gorgeous forest. Then we find the place we want to go and it is not for the faint of heart. You really need to a ladder to get down to the beach. We make our way down just as the sun is setting and it is gorgeous. It’s just a little cove with a small island in the middle of it. The girls play as I start shooting as fast as I can before I lose the light. I really wish we could stay for the sunset but it would be too hard to get back up. We make our way up another route and it’s just as bad as the way down. We rush to get back to the car because it’s starting to sprinkle a bit and do so just in time. We had back into town and then head East to Mt St Helens to camp at our next KOA. We get there late, set up camp and then crash. This night it was a bit better in the car because we knew how to set it up and be comfortable. We pack up, get coffee into and head North to our next stop, Vashon Island where we’re going to stay in Teepees. Avery has no clue we’re camping in them and we can’t wait till she sees them.
We go through Olympia and Tacoma and make it to the ferry about noon. The ranch is on the North side of the island so we have to suffer through the long beautiful scenic drive for 15 minutes to find the place. This area is so gorgeous!!
We arrive and find the caretakers and get all the details about the place and where we’re staying. Apparently, we’re arriving at the end of their season and they are going to start getting things ready for winter. Up there the colder weather starts about October so they have about 3-4 weeks to get it all done. We unload, we’ll be part of only a handful of guest on the ranch. AYH Ranch is kind of what we’d like to build in the future. Very simple place and buried in a forest. We go into town to look around and get a few supplies for the next two days. We have Kellie meet us later at the ranch and then we go back into town to eat. It’s great seeing Kellie and he tells us several spots we should visit. We visit for a few hours and it’s time to head back to camp to have some fun. We say our goodbyes and plan to meet in Seattle the next night to have some beers. There is a burn ban going on, so we’re not able to build a big fire so we build a small one in the teepee so that we can make some smores for Avery. We do alright until we put some wet wood on the fire and start smoking out the tent. We clear it all up and get to bed because tomorrow we got to Seattle!
Everyone sleeps well on the beds that are provided and we even sleep in a bit. We hop on the ferry and make it into Seattle, an hour later. Have to wait around a lot here for the ferries and all the traffic. We make it to Pikes Place and start exploring. We’re winging it with a few places we’d liked to see dashed in. I brought the wagon instead of the backpack for Avery since the backpack took up a lot of space. We sample some foods, get some donuts and coffee and walk around. It’s a really cool place and it isn’t really packed while we there. We’ve done our walking up and down the large hills and the wagon is helped a lot. It’s about time for lunch so we visit the Ferris Wheel and get a great view of the city. I thought Avery would maybe not want to ride it but she was completely gung-ho about it and did really well. We take a look around at the shops and buy a few things and Avery even gets to ride a carousel. We have lunch and then head back to the island because we liked it better than the crazy city. Let’s RELAX! We really enjoy our time on the island and we only return to Seattle to pass through on our way home. I wish I could have visited other spots there but it just felt like Dallas and Dallas ain’t nothing but headaches.
We get breakfast in the morning and start heading East to view the area we would like to buy property. We make a few stops along the way and enjoy the scenic views, they are everything we’re looking for. I’d love to see it in the winter, one day. Elissa wants to take me to a specific National Park for a little road break. East Washington is beautiful and I can’t wait till we live there. We have lunch in a small dinner in Roslyn after visiting the city of Cle Elum. Both of us enjoy the vibe of the town and could see us settling there. The park is beautiful and we’re in a rush so we didn’t want to take up too much time because now we have to cover a lot of miles to get South quickly. We do stop to take some photos and to visit a beautiful clear pond. We get Avery out and let her throw some rocks in the river and even get her little feet wet. We snap some photos and get back on the road. The area is so beautiful and is exactly what we’re looking for, time to save the money and buy the land.
It’s a few hours till we get to the border of Idaho and we’re watching the fuel gauge because there aren’t a lot of stops. We just about drain the tank before we find an old gas station amongst Vineyards and large swaths of Hops farms. I can’t remember the last time I saw a pump like this one. We fill up and make our way through the rolling hills of Idaho. There are several wildfires in the area and the sky is full of smoke. It makes for a very idyllic post-apocalyptic looking movie scene. Our next overnight stay is in the middle of Utah. Not too many miles spent in the corner of Idaho but the drive through Northen Utah seemed to drag on. We calculated the miles and picked where we were getting gas next. Not sure if we didn’t calculate correctly or someone added miles but we almost ran out of gas. Elissa did everything she could hyper-mile the hell out of the car. We were going to Goblin Valley Park which we had to pass to get to the gas station. The sun was setting and it was getting dark already. We were pretty much the only ones on the road and if we ran out of gas we would have been waiting a while for help. We coasted as much as we could and then we arrived at a station! From our last fill in Idaho still this stop we put 463 miles on a tank of 10.5 gallons. Freaked out beyond our minds. So thankful that we made it and happy to be back on the road. We drive back 10 miles up the road we just came to the entrance of the park. Then we drive 8 miles back the other direction in the park to the campsite. If only there were a South entrance!. We unload, made a little dinner and decided that we were going to sleep in the tent, the only night we do. It was beautiful!! It is designated an International Dark-Sky location. So it was the most stars we’d seen on the trip. I snapped a few photos but didn’t a lot of time to play because the girls were tired and ready to lay down. I set up the tent and let them enjoy some time under the stars.
It is a beautiful the park, which I discovered when I woke before the sun rose. It was quiet. I mean dead quiet. No one was up yet and it was so peaceful. I grabbed my gear and started hiking around the area and snapping some photos. I get about 2 hours to shoot and we had to start getting ready to go. We pack up and head back into town where we got gas for breakfast. We set off for our next must-see stop, Mine. Monument Valley on the border of Arizona. I wanted to go here because I saw someone else’s post on Instagram of Forrest Gump point. We head South on 95 and the area of southern Utah is so gorgeous. I wish I could stay there for weeks to capture the beauty of the state. The road to the Point isn’t very straight and it has quite a few drops on it. We’re going down the road and Elissa is navigating and notices the road ahead makes several Zig-zags and shows me. I tell her to get ready for some very tight switchback roads but what I didn’t know was the conditions of the roads. We come to a stopping place, the overlook. It’s seriously a few thousand feet drop off on a gravel road, like the edge of the cliff kind of road. Elissa isn’t excited about it and wants me to take my time and be careful. We make our way down once we have a look at the overlook and all the beauty that lies below. It’s slow going but we make it down without issue. Back on the paved road and we have a few hundred miles till Monument Valley. There isn’t a spot on the drive that you don’t get a beautiful view. So many places I want to pull over and snap some photos.
We arrive at Monument Valley or Forrest Gump Point and there are already several cars stopped. We find a place to park so that I can get out on the road and take some pictures. It is a very picturesque spot. Robert Zemeckis was wise to have this location in his film. It shows what the land has gone through over thousands of years and what beauty lies below the surface. With the long road to the Valley, you get the sense that it takes time to grow and become enlightened. I’ll let the photos finish the story.
Next stop is Albuquerque. Our last stop before home. We’re at the end of our travel fever and are ready to be home. The long trip down a road we’ve been down several times before, I-20. We arrive in Dallas at about 9:30 pm and the odometer just rolls over 4900 miles when we’re about 10 miles from home. I asked Elissa if she wants to go 50 miles out and back to make it a 5,000-mile trip. She says Hell No! We exit for home and are relieved that we survived and had a great time. It was an amazing trip and we got to see so many beautiful parts of our nation. We hope that Avery remembers some of it and not just the Motel 6 signs.
We Strike again!!
I haven’t posted anything yet because it happened so quickly but I had another shoot with Ford. This makes #3. This time we got to work with Ford directly and work with a small team. I was contacted by Rick of San Diego Productions to get a bid on photographing 4 2019 FOrd SUVs before the State Fair of Texas. Threw in my bid talked once and got the job. Had to drive around Texas a bit to find a spot but we did the day Rick arrived. Thumbs up on the location and now for the rides to arrive. Well, those that are living in North Texas know that we’ve been getting a lot of rain the past few weeks. We plan the shoot no matter what and are going to shoot even if we have to do it in small bits. Which is what happened. Two car haulers arrive and park as it’s raining. We sit for a bit and it lessens and we get our first look at the new SUVs. We start planning the shoot and staging them and have to wipe them down every 2 to 3 minutes. We’re shooting for about an hour or so and it starts to lessen. We work as hard and as fast as we can and get as many as photos as we can in the clearing. The team was awesome and we all kept busy, cleaning cars, moving cars, moving lighting, and general mayhem.
We’re about 30-40 minutes before the guys need to load up and take the trucks to the fair and the sun comes out. We crammed in another few shots and sent them on their way. Again with these large reveals, like this, no one can see these or photograph them before we get the images out the next day. So I’m forced to edit these right as everything is done. Rick and I go to Hard 8 and have dinner as I eat the main shots. This is about 5 pm and I’m hustling through the images. They don’t need a lot of work but they need some fine tuning because of the environment. And it was amazing to shoot with the Canon 5D on this job. It’s amazing what a 13-year-old camera can still do. I shoot with the 50mm, 100mm, and 17-40mm (Thanks Troy!)We split about 6:30 and I head to Jeff’s to do more editing. I stay there till about 8:30 or so and head home to hopefully complete the work. I’m up till 2 am editing and fine-tuning the images to get them back to Ford. I’m dead tired and crash. Jeff and I plan to go see the trucks at the fair on Friday and hope to see some of our work. We go and find no trucks and no images. We enjoy our time at the fair with our friends and head home, there’s more work to do. On the way home I start searching for the trucks and guess what I find. The Motor Trend article about the release of the new Editions. WE’RE ON MOTOR TREND!!!! I’m through the roof and I’m just blown away, I’m speechless, I’m almost in tears! I’ve had several publications over the years but this is one has WAAAAAAAAAY more eyes on it than the others. So this is huge. I blast everyone the link and start searching for more. I’m a humble guy. I don’t brag a lot about what I’ve done but this I can’t not shout from the mountaintops. I’m proud of the work I’ve put in. I’m proud of the struggles I’ve gone through and proud to have friends out there to help with this. I’m so thankful for the support and my friends that have helped me along the way. Super thankfully for my wife Elissa that has put up with me for years on this crazy adventure. And thankful for all the other photographers out there that have inspired me.
Here is the link and a few of the photos.
Ford Unveils Four Special-Edition SUVs
Not sure if I have mentioned it yet but I sold my Canon 60D and bought a friend’s Canon 5d MK I. I LOVE this camera and so happy that I bought it but… OMG! It uses a compact flash card and I forgot how sloooooooow they were. It takes at least 3 minutes to download an image, IT’S HORRIBLE!! But these images are amazing. Most of the time I’m using it I have the old Olympus lens on it and LOOOOOVE how clean the images are. So I’ve purchased an adapter so that I can use my SD cards which are way faster. And hopefully, if I can find one, I’m going to get a WiFi card so that I can transmit to my tablet again.
Moving into a full frame has been great but lose of the newer tech has set me back a bit. But there are ways to fix that and I should be able to continue to enjoy this 13-year-old beast. Here are some images that I have shot recently.
They almost had me! You know when you get an email and something just doesn’t sound right in it? Like someone is trying to say something but isn’t doing it quite right? Well, I got one of those and I let it ride to see if it was for real. I did my research and looked up all the details I could on the company. Things looked good on the company front but something about the details and the person that had contacted me just didn’t sit right. Then this morning the details of what I was going to be doing changed dramatically. Here’s a bit of story and why it was so interesting.
Received a text from ZipRecruiter about emailing someone about a local film production they wanted me to work on. I emailed the person and started getting details about the production and what I’d be doing. They said they would be sending me a check for my work for 3 days and that we would meet up before anything started. Sounded a bit odd to me but I wanted to see if I could get more info. I sent over some info and began discussing how things were going to happen. One thing I thought that would throw a wrench in things was that I’m about to go on vacation and didn’t think I could do the work with them. But they said that filming wouldn’t start until after my return. I also told them that I work an evening job the days the filming was happening to see if that would turn them away. Without hesitation, they said it wasn’t an issue. More skepticism sets in and I’m beginning to think things aren’t right, so I research the company a bit more and it seems legit. So now I know someone is scamming because the amount that I’m being sent has increased. I show the latest email to Elissa while we’re laying in bed and start discussing it. She searches for film production scams and finds a few write-ups about a few that have been going around. With the last email, we can really see what they are trying to do so now all we’re going to do is try to capture as much info as we can.
I go back to the companies website and I send them an email about what is going on. Within a few minutes, I get an email back from the owner stating they have no clue of the person and curious about the details. I send them the email trail so they can look over it and see if there are any details that they may see that could indicate where or who is doing this. The company is located in Japan and they said that it was late and they are going to contact their lawyer in the morning.
It seems as if the oldest profession, besides hooking, is a Con-Artist. As soon as this great invention, we call the Web was created, people find a way to abuse it. I guess that’s true for everything really. We travel on this new land, new country and we start selling off products that are fake or have no actual use, just like the Snake Oil salesmen used to do out the back of his wagon. Con-Artist, pulling the wool over the eyes of the common people just so they don’t have to apply any skills to make an honest living. They have a skill but they misuse it, the salesman, the other oldest profession. Someone that was a humble individual that had a skill or a love and used it to produce a product to sell to their fellow man, so that they could feed their family. Humans screwing over Humans…
As I was writing this, the mail came and guess what I received. A nice little check for me to deposit into my account. YAAY! I have lots of money now! I can buy this and some of those and one of these things. Elissa called me and said I should call the bank of the Cashier Check and see if they know. Talked with the kind lady that gave me info about the check and we confirmed it was a fake. So much for having fun on a production set again, soon.
I’ll update Y’all on what happens with these scammers when we can track them down. I’m hopeful that writing this and others that write about these scams will be able to help put these people away and stop them from taking advantage of others.
So I haven’t been writing a lot and I really need to keep up with it but I was wondering if I should post shoots. I mean post images and details about shoots that I do. Behind the scenes and editing details and things of the sort. I’ve always shared what I learned with other photographers because that’s what my mentor did with me. And I think that is how others are taught, passing down the torch. Comment and let me know your feelings on the topic.
Your bestest friend
Jakeb
Tomorrow will be the 3rd time talking with a large company about a budget/proposal. It’s a frightening event. I’ve worked hard on crafting my skill and doing the best I can with what I have. But when a multi-billion dollar company calls you and asks you to do some work for them, you get taken aback. I have other clients of this caliber already but this is to the next level from that job. I worked about a week on a proposal for them and sent it to them 20 minutes before midnight the night before they wanted to see it. Well, tomorrow we have a call to discuss a few questions they have about the proposal. It’s a great sign that they understand what I created for them and I’m hoping they are going to ask questions more along the lines of ‘how I’d get the shoots done’ and not about adjusting the proposal. I’m super excited to get to talk with them over the phone because that’s where my work ethic and understanding of doing this type of job will shine. Time to turn on the salesmen. My mom always said I could sell swampland to anyone. Hopefully, she’ll be with me tomorrow, cheering me on.
I’ve said it before just as other photographers have said, “It’s not all about what you do behind the camera, you have to sell yourself/business/brand.” There is a lot more to learn about running a business than there is taking pictures. That’s why there are so many photographers that don’t make it. When I get this contract I am enrolling in a business, sales and marketing classes. If I’m going to keep up this type of work I’m going to have to know how to talk with companies about working for them and selling my work to them. There are a ton of photographers out there but there aren’t a lot of them that can bring in the big clients. So if I’m going to continue this trend, I better go learn my A Game.
Other news, I bought a Canon 5d. From a friend. Who bought it from his friend. I feel like I’m back in the VW community and we’re all swapping parts. So my great friend Jeff sold me the camera that he bought his best friend Troy. I’ve been dying for a full frame for a long time. Kind of the bad part about this is that I’m selling my Canon 60D to a co-worker. So I’m losing my workhorse and it’s even scarier because I still own all but one camera that I’ve ever bought. It’s been a great camera and it saved me on a lot of shoots. The cameras aren’t too different, although the 60D has a better screen and a bit more MPs. The 60D has a swivel 3-inch screen and the 5d only has a 2.5-inch with no swivel. There is no live view on the 5D which has saved this old man from getting on the ground a LOT! There is about 5 years difference between the two and a lot of tech came out in those 5 years. 5D is at 13 MPs and 60D is at 18 MP. So I’m looking a little on the image size and quality but the full frame is going to make up for that. So I’m losing on a few things but I’m going to enjoy owning a camera that started a new high-end line for Canon. And as soon as I get this contract, I’ll get me a new full-frame or even jump the Canon ship.
Thanks again for everyone’s support and keeping me motivated in doing what I love.
Jakeb
I’m slacking… I know.
Been a long time and I hope everyone out there is doing well. Life has swamped me with a lot of going-ons and I don’t get much time to sit and write. I’ve been slacking on my journal too but all of it will change soon.
Tomorrow is my last day at Full Package Media. 7 months of driving around DFW photographing some amazing home and some that were… ok. I’m super thankful to have been able to shoot with the company and sad to be leaving. Learning how to shoot real estate has made me focus more when my eye is placed on the viewfinder. It taught me to slow down, pay attention and look at all the details. Learning all this again has already made my photography better and cleaner. Getting the details right in a photo before hitting that button has made post product a lot easier. So I’m happy to gain from the job and hope to one day, maybe, return. Or own a franchise.
I really haven’t pushed any new work out or searching for new clients in the past several months. Not enough time and just getting frustrated about inquiries that have gone belly up for no reason. So I took it easy and didn’t really force my work. Well, it looks as if the work I have been doing for the past few years may be paying off. When you get a call and you’re moved to tears, you get that little pat on your back. A little confirmation that you’re doing well. I’m not going to tell any of yall out there that there isn’t a lot of struggle being a photographer, because there is. It’s a lot of work and I’ve never been able to give it my full 100% focus. I’d say its about 80% behind the scene work and 20% behind the camera work. I’ve watched veteran photographers and hear them say this same thing but until you’re doing it, you just don’t know. “This is a business.” You have to run so many parts of this/your business, it’s like your 2nd job. And I hope some time soon I’ll be able to devote at least %80 my time to running my business. I’ve been all about the photography and not really concentrating on the business. If things go well with this “life-changing possibility”. I’ll definitely be enrolling in a business management class or get a degree in it so I can run this business better.
Recent activities that I’ve been up to; I photographed my friend Gerry’s proposal and photographed a friend’s amazing car all within 24 hours. I met Gerry back in 2005 when he had just moved from Californa and we did one of my first photo shoots. He had and still has his 1961 VW Beetle Ragtop from our first encounter. He contacted me one night and asked if I could do this for him. In the VW world, you’re family if you’ve ever hung out with your buddies and talked cars for hours. My instant reaction was CONGRATS and You know I got you. It was amazing to be there for a friend and to capture their special moment. This wasn’t my first proposal shoot too. I had done it years before for another VW friend, if I’m right they just celebrated their 5th anniversary. So about 24 hours after this and meeting my other friend at our big VW car show, I’m photographing a car that we’d been trying to shoot for almost 4 years. I met Jason in Helen, GA at another LARGE VW show and wanted to photograph his ride. Being from Texas we wanted to set up something but we never got a chance. He and his wife drove up to Dallas for DubSplash at Sandy Lake Park and we ran into each other. We both kind of knew what was on our minds and so we scheduled to do a shoot after the show was over. I went and found some locations and then I found a place that i’d been wanting to shoot for years. Tol him where to go and the rest is history. I’ve added a few of the photos from the EOS shoot in the portfolio, so make sure to stop and have a look in my portfolio.
More to come on that topic in the next few months. The topic image has a bit of a hint in it. Take care, be well and be kind to each other.
Jakeb
