I always forget about this thing!

Past Month's Activities

I know I'm very lame at updating my blog on a regular basis and I usually mention that I'll try to be better at updating but this time I really mean it!

I've done three shoots with local music group Basic Radio (listen to their song "Trans Fat" it's very catchy) who are currently in the process of getting out their yet to be titled full length. They gave me a chance to hear a couple tracks off the album and it is honestly some of the best tunes I've heard in awhile. So needless to say I'm stoked to work with these guys and wholeheartedly support them.

Here is a photo from our first session together:




Our second session:




And third session:




I'm super stoked for these guys to release their album and hope we do more shoots because they are wicked fun to work with!

The Film Doth Return

I've been considering devolving and shooting film for a while now and just recently made the leap.

In the days of big sensors and HD video and all that tech nonsense it just feels good, and oddly enough almost organic to shoot film. I haven't made the push to shooting color slide yet but it's in the works.

Currently I'm working my way through a few rolls of Kodak TRI-X 400. This is a great all purpose film, I personally really like it's high amount of grain (which looks awesome zoomed in 100% in Photoshop!) I just got the first roll of black and white I've shot in almost 5 years. I sent it out to North Coast Photographic Services in Carlsbad, CA to have it processed and scanned. It took about a 1.5wks to get it all the way back to Washington but it was worth it.

Here's an image with very minor adjustments:



Loving it.

P.S. I dropped my D300 the other day, the body, and lens survived but my battery/vertical grip needs to be sent in to Nikon for service :(

Update From Last Post

Finished editing the images from last week's shoot. Shot enough to have three different poses to work with. Took me about 3hrs to edit each collective image, lotsa clipping.

Anywho here's what I came up with:



I'm liking it.

How do you feel about it?

Photoshoot

Did a shoot with local band Ken Parker the other day. While going through the images from the shoot with the band I realized how sweet the images looked as a time lapse so I made one to post online.

I shot over 120 images for use in a composite I'm working on with the band. These are all of the source images pieced together as a video. Enjoy.


Ken Parker from Taylor Jones on Vimeo.

totally forgot to mention that my website is live!

www.taylorjonephotography.com

book mark it kid!

New Lights, New Goals

I haven't posted in awhile mainly due to the fact that I haven't been up to much photographically in the past month or two. Winter is pretty dark, and cold in Washington which makes for rather crappy shooting conditions.

Tax season is upon us and that means refund time. I don't make copious amounts of money professionally so I usually get a couple hundred smackeroos back every year, which I choose to spend on gear typically. This year my investment was new lights.

I chose to go with AlienBees for a few reasons. They are relatively cheap when compared with other manufacturers making comparable products (Hensel, Profoto, etc.) they are sturdy, they make great accessories and Paul C. Buff Inc. has excellent customer service and a great attitude towards satisfying the customer.

I bought the following items:

Alien Bees B800
47" Octabox
22" Beauty Dish
13' lightstand and boom w/11lbs counterweight
Vagabond II battery pack

I must I was completely blown away with how fast my order was processed, shipped and on my door resulting in me smiling like an idiot at all my new toys.

These new lights have given me a fresh outlook on my photography and make me strive to gain more shoots with more clients and really start building my business. I am currently seeking shoots and am in the process of setting up a few personal shoots with some models from around Seattle.

Also went out with my bud Trev earlier tonight and snapped a few shots with the new light rig. The following were shot with the B800 and the octabox:







I'm stoked, I love photography.

not much to report lately.

will post when something worth while happens.

Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been busy and a little lazy lately. However in the time since my last post I've been mildly productive which is always a good thing.

I shot:

Some executives for online start-up company Mpire




Shot local band Ken Parker




Shot local band Madrid live.




Also made a Christmas card for my sister and her husband with a photo I took of my nephew.





The other day Mr.Strobist David Hobby made a post that has been heavily discussed in photo forums and blog circles about the topic of working for free. You can read his article here. I figured I'd throw in my $0.02 on the subject and hopefully see what others may have to say via the comments section.

As a young photographer and relative n00b to the business side of photography I see a lot of opportunity to sell myself short and work for nothing and in exchange not get anywhere or be taken seriously. Don't fool yourself into thinking I charge a ridiculous fee for shooting either, I still feel that I work for cheaper than what I am worth but there is a tradeoff between getting work and having a few extra bucks to throw around and getting no work and having no money to show for it let alone any photos.

In this day and age there are more photographers than ever throwing their hats into the ring, digital photography has really bastardized photographic media in such a way that it makes the market more competitive than ever. It's hard to even score a gig off of craigslist, why? because theres at least 10 other guys that'll do it for 50% less than you will. Will their photos be any good? maybe, but probably not. I feel that anyone who takes themselves seriously and values their craft at all would not work for free and will stand by their fees and have the portfolio to support their argument. As a photographer that is what I strive for. I want my portfolio to speak for itself so all I have to do is shoot and watch the dollars roll in. The odds of me actually accomplishing this feat are stacked up against me though.

There is something to be said for working for charitable causes, in which case working free of charge is rather saintly. If there were a cause I was particularly interested in donating my time to I would be all over it. However I have sent out e-mails to numerous charities and NPO's and have received no form of correspondence which equates to disinterest on their behalf in my eyes. So does this mean working for free is harder to come by than working for next to nothing? You be the judge.

Concert Photography

I'm going to give you folks a look into how I shoot concerts. This is kind of where I got my start in photography and one of the things I do on a consistent basis.

The setup/technique I like to use was actually shown to me by fellow photog Chris Van Wick (who is a great photographer, be sure to check out his work.) I like this setup because it is a little more stylistic than other approaches, allows the use of faster shutter speeds while still adding a punch of color to your subjects, backlighting (I love that stuff) and it just stands out among what everyone else at the show is doing.

So here it is:



I like to use 3 flashes and the following accessories
1 x Nikon SB-800
2 x Nikon SB-24
3 x PocketWizard Trasceivers
1 x Nikon SC-17 TTL cord

The camera/lens combo I like varies but I really like to use my Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye but my Tokina 12-24mm f/4 is pretty great too.

Here is a diagram showing how I place my lights


I place the two SB-24's to the left and right of the stage behind the band ideally about 6'-7' high on light stands. Just to add a touch of color I gel these flashes with whatever colors strike my fancy (ideally complimentary colors ie: red and green.) The SB-800 goes on the SC-17 which is attached to my Nikon D70, I use this flash as my main light and I just hold the ol' fashioned way...with my hand.

Power settings vary but typically I shoot with the backlights around 1/4th-1/8th power and my main around 1/32th. This is the result:

Is Electric


Sower of Dischord


As you can see it gives the photos more depth than what a lot of people do at shows. I see a lot of people shooting with flashes on camera firing straight at the band and it just gives sub-par results.

If you have any questions about this technique or any other please leave a comment and I'll try my best to get back to you.