Snakes and Kids
This weekend we were at Heartland Christian Camp for their annual Fall Festival. We had the privilege of seeing a snake demonstration by Nathan Whittington, a biologist and teacher. Nathan brought a variety of snakes, from small to extra-large, and talked about snake safety and biology. He really opened my eyes to the relative safety of snakes and helped me to be a little more calm around them. Here are a few pictures of Nate demonstrating and kids enjoying the learning process.
Friday Fun: Sharing Scenics
I love making scenic images. Someday I hope to be like Paul Mullins, one of my favorite photographers. Paul makes regular trips to beautiful places and brings back breathtaking images. I make occasional (sometimes accidental) trips to less-spectacular places and try to bring back images that make them look decent. For now, that will have to do! Here’s an image I created in the foothill area surrounding Orange Cove. I really appreciate the orderly agricultural landscape that California’s central valley presents. Fields and orchards are segmented into neat, orderly geometric shapes. It’s a landscape that makes sense visually and shows in a very graspable form our region’s dependence on agriculture. Enjoy, and happy Friday!
Featured Wall: Carola Shehan
We love making personalized wall art for our clients. It’s so satisfying to see our creations in use, and even cooler to see the creative ideas people have for displaying their portraits. Carola Shehan went out with Lisa for a location session with her grandkids, and we made a 20×20 square storyboard for her. It’s in the center of the wall grouping. Here’s Carola’s description of the arrangement: “Tex made this frame on the wall in our office and painted it red. Then we re-painted the old frames black and put them inside. Of course the wonderful picture Lisa took is in the middle. The walls are still white and are soon to be painted a tan color. One wall in front of my desk is to be painted the same red. Enjoy the pic.”
Thanks, Carola!
*If you’d like us to feature your wall on the Shinn Photo blog, take a picture of it and send it to me at andrew@shinnphoto.com.
Steve and Stephanie’s Wedding
I’ve been looking forward to sharing Steve and Stephanie’s wedding pictures, but I wanted to introduce them to their pictures in person first! Their wedding day was truly a community celebration of their love, exactly as they intended it to be. Lisa and I were so blessed to spend the day with them, and we were made to feel like family. Thank you for allowing us to share that day with you, Eckgren and Wiest families!
Amanda’s Senior Portraits
I had a wonderful session with Amanda a week or two ago! Amanda’s a fun person who’s loves life and is fun to be around. I especially loved watching her face as I showed her the portraits we made during her session. Her excitement is genuine and contagious! Here’s one of my favorites from her session, and you can see the others on our Facebook site at facebook.com/shinnphoto.
Megan Holley, a lifelong friend, asked me a question in response to an article I wrote about photography and business:
“Try making images that you love. Work hard on them. Learn all you can.”
That’s exactly what i want to do!! Couldn’t have said it better myself. Tips on where to learn all i can??
Great question, Megan! The good news is that there are tons of places to learn about photography. The bad news is that it’ll likely cost you a whole lot of time. I’ll go through a few of my favorites here:
- Experience: It sounds trite, but the only way to make better pictures is to make a ton of them. Every time you make a picture and evaluate it, you’re adding to the database in your head that tells you what works. In this regards, sometimes failure is more important than success. But you can’t fail if you won’t try new things.
- Books: I have a few comprehensive photography manuals. This is one of my favorites: bit.ly/bX7JH9. At $112 it’s pretty pricey, but knowledge always has a cost.
- Other people: Join or create a group on meetup.com. I looked around you area and found a group in Modesto, but if that’s too far away, you could always start your own group. I don’t care what Jean-Paul Sartre said, other people can be very helpful!
- Seminars: It seems like everyone is getting into the training game these days, and Shinn Photo is no exception. Our first Summer Camera Camp was this last weekend, and we had a great time learning about out cameras and how to use them.
- Blogs: You’re reading a blog now, but there are much better blogs for learning photography. (Unless you want me to post instructional info. If so, leave a comment to let me know, and I’ll get right on that!) Scott Kelby, the president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, published a great blog about photography over at scottkelby.com. Scott’s Wednesday guest blog posts are full of variety and good material. Joe McNally tells stories from his teaching and very long shooting career over at joemcnally.com/blog. If there’s a cool/dangerous thing to be done with a camera in hand, Joe’s done it and likely has scars to prove it. He’s a highly entertaining writer. Chase Jarvis, one of my favorite photographers, blogs about creativity at chasejarvis.com/blog. Blogs are great for news information and periodic pieces, but they’re not a great format for comprehensive instruction.
- Webinars: Webinars, or online video courses, are great for learning about a particular aspect of photography. Lynda.com has some inspirational courses featuring several photographers. One of my favorites is a series on Douglas Kirkland, an iconic photographer. Lynda.com allows you to watch a few movies for free, then you have to pay for a subscription. I pay for one, and use it heavily. I highly recommend the service for learning about software. Kelbytraining.com has a similar offering for a similar price. Chase Jarvis is trying something interesting at CreativeLIVE. He’s offering free video training for anyone who tunes in live, and the ability to buy the courses to watch at your own leisure.
Other resources abound, including: YouTube, Community College courses, week-long seminars (I’d like to go to one of these soon), craftandvision.com, and more.
Let me know if this help, Megan (or anyone else)! Or leave a comment below with your favorite photography resources. I have a ton to learn and a passion for becoming a great photographer, and I welcome your thoughts!
- Andrew
Sermon on the Mount
I was very gratified to walk into the Gilkeys’ house yesterday and find one of my all-time favorite art prints, Sermon on the Mount, nicely displayed in their home. Not only was it placed nicely, but thought was given to lighting and presentation. I think the Gilkeys have #7 of that print, which is a limited series of 25 pieces. (A few in the same series are still available.)
That print comes from a very moving time in my life. I returned last year to this vineyard to create an artistic Ebenezer, or stone of remembrance, to the work God did in my life during a specific time.
Each art print I create tells some kind of story. I can’t follow them around telling my own story to each person who views them, but I pray that every person to view my work goes on small journeys into each one, bringing back stories of their own.
Vines around my heart
These Flame grapes belong to my friend Debbie, and I was visiting them hours before harvest to make pictures with The Gilkey family.
When I walked into those laden vine rows, I felt like I was walking into a poem or a memory. The round shapes of the grapes speak of relaxation and refreshment, and their clusters tell stories about community, enjoyment and location. The grapes teach us that we don’t all have to be the same color to hang together, and that good group structures will keep some from withering. There’s a very particular smell to the dust of a vineyard, especially in the cool summer evenings that chase hot summer days.
Yes, I suspect that if my heart was visible, you’d find vines around it.
Love and beauty
I often get the chance to photograph people on their wedding day, when love is in full bloom and on the tip of every tongue. Passion is the norm, and romance is the order of the day. But recently I spent some time with the Miller family, and had the chance to watch them interact. I captured this fun picture of Arlen and Katy kissing, and it strikes a chord with me. It strikes me first because it’s cute, but second because it speaks of love in a different tone. It’s a real love, a comfortable love. It may not sing with brash passion, but it speaks with a firmly rooted conviction. It goes better with morning coffee than with wine, and it’s the reward that experience and faithfulness bring to lovers. Thanks, Arlen and Katy, for the example of love.
Maldonado Family Newborn Portraits
As a photographer, one of my favorite subjects to photograph is newborn babies. I think there is something so amazing about a few day old baby–the miracle of human life astounds me! The fact that they sleep through anything is also amazing!
It was such a special honor to photograph the Maldonado family as they welcomed a new baby into their family. Sirhani’s parents are very soft spoken, gentle, and loving. There are six years between each of the children and that makes for some really unique dynamics in relationships. Although the session was centered around Sirhani, the sweet newborn little girl, her big sisters wanted to be a part of everything.
I wanted to capture the relationship between the three girls in addition to capturing all of Sirhani’s little newborn parts and sweet sleeping face. Of course, the sisters wanted to hold her just like Mom and Dad. I was so happy with the images from their session and am excited for them to have a portrait displayed in their home of this special time in their family’s life.