JCBowers.com

“Generations” Quick Afternoon Family Picture Project

My wife and I have always loved creative holiday or birthday gifts. Ashley and her mother wanted to do something special for her grandmother last Christmas. So one day at a family gathering last Spring while the three ladies were together, I grabbed the camera and snapped a few shots of their hands. It was then off to Photoshop for a little touch-up, colorizing, and text application.

After minimal effort and touch-up in Photoshop, we picked our frames and printed the images from our photo printer.

From just this small effort we came away with very special Christmas gifts for both my wife’s mother and grandmother.

Tags | family, grandmother, mother, Photography, picture, project

Big Sur, California-Amazing Photo

My job sent me to a conference in San Jose, California recently.  My wife and I decided to stay an extra day and take a trip to see the famous Big Sur stretch of Highway 1.  I was blown away at how all the world’s beauty could be in one place.  Sadly, I didn’t bring a wide angle lens but I was able to capture a few breathtaking HDR shots.  If you would like to know more about how I captured and made this image, sign up for my newsletter.

Tags | big sur, california, hdr, landscape, Photography

Awesome Photoshoot – Playing in the Backyard

VIEW THE WHOLE SET ON FLICKR HERE OR CLICK HERE TO VIEW WITH SIMPLEVIEWER:

This past weekend I had the pleasure of photographing my new cousins (by marriage).  From oldest to youngest, their names are Kade, Andrew, and Ashley Caroline.  I was up to the challenge of dealing with short attention spans, crying, non-interest, and uncertainty.  Overall I didn’t have much of a problem at all with any of those things.  Andrew, the youngest of the two boys did like to take the football and throw it in the bird bath.  He found this quite amusing.

Anyway,  I’ve just started going through the pictures and have posted a few of the whole photo shoot.  If you are interested in viewing some more awesome baby photography.  Check out this baby photo shoot.

Photos From My First Photo Workshop

Monday (April 27, 2009) I taught my first photography workshop to the great people of Fleetwood Baptist Church.  I have included some photos from the conference below, but first I would like to share about what Fleetwood is trying to accomplish and would love to have the opinion of others as well.

FLEETWOOD’S MEDIA GOALS

Fleetwood is working toward starting their own media team for the church and investing time and resources into training their members (those who are interested) in a few key areas of media.  I see this as having numerous benefits for the church, mainly for its image, its surrounding community, and the members (as I’ll explain below).

1.  IMAGE – By increasing skills in media (design, photography, video, audio, etc.), you equip your members with the tools needed to communicate what needs to be said much more clearly and effectively.  Instead of having hundreds of low quality snapshots taken of church picnics and lock ins, you have now invested in and equipped your members into capturing photographic moments more effectively.  Members begin to think of ways to communicate through media instead of just snapping pictures at random.  The end result – a better and clearer image of the church.

2.  SURROUNDING COMMUNITY – As the image and values of the church are communicated more effectively and with much higher quality, the community benefits as well.  Those who pass by, receive a newsletter, happen upon the website, visit the church are all effected by media in some way.  Strategically implemented, media can have huge effects in communicating the message of the church effectively.

3.  CHURCH MEMBERS – Lastly, members reap the benefit of improved media as well.  It is such a huge part of what the church does from the presentation of the gospel, to interaction during times of worship.

The workshop on Monday consisted of a good mix of adults and high school students all eager to learn how to use their cameras more effectively.  The main topic discussed was COMPOSITION.  A brief intro to “off camera flash” was demonstrated to tickle the interest of curious photographers.

Below are a few pics that were taken.  The first was taken with NO FLASH.  The second was taken with ON CAMERA FLASH and the the rest were taken using OFF CAMERA FLASH.

Taken with NO FLASH. You can see how bland it is…

This seems to wash out the subject.

Move the flash away from the camera to your choosing and you add depth.

I added an orange gel over a 2nd flash and shot it at the white background.

I am also teaching a workshop Thursday evening at the Tuscaloosa Vineyard – 6PM. Come out to learn more about your Digital SLR camera, composition, and an intro to off camera flash!

Tags | Add new tag

Some Production Shots from Forest Photo Shoot

I hate to get up early.  I don’t know why, I just do.  On the other hand, I love to experiment with photography.  Needless to say, this was one bitter sweet early morning with an unexpected glitch.  You plan… and more often than not in photography, the plan, like a super computer that attempts to destroy you and the world, takes a mind and course of its own.

THE PLAN

After reading a blog post about this guy who shot a model in a beautiful forest on a buffalo with a really nice haze filled habitat, I was inspired to try a variation of this.  In order to accomplish this I knew I needed to eliminate the buffalo section and add a twist of my own (sad to say that my budget limited me from shipping a buffalo overnight to Tuscaloosa).  I would accomplish the mist by using a fog machine.  The woods would be handled by visiting the running trails of the local Bowers Park (of course named after my great great grandfather).

THE PLAN’S PLAN

My twist was to add a drastic contrast in color to the otherwise bland woods with the model wearing a red dress  (actually Rachel’s idea).  I wanted to keep the mist element so I asked my friend Michael Gordon if I could borrow his fog machine.  The fog machine fell through the night before so I had to act quick and come up with an alternative.  With a recommendation to try dry ice for this effect, I was pointed toward Publix.  I came away with a modest amount of dry ice.  I needed to store it for the night so of course I put it in my freezer, because that’s what you do with ice.

I awoke the next morning, pulled the dry ice out of the freezer, only to see warnings on the bag to ‘not place the dry ice in areas such as a freezer’.  Since I could not change the fact that this had already happened, I loaded the bag up along with my gear and headed toward Bowers Park hopeful that the mist could still be created.

THE SHOOT (5:30 AM)

The shoot went as expected except for the part where the dry ice failed to perform its function.  Disappointed that the mist element would be missing I proceeded to not waste any more time weeping and went to work with what was available.  Rachel, who graciously agreed to model for this shoot, was very easy to work with.

Porfirio, who is pictured below in one of the production shots, was a life saver.  I called him the night before asking him to help as an assistant (I really should be assisting him).  He has 20+ years of experience and has basically fathered me through the basics of photography.  For that I am very thankful.  You can check out his great work at f8productionsonline.com.

THE PICTURES

The shoot went very well and some great pictures were made, which will be posted at a later time.  For now, I have included a few production shots for your viewing pleasure.  You can see the basic set up that I used.

At the time, I only had two receivers for my wireless flash setup, so for most of the shoot I used 1  strobe shot through an umbrella.  Some thoughts on improvement would be to use various snoots and gridspots and splash accents of light on the subject and to practice controlling the light a little further.

A few things that I think contributed to the failure of the dry ice were:

1. Not enough of it.  I bought 10 pounds but probably needed 50.
2. The fact that I froze it.
3. The wooded area was super huge.  It seems it would take a constant stream of mist pouring out to achieve the effect that I was going for.

Have any of you experimented with fog/mist before in an outside area?  If so, what were your experiences with it?

Tags | Add new tag, Blog, flash, forest, lighting, Photography

Preview of Rachel Roberts Photo Shoot

I had a great time on a recent photo shoot with Rachel Roberts, a good friend of mine.  I will write more later on the adventure of the morning, including experimenting with dry ice to create mist/fog and other things I learned from this shoot.  I plan on having this published the upcoming Tuesday so check back then for more.

If you live in Tuscaloosa and are interested in learning  beginner techniques on how to use your SLR camera such as composition and an intro to off camera flash then check out my Workshop post for more details.

Tags | creative, flash, forest, Off Camera Flash, outdoor, Photography, portrait

Want to learn photography? Check out this very cheap workshop….

Thursday, April 30, 2009 – Photography Workshop for those of you interested in learning more about your Digital SLR camera and a small intro into off camera flash.  I’m very pumped about this class.  The cost is only $15 and all the profits go to the Food Pantry ministry at my local church.  Everyone with a digital SLR is invited to attend.  Even if you do not have your own digital SLR camera, come on anyway… It’s for a great cause, feeding those in need.

Here is a taste of what is on the menu:

Thursday evening:

6:00 – More Control – You have so much more control over your camera than what you probably are using.  We will cover 3 settings that will give you perfect control over every picture.  Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO Never let the camera choose for you again!

6:45 – Composition – Stop taking pictures without thinking about how they are framed.  Start using a few simple tricks to make your pictures more interesting.  No more centered mugshots (unless that is what you prefer)!

7:15 - Off Camera Flash – This will by far be my favorite part.  I’m going to teach the basics of what I have been learning about off-camera flash.  For more info on this subject, visit Strobist.com.

7:45 – Hands On Practice -  We will be using participants in the workshop to practice and demonstrate some of the techniques that we have been learning.  It’s going to be a blast.

More info to come…(location, exact times, registration, etc.) Times and Topics are subject to change…

If you are interested in attending, leave a comment below.  Very low key, low pressure environment.  Come and experiment with photography.

GO TO THE SUBSCRIBE TAB TO STAY UPDATED (This will send info when the blog is updated so you don’t even have to visit the site or try to remember to check)

Tags | cheap, class, flash, Photography, workshop

Photo From Blue Angel Air Show

I snapped this shot of one of the Attack Airplanes from the Tuscaloosa 2009 Blue Angels Air Show.

 

Tags | airshow, Blog, Photography

1st Photo With Off Camera Flash

Here is a shot from my first session with off-camera flash.  The subject is my fiance and we had a few minutes to kill before dinner.  Of course, I suggested that we take some photos.  Capital Park was nearby.

The flash is coming in camera right a few feet away at a 45 degree angle from her face.  I didn’t do a great job of documenting the lighting setup on this shot but I promise to do better in the future.

Tags | Add new tag, AL, Ashley, Blog, how to, Off Camera Flash, Photography, Tips, Tuscaloosa, Tutorial

My Equimpment Has Arrived – Stay Tuned For Flash Tips and Mods

Yesterday I checked my UPS tracking status out of impatience and behold the greatest words of that day appeared before my eyes.  “Out For Delivery”

My expectations were for Friday, but Thursday was much better.  So yesterday, like a chubby little kid in front of a bowl of chilli, I began to tear into my new self-given present.  Inside I found a brand new flash with wireless triggers and a light stand with umbrealla swivels.  There was also an umbrella along with colored gels…..

—————

I am so excited to have finally received this.  For the past few weeks I have watched and read countless hours of blogs, videos, and tutorials all about how to take photos with off camera flash.  I can now put my book knowledge to the test.  I have learned tons of head knowledge from strobist.com and greatly credit that website for what arrived yesterday.  The Strobist community is very large and geared toward photographers who are brand new to off camera flash.

I plan to update this blog frequently with photography techniques, flash hacks and resources, and other photography mods that I find along my journey.  Be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed to stay informed.  Have any of you been to the Strobist website?  Are there any questions that you have about getting started in off camera flash photography?  Post your questions and other thoughts in the comments.

Tags | Add new tag

Lighting 101 – Everything You Need To Know About Off Camera Flash Photography

UPDATE (Awesome Baby Photo Shoot): After reading this post “Click here to see the work that was done by learning from the resource below…

I will get to the point right away.  I want to share an invaluable resource with you that someone shared with me.  If you’ve never heard of this, you’ll be thanking me and the person that showed me as well as the person who showed them and finally the guy who took the time to put this great resource together…(enough rambling)

Visit strobist.blogspot.com and scroll down the page looking on the sidebar until you see the drop down selectors for the “Lighting 101 and 102″ series.  For amateur and hobby photographers, this is the probably the single best source for off camera flash photography there is on the web.  And it’s free!

Visit the Strobist blog…

I’ve been dabbing a little in photography over the past few years but just now am making it a point to really learn the basics of lighting and take the next step in perfecting the necessary skills to produce amazing photos consistently.  I am so thankful to my friend and photography mentor Porfirio who put me on to this amazing resource (Check out some of his work by the way… He is really good) as well as David, the author of the Strobist blog.

Ok, by now you should see that I really believe in this site… Do visit if you are serious about learning off camera flash technique.  The site is geared toward small flash photography that won’t break the bank and resources and hints are everywhere on this site.

Enjoy!

P.S. – You can see some of the techniques in action with this awesome baby photo shoot.  Click here to see the post.  You can contact me any time if you have any questions of your own.

Do you have any photography resources that have been helpful that you would like to share with everyone?  Please post links in the comments.

Also stay tuned for some sample posts of the Timelapse footage that I’ve been shooting.  Make sure you subscribe to the RSS if you haven’t already.

Sweet Volvo Photo Shoot

This past week the Ad agency that I am a part of worked on some of the production of a new Volvo car commercial that we are doing for a dealership in Tuscaloosa, AL. I had a 5D with me so I took the opportunity to snag this sweet shot from the front of the car.