People
A Texas Hero
Today and tomorrow, one of my best friends and colleagues is being honored and inducted into the Texas Heroes Hall of Honor. Over the past decade, I’ve been able to share some great experiences, take part in some life-changing opportunities, and see quite a bit of dashboard time with Wyman Meinzer, and I can’t say any of it has ever been disappointing.
From taking a chance on attending a two-week field photography course with him during my undergraduate days at Texas Tech University, to co-teaching the very same class for six years afterward, to operating a publishing house together with his lovely wife and another one of my great friends, Sylinda, I’ve been able to get to know a person who is truly deserving of such a prestigious honor. With Wyman, I’ve photographed everything from the roughest Texas landscapes, the most venomous snakes that slither along their grounds, to the people that continually make up the Texas story, and through the years, I’ve seen in him what it means to truly embody the passion and pride for making those stories ring true for not only other Texans, but for the world.
I can’t begin to tell you how much I’ve learned from Wyman for risk of this post taking up your entire day. Suffice to say that when one needed a mentor, Wyman was always there for me. Whenever I was just testing the professional photographic waters, the State Photographer of Texas never treated me as an assistant who lacked no skill or as someone who was just tagging along. Over the many miles we’ve put on several vehicles, I was always looked at and treated as a colleague, and that was and still is the most encouraging part of my professional relationship with him. I continually learn and grow as a storyteller when we’re together looking over old slides or new Raw files. I’ve seen my own photography and business grow in part to the long hours we’ve spent together, talked about the industry, and taught hundreds of students. For this I’m grateful.
Most importantly, though, Wyman has always been a friend. It’s hard to describe our similarities (although our wives may have a few things to say about them), but Wyman and I have always connected. I’m most thankful for this part of our relationship. We’ve told many ‘a story (tall tales or not) and smoked a few cigars together these past few years, and there’s even a few folks out there that probably think we’re related, and others that are used to seeing us amble in together to grab a bite for lunch. This friendship is as valuable, if not more so, than all of the “education” I’ve garnered from him along the way.
So, here’s to you Wyman! I’m proud to call you a friend and colleague, and I can’t think of anyone else in our line of work more deserving of this monumental honor. You’ve helped weave the narrative of the State of Texas, and you’ve influenced a lot of lives along the way.
If nothing else, you deserve the title of Hero…because you’re certainly one of mine.
Jog My Memory…with Jazz.
I saw, it reminded me, and I thought I would share. I like live jazz music. Unfortunately, the jazz train doesn’t stop too much where I live. It’s here, but just not in as big a way as other genres, all great for sure! So, when a few recognizable jazz personas hit the town for a weekend workshop a few years back, I had to dig a little deeper. It turned out that after the workshops during the day, the musicians were going to be improvising at a local wine bar. I’m there, cameras in tow. My then girlfriend (now wife) and I got there early, parked it, and spent five hours listening to well over 15 musicians in a small venue, large enough for the musicians, folks with the musicians, and a few onlookers. Dimly lit, it was a great night.
Fast-forward until just a few WEEKS ago. I was catching the Crosby, Stills, & Nash portion of a DVR’d Rock’n'Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary concert, when I noticed someone I recognized, but I couldn’t quite place where I knew him from. Every now and then, Stephen Stills (if you don’t know which one that is, go buy a CSN album, look at the liner notes, but more importantly, be blown away by the music) would look up at the keyboardist behind him. I knew him…but where.
Then it hit me. His name is Todd Caldwell, and (if you didn’t guess by now) he was playing that night several years ago at the wine bar. I had a ton of photos of him, and caught a nice conversation with him after the jam. It makes you think how small the world really is, and that you just never know who you’ll run in to, and where and when they’ll pop back up, in person or on TV. I thought about not taking my cameras that night, but I’m glad I had them with me. One of those times, for a lot of reasons, I’m glad I don’t have to say, “If I’d had a camera…”
If you’re interested to hear what Todd Caldwell’s been up to, check out his Twitter feed, and catch him while he’s on tour with CSN.
By the way, for those photographers reading: You’ve probably heard, but the noise reduction in LR3 is outstanding. These images were shot at ISO 1600 with an old Canon EOS 5D, which we all can agree was not the most attractive ISO to shoot at…
Junction A-Team: Don’t mess with these photogs…
The Junction courses are about to wrap up, and although there are many photos and stories to share, getting to sleep four hours every night is catching up on us! So, I’ll just share a shot of my class, the A-Team! I ended up with four in the videography course, and they are working their butts off! We paired up with Wyman Meinzer’s photography course for 95 percent of the shoots, and hopefully I’ll have images up from the flash flood we caught today soon!
With that, more to come! Enjoy the action above!
A Tip for the Traveler
We made it back from South Carolina earlier this week, and it seems all I’ve done was answer e-mails until about this point. You really can’t complain about e-mails as a photographer though. It seems that most contact I have with editors/publishers/other clients is initially through e-mail. It never ceases to amaze me the connectivity we all have to each other, any time of the day, simply through this method of communication, and I’m not even including Twitter, Facebook, and all the other ways of “coordinating” with others online.
However, I digress. This is a photography site for that matter! We’re interested in visual goodness here, and the more the better (at least that’s what I say to myself when I haven’t posted in a while)! So on with it…
Red Bull likes to say their product gives you “wings.” Photography does as well. Think about what holding a camera gives you. No, not the metaphorical boost of energy (although, why not?), but rather a way of giving your visual curiousness flight! I always experience this when traveling. Although my trip to South Carolina was not for business purposes, that does not discount an amount of photographic purpose I had while there! Given just a little time, a photographer can really dig in to his/her surroundings, and travel photographers know this all too well!
The photograph above is a take-away from Charleston that I particularly enjoy because how everything essentially came together and what it means to document not only a slice of time, but what that slice of time (and place for that matter) means to someone else. I have a big problem about not shooting enough buildings when traveling and concentrating more on the area locals. On the way to lunch, we noticed this fiddle player setting up for his noontime jam. Yes, fiddle. Believe me, the music he was playing, while not country, was definitely cut out for the fiddle, not the violin. After lunch, we made our way back, and he was still there, so, like any inquisitive guy with a camera in hand does, I made my way toward him.
Here’s the first part of the tip (It doesn’t hurt to ask): I like to shoot close up, trying to explain a person’s surroundings at a wide angle. I have to get close. He sees me coming, and I just verify that this is alright. I lock eyes with him, point at my camera, and mouth, “Is it alright?,” while I point at him. He nods, never misses a lick, and I post up right next to him. At 24mm, I’m trying to create a place where this musician resides at that point.
The second part of the tip (Find meaning): We’re on a sidewalk, and the fiddler’s there for a reason. People. The first couple of shots do exactly what I want in showing this man, his fiddle, and his part of the world. This is what you get:
But this leaves out a whole host of other components that create a visual replication of what it was really like to be there with him. Enter the people walking down the sidewalk. They don’t have to be in focus, they don’t even have to be facing the camera. That’s not important. What is important is the fact that they’re present, always, giving this fiddler purpose other than just wanting to play. But wait, what else? It just so happened that the last photograph I took of the fiddler with people walking by also included a little girl in tiny red cowgirl boots, holding her hands high in the air, as if dancing to the music (image top of post). That’s the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae! This aspect alone made it much, much more powerful than the static shot of the fiddler playing sans the pedestrians.
The third part of the tip (Don’t draw it out too long): I know how it is being a photographer in a tourist’s city. I also know that I didn’t need to just sit there and keep snapping away at this man as if he was a spectacle for my shooting liberty. He OK’d me photographing him graciously, and it was time for me to graciously exit and let him get back to what was important: performing without a guy with B&H Photo hanging around his shoulder. I came in to the mini-shoot with an idea, I got what I wanted, took a few shots from back a bit, and gave my thanks. You don’t have to make it a whole photoshoot. You can see the few shots I took below (more than a couple, but not many). I walked away from 20 seconds worth of pushing the shutter button with a nice image, and the fiddler was not annoyed! Success!
Thanks for stopping by! I have a few more images to share from South Carolina, but I’ll throw them at you later…back to the e-mails!
Ansel Adams: Landscapes of the American West
I just received this book as a gift, and man, is it BIG! For a coffee-table book, it certainly necessitates a big table! All jokes aside though, it is packed full of wonderful (as you would expect) Ansel Adams imagery. If you are part of the photography community, in a professional or amateur holding, and you don’t know who Ansel Adams is, stop reading this post, and do a quick Google search (then come back to the post, of course). Even if you aren’t a “landscape” shooter, every photographer surely would appreciate his contributions toward obtaining exposure and the uncovering of dramatic detail in the print and in real life. There’s a reason that posters of his images hang in virtually every doctor office in the U.S.
Prairie Chickens…what will become of them?
I recently wrote about the current cover story for Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine (link to post here), and how we are noticing a drastic decline in Lesser Prairie Chicken populations in Texas. The story covers stewardship of land and enterprise amidst necessary renewable energy resources, as well as research that can aid in maintaining the population we do have. For some, it is a touchy subject, however, the article is a straight-on look at the big picture, and more than anything, hopefully prompts discussion and discourse on both sides of the bird’s future. All in all, it was a great story, and Stayton Bonner did a helluva job researching and writing the piece, and TPW Magazine did a great job of design!
I want to share a few more photographs from the story that couldn’t be squeezed in to print, just to give you an idea of what it was like photographing the story. This story actually took me and Stayton to McLean, Texas (northern Panhandle, east of Amarillo), to Austin. The idea of the story was to grasp all aspects of the issue, from land stewardship, to LPC research and population, to the political field in support of renewable energy, specifically in the form of wind energy.
Many a cold morning was spent in a blind before sunrise, waiting for the chickens (they’re not really chickens, rather a member of the grouse family) to fly or walk on to the leks. They are amazing creatures, and an initial thought was that they were actually much smaller than I, and I’m sure Stayton, anticipated. Nevertheless, it is pretty incredible being able to watch these animals, icons of the Plains, from relative close proximity.
When they begin their “booming,” it is nothing short of a ceremonial dance in order to win over a female. From their distinctive vocal sounding to their incessant stomping on the ground, their ritualistic parade of colors and hooplah is not like anything you’ve ever seen!
Even the way the males fight over a female is unique, even in it’s viciousness.
The culprit. A lone female posts herself higher than the males, to view their “booming,” and the battles over her that ensue.
The chickens were only part of the story, and a good part of it pertained to the human relationship with their existence. Researchers, like Blake Grisham, Nick Pirius, and Adam Bahney (second photo below), work with Texas Parks and Wildlife in order to determine LPC population health.
Heather Whitlaw, also works in conjuction with TPW and the Texas Tech University Lesser Prairie Chicken research that Blake, Nick and Adam conduct.
Jeff Haley, a cattle rancher and land steward in the Texas Panhandle, spoke of how he used to sneak up on leks in years past to watch the LPC boom, but he has not noticed much activity in recent times.
Paul Sadler, a former Texas state legislator, serves as the executive director of The Wind Coalition, a group that advocates the implementation of renewable energy producing wind turbines, yet recognizes the complex facets of the land that many turbines in Texas are being constructed upon.
Thanks again to everyone that helped make this story as significant it has become. Overall, this story serves as a good testament to a long issue of creation of habitat and co-existence, in which more than often, the right choice is made to benefit all involved!
Catherine Keeney Fine Jewelry
Meet Catherine Keeney, a super artistic jewelry designer. A few weeks ago, I had the chance to photograph her work for a Lookbook that she is using to promote her jewelry to fine fashion entities across the nation. As you can see, she has a unique vision with her jewelry, and the Gallo-Roman inspired designs meet up nicely with modern styling. Visit her Web site here.
The idea was to go for a very clean look, really emphasizing the offerings of the jewelry, such as the black diamonds, brushed white gold, sapphires, etc…
For you photogs out there wondering about shooting, all jewelry shots were made under a shoot-tent, a large box made of diffuse material similar to what a shoot-thru umbrella is made of. There were three strobes placed at 90 degrees to each other surrounding the tent, and the power was kept relatively low for depth of field purposes. Extension tubes, those that I used to make the Texas Tech Alumni ring shots I mentioned in an earlier post, were utilized once more.
All images made with a Canon 5D Mk II and 24-105mm f/4 L and 70-200mm f/2.8 L.
This is a quick post, but definitely check out Catherine’s work. She is super talented, and so is her husband, Stayton Bonner. We have worked together on a couple projects, and I’ll have more on that later!
A Little More Wine With Your Blog!
I love West Texas wine! I had a conversation the other day with a gentleman about a friend of his that was a supposed “wine snob.” You know, one of those folks that will only drink $60+ bottles of imported wines, letting only the “finest” wines indulge his palette. Anyways, said gentleman sent his snobbish friend a bottle of West Texas wine (variety and winery not discussed), and while it was a fine gift, the friend did not have positive reaction…at first. After a while, the friend gave in, drank a glass, and voila, decided that West Texas wine wasn’t so bad, not bad at all, well, some really dang good wine!
I mentioned in a previous post about an article I am working on for a regional magazine about the West Texas wine industry. I wanted to share another portrait from the experience. Greg Bruni, pictured above, is one of the wine makers and owners of Llano Estacado Winery in Lubbock, Texas. Bruni grew up in a California wine family, and his knowledge and techniques as a wine maker has helped shape West Texas wine.
This is one of my favorite portraits I have taken this year! The best part of it all is that it didn’t take long to get it! I counted up, Mr. Bruni and I took eleven total shots. He showed up right at sunrise, we ran out into the vineyard adjacent to the winery. The light was just impeccable for the shot. The sun rose just over his right shoulder, and a 580EX with an umbrella was placed just off the 45 on his front right. Just enough to fill in the shadow side of his face and get up under that awesome hat! Pump up the power enough on the flash, say 1/2 +.7 power, and balance it with a solid ambient exposure, and there you have it! Light makes color, and this is a very colorful photograph, telling the man’s passion for his work.
Hope you enjoy the shot, and please, enjoy yourself some West Texas wine soon! JF.
Darren Carroll, you deserve a shout-out!
Took a break this past weekend and spent some time on the road with my band, The Hogg Maulies. We traveled to Prairie Grove, Arkansas to play at a pre-wedding party for some of our closest friends, so it was more like a mini vacation for the whole crew!
The morning of the party was spent on the links. I’ll be the first to say I’m not a golfer. Instead, I photographed those that do. Why mention this? I read a great blog post over at Photoshelter’s blog, A Picture’s Worth, that dealt with exactly what I was doing, which fired me up to shoot some golf. The post, Fore! How to Photograph Golf Like An Expert, was written by Darren Carroll, an outstanding shooter for the sport, and a great educator on how to best approach the game (with a camera and lens in tow of course).
The post is worth reading, even if you are not a fan of sports photography. It’s a great primer for approaching not only golf, but the process of photographing other realms of culture that have a certain process to them, which is pretty much anything. The post is thorough, and doesn’t contain some mysterious, how-I-got-this-shot type of vernacular. I read this post while editing some portraits of a wine maker (more on that later), and his post inspired me to at least look into the opportunity to photograph some areas that I normally don’t spend much time focusing on.
If you do anything though, go check Darren’s Web site. He’s not just a sports photog!
Check back soon for some more shoot news!
I LOVE this shot!
Most of you probably know me as a portrait and natural history photographer, but not necessarily a family photographer. Sure, just because I used to have real long hair and a scary beard, we’ll label me as the hippie, one-with-nature guy, ha! You would probably be right most of the time, and for certain, I love environmental portraiture, but every once in a while I get called to do some family photography.
I absolutely love this photograph above! I photographed the Brooks family not too long ago for some updated portraits, and their daughter just hit it right with this one! Luckily, the light and background all came together for a super high-key effect that totally draws those eyes to the viewer! The Brooks won’t mind me saying this, because we discussed it that day, but I have always heard that the hardest things to photograph are children and pets! However, when a moment like this pops up in the lens, you better hope your eye is at the viewfinder and finger on the release!
More blogs to come this week!
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Manfrotto School of Xcellence
About Jerod Foster
I'm an editorial and natural history photographer based out of Lubbock, Texas, as well as a photography instructor at Texas Tech University. My work primarily focuses on features and environmental portraits for magazines, books, and commercial purposes, and I'm available for both domestic and international travel.
I'm a regular contributor to the Manfrotto School of Xcellence, an educational resource for amateurs and professionals alike. I'm also a partner and editor for Badlands Design and Production, a publishing house that focuses on high-end coffee table photography books.
- jerod.foster@gmail.com
- (806) 789-6850
