Late as usual, but you have to give a guy a break when he’s trying to re-invent his time management.

I’m rather fond of this image. I’m especially drawn to the hair-like flow of the dried corn stalk leaves, almost as if they’re ready to bow out for the season. The pivot, a signature characteristic of the plains, simply resigns to the oncoming of another cold season.

To be honest, it was made the same evening as the October calendar was shot. The fall skies in West Texas are nothing but impressive, and I enjoy nothing more than just driving the Llano Estacado during this time of year and running down the sunset. Alternatively, the color in the sky makes up for the lack of it on the ground this year.

For those interested, the book is wrapping up well, and should be shipping in just a little over a month. I can’t describe how excited I am to have it out, and I hope you find it useful in your photographic storytelling!

Enjoy.

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Apologies for my tardiness on this month’s desktop calendar. It’s been a whirlwind past couple months, but things are beginning to fall in to place. Besides shooting a couple NCAA football games and shooting one out of five days I was in Amsterdam a couple weeks ago, last night was the first in a little while I’ve been able to do some therapeutic shooting (the kind where you just go drive and look for good light).

And good light I found. I never cease to be amazed at the quality of the early morning/late evening golden hue of the light in West Texas. It’s hard to shoot an assignment outside in the middle of the afternoon when you know you have the type of light you see above waiting on you on the edge of day. Combine that with the enormous sky, and you’re set to document a visual wonder 280 days out of the year (the other 80 are overcast days–a nice ratio if you ask me).

October is a big month, and I can hardly contain my excitement in sharing at least a couple big news items with everyone, so stay tuned! In the meantime, download away:

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That’s right folks, after some expressed interest toward a workshop centered on pushing your basic understanding of photography and visual storytelling, my good friend Brian Hirschy and I are going to do just that November 5 in Dallas, Texas.

What and Why:

Foundations workshop is focused on strengthening your abilities to see and create images that utilize an advanced understanding of where we start out with our cameras and vision. The all-day workshop moves beyond just learning how to make your camera work, and into an area that emphasizes producing images that marry our abilities and technique in creating compelling, attractive, and interesting photographs. More importantly, Foundations workshop is geared toward hands-on instruction in how to create images that say something more than a snapshot.

In one day, we’ll cover in-depth the following areas:

• Seeing Light I: Color & Shadows
• Storytelling Composition & Depth
• Competence with your camera
• Assessing Images: Conducting useful, real-world edits and critiques of your work
• Seeing Light II: Portraits
• Engaging Basic Off-Camera Lighting Setups
• Getting Comfortable With Digital Workflow Using Adobe Lightroom

Where and When:

Foundations workshop will be held at QuadPhoto Dallas, a large commercial and editorial studio managed by my good friend and outstanding photographer, R.J. Hinkle. The address for the studio is:

16650 Westgrove Drive, Suite 175
Addison, Texas 75001

We’ll start at 8:30 a.m., on Saturday, November 5, and wrap up on or a little after 5:00 p.m. We might just squeeze in a TweetUp after the workshop as well!

Price:

The price for Foundations is $325.00 (catered lunch, model fee, and all the coffee you can drink included in the price), and you can register on Brian’s site here: FOUNDATIONS REGISTRATION. You can also contact me through my site here (just put Foundations in the subject field).

Foundations is also sponsored by BlackRapid camera straps, and that means some free gear from arguably the best camera strap manufacturer out there!

If you really want to start moving beyond the basics and begin to build the way you see and achieve your images, Foundations workshop is purposed with that in mind: growing your photographic eye, deepening your understanding of light, and creating a workflow that complements your style of shooting.

Who:

Here’s a bit more about the Foundations instructors:

Brian is a working travel photographer living in western China who has a passion for teaching photography, participating in the growing photographic community in China, and helping NGO’s in Southeast Asia communicate their amazing stories when possible – all in an effort to actively do good rather than simply complain.

In late 2009 Brian helped start a company,Plateau Photo Tours, that facilitates socially-conscious one-of-a-kind photo tours throughout Tibet, China, and Hong Kong – providing socially responsible and culturally non-destructive photo opportunities throughout the region.

Brian has been shooting the Tibetan regions of western China since 2005 and has travelled extensively in these areas.

Brian’s photography can be seen at brianhirschy.com (500px, archives). You can also follow him on Twitter.

Jerod is an editorial and natural history photographer based in Lubbock, Texas. Starting out as a student of celebrated Texas photographer, Wyman Meinzer, Jerod quickly developed a passion for visual storytelling and educating future generations of shooters. His work ranges from environmental portraiture and travel imagery to conservation photography and photojournalism, and it can be seen in a variety of regional and national magazines and book publications.

In 2006, Jerod began teaching photography courses at Texas Tech University, and since then he has led students in a variety of course topics, including domestic and international field courses. He is a regular contributor to the Manfrotto School of Xcellence, and he is set to release his first book focused on visual storytelling with PeachPit/New Riders this winter. He is also a partner in Badlands Design and Production, a publishing house for high-end coffee table photography books.

Jerod’s photography can be seen at www.jerodfoster.com. You can follow his blog here, and catch up with him on Twitter at: @jerodfoster

I can’t believe it’s been nearly three weeks since my last post, but the absence has certainly been warranted. Work is steady, the visual subject matter certainly hasn’t lacked any interest, and I’ve been staring at a computer screen so much over the past three months that I’m probably going to need to visit an optometrist (dealer of bad information for photographers)!

Nevertheless, the new month must push on, and with it comes a new look. I made this image in January, but to me, it says more about the color in the sky during the autumn months. I love the graduated shift in color as you move from the bottom of the frame to the top. The moon gives it a “cherry on top” appeal. I’m not normally one for shooting just the sky and no ground, but these colors were pleasantly appealing and certainly acknowledging of the natural beauty we’re blessed with quite a bit in West Texas.

Feel free to download as many as you need. Right click the link, and open it up in a new browser for a more efficient way of saving the file to your computer:

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I told a good friend the other day that you know the oppressive heat and the longstanding drought in the southwest United States is starting to really become a problem when folks that aren’t start talking about the weather like farmers. These types of things do indeed affect not only the land and fauna, but the people as well. On my way back from photographing a summer league softball game in Levelland, Texas, for a story on youth athletic competition, I noticed that a large area to the northwest were getting some much needed rain. Rural towns like Sudan and Littlefield, where the rain was dropping, are arguably the worst hit when a drought this extensive takes hold. Seeing this rain in the sky is encouraging, harkening to residents that the drought will end one of these days. Most folks can then go back to being anything but armchair agriculturalists.

Storytelling Tip: Normally, I would try to avoid the presence of power lines, let alone house night lights in a frame like the two above. However, remember what I said about this drought affecting people? Not that I intentionally went looking for the perfect power lines and house lights to fit the frame. Instead, as I was losing light, I decided to stop and zoom in on the thunderstorm at a fairly level (hint the name Levelland) area of the horizon. The sparse, rural spacing of the houses say something about the necessity of water in these parts of the state and nation. Given the environmental circumstances, the extra subject matter in the frame seemed appropriate. They might not be during a wet year, but at the moment, they help fill out the story of the 2011 drought that much more.

Stay cool!

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.

July (well, all winter, spring, and summer) has been an extremely dry period in Texas. It’s so dry that most folks, along with the meteorologists, are saying it’s worse than the Dust Bowl era. I believe it. When I stepped off the plane in Lubbock from my trip to Scotland, the 25+ mile per hour wind breathed like a blast furnace. Stepping off of the tarmac because the gate had broken down just heightened this intense welcome back to my home.

Drought is not a foreign concept to Texas, however, and although it’s certainly not ideal for everyone in the state, including farmers and ranchers, we’ve been able to make it through some pretty hairy situations. This year’s fires that roamed across the state like a burning caravan and the lack of rain in some parts since September have made for unusually oppressing conditions, but we continue to look to the sky for rain (the first substantial shower we’ve seen in quite some time has just passed over as I’m writing this).

This month’s (late) desktop calendar features one of a herd of Quarter Horses running to water on the legendary 6666 Ranch. I was driving out through what locals call “The Big Empty” to visit with good friend and partner-in-crime, Wyman Meinzer, when I happened by this herd gathering in the early morning on the top of a hill where a lone concrete watering tank stood. The ranch had witnessed the wildfire referenced above, and the drought was certainly taking its toll. If I know this ranch and the people that work it, though, these environmental factors are taken in stride, and the work goes on.

By the way, for an outstanding look at the 6666 Ranch, take a peek at Wyman’s now-iconic book, Portrait of a Texas Ranch.

Enjoy the calendar and your July!

You know what to do (and just in case, right click the link, and open in a new window for a drag-and-drop friendly desktop image)!

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Each May usually sees me co-teaching a photography course in Junction, Texas, with my good friend, Wyman Meinzer. However, I’m headed to teach in Spain this year, and although it will be a new and fresh environment to lead students, much of my experience in teaching these types of courses comes from working in Junction over the past seven years.

That being said, I thought it rather appropriate to start this month off with a downloadable desktop calendar of Independence Creek, a Nature Conservancy-owned stretch of the well-known tributary to the lower Pecos River in southwest Texas. Atop the high mesas, one can look down upon the riparian habitat below, and the students attending the Junction Experience (as we affectionately call it) spend four days photographing this lovely area on the edge of the Chihuahuan desert. It’s a fantastic experience, chock full of great memories, great people, and, of course, great images!

To download a calendar, just RIGHT CLICK the links below, and open them up in a new window. From there, just copy or save on to your desktop! Enjoy:

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Most of Texas would certainly be happy with a little rain right now, even if it brought with it a bit of ferocity! This menacing looking thunderstorm came in during September, 2007, and it was what some folks in this area call a “gullywasher.” We definitely could use a washing of any kind right now! Drought cycles come and go, but for those of you that live in semi-arid to arid environments know it’s never easy on the land, its flora, fauna, and other inhabitants. It’s certainly not easy when wildfire ignites and makes its way across thousands of acres.

For those interested, the exposure for this hot storm was 1.0 seconds at f/22, ISO 50 (Canon EOS 5D, 17-35mm f/2.8L @ 17mm).

You can almost consider this the second season of Field Lighting, especially since I haven’t posted one since November of last year! Think of this as a reemergence, then, and since I don’t have to keep some larger portrait projects under wraps anymore, you’ll hopefully see more of these in the near future!

The last Field Lighting post focused on photographing a local artist, and what better way to reintroduce the series than with another. James Watkins is a world-class ceramicist (you may have dug up a couple posts about him from earlier here and here), and I’ve been fortunate to photograph and visit with him several times over my career. The most recent shoot took place last July, and it produced some of my favorite portraits in my portfolio. I believe one of the reasons for this is because I sat down and visited with him for close to three hours a week earlier and interviewed him for the story I wrote to accompany the images. During this time, I was able to learn more about Mr. Watkins than I usually do in conversation with many folks I’m photographing. Conversation is key for creating storytelling images, and when the opportunity comes along to have more one-on-one time with your subject, take advantage of it! It just so happened that I pitched the story about Mr. Watkins, and the magazine wanted me to write and shoot it. I think it worked out for everyone involved!

We’ll come back to the image above later. To show this shoot chronologically, we’ll start in Mr. Watkin’s living room. This is where we spent our time talking weeks before, and during that visit, I began to see how representative this room was of the artist. I saw him sitting in the exact same location that you see him in the photograph (I was sitting directly across from him), loved the colors, the design, the art, and the large window to his right.

When I came back for the shoot, I knew we would start in the living room. The large, north-facing window poured attractive light in between the blinds, but to my dismay, it wasn’t quite as shaping as I wanted. For consistency purposes, though, I sought to replicate the same light. I placed an ever-trusty Elinchrom Rotalux 39″ softbox off to camera left, and feathered it past his face, making sure Mr. Watkins’s left side fell into a contrasty dark, yet still maintain a bit of detail. The height of the light was just above his head (the center of the light, that is), and the shadows fell attractively downward, imitating the light from the large window. Pointing the light down and feathering it past his face just a small bit helps create a natural vignette, as you can see in the shadows creeping in at the top and bottom left of the frame. We like that area, but it’s not what we’re here for. It’s there to complement the subject, help say something about him–not necessarily to override his identity. The exposure was made in consideration for the lamps framing the artist, balancing just enough so the wall (not the inside of the lampshade) would not overexpose.

I never leave a shoot without making a headshot, and on our walk through his backyard to his studio, I placed him in front of a dark green tree. The same 39″ Rotalux was placed high and to camera right. This time, the light was not as feathered, and you can see a bit of the artificial light filling in the shadow side of his face. The sky was fairly cloudy at this moment, so the more blue-toned shadow came as a result. The power from the Elinchrom was relatively low in order to avoid overpowering the ambient light much. The low power also allowed me to shoot with a very open aperture (f/3.2) at 200mm, a tight focal length for filling the frame up comfortably.

The first image in this post, as well as the second image in the diptych, were made inside Mr. Watkins’s studio. I’ve photographed him throwing clay several times in a teaching environment, but this time, the one-on-one experience was much more accommodating of the camera. The studio, adorned with wooden shelves holding supplies, several tables with pieces waiting to be fired, and photographs of his travels lining the walls, was very much where his art came alive.

The ceiling in the studio was very high, and it reminded me of what we know of Rembrandt’s studio, where light poured in through cheese cloths placed in windows high above the floor. When Mr. Watkins sat down at the wheel, clay plastered towel over his pants, all I could think of was replicating this same light. Instead of using the Quadra+Rotalux combination, I opted to use a much lower-powered Canon 580EX+Pocket Wizard through a 30″ shoot-through umbrella. I placed it high and to camera left. Balanced with the room’s ambient light values, the idea for this shot was not to create what looked like an obviously lit shot, but rather one that imitated the light Rembrandt once used to light his portraits: directionally-diffused and at a high angle. After getting what I felt was the appropriate balance between ambient and artificial, I was free to move around the artist and the wheel as if that was the general light source for the room. The first image in the post actually ran as the opening spread to the story, and while I like it, I’m actually a much bigger fan of the vertical shot you see in the diptych. Compositionally, those lines and the very high, wide angle shows an artist among his environment in a way that speaks to me more so than the top image. Design-wise, the top one made the cut, though!

The last set of images I made of Mr. Watkins were simple yet telling environmental portraits with his soon-to-be-fired work. Like I mentioned earlier, he had several pieces setting on a nearby table in the studio, and I simply used them as foreground content to frame him up against the wall of images in the background. The lighting is much the same as the others shot in the studio (so, I won’t leave you with another diagram; you can reverse-engineer this one by looking at the reflection in his glasses and by following the direction of the shadows). Here’s a tip, though: when shooting in the same environment as other setups, it’s wise to try to recreate the same light.

The key to this shot was composition. The framing achieved with the pots work, but it’s actually the lines of frames on either side of the wall that further lead the viewer’s eyes to Mr. Watkins. All of the framing mechanisms seem to be saying, “Look at this man!”

It was certainly a pleasure getting to photograph and visit with James Watkins more, and I’m glad to see the story turned out so well in the magazine. Speaking of which, you probably noticed that in terms of composition and the Rule of Thirds, Mr. Watkins is placed in the right of the horizontal frames. I noticed this more when editing the images after the shoot, and one can always say: shoot for design. An art director or designer is always looking for images that both tell story and work within their vision as well. The choice to place Mr. Watkins in the right of the frames just seemed to be the natural fit for each location. However, I did have to go back through and make sure there were plenty of images with varying composition, ha!

Thanks for sticking with the Field Lighting series, and look forward to more additions coming soon! Thanks again to James Watkins, and if you ever get a chance to visit his studio or spend time with his art, you’re better for it!