Jeff's Photos

Paintings

2011-12-29T23:10:00.001-06:00

I wish I could paint. I can't so I found an app that that does a fairly good job. I use Photoforge and use the the Oil Painting filter. I also used Instagram to warm them up a little and add the painterly edge.

Minor White Photo Quote

2011-12-21T10:13:00.005-06:00

"I'm always mentally photographing everything as practice." - Minor White

Editors Note: I am not really a fan of Minor White. His photography is not really my style and I don't know much of his photography. I chose the image above because it is the Minor White image that is in the photography textbook that I use for my Comm 220 class. My photography preferences aside the sentiment in the quote is right on the money.

Vivian Maier Video

2011-12-20T13:52:00.003-06:00

I love the Vivian Maier story. My photography class this semester had to shoot 600 photos of campus life inspired by the Vivian Maier story. Here is the link to the news story.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2075228/What-nanny-saw-Housekeepers-stunning-images-1950s-Chicago-working-class-America-new-light.html

New Oak Ridge Boys Video

2011-12-13T00:04:00.001-06:00

This video is a little weird, but I love the Oak Ridge Boys and I like this song.

Nikon Creative Lighting System Dreams

2011-12-05T12:38:00.007-06:00

Last week Nikon released a new flash unit, the SB-910 . I was a little disappointed. I wanted something different.

First of all, I am a huge fan a a dedicated user of Nikon's Creative Lighting System. I currently own a SB-900, SB-700, SB-600 and an SU-800 and I have a burned out SB-800 that served me well for years. I used my system this morning to shoot a head shot of Ken Bissell who was the University Photographer at Harding University when I was a student back in the late 80's. I learned a great deal about photography by watching Ken and what he did when I was a student.

I am not the Strobist, this is just a simple main light in a shoot through umbrella and a reflector fill on Ken and a background light to provide separation. Shot with a D3s with a 70-200VR lens and the Su-800 controlling the flash units.

That gets me to my dream. I have mentioned before that I really want a SU-800R and a couple of SB-900R and SB-700R flash units. The "R" stands for radio. Now I know that you can do this with after market radio slaves like Pocketwizzards and RadioPoppers . But the Nikon stuff works so smoothly I don't want to have to add anything on. I want the radio part built in to the existing products. I am not talking about 2000ft ranges or anything here. I would like wireless radio control of my flash units out to maybe 100 ft and most of the time I could live with 50 ft.

I am not delusional enough to believe that anyone at Nikon would actually read this and get busy, I bet they already have people working on it as I type this blog post.

Publish Post I was glad to see that the SB-910 has the clip on color modifiers like the SB-700 has for tungsten and fluorescent light balancing. When I replaced my burned up SB-800 I chose the SB-700 over another SB-900 just for those rigid light modifiers.

If the aftermarket boys want to get busy they can figure those out for the SB-600 and the SB-900 and I will be a customer.

Stieglitz Photo Quote

2011-12-05T00:15:00.000-06:00

Photo by Alfred Stieglitz

"The camera was waiting for me by predestination and I took to it as a musician takes to the piano or a painter to canvas. I found that I was master of the elements, that I could work miracles."- Alfred Stieglitz

This is the feeling I get with my iPhone and Photo Apps. I'm addicted to iPhone photography.

Sunflowers in December

2011-12-02T21:26:00.001-06:00

We grew sunflowers this past summer. When they died I took some of the seeds and we replanted. This is the only replanted seed that grew. I cut this bloom because I didn't want the frost to kill it. The other odd thing about this type of sunflower is that it makes little blooms all down the stalk as well as the main bloom. Needless to say I love sunflowers.

Stuck on a tree

2011-11-29T23:31:00.003-06:00

I love fall color and this tree in the back yard was amazing this morning.

Not everything that looks good in color looks good in B&W but this tree worked. Anytime you can contrast a light tone against a dark tone you have something that will work.

Christmas Lights and Sunset

2011-11-28T22:15:00.002-06:00

I try to find something beautiful to photograph everyday. I am not as good about blogging as I should be. Here is one of my shots from today. HU turned on the Christmas Lights on campus. I shot this photo with my iPhone and the Camera+ app. I share most of these photos with the Instagram App because it makes it easy to share it on Facebook and Twitter. I would be love for you to follow me on Twitter or Facebook .

I am having some trouble blogging with my iPhone. The photos of the leaves that I posted yesterday look fuzzy and unimpressive. If you click on the photos the open up and they look beautiful. I hope to have a solution soon. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the photo.

A few leaf photos

2011-11-27T00:51:00.003-06:00

There is nothing like fall colors. I have taken and tweeted a bunch of leaf photos. I've been flattered by some of my friends who have tweeted their leaf photos " in the style of @jeffdmontgomery." now it's time to blog a few of them.

Monkey Bread

2011-11-27T00:04:00.001-06:00

My youngest brother Kelly sent me this photo on Thanksgiving morning. This is my Mom and Kelly. Monkey Bread was something that they did together. Kelly sent me the recipe and he told me this photo is the bookmark that he uses in that cookbook to mark the recipe.

As I think about things I am thankful for, my parents and my brothers are way up on the list. I am forever grateful for my own beautiful wife and kids.

I still miss my Mom and I do wish she could know my kids. She would love all of them like she loved Jenna.

I am most thankful for is my salvation that comes through Jesus. I know that one day we will all be together again in our heavenly home for eternity.

I am thankful for pictures and the wonderful memories they bring back. I am thankful that photography is the field that I get to earn a living in.

Thanks Kelly, for these two photos and a flood of memories. .

This is what AWESOME looks like

2011-11-15T15:44:00.004-06:00

I am not usually one to notice sayings on t-shirts. Only a couple come to mind, Jalen has a t-shirt that says "I do all my own stunts" and Brian Phillips has one that says "2nd Place is the 1st Loser." Those are significant for those two people, Jalen was and is a rough and tumble type of kid, Brian was the track and cross country coach at HU and his teams were superior.

That brings me to my friend that is wearing this t-shirt. He is not a lot of the things that the world would look for to categorize as awesome, but in my book he is awesome. More importantly in God's book he is awesome just like we all are. It says in Psalms that God "Knit
us together in our mothers womb." We are all just like God wanted us to be which happens to be made in his image.

I think I may start looking for a t-shirt like the one above because I believe it would be appropriate for any of us to wear.

I almost forgot my favorite t-shirt- it says " I Love My Wife" and that is the truth as well.

Clicking with People

2011-10-15T21:59:00.004-05:00

"It is more important to click with people than to click the shutter.”~Alfred Eisenstaedt

A Froggy Night

2011-10-12T23:28:00.002-05:00

Tonight after church it was foggy. We walked around the front lawn for a couple of minutes and I took a few photos with my IPhone 4 with the new iOS 5 installed.

When Josie was little she used to say it looked very froggy when it was foggy.

The Olen Hendrix building.

The "pregnant tree"

Admin and Lilly Pond.

Photos for Me

2011-10-05T22:01:00.001-05:00

I have been reminded how important it is to take photos for yourself. I get so busy that I sometimes neglect that personal art and when I do the professional art suffers too. So here are some photos that I took for me during the past couple of weeks.

All of these were taken with my iPhone 4 and most were taken with the Camera+ App.

A Red Line

2011-09-26T16:34:00.001-05:00

My day started off at the Reynolds Building picking up scan-tron sheets for a couple of students that were going to take my test today. As I walked back to my car I noticed the the warm color of the red line of my parking space and the the little red leaf that lay on it. Simple backlighting made the color of the paint and the texture of the pavement pop. A good friend pulled up beside me and we chatted and I felt encouraged and loved just by his few simple words.

As things in my family have been so crazy with Jamie being sick these last few months, simple little blessings from God keep me going.

I just updated my Facebook status and it now reads " been counting my blessings today and realize that I can't count that high So Thankful! "

As I pulled into the drive to get the kids from school, there was another sweet friend with supper.

I am so thankful for the blessings and people that God puts in our lives.

Thank you God for taking care of your children.

Robert Jordan Photo Quote

2011-09-05T23:47:00.006-05:00

"I'd love to stuff a re-loadable taser in my hip pocket and tase every ballboy/fan/rent-a-cop/cop/gawker/has-been and wanna-be on the sidelines who step out in front of the photographer as soon as things get interesting." ~Robert Jordan, University of Mississippi

note~ Robert Jordan is my friend and also a board member of the UPAA not to mention an exceptionally talented photographer.

I like Lewis Hine

2011-08-26T12:17:00.004-05:00

photo by Lewis Hine

Here is a great post on Lewis Hine over at the The New York Times Lens blog.

I just taught the History of Photography to my students yesterday and I include Lewis Hine in that lecture. Seeing Lewis Hine in my RSS feed this morning caught my attention. After reading the Lens blog I have a new respect for Mr. Hine. The curator of the upcoming Hine show, Alison Nordstrom, called Hine one of the "good guys". I like "good guys" and I try to be one myself. I also love the fact that he demanded a byline and that he referred to his photos as “Hineographs”because they were different than other photos. It sounds to me like Hine knew how to have fun as well as get his message across through his photos.

Early Morning Light

2011-08-25T11:29:00.001-05:00

My class is about to start blogging for every class period so I guess I better set a good example.

Confession is good for the soul so- I am posting this two minutes before class.

Fame and Painting

2011-08-20T18:05:00.001-05:00

I am a photographer and I am so thankful that I have that ability. I even call this blog Jeff's Photos. But there are always things I wish I could do that I can't. I wish I could sing, but I'm not a great singer. I remember running into my high school chorus director talking to one of the university chorus directors. He told the university director that if I tried out to give me a chance because I was an amazing riser man.

The other thing I wish I could do is paint. I admire artist and the detail they so skillfully put into paintings is something to behold.
Well, Josie talked me into painting this afternoon. We had fun and I painted three paintings. The best part was hanging with Josie.

Vivian Maier's photography has come to the worlds attention over the past couple of years. Unfortunately, she died before her amazing street photography was discovered. I wanted to blog these so that if anyone wanted to decide I was famous I would still be alive to enjoy the fame.

I am joking if you don't know. I paint for the same reasons that I blog and that I shoot my Instagram photos. I do it for me. I believe everyone has something to share and I hope you enjoy it. I enjoyed creating it.

I found some cows today

2011-08-15T21:24:00.001-05:00

I found some cows today and I shot them. I love sepia tones and these brown cows worked perfectly in those lovely warm tones.

Photos with iPhone 4 and Camera+ App.

Crazy Color in the Sky

2011-08-08T20:43:00.001-05:00

Tonight the sky was a really crazy color.

Funerals

2011-08-01T20:45:00.002-05:00

Today I attended the funeral of my good friend Jennings Osborne. In my years of life I have attended a good number of funerals and I've often left wishing I had known the person better. Today, I was so thankful and proud to have known Jennings Osborne and call him my friend. I am thankful for all the photos I have of him and all the memories. I keep thinking about Jennings stories to blog and there are just too many to log from my phone.

I have always loves sunsets and some of the most remarkable ones I've seen have been on days when someone I've known passed away or were buried. I wonder if it is a glimpse of the heavenly welcoming party.

Abandoned House

2011-07-31T00:48:00.001-05:00

Today I drove over to Memphis to get the boys who had been visiting my Dad and then staying with cousins Andrew and Ryan.

I drove by this old house on hwy 64 between Bald Knob and Wynne. I passed it and I saw that the light was perfect. I turned around. I was by myself and I wouldn't be holding anyone up to stop and shoot for a few minutes.

I shot with my phone and I also shot the better part of a roll of Tri-X in my twin lens camera.

The light, the texture, everything was perfect for a little photo fun.

Electric Sunset

2011-07-25T22:10:00.001-05:00

I love shooting sunsets. Gods beauty is amazing.

Location:E Market Ave,Searcy,United States

Coffee

2011-07-21T12:14:00.001-05:00

Working on a big food project and this morning I had to shoot this coffee. What to do.....what would Noah Darnell do?

Find some good light and shoot wide and close. I am learning slowly but surely I am going to develop wide angle eyes.

Photo note: taken with iPhone and the Camera+ app.

Do you have your own Towboat

2011-07-20T09:43:00.006-05:00

My friend Emily Anne Dumas Thomason sent me this photo of a towboat named Jeff Montgomery she saw in New Orleans. I did a little Google research and found it here.

Jeff Montgomery
1214963
Length 76 feet - Breadth 35 feet - Twin Screw Cummins KTA38-M1, 1800 hp
Built 2008 by Raymond & Associates LLC, Bayou la Batre, AL
Owned by Kirby Inland Marine LP, Houston, TX

Didn't know I had a towboat named after me. I might have to send them a box of Jeff Fest treats in October.

Frametastic

2011-07-13T17:48:00.001-05:00

I have really been enjoying photographing my sunflowers. I also have always admired these multiple photo compositions. I purchased the Frametastic App and here I go. I like the challenge of taking a wide enough variety of photos that I can make a reasonable composition.

16X20

2011-07-01T21:22:00.001-05:00

Shot this photo of my sunflowers this week with my iPhone. I printed it at 16X20 inches and it looks amazing. I am stunned that a phone camera can make a print that big.

Just a few other shots of the same flowers.

Three Perfect Things

2011-06-30T06:48:00.001-05:00

Yellow Flowers- Warm Light- Mocha Milkshakes at Midnight Oil.

Camp Tahkodah-iMovie

2011-06-29T23:20:00.001-05:00

YouTube Video

I went to shoot photos for Camp Tahkodah last week. I shot these photos with my iPhone and the Hipstamatic app. I created this video with iMovie on my iPhone. Technology is amazing.

Jackson's Birthday

2011-06-29T22:34:00.001-05:00

Jackson is 12 and he and I took a road trip to LR to the Arkansas Heritage Museum to check things out.

There was a really cool display about the Civil War in Arkansas and how it compared to the Hollywood portrayal in Gone with the Wind. Jackson is standing by a map that showed the slavery distribution in AR by counties. In 1860, White county had about 6000 people and 299 slaves. The state had a population of just over 100,000 with about 11,000 slaves.

The AR map twister game was a big hit for the kid we call map boy.

There were other cool things like telescopes. Jackson was checking out the First Security Building.

Jackson spent some of his birthday money in the gift shop and bought a Jeopardy book of AR history. Any guesses what I did on the drive home.

Jackson thought the museum was awesome. I thought spending the afternoon with my son was awesome.

The Biggest Fish

2011-06-29T19:47:00.001-05:00

Josie's Girl scout troop hosted a fishing derby at the Searcy Lake. Josie and I went early Saturday morning and met the other girls and dads and we got started about 9:15.

About 30 minutes into re fishing Josie caught this 14" Bowfin fish also known as a grinnel. This turned out to be the biggest fish of the day for the entire derby all age groups included. We also caught a bunch of small bream.

We started catching these little fish just as the derby was ending.

So we took a break and went and Josie got her trophy.

I remember fishing in a scout derby when I was in scouts and I almost won a trophy for the smallest fish. Unfortunately I had the 2nd smallest fish and there was no trophy for that.

Josie and I continued to fish most of the afternoon. It was hot but we were having fun and I must admit I was really enjoying the one on one time with my baby girl. Thankfully about three the snow cone truck drove by the lake and boy did those cold snow cones hit the spot.

Finally we got tired of feeding the crickets to the fish on hooks so we just threw them in and watched the feeding frenzy of little bream attack the last few crickets we had. That reminds me of another childhood fishing memory. We would go eat fish at the Hungry Fisherman in Memphis. They had a big pond out back and when you were done eating they would give you hush puppies to feed to the fish. I loved leaning over the edge of the dock and throwing int hushpuppy and watching those monster catfish come up and take the whole thing in one gulp. Hushpuppies were way more humane than crickets but Josie didn't seem to mind and we really did have a fun day just the two of us.

Base/Softball season is over

2011-06-29T19:19:00.001-05:00

Greetings to my faithful few readers, I didn't forget how to blog I have just been busy so here is to catching up.

I love baseball and softball season. This year Jackson, Jalen and Josie have played ball. I am amazed at their talent and the improvement that I see in each of them every season. I will post links to their team Shutterfly share sites at the bottom of this post if you would like to check out their amazing athletic feats.

I am posting the above photo because it is marking a significant milestone in my photography. This is the last photo with my original iPhone 3G. The wifi has given up the ghost so I have replaced it with a new iPhone 4. I can't say enough good things about my 3G phone and all the photos it has taken. This final photo was taken on the last night of softball for this year and I processed it with the Photogene App.

Edward Stiechen Photo Quote

2011-06-23T13:55:00.003-05:00

"The people in the audience looked at the pictures, and the people in the pictures looked back at them. They recognized each other."

- Comment by Edward Stiechen about his exhibit “The Family of Man” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1955.

Prime Lens Flowers

2011-06-07T16:10:00.003-05:00

I love shooting film. I've said that before, but its true and I love using the old film cameras and the look of film is hard to describe but I like it. My good friend Noah Darnell likes to shoot film and if you read his blog you will hear him talk about the look of his prime lenses. Well, these were all shot with a prime lens, but I bet you would never guess it in a 100 years.
I shot all of these photos with my Olympus Stylus Epic and its beautiful 35mm F2.8 prime lens. Yes I shot these images with a point and shoot camera. It is not about the camera its about seeing and light and the beauty God created for us to enjoy. If you have an old film P&S camera in a drawer somewhere I encourage you to get it out and go buy some b&w film and go find some beautiful flowers or beautiful people or whatever catches your attention and have some fun. This roll of film is just back from the lab and my stylus epic is reloaded and ready to go.

Jenna is coming home!

2011-05-31T10:51:00.003-05:00

I am extremely jealous of Jenna. Last night she was at the Grand Canyon. She has been on chorus tour for the last ten days all over Arizona and California. They have had a great time but I am ready for her to be home because its just not the same without her.

Wildflowers and a Fish

2011-05-22T15:47:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, the boys and I went fishing at Lake Barnett just outside of Floyd. The lake was way high and fairly muddy. I caught the only fish of the day,a small largemouth bass. The reason it was just the boys and I was because Josie was at Girl Scout Camp.

I noticed these flowers on the way to fish but I knew the light would be much netter on the way home.

I had 5 cameras with me, 2 TLRs 1-SLR and 1-P&S and the on thing with color was my iPhone. I love shooting film.

Oh yeah, here is the fish.

Hipstamatic Hydrangas

2011-05-21T08:35:00.001-05:00

Shot this week at the community center. Love the Hipstamatic App and the Best Camera App and starting to enjoy the Instagram App.

Base/Softball is Fun

2011-05-20T10:23:00.006-05:00

Last night was a beautiful night for baseball and softball. I took a few photos of Josie's game, that is her playing 1st base.
Josie on the rare occasion that she actually missed the ball on the first pitch. Here she is starting to swing on the second pitch which she whacks over to the second base-girl for a single.
Photo techniques work with my little camera just like with the big ones. Panning is always a good thing to try with base runners.
The boys watching Josie's team lose a tough game in the bottom of the last inning.
Finally, a little fun with my friend Zac Muncy. Zac and I are constantly harassing each other on FB. We call each other brother because people actually get us confused. How in the world a handsome dude like me could be confused with an ugly mug like Zac Muncy is beyond my ability to understand. So, I noticed this sign and decided that a little Photoshop magic and I could have a little fun at my friends expense.

Elliott Erwitt Photo Quote

2011-05-17T17:09:00.003-05:00

"The best things happen when you just happen to be somewhere with a camera."
~Elliott Erwitt

Ronnie Dunn--Bleed Red--HD

2011-05-11T11:33:00.001-05:00

Brace yourselves, I am posting a video and it is not Southern Gospel.

I heard this song on the radio for the first time yesterday on the way to give my photography final. My first thought was I didn't know Brooks and Dunn released a new album, so I ask my class if they know this song and they inform me this is a single released by Ronnie Dunn. I love this song because the message applies to everyone.

We all need each other and we all need forgiveness. I hope you enjoy the music as much as I do and more importantly let the message of try forgiveness work where it needs to in your life.

Sun, Flowers, and Friends

2011-05-07T03:19:00.006-05:00

Early Tuesday morning, I had to go over to the kids school to shoot a quick job before school started. As I walked across the street, I greeted Mr. Gary the HU security officer that stopped the traffic for me. I couldn't help but smile as I soaked up the sun for the first time in several days. Arkansas and the south have been beaten up with tornadoes, severe thunder storms and major flooding rains over the past week.
As I left the building I walked by the Ruthann Corbin Garden. Mrs. Corbin passed away unexpectedly back in 2003 and her family dedicated this beautiful fountain and garden to her memory. The fountain was gurgling and the warm early morning light on these purple pin cushion flowers was just perfect.

As I was leaving I ran into LouElla from the HU grounds crew who was coming to pull out the winter pansies and get the beds ready for summer flowers. I love running into LouElla because she is passionate about flowers and the way campus looks. The ground keepers work hard to make the place beautiful and that makes my job of photographing campus easy. LouElla shares that passion for a beautiful campus with her former boss Johnny Ferguson. I say former boss because my friend Johnny retired today. I was privileged to go to his retirement lunch. I have an open invitation to go trout fishing with Johnny and I hope its not long before I get to spend a day with him on the Little Red River.

Jay Maisel says "If you are out there shooting, things will happen for you. If you’re not out there, you’ll only hear about it." Jay also encourages photographers to do "visual push-ups" everyday. I have to say this was a fun visual workout. All of these photos were taken with my Canon G11 point and shoot camera. I must also confess that I jacked up the color saturation to look like Fujichrome Velvia in Adobe Lightroom.

Blog Therapy

2011-05-04T21:22:00.001-05:00

I am always crazy this time of year. I need to be grading photos and making out my final at this moment but I am taking a blog therapy break. I have taken real photos with with real cameras but I love having photos on my phone. Since this blog therapy session is happening with my phone I am using phone photos. I hope you enjoy and I will be back to regular blog programing after the final is graded.

Boo's Birthday

2011-05-04T21:13:00.001-05:00

My #2 son and #4 kid is 10 today. He was born on 5-4-01 and he weighed 5lbs 4oz.

Time-Effort-Reward

2011-04-21T23:23:00.003-05:00

If you have ever read my blog you know that Josie does everything at 100%. This includes anything she does from sidewalk chalk art, playing dolls, drawing, sleeping and playing basketball with a soccer ball. The thing is we probably have 4 or 5 basketballs in the deck box but its so much easier to just use the soccer ball that is out of the deck box.

The thing I love the most is how this series of photos shows the true Josie spirit, she will not give up until she gets what she wants and when she is successful she celebrates. I've especially seen this as she works to conquer the letter "R" is speech. I love how she will say some word that has an "R" in the middle like dork, example- "Jenna your a dork", and then she stops says dork a little slower just to make sure she gets that "R" sound correct. I love when she realizes that she made the sound correctly and she says " Hey Dad, did you hear me say dork, it has an "R" in the middle and I said it right, Yes!"

I would like to thank Jamie for the example above of the word Dork and the accompanying sentence.

I love the fact that she shoots, misses and gets her own rebound and shoots again until she scores. My photography text book suggested a similar routine to improve your photos.
Shoot a photo.
Look at the photo.
Evaluate the photo.
Shoot another photo.

As long as we are talking photography, I like these photos for another reason, as Josie was practicing basketball, I was working on Henri Cartier Bresson's idea of the Decisive Moment.

"There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative," he said. "Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever."

Finally, there is nothing like celebration. We both put in the time and effort and we are both rewarded.

Tonight, I am thinking of my neighbor and former secretary Pat Lawrence who lost her husband this past week. Gerald has fought the good fight, finished the race, kept the faith. He will be missed, but I imagine that there is some celebration going on up in heaven with Gerald and those who have gone on ahead of him.

Taken off gaurd by a Dog

2011-04-07T18:55:00.006-05:00

Photo by Elliott Erwitt

Something really strange happen to me yesterday while shooting at the Searcy Humane Society. I was shooting the Universities annual day of service called Bisons for Christ. Several students were in an outdoor fenced in area with a bunch of the dogs running around and chasing toys. I decided to shoot through the fence and use the chain links as a sort of frame. As I knelt down and put the camera up to my eye I felt something pushing up under my right arm. I looked down and this brown dog was there looking up at me like it needed a hug. I put my arm around it and rubbed him under his chin and then he looked up and licked me on the chin. I can't get over that dog. I was so taken that I have no idea what the dogs name is and I didn't even get a picture of it. This is troubling to me because I am not a dog person. I am allergic to dogs. We have a No Vet Policy in our family, no pets that need a Vet. I still keep thinking about this dog.

I have a history with dogs. My stuffed animal when I was a kid was really a pillow that had a dog print on the fabric so it looked like a dog on my bed. That was the animal that I slept with as a kid. I vividly remember the day that my brother ,Alan, was in my room and I swung the dog pillow to hit him and the fabric ripped. I was confused, feeling sad but not really knowing what to do, feeling not too different than I feel now actually. I was to old to still have a stuffed animal but this dog pillow was special. I took it to my mom and she showed me how the fabric itself had ripped not just the seam, it wasn't something that could be fixed. I still have my dog pillow fabric folded up in a box somewhere.

I actually had a dog when I was really small. My Uncle Mose gave us a Beagle puppy. He always had Beagles that he used to rabbit hunt. He also named his dogs after US Presidents. I fondly remember Ford and Carter. Completely changing subjects, I have actually had the privilege of being around Jimmy Carter on several different occasions and I have always found him to be a kind and humble man. My Beagle puppy which I don't remember his name didn't stay very long because I would go into the back yard to play with him and I was not big enough to close the gate and he would escape. It only took my Mom about 2 or 3 times having to chase down that dog in the neighborhood and he was returned to Uncle Mose.

I actually learned who Elliott Erwitt is by seeing his book Dog Dogs in a bookstore. His photos captivated me like my new canine friend over at the Humane Society. I know other people grow incredibly close to their pooches, its just a new experience for me.

Cameras are Cameras

2011-04-04T14:03:00.003-05:00

I shot this photo with a camera that was made in 2002. That thing is 9 years old and it is still awesome. The camera is the Nikon Coolpix 5700. It was the first Nikon P&S camera to shoot Raw files. This is just a straight up medium compression jpeg. Now my current P&S is a Canon G11 and it will shoot circles around the old Nikon but today it is stormy and rainy and I don't care if the Nikon gets a little wet. The Nikon might spend the day rolling around on the floorboard of my car and I don't mind that either. Dave Ramsey is always talking about driving a beater car, I think of this old Nikon as my beater camera. The whole point is taking photos that make you happy and this photo makes me happy. On my lunch break today, I shot a Harding Magazine photo assignment for the summer issue with my old beater Nikon and I bet you want know which one it is.

Diaster Drills and a Fireman Dad

2011-03-30T16:19:00.005-05:00

Today, we had a disaster drill at school. The disaster today was an earthquake in the library. Being the University Photographer, one of my perks is getting the inside view and I followed the firemen in as they entered the building to look for survivors. The smoke machines had been used to simulate smoke and dust and it really made the flashlight beams look cool. Another reason I followed the firemen was that growing up my dad was a fireman. How much cooler can you get than having a dad that is a fireman. I wondered as I watched those guys today looking for survivors and the other not so lucky people what kind of stories he could tell. Its one kind of bravery to fight a fire but rescuing people who are hurting and scared must take a strength that is hard for me to imagine. I proud of my dad and the work he did as a fireman. I am also thankful that today was just a drill.
Photo Note: It is totally awesome to be able to jack you ISO to 102,000 when you need to take photos in the dark. The photos are grainy but I got photos and that was the job today.

Cathedrals - Blood Washed Band

2011-03-30T09:52:00.000-05:00

What a great song with an amazing message. I never get tired of the Cathedrals.

Flowers and Cameras

2011-03-23T23:34:00.004-05:00

I have recently posted a few photos of my Crocus that I took with my iPhone. The above photo was also taken with my iPhone with the help of the Best Camera App. iPhone photos can amazing but sometimes you need to use a real camera, in this case a Nikon D200 and a 50mm F1.8 lens. If you own a DSLR you should really consider getting a 50mm lens.

My Crocus bulbs are starting to fade now but my Violets are going like gang busters.

B/W Squirrel

2011-03-23T16:41:00.003-05:00

I never get tired of photographing squirrels. I am truly in love with my Nikon 80-400mm lens on the D3s.

Color Events and Spring Break Memories

2011-03-18T15:16:00.009-05:00

Jay Maisel is one of my photographic heroes. His teaching focuses on Light, Gesture, and Color. I still remember reading a Popular Photography article he wrote where he focused on what he called "color events." That was way back in the spring of 1986, my 10th grade year, on my first chorus tour, when I start paying attention to one of the seniors named Julie Sloop. She was wearing this cute blue-green outfit and I told her she looked like a "color event." I was a nerd even back then. We were in Texas and that particular day we were both riding on the van instead of the bus. That was 25 years ago this spring break. I had no idea what was beginning in my life that day. Julie and I have been happily married for the last 20 years and we have 5 beautiful kids. I have worked for Harding University as a photographer for the last 19.5 years.

I am so very thankful for the things God continually puts in my life, today it was this beautiful flower, 25 years ago it was my future wife.

The Bible says in James 1:17 that " Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights."

Psalms 85:12 "The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest."

Look around and I bet like me you will be thankful for the people and things that God has put in your life.

Pine Trees and Pear Trees

2011-03-16T15:20:00.011-05:00

It always amazes me how using a different camera changes your perceptions of things. These pine trees are in my backyard and I have never noticed those two pieces of bark being gone before. Today, I walked outside with my Hasselblad Xpan loaded with B&W film and I see these two spots on the tree by my driveway.

You might be thinking maybe someone knocked them off yesterday and that is why I hadn't noticed before. Well that might be true but the camera has something to do with this. I walked across the street and took the rest of my roll of film up shooting the beautiful blooming Bradford Pear trees. I went to the office and grabbed my Nikon bag full of lenses and came back to the same trees and for the most part, I like the handful of photos from the film better than the couple of hundred photos of the same trees I took with the Nikon.

On the other hand, I did shoot the Nikon in color and there is something to be said for shooting in color.

Baseball

2011-03-14T17:17:00.004-05:00

Today was a miserable day for playing baseball, but it beat the heck out of sitting in the office all afternoon.

Josie Notes

2011-03-12T20:11:00.004-06:00

Sometime after I went to sleep last night Josie snuck into my room and put this note on my night stand. I always love getting a Josie note and there is nothing better than Josie Humdinger Hug.

Humdinger Hug
I like hot dogs. I like hats.
I like hula hoops too.
But what really makes me happy
is a humdinger hug from you.

Ansel Adams Photo Quote

2011-03-12T20:02:00.002-06:00

"Working in color is like playing an out of tune piano." ~ Ansel Adams

Purple Crocus

2011-03-11T20:23:00.001-06:00

Finally, I have some Purple Crocus. I love the fact that you can take a photo, process the photo, and blog it all from my iPhone.

25 Hours in a Day

2011-03-10T18:50:00.001-06:00

Josie has been hanging a blanket from her top bunk covering the opening of the bottom bunk and calling it her cave. This morning I pulled back the blanket to wake her up and she informed me that for the next 25 hours her cave was going to be closed and I needed to get. She was going to sleep for a whole day.

Some days I wish I had a cave that I could sleep in for 25 hours.
I love life with Josie.

Photo Quote: Elliott Erwitt

2011-03-10T00:01:00.003-06:00

"I can not remember a project that took more than 5 seconds to shoot." Elliott Erwitt

Photo Quote: Elliot Erwitt

2011-03-09T22:54:00.002-06:00

"It’s about time
we started to take
photography seriously
and treat it as a hobby."
~Elliot Erwitt

I am working on a garden

2011-03-09T12:55:00.003-06:00

I hope we have tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and sweet peppers before the end of the summer. I have never had much of a green thumb but here we go anyway. Josie and Jalen helped me plant the seeds and Jalen took the photo of Josie and me.

Reinforcement

2011-03-09T11:39:00.002-06:00

I love when school reinforces what we teach at home.

Crocus

2011-03-07T21:46:00.001-06:00

Last fall I got a big bag of Crocus bulbs at Lowes. I love Crocus because my Mom loved them. Growing up we had the purple variety in our big flower bed in our front yard. I loved seeing those small purple flowers come up among the pansies.

The other reason I planted some Crocus is that they come back year after year. My Mom has been gone for a good many years now, but her positive influence on my life and many others keeps coming back over and over year after year.

Tonight I am thankful for my little yellow flowers and for my Mom.

Harding Magazine Online

2011-03-07T09:26:00.006-06:00

Harding Magazine is now being published in a digital interactive format as well as the printed edition. I hope you will take a look.

2011 AR 3A Basketball

2011-03-06T01:10:00.001-06:00

This past week Harding Academy has hosted the 3A basketball tournament in the Rhodes Field House at Harding University. I have posted 1908 photos from 23 different games. Shooting 6 basketball games a day is some serious work. The work was fun, now it will be even more fun if people buy the photos.

Joe McNally Photo Quote

2011-02-25T14:53:00.002-06:00

"It’s a wonderful thing to be a photog. We can illustrate the pages of our adventure, sometimes with pictures that really mean something."~ Joe McNally

B&W Basketball

2011-02-25T00:14:00.003-06:00

Tonight I shot basketball totally different than I did with the previous post. Saturday night was Decisive Moment shooting because I was using strobes that recycle about once every second. Tonight I shot available light with a Nikon D3S and a 24-70 F 2.8 lens with the camera set at ISO 8000 and the motor on 9fps. I think of this as more of a spray and pray type of shooting. I converted them to B&W because I like B&W better. We lost a tough game tonight to AR Tech in OT. Now we are moving on the the GSC tournament for the last time. In the fall the Bisons will be playing in the GAC, Great American Conference.

Differing Points of View

2011-02-23T12:38:00.006-06:00

Basketball is a spirited game and in any competitions there are always going to be events that are disputed. That is why we have referees.

I spent one Saturday morning of my 11th grade year of HS as a basketball referee. I had played basketball for several years and knew the rules of the game. I was scheduled to call 5 games of 3rd Grade basketball for which I got paid $20. That was one miserable morning. I had been prepared on the rules of the game. I was seriously lacking on fan confrontation and spirited disputes. That was my first and last official refereeing job unless you count being a parent and that is not what we are talking about now.

I learned that I'm a much better photographer than referee. Photographing still keeps me in the heat of the action, just in a more mild mannered way. Often the camera catches things that the referees miss. Now before you get outraged, a foul was called on the photo below. But I seriously disagreed that the Christian Brothers player is the one being fouled. No matter what I think about that call, I respect referees and the job they do.

Desktop Art

2011-02-23T11:04:00.003-06:00

Just changed my desktop photo or background image to this. I also let my desktop art folder be my screen saver. Let your computer be your own personal art gallery.

Squirrel

2011-02-22T17:01:00.006-06:00

I love the Disney movie UP. I love how the mean dogs all stop and look whenever someone says Squirrel. I had my own squirrel moment today. I left the baseball games early to come back to the office to recover a corrupted CF card for the Bison. I pulled into a parking spot right beside this small tree with the squirrel. I walked around to the passenger side of my car and got my camera and started toward the building and I saw it not 8 ft from me. I think the squirrel's "Person" alert went off about the same time my "Squirrel" alert went off. A beautiful Fox Squirrel in a small tree just a few feet from me and a camera with my longest zoom lens mounted and beautiful light. Some days you just get lucky.

Photo Educational Note: For those of you in my class let me break it down a little more. Limited depth of field was achieved by a combination of three things:
-lens aperture wide open at F5.6,
-long focal length of 400mm, and
-a close distance of about 8 ft.

These very three items were mentioned today while discussing depth-of-field during our review for the test coming up on Thursday.

2 points extra credit to anyone who writes Nice Squirrel Blog Post on your test.

Tommy Tuberville

2011-02-17T22:32:00.002-06:00

Sometimes I get to meet some pretty cool people at work.

Concert Photos

2011-02-16T16:41:00.004-06:00

Last weekend Larry Gatlin came to Searcy to perform for the Harding Academy Partnership Dinner. He brought a sound guy and his guitar player and that's all. He sounded great and I enjoyed the concert. I especially enjoyed watching Steve Smith, the guitar player, because he was having fun. I love watching people who are great at what they do and have a good time. I try to be one of those people myself.

Blog Map

2011-02-14T12:05:00.000-06:00

I love looking at the ClusterMap for my blog and I noticed a couple of notable things this week. For the first time, I have two of the larger size dots depicting the 10-99 hits. I always have one in Arkansas but the second one over farther to the west is new. Also for the first time I have a hit in Africa in the country of Zimbabwe. Now before you get the idea that I am getting the big head over 183 hits last week, I'm not. Some people I know have more than that a day. Just saying I am thankful for my readers wherever they are and however often they visit.

The right lens on the right body

2011-02-13T16:53:00.006-06:00

Sometimes you just need to get the right lens on the right body. I have had the Nikon 80-400 zoom as my long telephoto lens for about 5 years now and it worked ok. Today I shot that 80-400 on the D3s body instead of the old D2Xs and it was a whole new experience. I don't know what the difference is but the 80-400 is much happier on the D3s which is good with me. I had Jalen shooting with me today and noticed that he is left eye dominate. Never had noticed that before. I like shooting baseball with Jalen, he keeps me looking at things with a new sense of wonder and joy.

Snow Again

2011-02-10T20:44:00.001-06:00

I love the view off the front porch. Photo cropped in Photogene and antique look applied with Old Photo PRO App.

Art in the Jail

2011-02-10T20:36:00.001-06:00

Inmates at the County Jail have a lot of time to be creative. Last Sunday one of the Ministry Volunteers dropped this Cross off in the office after recording it from an inmate. The craftsmanship is amazing. This cross is the perfect size for a bookmark.

Cameras that look Cool

2011-02-07T21:33:00.004-06:00

The opposite of using a honking huge DSLR and acting like you belong is using a small unobtrusive camera that nobody would consider to be a serious camera. The Leica is the defacto camera in this category. This Fuji X100 looks to be an amazing camera on paper and it is supposed to be released in March. There are plenty of rumors that Nikon will come out with a very similar camera that will have interchangeable lenses. No matter how these cameras function they look real cool and there is something to be said for cool looking cameras.

Kirk Tuck Photo Quote

2011-02-06T22:18:00.008-06:00

"The only way to be stealthy with a camera this big is to be un-stealthy and emanate the idea that what you're doing is routine, non-exceptional and part of the scene. Within minutes everyone ignored me and went on with real life." ~Kirk Tuck

I often tell my students that a major key to being successful is acting like you are supposed to be there taking pictures. I like to think of the camera as my invisibility machine. People expect to see you working and they quit paying attention to you. I also like the romantic idea of using a small rangefinder camera that people don't even notice because you are using one body and one lens. Many famous photographers have espoused this idea, notably Henri Cartier-Bresson, Alfred Eisenstaedt, W. Eugene Smith, and Elliott Erwitt.

As for the Canon 1DMark2, I still much prefer my Nikon D3s. No mater the make of the camera, Kirk's advice is golden. Take a moment and read The Visual Science Lab. Be sure and read his spot on post entitled A Casual and Even Tempered Rant .

Photo Quote : W. Eugene Smith

2011-01-25T14:01:00.006-06:00

What use is having a great depth of field if there is not an adequate depth of feeling?
~W. Eugene Smith

If you can't tell, I am teaching Photography again this semester and in trying to pass along to my students some of the great photographers of the past I keep finding these great photo quotes. I am thankful that you took the time to stop by and read my thoughts.

New Flash

2011-01-24T16:18:00.004-06:00

Just got the Nikon SB-700 flash in today. I love the size and if it performs with the power of the SB-600 I will be really happy. I have a SB-900 that is my personal flash when I need to really light things up. The thing that is really so cool is the snap on molded plastic CTO gel. I am done with those silly gel sheets.

Photo Quote-Edward Steichen

2011-01-23T16:03:00.002-06:00

No photographer is as good as the simplest camera. - Edward Steichen

Disney-iPhone-Hipstamatic App.

2011-01-23T00:16:00.004-06:00

It is no secret that I love the camera on the iPhone. I have the iPhone 3G and I have a fair amount of photo apps. Just before we went to Florida for Christmas I got the Hipstamatic App after reading a blog post about a New York Times photographer Damon Winter using it for war photos in Afghanistan. At first, I was not crazy about this app. Changing the lens and the film in this app gets you a variety of analog film looks and funky boarders to your iPhone photos. Besides the lens and film variety, the camera shows you a small square viewfinder and it randomly crops the square from the area the camera sees. This is unsettling at first but with the random film and lens changing and cropping you get some crazy looking photos and after a while it started to grow on me. I normally use The Best Camera App which is completely editable and controlled. I always tell my classes that you have to make friends with your camera so I decided to make friends with this app. I was surprised to find that while in FL I took over 400 photos with the Hipstamatic App. I uploaded them to a Shutterfly Share site if you want to view all of the photos. These 90 photos shown here are some of my favorites.

HDR

2011-01-21T15:01:00.002-06:00

I stink at doing HDR images. But this year, I am trying to improve my processing abilities so here you go with 3 HDR versions of the Admin Building in snow with the sun setting.

Shadows

2011-01-19T14:06:00.004-06:00

I always carry a camera with me and lately I have been carrying my nikon Coolpix 5700 set to B&W. The shadows are the compelling parts to these photos to me.

Josie is a baller and the boys

2011-01-15T16:55:00.004-06:00

Today has been a basketball day and its still not over.
Jamie played for the school this morning and Jalen,
Jackson and Josie played Upward as well. Tonight I
am shooting the Bison games. This short slide show is
Josie coming down the court after stealing the ball, shooting
boxing out and then chasing down her own rebound coming
back and shooting and scoring. She was a beast today on the
court.

The boys can play pretty well themselves

Vivian Maier-Street Photographer

2011-01-11T10:58:00.004-06:00

These photos are beautiful. I love B&W and I love the square format. I currently have 5 rolls of Tri-X that I shot in my Yashica 124G that are ready to be developed. Vivian Maier spent her days off with a camera and collected over 100,00 images. I have enjoyed reading about her story and it inspires me to shoot more film and maybe even more with my twin lens camera.

Below are some links to different web resources about Maier's work.

Chicago Mag Story

Chicago Mag -2

The Online Photographer Article

The Vivian Maier Blog

The New York Times Lens Blog

Happy Dude

2011-01-07T19:00:00.001-06:00

Today I saw this on a bulletin board in the Health Sciences Building.

Photo Quote

2011-01-07T16:10:00.002-06:00

"The best noise reduction is actually noise avoidance."~ Tim Grey

Mathilde

2010-12-17T22:43:00.005-06:00

I love when former co-workers bring their babies to the office for visits. Mathilde was delightful and it was good to see her big brother Gabriel and her mom April.

I took this photo with an old 5MP Nikon Coolpix 5700. This photo proves the point that its not the camera that takes the photo its the person that takes the photo. Spend more time this Holiday focusing on the people and not on the things and you will be presently surprised like I was with how beautiful things turn out.

Photo Quote

2010-12-17T22:37:00.001-06:00

“I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn’t
photograph them.” – Diane Arbus

Girl Scouts

2010-12-17T21:39:00.002-06:00

We have a Girl Scout in the family as of tonight. I guess I will have to think up another derogatory term to call the boys when they are acting like sissies.

A Library Christmas Tree

2010-12-17T11:27:00.003-06:00

My friend Jan Waldrop over at the Brackett Library came up with this Christmas tree and I think its kinda cool.

Photo Quote

2010-12-17T09:39:00.001-06:00

"If you are out there shooting, things will happen for you. If you’re not out there, you’ll only hear about it." – Jay Maisel

I'm thinking Josie

2010-11-24T16:26:00.003-06:00

Whenever I see a Lady Bug I think of Josie. If there is a Lady Bug anywhere around Josie can find it. Julie told me that Monday Josie came to the door and asked for a box to hold her Lady Bugs. Julie brought her a box and she said she was stunned to see Josie's hand covered with about 20 Lady Bugs. So you see, when I see a Lady Bug I am always thinking Josie.

Quiet on Campus

2010-11-24T16:14:00.003-06:00

It was so quiet on campus Wednesday afternoon of Thanksgiving Break I spent part of the afternoon out photographing. I think I was the first person this squirrel had seen all day.

Photo Quote

2010-11-23T14:30:00.001-06:00

"Photography has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them". - Elliott Erwitt

Brats and Hogs

2010-11-06T18:57:00.001-05:00

Brats are looking good and by the way TOUCH DOWN ARKANSAS.

"Cooter in the Corn with Horn"

2010-10-22T11:54:00.004-05:00

I found this photo on the back of a Readers Digest someone donated to the jail library. Before this find I was unfamiliar with Jack Spencer and his photography. I have already filled out Library Loan Requests for a couple of his books and I am eagerly anticipating their arrival.

This image captivates me on several levels.

First, I played the same horn in band. The Baritone is a beautiful horn with the rich sound of a French Horn and the range of a trombone. Speaking of trombones, Jackson has just started playing trombone in the elementry band. Looking at this picture I can almost hear Cooter playing his horn. I wish I could hear Cooter play because you know it would be amazing.

Secondly, I love this photo because it is shot in black and white and in the square format. I am not sure there is a more perfect combination than black and white square format images. The image on the Readers Digest is actually B&W and the image I found online is actually sepia toned. I am really divided between which on looks better, but I posted the sepia print so I guess I like it the best.

Lastly, I love this photo because of Cooters outfit. I love the hat and tie and coat. I wish I liked to wear ties and that I could look as good as Cooter in a hat. I feel like the only accessory I wear is a camera bag. I'm not complaining about that but camera bags just don't look as cool as Cooter does in that hat. I thought these Rugged Wear Domke bags were beautiful the very first time I saw them. All the women in my family have all commented on this bag asking me where I got it and how cute it is. I don't know if I have a girlie camera bag or if my other camera bags were just really ugly. I hope someday me and my Domke Rugged Wear Bag look as good and are as good of friends as Cooter and his Horn.

Rainbow Of Love-The Cathedrals

2010-10-19T00:38:00.001-05:00

The song starts at about 1:50 and thats where I like to start watching this video. The ending is amazing. I would love to have a voice like either one of those guys.