Alex
Carvers Gap, where more often than not, fantasy becomes reality! I write about this location often and passionately for several reasons. I grew up in Roan Mountain, went to school there and until I was 18 it was my home. The sad part about this is, while living here I never visited Carvers Gap. Like never. I'm very glad that I have found the amazement that it offers at this point in my life, as far too often I think we live our entire lives and miss the magic around us daily. Growing up and attending school here led me to meet Sundae. I think we may have even rode the bus together after my parents moved closer to my grandparents. I say that because today's post is about Alex, Sundae's daughter. I had never met or spoken to Alex prior to our session but that was not an issue because she is awesome. Sundae and I went back and forth on a few dates as the weather was insane this year and ever-changing and at this point, I also believe its because we were supposed to be on the Roan on this particular day. You can never truly predict the weather on the top of the Roan, and today was one of those days where every few minutes, it changed. This was a bit of a challenge as a photographer, but one I gladly welcome anytime. Let me start in the parking lot.
Once we finally found a suitable day and the time was set, we were good to go. We agreed to meet at the trailhead parking lot for introductions and to strategize. This never takes more than a few minutes, so we donned our rain jackets, umbrellas, and were afoot. Luckily the rain never really set in and never developed into something unusable. We were greeted with dramatic racing clouds over us and the mountain tops, misting rain, and even had a brief appearance of a rainbow. I mean minus a unicorn or bigfoot running out of the neighboring woods, what else could I ask for? As an adventure photographer, an avid fan of anything AT, I was enchanted. I'm not great with words and will not try to be, but will simply let the imagery speak for me. I hope you find the joy, the excitement, the wonder in these that I do. Alex was incredibly patient with my direction, open to any and everything I threw at her and with a lovely smile the entire time. I truly couldn't ask for more. I would love to know if you have a similar place that you love to frequent and I'm always open to more unique experiences like this one was. Now to the meat and potatoes, because what post by a photographer is complete without pictures?
As always, all images shot with my Fuji Xpro2 and combination of my xf16mm and xf90mm lenses.
““We clutch that picture to our hearts because we expect each other to always be the people in that picture. But people change. People aren’t pictures. And you can either take a new picture or throw the old one away.” ”
Prom season is bringing heat
“Never apologize for how you feel. No one can control how they feel. The sun doesn’t apologize for being the sun. The rain doesn’t say sorry for falling. Feelings just are”
― Iain S. Thomas, Intentional Dissonance
I'm a portrait photographer, and love to follow and find light anywhere I can so prom should be easy right? Nope. Think about it, the girls are in tight-fitting gowns with little room to move, and they definitely are not moving as freely as usual. Guess what this sounds a lot like, that I love to shoot, weddings. I also avoid them because I am an over-deliverer and thus find myself working more, delivering more and charging, well not near enough. This has been my usual experience with Prom, and while some of those haven't changed at all, you guess which, something has changed. Maybe it is as simple as the time we live in but the young ladies I had the pleasure of working with last weekend were very confident in who they are. There is a huge difference in confidence in our identity and being conceited and these girls knew exactly who they were and they brought it! I drove from Boones Creek to Flag Pond, back to Boones Creek in the pursuit of capturing the ladies in a fashion I hope they can appreciate for years to come. As Austin is preparing for his Junior Prom tomorrow, this is something much closer to me than in times past. I have includes some sample imagery from my day, multiple sessions in one blog, and not to compete with one another but to illustrate the individuals they are and the diversity I was capable of adjusting to. I hope you enjoy these, and I hope every single one of these ladies also contact me for their senior portrait needs because bonds have been formed and I hope the experience was everything and more. I love how as I returned to finish my evening the girls were yelling my name as I approached like we were lifelong friends. I may or may not have also received an applause from one parent, in particular, today when I walked into her shop to share the images. These are amazing reminders that what I do IS IMPORTANT, and matters on a level most people never stop to consider. So when your thinking of hiring your next photographer, consider contacting me and see how things can be different and how we can write these moments in time together!
Bella looking fierce in this shot
Sydney was very creative and open to any idea I tossed her way
I will end with this image. This deserves a wall spot in my opinion.
Before and After Portraiture
F1.8, 1/100th, 55mm, ISO 50
So I have been considering topics to blog for 2 days and actually set the matter aside as I was busy with other things, then I decided to re-edit some of my favorite images and upon doing so came up with this brilliant plan. Don't mind my sarcasm here lol. I think its easy to see photography or images we like and hit the like button, or slam that heart if your on Instagram. ( everyone should be on IG, its my favorite ) I think often times, that as photographers some members of society think we charge our rates to simply show up and push the button. Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows, I kid around about just pushing the button but when it comes down to it I do much more than that. The details of how I work on a shoot are ( cue dramatic action film intro music please) coming to this blog in the near future so I won't waste anytime on that today. So what I'm doing is posting a few images below and that will start with the RAW or SOOC image and then the edited image along side it. I hope this achieves several things. I hope to express how much time and effort is put into my work when no one is watching, and honestly I hope to prove that "having a friend with a camera" doesn't mean that you should actually trust them to capture moments in this life that you want to pass down and remember for years to come but also appreciate for what they are as a whole. I spent all day today re working these images and most of them have never been seen as they are images I never released from the initial shoot.
Ok, about the shoot to start. My friend and fellow photographer Nathan Mays, in the off seasons invites groups of fellow creatives to his studio in Bristol to hang out, network and sometimes we shoot.. these images came from that night. All images where shot with my previous camera, the Sony A7ii and the Zeiss 55mm lens. Lighting was provided by Nathan ( thank you ) and we used his Alien Bee Einstein Strobe heads. If I ever find myself in the place where I need a studio again. Einstein's will be my lighting of choice in case anyone wonders how I feel about them.
Haley, and Lilly were invited to model for the group and I remember Nathan whispering to me that someone needs to start shooting, the models where ready and no one was taking advantage of them being there for us.. So here I went! Not sure his trigger would even work on my camera body, but luckily it did. The images below are the results. Ill list camera exif below each set for any photographers who might be curious.
BEFORE
F1.8, 1/125th, ISO 50
AFTER
BEFORE
F1.8, 1/125th, ISO 50
AFTER
BEFORE
F 1.8, 1/100th, ISO 50
AFTER
BEFORE
F 2.5, 1/160th, ISO 50
AFTER
BEFORE
F 2.5, 1/1250th, ISO 50
AFTER
BEFORE
F 2.5, 1/200th, ISO 50
AFTER
BEFORE
F 2.5, 1/200th, ISO 50
AFTER
BEFORE
F2.5 1/200th, ISO 50
AFTER
BEFORE
F 2.5. 1/160th, ISO 50
AFTER
I appreciate that you came by my site and hope you enjoyed the intimate look at my before and after images. The last 2 shots are double exposures and where just something different to play with and as you see, I had to adjust for the ceiling and the other photographer in my shot, but was able to make a very dramatic image still. Please leave me your thoughts below in the comments! -J