We've Moved!

Well folks, the time has come for me to consolidate! Yup, this blog is moving.

The new JMazPhoto.com site is online and I welcome you all to come follow me there. I have been able to import all of the content from here into my new blog location, which I am very happy for. This blog contains posts going all the way back to 2007, so I really didn't want to just abandon it. Now all of this historic content, and all the new stuff I am creating going forward, is all found under my own JMaz Photo domain. Happy days indeed!

So please, update your subscriptions and come visit me in my new home. Thank you!

-Josh M

-JMaz Photo

New in the store: Snow on Pemaquid Point

I added a new print to the store today. "Snow on Pemaquid Point" is one of the freshest photos listed, taken just over a week ago on a recent family trip to Maine. While we were there I drove down to Bristol with my daughter to take some pictures at the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse. We arrived about fifteen minutes before sunset, and really only had twenty minutes before heading back in time for our dinner plans. So on a short time budget, no tripod in hand, and with my four-year-old daughter in tow, I climbed down the snowy bank and onto the frozen rocks.

The evening sun seemed to make the winter shooting a little bit easier. There was no harsh glare on the snow, and the shadows in the snow gave the land a lot of texture. I had taken some pictures here some years ago in the summer and it is a real contrast to have the small crowd of tourists exchanged for the snow-covered rocks.

We didn't manage to get back up the hill in time to catch the sunset from the other side of the light house. When I go back again one evening I'll have to start on the other side of campus, shooting down from the lighthouse and over the rocks with the sun setting behind it all. Still, it is always nice to have an outing with my daughter, no matter how little time we spent at the shoot.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=39724631

Snow on Pemaquid Point - 8x10 photo print

One week of pictures

As you probably already know, this year I'm taking on the Project 365 photography challenge. Not that taking any one photo is a real challenge, but taking at least one (hopefully good) photo every day for 365 consecutive days will be a challenge. From this challenge I hope to push myself to learn new techniques and to learn more about my own personal style. Some days are more creative than others, but making the effort and putting in the thought will certainly be good practice.

So yesterday marked the end of the first week of the challenge. Interestingly enough I was browsing through a fellow flickerite's photos today and came across their final Project 365 photo to which I had commented "Congratulations! I don't think I would have made it through the first week!" I'm glad that I have already proven myself wrong! I've also proven that, at least thus far, I do better at creating interesting images when I'm not really trying to do so. My eye sees a good photo opportunity, but creating the opportunity has proven to be more difficult. Fortunately I have some cute kids in the house to photograph when nothing else seems to be working.

So I think it's going to be a good year. I made it through the first week, which is enough for me to understand that I'm not going to be motivated enough to really commit to being creative it every day. (Sooner or later there will be a photo of my bed-side table taken with my iPhone just before I go to sleep.) But you know what? I'm OK with that. As long as I keep shooting and keep learning I will come out of this being an even better photographer.

Here are the titles and links for the first seven, seen in the strip on the right...

1. Exploring new things - 001/356

2. New hat - 002/365

3. Solubility - 003/365

4. Christmas nest eggs - 004/365

5. Innocent Wonder - 005/365

6. We have traveled far to get here - 006/365

7. My new computer - 007/365

Exploring new things - Project 365

Exploring new things - 001/356

Today I started my first "Project 365" photography challenge. The challenge is to take a photograph every single day for 365 consecutive days. I opted to start my challenge, as many others have, on January 1st of this new year. I've considered starting this project several times before, and it always seemed like quite the obligation for a man who works full-time (not in photography) and comes home to a house full of a young family. I recently got one of those fancy iPhones with a camera and lots of photos apps though, so on days when I'm able to shoot with the SLR and run things through the DAM computer I will be getting creating with the best camera found that side of my pants pocket.

When I first decided to do this 356 project I started running through ideas about what my first post would be. I love being creative and coming up with things that I think would be interesting. In reality though, it's going to come down to what I find the time for. My family is one of those things I make time for, so I guess it's little surprise that my first photo is of my youngest son.

We were picking up down in the playroom when I noticed he had pulled himself up on the train table and was acting really adorable. I took advantage of this and ran off to get the camera and the flash. He and I had a good time playing with different lighting by bouncing the flash off of different surfaces. Ultimately I thought this was the one to go with, with him being really interested in this little black flashbox that Daddy spent so much time fussing with.

So off I go into what will prove to be not only a personal challenge, but hopefully something that is also enriching and fun! Feel free to browse on over to my flickr pool (follow the link on the photo) and see how I progress in this new adventure!

Boston without a camera

One thing I always try to do is to is to make every trip a photo opportunity. Well, a misplaced memory card or two and suddenly I'm in the city with no more than the camera built into my phone. (It will still be a good family trip of course.) I do believe though that the best camera is the one you have with you, so let's see what I can find in two megapixels or less.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Now on the POE Team

Back from the Christmas weekend and getting ready to return to the "real world" again. One thing I discovered over the weekend is that I am now officially on the POE Team over at Etsy. The POE (Photographers Of Etsy) Team is a community based group that helps raise awareness of all the great artists who participate in the team. Besides offering a way to find other artists of interest on Etsy, the POE Team also creates collections of selected photos for their blog and YouTube collages. You can check out the POE Team Blog at http://photographersofetsy.blogspot.com/. Now that I am on the team list I will be sure to become active on the team blog and get some of my works out on display. What a nice holiday treat this is!

HD in my DSLR & Christmas videos

For my birthday this year my wonderful family bought me an upgrade to my beloved digital SLR camera. (Which one is not relevant to this posting. If you care enough to know then you probably know how to find out.) One of the new features in this camera, and many other newer SLR's, is the ability to shoot video from the still camera. I've always traveled with both the big SLR for pictures and a little portable point-and-shoot for snapshots and videos. Now the big camera can do both, and it does it well.

Digital Photography Review receently posted a Beginner's guide to HD video on their site. The article helps to clarify some of the differences and similarities between the big, the little, and the task-specific cameras. It's not so much a comparison of brands and models, but rather an explanation of the technology that goes into each and the effects that has on the output. One significant difference they call out is that the DSL's currently lack a good auto-focus, so changing the composition may cause problems while shooting.

One of the things I immediately liked about this feature is that now I can use all the lenses in my collection when shooting videos with the camera. Rather than being tied to what is built on to the pocket camera I now have the option of swapping out a wide lens for a long lens depending on what I am trying to capture.

As a little test and demonstration, I captured this video of our local community band using the DSLR and a medium range lens. I was able to frame the stage nicely by zooming in, without having to depend on any "digital zoom" capability of the camera. The picture quality is great, and it's available in HD format as well!

As a bit of a contrast, here is another clip from the same concert. Admittedly, this example is shot with my camera-phone and not my pocket camera, but the results are pretty similar to what I would expect from the latter. Without the zoom capability, framing the shot just isn't the same.

So I think I'm going to enjoy having the ability to shoot video right from the big camera. It's not as feature-rich as a dedicated video camera, but it's something I will always have with me when the moment arrives. With Christmas less then a day away, I think there will be some good chances coming up soon!

Oh, and Happy Holidays everyone!