new lens? new york.

hey everyone...

i'm leaving for NY tomorrow... upstate... doing some work up there (nevermind it just got canceled) and also visitng friends. I'll do my best to update while i'm up there. I'm not sure if I'm going to shoot tonite or not, I might show you what I pack when I travel for the weekend...

i'm also looking at buying a new lens before i leave (to hawaii not to NY)
i think i'm going to buy the
Canon 70-200L f4

I don't have anything that is telephoto, my longest lens is 105mm and I think this will give me the best bang for my buck... I know all of the purists out there would tell me to go for the 2.8 but its double the price and I don't have that kind of money right now... so lighter, two stops slower (shouldn't be a problem if i'm shooting outdoors) and half the price... I'd rather have some reach than no reach when I get to hawaii.


I'm also thinking about buying the 250d close up 'lens' which is just a filter for my 28-105 so I can do macro shots. I'm assuming that there is going to be a lot of nice flora in hawaii so I need something to do macro.

I've also decided to stop shooting raw+jpeg for right now... the only reason I was shooting raw before was so I could get that vignette but Michaela showed me how I can get that with a jpeg too... we're shooting ALL raw in SOP...

jim baker
(all photos taken from amazon.com)

good critique

i love it when you get a good critique on a photo.

i know you've seen this picture already but I wanted to share with you a critique I got for this picture on photo.net and since I wanted to share the critique I thought i'd show the picture again... this time I desaturated it so its a little different.

photo.net used to be full of good critiques a place where you could improve, and now people rarely give a thoughtful critique anymore just low ratings...

but i did get this from a new member... a very helpful critique

Hello Jim!

I think the triangle made by your three "avatars" is not perfect. I feel the need to see your head on the right side higher than your image in the mirror, otherwise they are on the same horizontal level (or line), which makes the composition suffer. Than, you shoudn't crop the photo down, by cutting your fingers. For me, this a wrong way of framing. Also, the composition is not correctly balanced because of the same directions of your eyes are looking. All three are directed from right to left and meet virtually outside the frame. What would you think about your mirrored image to look on the opposite side and "meet" your look from behind the courtain?

The clock is showing 10 a.m or 10 p.m.? Because, even if you looked stressed and somehow in a hurry in the left and right doubles, you take time to reed a magazine / book while sitting on the WC. Have you waked up late in the morning and now you're in a rush or is it someone else waiting outside, to get to the toilet?

Well, I find this picture interesting and original (from the ideea) but still to be improved. Find a funny and inspired title to it. It deserves it. Tip: if lack of inspiration, ask your visitors to name it... ;-) Organize a contest, choose the best one that fits.

Regards,

Mirona Tatu

The cool thing about critiques is people with a new set of eyes can see things that you have overlooked or taken for granted. And by pointing out the things that you've missed it helps you look for them next time. I need to get better about going BACK and reshooting things to make them better... even though I say I'm a perfectionist... I guess I'm not because I'm to lazy to go back and fix things I need to get over that.

This photo actually took about 3 different tries I'm not sure how many hours that was but this was the third try.

I very much agree with Mirona's critique. The fact that I'm on the same horizon line in both of the pictures is because I am only so tall... but I guess I could have put a stool or something in the bathtub... the reason my hands are cut off on the sitting picture is because you're shooting blind (self timer) and I'm seated so i didn't know where my hands were going to be, I guess I could have fixed this by sitting on a telephone book. The mirror has to stay as is because the mirror when pulled out goes the opposite way and I was shooting as wide as I could (10mm) and I couldn't back up any further because my bathroom is very small. The clock reads 10:10 because that is the usual standard time for when clocks are set when they are shot. I felt that the clock added a balance to the overall compsosition. As far as gazes I cannot envision how to set this shot up so that it would be better when it comes to the direction of the gazes (i'm not saying that the way the gazes are set up now is good, in fact this critique has shown me that this picture is a good concept but most definitly needs to be reworked.)

jim baker

11.14.07 - dinero

texture and design.

twenty.

jim baker

11.13.07 - whats in your wallet?!

Hey everyone... I'm back. :)
Not sure why I was in a funk, but I don't feel like I'm in a funk anymore... I got out today, washed and waxed my whip and had a good time doing it. It felt real good to hear the click of my tripod as I set it up tonite to shoot. I've been thinking about doing this shoot for a while, nothing amazing when it comes to photography but... it should be fun... plus I'm making it a game of tag.

When I conceptualized doing this a while ago I thought it would be fun to go up to strangers, ask them to empty their pockets shoot what they had on them and then do a headshot. I think what people carry with them could be very telling or maybe not, just surprising.

The rules? Empty your pockets (or purse) onto a table, and take a picture of everything you carry with you every day. If there's a story behind certain things where you need to be more specific take another picture and tell us. I'll list who I'm tagging (a long list) at the end of the post. Comment back on THIS POST when you're done with a link to you're post and tag others.

So this is what I carry every day and the story behind it...

my keys (explained in detail below)
I carry these hooked on my belt loop and sitting in my right back pocket

my wallet (contents explained below)
I carry this in my right front pocket (I got used to doing this when I was traveling a lot, plus I sit a lot so its just become its new home)

a lens cleaning cloth - carried in my left front pocket, I use this for my glasses, i am constantly smudging them, especially when I do photography, I also use it on my computer screen, people touching my computer screen is a PET PEEVE of mine, editing photography with fingerprints on my screen is nearly impossible, and I occasionally clean my photography gear with it too)

a tube of burts bees - carried in that change pocket in the right front pocket (the best chapstick ever, this is more of an addiction than anything else, to be honest whenever I am looking at photography or editing portraits I always smooth peoples lips in post... i can't stand dry cracked lips)

and my nokia 6126 - I used to have a belt clip for this but it broke a week into using it, so now it goes in one of my front pockets, I got this phone new this year when I decided I didn't really NEED the apple iphone...
(i think this is the first time I've ever used left align on my blog)

my keys
(from left to right)

my office key
my house key
file cabinet key at work
a friends house key
(they have since changed the locks, (not because of me) so I don't know why i have this key, I used to be over there all the time but not so much anymore, they are the people that I hung out with today though and had a good time)
a carabineer
(an excellent story behind this... this was a gift from a friend and these were given to everyone involved in a senior prank of some people that rappelled off the third floor of the school into the atrium, I'm not sure why I have one though, I wasn't involved... or I was the only one that didn't get caught...)
and my car key

the contents of my wallet
(carefully displayed to NOT show any credit card numbers... and a little shameless plug)
(from left to right)

Chase Amazon Credit Card
(anything I buy online comes from amazon)
Bank of America Platinum Plus World Points Credit Card
ATM Bank card
A wallet card from my mom :)
Two dental insurance cards
Vision insurance card
Drivers Liscense
Rewards Card for the Mens Warehouse
(cause I'm to short and have to have all of my pants altered)
Triple AAA Membership Card
Blockbuster Card
Kohls Charge Card
17 www.jimbakerphotography.com business cards
(makes my wallet look thick but it's not because I'm carrying a lot of cash, if you noticed I'm carrying NO cash)
two checks that i need to put in the bank (went today but the bank was crowded)
a spare car key
(saved me quite a few times)
a receipt from lunch


TAG YOU'RE IT!!!
(in no particular order, if you haven't updated your blog in forever (TIM LEASE!!!) or I tagged you and you didn't play last time I'm not tagging you again no offense, but if I didn't tag you and you want to play please play!)

Bonnie
(thanks for the encouraging e-mail today, this post is dedicated to you!)
Happy One
Cheryl
Jeff Stanford
Rachel Barker
Chris Hidey
(I should punch you in the face, how long have you had that new camera and not a single new post since last month?!)
Sam Ou
Hannah Bee
Saarrraaaaa
(is there a correct number and order of letters when I write you're name?)
EJ
(does anyone else call you that? i like it...)
David Park
Hannah Love
Clara
BeachGirl

have FUN!
jim baker

nothing tonite

i'm sorry

news and i'm burnt out

hey everyone...

I've recently been accepted to the 2008 School of Photography in Hawaii.
They only accept 16 people a year and its an intensive 3 month course.
I've been looking at this school since 2003. I'm looking forward to it.

I also am kinda burnt out with photography right now... i don't feel very inspired to shoot. I am going out to shoot with Chris Hidey tonite. He just got a new DSLR so I'm hoping that shooting with him (since he is excited about his new gear) will help spark some of that inspiration. So thats why I haven't been blogging much latley.

keep your eyes open for pics from tonite.
cheers
jim baker

11.03.07 - Joy and Bryan Engagement shoot

i'm back from my hiatus... i actually got my computer back wicked fast sent it in on monday got it back on wednesday but was enjoying the break. no one did their homework. :(

this weekend found me in blacksburg VA... I got to kill a couple of birds with one stone... I got to do this engagement shoot with some friends from my high school youth group, I stayed with my best friend from high school Graham and his wife Niki (thank you guys for your hospitality) and got to spend some time with a kid from my church named Jeff who's now at VA Tech who also happens to be a photographer. (you probably didn't like being called a 'kid' did you? i felt really old walking around that college campus with you.)

the standard

i absolutley loved the lighting.

this whole shoot was sort of surreal because last time i was on VA Tech's campus I was doing engagement photos for the couple I stayed with this weekend in almost the same exact spots. I thought I had some pics on this blog from that shoot but I don't...

Joy and Bryan were so much fun to shoot because they just had great expressions throughout the whole shoot and you could tell they were enjoying being together.
(plus they covered my gas and bought me dinner!)
we ate at this awesome place called The Homeplace
thank you joy and bryan!

the ring

i love the expressions and the capture of motion in this shot.

and the group shot... its blurry... sorry.

their wedding is set for May 24th 2008. Please leave them messages of congrats in the comment section.

i love coming back from a break because you somehow conjur up some inspiration... i feel like this is one of my best shoots in a long time.
enjoy,
jim baker

p.s everyone should still do their homework and comment on the poset below...