[sunrise - 05.20.07 - virginia beach]

I was trying to redo my life guard tower sunrise pic from back in the day when I was still shooting film. (Does anyone remember that?) So I stayed up all night... (editing pics from the wedding) and got out there earllly... and when I was still shooting film I had a tripod... I didn't this morning so nothing turned out. I lost my tripod here last time I was here back in high school and just never got another one...

I don't think that photography is good for a 'normal' sleep schedule... that good lighting only comes 2 hours a day... Scott Kelby says either loose sleep or don't eat to get your shots... I think he's right. I rather work through the night to catch the sunrise than wake up and go back to sleep. I'm holding up alright for no sleep... I'm real sore though, I'm not sure if thats from the wedding yesterday... or from riding a bike to the end of the board walk or what... but when you shoot all day your contort your body in ways that aren't natural and constant squatting and standing back up... and your lifting a 5 lb peice of equipment over and over again all day... man i sound lame... i need to start working out I'm a wuss.

Anyway... you all are probably like... less talking and more pictures.

So here's the reason I stayed up all night... I'm not sure the photo was worth it... ewww in fact i just looked at it large, and it definitely wasn't worth it... no sleep gives you bad judgement... I need to go buy a tripod, eh at least I got to see the sunrise.

[edwards wedding - 05.19.07 - virgina beach]

I'm here in Virginia Beach this weekend, staying at the Belvedere Motel where I always came with my family growing up. I shot a wedding yesterday for one of the old bellhops that worked at the motel.

Murphys law... and a suggestion if your a photographer... always have a backup camera. Much thanks to Jeff Standford who let me borrow his digital SLR for the weekend... my main camera did indeed poop out on me in the middle of the ceremony... i missed the exchanging of the rings portion of the ceremony because my camera would not work, it just locked up on me.

Shooting weddings is crazy. I recently turned one down because the bride to be had a VERY specific view of what she wanted. Which there is nothing wrong with at all but I knew that I couldn't match up to her expectations so I turned it down.

Its a lot of pressure... you've got one chance to capture maybe one of the most important days of peoples lives... and you never really know what the full expectations of people are when your shooting... am I moving around to much? Am I a distraction? Is my gear going to crap out me in the middle of the ceremony?

I was wondering if I wanted to continue doing this... the whole wedding photography thing... its pretty nerve wracking... I got real nervous before the rehershal on Friday... but as soon as I started shooting I was fine. And the actual wedding shooting was fine all except my technical difficulties. The couple that got married was real chill about everything which helped a ton too. I really enjoyed working for them.

Anyway... here's a few of the pics.

I think this shot should be a "After Hours Tuxedo" Ad.

And this is my favorite shot from the wedding. This is what makes me want to continue... getting that one shot... its an adventure and a learning experience. I need to buy enough CF cards that I don't have to ever delete anything on site... and I need to buy a faster CF card reader... and a back up rig... ehhh we'll see what happens.

cheers,
jim baker

p.s leave comments...

Prague and Photography workshop...

Shots from my layover in Prague and the photography workshop I gave in Latvia



Prague Square




Taken from on top of Charles Bridge




The workshop students.




Photography workshop. (photo courtesy of Agate Zalite)

Language day

I would like to welcome you all to a lighting nightmare... fast motion, 15 foot brown ceilings, nasty flourescents... theres a reason these are all in black and white. :) Nothing spectacular photography wise here but hopefully you can see a portion of what happened.

The crowd...

Judges




Dancing...




Joanna watches her students from beside the stage.




Practicing backstage.




One last practice before the preformance.




Backstage Joanna gets her class ready to go.




The preformance.



Students give Joanna flowers.




Another teacher watches another skit.

Joanna photoshoot - Budapest Hungary

Budapest Hungary

working off of... almost no sleep... i'm hoping now that I got some sleep todays shots will be better... heres a few from last night...




hero's square... i kept trying to get this shot straight... and i couldn't do it for the life of me... caffine pills and no sleep don't make for good photography.



budapest alleyway...



This is the fake castle? darn lens flare... yay for low light photography huh?

03.29.07

5 shots today...


lydia gets a latvia lesson.
(good use of alliteration) (good use of spelling?) (i'm a photographer not an english major)




Andis, a teen that the Bischoff's disciple.




I think these look like abercrombie ads.
Why all of the sudden am I getting a lot of e-mails from young single american girls that now want to move to Latvia to disciple teens? (it's a joke)




Church in Valdemarpils, Latvia.



Church shot 2, Valdemarpils, Latvia.