-Jonathon
Photography Q & A | Bokeh and the Magic Blur
A while back my wife asked me, "Why is it when I take a picture with my iPhone, my subject and the background is all in focus...but when you take a picture with your camera, your subject is in focus, but the background is blurred?" Good question.
The answer is your aperture or f/stop. Apertures or f/stops on all cameras control your focus depth. All cameras, be it smart phones, DSLR's and point 'n shoot cameras have f/stops. You can change it on most cameras, but on your iPhone you cannot. I’ll get into that later. If you're operating a camera where you can change the f/stop, you can use these settings as general guidelines: If I'm out and about shooting a landscape, with no general subject, I'll set my f/stop at f/11 or higher. Most of the time for capturing everything in focus, I'll even shoot at f/22. This will increase your depth of field and no part of the image will be blurred. If I'm shooting a portrait (where I want their face(s) in focus), I'll shoot at a lower f/stop to blur the background. Say f/2.8 or f/4 or higher. Make sense? No? Yeah, me neither. I'll give you a visual guide then.
Captured at f/5.6.
While this isn’t a spectacular photo by any means, the above shot was taken at f/5.6, and helps illustrate what I mean. Notice the background in relationship to the tree and the bird. The background is blurred a lot, while the tree and bird are in focus. Also, a portion of the branch (where the bird is sitting) is also in focus. Because, that portion of the tree is the same distance as the bird from the camera. Now, my focus points generally get targeted on eyes, especially in wildlife or portraits. However, when shooting around f/5.6, it will likely pull in immediate surrounding objects inside your focus. But as your eyes move away from your subject in the photo, you’ll see the focus starts to fall off. This effect is commonly known as 'bokeh.' I don't personally use that word, and even the correct pronunciation of it is often debated. Some people say, 'boke-ay' or 'boke-uh'. I even heard it once as 'boo-kay'. Who knows? You decide, then let me know. Or, better yet, don’t. I think I’m good with it.
Captured at F/22.
The image above with the golden dome was captured at f/22. See? Everything in that image is in focus and nothing is blurred.
Captured at f/1.8.
Now, here’s an extreme example of the ‘bokeh.’ The above image was captured at f/1.8. This is Maya, my Yellow Labrador. Also known as our backyard Decepticon. If you look at her eyes, they are sharp, but as you start to move away from her eyes, you start to see the focus fall off. Even parts of her eyelashes are not in focus. When shooting wide open, such as f/stops like f/1.4 or even f/2.8, you really have to be purposeful on where your focus points are. Minimal movement in the wrong direction can ruin your day pretty easily. Which is why, you typically wouldn’t use that low of an f/stop when shooting groups of people for portraits. The people on your focus points would probably be fine, but the ones on the outside (depending on how close you’re standing to them) would start to go blurry.
Quick tip on f/stops for people: As a general guideline, match the f/stop to the number of people in the photo, or go just slightly higher. So, if you’re taking a picture of a group of 4 people, if you stand back far enough, you’ll probably be fine at f/5.6 or a little higher. If you have more than that, such as 7-10 people, I’d go high to f/11 or a little higher.
So, how would you achieve ‘bokeh’ on your iPhone? Well, on some of the later model iPhones, the camera app itself has a mode called ‘Portrait’ mode. Simply use that mode when shooting instead of the regular mode. The only caveat I’d like to add is that most of the time, it works great. Sometimes, it doesn’t. If you look at the above photo, you’ll notice an area on the left side of her hair that was left out of the blurring algorithm. In this case, I think her cap and tassel confused the camera. But it does work well most of the time and can make your images look slightly more professional.
Full disclosure: I am by no means an expert on aperture. I just know what works for me. Another thing to keep in mind is when you open up your aperture, like when you choose a lower number, such as F/2.8, you're allowing more light to enter the lens for an exposure. When you close it down, like at F/22, you're allowing less light into the lens for an exposure. By doing this, you'll need to compensate by slowing or increasing your shutter speeds.
In any case, a wonderful photog friend of mine gave me this tip years ago when I was starting out: More F's means more in focus. Less F's means less in focus. So, the higher ‘F’ number, like say, F/22, the more ‘in focus’ your subject will be. The less ‘F’, such as F/5.6 or lower, the less your subject will be in focus. Clear as mud?
Awesome. Stay safe everyone.
Completed August 2020.
Inspiration from WWII
I’m not exactly sure when it happened, but sometime in the last few years, I became more interested in the events of WWII. As I try to think back, I think it was a series of things that captured my interest and over time, it slowly became a fascination. I remember watching an episode of Expedition Unknown on Discovery, when Josh Gates took us through some of the events that unfolded after the Nazi Regime fell in 1945. Some of the regime fled to South America to avoid prosecution and to hide their stolen riches. Some of which, to this day, still hasn’t been found. Soon after, I stumbled upon another documentary on Netflix called The Greatest Events of WWII. What I presumed might be a boring recount of history, turned out to be quite the opposite. I was enamored. The interviews from historians were compelling, insightful, and shed light on things that weren’t covered in your average history books: How the Russians were some of the first to discover the Nazi brutality to European citizens, not us; How that news, in the beginning wasn’t immediately believed as truth, but as propaganda. Say what? Yeah, that happened. I think in the end I became more fascinated by what I didn’t know about WWII. The truths they don’t tell you, the facts that aren’t in books and the memories that still haunt some of us today.
My grandfather fought in WWII. He saw combat. But he didn’t talk about it. Like ever. My wife’s grandfather fought in the Pacific and was wounded in combat. Which brings us to Midway and the battles fought in the Pacific. Specifically - dive bombers. When I think of what those pilots went through, it gives me goosebumps. They just jumped in an aircraft, pointed it to an 80 degree downward angle toward their target, and rode the wave of terror down. At 1000-3000 feet, they'd drop their payload. If they were lucky enough to make it to drop depth, they still had to pull up in time and not pass out from the g-forces. And they had to successfully do that while being shot at, and while their buddies are being blasted out of the sky around them.
WWII ended 75 years ago this year and there are things we are still learning from it. I just wanted to create a cool piece of art to commemorate that, and honor the fearless who fought for our freedom with unrelenting courage. Not all heroes wear capes.
Stay safe everyone.
10 Years Cancer-free!
On May 19th of this year, we will mark 10 years of my being cancer free! Whoa. Ten years. Some of you might be wondering, okay, how do you know it was that day? Well, we base that milestone by the date of my bone marrow transplant, which was on May 19th, 2009. That was my doctor’s recommendation for eradicating the blood cancer by first wiping out my existing immune system, and replacing it with new stem cells, provided by a matched donor. In doing so, I was completely reset. A reboot of the body, so to speak. Even my early childhood vaccinations were gone. My immune system was rebuilt from scratch, allowing healthy cells to grow, not cancer cells. And my body has continued to do so ever since, thankfully.
A lot has changed since that time. I don’t think my wife, my family or even myself are the same people we used to be. I think we spent so much time redefining the new normals that came along, that we forgot how to return to what “normal” was ten years ago. I feel as though the person I was then is a completely different individual I knew, like an old acquaintance. In some ways, I’m thankful for it because if anything, it’s helped us to grow. I think it hardened me, but also humbled me, if that makes any sense.
I’ve started writing music again. I feel like I have a lot of content I can put into words that I can marry with melody. I finished writing my first song in over a decade the other day. That felt good. Felt amazing, actually. It’s fascinating to me how we can take a traumatic experience and repackage it into something beautiful, like a song. It suddenly doesn’t seem as scary or monotonous. Maybe one day I’ll share them with you guys.
I do have a few new projects nearing completion that I’ll be sharing soon. One of which, is an incredibly large drawing of the Avengers in a tribute to Stan Lee, as well as a brand new Spider-man drawing I’ve never shown. I’ve also got more Sessions videos in the works. So stay tuned for that.
At the end of the day, no amount of music, cars, camera gear or even guitars can measure up to the support my friends and family have given me over these ten years, and ultimately over the course of my life. I’m forever thankful for all of you. It really does take a village.
Thank you all for watching, following, liking, caring, hugging, kissing, crying or even cheering on my behalf. I love all of you, and wouldn’t have made it here without you.
Together, we get it done.
-Jonman
Made it in RV News Magazine
This past January, we found out that a local magazine wanted to do a story on the company I work for (Valley Screen). In addition to the story, they would need several photos of team members and hero portraits of the executives to accompany it. The rub was that we only had a few days to complete it. Whew. Ok, challenge accepted. We came through in time and the article was published in this month's issue of RV News Magazine.
Fortunately, the team I work with and everyone who was bothered for a photo came through willingly and they turned out great. We were hoping to land on the cover, but that did not happen. Insert sad face here. Next time. Next time baby.
The above photos provide an interesting look at what we see daily. In the upper left picture, our sales associates and art director go over our work on a daily basis. Any changes that are needed are then applied to our art before going in front of the client.
The photo below that one was taken in our digital printing department, where large format printing is just another day at the office.
On the photo on the right page, Angela, my neighboring co-worker works on an RV design for Rockwood.
On the right page, you can see Karen, our CEO perched atop one of our digital printers. It took some convincing to get her to do that, but we kept her safe in the process, and the photo turned out pretty well.
Happy Friday everyone!
New Site Design & Updates!
I figured it was time for a change! You should know me by now, I do not stay the same for long. Every section to this site has been updated, including a brand new 'Who I Am' section, with a little more fun look at my history. I also updated the Photo Art section with brand new, never before seen art.
There's also a new link at the top to my Sessions videos on Youtube. If you haven't seen any of those yet, go check them out! Session 5 is coming soon!
Empire Over Chicago
I am so excited to finally share this with you! This piece of art has taken a unique and evolving journey that took place over the course of 4 years. I wanted to write about it so its viewers could better understand the scope of it, and why it's special to me.
Original Chicago Riverboat Tour Photo Taken July 2013
Back in July of 2013, my wife and I decided to try Chicago's Architectural Riverboat tours. It was a great learning experience about the city's history. Near the end of the tour, I came away with the above photo. After looking at it a while, my mind began to wander. I imagined myself looking at this cityscape not now, but one, or two hundred years from now. What would it look like? And then, apocalyptic visions of the Walking Dead started to creep in. Would the river still be there? Would the buildings get overridden by vegetation? I was trapped in a "Life After People" scenario that kept playing over and over in my head. I knew this photo had the potential to get there. All I had to do, was figure out how I was going to destroy Chicago. But the only weapons I have are a mouse, Photoshop and a Wacom Tablet. Challenge accepted.
Building Damage and a Crash Plane
Weeks turned into months. Months turned into years, and it still just wasn't taking the shape I wanted it to. I even added a crashed plane, changed the sky and added a "Do Not Enter" sign in the background. In the months that followed, I added more overgrown vegetation and damage, but it still wasn't what I wanted.
Then, in December of 2016, a tiny movie came out called Rogue One. You may have heard of it. During the ground battle with the AT-AT Walkers, Baze grabs a rocket launcher and fires a missile right at this giant machine that's targeting the Resistance fighters.
I loved that sequence. And then it hit me. This is what it would look like if WE ever fought the Empire with our 'primitive' weapons. What if the Empire invaded Earth? Could you imagine? We could still hurt them! Or, could we? Would they decimate the larger cities first? What if the Empire invaded Chicago? It's like what, the 3rd largest city in the country? It's plausible. Not long after seeing the movie, I brought myself back to the original photo, newly inspired by Star Wars and I knew I could make it work.
Final Version. Finished September, 2017.
I might also mention that there's a neat website out there called pixelsquid.com. These guys are amazing. Not only do they have a massive Star Wars library to choose from, they have a ton of other real-life objects that you can use for your own works. And their customer service is top shelf too.
This art isn't just about Star Wars or even Chicago really. It's about a culmination of things that i have experienced in my life, including Star Wars. All of the Star Wars related items are just pure love for the franchise and the story itself. But there some other details that might not be so obvious.
In the lower left hand corner, there's a Hummer. My father used to work at AM General as an Engineer. He rode in some of the first Hummers they ever produced. In front of it, there's a crashed school bus. One of the first drawings I was really ever proud of, was a drawing of a crashed school bus. I didn't know it at the time, but that drawing would later get me in a lot of trouble. But that's another story.
I still have a lot of love for ill-fated F14 Tomcat. I got to touch one in real-life a few years ago and it was awesome. So sad that they dumped them in the ocean some years ago now. RIP Tomcat. You'll be forever missed. (But hopefully you'll be resurrected for Top Gun 2.)
The helicopters flying in formation are actually a subtle nod to Transformers. The Pave Low in the center is a nod to Blackout, who was the first Transformer to appear in the first movie. Most of the latter action sequences for Dark of the Moon were shot in downtown Chicago on Wacker Avenue.
Why the A-10's? Um...Because they're awesome. That is all.
The last Easter egg is actually nod to my vintage Star Wars Tie Fighter. Its wings would never stay on, and the cockpit hatch would never fully close. I still have the darn thing to this day.
A part of me is sad that the journey with this piece is over, but its one of the few that turned out exactly how I'd hoped it would. I hope ya'll enjoy it!
- Photoshop CC
- 153 Layers
- File Size: 795mb
- Project Time: 4 years, 4 months
Sessions #2 and #3 Live
For those folks who might have missed this on social media, sessions 2 and 3 are both now on Youtube. In Session 2 I talk about how you can use a feature in Photoshop called Content Aware to help you enhance your photos.
In Session 3, I talk about blending your fireworks images together into one photo, by using blend modes.
Learn. Create. Evolve.
Learn. Create. Evolve. Those words carry a lot of weight in my world. They're heavy. I trip over them on certain days and glide over them on others. But they remind me of the journey forward. It's the cycle of creativity. Always in motion. Learning. Creating. Evolving. You can't create until you learn. You can't evolve until you've created. See? And then we start all over again. Always learning. Always creating. Therefore, always evolving. If you think you've reached the pinnacle of your craft at any point, you haven't. And if you think you have, well, you're kidding yourself. There's no such thing as reaching the end. It will always be out of reach. And that, my friends, is a beautiful, elegant truth that I would have no other way. It's a wonderful thing. It's a never-ending quest to be better. Not to be perfect. Just better.
There are times when I hear the words 'you're just gifted' or 'it comes to you naturally.' And I'll be honest for a second, it feels like a slap in the face. I know people mean that honestly, in that, I'm just lucky that way, but I disagree. I've worked very hard to get where I am today. I had to earn my wings in that regard. For example, when I was a kid, I wanted to be good at drawing. My Mom and Dad bought me comic books and I would stare at the art in those pages and wonder if I could ever be that good. I kept pushing myself to be better. I would get up early, listen to my Empire Strikes Back record on my Fisher Price record player and draw comics. When my parents would attend my parent/teacher conferences in school, they would send them home with comments like, 'if he focused on his schoolwork as much as he does drawing, he'd be an A student.' That always made me smile. It wasn't uncommon to find me perched at my drafting table at 3am trying to work out a flying pose of Spider-man. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep with Stan Lee's "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way" book on top of my face a few times. I took every art class in school I possibly could. By the time I was a second semester senior, I had run fresh out of art classes and had to take pottery. I figured it was better than having a study hall class. My point is, is that to get good at it, I had to practice at it. I had to earn it. You don't watch the Olympics and say, those folks are gifted. If they heard you say that, they would stare you down and burn a hole right through you with their eyesight. They earned it because they lived it, breathed it, and worked at it. Every. Single. Day. If anything, I would call my unwillingness to give up a gift. My stubbornness came as hereditarial gift from my parents. That, I came by honestly.
As a result, I treated photography the same way. Ten years ago, I knew nothing about taking photos. I knew about Photoshop and post-editing but not photography. But I learned. And guess what? I'm still learning. But I feel like I've gotten to a point to where I should share the knowledge I've gained from it and to help those who want to learn for themselves, so they can evolve too. I've been using Photoshop since it was version 3.0 on a Mac using System 7. Yes, this was even before they called them "Operating Systems" or "OS's." I've bounced back and forth between Windows and Apple more than a few times, but the use of Photoshop and Illustrator remained the constant. Having said all that, I came up with idea to do Sessions.
I'm so happy to finally be able to share this with you all. JR Design Sessions has been a concept rolling around in my head for months, or heck, even years at this point. I wanted to be able to just share with you the tricks I've learned over the years in a manner that enabled you, the viewer to watch at your convenience, and learn wonderful new ways to make or take better images.
Session 2 is coming soon, hopefully within the next week and will discuss removing unwanted objects, and adding more to your scene to create a final, better image.
Just some fun facts...I started creating the above logo in February of 2016, a full year before the first session was published. I finalized it in July, a few months later. The software I use to record the on screen portion of my videos is called Ice Cream. Seriously. I'm not making that up. The guitar music you hear in the 'Learn, Create, Evolve' intro, is me playing. It's a just tiny piece I wrote and later recorded using Garageband on my iPad.
That's all for today folks! Stay tuned for Session 2 and I hope you have a great weekend!
What My Ancestry DNA Told Me...
You know the topic. You've talked about it with other people. We've all speculated as to where we actually came from. You've asked your parents and grandparents and great grand parents if you were lucky enough. You may have even started research on your family tree. But what did you ever really discover? The truth? Or, mere speculation? Don't worry, you're not alone. I'll get back to that in a minute.
In 2011, I started an account on Ancestry.com. Ancestry opened quite a few doors to the past. It was interesting to walk through those doorways, entering rooms filled with birth certificates, census data, immigration data, and death notices. I kept walking through these dark rooms only to find that the castle was much bigger than I anticipated. I found that Ancestry could tell me about my relative's past, but that it didn't necessarily tell me about MY past.
Last November, around Thanksgiving, I walked into my usual hairdresser for a trim. After waiting for a moment in the lobby, a woman calls my name. As we're walking back to the trim throne, the conversation begins.
"Are you related to [Insert name here]?
"No, I don't think so." I replied. "Why?"
"Because my last name is Rose too." Interesting.
"Is that your maiden name?" I asked.
"Yep."
She started talking about other people that shared our last name, but I couldn't connect the dots with any of them.
"Are you on Ancesry.com?" She asked.
"Yes, it's very cool."
"Have you checked out Ancestry DNA?"
"No, not yet, but I want to."
"You should! It's cheap! $99 and you'll know a lot!"
"99 Dollars? That's all??" At this point, I think I completely forgot I was there for a haircut. I'm so doing that!
In the months that followed, I sent away my DNA and the results came back. I was little surprised.
In the above web capture, you can see a breakdown of my ethnicity regions. Blimey! I'm 62% British! Hang on a second. I'm going to pump the brakes for a minute. You have to understand something first. The sample anyone sends off to Ancestry DNA is saliva. It's not blood. This is especially important with me because I've had a bone marrow transplant. And therefore, my blood has been changed from its original form. Altered, if you will. Don't worry, I'm not going to grow into an Indominus Rex and eat your face off. I'm still a boy, after all. But saliva, on the other hand is 99% me. So this data is 99% me. Indominus Jonathon of badassadom.
It also gives you a description and a comparison to a typical person native to the region. I actually show 62% compared to a native's at 60%. Wicked.
Moving on to the next one listed above is the Scandinavian background. This covers Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and parts of Finland.
The last category for me was Europe West. This covers Belgium, France, Germany, and parts of Poland. Seeing this breakdown was a pretty neat experience.
My Mom and I were surprised as to how little Europe West was drizzled in there, considering her parent's parents had immigrated here from Poland.
I'm sure my sister and I share identical data. The interesting aspect of doing this on Ancestry.com is that not only do you find out your own ethnicity regions, it will automatically link you to who ever shares your DNA, who's also done the test. You'll have to review the hints and approve them of course, but they show up pretty regularly. I have several new cousins that I still have yet to review.
It's really funny to me that all my life I've unknowingly most often mimicked a British accent. I just thought it sounded cool, and for some reason, I was always drawn to it. Now I know why!
In the end, I would just say to my readers that if you're interested in doing it, just do it! Ancestry isn't giving me any money to say this, but it's only $99. They send you a kit that's incredibly easy to work through and in a few weeks, you'll know. Don't keep sitting around wondering and speculating. Get the real data. Everything else is just codswallop.
Moments from 2015
We're just about ready to shut off the lights and close the door on 2015, but before we do, I wanted to share some of the moments that happened that some people may not have seen. It is true this year, that while I may not have done a lot in the way of personal projects, with photography or design, I was very busy for the most part with both.
In January, we started off with some family portraits of our good friends, the Cramers. They're such a bright and fun group and we will always be thankful for them introducing us to Silver Beach Pizza.
The Cramer Cousins, January 2015.
In February, I resumed shooting hotels in the area, starting with the Hilton Garden Inn in Elkhart. From there, I did the Holiday Inn Express in Roseland, and Candlewood Suites in South Bend.
On March 28th, our family grew just a little larger, with my sister having her first child. This is little Patrick Daly Jr. Or, P.J., as we call him.
Patrick Daly Jr., March 28th, 2015
We didn't stop there. My sister in law Kelly welcomed her first child also. Gavin Michael Bone was born August 31st.
Every now and then I receive a surprise request from someone wanting to purchase a print from the few I have displayed in the area. This request came from Kyle, who visited a restaurant near Notre Dame called, The Mark. For those that don't know, I have photos on the walls there, as well as Uptown Kitchen. (Shout-out to Jonathan! Thank you!) Kyle bought the print below, which is of one of my favorites of campus. So, thanks Kyle, you have good taste!
Sunset at Notre Dame, taken in 2013.
Later in the Summer, I had the privilege of shooting a friend of ours wedding. Our families have deep history, so saying no wasn't really an option. Congratulations to Rob and Kim, who married on July 25th.
Then it came time for a much needed vacation. My wife and I decided on taking the Lake Michigan Circle Tour. We ate like kings and queens, soaked in as many sunsets as Mother Nature would allow, and even arose early enough for a few sunrises. I even bought my first NFL jersey. I'm very proud.
We took time to watch deer, we hiked trails, and witnessed the wonderful power of Michigan's waterfalls. We also saw the Milky Way and drove through an enchanted tunnel of trees. I may have take a photo or two, or 543, I'm not sure.
Someow, during all this chaos, I finally finished our basement. It only took me 11 years. What can I say? Life gets in the way sometimes. We absolutely love it.
For those that haven't already noticed, my print site was updated on Smugmug too. It's now easier than ever to order prints! Smugmug is fantastic at handling prints. Their quality is outstanding and their shipping is fast! I also added a bunch of new items, like puzzles, coasters, fridge magnets and much more. Check it out here!
Christmas is coming next week, Star Wars comes out tomorrow, and I turn 40 on Sunday. Yikes. Most people would probably have a harder time with it, but I'm welcoming it. There was a time when I wasn't sure I would reach it, so for this, I'm thankful. Bring it! Little does my wife know that the search for a new muscle car has already begun. Shh. It'll be our secret, right? I can use turning 40 as mid-life crisis excuse! It all makes sense in my world. My world has classic Chevelles, dragons, Maya kisses, lots of pizza, and never-ending Star Wars movies. It's nice here. Serene, in fact. I think I'll stay.
See you in 2016 folks. May the Force be with You.
-JR
Jonathon, April 2015. Photo by Katie Rose.
Life A.C. (After Cancer)
A few weeks ago, I came across an article on the New York Times website titled Lost in Transition After Cancer by Suleika Jaouad. I was absolutely floored by this article and appreciated its unabashed description of something that I too have struggled with, even 6 years after treatment. Please read Suleika's article first before continuing on to mine. Go ahead. Click here. I'll wait patiently. I've never met Suleika, but after reading her article, I have a tremendous amount of respect for her for being courageous enough to share with the world her own story so intimately. This is my attempt to do the same, and I thank her for giving me the courage to do so.
Much like Suleika's situation, I too had went through similar treatments with chemotherapy, radiation and eventually a bone marrow transplant in 2009. I wrote about it regularly. The daily blog posts kept me somewhat sane as I tried to focus myself on the positive sides of being stricken with something that wasn't supposed to happen to me. I tried to seem witty and even comical at times to maintain an "I can deal with this" attitude. I'm a decent writer. An artist. A designer. A husband. A brother. And a son. I treated people with respect. I paid my bills on time. I kept my mowing lines straight. I didn't sing in the shower, but I sang in my truck. I played guitar. I signaled my intentions when driving. I played with my dogs and helped my neighbors when they needed it. Who did I piss off in a past life to deserve this? Six years later, I still often wonder.
During the Spring of 2009, the post-diagnosis war began. It's the war that took place behind the curtain. The war I didn't write about. I didn't know it at the time, but this was the time that would forever change who I was as a person. With each visit to hospitals, local clinics and Universities, my once strong mental health foundation began to slowly crumble. Not only was I fighting for my survival physically, I was fighting to keep my emotional state from completely unraveling. And I was failing. I put on a brave face to my friends and some of my family. They'd ask how I was. I'd tell them I was hanging in there. The reality was the polar opposite. I was scared. I was afraid I was going to die. Alone. I was afraid that my wife and my family would have to plan my funeral. I was afraid that I wouldn't get to do all the things I wanted to do, before my actual time came. I had no idea what those things were, but I knew I wanted the chance to find out. Others I knew who had been diagnosed with Leukemia were falling victim too soon. I often talked with Steve and Alison, a couple I got to know in South Africa. Steve had been diagnosed around the same time as myself. It didn't end well for them. I watched certain people from my almost daily infusion lab visits vanish. I also connected with a man named Daniel from Romania. He fought hard for two straight years before dying in 2012. These thoughts swallowed me from hour to hour. If they can't make it through this, how can I? I didn't want to die. I was not ready. My friend Damon and his family came to see me a few times in the hospital. He was a Leukemia survivor. Looking at him gave me hope. Even if it was only a glimmer.
I never talked about the days that I awoke with barely enough strength to rise out of bed. Or, the days when I did get up, that it took me 2 hours to take a bath and I spent the rest of the day on the couch sleeping. Simply emptying the dishwasher was a monumental task that took every ounce of ambition I could muster, and even that required a break between racks. Before, I was a capable person who didn't rely on anyone. But now, I had reached a point where I couldn't even button up my shirt some days because the tremors in my hands were so severe. These feelings weighed my brain down and made it heavier, collapsing the once sturdy walls that supported my consciousness. Buried in the rubble beneath, you can find the hints of depression, anxiety, fear and even anger. It was easy to forget that the world didn't stop just because I got sick. I had to keep reminding myself that the world kept moving, even when I had to stop.
Jonathon receiving new stem cells, May 19th, 2009.
It wasn't until one weekend that I spent at my parent's house when I began my long journey back. My Stepdad was driving me back home one day when I began to complain about the amount of drugs I was taking and that it was making me crazy. He said to me "You know, you take all these drugs to fix the things that are wrong with you and to prevent you from getting worse with infection." "Yes, I know." I said, knowing he wasn't finished.
"But there's no drug out there that can make you feel better about being you." He continued. "You have to want it. There's no magic pill you can take to give you strength enough to take a walk down the block. You just have to get up and fucking do it." His words hit me like the sound of thunder shaking my house at midnight. It was words I needed to hear. It was in that moment that I realized how far I had really fallen. It was especially meaningful coming from man who, 30 years prior had broken his neck in a motorcycle accident. A man who survived. A man who, in fact, walked again. A fighter. A fellow soldier who just dared me to do better than him, whether he realized it or not. Was I going to let him down? Well, hell no. It didn't matter that most of my hair had fallen out. It didn't matter that I had lost nearly 60 pounds. And it didn't matter that I barely had the strength to make it up my driveway that day. What mattered, is that I decided to keep trying.
I rehabilitated myself mentally and physically over the next few months. I tried to immerse myself in the every day, trying desperately to find a sense of normal again. I built things around the house. I fixed problems with our home that were put off while I was too sick to deal with them. I went to the races with my Dad who pushed me around all day in a wheelchair because I couldn't walk long distances. It was almost as if my body dispersed energy quotas for each day. And if you went over the amount your body was willing to give you, you paid the price. But I kept pushing anyway. I even returned to work. I never would've thought that returning to work would give me so much hope. But understand, I needed to matter again. I needed a purpose. The world had gotten along without me just fine. It was time for me to adapt to this new world that was seemingly a full year ahead of me. I needed to prove that the world still needed me for something.
By Fall of 2009, treatments and doctor appointments slowed, as my strength began to return day by day at turtle speed. I still couldn't draw or write very well. I also couldn't play guitar. My hands were still very shaky and weak from treatment. The tremors had started to subside, but the unsteadiness and weakness within them remained. My penmanship was sacred to me. I took a lot of pride in the way my writing and art looked on paper. I had to sign ton of patient forms while in treatment. Each one I signed made me feel truly embarrassed to show to anyone. I knew I would someday return to art, writing and even playing my guitars if I was patient, and kept trying.
Before I go further, I need to go back a few years. I married my wife Katie in 2005. We had a tiny wedding. I won't bore you with the details on that, save for one. We knew wanted a really great photographer to capture our day. We didn't care that we were going to spend more on photography than my wife's wedding dress to get it. We wanted an artful depiction of our day and we were willing to pay through the nose to get it. And we did. A few weeks later, we received our proofs, and they were magical. Jamie (our photographer) had done her job. Her photos are still special to me today. Thanks to Jamie, I'd become mesmerized with photography. But finding the time to learn it however, was a different story. Until now.
I knew I still couldn't draw, write, or even dream about playing a Dave Matthews song on my guitar. Crash was a nightmare, and trying mimic Ants Marching was simply a pipe dream. But there was one thing I was sure I could do. I knew I could push a shutter button. What's more, is that I had the time to learn, and even if I didn't, I'd make time for it. This was something I needed to do. My wife bought me a Nikon Camera I still use today that year for Christmas. I experimented. I read. I studied. I traveled to seminars. Along the way I shared my experiences most with her, who still to this day is amazed by the fact that not only did I make use of her gift, but expanded upon it with diligence beyond anything she could've predicted.
Jonathon, Christmas, 2009.
In the above photos, from Christmas 2009, you can see me holding it. Fun fact - the photo on the left was taken that same day and is used today as Facebook avatar.
A few years and 20,000 plus photos later, I decided to start a business with it, and Jonathon Rose Design was born. The rest is history. Oh, and in case you were wondering if my drawing ability returned...yes, it did. I even helped illustrate an entire children's book in 2011 that's still sold on Amazon. I can also play the shit out of Ants Marching now.
Last week, my medical port was removed. For those that don't know, it's a device that allows doctors to access you to administer fluids, drugs, etc., without having to poke your arms constantly. It's implanted in your chest, just below the collar bone. It was a part of my body for 6 years. During that time, I often wondered why my doctors chose to keep it in that long. It hadn't been accessed since 2012. Did they fear I'd need it again? Would my cancer come back? Did they know something I didn't? These are the questions that surface in my mind every single day. The questions disguise themselves as little chisels, trying to chip away at my now solid mental foundation. The bricks and mortar of this foundation hide the scars and battle wounds from treatment. The wounds like Osteoporosis, Pre-Diabetes, Graft vs. Host Disease, Scleroderma, fatigue, and cataracts just to name a few.
As odd as it may seem, I'm thankful for the experience. Not that I would ever want to go through it again, but it taught me a lot about myself, my family and my friends. It taught me to appreciate life more, in all forms; To appreciate small victories; To know when there's a time to talk and when it's more important to listen; And when to laugh so hard, you cry.
I listen to the world around me from day to day and sometimes I just want to scream at the top of my lungs. I want to tell the world to stop worrying about the little, trivial things that really don't matter. Some whine that their car's giving them trouble. Some bitch about their bosses or their work. Others complain about their children, or the weather. Put aside the drama. Quell the negativity already. Some people just don't have a clue as to what a bad day really is.
Are you familiar with the Lord of the Rings film The Return of the King? Near the end of the film, Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin are sitting at a table in the Green Dragon. The crowd around them is gleefully carrying on, dancing, drinking, completely unaware that Middle Earth had been that close to obliteration. Sauron was defeated, but at great cost. Lives were lost. Lives were scarred. The Hobbits said no words to each other. None were needed. Ocassionally, I feel that way. I imagine my family and I could be sitting at that same table, listening to the sound of the blissful ignorance around us. We would share similar gazes and wouldn't need to say a word either. Because we'd been there. We understood. We survived it.
At the end of the day, it was my Camera that had single-handedly sent me down a path that was filled with both inspiration and healing. It became a doorway to a land I never thought I'd see again. A land, called the future. A land where I wasn't a cancer patient. It was a place where I began to see life from behind my lens. A place where memories were frozen in time and details too often overlooked by all of us were kept safe. Safe from harm. Safe from death. Safe from Leukemia. That's what my Camera gave me.
Beneath my thicker skin, I can still feel the battle wounds of old, remember the smell of hospital sanitizer, and the irritating sounds from the vital monitors. As a soldier of survival, I've returned home from the war with no medals to speak of. I don't have any red carpet charity galas to attend, and no fundraisers were held specially in my name. But I do have an army of my own superheroes who don't wear tights or carry Vibranium shields with them. They are my family. They helped me through it all. A bond I would describe as stronger than Adamantium. And yes, we have a Hulk.
How does one return to a normal life, after cancer? I can't tell you that. I only know what worked for me. Maybe the question you should be asking instead is, what's your Camera?
Hampton Inn & Suites Grand Opening
A few months ago, I was contacted by the General Manager of a local Hampton Inn here in Mishawaka. The brand new hotel was scheduled to open in the coming weeks and they wanted a local photographer to capture their Grand Opening event, as well as take some interior photos for their website. Nothing I couldn't handle, right?
When I arrived on the day of the Grand Opening, I was greeted by a nice gentleman who was one of the regional managers. "You must be Jonathon, our photographer?" "Yes sir, nice to meet you." I said. "Say, you're not scared of heights are you?" He asked.
What? Scared of heights? Why in the blazes would he ask me that? I didn't answer right away, and I'm sure the look I was giving him was a lot like the look my dog gives me after I've caught her in the trash. (For those that don't know me, I'm deathly afraid of heights. I mean, the kind of fear that freezes you and turns your stomach into a full-blown free-fall.)
"A little." I replied. "Why?" I gulped, not wanting to know the answer at all.
"Follow me."
I couldn't possibly fathom where he was taking me. I was supposed to be shooting a Grand Opening. Grand Openings usually take place on the ground, right? With both feet firmly planted on the ground? Gravity plays a vital role. Of this, I'm sure.
We walked around to the side of the building where some construction trailers were sitting. "There. You see those?" He pointed at several cherry pickers parked nearby. I'm pretty sure my stomach dropped on the sidewalk somewhere behind me.
"We want you to go up in one of those and take some exterior shots from the front of hotel...you know...from a higher vantage point."
"Mm-k."
"Don't worry, we're gonna send you up with someone."
Dear God. Meanwhile, my stomach is back there laying on the concrete in a puddle of fear.
"Why don't you walk to where you want to shoot from, and I'll have the guy come over there with the lift." He said.
"Okie-dokie." I started the walk back up to the front of the hotel. I picked my stomach back up on the way. I could still hear it screaming. No, really.
I chose my vantage point and stood there waiting as my impending doom rolled towards me at a speed of 2 MPH. I tried to calm myself by going over the science behind my position. These guys go up in these things all the time, right? Safely! Yes. And come down safely? Yes. I looked around at a few trees nearby. It wasn't windy, so it shouldn't sway much, right? Yes. So, what am I so worried about? Gee, I don't know...going up over 100 feet in the air, in a see-through metal basket that's no bigger than my coffee table. What could possibly go wrong? I decided that going over the logistics wasn't helping.
After what seemed like an hour but was probably more 10 terrifying minutes, the gentleman and my doomsday ladder got into position.
"Open the gate and climb on in!" The man said. We'll call him Bob. "Make sure the gate latches behind ya!"
Sure thing, Bob. If I was going to plummet to my death, Bob and this gated metal basket are damn straight coming with me. I thought I would politely encourage him to be as cautious as possible.
"Say, Bob, I've never been in one of these before...they're pretty safe right?" I said.
"Oh yeah, just hang on to the railing...you'll be fine." Bob said.
The railing! This was a spectacular idea! I draped my camera over my shoulder and grabbed on with both hands as the lift started to rise. My stomach decided to wait on the ground beneath me. Chicken.
Once we reached our desired height, the real terror set in. In order to capture the shots I wanted, I was going to need both hands. This meant I was going to have to let go of the railing. Meanwhile, Bob's patiently waiting.
"This is a great view from up here." Bob said.
Yes it was. I took a deep breath, let go of the railing and began shooting. Once my concentration was centered on getting the image, my fears of being over 5 stories up in a metal basket with Bob fell away. I ended up coming away with this image.
It's exactly what they wanted. I was pretty happy with it under the circumstances.
Bob and I came down minutes later. Safely, I might add. As Bob began his 2 MPH journey back to the trailers, a sigh of relief poured over me. I did it. I survived the doomsday ladder.
The Grand Opening ceremonies began. We heard from Mayor Dave Wood, Congresswoman Jackie Walorski and all the people who were affiliated with making the project a success.
The ribbon was cut and the hotel was officially open for business. They even had soldiers raise a new flag.
All in all it was a fun experience! A week or so later, I began shooting the interior shots for their website. I will be posting those soon. In the meantime, you can check those out here.
Shooting the Milky Way - My First Experience
Manistique, Michigan. Friday, July 25th, 9:30pm. My wife and I went to grab a quick dinner at a local pizza parlor before heading out for the shoot. All day the skies were unpredictable. We had storms, sunshine, high winds and everything Mother Nature could throw at us that day. That evening, the skies cleared and we knew the time had come.
As we finished our pizza, we decided to brush up on research one last time before heading out. I had spent the last few months studying and researching how to set up my camera accordingly to be able to capture the Milky Way. I knew I needed to use a low aperture. (Or, wide open, as some say.) I knew my ISO was going to be high, somewhere between 2000-6400. And I knew my shutter speed was going to have to be SLOW. Like, 15-20 seconds. Any more than that, would produce star trails. The lens I intended to use was a Nikon 14-24mm F/2.8. (Nice and wide.)
In our last minute research, we stumbled across an article by Ken Rockwell. Buried deep in the article, is a little tip about white balance. He suggested changing your white balance to 'Tungsten' instead of 'Auto' (which is where I leave it most of the time.) That article can be found here. We decided we'd try it on site.
Once we arrived, we set up the camera on a tripod, and walked out to the beach with my red helmet light resting atop my melon. (Which, my lovely wife made fun of me dearly for.) BTW, little tip...if you're ever out somewhere dark, and you need to keep your eyes 'used' to seeing in the dark, use a red light. Works like a charm. Your eyes won't have to readjust after using it. After we set up, we gave our eyes a few moments to get used to their surroundings and there she was. Resting just above the horizon, reaching upward, over our heads and landing in the trees behind us. The Milky Way shined very brightly overhead. The brightest part of it, which we called the Nebula, was just above the horizon above Lake Michigan. It was a surreal moment for both us. I stood there and thought, I've been up here dozens of times and never stopped once to appreciate this beauty that shined in the UP's dark skies. That won't happen again. We began shooting.
Nikon D7100; ISO 5000; F/2.8; 4 Sec. Shutter - Auto White Balance
Right away, we saw results, and got excited. We can really do this! Let's take another one. But this time, let's increase the shutter speed to 10 seconds.
Nikon D7100; ISO 5000; F/2.8; 10 Sec. Shutter - Auto White Balance
Wow! I think we hugged each other at that point. Yeah! We did it! I swear a milestone was reached, and I heard victory bells ringing. Loud. Now, remember our little tip we found from Ken Rockwell? Let's try that. We changed the white balance to 'Tungsten' and...
Nikon D7100; ISO 5000; F/2.8; 10 Sec. Shutter - Tungsten White Balance
...Bang! Now, I did bump up the temperature on this photo in post, but as you can see it's much 'cooler' than the auto white balance setting. The tungsten setting makes the skies very blue, and created a great effect right in camera.
Nikon D7100; ISO 3200; F/2.8; 15 Sec. Shutter - Tungsten White Balance
We had a great time out there and just kept shooting. Even though we didn't have a very exciting foreground (save for the sign that's dying be to cloned out), we didn't care. We took a picture of the edge of the galaxy. That's something that just doesn't happen to me every day.
Then, I let my wife take over the controls and she brought the heat! She made a slight adjustment to the camera angle and fired.
Nikon D7100; ISO 3200; F/2.8; 15 Sec. Shutter - Tungsten White Balance
She ended up capturing part of the sunset glow. Man! Neither of us could see the glow with our own eyes, but the camera picked it up. She rocked it! I ended up leaving the camera in the same spot and just kept shooting, hoping to a grab a shooting star along the way. And we did.
Special thanks goes out to Ken Rockwell for his tips and reviews. That little tip about the white balance rocks! And I would also like to thank Jesse L. Summers, David Kingham and Jennifer Wu for inspiring me to do this. Watching and learning from you guys made this possible. so thank you all.
We had such a fantastic time out there. I remember feeling so small in the universe and so little in a world. Like a grain of sand on a never-ending beach. All of the world's problems suddenly disappeared from my mind for one moment. We are just two people from the pale blue dot taking pictures of the edge of the galaxy that's riddled with billions of stars and worlds probably much like our own; A drop of water out of all the planet's seas, lakes and oceans; A single star tucked inside our own acre of the Milky Way. We share this world with the universe. And the universe shares its galaxies with us. Never before had taking such a big photo made me feel so small.
We. Will. Be. Back.
Nikon D7100; ISO 3200; F/2.8; 15 Sec. Shutter - Tungsten White Balance
Hanke-Harrity Family Portraits
April and May went by in a quick blink, and June is looking quite similar. I feel like I need to rewind a bit, and replay the last several weeks that came and went to relive some of the brighter moments.
Over Easter weekend, I had the privilege to photograph two wonderful families, the Hankes and Harritys, at the University of Notre Dame. The weather was kind to us that day and we shot in a few different places around campus.
After we finished shooting near the Dome, we decided to move down by the lakes and the Grotto.
Once the more important photos were done, they decided they wanted to just let the kids run around and let me capture them doing their own things.
Keeping up with children these days is no easy feat. I wish I could take their energy and bottle it for later use. I'd have a whole pantry stocked with nothing but energy bottles! All in all it was a great day. Special thanks to Megan and Maura for giving me the opportunity to share the day with them!
The Predator Composite
This year I decided to focus a lot more on compositing in Photoshop. What is compositing? It's like adding special effects to a film. Only, in this case, you're adding those effects to a still image. Why would anyone do this? That's an easy answer. Because it's freakin' cool. The only rule in compositing you have to abide by is making it look real. And that's often times easier said then done. Fortunately, I have had the privilege of being trained by some of the best names in this business like, Corey Barker, Glyn Dewis, Joel Grimes and Matt Kloskowski.
"El Diablo cazador de hombres" 2014
It starts with an idea. Wouldn't it be cool if _____? Go ahead, ask yourself. I'll wait. Now, finish the sentence with something you're interested in. Like I said, it starts with an idea. And ideas can come from the strangest places sometimes. In truth, this idea of doing a Predator themed composite came from a conversation on Facebook I had with someone. In the conversation, the witty one-liners from the movie kept popping up in comments. "Get to the choppah!" "I ain't got time to bleed." That kind of thing. Then, my thoughts arrived at "Wouldn't it be cool if I did a Predator composite themed around the soldiers getting to the choppah?" Um...yeah! The hunt began.
Because I'm a geek, I already own an actual statue of the Predator himself. All I needed was a photo of him, some soldiers, and a choppah or two. As the search began from stock images online, more ideas started to surface. I wanted to put the soldiers and the Predator in a very dramatic environment complete with explosions, debris, and even lightning. I wanted it to appear as though it was a truly dire moment and the soldiers needed to make it to the choppah to survive. After I had the Predator and the attacking helicopter in the composite, I decided it would add even more drama to include a pair of F14 Tomcats doing an air strike. I've been in love with F14's since I was a kid. I blame Top Gun. I still miss Goose. No, really.
I shattered earlier personal records of mine with this work in Photoshop too. I've done some big projects in my time as a designer, but this tops them all, so far.
Facts:
-Built in Photoshop CC
-Project Time 35 hours
-96 Layers
-File Size: 745mb
-3D Elements
I had a great time creating this. My wife was very patient with me as I asked her frequently about details. I'm glad it's done and it stands alone as one of the first projects I've completed having turned out exactly as I planned. Those are rare. Trust me! It was also nice to focus on something that was very much 'me-driven.' Most of the time I'm working on something for someone else. Which, is great...I love it! But every now and again, it's great to step away and do something just for myself. I'm already contemplating my next BIG composite now. Maybe another movie theme...who knows?
I'll be bock.
Prints on Metal = Happiness
Being that Relay for Life is rapidly approaching, I was asked again if I had interest in donating another photo for the OIT's online auction. I was happy to do so again, but this time I wanted to do something different. I decided to try out getting one of my images printed on metal. Not to be confused with metallic, where images can be printed on metallic paper. This process involves direct printing onto metal, not paper.
Relay for Life Photo 12"X36" - Front
Above is the image I chose to donate to the auction and have printed. I contacted Bay Photo Lab, whom I'd heard does a fantastic job at producing these. A few days later, the print arrived and I was astounded. The sheen that comes across from the surface of this print is remarkable. It's like getting image printed on a piece of glass. In addition to it being a brilliant piece as it is, it's really easy to hang on a wall anywhere. It comes with the hardware already attached to the back for ease of installation.
Relay for Life Photo (Backside)
In the above photo, you can see the back of the print itself. The center section (where the 3 mounting holes are) stands out from the actual main print portion. When you hang it on the wall, it actually 'floats' off the wall a bit, creating an interesting dimension for a more dynamic display. Very cool!
I am considering adding Bay Photo Lab as an option to my galleries so that anyone can order one of my prints this way. I will let you know when that happens!
For now, you can visit http://nd-oit-auction.com/wpoit/ to bid on this print and other items with proceeds going to Relay for Life.
Thanks for reading and happy bidding!
Photography Q & A - The Blur or 'Bokeh'
I asked my wife the other day if she had any questions about photography in general that I could use in a learning segment here. She thought for a moment and then asked, "Why is it when I take a picture with my iPhone, my subject and the background is all in focus...but when you take a picture with your camera, your subject is in focus, but the background is blurred?" Good question.
The answer is your aperture or f/stop. Apertures or f/stops on all cameras control your focus depth. All cameras, be it smart phones, DSLR's and point 'n shoot cameras have f/stops. You can change it on most cameras, but on your iPhone you cannot. If you're operating a camera where you can change the f/stop, you can use these settings as general guidelines: If I'm out and about shooting a landscape, with no general subject, I'll set my f/stop at F/11 or higher. Most of the time for capturing everything in focus, I'll even shoot at F/22. This will increase your depth of field and no part of the image will be blurred. If I'm shooting a portrait (where I want their face(s) in focus), I'll shoot at a lower f/stop to blur the background. Say F2.8 or F4.5. Make sense? No? Yeah, me neither. I'll give you a visual guide then.
Image Captured at F/5.6
The image of the monkey was captured at F/5.6. He was standing far enough in front of the tree branch in the background for it to be blurred or out of focus.
Image captured at F/22
The image above the golden dome was captured at F/22. See? Everything in that image is in focus and nothing is blurred. This effect is commonly known as 'bokeh.' I don't personally use that word, and even the correct pronunciation of it is often debated. Some people say, 'boke-ay' or 'boke-uh'. I even heard it once as 'boo-kay'. Who knows? You decide. I'll have a Coke in the meantime.
So, all you have is an iPhone and you want to fake it with your photos? Wait for it. Wait for it. Yup. There's an app for that. If all you have is an iPhone and you want to fake that look when you take a portrait by blurring the background? The last time I used Instagram, it could do that. Otherwise, if you're really clever, you could use Photoshop.
IPhone f/stops are currently unchangeable. The iPhone 4s uses an F/stop of F/2.4 all the time. It sounds low, but at a 4.3mm focal length, it really isn't. The iPhone 5s uses an F/stop of F/2.2. Now, you're thinking - but that doesn't coincide with what you said earlier about lower-numbered f/stops. You're right. But keep in mind, those lenses in those cameras are teeny-tiny! Below is an iPhone shot I took in Montana.
iPhone 4s.
Doing this blog post actually gave me another idea for another post on getting better photos with your iPhone. Stay tuned for that.
I am by no means an expert on aperture. I just know what works for me. Another thing to keep in mind is when you open up your aperture, like when you choose a lower number, like F/2.8, you're allowing more light to enter the lens for an exposure. When you close it down, like at F/22, you're allowing less light into the lens for an exposure. By doing this, you'll need to compensate by slowing or increasing your shutter speeds.
In any case, a wonderful photog friend of mine gave me this tip years ago: More F's means more in focus. Less F's means less in focus. Because keeping your focus, is well, half the battle.
Have a great week folks!
~Jonathon
A Look Back at 2013
Challenges come in a variety forms and 2013 was no exception. As it always would seem, you have to take the good with the bad. We have to man up, take it head on, or, as one of my buddies says, tuck your skirt in. I'm no stranger to challenges and they don't often have a regard of my opinion in the matter anyway. They show up without warning, and set you off balance even in the happiest of times. They're often just around the corner, lurking. They're devious jesters who hide around corners waiting to jump out at the opportune moment. But last year had its surprising good moments too.
The year began at Notre Dame, much as it always has. I've always enjoyed taking photos in the Basilica. The light and vastness of the place has always been attractive to me. Normally, the choir loft is restricted to visiting spectators, but that particular day, I knew a gentleman working up there on some electrical issues. He gained me access to the loft, and I was able to capture this image.
Taken from the choir loft, February 2013.
After being around Notre Dame most of my life, I have a lot of photos of the Dome. I captured this image on a snowy morning in early March.
Taken in front of the Dome, March 2013.
With it being Winter still, you knew there had to be a hockey game involved. You let the whole team down if you didn't know that. Irish Hockey fans will get that joke. At least, they better.
Compton Family Ice Arena, March 2013.
In April, I was notified that my job at Notre Dame was being eliminated. For the first time in 18 years, I didn't know what to do with my career. I didn't know if staying in design and photography was the best idea, or if I should move into another field. I had till July to make a decision. I tabled the idea for a while.
Then, in late April, one of my friends wanted a special project done. He approached me about doing a Photoshop composite of him onto an album cover by Eric Clapton and BB King. We set up the shoot at his house at the appropriate angle with him sitting in a chair. He wanted to be super-imposed in the backseat, sitting next to BB King. Easy enough, right? Below is the before and after of that print. This print hangs in my office at home at this very moment to remind me that no matter how tough a challenge can be, it's surmountable in some way.
Photoshop Composite, April 2013.
In the time that followed, I decided that I wanted to stay in design and photography. Now, I just needed to find another job that would allow me to do that. But where? The resumes were sent out and the interviews began. I interviewed at different places in the area, but no one seemed committed to hiring.
During that time, I had an ongoing discussion with one of my closest friends about doing a sunset shoot on the roof of the Hesburgh Library. He had to be involved because of the access to the roof itself. It's one of the tallest buildings on campus, if not the tallest. I wanted one last shot of the Dome before I signed out for the last time. But there had to be key elements in place: A perfect sunset. Perfect clouds. And on a perfect day. As April went by and May began, we waited. Then, one evening as I watched what the skies were doing, I saw the elements take form. The clouds were right. The colors were right. The air felt right. I made the call. Tonight was the night. The rest is history. Here's a capture from that evening. This was without a doubt my favorite moment of the year.
Dome Sunset, May 2013.
A photographer can never resist the opportunity to take photos of fireworks. It's like railroad tracks. We're drawn to them for some unknown reason. I just wish that all railroad tracks ended up in Hogwarts.
Fireworks over Diamond Lake, MI, taken July 2013.
Near the end of July, we decided to take spend a few days in Chicago for a vacation. We met up with my Father in Law and stayed at a place near the north shore of the lake. It was a great trip. He brought his BMW with him and I couldn't help but take a few shots of this beautiful machine. And it drove just as nice...I can vouch for this.
BMW 385i, taken July 2013.
In August, our Hisbiscus flowers are in full bloom around our house. I love these flowers. They're so large with beauty. This image was captured in our front yard. At the time, I didn't know how important this image would become. Wait for it.
Red Hibiscus, taken August 2013.
In the weeks before, I was also working with another friend of ours about an exterior sign that he needed produced for a local park in his neighborhood. I put together a design for him based on what he and the neighborhood association needed. This was the final outcome. It was a V-shaped exterior sign capable of being seen from multiple directions.
Exterior sign for Klinedinst Park, August 2013.
At this point in time, I had been working at a new company called Valley Screen part-time. When my term at Notre Dame ended, I began working for them. I was essentially doing the same job that I was doing at Notre Dame with the addition of getting my feet wet in the knowledge of RV design. You know those large, swooshes and designs you see on the sides of RV's and trailers? They do that. Well, now I do that too. It's really interesting. I'll save that for another post.
By this time, October had come and things were getting busier with photography. The OIT at Notre Dame hired me to shoot their Mobile Summit. For those that don't know what that is...it's basically an all day event where mobile vendors come and spread the word about their product. It's also used as a means to communicate with campus about adapting the use of mobile technology for the betterment of production from day to day. I actually had the unique opportunity of meeting Coach Muffet McGraw that day. Very nice lady. She gave a wonderfully interesting speech about how mobile technology has improved their workflow as a basketball team.
Coach Muffet McGraw, taken October 2013.
My sister also got engaged last Summer. We waited until the Fall colors were in full swing and did an Engagement shoot at her fiance's house. Patrick, her fiance is a great guy and he's helped her and my family tremendously over the last few years. I even heard the same thing from Yoda. Good people, he is.
Jennifer and Patrick, October 2013.
That same month, my buddy Alan wanted to get portraits done of his family. We discussed locations for a while and ended up deciding on downtown Niles. Most our time was spent near the bridge along the river. Special thanks to the whole Cramer family for taking time out for this shoot. It was a lot of fun.
The Cramer Family. From Left, Grant, Angie, Alan and Bryanna, October 2013.
My wife and I love to eat at this local restaurant called Uptown Kitchen. One night, we went there to eat with her Mom. While we ate, I noticed that there was local artist's work displayed in there, including paintings and photography. We thought it might be a good idea to contact them to see if they'd be interested in displaying my work. Within the next week, I met with the owner and his response to my work was overwhelming. We narrowed down which prints he wanted to display and not only did he want some for Uptown Kitchen, but also for the Mark! Which, is another restaurant he owns near Notre Dame. Remember that photo of the Hibiscus flower I took? There is a 30"X40" print of that hanging in Uptown Kitchen. It's beautiful.
Uptown Kitchen, November, 2013.
The Mark, near Notre Dame, November, 2013.
The Mark, near Notre Dame, November, 2013.
The year concluded on a great note. Not only did I have my photography displayed in two of the area's best restaurants, Valley Screen offered me a full-time position right before the holidays. So, that helped ease my mind some!
Over the holiday break, we woke up one morning and opened the front door to find this array of frost on our storm door. I snapped this macro shot of it. I thought it was neat. Technically it was taken in January of this year, not 2013. But, I can get away with it. It is my blog and all.
Frozen ice patterns, January, 2014.
