Josh Gracin - Jackson Community College

Josh Gracin performed at Jackson Community College in Jackson Michigan on October 16th of 2010. During the day of the concert, Josh drove with his band mates to a University of Michigan football game. Josh is from Michigan and is a huge fan of U of M. Mr. Gracin was late getting to the meet and greet at JCC because he got caught up in traffic. Maybe over 100,000 fans would slow you down a bit. The meet and greet went well. He posed for photographs and signed autographs for all who asked. He is a very nice man and the concert was wonderful.
Click here for a link to low light concert photography so you can learn a bit more about shooting in these types of conditions.

Look Up!

One thing that I always talk about with photographers is how you always need to look straight ahead, behind you, to your left, to your right, and up in order to find photographs. Sometimes just kneeling down can make or break a photograph. This image was shot during the Fall foliage season here in lower Michigan. You will find me in the Waterloo Michigan area most of the time during October. I love this time of year and I love to photograph beautiful Fall trees.
On this particular day, I was shooting some graduation photo's for my daughter. We were sitting under a very large tree when I decided to take my own advice and look up! These vibrant colors against a blue sky makes for an amazing photograph. Click here to view some interesting reading in relation to Fall photography. I hope you enjoy the article. Be sure to come back to see other images as well as links to other useful information on photography.
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JAZZ!

This concert photograph of Wynton Marsalis was shot at the Detroit State Fair several years back. Some of the concerts at the State Fair were free with admission. I recall enjoying a nice summer day at the fair and then finding very close seats well in advance of the jazz concert. Wynton put on a wonderful concert. I found that he looked right into the camera many times. I shot a lot of wonderful concert photographs that evening. Remember to shoot a lot of photos to get the handful of wonderful shots. This particular image was shot with 35mm film long before I even knew what a digital camera was. Every single concert shot takes on a different mood and expression. Happy shooting!

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Up..Up..and Away!

Every year at the Hot Air Jubilee there are many photo opportunities. When you can shoot a single frame that is so full of color, you tend to want to bring out the colors and bring a special "pop" to these types of photographs. This image was manipulated in Adobe Photoshop. This is one of my favorite images showing vibrant colors and the possibilities available with a little time and a photo editing program.

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Warm Ups!

This photograph was taken during warm ups last season at Tiger Stadium. When you first enter the stadium, the players are usually still warming up on the field. You can generally walk down to the very first row and have a lot of great photo opportunities just before the game. Always keep you eyes open for great photographs. Outdoor photography is a lot of fun. Be sure not to shoot straight into the sun. A slightly overcast day would be ideal for great photographs without the distracting shadows. Let us hope that the Tigers will have a very good 2011 season. Go Tigers.

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partial color

This is one of about 300 photographs that I took recently of my daughter Aubrey. She is graduating from High School this year. I love to work in photo editing software and create partial color photographs. The photo of Aubrey was taken in an industrial park and we found many rustic backgrounds to choose from. Why pay hundreds of dollars to create these effects at home when you can drive a few miles and get the same results.

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Go Tigers!

Spring is upon us. Baseball fever is in the air. The Carhartt can come off and we can once again smell the suntan lotion and sun blocker in the air. Go Tigers!
This photograph was taken a few seasons ago at the new Tiger Stadium in downtown Detroit. The architecture of the stadium is amazing. You will want to bring your camera as there are photo opportunities around every turn. Get some tickets and take your family to a game this season. You will enjoy it very much.

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"Willie Live"

This photogaph was taken several years ago while I was a staff photographer for the Jackson County Fair in Jackson Michigan. Willie Nelson has always been a very well recognized name in country music. There were country music fans of every age at this show. Whether it be young children on their parents shoulders, or long time fans dressed to the tilt, everyone enjoyed the evening. A tip related to shooting in low light. Use a high ISO setting and a low light lens if available. The lower the f stop lens, the better chance at a sharp image with the lowest possible ISO setting on your camera. A newer zoom lens with image stabilization would be a great choice. Using a lens with image stabilization would allow you to shoot without the aid of a tripod. You will want to shoot many frames in continuous mode and then later view these images to see which is the sharpest. Watch the stage lighting. The color of the stage lights will determine the mood of the photograph. Sharpness is a must. Be sure to know how to use your camera in manual mode. Stage lighting will fool your auto settings, so a predetermined manual setting is a must. It was just announced that Willie will be doing a concert once again this year at the Jackson County Fairgrounds. Click here for more information. Happy Shooting!

Chrome

A few years ago I attended a motorcycle show in downtown Jackson. With camera in hand, I made my way through the crowd, looking for a photo opportunity. Standing near a row of colorful motorcycles, I decided that I needed to get some of the fine detail of a particular bike. I looked down and saw something interesting. A good photo tip is to always look up and down and all around when in search of a photograph. So many things go into a well thought out photograph. Lighting, angle, camera settings, and composition are very important in fine photography. When I saw this Viva la Grease Monkey chrome piece with the "forever" engraved within it, I knew that this was a very good opportunity to get a close up. After looking at this photo in my image editing software, I decided it would look best in black and white. This is one of my favorite black and white close up images. I used a shallow depth of field with this image. I also was very careful in composition. Remember to use rule of thirds to optimize your images. Some images will look better when you convert them to black and white. Always shoot in color and then convert. You can easily convert a color image to black and white, but it is almost impossible to convert a black and white image to color. The reason I say almost impossible is because it is possible to convert a black and white image to color using photo editing software, but it is a very long and hard process left mostly to professionals in the editing field. Many wonderful photographs were taken during this local event. Sometimes you will find a lot of high quality images where you would least expect to find them. A local park, a car show, a fair or circus, a zoo, or even a local outdoor event such as a concert. Remember to look in your in-town articles to find a photo opportunity where you live. Happy shooting.