jim baker photography

NEW BLOG

2009-10-12T00:07:00.001-04:00

hey everyone, i'm married now if you didn't know, and I've streamlined my blogs into one... there will still be some photography but life stuff as well.

http://jimjessbaker.blogspot.com

looking forward to seeing you over there.

jim baker

02.10.09 - GOYA?

2009-02-11T01:26:00.004-05:00

been trying to get up and just walk for a bit in the morning just to get my blood flowing... i saw this outside of the classroom before class... and if you look here you can see the rest of what I saw. (If you click on the link soon, if you click on that link a week from now you will see new stuff that I shot and things won't make sense.)

i'm going to stop signing my name all the time...

eh maybe not,
jim baker

02.08.09 - most viewed picture on flickr

2009-02-09T01:12:00.007-05:00

there it is... with over a thousand views...

guess i should just throw the towel in start shooting indian food all the time

my next closet photo... 270 views

which is my only picture to have actually made it and stayed in explore...

i guess i just need to keep linking to these pics instead of posting them on here and maybe that will give me some more hits...

anyway... go look at pictures on my flickr OTHER than the indian food one...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbakerphotography

in other news... i was trying to reformat my blog cause i was thinking i should use it as a real blog and got motivated started moving things around and deleting them... and then decided forget it... but in the mean time i lost everyone that i had linked... if you still read my blog and have a blog leave me a comment

cheers
jim baker

01.16.09 - some tests on gear...

2009-01-16T16:26:00.007-05:00

So the nice thing about staffing a photography school is I'm are surrounded by passionate photographers, which in turn inspires me to get out and shoot. And also... there is a lot of gear around for me to borrow and test. Which sometimes causes me to covet... but at least I am seeing what is out there.

My first test was with the 40d. I have a Canon 20d and I wanted to see how much better the 40d handled noise at high iso levels.

I would post the results but you can't really tell unless you are zooming in at a 2:1 view. But the 20d actually handled noise better. Which is quite nice, because otherwise I would want to dish out the cash to buy a new camera body... its good to be content with what you have.

Second test... the 70-200f4 IS... i have the 70-200 non IS. Both shot seconds apart on my 20d from a standing position. This one is humbling.

IS - ISO 400 - F4 - 1/40s
(notice the sharpness in the text even though handheld with a slow shutter speed)

non IS - :( - ISO 400 - F4 - 1/50s

The 70-200F4 IS is selling new at BH for $1025.00

jim baker

01.10.09 - Start of SOP I and Famous Landscape Photographers

2009-01-11T03:15:00.003-05:00

so now I'm staffing the School of Photography I in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.
These are the guys in the school. From left to right.

Dustin (canada), Jake (US), Max (UK), Charlie (US), David (Canada) and me.

Here's MY blog from when I was a student in SOP I in 2008.

This morning I took the guys out for small group and went to see the Peter Lik gallery.

His work was absolutely amazing but as we walked away from the gallery we all started to feel sad for him. 50 years old, rich, single and living in las vegas. The gallery directory told us that this guy was so motivated that if you got in the way of a picture he'd take out a knife and stab you. (Was he being dramatic, probably...) The volcano shots he got he paid someone $1,000 to take him out where he wasn't suppose to go. Doing anything to get the shot.

Then some of the class went to see Jennifer Wu who is sponsored by canon. We heard a canon rep speak and then heard Jennifer speak about her work as well. It was very informative, and motivating me to go out and shoot again.

People ask me how we "incorporate Christ" into this school. Since its being taught at a Christian university. We aren't just teaching photography and then making it Christian... and there's no clear cut answer to this question either. Our aim is to disciple people, who have a different worldview, a different set of values, different motivations. Very early on in the school we look at Christ's characteristics and talk about how that should play into our photography. I'm not condemning Peter at all... but I don't envy him. There is enough people in the world that will run over others to get whatever they want. I don't want to be one of those people.

If becoming a "master photographer" takes me sacrificing everything else and running over people to get there, then I don't want it.

jim baker

12.13.08 - a few more

2008-12-13T23:13:00.003-05:00

jim baker

12.09.08 - I'm still alive... sort of

2008-12-09T20:05:00.004-05:00

sorry its been like 6 months since i updated last... since the last post, I spent some extended time in upstate NY and now I'm back in Hawaii... i've been shooting some portraits as of late here are a few...

i update my flickr a lot more check that out for recent stuff.

Troi

Sheena

Kerry

robbie and ariel

devin and sammy

pz
jim baker

05.22.08 - last night in MD

2008-05-22T23:22:00.003-04:00

15sec exposure with an infrared filter (thanks to Mike Shoemaker) on my 20d

tonite is my last nite here in MD. I leave for upstate NY tomorrow morning. Then i'll spend a bit of time in Nashvegas with some amazing photographers, Hannah and Jesse. And then I'll be working at a camp all summer.

I said I was going to streamline all my blogs... well it never happened, and as I'm packing for this summer, I'm realizing how I want to live a much simpler life. Packing everything I own clothing wise is pretty easy, but I think I have more digital things than I do anything else. I always said I wanted to come up with a small travel rig. I think an iphone would do the trick. Or maybe a Canon G9 and an ipod touch. Any ideas on how to get files from my camera to the ipod touch if I ever end up going that route?

I have to many websites that I try and keep up with... so latley i've been uploading most of my stuff to my FLICKR account. If i get something real tasty I MIGHT put it here but don't count on much this summer.

bless you guys,
jim baker

05.15.08 - bumper sticker irony and an accident

2008-05-15T14:27:00.005-04:00

So I saw this bumper sticker today in a parking lot and had to take a picture of it because I thought it was funny... but it lost its humor when on the way home I came on the scene of this accident.

When I got on the scene a person was kicking in the windshield and someone was already on the phone with 911. A young hispanic male crawled out of the car unharmed except a cut on his hand.
(He couldn't have been on his phone while driving because I saw him pull the phone out of his pocket after he sat down on the curb to call his father)

Seemingly a miraculous event that this kid wasn't hurt. What's crazy is it was on the same road as this accident that I have pictures of from last october.

drive safe,
jim baker

05.11.08 - don't be lazy...

2008-05-11T15:03:00.003-04:00

so today...i was lounging in my chair trying to transfer some files to an external harddrive.

I used a short cable and just had the external resting on a chair next to me...

i went to stand up, not thinking...

while the hard drive was transferring files, it fell to the ground.

it doesn't work anymore.

my suggestion... don't take short cuts.

and luckily i had a copy of that external copied to another external.

so back EVERYTHING up... and don't be lazy, sit at a desk, and make sure your gear is safe.

grrrrr
jim baker

05.07.08 - Kaeolyn Photoshoot - Jamestown NY

2008-05-08T06:15:00.002-04:00

Last night I shot for Keaolyn

check out my flickr for a few of their shots from band practice as well.

driving back to MD today...
jim baker

05.07.08 - Tim Lease - Jamestown NY

2008-05-07T18:00:00.003-04:00

Today I shot Tim Lease on 1st street in Jamestown.

This was my favorite pic from the set.

to see more check out my flickr.

cheers
jim baker

05.06.08 - Riley Phillips - Jamestown NY

2008-05-06T20:18:00.004-04:00

Got together with Riley today, we met up for an early dinner and then a photoshoot. Here's a few of my favs from the day.

alley shot, natural light

bw bare flash full power behind

superhero
bare flash camera right

adios,
jim baker

04.28.08 - a macbook pro story

2008-04-28T19:50:00.002-04:00

yup friends... thats a new 15" macbook pro...
250gb harddrive... 4 gigs of ram.
pretty stinkin' sweet.

wanna hear the even sweeter part of the story?

well if not you can stop reading and go to another website but for those that do... i'll keep typing.

so the CRAZY part about this new computer is that

it was donated from an anonymous donor.

:)

THANK YOU!
jim baker

04.15.08 - Jimmie Turner

2008-04-15T20:01:00.002-04:00

My buddy Jimmie Turner was in town this past weekend. He is a youth pastor from Nasvhille TN. He came and spoke to my prayer team and also to a group from my old church. We ran into this location on accident trying to get to my buddies house so we went back there yesterday and shot.

lemme know what you think,
jim baker

04.08.08 - whats uppppp

2008-04-08T13:11:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone, I'm back. I shot today... I found these flowers on the street when I went for a walk. I'm gonna be streamlining my blogs and redoing my photography website this spring so I'll be sure to give you the new address. If you didn't know I got back from Hawaii a couple of weeks ago, I was doing a photography course. You can check out what I did there here.

580ex shot through an umbrella on a black hoodie

natural window light on a brown paper bag.

tripod, cable release, efs 60macro.

booyah,
jim baker

02.14.08 - Happy Valentines Day!

2008-02-14T16:32:00.005-05:00

Thought I'd drop by and say hello in this blog if anyone checks it anymore...

We're half way through this school if you want to follow what I'm doing you can check it out here.

http://www.jimbakerphotographyinhawaii.blogspot.com

But here's 5 of my favorite photos that I've taken so far since I've been here. Only one in color and all of them vertical format... weird.

enjoy...
jim baker

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T15:10:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone...

Happy New Year.

I'm leaving for Hawaii on Thursday so this is going to be my last post here. I won't be participating in ABC Wednesday anymore either sorry.

If you want to follow my photography in Hawaii you can check it out on the link below. (there's nothing there right now)

http://www.jimbakerphotographyinhawaii.blogspot.com

jim baker

12.30.07 - legal UBX?

2007-12-30T23:01:00.000-05:00

Jeff wrote a letter to the owners of the property and got a response that said go for it, its scheduled for demolition soon... so we came by and shot with letter in hand.

beautiful

i thought this was creepy

rusted wheel

Bakers!

why ubx is illegal.
this JUST went through my shoe... i had a hard time getting it out but I was lucky...
jim baker

12.29.07 - national zoo

2007-12-30T22:56:00.001-05:00

Caleb and I went to the National Zoo on saturday... tell me why the WHOLE way out is all uphill? We met up with Chris and went to Cactus Cantina's which has the BEST mexican food ever. And then we went to the Natural History museum which has some awesome wildlife photography on display that you should check out.

not to be controversial but I didn't evolve from these things.

i think i would like a panda as a pet

it only looks like your normal house cat
but this thing could rip your face off

i made sure not to taunt it because i didn't want to get mauled before going to hawaii
jim baker

12.28.07 - family portrait session

2007-12-28T12:02:00.001-05:00

12.27.07 - i told you lake elkhorn doesn't get old...

2007-12-27T17:54:00.000-05:00

12.26.07 - ABC Wednesday "W"

2007-12-25T20:06:00.000-05:00

double u.

wanna see other peoples posts? click here.

willow tree figurine
(see more here.)

whisk
(not a wisp like I had originally, thanks tim.)

wheels

watches

winter

jim baker

The cathedral in HDR

2007-12-23T21:10:00.002-05:00

correctly exposed

9 series REAL HDR

faux hdr photoshop trick

lemme know what you think.
If you have no clue what HDR is its a combination of images at different exposures combined. Google it and you can find out more.
jim baker

the shots that don't go in the portfolio from yesterday

2007-12-23T21:04:00.000-05:00

I like blogging because I'm allowed to share photos on my B list.

to help show perspective

wanna hear my dirty little secret? I have a fascination with public bathrooms... I wish I could photograph them all. I think its just the simplicity of them and the symmetry and repetition. I was in there twice yesterday and chickened out the first time. But the second time I was about to shoot and a guy came in... so I waited around like I was checking my phone until he left then snapped this shot real fast. As I was walking out he was walking back in with his camera gear... haha.

"make this one gangsta..."
does this remind you of this?

I might throw this one in my portfolio... it doesn't really show the scale of this escalator but it was huge.

jim baker

details from the cathedral

2007-12-23T20:54:00.000-05:00

why didn't i post this yesterday?!

2007-12-23T20:28:00.000-05:00

pretty typical... but its good to have typical sometimes

jim baker

12.22.07 - National Cathedral

2007-12-23T07:49:00.001-05:00

Chris Hidey and I went out to the National Cathedral yesterday. I hadn't been there since I was a child. I remember going with one of my second cousins or first cousins once removed... or however those cousins work... (it's really my mothers cousin, but she's about my sisters age) and she's the one that really got me into photography.

There's nothing really to show perspective in this shot... but if you haven't been you should go. It's a bit of a hike from the metro though.

Another exterior shot.

The beauty of the place is the indoors. Another beautiful thing about it is they actually allow you to use a tripod.

I used my remote for this shot with mirror lock up. It should be extremely TAC sharp.

"excuse me sir, finish taking your shot and then you need to leave this area its prohibited."
"thank you, I'm sorry."

a child looks out the observation deck of the 7th story.

I'll post some other stuff later from this trip...
leave me some love.
jim baker

12.21.07 - Allison

2007-12-21T22:00:00.000-05:00

Besides being my last day of work today, (uneventful) I got to shoot a portrait session (which I feel like I haven't done forever) for my friend Allison who needed some portraits done for this upcoming Holiday Season.
(You all should have been so smart.. its still not too late haha)

Allison and I worked together two summers ago in an extended year program for special needs toddlers. She did an awesome job today.

I started out with this pose because it was fresh in my mind...
I've decided that this is indeed a flattering angle and not "condescending" at all.

This was shot with my new 70-200 F4

Lake Elkhorn never gets old...

Allison is also a very talented piano player. And my flash actually did what I wanted it too!
(flash bounced off the ceiling dialed down to like 1/8 power)

A mix of natural light and ambient light makes for a good window portrait. Achieved solely because of a fast lens. Thanks to Chris Hidey for letting me borrow his 50 1.8, mine won't get here now until the 27th.

I love the composition and lighting of this shot.

Allison and I got to hang out afterward and grab a bite to eat a Michael's Pub (which has some really good wings)
Thank you Allison for the privilege of shooting you, you did a great job. I think this is one of my favorite shoots ever. I love that even though we only shot for about an hour and a half we got so many different looking photos.

Off to the National Cathedral tomorrow weather permitting with Chris Hidey. If anyone wants to kick it late night I'm trying to force myself to get on hawaii time now so I can hit the ground running.

cheers,
Jim Baker

more from last night...

2007-12-20T08:33:00.000-05:00

Christopher McHidey and I went out to the Columbia lake front last night to shoot. All of this was done with my new 70-200 f4.

what is this thing?! and why does columbia have such random landmarks...

choose civility.

i think i'm expecting a positive response for this one...
but then again you never know.
jim baker

p.s I haven't bordered a shot in a long time...

re-edit?

2007-12-19T20:20:00.000-05:00

better? worse?
jim baker

12.19.07 - b-more port

2007-12-19T18:46:00.001-05:00

went to some restaurant some of my students told me about in baltimore... it wasn't that great.
but i saw this on the way home and got out and shot it.
jim baker

p.s i ordered a lens sometime last week... (yes another lens) I'll do a gear pic soon I promise... once i get everything haha, anyway, UPS said originally that it would be delivered yesterday... its still not here. :(

condescending?

2007-12-19T10:28:00.000-05:00

I just posted this question in a couple of the "groups" on flickr... I'd love to know your thoughts...

I've been told to watch out of my use of this angle when shooting because it can come across as condescending. This seems to be my crutch when I'm stuck with coming up with an angle to shoot at when it comes to portraits... what do you think? I'm in no way a male chauvinist, and do not shoot portraits this way to "look down on women."

Thanks for your thoughts,
Jim Baker

Ross and Calley

Daiga

Corrin

Megan

Ieva

Joanna

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

2007-12-19T09:19:00.001-05:00

blogger is making me pretty mad today!
not showing pictures...
not allowing me to upload pictures...
whats the deal?!

jim baker

ABC Wednesday (part 2)

2007-12-19T08:52:00.000-05:00

Blogger says that post with more than 3 mb of space cannot be displayed or something like that... so I'll cut the posts in half in hopes that it might work? Here it goes...

Violin

Vespa

a portrait with vehicles
(you can see the whole shoot here)

Mike Shoemaker with his vintage camera.

a shot from a while ago...
this is Chris Bischoff in a vandalized Soviet movie theater in ķemeri Latvia .
(So it was you Chris that introduced me to urban exploration...)

I'm loving ABC Wednesday because it gives me a chance to showcase some of my old work in a new way. Thanks!
Jim Baker

12.19.07 - ABC Wednesday the letter "V"

2007-12-19T05:59:00.000-05:00

ABC Wednesday check out who else participates check here.

I really thought "V" was going to be hard but once I got started I couldn't stop...

Violence
(the only new shot, took this last night specifically for this shoot, don't ask my why I have that knife I bought it when I was 14, scary though huh?)

Vulgar on vacation in Virginia Beach... UNH! that was a lot of V's
(photo courtesy of Jon Barnes)

me drinking white hot chocolate in Vac, Hungary.

Vaccaros for a dessert with vanilla ice cream.

a church in Valdemarpils, Latvia

12.18.07 - nada

2007-12-18T21:05:00.000-05:00

I took some goofy self portraits tonite... and was trying to put them into a slideshow so you could watch it like a movie but it wasn't working out like i wanted to... plus I decided if any potential clients stumble across this site I'd like to be considered semi professional right?

Tomorrow's ABC wednesday post is ready to go though... but I feel like everyone else posts theirs early, mine is ready but I'm not posting it until tomorrow morning when I wake up.

Good night.
jim baker

my L series lens...

2007-12-18T11:14:00.001-05:00

(view large)
now I know this isn't the greatest shot... but as I was scrolling through my iphoto library I stopped at this picture and just looked at its overall clarity. This is TOTALLY unprocessed, I ussualy sharpen and push the saturation and contrasts on everything I upload... but would you agree that this photo as is is pretty stinkin' sharp?! Tim Lease always said that L series lens' ruined him... I'm thinking i'm in the process of being ruined too.

do you agree or am i just imagining things?

20d - iso 800 - 176mm - 1/50s - f4
jim baker

12.17.07 - signs

2007-12-17T22:35:00.001-05:00

here is a couple of signs from tonite found in downtown historic sykesville...
i met up with my buddy John down there for half priced wings at e.w becks
i reek of smoke though, so i'm going to go take my third shower of the day.
jim baker

p.s these were shot with the 50 1.8 prime that i'm borrowing from Chris Hidey
looking through a fixed lens at 50 is really different... I don't feel like its wide enough for my taste for what I was trying to do last night... but I'm hoping it will serve as a pretty decent portrait lens... theres one on the way so we'll see. :)

:(

2007-12-17T07:53:00.001-05:00

sorry about no post yesterday.

Yesterday I went to shoot my church's Christmas Pageant and I got there early and set up and shot while they were warming up trying to get individual headshots of each person in the choir. It worked out great because there was no audience so I was free to move around how I wanted. I had my camera with my new lens propped up on my tripod and was able to shoot pretty steadily.

I got home and imported them and everything that I shot during the early session was corrupted so i lost all of them. The shots after were shots that you've already seen.

That's the first time I've ever lost work like that...

I can totally see why reporters carry two bodies though when they are covering events, one with a wide angle and one with a telephoto. I wish I would have had two bodies yesterday. It's nearly impossible to switch out lenses quickly and grab the shots you need.

Today is my last week of work...
jim baker

p.s its 81 in hawaii right now... haha soon I will be there and not have to deal with weather in the 30's.

12.15.07 - stupid squirrel

2007-12-15T16:16:00.001-05:00

sorry... i said in the post below that no one wanted to see this... and probably still no one does... but i'm posting it anyway.

I took this out my window this evening (no crop)... i'll post some pictures of my new gear tonite or something to make up for this one.
jim baker

star photography = no go

2007-12-15T15:37:00.000-05:00

so last night I went out to Western Howard County in hopes of catching some of the meteor shower and hoping that I even could capture some of it.

Well it reminded me of a shower I took in Latvia right before I left this past August...
drip.
drip.
drip.

I saw about two meat eaters (meteors) and would have had better luck using ms paint with the black paint bucket and a white paint brush tool to make a better picture.

I took some more pictures of some stupid squirrel today but no one wants to see anymore ugly squirrels.

I however have been trying to be really active on Flickr... you can check out my stuff here.

jim baker

12.14.07 - the start to my national geographic career

2007-12-14T16:58:00.001-05:00

Putting my 70-200 to some good use today... these are still like quarter crops though so I'm not getting in THAT close. I walked around in nature for a bit to get these too... nothing exotic but hey its a start right?

off to go do some more photography...
jim baker

12.13.07 - retirement home

2007-12-14T07:51:00.000-05:00

Last night my church did their Christmas Pageant at a retirement community.

If you'd like to see this Christmas program you can come and see it for their last performance this Sunday at 10:00am at Homewood High School. If you want more details please contact me.

the audience

the audience watches intently.

big smiles as frosty comes out!

it's okay to smile. you should talk to the lady in the picture above you...

The auditorium had a large beautifully decorated Christmas tree up as part of their decorations.

Toni directs the choir

behind the scenes.

an elderly couple share a quiet moment.

a staff worker helps an elderly lady clap along.
(not tac sharp, i'm sorry... lighting again was difficult (dimly lit) and the room was large, I didn't want to use a flash so I cranked my ISO up to 800 and put it in Av mode at my widest aperture and fired in burst mode, I have no clue how I could have gotten less blurry shots...)

one of the reasons I love my church is because we use macs. :)

jim baker

p.s do you notice anything about these shots? Probably not... but I did a lot of them using my new 70-200 f4 that I got in the mail yesterday!!! It gave me the reach I needed to stay out of the way and shoot people more comfortably. I also used Chris' prime 50 1.8 a bit (the shot of Toni was used taking that) and I really like that lens too because its so fast. The auto focus is slow but manual focusing is quick and easy to do. (reminds me of my film days when I didn't have auto focus.) I think before I leave I am going to buy a 50 1.8 to add to my bag and the release cable too. I would have a great use for a release cable tonite... but I'll leave you wondering...

poverty

2007-12-13T10:10:00.000-05:00

Check out these documentary photos on poverty from photographer Tom Stone. Make sure you take the time to read the stories below the pictures.

12.12.07 - annapolis

2007-12-13T09:00:00.001-05:00

Chris Hidey (who actually updated his blog recently!) and I went out last night and tried to go to some bridge that I thought would be cool... it wasn't so we drove to annapolis instead. With the help of my friend Jess and a drunk woman we actually got to the harbor. Chris and I have again realized that we need to shoot during the day. Enjoy... none of these would be put on my list of spectacular shots... but here ya go.

The problem with shooting things that are sitting in the water is that they are moving... so a 30 sec exposure doesn't exactly help make anything tac sharp...

10-22

28-105

jim baker

12.12.07 - untitled

2007-12-12T20:00:00.001-05:00

so the day started out with me and drew shooting this building

the location ended up like this...

so we decided to go elsewhere and do some... well...

urban

exploration

could easily become

an addiction

jim baker

ABC Wednesday - U

2007-12-11T22:18:00.000-05:00

undone
(actually shot this last night for this shoot)

and here are some older ones...

underground

underwear

underground again

ubiquitous
(now thats a good U word...)
existing or being everywhere, esp. at the same time; omnipresent

jim baker

12.11.07 - Christmas Macros

2007-12-11T20:53:00.000-05:00

view large...

Happy Holidays Everyone!!!
jim baker

12.10.07 - PG county...

2007-12-10T21:23:00.000-05:00

went and hung out with some of the "UBF Kids" tonite... wanted to kick it one last time before I left for hawaii... we went and grabbed some food and then coffee and then did what follows.

you might recognize some of them from this post or this one

lighting portraits at night = impossible

the metro from a peir

friends!

david and me

sarah and me

elijah and me

hannah and me

group shot

jim baker

12.09.07 - The Helping Up Mission

2007-12-10T09:18:00.001-05:00

My church went and preformed their Christmas pageant at the The Helping Up Mission in Baltimore last night. Two members of our congregation volunteer at this men's homeless shelter on a regular basis.

Members from our churches high school youth group came out to help and enjoy the show.

Frosty!

Smiles from the audience!

okay... so not EVERYONE was as interested... :)

Yesterday was a BUSY day, pretty much non-stop I haven't had one of those days in a while. I shot last night without a flash because I didn't want to attract a ton of attention to myself. I was shooting in program mode and I realized that I should have been shooting in Av with the lowest aperture set so that I could have had higher shutter speeds. Most of my pictures were blurry because it was so low light. Again I could have really used the 70-200 to get some shots from further away instead of having to be up in peoples faces while I was shooting.

I'm going to try to move my work schedule around on Thursday so that I can go shoot when my church does this again at a retirement home.
jim baker

guess who bought the slingshot 200?

2007-12-10T08:36:00.000-05:00

:)

I had a busy day yesterday but I decided to splurge and at least give the bag a try. I called ritz camera twice yesterday asking for it and they had no clue what they were talking about, neither person I talked to knew what it was so they put me on hold, long enough that I hung up on them both times. I then called Penn Camera and the lady knew exactly what I was talking about. I had to take some friends to Dulles yesterday and then get out to baltimore to do some photography for my church (i'll post those in a few) so I just ran to the mall real quick and bought it from ritz. (even though, I much rather support penn soley based on competence) 30 day return policy... but I don't think its getting returned.

My camera keeps asking me to reset the time and date... I wonder if my internal battery is going bad. I'm really really seriously contemplating buying the 70-200 f4 and the remote release still before I leave for hawaii. I'm going to take another look at my finances today and see what's gonna happen.

And as far as U for this week... (ABC Wednesday) I have no idea what I'm going to post.

jim baker

12.08.07 - Frederick MD

2007-12-09T12:40:00.000-05:00

Having never been out to Frederick MD I find myself there twice in one weekend. I played drums for my churches band at a church in Frederick on Friday and I ended up there last night so Heidi could show me the location and do some photography. You might recognize Heidi from this shoot.

street shots

church shots

and the Frederick skyline.
Jim Baker

lowepro slingshot 200

2007-12-08T12:17:00.000-05:00

slingshot 200... i know i just posted a picture... but I just found it on newegg for $10 cheaper... but I've also been doing some more research and I've seen a couple of reviews that says its cheaply made and one person had the zipper break... I've also seen people say that the sling action isn't as accessible as people make it seem.

I guess the only way to know would be to go try it out huh?
jim baker

sd750

2007-12-07T14:04:00.000-05:00

sd 750 - 209.99

well this will be my third change up in my wishlist. Cheryl pointed me to this camera which is $30 more than the one I was looking at. When I did a bit of research it looked almost identical when it came to functions as the sd 1000 which is $30 cheaper. BUT I went to Staples today to buy some magnet tape and I stopped to look at the cameras and they had them both side by side. So I picked up t he sd750, it has a much sleeker look and a .5in bigger screen which makes a big deal. It doesn't have the small viewfinder which a lot of people like but I don't think i'd use it that much anyway. So sleeker look and a bigger lcd screen... I'd pay an extra $30 for that.

These cameras also take the new sdhc cards... I don't know what that means but I found a 4gig card for... $37.01

Along with looking at these things I also looked at my bank account today... and well I have just enough money to survive in Hawaii for the three months I will be there so no extras anytime soon unless I get a portrait gig before I leave or I can sell these cymbals I'm trying to sell.

If you or anyone is interested in getting some portraits done for the upcoming holidays let me know. Or if you know of anyone that is looking for a set of Sabian AAX cymbals tell them to contact me.

If you want to see some of my portrait work you can see it here.
www.jimbakerphotography.com

cheers
jim baker

12.07.07 - Sounds of the Season (shots from last nite)

2007-12-07T08:39:00.000-05:00

Last night I was asked to document my churches Christmas concert presented at a local high school where my congregation meets. It was a pretty big production for my small church but they did a great job!

A little bit of a photographer rant... I de-saturated these all to black and white to go with the 'documentary' feel... in reality I did it because the colors and lighting of the school were just plain ugly and distracting. Who do they pay to do the interior design of schools?! I wonder if kids would be in better moods if they decorated a little better. I need to be more conscious about my composition I didn't realize until I got my shots in the computer how BRIGHT the fluorescents show up and how distracting they are to the rest of the frame. Also I need to get better at telling a story through pictures. I feel like I captured some good shots here but I don't think if you just looked at the pictures you would know what was going on. I wish I had a longer lens last night, my 105 didn't get me in as close as I would have liked. Anyway onto the photos...

the choir

passing out candy canes

taking a break and watching the show

a giant overstuffed snow man dances as his wife smirks at him from the choir

puppets!

taking a break

family smiles!

this is probably my post for today even though they are from yesterday, I am headed out somewhere near PA to play drums with my churches band at another church tonite. I ran through some songs on Wednesday and that was the first time I had touched a drumset since this summer and I didn't even play with the full band. So wish me luck! I might take my camera...

jim baker

wishlist revisions and thoughts

2007-12-06T11:01:00.001-05:00

After recommending Jon Barnes the Lowepro Slingshot bag it made me stop and think about what I was really looking for in a camera bag. I currently have the Crumpler Sinking Barge backpack. It fits my 15" Powerbook and my 20 d body and my 28-105 and my 10-22. It also fits a lightsphere and my 580ex. Great for my current set up when traveling, I love it as my carry on when I fly. The problem is it is not a good working bag. Accessing things is hard plus its pretty bulky bag. And if I buy another lens (which I'd like to do) I'd soon outgrow my backpack. But is there ever really any reason to be traveling with all of your lenses?

Before I had the crumpler bag I used to just put all my gear in my laptop case which got extreemly heavy (cheap strap on one shoulder) and didn't really protect my camera gear well. This was also before I had the 10-22 lens so theres no way I could use my laptop bag anymore.

Hmmm... I'm just thinking outloud now. I can't really come to terms with a real need to be switching out lenses when you're out shooting. I like to keep things simple. I can see at a wedding yes, but if I go into shooting weddings full time I will want two bodies, one with a wide angle and one with a telephoto. So I can go from capturing intimate close ups to the whole scene quickly.

If I'm out walking around just doing the touristy shooting I'll probably just have my 10-22 and my tripod if it was low light. I guess there might be some times where you'd want to get some closer shots with a longer lens but my current 28-105 isn't really getting me all that close. And I don't feel like the 200 is going to get me THAT close either. And since I haven't shot with a longer lens I don't know what I'm missing out on so I can't say I'd definitely need that lens in my bag.

I'm trying to envision what kind of assignments we will have when we are in Hawaii. If its an on location portrait shoot then I'm going to want a flash and my mid range lens and maybe my wide lens too. But since I'm going to be carrying a flash I might as well pack another lens because there's room.

Okay... but thats a set up and go kind of shoot not a on the fly shoot where I'd have to capture something really fast, so traveling to the location might take a while so I'd want a bag that could fit everything including my body since I wouldn't want to travel with my camera around my neck. The slingshot seems the best for that, since the shoot sac isn't a transport bag at all and the slingshot would be more secure on me even though its a bit bulkier than the shoot sac but it would allow me to climb over, under on top of better than the shoot sac too. (not that I'm very good at any of these things you should have seen me trying to get around the subway beds) It could also double as a solid traveling case for a second body if I ever got one.

I'm realizing that good photography takes time and it might take scouting a location before you shoot it for real. That way you can prepare with the gear you'll need and shoot exactly what you want. I'm getting more used to focusing on one good shot for an evening. Like last night after I got the boat shot I was ready to go home but snuck the palm tree shot in there too because we still had some time. So stressing about what gear I'm going to need in any situation isn't really logical because you have to go out with an intent about what you want to shoot if you plan on coming home with anything quality.

I guess if you're doing documentary style photography then there's where the two camera body set up comes in...

Haha, I think I just talked myself into paying less money for a more functional bag.

Lowepro Slingshot 200 - $89.95
(I should run up to penn camera with my gear and see what its like)
I thought I was going to have to buy the 300 version (bigger) but I'm reading reviews that says it will fit the lens that I want in it...

While I was at Ritz last night I also asked to see the G9. Best buy doesn't carry it probably because its pretty pricey and I guess if you want the G9 you'd probably be going to a camera store to get it. The G9 was just to big... sure it had a lot of features, but what I realized as I stood there was if I wanted those features and I was going to spend that much time doing that I might as well just carry my DSLR with me. So I guess if you want small and portable you have to let go of manual controls and just trust that auto is gonna get it done.

The Canon SD 1000 has gotten pretty strong reviews. All I'm looking to use a point and shoot for would be to do fun snapshots so this should be fine. Plus its $175 instead of $439.99. It also allows up to 32 minutes of video on a 4 gig card. Its ultra compact and the test pictures that I've seen reviewed look pretty good. I'd like to see more shots done indoors in low light.

canon sd1000 - $175

This is still way down on my list though... so I won't be getting a point and shoot anytime soon but its always nice to think ahead. I might go swing by best buy today and play with it a bit.

Thanks for allowing me to think out loud, I can't come to these conclusions unless I do.

jim baker

12.06.07 - snowy morning

2007-12-06T10:18:00.000-05:00

We had a 2 hour delay for work today. (I work for the public school system) And I was sitting at my desk looking out the window and realized that I just needed to get out and shoot. I had to look up how to shoot snow because I knew there was some trick to doing it... the key is over exposing your photo a couple of stops. enjoy.

12.05.07 - b-more with a bit o snow

2007-12-05T23:13:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone, thanks for the overwhelming response to ABC Wednesday, I'm really looking forward to U next wednesday.

On a side note, I went with my buddy Jon tonite to a local camera shop, he was looking for a camera bag for his upcoming trip to Germany. I sold him on the lowepro slingshot bag, he bought it. I knew it was a popular bag and pretty functional so I suggested it and he ate it up. I'm kinda considering it now... I dunno. I need to think it through some more. It sure is a lot cheaper than the shootsac. I'll leave the comparrison to a different post.

I also held the G9 tonite at the camera store. Its way to bulky. Back to the drawing board for a point and shoot. I'll leave that for another post too. I'm glad I'm learning these things now.

If you have no clue what these comments are in reference to its just me rambling about some changes to the wishlist I posted a few posts ago. I'm headed out to a School of Photography with YWAM in Hawaii in Jan so that should help explain things. I was just trying to compile a list of things I'd like.

Anyway as promised Chris Hidey and I went out and shot tonite. Here's two of my favs.

Through the snow covered palms.
(I thought it created a great natural frame and also was such a contrast, when I think of palm leaves I think of warm weather, not snow.)

and my fav from the night. I'm real proud of this shot. :)

Chris also invited me to come out to NYC with him for a photography weekend the weekend before Christmas... I'm seriously considering it. I think that'd be a great way to close out 2007 what do you say?

I hope we at least have a delay from work tomorrow because of this snow...

jim baker

ABC Wednesday... the letter T

2007-12-05T11:25:00.001-05:00

Found this through Bonnie's blog. Bonnie's like my networking person, I'm really glad she found my blog. She's opened up the rest of the blogging world for me.

I'm still not tottaly clear on the 'rules' of ABC wednesday but I guess you just post photos of whatever alphabet letter they are on. (Do they have to be new photos or can they be old?) The moderator of the game left a comment on my last post so I went and checked out her blog. Today is T... I don't have a camera in front of me (i'm at work) so I'm gonna run through the archives and post some pics. This is gonna be a great way to push me to shoot more often and think creatively. Looks like happyone (another person who's blog I frequent, because of Bonnie's introduction) participates now too. So here's to T!

Traffic
(tried some faux hdr on this one to change it up since I just posted this pic)

texture

teapot

toilet

Talsi, Latvia the crosses look like T's also.

Teaching

hey, this is fun!
jim baker

contest?

2007-12-05T10:11:00.000-05:00

i'm glad that blogger fixed the picture ordeal and that when you click on them instead of downloading they open in a new window again. I was about to start searching for a new place to do this because of that...

Bonnie told me about this contest. I've never entered a photo contest before...

The prize is a 'threadless shirt' when I clicked on the link to find out about it my works server blocked it... what kind of prize is this?

I need your help though, the theme is "what inspires you"

so help me find two photos in my blog or somewhere else where you've seen my work that fits that theme. If you look a couple of posts down there are links to my other work.

jim baker

my wishlist

2007-12-05T08:21:00.000-05:00

I'm trying not to get overwhelmed and remind myself that this upcoming school is about learning not being an expert already. It's hard to believe that its less than a month till I leave.

Here's some things I'd like to learn in this next month...

I'd really like to go there with some working knowledge of Adobe lightroom since this is the software that they will be using.

I'd also like to go there having a working knowledge of off camera lighting. I've read through the strobist lighting 101 thing a few times and each time it starts to make a bit more sense but its still definitely an area that I have no real understanding in. I can't get my flash to do what I want it to do. Look at some of the things people are doing with off camera lighting. I'm amazed!

I don't think either of these things are going to happen because...

I could so easily drop over $2g's (I sure don't have that much) on everything I feel like I NEED to go to this school. In reality I probably have all that I need already. There's a few things that would make things a lot nicer though... there always is isn't there?

These are the things I'd like in order of importance. With the top of the list being what I will most likely buy first...

tc80n3 - $136.61

this just opens up all kinds of options for my camera. Besides having less shake when I'm doing macro photography or long exposures, it gives me the oppourtunity to do really long exposures and time lapse photography two things I cannot do without this little accessory. I've got an amazon gift card coming from my credit card soon so I'm probably going to buy this.

Shootsac - $179.00

I follow Jessica Claires Blog you should really check out her work its amazing. Rachel Barker introduced me to her blog because Jessica did photography for Gary Fong's wedding and Rachel worked for Gary's wife. But anyway, Jessica designed this bag and its getting some pretty great reviews. I think it'd be a great functional day bag to have, I've got my crumpler bag (which I LOVE) but its not really that practical for day trips where you never know what you might need. The crumpler bag is a great way to travel long distances though with your gear. I've travelled with it to Eastern Europe and to Mexico and it worked great. But much to bulky and not functional for a day trip when you need to access gear quickly. I didn't ask Jessica to use her images of her product on my blog... but hey its free advertizing right? She should be asking me if I would be willing to since I get so many hits on this little corner of the web... HA!

I think the best way to prepare to shoot is to know what your going out to shoot and pack as little as you can, it'd be real nice to just be able to go out with just your body and a lens (ussualy my 10-22 is my walk around lens)

But if i'm going to be shooting portraits on location I might need a flash and its a pain in the arse to walk around with your flash and lightsphere ON your camera when your not shooting and travelling. I have this little rectangular cheap video camera bag that just has one compartment that I used when I did this photoshoot in DC with a couple and it just wasn't at all comfortable or that functional.

Okay the moneys gone... so here's my wish list on the top is the...

50 1.8 - $71.28

A fast prime lens, this hasn't gotten that great reviews but its cheap and I think there is always occations for fast primes. Shooting indoors without a flash would be one of those occations. Why not the 1.4? I tottaly would but simply I cannot afford it right now. This is one of the cheapest things on the list...

70 - 200 f4 - $484.00

Found it used on KEH.com thanks to Mike Shoemaker. Again this lens gives me double the reach I've got now which would be nice in specific situations, sometimes you just can't get close to things as you'd like to. Why not the 2.8... because the 2.8 is a lot bigger and a lot more costly.

UV filters for these lenses - 11.97 - for the 52mm and 16.75 for the 67mm
(the one pictured is the real expensive ones, not the kind I want)

UV filters just seem like a must have in my opinion (for protection) but I'm going to start spending the little bit of extra cash and buying the multi coated versions. I'll go back one day and get multi coated versions for my other lenses when I have the cash.

Strobist Wireless Lighting Kit - $129

I'd get SW2 cause I already have a flash. This kit just seems like a good way to start out and learn this stuff. If I had the luxary of buying real nice lighting gear I'd do it... but I don't so since I'm just learning, this stuff seems like it should suffice.

Okay and now here's my DREAM luxary list for the school...

Canon G9 - $439.99

I absolutly WANT a small p/s camera because it just seems like I'd be more inclined to shoot the "fun" shots more and it'd be nice to be able to ALWAYS have a camera on me. I also would like the capability to do video so I can be sending back updates in other forms than just words and pictures. I like this specific camera because it has the options to expand if need be. A hotshoe flash... but if I'm doing anything that serious I guess I'd probably bust out the trusty 20d. But I need something small (that can fit in my pocket) that I can program the settings not just fully auto, and has decent video. I also just like having all my gear match so I'd be shooting canon.

4 gig SD card for the G9 - $30.97

Adobe Lightroom - $284.99

If we're required to use the program it'd be nice to go to the school with a bit of understanding... and have it on my own computer. But I'm sure it can't be to hard to learn and they are obviously going to teach us how to use it. I downloaded the trail version and I tried using it a bit and didn't understand it plus it slowed my computer way down. I since then have put in an extra gig of ram but my 30 day trial expired. I was trying to pump out a portrait gig I did and I was trying to learn the program at the same time so I just resorted to my old ways of doing things due to the fact they were quicker because I knew how to do them.

IPOD Touch - $299.00

I'd need some way to protect it while I carried it too and would want some different headphones so tack on some more money. I had an ipod once... it got confiscated from a kid at the high school i work at and he never came to pick it back up so I got it. I gave it away though to a friend that really wanted an ipod. But I like the idea of having an ipod again and being able to show ppl my portfolio on it along with being able to check e-mail too when I travel. This would definitly downsize the things I travel with. I felt very unsafe in Mexico with thousands of dollars strapped to my back travelling all around.

Its good to dream right and have goals, and to make lists and know why you want things.

If wishes were horses we'd all take a ride.

I'm still gonna go to this school and do the best I can with what I got. This next season is about training and learning so that the rest of my life I can capture things well. I just have to keep that in mind.

jim baker

p.s this whole in a way disgusts me because there are people alive right now that can't afford a meal.

comparing work...

2007-12-05T08:04:00.000-05:00

whats up everyone? good morning. its really hot in my office... and i'm drinking coffee from dunkin' donuts. I really like their coffee. It beats starbucks any day.

I was going through trying to catch up on comments on my blog and realized that sometimes you don't have to respond and thats okay. I was really searching for things to say to comments that were left a few weeks ago or whatever and I was just like ya know what... forget it. What is proper blog etiqutte anyway? To respond on your own page where people comment or to go to their blog and answer their question on their blog?

I wanted to show you the difference in my work from 2006 and 2007.

Here is 2006's work on Flickr.
(mainly portraits)

And here is 2007's work on photo.net
(there are a few shots from 2006 on here too though but most of them are new and no new portraits)

What I'm really pumped about is looking back next year at the work from 2008. I think its going to be my best yet.

Its hard to compare the two sets of work because 2006 is mainly portraits and 2007 is mostly not... but I'd say that 2007's work is a lot darker. But that could just be attributed to the fact that I have been doing a lot of low light photography, something I was not really able to do with out a tripod.

I'm glad that I can do more than one style of photography. A lot of people have suggested to just pick one area and focus on that. I don't really like that idea, but maybe once I've dabbled a bit in everything I will.

I've got a big long post in the works about some new gear I'd like... but I'm not sure if I'm going to post it or not... (i probably will because I'm pretty bored at work today)

I'm going to be going out and shooting tonite with Chris Hidey... i'm hoping he'll update his friggin' blog since he's had this nice new DSLR for over a month now and hasn't put up a single picture with it. haha.

jim baker

12.04.07 - angels

2007-12-04T19:00:00.000-05:00

12.03.07 - a couple from tonite

2007-12-03T21:49:00.000-05:00

is anyone getting sick of seeing night photography? I sure am... but it seems like the only time I'm free to go out and about. I'm proud of this shot simply because i saw this location last weekend and wanted to shoot it, I stood on this bridge and frooze my butt of to get it plus I used my high iso/fast shutter speed trick to check my composition before I did my 30s exposure. If you look at the shadow of the fence at the bottom of the frame its pretty straight... but the way the light pole bends throws my horizontal lines off. i quit.

this is some golf house.
jim baker

12.03.07 - in one month i'll be boarding a plane

2007-12-03T07:45:00.000-05:00

This month is going to FLY by. Why when you click on a picture now does it download instead of open up in a new window? Is that a new blogger thing or did I change a setting? Also, my camera reset its numbers :( I was nearing 10,000 frames and now my camera reset that number.

I really want to get my feet wet with off camera lighting, I'm not sure exactly how that is going to happen. Since I need the gear that I don't have and it seems to all be in over my head. I'm working to not get to overwhelmed and realize that this school is a place for me to learn, not to go and know it all already. I put up a new self portrait last night and realized it was dumb so I changed it to another one that you've seen before. I also worked with my macro filter. And below the macros are a couple of shots of a party i went to on saturday.

plug

knife

"christmas rave"

cards

as far as how I'm going to proceed with this blog in light of the post below this I'm not sure a whole lot is going to change here. I think it pertained more to my myspace blog and just my overall time on the internet. We'll see what happens.

jim baker

uncooked

2007-12-02T08:50:00.001-05:00

UNCOOKED - Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 32 minutes.

Are you joking me? I said outloud. Not only are they asking me to “preheat” my oven… (a step that takes time, and seems like a waste of it) they are asking me to wait another 32 minutes for my food to be done.

Attempting to find a quicker way around this situation I studied the box for the microwave instructions. DO NOT MICROWAVE was clearly written in bold letters.

Aside from being a poignant story, it’s also a true one and it just happened before I sat down to write this. My stuffed chicken breast is slowly being tortured along with me as I have to wait another twenty some minutes to eat. As I write in agony of hunger (not really) this real life lesson proves to be a great segue.

I wanted to write about my experience over the past week. Starting last Monday morning I did not allow myself to check my myspace/facebook/blog, I would not allow myself to click on my inbox button incessantly, I would not sit and watch on demand digital cable, I would not sit at work and out of boredom find the most random news stories I could find or just scroll through pages of digg.com, I turned off the cd player in my car, and didn't allow myself to listen to music anywhere and I went out and bought a journal, (a composition book, because all of the real journals are girly, I could not find one masculine looking journal there, but that’s okay because my journal was 97c) some pens (which were gel pens, and I hate them, if you want them let me know they are yours) and decided to live my week like a prehistoric cave man, minus the grunting and fire building.

You wouldn’t imagine how the first day I got SO BORED and didn’t know what to do with myself.

Without music subduing my brain, it forced me to think. It forced me to face myself and face the world. There was no escape. My thoughts were allowed time to build upon themselves allowing me to process things deeper.

I’ve wanted to get back into the habit of journaling but I never made the time for it and I justified the fact that I could type faster than I could write plus I could always read what I type, and well, sometimes I struggle to read even my own handwriting. I realized that when I type things, I type for an audience, even now I’m writing with you in mind, but when I write in my journal, I don’t need to have any pretentious writing voice and I can express things fully without having to worry about how it will come across.

This whole “media fast” stems from finishing up Jon Barnes’ recent publication entitled Blood Silk and Motivation. It’s a small compilation of writings divided into three parts. The first is just a collection of poetry that he’s written throughout the years, the second portion is his photography and words or phrases, and lastly is a short story looking into the future and the possibility of human isolation because of technology.

Jon and I meet weekly, mainly to discuss the bible. He’s a youth pastor at local congregation in my hometown. He allowed me to read a draft of his book before he released it and these types of topics continued to come up before, after or even during our bible discussions. The effects of technology.

I remember one specific conversation, I was asking him about discipline and how he does it, (me being a fairly undisciplined person) besides accrediting the fact that he was in a military family he just said that it goes in seasons and when its nice out he does a lot of reading. He talked about how environment helped, he said when he reads he reads on his back deck, and not in front of the computer, because when there is a computer in front of you it fosters a sense of “if it takes longer than two seconds I’ve waited to long.”

It’s funny to me that I talk like my “media fast” was an extended hiatus. It was a whopping five days, but it felt like forever.

I’m not sure how web 2.0 is really defined but I guess it encompasses things like myspace/facebook/blogging/youtube and the like. I checked my facebook yesterday for the first time in that five days and I had like 6 “friends requests” or whatever they are called on facebook. I denied some and accepted others. I’m not sure why people that I vaguely remember from middle school, or people from high school that I barley ever talked to want to be my “friend” on facebook.

The whole social networking thing just feels like I’m being sucked back into the high school popularity contest culture and I don’t really care to step a foot there. I guess we just naturally carry over our culture into the internet. Its just sad that this is the only way a lot of people communicate now. I’ve asked people to e-mail me instead of send me messages on myspace/facebook and I get told how old school e-mail is. I just hate the interface and extra noise/nonsense of the myspace/facebook pages it's like sensory overload. People have added so many gaudy glittery obnoxious flash graphics to their myspace pages, or added so many useless applications on facebook that it not only overwhelms me it slows down my computer.

I feel like the whole social networking thing does not foster real relationships. It allows you to know up to the minute what everyone is doing so you can pretty much stalk them without ever having to leave the house. You can check in on people on your terms, when its good for you, and you can comment if you want to. But if it’s a situation where you don’t want to get your hands dirty you can simply walk away (or close the internet window)

People can masquerade even more so on the internet. They are only going to show you how much they want to show you of themselves (I’m talking about personality and flaws here, although I’ve seen too much of some people in their pictures) on these sites.

And how do you pick your top friends?! I have a nervous breakdown every time I try to pick my “top eight” because I don’t want anyone to feel excluded… and how do you judge it? Do they have me in their top 8? Do they comment on my page often? And what do you do when someone takes you off their top friends, what does that mean?

It’s a very me-centric set of devices. If you want to feel great about yourself go comment on a bunch of other peoples pages and I bet you in a days time your wall will be filled with comments. Look how popular I am now!

When I post my photography blog, I love feedback, I love comments, I’m a words of affirmation guy… so I check my blog every two seconds to see if anyone commented starting as soon as I post. I’m starting to feel like an internet whore.

Does it amaze anyone else that you can find a 5 year old on you tube that is better than you at anything you can imagine. Its quite amazing really, and just has the tendency to make me want to quit life because I’ll never be that good at anything. Was information ever meant to spread that fast? You can be world famous within seconds with internet 2.0.

But how long does that fame last? We get tired and bored quickly, and we’re off searching for the next latest and greatest things within seconds of our jaws hitting the floor. Frankly I’m sick of the impatient, disposable and consumer lifestyle that we live… and the internet seems to only push me further off the deep end. This spills into every area of our lives. Some things will not come quickly, some things are not meant to be thrown away when they get old.

Why do we even pour ourselves into spewing our guts online? Have we become so disconnected from friends and family that we have to open up to complete strangers?

Maybe I’m alone in this, but I’m done sharing real personal information in my blogs, some of the deeper things about life, raw emotions and struggles. My friend Chris Bischoff came to the same realization and said that he felt like he was casting “pearls before swine.”

That question is more for me as the writer of personal things, not as you the reader. What motivates me to share deep secrets with complete strangers and air my business in the internet realm where anyone can have access to it?

If the world is to busy for us to have a real relationship and we can’t find the time to talk about things over a cup of coffee then why should I be sharing these things with you anyway? And since I’m frankly not interested in maintaining or working at acquaintance type “hey how’s the weather” relationships then I don’t have much of a place in this internet realm. Although I’m a hypocrite because that is the only reason I keep my social networking accounts is to briefly stay in touch with people I haven’t heard from in a while. In reality it is a great resource, but its sad when it becomes an addiction.

I think its sad, but I have a friend and we interact in real life and on the internet and I swear that our internet relationship is better than real life. That’s strange. This person opens up better online, but then when we get together in person its like those conversations never happened.

I’m sick of multi tasking everything I do. Can I really BE just one place at one time, can I devote my attention to a single thing? Can I shut off my cell phone when I’m hanging out with people and not be a slave to it when it rings?

Can I really apply or process the copious amounts of information that I take in every day? Am I really thinking through everything that I get bombarded with?

Am I even skimming this, and realizing that this is way to long to read. Will I remember anything that I read 10 minutes from now? Even if I did nod my head in agreement?

I’m not completely demonizing technology because it has made some amazing advances. It allows me to talk with friends that I have across the world that otherwise I would not be able to keep in contact with. But at the same time, I sometimes feel a slave to the internet… but again that would be my problem and not it’s problem.

This whole post is self deprecating because what am I doing? I’m writing for an audience and expressing something rather deep that I’ve learned.

Jim Baker

12.01.07 - hello december (long post)

2007-12-01T11:34:00.001-05:00

December is here... I have a feeling this month is absolutly going to fly by and before you know it I will be boarding a plane to hawaii to really learn what I'm doing. I ordered the 250d which is a "close up filter" for my 28-105 lens. I wasn't all that impressed with it at first since it was a a little over $80 but what I'm imagining is the possibilities. Here look at the results. I shot using the mirror lock up function for the first time. It locks up the miror before the exposure is taken so that there is even less vibration. When you have it on the timer it locks up the miror then waits 2 seconds and takes the picture. This is a nice way not to have to wait so long for the timer. But as I stepped back I watched my tripod sway a bit (i had my center column up all the way) I should probably buy a shutter release. Anyway...

this is as close as I could get without the filter and have the quarter still be in focus.

and this is how close I could get with the filter and still keep things in focus.
quite the difference huh?

I bought the 250d (close up filter) in light of the fact that even though i'm not much into shooting flowers, I might only be in hawaii once in my lifetime so I mise well shoot some flowers while i'm assuming that there there since they have quite an array of beautiful flowers there.

I'd love to be able to get in even closer with tiny things, but the reality of it is, is that most flowers are going to be at LEAST double the size of a quarter when in bloom and that means I can shoot the flower to fill up the full frame. Thats plenty.

I was looking for timelapse photography and found this photographers site along the way. It makes me very excited to go to kona. :)

As far as timelapse photography goes I found this site. Definitly check it out... I want to be able to do this type of thing... I have no clue who he gets it in movie format and is able to pan with it though... that blows my mind.

Doing this type of photograph would require this...
That is going to be about $150 after all is said and done...
I'm not sure if I can make that splurge before I go or not...

I'm trying not to allow myself to think of this upcoming school as THE event in my life... although I do expect it to be an amazing experience I have this strong desire to go out and buy every peice of photography equipment I think I could ever need to make sure I make the most of these three months. When in reality this three months will be TRAINING so that the rest of my life as I gather the gear I can continue to take pictures no matter where I am. Haha... I did however put the last of my music equiment up for sale today. A bunch of professional cymbals.. if you know anyone that is interested let me know. My thought process was just that those cymbals in my basement that haven't been used in over a year is really a new lens...

I took this photo yesterday, this is our new pastor. I don't know how it all came about but I do all of the staff pictures for my churches website. I'm not at all complaining, I just don't remember how it happened. You can see the pictures I've taken for the church here. I'm pretty proud of those shots on there, I feel like they are different than your standard "headshot" and they have some character to them. Everything else on the site is just stock photography.

I shot the other night in Baltimore. I went and heard Chris Hidey speak about missions at a youth group for young men that he leads and after we went into baltimore. He didn't have his camera but was a good sport about letting me shoot. If I'm in the city I always buy gas at this royal farms because its like 10c cheaper and we just went exploring and went from semi gheto area and took a turn through a gate and BAM we were in the middle of this brand new apartment complex where everyone owned a boat on the harbor. I only got 4 shots. 30s exposures take a while, well 30seconds plus the time it takes to process, plus it was cold and we weren't trying to get in any problems with the security or anything so we didn't stick around to long. I didn't think I got anything to great but the last shot I took I just edited up a bit (had to fix a crooked horizon line) and did my usual other touch ups and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

I figured out when I got home that a really smart thing to do when I'm shooting in extreemly low light situations is to snap off a frame at a high iso and a fast shutter speed so I can check the composition and then change up my settings back to a low iso and a long shutter to get the final shot once I know my composition is correct. This would only work if you were shooting with a tripod.

When i started this blog I had no clue that it was going to be such a long post. I'm not even done, i've got a lot of other things i want to say.

I'm glad I've gotten out there and just been shooting a ton over the past few months. I think its helped me to learn a lot. Here's a list of tangible things I can think of... with links to the moment I probably realized them.

- shoot at ISO 100 as much as you can
- Never use iso 1600
- use the timer when doing long exposures
(I didn't write anything about it, but this was pre having a tripod and I was setting up the camera on trashcans and using the timer)
- when shooting low light set your camera to burst mode and snap off multiple frames
and try not to shoot slower than your focal length this is just asking for blurry pics
- and the most recent lesson which is posted in this blog is snap off not quality frames (high iso, fast shutter) when shooting in extreme low light so you can see the composition

There is probably more lessons I've learned but thats all i can think of right now.

OH! Make and keep tangible lists of places/concepts/ideas you have that you want to shoot.

I printed out and read the strobist lighting 101. Its pretty much the off camera light resource. I played with my flash a bit last night too (the thing really makes no sense to me) and but I learned some new cool things that I can do by just looking through the instruction books for my camera and the flash. Thats where I learned how to do the mirror lock up (i had heard of this technique but never done it) and also learned some more controls on my flash.

Have I bored you enough? My break was really good... granted it was only like a week, but I felt like it was a little mini retreat only I was still living life. Maybe one day I'll post more about this and what I was learning. (Life things not photograhy) Maybe I'll combine the too and try to explain my thoughts with pictures as well.

adios
jim baker

p.s if you need family portraits for this upcoming holiday season please let me know, I'm sure we can work out some kind of deal.

11.25.07 - i need a break...

2007-11-25T18:45:00.000-05:00

haha... this is what bordem does you to you.

i'm going to take an extended hiatus from blogging...

i just need some peace and quiet in my life and I've noticed that the internet seems to feed my need for instant gratification and just makes me even more impatient.

if you want to contact me you can e-mail me I'll still be checking e-mail... I just won't be clicking on my inbox every five seconds. Hopefully just once a day. I might still be doing some photography so if you are genuinly interested in anything I've shot latley or want to strike up some real conversation you can e-mail me.

jimbakerphotography@gmail.com

see ya guys.
jim baker

nevermind...

2007-11-25T08:45:00.000-05:00

i guess my harddrive didn't want to be ridiculed... it just mounted... maybe it just takes forever... but why is it taking forever?

jim baker

grrrr

2007-11-25T08:43:00.000-05:00

i was trying to back up the pics i have on my computer today and put them onto my external... but guess what?!

MY EXTERNAL WON'T MOUNT!!!

I took it down to my old desktop downstairs and it showed up there the files intact (thats a good thing) but it still won't read on my laptop. :(

any suggestions?!

jim baker

11.24.07 - bored out of my mind

2007-11-24T11:12:00.000-05:00

i'm so stinkin' bored...

i'm sick of shooting the same things

Chris and I went out last night and didn't shoot anything, we ended up at the movies instead.

today out of bordem i decided to take a picture of myself taking a picture of myself on my camera phone. I was trying to post it as my new profile pic but Blogger is being lame and wouldn't let me.

i ordered the macro filter so I should have that soon... prepare for some rad macros.

I'm still undecided about the 70-200... i'm not sure if I can justify the price. I think i want to buy a 50 1.8 too but I don't want to be carrying around a million lenses.

When i was in NY last weekend Tim Lease calibrated my screen for me... so if my post processing work looks different thats why...

'bout it
jim baker

p.s if you've got some photography ideas for me or want to hang out and shoot with me lemme know.

11.23.07 - 만두

2007-11-23T21:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my birthday and since yesterday also happened to be thanksgiving we celebrated today. All I asked for this year from my parents was my favorite meal that I haven't had since I graduated high school. Mon doo and brown rice. Mon doo is a Korean dumpling and the brown rice is not an asian recipie at all. But i like them both so I asked for it.

만두 (mon doo) the way my mom makes them is won ton wrappers with shredded onion, zucchini, carrots and ground beef and then fried. What's in your mon doo?
(I keep using the korean characters for it because it makes me feel special... I don't know a lick of korean... (its a goal of mine to learn someday) but I asked a "real korean" friend to type the characters for me... haha)

this is brown rice, its just white rice with a can of french onion soup or something like that and then baked...

my plate of delicious goodness.

dad, mom and me!
jim baker

11.20.07 - urban exploration

2007-11-20T18:33:00.000-05:00

on the way

window

creepy stairs

jeff

enjoy,
jim baker

11.17.07 - rochester NY

2007-11-18T19:53:00.001-05:00

Nate and I went up to visit our buddy Dave saturday in Rochester NY... we kicked it for a bit around his house and then he asked me "hey jim wanna go take some awesome pictures" I got really excited, because Dave is a really good artist and the locations didn't disapoint. He took us to these abandoned subway beds and he lost his shoe in the process. This is the only real solid shot I got of the location I wish I could have captured it in all of its BIGNESS but I couldn't.

Dave took us to some park and he had his skateboard in the car so I asked him to do a couple tricks so I could shoot... I officially HATE iso 800 I WILL not use it anymore.

what a rad location...

family.
Nate, Me and Dave.

We used to all bein a band together a few years ago called Lionweight...
haha you can listen to our stuff here
Back in the day Nate played bass and did background vocals.
I sang and played guitar.
And Dave played drums.

We all went different directions after the band broke up... you can check out our most recently recorded music projects below.

Nate's last recording is from a band named Kaeolyn.
He did the guitar and some vocals on these tracks but his band just went through a line up change and a stylistic change too so they don't sound as much like this anymore. I saw them play and took some pics of the new line up on Friday.

Dave used to be in this band Seric.
He played drums for this recording and is now pursuing some other projects.

I recorded some stuff last year and put it here
But I'm focusing on photography and sold most of my music equipment.

leave me some love, i'm going to catch up so sleep that I didn't get this weekend...
jim baker

11.16.07 - rock and roll

2007-11-16T19:33:00.000-05:00

I'm at the show as we speak... and I'm real glad that I travel with ear plugs. Even when i was into this scene I wore ear plugs all the time because I realized after playing in bands for a year that I had already lost hearing (my ears constnatly ring) so... ear plugs are essential.

My trip up was uneventful... except snow. I felt like I was in that cheesy windows screen saver with the stars while I was driving. You forget once you get outside of the Columbia area that the rest of the world isn't as multi ethnic. I walked into a Sheetz in Phillipsburg PA to grab some grub after I got gas and the lady was very friendly to the few costumers in front of me smiled, spoke to them... and she kept glancing at me... and then when I came up she didn't speak to me or make eye contact. I wonder if she thought I couldn't speak english or something.

Anyway... so besides feeling to old to be here at this show, the only one without girl pants and a scenester haircut... I'm asian... I can't believe just a few years ago I thought I wanted to be in a the rock and roll business. anyway... on to the pics.

This is Nate... he's the singer for this band Kaeolyn. He used to be in the band that I was in a few years ago.

rock and roll square format.

alone

haha thats prolly gonna be it for pics this weekend, i'll be back in MD sunday.
jim baker

new lens? new york.

2007-11-15T08:51:00.001-05:00

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

2007-11-15T07:53:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-14T20:18:00.001-05:00

texture and design.

twenty.

jim baker

11.13.07 - whats in your wallet?!

2007-11-13T19:12:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-09T21:08:00.001-05:00

i'm sorry

news and i'm burnt out

2007-11-09T08:55:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-04T16:17:00.001-05:00

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...

hiatus

2007-10-29T10:45:00.000-04:00

I'm about to go send my computer in for repairs, so I'm going to take this time to rest from blogging and photography. I encourage you to go surf through my archives and pick your top 3 favorite pictures that I've taken and let me know what they are and why. I'll be back in a week or so...

jim baker

10.27.07 - car accident

2007-10-27T22:43:00.000-04:00

handheld 30 sec exposure while driving...
no i didn't get into a car accident but probably shouldn't be shooting and driving at the same time... i thought that all of the chaos in this picture reminded me of a car accident.
jim baker

10.26.07 - little italy

2007-10-26T22:22:00.000-04:00

little italy tonite with some friends...

isabella's

dinner

vaccaros for dessert.

"if it's not to late for coffee I'll be at your place at ten." - copeland
thanks to my friends who hate having their pictures taken but don't mind that i shoot at dinner time...
jim baker

more of yesterday

2007-10-26T13:49:00.000-04:00

It's been raining for like 3 days straight... that didn't stop Chris and I from shooting.

here's Chris' boo boo... he was taking the easy way down, jumping, but slipped because it was wet.

not hdr just sharpened a ton...
had to talk fast to a security guard since he thought taking picture of infastructure seemed "terroist" like. I reassured him that we were just photographers taking picture of lines and shapes and such... he took down my tag number and let us stay.

enjoy
jim baker

10.25.07 - 8 of me

2007-10-26T00:29:00.000-04:00

8 of me...

tottaly stole this idea from Miss Aniela
found her following links from photo.net to flickr to her website
her work is far more superior, plus she has a much nicer looking model to start out with ;)

i shot more than this tonite but its after midnite and i have to work tomorrow... i'll post more stuff tomorrow.

jim baker

photography thoughts...

2007-10-25T09:10:00.001-04:00

this was my little mobile workstation at the wedding i shot last weekend.

Bonnie just wrote a post and wants to get more visual with her blog... I've been thinking about my blog here a lot latley too... I wanted to write just some thoughts out but wondered if i could even do so without posting some sort of picture since this is my photography blog... this picture took a few attempts at uploading too so I almost posted without a picture... something I have not yet done on this blog. Obviously there are no RULES its my blog I can do what i want but... I'm rambling...

I go through this stage every once in a while... (more often than I'd like to admit) where I see someone elses work and just get so discontent with my own. Last night I saw these pictures here of Clara's (whom I dont' know) following blog links and am just in awe. They just have that 'artsy' feel... I think my pics are ussualy technically sound but I feel I really lack creativity and artistic edge in my work. I think that these pics can be classified with the whole 'deviant art' scene... kind of post modern emo art. Dark, simple and clean but extreemly communicative. I love this stuff... but this style doesn't show up in my work. Maybe its just not who i am... its like me trying to play heavy rock music, i could kind of fake it but it wasn't me.

I'm not searching for compliments on my work, and this isn't a competition with anyone so we don't need to compare... but i just get frustrated. Yesterday I deleted a BUNCH of pics from my portfolio... and as I flip through these past two months of work that I've been posting I'm really not satisfied. There are SOME good pictures, but there are some pics that I posted that are utter crap. My original intention though was to just GET OUT and shoot everyday, i think this is the most consistent I've been with anything in my life ever... so at least I'm meeting that goal. I've learned a lot too over the past few months too just by getting out and shooting on the regular.

I'm also frustrated that the pics from the first wedding set I posted didn't all show up. Does anyone know what that is about? Does blogger have a limit? I remember my friend Michaela had this problem with a blog she set up last year for the movie she was helping on, but when I went there to find the link all of her pics showed up.

I'm feeling kind of uninspired... I've got some trips coming up that hopefully will stoke that fire.

I tried backing up my WHOLE harddrive last night and it didn't work. I'm going to need a external harddrive soon anyway, two years worth of pictures is filling mine up.

Where I'm getting the money for that... i don't know.

I guess its good that I'm not satisfied with my current state of art... there is always room to improve. I try to constantly look at other peoples work.

Two big peices of advice that Hannah Westphall said when she got back from her School of Documentary Photography (Michaela was in this school too) was to constantly look at other peoples work and figure out why you like it and just get out there and shoot.

I try to do those things... and I try to always tell people that are asking me advice on photography these two things. Maybe at another time I'll post all of the places that I frequent for inspiration.

blah blah blah,
jim baker

10.24.07 - fall colors

2007-10-24T17:59:00.001-04:00

meh... i shot this through my window this evening... nothing special.
i'm suppose to go out and shoot this evening... but its pouring... and i'm tired...
we'll see what happens.

i actually called applecare and am taking care of a problem that i've had for a year with my internal speakers... it means i will be without my baby for a week. i'm not sure how i can manage. i need to back up my hard drive tonite.

i ordered a gig of ram too for my computer... when it comes back all fixed up, i'm going to give it a present of another gig of ram because i will have missed it so much.

jim baker

10.23.07 - pics of pics.

2007-10-23T21:44:00.001-04:00

this used to be my life...

i want a capo!
this pic is dedicated to Sarah Y.

haha
jim baker

10.22.07 - kiss my glass?

2007-10-22T19:28:00.000-04:00

i met Bonnie today in person, she lives a whopping mile from my house. I'm thinking this is the first person i've met from the internet... but in reality, all of my photography clients and i speak on the internet before we meet in person... but this was different because Bonnie and I have been interacting more on a friend level and not a business level for the past month, commenting on each others blogs. She has a beautiful home, very colorful, very aristicly decorated... bright and open, i want to shoot her house. Bonnie originally found my blog and commented on a shot that I did of a glass. We decided that we should get together and I should try to shoot some of her glass art. She has a lot of great peices... I knew shooting glass was hard, but I didn't know HOW hard. We experiemented for a long time and then about 3 hours into the process I think we got it. We only walked away with 6 peices shot and I hope Bonnie's pleased with them. It was a good learning experience, it just took a lot longer than I think both of us had planned. Bonnie was extreemly gracious and patient with me... I even knicked one of her walls moving a table back when I left (I'm sorry!)

I think that has been the most writing I've done yet on this blog... onto the photos.

each peice is about 6" square and placed in a matted shadow box.

gangsta tot lot,
jim baker

Woods/Welch Reception

2007-10-21T21:29:00.001-04:00

more shots from the reception.
a lot of you have said you can't see all the pictures...
you can view a slideshow of the pictures here.

first dance

a dancing good time.

bride, best man, and groom

how low can you go?

groom and flower girl

maid of honor toast.

best man toast.

saw it and had to shoot it. :)

cutting the cake.

ring bearer and maid of honor

intimacy.

say goodbye.

again congrats and best wishes to Natalie and Dave!
thanks for allowing me to be a part of your special day.
jim baker

Woods/Welch Wedding

2007-10-21T16:24:00.001-04:00

Natalie and Dave's wedding!

Friends and family of the bride and groom feel free to leave comments of congrats.
I only got through sorting up to the ceremony today and these are just a FEW of my favorites.

Pray for good weather the bride told me the night before... i did and it turned out to be a BEAUTIFUL day!

i'd never been to a salon before, but threw in this time for the client for free... i think that these shots just help give the viewer the feel for the full day.

the groom gets ready

i'm not sure why but i really like this shot...

what a good looking wedding party!

the ringbearer

shot of the guys

the rings

the program

the rev

passing out the program

at the alter

smiles during the ceremony

married!

kiss

Congrats Natalie and Dave!!!
jim baker

p.s reception shots will be posted soon...

Wedding!

2007-10-21T16:22:00.001-04:00

yesterday...

2007-10-21T14:51:00.000-04:00

i did shoot yesterday, in fact I shot all day yesterday, today I'm spending time sorting through all the shots from the wedding. here's one that jumped out at me that i wanted to share. to bad the maid of honor didn't have her eyes open... but i love these kind of candid moments.
back to sorting...
jim baker

fruits kinda sexy...

2007-10-19T13:18:00.000-04:00

these have been sitting in my fruit bowl too long...
since i didn't eat them i decided i should get my moneys worth out of them in another way.

once you go mac, you'll never go back.

jim baker

p.s bonnie, you originally said you liked the way I said things on this blog without being cheesy... i'm loosing that appeal aren't i? haha.

10.19.07 - this is what photographers do on their days off

2007-10-19T11:12:00.000-04:00

okay probably not all photographers...

okay probably not most photographers...
okay... probably just me, myself and I.
jim baker

10.18.07 - actually revisitng a shot...

2007-10-19T00:01:00.001-04:00

was trying to revisit this picture...
its tottaly different though...

wheels.
(repeat after me... iso 400 sucks)
i miss just setting my camera on the ground and shooting... now that i have the tripod i haven't done that much.

its chris!
someone please tell me to stop using HDR.
jim baker

10.17.07 - fence

2007-10-17T22:37:00.001-04:00

drove around tonite for a bit... ended up shooting a whole two frames... this was one of them. i got a new card reader that doesn't seem a ton faster than my other one... hopefully it will be when i'm importing more than a few pics.

jim baker