January 2013 - Lenspiration

The Beginning of a New Adventure

by James Staddon | Jan 31, 2013 | Updates & Opportunities

Yesterday, I traveled out to the Child Evangelism Fellowship International Headquarters in Warrenton, Missouri, to commence work on the 2014 CEF Calendar! It’s a new place with new faces, but I already feel like it’s the great beginning of a great project. I’ve been designing calendars for CEF for three consecutive... Read More »

Make Your Winter Pictures “Pop”

by James Staddon | Jan 26, 2013 | Tips & Tricks

Do you have a hard time getting your pictures to “pop” during the winter months like I do? Everything is dull. The sky and trees are grey, the grass and water is brown, and when the colorless snow falls, it smothers everything in a great blanket of off-white blankness. Even the evergreens look lifeless under a... Read More »

First Impressions

by James Staddon | Jan 24, 2013 | Recommendations, Tips & Tricks

It actually snowed last night! What a great excuse to get outside and play around with the new camera! And how refreshing it was to be out in the “field” again. The 5D Mark II is very similar to my old 40D in appearance but has some nice improvements. The screen resolution is unbelievably better, it’s much easier to... Read More »

It Has Arrived!

by James Staddon | Jan 22, 2013 | Recommendations, Updates & Opportunities

The Canon EOS 5D Mark II has now started it’s active service after arriving in the mail today! Besides popping in the battery and releasing the shutter a few times to hear what it sounded like and to test the video function, I haven’t done much with it yet. I’m looking forward to fiddling around with it more when I... Read More »

Keeping Things From Caving In

by James Staddon | Jan 19, 2013 | Perspective, Updates & Opportunities

January’s the time for planning! It’s the time to evaluate the lessons I’ve learned from last year’s successes and mistakes. It’s the time to set long-range goals to keep me from making “short-range” decisions. It’s the time to stake boundaries and search out new horizons. Though it’s not second nature for me to... Read More »

Should I Print on Canvas?

by James Staddon | Jan 16, 2013 | Recommendations, Updates & Opportunities

My family helped me to buy a new 23” widescreen monitor for Christmas, just the tool I needed to begin accurately editing pictures for printing! Have you ever ordered prints that looked fabulous on your screen but looked sickeningly yellow, or deathly blue, or awfully dark when the actual prints arrived in the mail?... Read More »

Pic of the Month: December ‘12

by James Staddon | Jan 14, 2013 | Pic of the Month

Work of Light What fun it is to put up Christmas lights! I’ve put up Christmas lights on our house (or at least helped put them up) for as long as I can remember. Back when I was growing up at our home in Manassas, Virginia, I remember helping Dad put up Christmas lights on the little bushes that lined the sidewalk... Read More »

It Has Been Sold!

by James Staddon | Jan 4, 2013 | Updates & Opportunities

It seems to have happened so suddenly, but after months of deliberation and searching for a new owner, I can now say that my trusty, rock-solid Canon 40D camera has been sold! I’ll miss my constant companion of three years, but it served me well while I had it and I’m confident that it will serve it’s new owner for... Read More »

Top 25 from 2012

by James Staddon | Jan 1, 2013 | Updates & Opportunities

Praise the Lord for yet another awesome year of awesome photography! I hope you enjoy my top 25 favorites from 2012 as much as I enjoyed choosing them! “Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.” Psalm... Read More »