Blog Archive
“It’s barely the beginning of October, and you want me to start thinking about Thanksgiving?!” Well, welcome to the world of graphic design, publishing, and commercial photography! For those of us who like to do most of our photography in the outdoors, I guess this...
Have you ever gone to the same location multiple times in the same day, simply to observe what the place looked like at those different times of day? You would think that I, of all people, would have done this many, many times since I love landscape photography....
Ready for the next assignment?! It shouldn't be hard to find Interesting Textures anywhere you go, even in places you've never explored before!As you just saw, I took lots of texture pictures. I thought I had done a pretty good job. However, it wasn’t until after I...
If the assignment is to photograph The Bright Outdoors, then it means the best time to shoot is while the sun is shining, I’d say. But what happens if the sun isn’t going to be shining for very long? Then it’s time to take on an extra challenge!I’m really surprised...
Deadline’s coming up. Not finding time to photograph. Can’t find the right people to photograph. Find someone to photograph! It doesn’t work out to do the photoshoot. Deadline still looming! Ever felt this way before? I certainly have. Here’s what happened...
It’s not often that I’ll record myself doing an assignment from beginning to ending, but I thought it would be good to do it for this featured assignment that just launched, Inspirational Verse Pics. It’s a unique assignment in that you can go take pictures of...
Seriously, another “portrait-related” assignment?! Yup! And as normal, I was feeling quite nervous again about figuring out how to shoot it. 🙂 It’s just so hard to find people willing to have their pictures taken for website headers and stuff online! To make it...
Shooting for this month’s assignment could be easy, or it could be difficult. Depends on what you decide to shoot after reading the assignment details. I decided to shoot for something difficult! Chances were low that I’d find what I was looking for, but how would...
It’s fun the things I find myself getting into when I have no choice but to shoot the next assignment! Filmed in some places I’ve never filmed before, here’s what happened in my attempt to shoot this month’s Shoot to Serve Photo Assignment, a child Eagerly Opening...
This was a tough photo shoot to bring you along on! Taking a video at night is quite a challenge. And that hillside! It is literally a field of thorns. But come now! Let me take you behind the scenes, and show you how that epic, pre-dawn trek unfolded!The app...
It was quite convenient that the current assignment, Made In His Image, landed around the holidays! With Robert & Kendalyn and their family in town, I had ample opportunities to shoot it. However, not every opportunity turned out as I expected….I really liked...
Maybe you can’t tell…but I had no idea how to go about shooting this great assignment, Autumn Artwork Reference Photo!November is late to be photographing fall colors. I suggest you try to photograph this assignment as soon as you can. Just a couple days can make a...
Oh, this is going to be a good assignment! Surely, everyone has a water hose, an algae-covered pond, or an old rain barrel somewhere close by! But has anyone ever thought to take artistic pictures of them??The pond that was supposed to be all stagnant and ugly...
Follow along behind the scenes as James photographed the "Creative Posing" Shoot to Serve Assignment. The purpose of this assignment was two-fold: helping introverted photographers break out of our mold, and learning the intricacies of a single pose.
We’re shooting to illustrate two different verses this month, both with a theme of “harvest” (more details about the assignment here). If you live where golden fields of wheat or rye are around, photograph that! That’s what we’re really looking for. But if you’re...
Learn more about lighting, helping kids get comfortable in front of the camera, and the incredible effect of focal length on your photos as James shares about a shoot he conducted with a homeschool family for a photo assignment.
According to the details for the current assignment, perfect order in nature could also mean perfect order in man-made landscapes, so off I went looking for symmetrical gardens and manicured lawns at the closest botanical garden I could find! Oh what a surprise I...
The wind rustles through the trees, revealing the light undersides of every leaf. It starts sprinkling on the windshield. Puffy white and gray cumulonimbus clouds roll along the horizon. Maybe today will be the day? I’ve been keeping an eye on the weather for the...
When I read the details for this month’s assignment, I thought “Hey, this is going to be easy; I have plenty of brothers to use as models, it’s a bright sunny day, and I know exactly where to shoot it!” Well, as usual, it didn’t exactly turn out as expected. . ....
It’s time to take some pictures for the missionaries in Europe again! This time, we’re going for a spring-time theme. And illustrating Psalm 119:103, “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" If you decide to go out and take...
