Photographing Jai-Cea

Photoflex “The Power of Light” sponsored a model shoot in Gilbert, Arizona on 2 March 2013.  John Beckett was the photographer-host.  John is a commercial photographer based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Since this was sponsored by Photoflex, we used Photoflex strobes and softboxes.  I will say for the record right now I am more comfortable with Canon Speedlites because of their portability.  My speedlite of choice is the Canon 600ex-rt, which is controlled by radio frequency.  But it is good to get some familiarity with large AC or battery powered studio strobes. 

Our main model was Jai-Cea.  She’s obviously very beautiful and very tall at 5’ 11”

My camera is the Canon 5D Mark III and the Canon 28-105mm lens. 

I edited photos primarily with Lightroom 4, but also black and white enhanced one shot using Nik’s Silver Efex Pro and a few others with OnOne’s Perfect Photo Suite 7.1’s Perfect Portrait, through Photoshop CS6.  And, a playful shot I enhanced with HDR toning from within Photoshop.  I guess you could call me a plug-in junky, since I own OnOne’s Perfect Photo Suite 7.1, Nik’s Ultimate Collection, and Topaz Bundle.  Take a look and if you are interested, remember if you are a student or educator you are likely to get a nice discount!  ALWAYS ASK!

My personal style is called “photo journalistic” or catching people at ease, not posed.  However, sometimes you have to pose a model!  I had Jai-Cea just goof around a bit and then had her go into “model mode” and give me some poses. 

That’s it for now,

Have fun and keep shooting!

Jim Patterson

http://JamesGordonPatterson.com

Enjoy the Flickr slideshow of all of my photos on the shoot below!

Tucson Visits from Late '12 and Early '13

I visited Tucson, my old stomping grounds (University of Arizona graduate and longtime resident), two times; once at the end of the year and the second time in the new year.  In November, Professor David Rubi and I took a group of Paradise Valley Community College students to the Tucson area for Mexican food and culture.  In early January, I went to Tucson by invitation of the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum to visit the Warren Aquarium. 

At Presidio of Tucson

Our first stop in Tucson was the downtown area and the Presidio of Tucson.  They were filming while we were there so there are a few photos of a lady dressed as a Presidio resident would be dressed in the 18^th century. 

Mural at La Pilita

We had lunch at El Minuto in Tucson's Barrio Historico neighborhood.  Just south of El Minuto is the shrine to a murdered sinner, El Tiradito.  And next to that is a little museum of early Tucson history called La Pilita.  On the south wall, there is a beautiful mural.    These three stops, right next to each other, are musts if you want a flavor for early Tucson history. 

San Xavier Del Bac, The White Dove of the Desert

We also visited Tumacacori Mission south of Tucson and on the way back to town, we stopped at San Xavier del Bac, the White Dove of the Desert,  still an active Catholic church.  A huge part of the story is the painstaking restoration work that went on that saved this history church. 

Fish Friend from the Warden Aquarium

A month later, we re-visited Tucson, this time to go to the new Warden Aquarium, part of the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum located west of Tucson in the Tucson Mountains and attend a University of Arizona basketball game.  Cats won in overtime 92 to 83, whew!

Senior Kevin Parrom #3 Shoots and Scores!

You can view a slideshow of all of my photos from the late 2012 visits below.

Happy Shooting,

Jim Patterson

http://JamesGordonPatterson.com

Cave Creek Balloon Festival 2013

I spent the late afternoon and evening of Saturday 12 January at Rancho Manana golf course in beautiful Cave Creek, Arizona.  The reason was the Fourth Annual Balloon Festival.  The good news is the wind was still to about 5 mph.  The bad news is it was CCCCOLD!!!  One of the coldest weekends I can remember in the Phoenix area as it dipped well below freezing.   There was still a fairly large crowd enjoying the festivities.  One thing I noticed was how hard it is to control a camera wearing gloves.  By the way, this was the last event I’m shooting with the Canon 7D and Tamron 18-270mm lens.  I traded them in for the Canon 5D and a few “L” class lenses and I should have them by Wednesday.  My next photography event will be a Phoenix Coyotes hockey game with my new gear!

Officials said the balloons would light around 6pm, so before then the band Remedy performed and I had a chance to get close and take some photos.  You can learn more about Remedy by going to their Facebook page here.  Nice folks and quite happy to have photos taken.  So it was nice to enjoy a gourmet dinner put on by the Tonto Bar and Grill in Cave Creek while Remedy entertained. 

Sure enough, by 6 pm they started to inflate the balloons. 

Enjoy all of my photos of the balloon festival below.

Keep shooting and stay warm! 

Jim Patterson

http://JamesGordonPatterson.com

Photowalk 2012 at Turf Paradise Phoenix

Phoenix Photowalkers 2012 at Turf Paradise

On Saturday 13 October, 2012 I led my fourth International Photowalk 2012 sponsored by NAPP, the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, this time at Turf Paradise in Phoenix, Arizona. 

Photowalker and Former Student Isabella, a Great Photographer!

We had a smaller group of people this year, maybe because there were so many other photowalks in the area.  But that’s not a bad thing.  The folks we had were really into photography. 

Mike Chamberlain, Track Announcer and NICE GUY

Probably the highlight of the experience was how darn nice Turf Paradise people were to us!  In groups of three, they let us photograph from the track announcers booth high above the grandstands and also let us get at track level for some of the closeups I have of the horses.

We enjoyed meeting Mike Chamberlain track announcer; Jorge Estrada, association steward; and Mike Scerbo the social media guy (here’s an interesting article here on Turf Paradise’s use of social media in the Phoenix Business Journal).  Jorge actually invited us to a future polo match at Westworld.  

Horse and Handler Before a Race

Seeing me setting up the group shot, Mike Scerbo the social media guy came out to greet us.  That set a nice tone for our visit.  Later on the track announcer Mike came out to invite us to go in small groups to visit him and take photos high atop the track where the press go.  Then they invited us in small groups to get between the first and second rails close to the track.

Horses Head to the Finish Line

I used a Canon 7D and two lenses:  the Canon 28-135mm and the Tamron 70-200mm.  I brought along a Tamron 200-500mm but frankly I didn’t need it.  It was just another heavy lens to drag around, along with a tripod that I only used for the group shot.  Moral of the story here:  travel lighter!  That stuff was heavy dragging up to the catwalk and all over the track. 

Number Two is a WINNAH!!!

I set up a Flickr group especially for the Photowalkers to join in conversation and post their own photos.  Feel free to join in!

Number Six Leading The Charge!

Happy Shooting,

Jim Patterson

http://JamesGordonPatterson.com

Enjoy more of the photos I took at Turf Paradise