April 2012

April has proven to be hit or miss in Saint John for getting out and taking pics. The days have been looking nice until you go outside and then brrrr its cold. But I was able to get out a couple times. Once with the fam and the second time we had to get the winter tires off and so I brought my camera.

First we took a few hours to go and take pictures at Rockwood Park. We have a 2 year old so he would just love to see the animals. We did the usual and that’s to stop at the Duck Pond. And then drove further in to the stables where they have goats, pony’s and Horses. Here are a few pics of our outing.

 This is along the Duck pond. I really didn't know what I snapped until I got home and dumped them onto my computer. As soon as I seen it I thought "On Your Mark" hehe it fit so perfectly.

What they were doing is as my youngest boy was approaching them they were getting ready to jump into the water to escape him.

 This is a picture of my wife and my youngest. I Love the Black & White setting. I always shoot in colour and then convert it to B&W.

 A Picture of my wife. The setting is very nice for Family pics or individual pics. This is further into the park. Just keep following the road until you get into the Bridge.

Here is a pic of my oldest. I really like this pic. The Background isn't so nice but overall the pic is decent. .

Here is my little boy. He was having a blast here. Especially with the goats. He kept trying to put his head through the fence. I think he even gave one a kiss...I don't know.

The good thing about Digital photography is you can snap and snap away and not worry about film and taking up a small amount of pics. This was one of those snap many photo's pics. 

2 weeks ago I drove to work and my car was sound odd on the rear driver’s side so when I got to work I looked and I had a flat tire. I chalked it up to Friday the 13^th luck. So I left work early to and I had to slowly drive up to the Irving to pump up my tire so I could get home and figure things out. So I got to the Irving and I was so thankful of how they were there for me to help me in my time of need. They Charged me a DOLLAR to turn on the air hose so I could pump up the tire. This of course added to my annoyance.

Anyways I got home and I decided to get the winter tires off. So we drove quite a ways out to Hunter Lake Tire. So I decided to make a morning of it and bring my camera as well. Here are some shots from that outing. 

 This is at Hunter lake in Saint John, NB. While our tires were getting fixed my oldest and I took a walk and snapped a few pics.

 We decided to walk into someone's yard and get to their doc. That is the house hidden on the left. The clouds add so much to the picture.

This one here is my fav pic of the year so far. Large format this looks incredible (Fell free to click on it to see a slightly larger image). This picture has it all. Dramatic clouds, Reflection in the water, Beautiful home. I was so happy with the finished product. 

Well that's it for now. I am starting to see some trees budding so I can't wait to get out and snap a few shots of true spring flowers. Anyways thats it for now. 

Thanks for reading. Feel free to share, like it, leave comments or whatever. 

The Shephard Family & a bit of Creativity

Oct 29^th saw us going to Rockwood Park for another Photo shoot.  Only this time I decided to express some creativity. This is something that we haven’t done really. I usually go to a site and whatever I come up with on the spot that’s what I take. There was a little bit of that this time but Ryan and Trisha are allot of fun and I knew they would indulge me.  

Let me first say that it was a chilly morning. And when we got into the wooded paths it got chillier. But that didn’t stop us. We stayed at the first part of the path then we went to the big playground at Rockwood park which was a great spot for some kid pics.

Here are some examples:

 This picture is super cute. Ryan & Trisha in the BG with Annabelle Peeking through the frame. My wife is holding the frame and Annabelle just did that on her own. I am glad I captured it.

 We saw this on a site and loved the Idea. My wife's penmanship is excellent.

 As you can tell it was cold due to Trisha's sleeve over her hand hehe. I didn't even catch this when I was taking the picture. I am a slacker.

 This would have been an awesome picture if I had a better Superman shirt which I will find. So I am not done with this pose yet...

 Another Idea we came up with is taking a picture from this series and put it in the frame. This took a little while but I like the outcome.

This would be my fav of the creative side of things. As you can see Ryan is a brute to be able to hold her up like that. They are great sports and I thank them for allowing me to capture their family with my Lens. 

Well we are headed out to Rothesay tomorrow for another photo shoot. The leaves are pretty much gone due to the winter blast that we had. So it will be super cold her on out. Stay tuned for the update :D

Thanks for looking at the world through my eyes!

Photoshoot - Oct 22nd ~ A Perfect Fall Day ~

This weekend was beautiful for pictures. The weather was perfect and excitingly I had two appointments. Both appointments were at Rockwood park and it was one right after another. So off to Rockwood Park we all went. Now 99% of the time my family comes with me. I like it that way.

Our first appointment was with our good friends the Yerxa Family. A family of 5 with young twins. The kids were excited and just loved being in the woods. Their oldest Cameron and My oldest Isaiah are good friends so they got to hang out some. They Mostly use sticks as guns and go hunting in the woods some. Nutbars…haha

Here are some samples:

 HAHA Here is Noah. This is one funny kid. He didn't like being perched up on here but when his mom spoke to him this is the look she got. I did get him smiling but I thought this was priceless.

 Twins: Gabby and Noah. Happy to be in front of the camera.

 Here are Cameron, Noah & Gabby walking down the path. I do like capturing this type of picture. Not sure how Real it is though but it looks good. Unless Cam is an awesome big brother and he is more than happy to hold their hands and walk with him. I will say he did everything he was told too :)

 Here is Ben and Becky. The smaller picture doesn't do this pic Justice. I turned it Black and White. Sharpened it and turned up the contrast. I Liked the finished product.

 Here is Gabby and her Thinker pose.

 This picture is Priceless. Gabby is hugging Noah so tightly that the look on his face of desperation and help is awesome.

 The Big Brother Cameron.

And here is the full Yerxa family. I did allot of Black & White pictures for them. Sometimes B&W just adds so much more character. Thank you folks for allowing me to do your pictures :)

My Next appointment was with the McElhinney family. I use to work with Jordan before he moved on to Bigger and better things. I have taken there pictures before and I am glad they came back. Like I stated before gotta love returning customers.  

Now I must say that this session was very Unique. And what I mean by that is Katrina came prepared and knew exactly what she wanted. All too often people want pictures taken but they have no clue what they want. When I ask them what they are looking for I usually get “I don’t know, you’re the photographer” haha. Not Katrina, with a carrying case in hand a list of shots that she wanted we were ready to go.

One of her Ideas I found to be fantastic was when she pulled out a Chalk Board! She wrote Merry Christmas on it and they had family pics with it. Next she had 8 x 10 Chalk board Frames and she wrote out an individual letter of the word LOVE and each family member held up a specific word. It was excellent.

Here are some samples of the photo shoot.  

 So here is that Idea I was talking about. Excellent!!

 Another one of Katrina's Ideas. The kids even enjoyed this as well.

 I have never done this pose before and I saw it last week. I really liked it.

 This is Faith. A Very Cute little girl. I really like getting close with the camera to capture just the face. You can do so much with it.

So here is a quick collage that I did up with the four pictures. As you can see this is a great picture and an awesome Idea.

 Here is Isaiah Snuggling with Mom.

This is another quick collage I did of the the kids. With all honesty I am not a fan of this. I could have done better. I just wanted to try this and see what it looked like. Thank you guys for allowing me to take your family pictures again :)

Well there you have it. What's next for John Paul Photography? I am headed out to Grandbay-Westfield on Wednesday and then I have another appointment at the Irving Nature Park on Sunday. I am hoping that the weather holds up. It is looking Sketchy for this week. But I am excited for Snow on Friday :D

Here is a link to my Photography site. "John Paul Photography"

Thanks for Looking at the world through my eyes...

Wherefore Art Thou Fall-eo

A couple weeks ago I had to drive to Fredericton for a meeting and I wish I had of brought my camera because the fall colors there were amazing. The trees were full of red & yellow and green, such a beautiful site. No where I live in Saint John, NB the leaves are still green for the most part. In fact due to being so close to the Bay the weather is never consistent therefore our seasons are usually messed up.

Now last week it was cold. With the wind chill we saw that it got down to -5 degrees. We also had a frost warning which killed allot of flowers. But then Saturday hits and its +20 and then Sunday hits and I believe it was +25. It was Hot. I had to use the AC on the weekend.

I had 3 picture appointments this weekend and you would think that since we are almost mid October that the leaves would be so beautiful? Nope, not in our city. In fact the leaves that have fallen are still green. And that’s what I mean when I say the seasons are usually messed up. Things die before nature takes its course, which means to capture the incredible beauty of fall I have a very short window.

My first appointment we went to Meenan’s cove. I have taken the Burke’s pictures 3 times prior and it was great to do them again. As I stated the weather was incredible. It was really hot and it wasn’t windy.

Here are a few samples:

This is their Daughter. I have taken her pics since she was a baby. This pose I like to capture when we come to park benches. You really can capture precious moments.

This is their Son. He is an awesome kid. He has a great personality and here you can see it. I think this was his philosopher pose. Maybe even “The Thinker” hehe

Here are the parents. We all grew up together down the Blvds. It’s wonderful to see this family grow.

My second appointment was at Rockwood Park. As you can tell from my previous posts I do pictures here allot. This is an ideal place for pictures. My wife went to High school with the mother of the Dallon  family and it was great to take their pictures. I like larger group shots. It really makes for a great variety of pictures.

This is their family. Can I just pause for a minute and say Family is so precious that it is worth nurturing and investing in it.  And as you can see with this beautiful family it is worth it! Just wanted to throw that out the there.

Here is how I take family group shots. Now this is cutting edge…Are you ready? I tell everyone to get together! BAM!!!! I am not a photographer that needs to set up the perfect shot and annoy everyone by saying sit here and stand there and do this. Yes I do use some poses that I like but for the most part I want the people to be comfortable and I would rather them use their personality and situate themselves.

Working with kids can go either way. That’s why I take a very soft approach when working with them. If you can make them seem as if they have some ownership your window of opportunity opens up more. If you don’t get that perfect shot that’s fine. Photoshop can help with that hehe.

My Last appointment was on Sunday which was allot hotter than Saturday. We went to public gardens which from a distance looked beautiful. Then when you got close you noticed that 90% of the flowers were dead. The care taker said that the frost that we had two days prior killed allot of the flowers. But none the less we found some good areas to take pictures. We then went to a pond at rockwood park to take the rest of the photos. I just want to say that they were awesome pics and I was very pleased with them.

So that was last weekend. It was a bit busy but I am fine with that. I have more pictures this weekend and I am hoping there will be a bit more colors. It’s mid October and I want some colors in the leaves for some pics. I am so looking for some. Fall-eo, Fall-eo, Wherefore Art Thou Fall-eo.

See the world through my eyes…

Sep 25 Photoshoot ~ The Place Family ~

This past weekend I had a photo shoot with the Place family. I think this was my fourth time doing family pics for them. I really appreciate return customers. The Place’s are excellent to work with anyways.

We went to Rockwood Park http://rockwoodpark.ca/ to take the pictures. This is a beautiful area to take pictures in no matter the season but fall is awesome with the leaves changing. The day was beautiful. I think it was the warmest late September day that I ever remember. I even had to have the AC on while I was driving there.

There is a path that I like to take people to have their pictures done. It’s close to the playground. It’s very picturesque with all the trees, leaves & benches. There are many possibilities for different scenes. The path does just about a complete circle so where you start you end up. With taking pictures it takes about 45 minutes to complete.

Here are a couple samples:

 This is a small fence that goes along the path which makes fo rsome fantastic poses and shots. Now some of you who are not Canadian may be thinking "It's the end of September and they are not wearing Coats"? hehe thats what I'm talking about. Beautiful day!

 I Love this tree to the left of the picture. It makes for great individual pics as well as group shots as you can see. It adds allot of character to the picture.

This hill can take it's toll on you when you are walking it but at the base of the hill gives way for a group shot opportunity. I like the fact that they are all not smiling. Another thing that I enjoy about this picture is how they are scattered. Allot of people think you need a Uniform picture where everything is in order but not so. If you are doing a group pic try scattering the people and see what you get. Photo tip: Make sure you watch your F-Stop!

Ok so I am a Photoshop geek. Hands down. I love it. And I use Photoshop for all my pictures that need a little pick me up or need a little character. I Love just capturing the faces of people. I got the idea from Extreme Hom Makeover and when there are kids involved there are always shots of the kids face and thats it. It fills the frame and to me thats Brilliant.



Well that's it for now. I have another picture appointment on Saturday and I am looking forward to that. I just want to say Thank you Place family for your continuing support!

See the world through my eyes!

The Next Step ~ John Paul Photography

Well 2 things are new with my Photography.

1: I started selling my pictures!

2. I started a new Blog for my photography site.

When I first started blogging 2 years it was suppose to be about photography but my blog took a different direction. Now since I started stepping out a bit more with my photography I woke up this morning with the thought of adding a blog for my photography.

So as I stated above I started selling my pictures. Right now I have some Landscape, Flowers and Miscellaneous pics. I will add text to any of the pictures and of course I print them off and will ship them. So if you live in China or Angola I can ship them to you.

1. Love Is The Greatest

I saw this style of picture on the internet and just had to try it on my own. This picture consists of my Bible and my wedding ring and 1 desk lamp. It was taken in my kitchen on top of my freezer. When I placed my ring in the center of the Bible and angled my light it casts a heart shape shadow. I was very pleased with the result and it was my first test with lighting. Plus the title in the good book says Love is the greatest. This looks awesome Large Format and would be a great weeding gift.

2. The Apple Of My Eye

This picture was in my living room. This was on top of a TV table and a again with a little desk lamp. I got a spray bottle and sprayed the apple down some and took some shots. In Photoshop you can tone down the Clarity which gives the foggy illuminated effect.

 

3. Strong Tower

This is an HDR shot of the Famous Martello Tower in Saint John, NB. This was one of my first HDR samples. I am a huge FAN of HDR. I love the vibrant colors and the fantasy look it gives. I know there are some anal people out there that hate it. I even had some of my work Trashed because this one guy dislikes HDR.

Let me first say I am not a photographer that follows a “Code” or adheres to the “They Say” photographers. In fact I couldn’t care less what the main stream photographers say to do. I respect their experience, I respect their position and I have no problem of taking advice as long as it’s not given arrogantly which is hard for some. Photography is an Art! If you can’t think outside of the box or take a chance outside of the box put down your camera and take up knitting.

If someone’s style is different doesn’t mean that they are less of a photographer than the world renowned’s it’s that their work has not been discovered. All it takes is one person of influence to say “Oh I Like that” and give a shout out and BAM you’re on your way.

So here is what you need to do. Turn off the pod casts, close the books and wipe your mind of what the “This is how you do it” people have said and get out there and take some pics.

Lastly, under web site on the right hand side of this page please click the link that says John Paul Photography. It will go to my FaceBook page. At the top of the FaceBook page please click the like button. This is my new group. FaceBook Archived my old site which had 600 members. I am up to 123 now which is good but I would like more. Feel free to share on your page as well. Thanks for the support.

See the world through my eyes!