My first Photo Book is now available...
( 110 images / 106 pages )
2017 Marches on...
Happy March!
What a year 2017 has been already! It has certainly been the Golden Year of the Rooster for Jimmy Fu-tography.
In 2 months in this young year, I've already shot and processed over 1,600 photos, gone to at least 17 separate photo outings, completed 5 paid projects, and several family, school and church events. What a way to get going on Year Two of my personal journey in becoming a full time photographer. My love for photography just gets more intense, as my daily ritual is still very intact: S.E.L.L. something everyday - Share, Edit, Learn, and Light (shoot). Everyday I try to get better at the two main skills of photography - lighting and composition, or the Technical and the Artistry. Right now I am just pushing myself to maximize the tools that I have in my bag and in my eyes; can't wait for the day that I realize I've optimized both and the upgrade in equipment will really matter.
If you like my landscape photography, I've added 6 new albums on the website, in the Fine Arts Portfolio, 2017 Photo Series.
If you like my commercial photography, I've added an album for Temecula Wineries, and another for Food. And it's so rewarding to see the folks at Cheflavor and Bean Coffee using the images I've photographed for them on their social media to drive traffic.
So far, this is my favorite shot of the year (water fountain in front of Temecula City Hall, featuring a killer sunset, long exposure of the water, and starbursts of Old Town):
One more thing: on March 10, at the Merc (Community Theater in Old Town Temecula), my work will be featured in the lobby. I will have more than 10 photographs on the wall. The reception is 6-7pm. Please mark your calendar and come visit me that night. More detail to come...
Vernal Pool @ Santa Rosa Plateau
Happy Valentine's Day!
Went on an impromptu photography meet-up yesterday with 2 of my bro-tographers Russell Cronberg and John Moya. Finally caught up with a SPECTACULAR sunset at the Vernal Pool @ the Santa Rosa Plateau, a beloved spot in Murrieta where a lot of my fellow photography club members call "home court advantage". At any given day, chances are you'll bump into a photographer or two, or three...
The colors of the sunset were on full display in the sky, and especially in the water. There's just something about a sunset reflected in the ripples of the water. Every ripple tells a story, and the blend of yellow and orange glow of the sun and black shadows of the deep water serve up a beautiful yang to the ying of the sky. This never gets old. A lot of landscape photographers - myself included - love to play with long exposure photography in sunsets like this. When the water is exposed for 20-30 seconds, it presents a smooth and buttery texture that is just so soothing to look at. Here's my shot of the Vernal Pool exposed for 30 seconds...
Compare the same shot that is exposed 1/30 of a second, and you get an alternative shot that focuses on the ripples and presents an entirely different mood:
Isn't it interesting how the exact same shot can be interpreted differently with just the turn of the exposure dial? Tell me what you think...your comments are welcome!
WPPI Convention in Las Vegas
This past week I was fortunate enough to attend the WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photography International) in Sin City, with my good friend Dawn Malone (http://www.dawnmalone.com) and Genia Veglia-Poole (@TreasuresPhotographybygeniapoole on Facebook). Since I don't do weddings and only dabble in portraits, my initial reaction was "why". But Dawn talked me into it and I'm so thankful that she did! As a "baby" in the photography industry, everything I laid my eyes on were brand new to me, and for a guy who likes tech, I really did feel like a kid in a candy shop. What a blast!
I got to sit in on presentations by some industry "rock stars"...Charleston Churchil talked about the EXPERIENCE of adventure weddings; Peter Hurle worked that stage and showed why he doesn't need a lesson in charisma; Joe Buissink rocked out his signature wedding portraits and a side of J.Lo we've never seen before; and the highlight for me was sitting through a live photo shoot w/ Lindsay Adler and telling her that she's one of my personal heroes! In between walking and browsing hundreds of vendors at the Las Vegas Convention Center, I also got a one-on-one portfolio review by one of the speakers Matthew Jordan Smith, a website consultation with Zenfolio (my website designer), picked up some cool gadgets (just because gadgets speak to me), and got a chance to try out a 85mm Nikon glass at the B&H Shooting Bay, where I photographed 4 sets of models and got to feel like a fashion photographer. That was so much fun!
Outside the convention center, we went alternative Las Vegas and shot an amazing sunset in front of the Cleveland Clinic of Las Vegas, AKA the Crumbled Metallic Kleenex Box thought up by the same architect who made the Disney Concert Hall in LA (Frank Gehry), crazy Fremont Street that can only exist in Sin City, Downtown Art District, and Container Park. Since we were on a pretty tight schedule and exhausted at the end of days, I didn't really do anything too "Vegas-y" besides donating some funds to the Flamingo Roulette Upgrade Foundation every night. :)
Now that I'm no longer a photography convention virgin, WPPI is surely on my annual budget and I hope to make this a regular visit. Road-trip, anyone?
Featured Photographer @ Inland Empire Photography Club
Launch Day
Today (Feb. 1, 2017) marks the launch of my photography website!
Please go to jimmyfu-tography.com and check it out! Since it's my first website, I welcome all feedback, so feel free to let me know what you like and what I can improve on. If you like what you see, make it a favorite on your desktop or mobile device, check in from time to time (as I plan to add new content frequently), and share the website with your friends. Thank you in advance!
My hope is that this website will be the portal to my evolving photography portfolio, and an invitation to my journey of capturing all that is beautiful in our world. All of my landscape photography will be featured in the "Fine Art Folio" on the website.
I also welcome the opportunity of creating - for local businesses - a social media-friendly photography that promotes their vision and invites patrons to experience their offering. A picture speaks a thousand words; in a multi-media world, having great visual content online has become an absolute necessity. I look forward to serving my clients with unique and effective photography to drive traffic on social media, and ultimately to their storefronts. See samples of this in my recent photo shoot for Cheflavor, in the "Commercial Folio" of the website.
I plan to deliver fresh new content through frequent blog-posts. My very first blog will be a about a failure and a success story, all rolled into one. On Monday this week, I drove to Canyon Lakes in the morning looking for the spot where all the water run-off from our recent rainstorms create a full waterfall. This was inspired by one of my photography friends Doug Bailey, who had recently captured and posted on Facebook a beautiful shot from this very spot. Well, after making a couple of U-turns in Lake Elsinore, I found the spot alright, but my timing was a little off - the water has almost dried off, and that full and raging waterfall image in my mind has now become a pathetic little trickle, and that "million-dollar shot" is now a "ten-dollar snapshot" :(
All was not lost. In driving around the Canyon Lakes area, I found a community with high elevation, and was finally able to capture the white snow caps of the distant Big Bear Mountains, made possible by the same recent rainfall in Southern California. See photos of both experiences on my Facebook post today.
Well, there you have it: my first blog, in my first website. Hope you like what you see, and stay with me for the images. May your day be painted with beauty and wonder.
This is the failed attempt at the waterfall (you'll just have to imagine water gushing over the rim of the lake):
And this is the elevated shot of the snow cap (extraordinarily full this year from the rainstorms):
