More than just a photographer…

I pulled double duty for the annual CF Concert Series held at The Granada Theater in Dallas, TX, this year. This is the second year that I not only donated some of my rock and roll prints to help raise money for the charity, but I also handled all the PR for the event.

I’m excited, because my photos raised a LOT of money for the charity. Plus, I did a pretty good job at handling all the press and PR for the event, with tons of newspaper, blog, radio and television coverage happening. Not that I’d want to give up photography as a career, but I could probably do promotions and marketing to pay the bills, if I had to – based on the media coverage and attendance this year and last year…
Here is some video of the VIP portion of the event. More video coming from Stan Rouleau in the coming days:

Jason vs. Epcot Center…

OK, so Disney World’s Epcot Center would have been an easy one to beat, had I really been trying hard to get some fun photos. It is filled with picturesque scenery and hundreds (if not thousands) of great, picture-perfect moments. How could you not leave Epcot without a ton of wonderful, family-friendly vacation pics?
Believe it or not, I didn’t really shoot many, though. I don’t plan to sell any stock pics of Disney World. I don’t have any specific magazine or newspapers that need Disney pics, either. So, I turned off my professional photographer mode, took it easy and kept the camera in my bag for most of the day. I got a few family pictures here and there, and that was it.
There were two things that caught my eye, however. One was the Giant ball that houses the Spaceship Earth ride. My babies kept staring up at it. They were in awe. Their fascination made me take a step back and try to examine it from a very simple, innocent perspective. I found that when I deconstructed it into basic shapes and balanced it against the clear, blue sky, it almost turned into abstract art.

The other thing that got my attention as a photographer was the Living Seas building. It was filled with colorful sea creatures. They weren’t the easiest things to shoot, but it was fun trying. This one was especially fun to look at and photograph…

I don’t mind that I skipped a million picture moments today. I had more fun just walking around with the family. My mind was still analyzing all the different photo opportunities, though. I kept seeing spots, objects, things, etc. that would be fun to photograph. I don’t know how to turn that off completely. It’s just in my blood, I guess.

Disney animals…

Since I’m on vacation for the next few days, I won’t be talking too much about work. However, I will still blog about photography. I eat, sleep, breathe, dream and constantly think about photography, so even my days off are filled with photos.
I like Disney World’s Animal Kingdom and Epcot Center. They both have some really cool opportunities to see and photograph animals up close. And, it’s not like shooting at a zoo, where the animals are surrounded by concrete. Disney makes a decent attempt to have the animals appear like they are in a natural environment.

I’m back at Disney today, so I thought I’d share a couple photos I took here a few years back. Hopefully, I will get something just as interesting during this visit. I wish I had my gorilla pics from last year’s trip to Animal Kingdom that I could share right now. They were pretty neat, too. Maybe, I’ll dig those up and post them when I get back home along with whatever I get here in the next couple days…


Southern Revival…

I received a last-minute assignment to shoot a church revival for a publication. I wound up getting some cool stuff that the magazine didn’t need (they had me focusing on a specific person at the event, with no need of anything else), so I thought I’d share the extra stuff here:




Now THIS is fashion!!!

I’m totally stealing these links from a photo forum that I frequent, because it is just that cool:

and

Seriously… this is the best fashion photography I have seen in a million years. The best part is they are using a photography technique from the 1800’s. No digital cameras here… I’ve always wanted to make tintypes, but the process is just too involved – as you can see by the second link.

Light Impressions…

Light Impressions is always so expensive, half the stuff I want is usually back-ordered and their shipping takes forever. But I keep using them, because I haven’t found anyone with a better product, yet. Their print storage boxes and archival items are the very best. Their mat board and mounting tape is wonderful. I will keep putting up with the high prices and long wait times for now… unless you can suggest another company with similar product quality?

Single light tutorial…

Watching this video from youtube is a good way to understand the basics of lighting. I’ve always believed that simple is better, and I often use one or two lights at most.

Top Dogs, Top Photogs…

Pick up this book now!!!

www.topdogspets.com


My friend David Woo, along with Richard Pruitt, photographed celebrities and legends with their pets. They recently published the book Top Dogs And Their Pets (ISBN 978-0-9841086-0-2 if you have trouble finding it).

I met both photogs at The Dallas Morning News when I started shooting for them about ten years ago. David has been very supportive of my work and has hooked me up with a lot of great clients over the years. He’s been an essential part of my success as a professional photographer.

The Crash That Took Me…

You’ve got one more day to see The Crash That Took Me cover and feature story on news stands. A new issue of Quick comes out Thursday, so grab one now! If you aren’t familiar with this Dallas band, you should be. They are pretty good!
We did the shoot during the last days of the State Fair of Texas. It was drizzling that night, but the umbrellas add a coolness to the cover, I think…

Jason Janik vs. Art and Beer…

Let me first say that I almost NEVER drink alcohol. I’m not against it, I just don’t really care for it. With that being said, you can tell that I’m a little off… a little buzzed during my interview in this video. That’s the last time I accept a free beer sampler at dinner!

But, my rambling, wandering, drunk prose isn’t the point of this video. Nope, KERA’s Art&Seek was covering a really cool art show that I had the pleasure of judging. It was fun seeing all the art up on the walls. It was even more fun seeing some of these artists enjoying their very first art opening.
On a side note, I totally need a haircut, right? After seeing this video, I made an appointment for Wednesday.