New Blog Site

I just wanted to drop in and let everyone know that I am changing my main blog efforts over to Wordpress. My new blog address can be found at an under construction site:

http://www.jerodfoster.com

From there, you can access my blog by either clicking on the blog tab, or by following this link:

http://www.jerodfoster.com/?page_id=37

I'm still working on a few kinks (OK, more than a few kinks) for the new site, and I will eventually be transitioning into a completely different platform that will integrate my photo site with my Photoshelter account.

Please do visit the new blog for a continuation of what this one provided. I appreciate all the viewers, and I look forward to your continued reading and support! I will be keeping this blog for a variety of purposes, but not just strictly photographic.

Thanks again, and see you over at the new blog!

"Don't Worry, Be Happy" - Bobby McFerrin

A short post today. Amid all the talk about our current status in regards to the U.S. economy, I thought I would throw up an image that I took one day while making a trip with Joe back to Lubbock, Texas. This mural, if you can call it that, was painted on the side of a historic building in downtown Post, Texas, home of the Bold Gold Antelopes (I haven't seen a real antelope in this region of Texas in...ever) and the Ragtown Gospel Theatre. Post is also the home of one of the busiest McDonald's in the state (my speculation of course), sitting on the crossroads of two somewhat major highways.

While everyone is affected differently by the economy, I hope the feeling that this store had when painting this statement on the side of its exterior once again resumes. And it will, we just have to learn what it is we need to do to get it there. I can reference how the economy is affecting how the photography industry is operating, or not operating in some cases, how media providers in general (such as the New York Times and others) are suffering, how some advertising agencies are losing revenue and changing operational structures, but this is not the place, nor do I want to focus on what has already happened rather than focus on what can happen!


We're in a tough spot as a general whole, but tough spots regulary create opportunity and excitement, and hopefully today, instead of dread for a unforseeable future, we plan for a hopeful tomorrow! (Alright, that's my inspirational talk for the month! More to come soon!)

Being tenacious is important!

I know I have a few readers from up north (like, more north than Kansas), and I know it gets cold there, way more cold than it gets in Texas most of the time, but when the cold hits here, it's as if the Arctic dumped on us. I probably feel this way because it can be 70 degrees one day, and the next morning comes with frost on the ground and the top temperature doesn't get above 25 degrees.

And that's why we are all sick...


Such was the weather this past weekend when I photographed one of my mentors, Kippra Hopper. Kippie is one of those people that you meet in your lifetime and you automatically know she's passionate. I interviewed with her for a student writer position for a research magazine while working on my undergrad at Texas Tech University. This position then developed into a graduate assistantship, and while the magazine is no longer in existence, Kippie and I still see each other because fate would have us teaching with each other in the same college. Kippie is also a writer and a photographer (check her site out here), pioneering in-depth magazines and other publications at Texas Tech, holding a collection of conservation photographs in one of the science buildings on campus, and authoring two books, A Meditation of Fire and a title that is yet to be released but is much anticipated in the Texas art community!

Kippie is who really taught me how to interview and write extensive features, and probably more important, how to be tenacious (Kippie is not one to go down without a fight or letting you know how she feels) and, to be repetitive, how to be GENUINELY passionate about what I do as a communicator. Hopefully, I can impart the same types of teachings to students through the future, because it certainly has made an impact on me!

Photographing Kippie was much like having a long conversation with a good friend, and more or less, that's what it was. I had an idea of a shot of her sitting at her writing desk in the sunroom of her house. The table was gone, but the light I imagined her sitting in was not! I initially started out not wanting to push any artificial light into the photograph (I wanted the shots to personify my perception of Kippie), but in the end, I need just a little warm fill to get exactly what I was thinking.


You can see the setup shot above (click on it for a larger look). One diffuser panel scrimming the direct light coming through the door, one speedlite through a 42-inch shoot-through umbrella, gelled 1/2 cut CTO, and on camera speedlite bounced off ceiling, ultra-low power for just a little overall fill.

This post, as well as several other posts made earlier with portraits being the main subject, is an on-going series of posts about shots that I am adding to a special portfolio that I'm working on this year. The images going into this portfolio are all unassigned portraits, but portraits of those that have made a sincere impact on my direction thus far. As you can imagine, I don't really think this portfolio could end, but it certainly could not be endless either. I hope you enjoy reading about them as much as I enjoy shooting them.

I was in the presence of historical awesomeness!!!

Here's something to think about that Joe McKay and I talked about today. Mr. McKay is an architect in Lubbock, and I was assigned to photograph him because he owns something very special. And when I say special, I mean drop-your-mouth-in-awe special. The book you see laying in its box in front of Mr. McKay is one of the greatest contributions to and collection of United States history ever.

The book contains autographs from pretty much each historical U.S. service figure since Abraham Lincoln. In fact, the first page of signatures begins with Abraham Lincoln's signature. To name a few other notable "John Hancock's": Charles Lindbergh, Ulysses S. Grant, Henry Kissinger, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, John McCain, John F. Kennedy, and the list goes on and on and on. I could have looked at the book for three hours, and I spent a good part of two hours talking to Mr. McKay about the contents of the pages. I won't spoil the details about the book just yet (go get a copy of the March/April issue of the Lubbock Magazine when it's out), but to say the least, it's an epic event just viewing the still very legible signatures of those people that have shaped our country since the Civil War!


More to the point of this blog is the part of our conversation about the historical value of the book. The very first signature in the book, as stated above, is Abraham Lincoln's. In the relatively near future, Barack Obama will be the latest signature placed on the pages. Now, this is the part of my post that I tell you that this is not a political posting (please don't take it as such). I don't care if you are a die-hard Republican, staunch Democrat, lean more conservative or liberal, what happens today, just as Mr. McKay and I were talking about in relationship to his priceless book, is indeed a historic event that does not need to be taken lightly. If you could only see the pages in the book, you'd suddenly realize that a great deal has happened since the end of the Civil War. If and when President Obama's signature is placed in the book, it will span a more-than-a-century era from the Emancipation Proclamation to the election of the first African American president! Again, I don't care which way you lean, just think about that. This book contains a majority of America's history, a majority that includes some of the greatest moments in not only our history, but the world's!

I wish everyone a good day, and for those of you reading within the 50 United States and those citizens abroad, I was proud to be an American yesterday after looking at this book of autographs, I always have been, and I always will! My Dad taught me that.

Is this weather weird or what?

You never know what you are going to get in Texas! There is a saying that involves the weatherman being wrong and waiting until the weather changes, but I can't quote it verbatim. However, I will attest to the uniqueness of Texas weather. It's the middle of January in Lubbock, and it's 70 degrees Fahrenheit out there! Sure, it'll be in the low 30s or upper 20s tonight, but it'll be borderline short sleeves and gym short temperatures by noon tomorrow.


In either case, you just have to take it and run with it. In light of these rather warm temperatures, I thought about some images that I wanted to post at the end of last summer, but I never got around to it. It's Joe again! This time, though, you can't really make him out, as the story related to fishing lures becoming tangled up and how to remedy the situation. Actually shot these at a playa lake in town, just got low in the water, shot with a wide-angle up close, and there you have it! It definitely made for a nice afternoon, with the feet in the water and all, and one of them ran, so it was a happy ending.


Dang Joe, better luck next time!

This was a short post, but I thought I would throw it out there for those of you that are ready for more consistent, warmer temperatures. Happy fishing and take care!

Ideas that linger...

It's back to school for many folks, teachers too, and it looks like it's shaping up to be an involved and productive year! This is always an exciting part of the year, and I hope all of you keep all the goals (the word I use to mask 'resolution') you have set for yourselves for 2009! I believe it's incredibly important to set goals, and I believe if you never set them, you'll never achieve any. So, for what it's worth, there's my lesson for the day...

One of the great things about the winter is the time you are allowed as a photographer to reflect on your work and where you need to be going. It's also a great time to work on new material in way of portraiture (at least in my world)!

Byron Kennedy is a great friend. The kind of friend that you can call when you get a flat tire on a dark, lonely highway in a state across the nation, and if he doesn't show up to help you out, he'll make sure you're taken care of with as many calls as it would take. To say the least, Byron is a good guy, with plenty of story to tell if you ever sit down with him. I had an idea of a photograph of Byron for a while, as well as one of his dad, and here is one of my favorites from the shoot.


Three soft boxes with a Dynalite kit. The original thought was to post-process this photograph to replicate Velvia with quite a bit of contrast. However, I enjoyed the metallic sepia/duotone feel this one has!


Byron's dad, Norvelle Kennedy, is a shooter, and another dang good guy! He is one of the main sports photogs for Texas Tech University. Catch some of his work here. Yes, that's Wes Welker when he played for Tech, and yes, that's a bunch of frustrated Aggies.


My idea for Norvelle came almost a year ago, my intention was to go all black-and-white with this one, but I'm not sure which one I like the best, but that's why you shoot several photographs. The last one (above) I processed out of a black-and-white and gave it an Ektachrome feel (check out the blue tint in the shadows).

These photographs, especially when I relate this to students, are examples of conceptualizing photographs that benefit you personally or professionally, as well as others! I'd like to thank both Byron and Norvelle Kennedy for spending some time with me!

New Life Children's Home and a very special shoot!

I'm fortunate to see some pretty interesting things and meet some outstanding people as a photographer! I have a great attraction to people and their stories, because each is so unique and deserves telling. The photograph above is of Michelle. Michelle really drove home what I do for a living: help tell a story!


Michelle is an 18-month-old orphan from Guatemala. She traveled to Lubbock from New Life Children's Home with Kendon and Wendy Wheeler, two spectacular people that have spent years in Guatemala directing the orphanage and educating and ministering to those they come in contact. Check out the New Life Children's Home Web site if you are interested in more information about their work. Believe me when I say, we are all more fortunate than many, and this is a great cause and direction in life!


Back to Michelle. Michelle is a year and a half old, yet (and this is the kicker) he only weighs eight pounds. That's right, wrap that around your head for a second. Eight pounds! The average weight for infants born in the United States is approximately seven pounds. Needless to say, Michelle is tiny. However, that's the only "issue," if you can even call it that, with Michelle. She was brought to Lubbock for genetic testing to determine, what doctors believe, what form of dwarfism she has. If I remember correctly, Michelle did not weigh over two pounds when she was born prematurely, and when Wendy said she was a survivor, it was a statement that goes a long way. She survived as a premature infant in hospital conditions not like our own in the U.S., and she is now an energetic 18-month-old that once getting started, is surprisingly, unstoppable!


To be honest, I was not expecting Michelle to be able to walk and be developed as she was when I first heard about her from the editor of the magazine we photographed her for. I was most definitely wrong about that. Michelle can walk, run, understand both English and Spanish, and she blows kisses! I was totally blown away by how special this little girl was! I'll leave the magazine to finish out the details to why she was in Lubbock, but we did spend some time with her throughout the day, and everyone she met was just as affected as yours truly.


Being able to meet people like Michelle and Kendon and Wendy Wheeler is probably the greatest aspect of my job, and being able to help relay their stories to a greater audience is definitely the second! I hope you all check out their Web site and their work! It's people like them that make this world a much better place, and we should all be proud of them for that!