Epic Death

The band Epic Death came to me and needed photos for upcoming press kits and some other items. I have been a fan of their music for a while (and let me tell you the sneaks I have heard of their upcoming album is great) and so I was pretty excited about getting to do the work for them.

We had so many ideas we wanted to work upon, but it was a fine line of wanting to be just cliché enough, without going crazy with it. After a lot of deliberation we settled on some rail road tracks. YEAAHHHH thats cliche to the max! It had to fit the theme and I was pretty sure I could pull off a shoot on a railroad track that didn’t look like a country and western album cover.

Challenge  accepted.

I wont bore you with too many details and I wont share too many of the shots because they are still to be edited by their graphic designer for their album work. I cant wait to see what they get turned into for the final product. Very cool stuff. And if you get a chance to check out Epic Death tell them Big John sent ya!

The Ladies of Epic Death

Epic Death Teaser Shot

Epic Death Men

Epic Death on the Hillgroup skull Epic Death logo at top

 

Update That Stale FaceBook Profile Picture

Have you taken a close hard look at your Facebook or Twitter profile picture lately? Is it even an image of you? It’s ok, I’m here to fix that by providing you with a new, fun social media profile picture! So take down that picture of your baby, your cat, or whatever the hottest meme at the moment is and let everyone actually know what you look like! Bring out your wacky side and have some fun, or be boring. The choice is yours!

when the lightbulb goes off, the ideas flow

Sure, this special is geared towards the social media sites like Facebook or Twitter but use your imagination. With your picture being delivered to you as a digital download you can print your new profile picture on business cards and blanket the city with your pretty face, or you could include a cute photo of you to your utility companies each time you send them that fat check each month.

So you may find yourself asking, “Big John, what does all this mean?”

Well let me tell you. It’s a chance to get a new, fun, stylized profile picture that will amaze your friends, wow your family, and make you the center of attention for a price that wont break the bank. In fact its a pretty crazy price for the level of attention your new profile picture is going get.

must compute!

What You Get
A Pre shoot consultation to find out what you want in your final product.

Roughly half an hour of shooting time.  This is your time to shine. You should have some props, some facial expressions and possibly an outfit change at the ready.  Keep in mind this isn’t going to replace your family’s JC Penny portrait, it’s going to crush it was the force of a thousand angry elephants.

Post shoot proofing to pick the image you want in your final product.

A digital image to use online, in emails, etc.

Your Investment
All of this is yours for only 50 dollars with the inclusion of one pose in a digital file and a lifetime of awesome-ness.

hammer time before and after

Dont miss your chance to become immortalized in an image that is exactly how you want to be portrayed, as fun or as boring as you want to be (or are).  Book your appointment now by calling or texting 281.756.7056 or emailing me at John@BigJohnsPhotography.com you won’t be disappointed.

 

Warwas Racing – The Cartoon Kart Kraze

A friend of mine has a nephew that races go karts. Yeah… not your grandparents go-karts that you putted around on saturday nights in August. These little karts are crazy fast, and take some real guts to get out on the track with others zipping around at crazy rates of speed. I think these things have more technology in them than your old mans fold pickup.

When I heard that this kid is out racing these things I got excited and told them I wanted to make his portrait. It turns out My friends brother really likes my work and thought it would be cool if I would do one of my signature portraits for his son. I already knew what I wanted to do, so I told them to suit the kid up and meet me at the parking lot.

Cartoon Kart Racer

I shot everything with just one light, an Alien Bee 800 in a beauty dish boomed camera right. The sun was high and to the left giving me a 2 light look. Interestingly enough I didn’t composite in a new background though I did some work to it obviously. There isn’t really much to say about it I suppose, and stupid me again forgot to take a shot of the whole set up so once again use your imagination.

Ansley. The Next Chapter Begins.

When my friend Ansley and I were preparing to shoot Derek’s pictures to promote his videography business I used him as a stand in to make sure we got everything ready to go for the next day. Derek was going to be tight on time so there wasn’t going to be time to fool around.

One of my New Years resolutions is to try to give some more behind the scenes stuff for your enjoyment and to help me have set up shots just for my reference. Ansley (at the time) was in the process of moving and had a great room we could set up and use. It was a basic 3 light setup.

behind the scenes 3 lights

behind the scenes 3 lights on a medium gray wall

As we were getting everything set up I started to take some shots of him, not really having a game plan or direction. I like to keep things in one place and move around myself. It can really create some different lighting that you otherwise may not have considered using. And thus we arrived at what we call, the Abe Lincoln shot.

profile ansley .. or, the abe lincoln

profile ansley… the “abe lincoln” shot

When I got these shots home and on the computer I was pretty excited about this one. I really felt that it was going to be the winner of the batch, especially in a shoot that really was just chimping lights and camera settings to ensure an easy time the next day for Derek.

After we had everything set up, I asked him to go get some interesting prop and I would see if I could make him something nice. He came back with a big road case that has a lot of sentimental value from all of his years playing music. I still made use of the 3 light setup, however instead of using the third front light to really light up Ansley I used it to brighten up the case.

This shot sat unedited for a while until I finally had that “ah ha” moment and was ready to work on it. Turns out it was the winner of the bunch and will soon be printed on a large canvas for him to hang in his new loft apartment. I love it when stories have a happy ending.

thoughts - Ansley

 

Happy New Year! (better late than never right?)

Hey everyone! Happy New Year! So what if its mid February already at least I am getting it done. Lots of things have been going on around here since christmas and I had a lovely time off. We moved to a different part of town, got a new house, met some great new people… its all been really fantastic. So fantastic that I have neglected you fine folks! I am terribly sorry for doing so and I have been sitting around for a week or more trying to figure out how I was going to make it up to you.

I have 3 different shoots I have completed since christmas that I wish to share and I cant wait to do it!

First up, is Derek Norman of Advantage Point Video. Last year he created some fantastic artwork for our Tough Mudder team “The Splitstickers” and in return I wanted to make him a great portrait he could show off to his friends and use on in his business. Derek is a great guy who does tons of great work as a videographer for a lot of Houston bands, as well as making amazing recordings of your life moments, weddings, birthdays etc.

Derek has a signature look to him when you see him out in the music venues. He always has his camera attached to a monopod, which allows him great stability along with being able to get different angles that your average Joe with an iPhone just wouldn’t be able to get. In his logo he uses an image of himself with his camera perched atop his monopod and I thought it would be neat to do a take on this idea. I know that these days videographers don’t really use “tape” anymore but most people I think still like to associate video with “tape” so we destroyed an old Metallica VHS tape and let it drape from Derek. After the shot was done I created the little plasma ball effect and took a separate shot of Derek with his camera and added it to the center. It is a nice blend of portrait and composite combining elements of Derek and his logo.

Derek Norman Advantage Point Video Tape and Orb

Derek Norman of Advantage Point Video is draped in an old Metallica VHS tape for his portrait with an orb of his likeness.

After this shot I wanted to produce something a little more normal but still with some fun than a plain ol portrait on a gray background. The last two shots have backgrounds that started with stock shots I took while wandering downtown with the first one having some slight smoke added to the shot and the second one adding in a big blood blob because, well, what is more metal than that?

Derek striped wall

Derek against a stock shot taken during an outing in downtown.

Derek's smile

Derek with a smile against another stock shot taken downtown with a blood overlay

In the end I am really happy with how they turned out and I was able to give Derek something different that I am sure he wasn’t expecting.

Do you want to see more of AdVantage Point Video? Do you want to get in touch with them and book Derek for your video work needs? You can find him here:

Facebook : AdVantage Point Video
Y
ouTube : Advantage Point Video

 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas everyone! This coming weekend will be my last weekend for the year. I will be going on vacation until the first of the year while we relocate and celebrate the holiday season. From my family to yours, have a safe, wonderful Christmas.

 

A little late for Halloween, but so what?

I started making this shot shortly after Halloween, and it took me a while to finish it. For a while there I just was lacking the inspiration and motivation needed to create something really killer. Usually I don’t get too creative unless I am running low on sleep and I just happened to be sleeping really good there for a while and living stress free. Who knew that could ever be a bad thing? I really wanted to show this image off around Thanksgiving but unfortunately I have been pretty busy around here with life in general and I haven’t been able to share the final image, or the process and layers used to make it. I am excited that I finally had the time to sit down and write this up so, without further ado, I give you “The Butcher” Hit the jump for all the awesome details and breakdowns as well as the final image. I don’t think you will be disappointed.

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Trying some new things, with limited success

Happy Tuesday folks!

I have been so busy lately, that I have not managed to actually pick up the camera to create anything new so I have resorted to going through some of my older work and seeing what I can make new from it. Its been kinda fun, trying some new stuff and actually making some shots that I have had sitting around wondering what to do with useful.

Heres my mediocre attempt that a billboard. I wish I had used a better picture for the billboard, something that would be more believable. The question is, is this something I want to explore again?

1st Step Pro Wellness billboard concept copyright John Ward

A proof of concept so to speak of adding a picture to an already existing billboard.

1st Step Pro-Wellness

A few weeks ago I had to pleasure of working with 4 of the brand ambassadors for 1st Step Pro-Wellness. It’s hard to complain when you are surrounded by 4 beautiful ladies, let me tell ya. It took a while, but I finally was able to get around to editing the images. There were some neat props available to us, at least, as far as seating was concerned so I really tried to use them. Does it make sense that 2 women are in a bathtub fully clothed with another 2 standing behind them? Of COURSE not! But who cares, we had a blast. (Even IF the leg kept falling off the bathtub!)all the first step ladies in a bathtub © john ward not for commercial use

I was invited as a guest of Mike Allen (GMA Photography) to attend this shoot and it was really fun to watch him work. He graciously let me snap some photos after he was done since there was still some time left. It was a fantastic experience to say the least. Hit the jump to see all the images, as well as links to First Step Pro-Wellness supplements, and GMA Photography. You wont want to miss them!

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Jennie the Baker

Its been a while since my daughter has wound up in front of the camera, so the other morning I finally had a chance to make it happen. Lately she has gotten wise to cameras (at least little camera phones and pocketable cameras) so I was concerned she wouldn’t be too warm to standing in front of all the big lights. I knew I had to work fast, so before she woke up one morning I got everything set up and ready. All I had to do was pluck her out of bed, apply the “makeup” and she hammed it up for me for a few minutes. What a relief!

Jennie the Master Chef