JJP Designs | Photo Ninja

Okay, so I was literally jonesing for some photography... in particular something with vintage glass - and off camera flash... I didn't care what or where - just vintage, flash, NOW! Hmmmm... a few days ago I had another itch... to do some Lego buildin' with my son... Yeeeep... neurons sparking... idea forming... yeeeeeeeeeep... KP... Vintage 50... Transmitter/Receiver... Flash... ... ... ... ... ... Dining Room! Mech Lego thingiemabobs! Honestly, the pink one makes me think of Pinkie Pie from My Little Pony if she were to go full out party Pony Apocalypse on someone. Decided to go for the action shots - and straight out of camera so I let the KP process them to JPG... Oh, by the way... the pink one is the one I built that night so technically I lost this battle... But it's all good 'cause Jr. and I went out for a boyz' Pizza, Ice Cream, and 'Ford vs. Ferrari' night yesterday so I'll concede him this battle (and the two Forza rounds he pummeled me

Spent a little time at a small local zoo today... The day was grey and cold... Very grey... And very cold... So the animals were not much in the mood to be either in a good photo position or to move about very much... Warmish spot and snuggled up was pretty much their position and their attitude... And I can't really blame them. "Stop. Pointing. That. Camera. At. Me. It's cold and I'm froofed for warmth." "Hey, photo boy... one wing - take the shot. Got it? Good. Now go away so I can re-snuggle-up... it's cold." "Okay - Fine... one regal pose..."   "Now go away. Blaaaaaaah!"

I love lines... that don't conform... Lines that are perfect except for that one perfectly pefect imperfection... I love capturing organic lines when they reveal their organic-ness... their potential for disorder... for something, just one thing, to get 'out of line'... And when it happens it just makes the line so much more interesting... It can happen at the back of the line... I love the contrast of everyone else looking dead straight forward and him in the back looking very intently and in a line perfectly 90 degrees off the rest of them... It can happen at the front of the line... I love the 'organic line' components of this photo - the obvious one but also the little smirk on her face that make her dimple just bend the line of her smiling face... It can happen in the middle of the line... I was always the shortest - no, this is not me in the photo but I always made every line I stood in look pretty much like this... It can be a simple tilt... That

I photographed my 1st Marching Band Invitational... well, my son's band's marching band invitational - his first (he is a freshmen) but their 3rd annual. My son's school band hosted it but there were 14 visiting bands... his band was only scheduled (we'll get back to that 'scheduled' point later) to do an exhibition performance since they were hosting - hosting band does not compete. His band competed at one last week and will do so at another next week... busy schedule these band kids keep. Luckily there were 3 other photographers as well (there were likely a few thousand people there between bands, parents, and friends)... two were other parents and one was a student and band member so he didn't get to shoot the entire time, but he did shoot quite a bit... Side Note: That student photographer I just mentioned - He is a senior and an amazing fashion photographer with a phenomenal eye - particularly for his age! Please check out his Instagram

So I was putting my DSLR away and glanced over to my film shelves... There sat my gorgeous little 1980's Pentax-M 1:2 50mm... The KP is a crop sensor so effective is 75mm. I looked at it... I looked at my KP... I looked at it... I looked at... ... ... Okay, so we all know where this is going! I popped it on my KP and went straight down the stairs to my favorite test ground... Say it with me: kitchen table flowers. My beautiful wife discovered years ago that fresh flowers on the kitchen table are something that just gives me a little inside smile no matter what the day brought - and since my rose garden isn't 100% consistent she always tries to have fresh but flowers from the flower shop on the table for me. Sorry, folks, she's taken - lord knows why she puts up with me, but so far looks like she's stick'n around. Brand new body | 40 year old glass | A little sunny 16 math... Break out the sun glasses and black leather jacket 'cause this was Fonzarelli leve

So I decided to take the KP wearing the smc Pentax-M 1:2 50mm (Nifty 50) out for the day when my wife and I had some free time - Jr. had a party to go to so Mom and Dad got a little grown-up time together so off we went to lunch and an hour or two of conversation and strolling... I did let the 'green button' do some of the maths for me when I needed them fast, but I also tried a little old-school 'sunny 16' on-the-fly when I found myself in a scenario where I could slowdown and think through a scene... I even went full 'ninja' - stealth mode by flipping the LCD up for waist viewing, rigged for silent running via electronic shutter only, and focus preset for anticipated range so as to not be 'fidgeting' with focus as I walked and squeezed off shots... I'm not super fast with adjusting settings with this manual lens on the KP just yet - but getting there... On my film cameras I move a little quicker because I mentally switch to 'film m

The zoo is always fun for me with my camera, but I can say that there are a few shots each visit that are not what I had expected to shoot. Most of our trips to the zoo start a day or two ahead of time with some discussion about a new zoo baby or an animal we haven't visited in a while - so I usually arrive with those particular animals and potential images in my head. My plan for today - bring the K3Mii wearing the Tamron 70-200 2.8 to get some shots of the Albino American Alligator and the KP wearing the Pentax 100 2.8 Macro just in case since the Lego exhibit is also there. For the most part I am usually successful in getting those shots - the ones in my head prior to arrival... Got alligator shots... Got Lego shots... they were okay - nothing to write home about. Don't get me wrong, they were totally cool to see - but the alligator was solid white and not in a great position for photographs... and the Legos - well, they were Legos... maybe it is just me, but I do

Sometimes I think there is nothing to capture... I look around and think I'm not taking pictures because there is nothing worth taking pictures of... Then I look better. I don't look 'harder'... Looking harder is what you do when you are trying to find why your checkbook is out of balance. Looking harder is what you do when you are trying to find a reason for some seeming logical fallacy. Looking harder is analytical, objective, and... well... hard . Looking better is synthetic, subjective, and... well... better . I stop... slowdown... and really look... better. I look at the light. I look at the shadows. I look at the contours. I look 'better'. Looking harder sees weeds . Looking better sees truth . luminance, contrast, contour... fine details... isolation... flare... bokeh... Campsite 'Weed' with Spiderweb Remnants with all its 'friends' made to Bokeh Isolation of one 'weed' among a field of 100s next to campsite Some of the isolat

A lot of people use sports as a release. A pressure valve. Time with friends, giving your body a good healthy bit of physical exertion, clearing the mind... fun, healthy competition. As much as I was pushed to love some sport, any sport, I was not into sports growing up... I'm still not. I can watch a game with friends, but it is not something I'd choose to watch on my own. I guess the only exception is racing - I'll watch and enjoy almost any automotive racing... but that's about it. I did learn to shoot trap and was pretty decent at it... but I never got hooked on it. I also don't like fishing - no patience for it. Well, except for Fly Fishing... I do love fly fishing. I think I enjoy it because a fly fisherman is actually involved in the act - constantly. I obviously like kayaking - note one of my favorite photos I took of a dragonfly pair while I was in my kayak. https://jjpdesigns.blogspot.com/2022/01/post-september.html And hiking, biking... outdoor natur