JJP Designs | Photo Ninja

So I was doing some photos and video for a project and decided to shoot some extra images for myself... Of FIRE... and SMOKE! Well, just a bit-o-fire and a bit-o-smoke... And, did I mention, I had to set things on FIRE! Okay, it was just candles... Small space... Daylight... Ya' know - my usual... So first I wanted the fire - the color, the texture, the symmetry (of my candle holder thingiemajiggie)... A little depth-of-field playing aroundness... Again, my usual... But then, as I was photographing the fire, I realized there was SMOKE! Oooooh - COOL! Yes, I am easily entertained... And my lighting was already setup to make the most of said smoke! Light arranged in relation to smoke to shine through it. Extra COOL! Yep - me, easily entertained... again. First shot - pretty much straight on from above... Next, some angles to see how much I can do with perspective... this impacting not only the depth of field but also how the candle holder did or did not reflect the candle light - w...

Unlike a 'written' book, which contains a finite amount of words, a picture book contains literally every word you know. I love to read, but I enjoy picture books for the simple reason that I get to read whatever story I see in the images based on who I am and how I interpret the images based on my history, my joys and sorrows, and even my day right up to the moment I pick up the book. Maybe that's one of the reasons I love photography so much - the ability to capture a moment that tells an entire story simply by making a record of the configuration of light at one pivotal moment. No sound. No motion. No reference what so ever beyond the light as it was configured and frozen at that exact moment. There is an amazing elegance in capturing that one amazing story telling image and I can feel it in my core every time I capture 'that' image on any given day out shooting. That feeling is what drives me to keep rolling off shots... it is the very core of my per...