Professional photographer, to amatuer photographer, to something in between.
I have the lucky opportunity to choose what work I do. This keeps me creative and enjoying the work.
On this blog I hope to share my adventures of getting back into the business of photography. I'll share my tips, my failures, and things that inspire me. I will share the work of photographers I find, or websites I love, and of course of photos I'm taking and working on. I hope to be of help to those who are thinking about getting into photography as well as to those who just like taking snap shots.
I hope you like it. I love comments - share your thoughts with me.
I’m very please and honored to announce that a few of my photos are for sale along with those of about 60 other photographers from around the world with all proceeds going to Haiti Relief though Doctors Without Borders. The devastation in Haiti is hard to comprehend, and the ongoing need for everything including medical relief will be immense.
All images are priced the same at $50 for 11×14 prints, $100 for larger prints, and $36 dollars for smaller iPhone pictures (if possible, larger prints of iPhone photos may be available). Yes, there is an entire gallery of iPhone photos that are for sale, and they photographs are amazing. If you haven’t seen my iPhone Photo project you should look. It is a lot of fun.) All artist involved are limiting their editions of the photographs to 50, and most are more then willing to sign and number the prints, but that process will not be automated, the artist will have to be contacted. I am of course more the willing to do this at my expense.
The group of photographers chose Doctors Without Borders because 1) they have been working in Haiti for many years and are already on the ground; 2) they are small enough to be accountable and large enough to be legitimate; 3) they represent a cause we personally believe in and can be of immediate help. There is no overhead for this project other then the printing costs. All proceeds go to Haiti Relief. Please take a look and help if you can at all!
The site to purchase and or just look at the photographs is – Images Without Borders – Please visit!!
The photos I have contributed so far are below. I would love to sell as many of these as I can and be able to help as much as possible. More may come in the future if needed.
The following photos are all from my eyephone daily photo project – commonly knowns as iPhoneography . . . .
The youth in our ward put on a Living Nativity last week. What this really means is that my wife Jamie and I were at the church most of the entire week herding the kids into their groups, helping out where we could, and generally just hanging around.
The kids did a great job and it everyone loved it. If you saw the practices you would be amazed (like we are) that it all came off so well. Watching teenagers practice this stuff is not a pretty endeavor. The actual production was a great thing.
December 11, 2009 - 5:42 amValerie - How cool. I remember this vaguely from my own childhood (I was much younger though, before high school). I think most kids are like that; they make a lot of fun and try to act as cool, uncaring and uninterested as they can.. until it's for real, and then they can be absolutely serious about it- like you had never imagined possible. (You should still remember that too you know :P)
December 14, 2009 - 10:40 amJon - It's funny. Your right, I was the same way. Teenagers can seem totally disconnected to everything, but when they chance comes they are always right there, ready to go, and do it well. I'm always impressed!
I know my last few posts have been about my iPhone photography, or “iPhoneography” as we call it, but I’ve got one more update to share. Recently I’ve been so busy at the office that I haven’t had time to update the blog on much more but I hope that will change soon.
The photo’s I’ve been taken with my iPhone have been featured recently. The first was in the “iPhoneography Blog”. The link is here. There is a bit of my history as a photograher there as well – just a little bit.
The next one was on the website of a software firm that makes one of the leading iPhone photography apps called “Camerabag”. Camerabag is a fantastic app, as a matter of fact it is the app that got me started taking daily photos with the iphone. It is very simple to use and makes your pictures look great. If you are looking for one simple app to help you take great pictures start with this one!!
The link to this article is here. It is a bit smaller write up, just a few comments, but I really like the photos that were chosen for this one.
Check out their software as well – I highly recommend it.
On another topic . . .
I want to start putting together some simple photo tips to share on my facebook page and here. I need to take some pictures of children and family portraits. It IS the holiday season so this could help you as well. Let me know if you are willing to help me out. I’m not charging anything for the session for your children and family if you will help. Yep, that is a big FREE.
One hundred and sixty eight days ago I starting taking a daily iPhone photo. Actually, I take many more then one a day, but I choose one that is my favorite. Turns out there a quite of few of us out there. I’ve connected with a few that I follow each day and have become good “online friends” with. I’m so impressed with the photos that great artist take with this simple camera that really is technically not very good. It’s never the equipment, it is the person who uses the equipment that makes a difference.
There are so many more! I can’t list them all, but I will share more as time goes on. If you want to see more now let me know in the comment section below and I will add as many as I can.
The last 14 days I’ve been taking photos of reflections with my iPhone. Reflections on buildings, reflections in puddles, reflections in pools, etc. They’ve been some of my favorites . . .
For the last few months I’ve been working on a personal project. Hopefully you’ve seen the photos. If not check them out here. I post all my current work or personal projects on my photoblog which you can always get to with the link at the top of the page.
This is a type of project that I learned about from a group of great photographers I follow on Twitter. There is a flickr group for these project 50 shots, some fantastic work there.
The basic idea is to take 50 days and use nothing but my 50mm lens. The 50mm lens is sometimes called a standard lens. It’s field of vision is much like the human eye sees. I decided to work on only one subject, faces. My favorite subject has always been faces. I would rather shot a portrait then any other subject.
What did I learn during those 50 days you ask??
The first is that you really can not be too good at using your post processing software. There is always something to learn. I learned the art of photography back in the dark ages with actual film and chemicals. What can be done with software now is amazing, but really no different from what you can do with chemicals. It doesn’t smell as bad, and you don’t have to do it in the dark, but really the final effect is not much different. It can be done quicker and I think better, and there is so much that can be done. I could spend the rest of my life learning and practicing.
Most “strangers” do not mind having their picture taken if you ask nicely, and build up just a bit of raport with them. Be nice, respect them, explain why you want to take their picture and be honest, they will respect it.
Protesters or people who are striking something want to be seen by everyone, but do not like to have their picture taken. That one is weird to me.
People who work with you or for you need to be prodded more then strangers.
It takes at least 3 weeks for your family to get used to you having the camera with you all the time.
My kids hate to have their picture taken, but they are pretty quick to use those pictures as avatars for Facebook or to share with friends.
My wife will never like to have her picture taken, no matter how beautiful she is.
I really, really like black and white portraits.
Doing a project like this for yourself can actually bring more people to see what you do. This one could work in any field. Is there something that you enjoy doing? Get creative with it, do a project that you’ve always wanted to do, make a plan and follow though. People will get curious and watch.
Most importantly, this project helped remind me of how much I love photography, and more how much I love making pictures of people. It’s a lot of work to keep up a picture everyday, but well worth it. Try it, see what you come up with. Use your cell phone, your point and shot, your expensive new DSLR, anything. Equipment doesn’t matter, just look for something beautiful, and make a picture.
I was finally able to get some concentrated computer time to edit and process a few larger jobs. I hope to get some of the work posted here over the next few days, but in the mean time here is an update to Emily and Kiel.
After Emily and Kiel had their honeymoon, they had one more reception to take care of. Emily grew up in Kansas City, MO. She had many friends and family members who could not attend the wedding in Los Angeles. It was great to meet everyone on her side of the family and all her friends she grew up with. It was also a great trip for us on a personal level as well – filled with BBQ, Jazz, and siteseeing. I’ve posted a few times about this wedding, but you’ll have to forgive me since he is my kid (and now she is too).
They had the event in a new neighborhood in the Kansas City area called, “Seven Bridges”. It was a fantastic, pretty place. Water works, rivers, pools, football fields, farm land, great club house; it was the perfect place for the reception. Of course, nothing ever goes perfect. It was very, very hot. The heat index was well over 100, this made the photos a bit difficult to take outside away from the airconditioning. They were both great sports and had all kinds of fun.
Forgive me for just a second and allow me to mention that Emily is simply perfect. I could not dream up anyone better I would want my son to be with. I’m so impressed with her and she has really grown on me. I’m so proud and happy with them and what they are doing with their lives.
Now, if they could just help me with some grandkids . . . kidding . . . I’m way to young for that!!
By Patrick's (Emily's Brother) Car that he rebuilt
I've been told the entire wedding was planned around these shoes
Emily showing her kicking skills
Kiel trying to show his skills
The area was very beautiful
Emily and Kiel in the garden
Waterfalls and bridges were all over this neighborhood
September 7, 2009 - 7:11 pmLisa McCole - You are forgiven. We feel the same way about Kiel. He is a perfect helpmate for Emily. They compliment each other in wonderful ways. Thank you for give us a super son-in-law.
The shoes are very nice!!!
September 8, 2009 - 7:27 pmJuline Lambert - When you get them, I think those grandkids are going to be DANG cute!!!!!!! In the meantime, I'll share. :-)
September 7, 2009 - 8:39 amTweets that mention Emily & Kiel’s Kansas City Reception » Jon Yager Photography -- Topsy.com - [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Dwayne Bradley. Dwayne Bradley said: RT @jonyag: Photos from the KC reception a few weeks back. http://www.jonyager.com/?p=236 ~ Nicely done! [...]
I’m finally back to my computer, and ready to get to editing/processing. But, before I do I thought I would share a couple to quick teasers from the Lambert/McClellan wedding on Thursday. They held their wedding at the Wheeler Farm in Salt Lake City. It was a very hot day which made it tough to get a lot of outdoor shots. Even so, we all had a lot of fun.
Alyssa and Collin looked great and did a fantastic job. They had lots, and lots, and lots of family and friends there as well.
I had a few hours in Salt Lake City before having to fly out, so what should i do?? Shot some Bridal Portraits of course!!
Alyssa is getting married in a few weeks and asked if I could spend sometime with her and my camera. The time was tight, but she was great, very understanding, willing to do anything, and looked great in her dress as well. We headed out to Jordan Park / International Peace Gardens. In all my years shooting photos in SLC, I never knew about this park. I should have. It is not in an area that you would think has a great park, but it worked out very nicely. Lots of great places to shot. So, if you are in SLC and looking for a nice place for some outside portraits take a look here.
A few samples of Alyssa’s pictures are below. She has asked my to shot her wedding as well so I will be back in SLC for another super quick trip soon. I don’t normally do very many weddings so I hope I do okay by her . . .
August 20, 2009 - 1:00 amvalerie - Awesome! Beautiful bride, too! You'll do great, good luck ;)
August 28, 2009 - 2:30 pmSue - Those shots are fantastic! The person seems to come alive. I've never seen that much personality come out in photos and the variety is great too. Way to go Jon!
August 30, 2009 - 7:26 pmJon - Thanks so much Sue!! That means a lot to me.
A few years ago I was working in multiple offices spread out between Santa Barbara and San Diego. I would spend a day or two in one office and a day or two in another. This meant a lot of time in the car. At first the driving was killing me, the radio got boring, my CD’s (and believe me, I have a lot of them) got boring, my iPod got old . . .
Then I had an idea. I would take my camera along and take photos. This turned out to me much harder then I thought it would be. You can’t really see, aim, focus, zoom, compose, etc. while driving. Not unless you want to get killed. So, I modified what I was doing and decided to just have some fun.
The Rules:
No Aiming or planning. If I see something out of the corner of my eye, I would just lift the camera and shoot.
No looking in the view finder or at the LCD screen at the back of the camera – before or AFTER the shot is taken.
Take many photos. Some days I took a few hundred.
No looking until I get home and put them on the computer.
Keep the editing to a minimum.
That was it. I was amazed that while doing this for almost a year I did not have one person notice I was taking their picture. I had a Canon DSLR pointing right at them, sometimes only a few feet from their head and they didn’t notice. Then I starting to think about the way I used to drive. Look straight ahead, think about something (anything other then being in traffic), pay no attention to what is around you other then the car in front of you. Is that the way we go through life sometimes? Of the hundreds of people that I took photos of, all of them had no idea I was there. They all just looked straight ahead in their own world.
Pay attention to what is around you. So much beauty, commedy, action, colors, shapes . . . It is all right there just to be seen. Or, there may be someone taking a picture of you. This project help me actually look around and see and have fun at the same time.
I put these photos up on a photo blog a few years ago that I think a total of 2 people read. I was one of those two. I was going through them the other day and thought I should do something with them. I put a video together of some of them. I enjoy watching this as it reminds me of my great commute days. Funny that I look back at them as fun now. I guess there is a lesson in there someplace about life in general.
Let me know what you think or other ideas you have. What do you do to keep you self positive in not-so-fun situations?
I’m working on a few personal projects just to keep my creative juices flowing. I love the craft of photography and I love the fact that there is always something to work on and to learn. One of the things that I’m doing is to give myself assignments and working though them just as if they were a real job. This gives me the control of what I want to work on for at least part of the day, but also takes out all the excuses and procrastination that can happen with personal work.
I’m currently working on two “assigments”. The first is my 365 iPhone Project. An iPhone photo a day for a year. You can see them on my Tumblr site or at my Flickr site. I will update the blog on those at a later time.
The other one is my Project 50. I’ve recently met (though the internet and Twitter) a bunch of photographers who have been doing this for a while. Basically it is a 50 day project, taking photos only with your 50 mm lens. I added in the angle that I was going to do this with faces. For those non-photographers who are reading this, the 50mm lense is the lense that makes things look basically the way you see them. It is not a telephoto or a wide angle and is what is called a “prime lense”. It does not zoom in our out. If you want to get closer to your subject, you have to use your feet.
I’m now on the second week of the work, you can see the daily updates if you want by clicking the “Latest Works” link at the top of this page. I’ll also include the first 14 shots here.
It has been fun. Some strangers, some family members, some people I see every day but really don’t know and some co-workers. I’ve had to convince people to sit for me, I’ve been yelled at, I’ve been called crazy, and one guy threatened to punch me, but it turns out he was just joking. I don’t know what is coming over the next few weeks, but it will be fun to find out.
by Jon
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