Week 4 EOC: Peering into the future

            The year is 2032 I am 50 years old, life is good with only a few complaints. I thought for sure by now we would have flying cars and robots for maids. With that said life is amazing, I have 12 grandkids 4 great grand kids and 2 dogs. My business is very successful with 3 studio’s named Ralph James Photography in Las Vegas, New York and Los Angeles with a staff totaling 60. My role as a photographer has changed a lot in 20 years, in my early years as a photographer I was the only photographer and I shot all assignments, now I oversee 3 teams that shoot Weddings and I primarily shoot editorial and commercial assignments. Recent magazines that I have worked with are Life, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Vogue, People and Vanity Fair. The magazine shoots are big productions and usually with celebrities or shooting high end products. I fly between my two homes in Los Angeles and New York due to my work with celebrities and magazines I spend a equal amount of time in both with my sons running the Las Vegas location I don’t spend much time there. I also still own Pin Up Bride with my wife of 22 years Deborah who is now a world famous Wedding Designer and Author of many Wedding related books. The Pin Up Bride is now a household name after it’s 10 year run as a reality show that featured unique and crazy Weddings planned and designed by The Pin Up Bride. My wife and I plan to keep doing what we love to do as long as we can but limited to what we want to do and let our staff do the rest and at some point we will pass it all onto our kids.

Week 3 EOC : National Geographic

                                         Photo Credit Joe McNally

National Geographic Magazine was a favorite magazine of  mine since I was a young boy, I always enjoyed the amazing photography and being able to see other parts of the world that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to see. Over the years the pages of National geographic Magazine played a big part in my initial interest in photography that would turn into a life long passion.  Joe McNally is a photographer that I have always admired and followed on the pages of National Geographic Magazine. A few years ago I was lucky enough to attend a Joe McNally Workshop in California that changed my life and me as a photographer. Joe spoke about his career and the many wild risks he had to take during it to get what he wanted. One assignment that always stood out in my mind was the shot of Michelle Yeow over the Hollywood sign. The shot of Michelle Yeow took the courage of Joe and he had to talk Michelle into it as well, they had to build a rig that stuck out of a helicopter to hang Michelle off and then Joe had to hang out of the door to get the shot. This shot is one of my all time favorites because you can’t just go out with your iphone and snap a similar picture, it takes the talents and resources of Joe Mc’Nally and National Geographic Magazine to get this shot. I admire Joe’s talent to make such amazing shots with little or no post process and it all being created and set up before the shutter is clicked. Although Joes style is different than normal National Geographic Magazine photos they always are amazing. I have included a photo of mine that I feel was inspired by the pages of National Geographic and Joe McNally.

Week 2: Weekly Photo Assignment

The photo challenge this week was to take a paparazzo shot with free creative range. I thought long and hard of where I would go to get this shot when I realized this type of photography is not me and I had to think of a more creative way to get the shot.  With the help of my favorite model, my wife I decide to set up a scene as if a Paparazzo was trying to get his shot. The first step to do this was having my wife find a expensive looking hat and jacket to appear that she’s a rich celebrity. Now I will position at the front door, looking like she is attempting to get into to her house. When the photo is taken her hat will be pulled down over her face and her hand is out like she is trying to block the shot. My angle will be from behind to appear that I’m following her and her hand sticking out will be blurred to appear that I’m very close to her. This is my creative version of a Paparazzi shot without actually having to go out and be a “Paparzzo”..

Week 2 EOC: La Dolce Vita

         The paparazzi were portrayed amazingly accurate in La Dolce Vita compared to current times. The movie showed the paparazzi as having a pushy and intrusive manor, which is not a good thing in my opinion these photographer tends to give all photographers a bad name. I enjoyed that the movie took you back to a time much different time and how accurate he predicted the future of celebrities being photographed by paparazzi.
          Living in Las Vegas we are in no shortage of celebrities and events to get in on the paparazzi action. Nightclubs are a great place to start, on any given night they will celebrities host the party. Conferences are another place to catch some of the action with the like of Magic, AVN and CES your sure to get a great shot. Fights such as UFC and Boxing can prove to be a exciting place to take many photos of celebrities. Last but not least is award shows such as Billboard Music Awards and Miss America has red carpets full of celebrities. I’m sure there are many others place to take shots amongst the paparazzi, these are the main ones that I know. I plan on researching what events are in town and find the one with a red carpet to shoot at. Once I pick a event I will then find out if I need prior approval to shoot the red carpet. The other option if I cannot find a red carpet event I will look at what nightclubs will have a step and repeat up and hang out there until I find someone worth photographing.

Week 1 Photo Challenge

I first saw Rob Van Petten at the 2012 WPPI Conference in Las Vegas giving a speech on the new Nikon D800 Camera. Sitting at Rob’s speech that day inspired me to pursue fashion and editorial photography.  I now regularly visit Rob’s website for inspiration and to see his newest work. The attention to detail and the production that goes into to Rob’s work is what draws me to him, everyone of his shoots is like a movie set.

            Rob Van Petten’s image I chose for my self -portrait has a awesome story behind how it was made. Rob his crew and the model found the tallest building around headed to the roof and stuck the model on the ledge for close to a hour to get this shot. The main reason for choosing this image is it takes photography to another level and it’s different.

            To create my self -portrait using this image was tricky at first since I couldn’t find it anywhere besides his website gallery. The first step was taking a screen shot of the image of his website which hurt me to since I would hate if someone did to my images.. Anyways next step I opened the screen shot in photoshop along with my headshot. Using minor photoshop skills I was easily able to combine the two images to create my constructed self portrait.

Source of Original Photo By Rob Van Petten

http://www.robvanpetten.com/new-stuff/

Week 1 EOC Stalions not Unicorns

            Photography is more than taking pictures, it’s art, it’s passion and it’s what you make of it. Almost everyone carries a camera taking pictures with their cell phone or small digital camera but most don’t have the passion to take it farther to be a career. I started as a photographer at the age of fifteen when I took my first photography course in high school. The very first time I shot a roll of film and developed it in the dark room, it was an instant passion… I was hooked. The only problem was I didn’t have a dark room to develop and make prints so I took a different career path while still keeping photography very much in my life as a hobby. Fast forward thirteen years and my skills and passion for photography have dramatically increased and there is no longer a need for a darkroom.  As owner and lead photographer at Ralph James photography, it is now my career and what I have quickly learned is it ‘s what you make of it. Ralph James photography will be a well- known name in the Wedding and Fashion industries alike. I plan to only do a select few high-end wedding per year concentrating on the true art of Wedding Photography. Fashion photography will be my main business focus shooting for companies such as Chanel and Gucci and magazines like Vogue. The quality of my work will be the foundation of reaching this goal of being a high-end Wedding and Fashion photographer. Along with quality, it will take connections that I have built over the years and new connections by networking. I will have a strong marketing plan and know exactly what client I’m after and not stop until I have them. Ralph James Photography will have a studio in New York and  in Hollywood California.  The New York studio will be larger due to the high demand for magazine shoots there, California will have a smaller studio/ office space. The ability to shoot fashion in both Hollywood and New York will give a huge advantage to build connections on the East and West Coast. 

My Voice

I am a Las Vegas Wedding professional, with a passion for creating and capturing dream Weddings. I own and operate The Pin Up Bride LLC together with my wife Deborah James. The Pin Up Bride is an award wining Wedding company for couples seeking a unique experience. I run the photography and marketing division of the company and also assist with all planning and design for all Weddings. My unique advantage is by owning a Wedding planning, design and photography company I know the whole experience from every angle. Knowing the business from every angle means I know couples no longer want “the standard Wedding pictures” they want pictures that stand out. Couples want people to look at their Wedding and say WOW and my pictures will give the wow factor. I create Wedding art, no two pictures are alike and I’m not afraid to step way out of the box to capture the couples personality. From Betty Paige to Dita Von Teese Pin Up and Vintage styles are a big influence in my style. In addition to Wedding photography The Pin Up Bride does Boudoir, fashion and Pin Up Sessions in our new full service studio.