Can you guess what this man is doing in this environmental portrait? I’ll give you a hint. It involves the print industry.

Well, the past year of experimentation has expired, and after careful analysis and deduction, it was time to redesign the website from the ground up with a single focus in mind, and give the blog a fresh new face (template). The previous site was an enormous effort, but had no identity since there was no focus and across the board with numerous services offered.

I guess you could say that I was a burger joint offering gyros, fish tacos and egg foo young sandwiches. Too much variety leave customers confused and hesitant. It’s hard to maintain a single focus when your interests and passions cover a wide gamut, but in a sense, this broad range prepared and transpired that narrow focus that I hoped to achieve.

Sure, I designed a few wedding albums, ads, logos, and websites that I poured my heart and soul creating, but it was all done in solitude with Blur, Paul Weller, or some random 70s and 80s Brit punk rock injecting inspiration through those tiny ear buds. The missing element was the human interaction of it all; you know, the kind of emotional validation you get from a bride or mother of the bride who showers you with adoration and compliments. It’s the humanistic interaction that is inspiring!

After this yearlong quest to narrow my focus, I discovered how much I missed and enjoyed being behind the camera; the excitement in creating and capturing moments, the thrill of positive reception in post production. It’s not about boosting the ego, but acquiring the most stripped-down emotions we all desire-to be productive and useful to society and our peers. That sublime sense of well-being seems to be more acute with camera in tow. It’s about having fun, too!

So, from a professional and personal standpoint, James L Shaffer Photography and Design will now be christened as James L Shaffer Photography. All design-related blog posts will be omitted, except ones I create for my clients, but I will occasionally post tutorials that are photography, Photoshop and Lightroom related.

Hope everyone has a prosperous year and remember, support your local businesses!

I wish I had more time to spend with this beautiful and wonderful couple, as they were most patient and complying models in assisting me in creative exploration. It was the most fleeting five hours I’ve experienced, but of course we all know that ‘fun’ seems to escape natural time flow because there are sadistic forces out there turning up the conveyor of time.

There was a  touching, emotional moment as Jen was lying relaxed on Ed’s lap, both gazing at each other, when a tear trickled from her cheek to expose and confirm the sincerity of emotional bond she feels for Ed. I look forward in the newborn session and wish them the best in their parenting journey!

Meet Jack Hope…known to his inner circle as “Big Jack.”  Purveyor of engaging stories. Impeccable talent for recall. Champion bowler. An affable gentle soul who wishes no harm to humanity other than the opposing team of his beloved Bengals on any given Sunday.

This is the Zen of  Big Jack Hope.

Below are a few of my favorite images from a reception I captured on Nov. 14 held at The Atlantic Center for the Arts in beautiful New Smyrna Beach, Florida. This famous artists enclave founded by Doris Leeper is nestled along the historic Intracoastal waterway and surrounded by thick mangrove forests. The Center is a surreal art community with it’s contemporary structures and guest houses, all connected by boardwalk trails meandering through the thicket of unscathed nature, preserved as it may have looked centuries before when the Timucuan natives inhabited the area.

That Saturday could not have been a more beautiful day to host a wedding reception: clear blue cloudless skies with a comfortable breeze void of the Florida humidity that one can never get used to. The union of natural forces and human expression forms an esoteric concept: PERFECTION!

Click here to VIEW a slideshow of the entire gallery

Click here to VIEW a slideshow of the entire gallery

Well, the trip wasn’t as we anticipated as the weather was not cooperative for most of the four-day trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The rain was intermittent for the first three days, so there were brief periods of breaking out the gear and grabbing a few shots. Most of the shots below were taken within the park, with the exception of a few that were taken in and around Chimney Rock, NC.

I think the most poignant part of the trip was in Chimney Rock, where we visited an art gallery after shooting an abandoned hotel that struck my fancy. The gallery owner said if I wanted to see something really rustic, to follow this cobblestone trail head next to her gallery that meandered a sharp 50-foot ascent to a rustic home perched on a flat parcel, and camouflaged by the hillside thicket. It looked like a restored museum piece, complete with porch accouterments of rocking chairs, firewood and blankets. It seemed so eerily surreal that this part-time residence was completely surrounded by lush vegetation, as if it was purposely placed in defiance of a humanly populated world, but only a stones throw away; a non-fictional time portal.

The house is the summer home of an elderly couple in their 80s from Florida, who the gallery owner stated, “would take them close to an hour to reach from the trail head.” I’m willing to bet they didn’t venture away from the house frequently during those summer months.

Forest scene along the Laurel Falls trail within Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

[View with PicLens]

This recently completed album of Oona Moon McMoneagle, a spry little two-year-old bundle of joy, is especially poignant for me; not only because I shot the images, but the fact that she’s my god daughter. The images were taken over a 1.5 year span, from her baptism to occasional visits in Tampa Bay. So, it’s no wonder I spent more time designing this album than others.

To witness the growth and maturation of these little people is nothing short of miraculous; from mobility aides to dancing on her little feet in such a short span, the notion that life is precious amplifies a sense of well being despite unfavorable events surrounding our fragile world. I peer into those captivating blue eyes and witness a zeal for life; a mirthful child absorbing all the love given to her by wonderful parents, and reciprocating back with equal amounts of affection. I have to admit, it’s emotionally gratifying when a two-year-old rushes towards you with all the energy she can muster, gives you a hug and peck on the cheek, and exclaims, “I love you, Uncle Yim Yim!” Life is GRAND!

The Mrs. and I frequently talk of her hometown of Urumqi (u-room-chee), Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, or simply Xinjiang, China. As most of you know, ethnic tensions came headway with violent riots that left 184 dead (according to Xinhua news agency) and more than 1,000 injured since Sunday. Although she hasn’t lived there since 20, family members still reside in the region comprising of 20 million people, with roughly nine million Uyghurs (wee-gers), who are largely Muslim, and the rest Han Chinese, like the Mrs.

The link to the gallery below consists of some very disturbing and haunting images. I have no comprehension in the magnitude regarding ethnic tensions in that region of China, since I am neither Uyghur or Han Chinese (well, part Chinese), so I observe from an objective view through what I read, see or hear from the Mrs. What I do know as a compassionate person is innocent lives taken for any reason is incomprehensible and the scourge of humanity.

As the Mrs. viewed the gallery, a gamut of emotions ran their course with each image, reminding her of a childhood in witnessing beatings, bus bombings, overturned and charred vehicles. She made an interesting point today that since media is controlled and certain Internet content is blocked by “The Great Firewall,” that the images she viewed on my computer screen would have never been published in China, and for a good reason. She told me that most of the images being transmitted via the Internet and television only showed images of damaged vehicles, groups of people, and troops, according to her family and friends. When a government controls the minds of its people in manipulating or hiding the truth, there is no stage for its people to oppose and revolt.

Photo courtesy of Boston.com’s “The Big Picture.”

Click here to view the gallery

Below is a slideshow of our mountain trip to Tennessee and North Carolina in June. Most of these images were manipulated in Photoshop and a few churned with tone mapping via Topaz Adjust. Enjoy!

[View with PicLens]

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The parallax effect in the video below was created with Photoshop and Flash from a photo of our mountain trip in June 2009. This effect ,made famous with documentary films by the likes of Ken Burns with still photos, was only attainable with Adobe After Effects, but now made possible with Flash CS4 3D features.

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