tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57217497332292944252011-08-24T09:34:00.465-07:00James Strayer's blogJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05744613084100513175noreply@blogger.comBlogger161100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721749733229294425.post-33069350279872673292010-10-17T15:40:00.000-07:002010-10-17T18:00:35.043-07:00

So, it's been awhile. Life has been crazy. Here is a recap.Father was diagnosed with bladder cancer and died 3 months laterWe moved to California for a year to take care of his "estate"So far have made over two dozen dump runs so far in taking care of his "estate"Much great writing, artwork, and photographs from my dad's have been collectedMy niece just got home from her mission in IndonesiaHave

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05744613084100513175noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721749733229294425.post-88944052379133411032010-05-01T15:10:00.000-07:002010-10-17T18:01:31.500-07:00

First, my mother. Then Grandmother. Now it stalks two more loved ones like a ravenous beast bent on our destruction. Our enemy gives no quarter, shows no mercy, only relentless, insatiable hunger. The battle is truly lost before it's begun, yet fight we must, and hope. Yet fervent prayers from faithless lips fall only on deaf ears. I desperately need some hope. Not the hope for some improbably

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05744613084100513175noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721749733229294425.post-6121835854547328242009-07-07T19:21:00.001-07:002009-07-07T19:27:59.063-07:00

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05744613084100513175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721749733229294425.post-79238312210857087532009-05-27T10:57:00.000-07:002009-05-27T11:23:18.199-07:00

Like many, we have been looking at easy ways to save money thanks to our economic recession. Here are a few that we are doing:1> if you have a cell phone, get rid of your land telephone line - I haven't had one in 5 years and I don't miss it at all. Saves $30 a month.2> get rid of cable/satelite - a lot of TV programming is available online via Hulu.com and other sites and you can get local

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05744613084100513175noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721749733229294425.post-48045998861375088802009-02-13T16:07:00.000-08:002009-02-14T12:27:04.562-08:00

While I adjust to having a newborn around (we love him so much it's ridiculous), I have found myself playing around with Photoshop more. Here is a couple of pics I just worked up of my brother-in-law from his senior portrait shoot. In addition to the traditional natural backdrop shots for mom and dad, we shot some fun stuff against seamless white paper that would allow a little more of his

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05744613084100513175noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721749733229294425.post-7260912698601156692009-01-27T09:12:00.000-08:002009-01-27T09:16:06.864-08:00

Have to post a couple of pictures of my newborn son, Ethan, who was born this weekend. My wife was amazing and both are healthy and happy. Being a first time dad has it's challenges, but all it takes is one look at his face, hand, or toe to put a smile on my face.

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05744613084100513175noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721749733229294425.post-50112216804368005492009-01-08T11:11:00.000-08:002009-01-09T14:27:48.067-08:00

I had the pleasure to shoot the wedding of Alyssa and Alax last weekend in Sacramento CA. They were a dream to work with - ready smiles, extremely patient, and fun to shoot. Here are a few of my favorites.

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05744613084100513175noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721749733229294425.post-48180135358525568402008-12-30T15:35:00.000-08:002008-12-30T15:43:16.516-08:00

Been a while since I have posted, but here are some favorites from a recent shoot with the Reisbeck family - their girls are just plain adorable so it was a lot of fun to shoot.

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05744613084100513175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721749733229294425.post-8758032364706909552008-12-03T14:46:00.000-08:002008-12-04T14:55:31.253-08:00

So I picked up my 5d Mark 2 the day it came out and have been very pleased so far. Here is a test shot I did of my brother-in-law as we were preparing to shoot his senior pics - since he was making "big eyes" it showed off his eye detail nicely. I cropped down the image at 100% so you could see the level of detail it is capturing, even at a decent distance from the subject. First, the original

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05744613084100513175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721749733229294425.post-19313791331215727922008-11-21T11:12:00.000-08:002008-11-24T13:19:21.158-08:00

Last week I got the chance to snap some pics of the Harris family's new baby boy, Max. Here are just a few favorites from the shoot.

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05744613084100513175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721749733229294425.post-19650307554206291072008-11-17T09:39:00.000-08:002008-11-17T10:01:17.886-08:00

Had the opportunity to shoot the Carson family on Friday at the AF amphitheater - the weather was a bit cold and windy, but they were brave and toughed out the hour or so long shoot. Adam, the youngest simply did not want to be held by anyone, so we tried some things that allowed him a little more individual freedom and he did great. Thanks again Sam and Jim - you guys are awesome!

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05744613084100513175noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721749733229294425.post-65745304498816289622008-11-01T13:15:00.001-07:002008-11-01T13:29:05.833-07:00

I'll say it again, I love Halloween! While this doesn't compare to a lot of home haunts out there, we try to make the yard/house fun for the kids and they seem to appreciate the effort. This year I created a new pneumatic powered prop that hid behind a large tombstone until triggered by an infrared motion detector. When triggered, a spot light would light up the tombstone and the prop would leap

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05744613084100513175noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721749733229294425.post-24413747392211433072008-10-23T15:59:00.000-07:002008-10-24T08:39:37.464-07:00

My wonderful wife and I are having our first baby - a little boy due in January! She has been bugging me for a while to take some pictures of her pregnant so that she can use them in her baby journal. Well, we finally got some time yesterday to go up to the Sundance area and take some pictures. The black shirt made it difficult to really emphasize her tummy, but I tried it out with some back

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05744613084100513175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721749733229294425.post-86183424571660513672008-10-21T06:39:00.000-07:002008-10-21T14:53:57.278-07:00

Here are some shots from a recent trip to the Sundance area. Utah has wonderful variety of color to shoot in the autumn and my favorite has to be aspens. This was a "scouting" run in preparation for the fall color change, so the leaves hadn't turned yet, so I went with (surprise) black and white.I tried to emphasizes the light play among the trees by increasing the contrast and using a negative

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05744613084100513175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721749733229294425.post-53471255903510197212008-10-17T08:57:00.000-07:002008-10-17T09:45:47.478-07:00

Here are a couple more pics from my trip to Dillon Beach, CA. Most of the photos that I have been posting are treated using a duo or tritone effect to give them some warmth. The wind made for some great textures in the sand.The tides combined with the unique slope of the beach made for some interesting sand formations once the tide went out.

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05744613084100513175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721749733229294425.post-46732194447483326632008-10-14T14:00:00.001-07:002008-10-14T14:55:08.032-07:00

Went out to visit my family in California last weekend with my wife. We spent a couple of days on the coast at Dillon Beach which is a source of many fond childhood memories. It had been 20 years or so since I had been there and of course the wind was terrible and it was colder than I remember, but it was still nice to share it with Susan and my family. Took some pics on the beach and in the town

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05744613084100513175noreply@blogger.com0