Typing With Light

“…is touching my soul.”

Jason Leslie Rogers — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:35:31 +0000

“…manic depression is a frustrated mess.”

–Jimi

Posted in Just a Note

Candace and Mikey

Jason Leslie Rogers — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:29:15 +0000

The last shot taken at the end of a long session, taken from a long way off so they could forget all about me and do what came naturally.

Posted in People

Connemara Rocks

Jason Leslie Rogers — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:51:56 +0000

“Situated in the West of Ireland in County Galway, Connemara National Park covers some 2,957 hectares of scenic mountains, expanses of bogs, heaths, grasslands and woodlands.” (Source)

Travelling with a tour group on a bus allows you the opportunity to see a greater number of scenic sights. What it doesn’t give you is much of a voice when it comes to staying longer in certain spots. So, you can probably imagine how frantic I looked as we pulled up to this place and were told we would have five minutes… five! We poured out of the bus, and while everyone stretched their legs and held their cameras at arm’s length so they could post the latest pic of themselves on Facebook, I was setting up my tripod and then waiting for all of them to get out of my way so I could get just one shot of this gorgeous landscape.

I think everyone was already back on the bus by the time I snapped this photograph. No worries, though. I had already gotten real good at jumping back on the bus with all my equipment in hand. More than one time on the trip, I heard folks refer to me as “the tripod guy.” Awesome.

Posted in Places

No Swimming Beyond This Point

Jason Leslie Rogers — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:42:14 +0000

Taken during the day, at sunset, using a red 25 filter.

Posted in Ideas, Things

Dead Bird with Flies

Jason Leslie Rogers — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:35:44 +0000

Yes. This is a photograph. Another case when overexposure works magic with the most seemingly-mundane of subjects.

Posted in Ideas, Things

Abby

Jason Leslie Rogers — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:32:52 +0000

Many times, when you see a portrait hanging on a wall in someone’s house, it looks fake. This is because the person taking the photograph is usually some college kid at the local department store trying to make a little extra cash, and they don’t care about the way the picture is made. What they care about is the check they get every two weeks. They care about doing their job exactly the way they are told, so they can keep cashing that check. And what they have been told is this: change the people in the photo to look the way all the other people in all the other pictures look (No! Not the feather boa!)

When I take a portrait, I try to capture something real, something about the way the person actually is. I don’t add things to the shot so the person will look like everyone else, I take things away so they will look more like themselves, more like the real person they are when they’re not busy being self-conscious in front of my camera.

This is Abby.

Posted in People

Flower Hanging From a Planter on Ocoee Street

Jason Leslie Rogers — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:20:05 +0000

The extremely shallow depth of field in this picture is due to the 450mm lens used at an aperture of f5.6. The digital file was converted from RBG to Grayscale and then to a Tri-tone mix in Photoshop.

Posted in Ideas, Things

Moonrise

Jason Leslie Rogers — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:13:50 +0000

Strong Winds + Trees + Bright Moon + Slow Shutter Speed = This Picture.

Posted in Events, Things

“Keep Door Closed” -God

Jason Leslie Rogers — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:50:51 +0000

For a while, I would drive on the interstate highways and see these billboards plastered everywhere: black background, white bold letters. They would contain messages supposedly written from the perspective of the Almighty. On example said, “Meet me at my house on Sunday.” (I will not delve into the contradictions here between the Christian idea that God dwells in some building (The “House of God”), even though the Christian Bible explicitly states that God does not dwell in temples made of human hands. See the speech of the first Christian martyr.)

So when I saw this door on the front side of the Old Woolen Mill, I had to snap a pic. KEEP DOOR CLOSED. -GOD

Posted in Ideas, Things

Anna with Dave (looking away)

Jason Leslie Rogers — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:19:56 +0000

High contrast in a black and white photograph is a tricky beast, especially when it comes to taking pictures of people. When you shoot digital, the are at least two ways of increasing the contrast in a shot: changing the contrast after the fact in Photoshop, or taking the photo in a setting with high-contrast light. Direct and very bright sunlight can be either wonderful (if you want a high-contrst shot) or a nightmare (if you don’t). In this case, I opted to use both the direct light from the outside and the minor diffusement of the light through a window and reflected off the ground outside. The lack of detail on parts of their faces and in one of the corners is the whole point. As I have often said, photography is less about what you include in your pictures and more about what you leave out.

Posted in Ideas, People