That is the Sound of Inevitability
I stood there looking at myself in the mirror. The scene unfolding was reminiscent of a Hunter S. Thompson novel. Gritty face. Bloodshot eyes. A general foggy demeanor spiraling around my hungover head. The girl that was to become my wife was lying naked in the bed behind me. It was my first commercial photo [...]
Tree Whore
There are millions of fetishes out there. Sexual. Professional. Libational. Nutritional. We humans all have our weaknesses. Hell, I even heard of woman who is obsessed with drinking gasoline. Gasoline? Every day is a learning experience I guess. My first encounter with a tree was when I was about five. We had this slanted maple [...]
You’re Not in the Mood Well You Get in the Mood
If you ask my wife, she will tell you that I am the moodiest person on the planet-ridiculously happy one minute and ready to end it all at a moment’s notice the next. Those mood changes surprisingly change my creative disposition, and not only the way I take photographs, but the way that I process [...]
White Noise
Have you ever heard of a Holga? Or Lomography? The Holga might go down in history as the biggest piece of shit plastic camera ever produced. And it was made in and for the country who is notorious for producing cheap crap replicas of reality–China. At the same time though, they produce pure perfection like [...]
And the Winner Is…
Heather told me I was crazy. No one was going to be able to guess the location from this last post. Yet the first comment from Robert Levy was pretty close. Then comment after comment got closer and closer. I was in fact in Canada, and in Vancouver earlier that day, but when the image [...]
Take a Guess and Win!
On Monday friend and fellow photographer Yuri Choufour snapped this image of my daughter Jade and me. If you guess where we were and what we were photographing, you will get a print of the subject. Answer coming next week.
Adventure is Most Definitely a Journey
Or is the journey an adventure? I think the two are so interconnected and interrelated that you cannot have one without the other. I have been living an adventure for a very long time now and it is has definitely been a journey. An experience. Life like in all respects. There are those sayings–Life is [...]
Lightroom 4–My Two Cents
Earlier this week Adobe Labs released the first Beta version of Lightroom 4. I am a huge user of Lightroom so I immediately downloaded this new version to have a look at what I can be expecting. I have to tell you that I was pleasantly surprised. As soon as you open the software up [...]
The Last Powder of 2011
Well, finally, it snowed. It has literally been since November, but on the final day of the year, Mount Baker got hit with a foot of new snow. Owen Dudley, Tyler Hatcher and myself headed out to see what we could make of a perfect stormy day. You can view more of the images on [...]
Vomit Incorporated – The Return of an Old Friend
Reset the clock to fifteen years ago. I was upwardly mobile in the architecture and construction industry. I had money. I had toys, many toys. And I was in the process of purchasing a racing machine. The goal was one of the simplest ideas and yet one of the most difficult to complete. Create the [...]
Just a Little Mountain Bike Porn
I had dinner with friend and fellow photographer Jim Goldstein in San Francisco earlier this week and the conversation covered the full spectrum of subjects. Kids, blogs, work, play, friends, future workshops, everything had a go at one point or another. It was a wonderful evening. During our discussions Jim told me about a blog [...]
I have been [FRAMED]!
A few months ago I was approached by an online show who’s mission is simple: “Lets be real. Photography is addicting. It’s an intoxicating craftiness that truly has limitless potential for those that crave the art. It is in its own world of ever-changing possibilities and is constantly evolving. With that being said, we decided [...]
Not Goodbye Just So Long
I think my mom said it best today, “John was a crusty exterior filled with a warm marshmallow center.” And after listening to friend after friend of his describe their experiences with my father, I couldn’t agree more. My father was a hard man to understand and know, but once you made it through that [...]
Ahhhh, Mondays
Before you ask why the heck is this coming on Wednesday, well I don’t know, I try to make one post, every week, on Wednesday. So there! This is my blog and I do what I want. Most of the time. Sometimes. I have handlers you know. I did write it on Monday though. I [...]
Sometimes We Miss
There are times, when no matter how much experience you have, things do not necessarily go according to plan. This was in fact one of those times. The good thing was that my friend and fellow photographer Gavriel Jecan had as much trouble as I did. Phew! I would have had to bury him in [...]
Thank You Joe McNally Thank You
So there I was staring down the barrel of over 14 hours in modern aluminum tubes dubbed “airplanes”. Crossing the sky at over five hundred miles an hour at 30,000 feet. If you know me, you know that I don’t sit still for five minutes. I don’t even sleep like a normal person. Six, seven [...]
ski | REPORT – The Trailer
We (meaning me and a dozen skiers) spent most of last winter photographing skiing. Along the way, I captured some motion footage to go along with the five thousand stills that made the edit. Tie that together with a simple concept and you have a lot of time spending money. Actually, you might as well [...]
Nik Radio Interview
Easy Listening. Well hopefully, as long as it is not easy-listening, elevator music. Scott Sheppard interviewed me for the Nik Radio Podcast last week. We talked about everything from workshops to architecture photography. Have a listen and let us know what you think.
Making Your Whites White in Photoshop CS5
Have you ever wondered how to get your whites truly white in an image without changing the overall brightness or colors within that image? Here is how I achieve it. As usual when I post how-to tips the images are viewable larger just by clicking on them. Here is my image after making basic adjustments [...]
Happy Birthday to Me
I am not one to tell the world, “Hey it’s my birthday.” But, today had a pretty special meaning to me and I wanted to share it with all of you. I awoke this morning wondering what was going on. The normally noisy and reckless house was dead quiet. The dog laid at my bedside [...]
Eyes Wide Shut
There are photographers, who are friends of mine, who feel the need to classify themselves as one type of photographer or the other. I often wonder why? Is it some kind of foot stomping justification? I only shoot landscapes. I only shoot weddings. Does the photographic world truly believe that by shooting only one subject [...]
The Wilds of Alaska Will Change You Forever
An extended version of this article was published over ten years in a magazine that is no longer in publication. It was actually only the second time I had ever been published in addition to being my second feature article. It still brings back all of those emotions. Three weeks in Alaska changes a man’s [...]
The Water Olympics Workshop
Oh yeah it’s one of those scenes…I can here you now, nice colors Jay, I like the textures, interesting perspective. This scene is not what you think my friends. What you don’t see in this image is the devil, pure concentrated evil. I am speaking of the 666 variety. Just lurking below the calm waters [...]
Monochrome – China
Photography began as a monochromatic system. This because of the fact that the technology did not exist to create color images until much later. Looking at the history of photography, many call the early days out as a black and white period, although this is not a true representation of the art form. These types [...]
Jay is an internationally published and celebrated photographer and writer. His work focuses on architecture, nature, and adventure. His clients have included fortune five hundred companies, trade publications, national and international magazines and books, graphic designers, architects, builders, commercial printers, and many others.