jeffrey byrnes 9/4/14 jeffrey byrnes 9/4/14

New England Farm: In Passing

I was out on a location last evening working on a project. I was testing a few new things for upcoming work. As I was heading down the dirt road to the location I observed a very large group of people picking vegetables. I hadn't been down to this area of Northampton in quite some time, so seeing crops being picked kind of surprised me. The number of people picking was also interesting.

By the time I finished my work and left the pickers were gone. They left behind their tractor, crates, and a hard days work. I took a few minutes and made some photos with my iPhone. The light is what inspired me to capture them. At the very least, this post is a vignette about farming in New England.

jeffrey byrnes 8/18/14 jeffrey byrnes 8/18/14

Underwater Photography: A Wave of Trends

If you like to hit the "like" button on instagram, re-tweet things on that twitter app, check out wicked photos on 500px, and post on other social media apps and sites, chances are you are into some trendy things. There are nearly countless online avenues to see trendy photographs that are spreading around the world by the minute. If that sounds like you and your social media practices, you might be familiar with photographers posting underwater photographs as well as images of waves. Underwater photography and photography of waves is nothing new. However, with more people than ever owning great cameras, not just Gopro cameras, but dslr's, it has been getting easier to put them in unique places, such as underwater.

Every other day I come across an awesome image of waves, the ocean, surfing, something underwater. I have been inspired. I want to see what I can do that others aren't. I want to see what I can do with water and photography. When I was in Bermuda two years ago, I wished so bad I had an underwater housing for the 7d that I had with me. I didn't think to rent one. That is an easy option for people that have a great dslr and want to work on some water based projects. Projects with water, hmmm interesting. In fact, I am working on a water based photography project. I am not ready to discuss yet as we are still in the prelimb stages. We will announce sooner than later.

I chose an affordable option. I bought an inexpensive underwater housing for my 5d. I purchased a Diacapac Waterproof Case. Thanks to Amazon's shipping problems two weeks ago, it didn't arrive on time, as scheduled, and I was unable to use it for the intended project. No worries. No need to cry on my behalf and beg the Amazon gods for a refund, because we just shot with a few Gopros. Having spent the last week at Cape Cod, I had day or two to give it a try. Cape Cod doesn't get massive waves with amazing sunsets like some exotic locations, but what Cape Cod has to offer is unique to the North East.

I threw the 5d in the bag, sealed it up, turned and ran into the water. I could hear my fiance still yelling at me for wanting to put my camera in the ocean. She thinks I am nuts for doing so. But hey, you know what, #yolo.. While Canon cameras do not come with gills, they can go underwater with the right case.

The tide was high. The sun was setting. I was in the water and had fun just pointing the camera in any direction with an intuitive angle. My goal was to simply see what came out of the camera. There was nothing under the water worth seeing. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't have been able to. The tide was rough for the bay, which means all the sand was being churned up in addition to seaweed and other ocean stuff. I was able to capture a few fun images. It wont be soon enough before I can get in the water with a camera.

jeffrey byrnes 8/16/14 jeffrey byrnes 8/16/14

Travel Photography & Vacation

Destinations near and far are still destinations. However far your travels bring you, you are still wandering. This summer I had hopes to visit some new places and make some extraordinary images to include into my travel portfolio. With my work schedule and regular trips to Cape Cod and Maine, I was not as fortunate as I had hoped to be in securing some elaborate destination. That is fine. I can not complain by any means. I have been spoiled this summer.

This post comes very late at night. Excuse any typos for that reason. This week has been long, exhausting, and very painful. My week started on Saturday with a destination wedding in Rhode Island. While I do not discuss wedding photography on this blog/site, I still do weddings throughout the year. I set out on the road Saturday morning. I was to shoot a wedding and be back for a head shot session in studio by 10am on Sunday. All went according to the plan. Immediately following the shoot I was on the road to Cape Cod. My fiance's grandmother rented a house for the family in Barnstable. Most of the family, including my fiance had arrived on Saturday.

I had been excited to come down for the week. This was the first year I was going to join the family. I had been invited the two years prior, but timing had not worked out for me and my work schedule. This yea, this year though I was incredibly excited. Throughout the day on Sunday my fiance was informing me that her nose hurt. Friday during a walkthrough of a house she accidentally bumped it. Small tap on the nose, nothing to think twice about. No blood, no break, no worries. By Sunday night after my arrival the pain was up and so was the swelling. Everyone was hopeful that by morning the swelling would have subsided and all would be well and she would be back to the beauty queen she is. That was not the case.

Over the years we have often wondered what people do when they have medical emergencies on Cape Cod. We no longer have such worries. Monday morning we traveled to an urgent care center about 15 miles from the house. In concur-ment with her mother, nurse, and aunt, nurse, the dr began his treatment course and sent us on our way. He gave instructions, if it got worse tonight go ER. If it doesn't, stick with planned course. Monday evening we went to the emergency room and sought further treatment. That was the first of many late night ER visits we were to have this week.

As I write, I am thinking back over the course of this week. It has been a long and exhausting week. I have been an observer to pain, sadness, and the question, "why me?" While I can not answer that, what I can say is that it has been hard to watch someone I am in love with endure so much pain. A few times I have heard her say, "I feel like a pin cushion," referencing all the needles, attempts, and fails at being pricked, that have happened this week. Most of this week has been spent going from urgent care to the house to eat and the back to the ER. Twice for me and three times for Sue, we have made it to the beach. A medical emergency like this has never been a part of our beach day plans. But life interjects when it does.

I am tired now. Sue is fast asleep and as I type I keep looking up at her. Merely two hours ago tears formed a path down her freckle dotted face and on to her hoodie. Her hand was interlocked with mine as nurse after nurse tried to run an IV. The peaceful sleep is a break for her. A break I am happy that she is having.

I am not ready for bed yet. Instead, I found the inspiration to write these thoughts and share a few photos. While I did make a few shots with my iPhone at the beach Thursday, I didn't really make any photographs until late on Friday night. It is rare that I go so long without bringing my camera out and making photos. Even of the most mundane subject. For me, my mind was on one thing, getting her better. I did not care about what I was missing, what I was not out shooting, I was concerned with the health and well being of my fiance.

After dinner we went down to the beach for a fire. A fire on the beach has been a bucket list item since I was a teenager. In all the trips to the cape, all the family vacations I have had, we had never had a fire on the beach. That changed last night and it was quite relaxing. Given the circumstances, my exhaustion, my concern, and near panic attacks at the health of my fiance have made it a hard week for me. But to sit on the sand and hear the waves breaking as the tide was coming up, combined with the ambient glow from the fire was soothing. There was a poetic comfort to the crackles and flying ambers that broke free from the fire. Fire is essential to human existence. At least I believe that we have an inherent need to be around fire at times in our lives. Without it, we wouldn't have survived.

We left the beach a few minutes earlier than I wanted. We left just as the moon was coming up over the horizon. Without my telephoto lens, I did not care to stay to see it. We had to get to the ER. We were hopeful for an early exit, a short stay. That was not the case. We were there much longer than we wanted to be. Last night was the first night that my camera accompanied me. It stuck close to me. In my hands or on my shoulder. I wasn't leaving it in the car. No way, no how. I had taken just my 5D with my 40mm pancake lens. Was enough to capture some incredible photos at the beach and a few at the hospital.

The Milky Way and a beach fire. Sandwich, Cape Cod

Surrounded by family we had an awesome fire on the beach. I noticed the Milky Way in the sky behind the fire. If you look at the top left closely, you'll see I caught a shooting star as well.

On Monday and Tuesday I was petrified. I was scared and worried. Most people, if not everyone would be just as concerned as I was. Some maybe more, some maybe less so. For me this week has been hard. It has been hard to watch emotionally as the woman I love sat in pain. I could provide all the soothing comforts, such as rubbing her forehead, her arm, her hand, coaching her when to exhale as the needles went in, or catching the falling tears, but the one thing I could not do is make her better. As the weekend is upon us, we have a few more days of visits to ER's and urgent care offices. Monday will be a new week and a new day in which we are hopeful her primary care doc will say, you're all clear. This will be one vacation, one trip to the cape we will not soon forget.

Hold the ones you love close to you.

jeffrey byrnes 7/8/14 jeffrey byrnes 7/8/14

Hurricane Arthur: Photographs of Provincetown, Cape Cod

"You're crazy, you're nuts, you're going to ruin your camera," Sue said. I tried to explain to her that the Canon Camera and lens that I was shooting with, Canon 5d Markii and a 70-200mm F2.8, are weather sealed and that unless I dropped it the ocean, it could handle some rain falling on it. I stood on the concrete landing, just above the boat launch around the corner from Commercial St in Provincetown. We parked to eat lunch. We had a great view of the bay, watching the boats as the fought to stay above the white capped waves the wind was creating. In between quickly chewing bites down, I spotted a guy walking from the shore right into the water. I dropped my slice and pointed out the window, past the rain drops and off into the distance. He was wadding over towards a small boat being moored. With him he was caring a set of wheels. I couldn't believe eyes. The wind was fiercely blowing as the rain beat down on the car. Occasionally a gust would create enough turbulence the car would teeter in its space.

One of warnings that we kept hearing was to be careful for the undercurrents and how powerful the water would be. As we dinned on our pizza, we watched him make his way over to the boat. He was a considerable distance from where we were, but enough that my lens at max length would capture a decent shot. What I didnt not expect was that he would be swimming, pulling the boat and wheels with him, towards us, to exit the water off the ramp we were parked next to. The moment he reached the boat is when I shoved my last bite into my mouth. Reaching over my shoulder and grabbing my camera, I ejected myself out of the car and into the rain. Standing in the pouring rain for nearly five minutes, i became drenched. At one point Sue opened the door and tried to speak over the rain and wind, saying something about how wet I would be and how I would get that in the car. I stood with my back towards the rain. The wind wiped it against me with as much force as it could give. The rain drops pierced my skin, at least thats how it felt, as it fell. I pulled up the camera and looked down the barrel of the lens as the man made his journey towards us. The power and strength this man had was unreal. His boat was consumed with water, weight, an anchor, weight, wheels, weight, the weight of the boat. He swam against the waves, wind, and falling rain.

Eventually he was able to get his boat past the rocks and began a slow walk towards the ramp. I began to worry a bit, in that even a short amount of time his strength could have been challenged to the point of exhaustion and fatigue. I kept pressing the shutter and watching him get closer and closer. At the foot of the ramp he began to have a tough time, but was able to push through and get the boat onto the wheels. Ethics and morals were being tossed around my brain, like a hurricane. Pun intended. If I saw him in any sort of distress, I would drop the camera and be at his him in seconds. He was well aware of the fact that I was photographing him. He glanced over at me at on point during his trek and showed a faint sign for admiration, as if he knew why I was photographing him, or if he knew that he was in the position to be photographed. It was a hurricane and he entered the water to spare his boat from becoming a victim of Arthur, and an expensive fossil.

I knew I had made the money shot/s. It was time to head back. It was time to get back to my lap top and edit and get these to someone who could share them. While packing for our trip, Sue asked why I felt the need to always bring my lap top. Now she knows. I have tried to explain to her that there might be that one time, that single moment, when something happens and I capture it, photograph it, it is a story that needs to be shared. She understood very well after the photographs appeared in a gallery on "Wicked Local Truro" the news outlet for the outer most portion of the cape, Provincetown and Truro. "Gallery of Photos." When I was in college, my professor would tell us stories of photographers that captured "THEE" image that gets circulated around the Associated Press, leaving the photographer with an incredible pay day to follow. While those days aren't as frequent, not that our world is short of any tragic events on the daily, but the way the world of news and media is valued and treated is different. Regardless of the changes in media, having the right resources, such as my camera and machine to edit, I can still quickly provide images, from almost anywhere. It took about two hours before I was back to my laptop. It killed me to be that patient, but being 30 mins from the house in that weather, and still wanting to meander a bit, made it process to get back. Based on the time, I knew I had a very small gap. Most publications can still insert a cover image between 7-9pm. With my email blast I was able to connect with one editor at "The Wicked Local" she was delighted and pleased that I sent her the photos.

Gallery owner uses bucket to clear water that was flooding her store front as man on a bike passes by.

The photo of the gallery owner, above, shows just how awful the rain was that fell. It had only been raining a short time before I stumbled upon this scene. Standing in ankle deep water, she used a bucket to slow the progress of the flooding in her storefront. This was one of the first images I made as we entered the beginning of Commercial Street. Fierce winds, rain, thunderstorms, all the elements of a hurricane beat down on the cape for a day. The next day was filled with sun, soft clouds, the day after the storm was beautiful, the contrast of what I have shown you above. I survived my first hurricane.

A few more photos can be seen in my Flickr Gallery

jeffrey byrnes 6/24/14 jeffrey byrnes 6/24/14

New website: New Portfolio

Over the last 4 to 5 years of being a photographer I have shot a variety of subjects. I have done the wedding photography business with a former business partner. I have made photographs of animals. I have photographed food. I have produced some exhibitions, with the fine art mindset. I have photographed politicians, average people, models, places, things, objects, interiors, exteriors, walls, sunsets, etc. I have had two studio based business in which I served the community for wedding and portrait needs. ( I know I stated that already, not trying to be redundant, just transparent.) I have done a lot in a short period of time. It has all been a journey and the development of my career and personality as a photographer.

I am starting this website with a fresh start for my career as a professional photographer. In the years that me and my business partner work managing the studio, I was always hustling jobs and prints. That work has built a reputation and is the guts of the new exoskeleton I am growing. In business you have to be tough, firm, an asshole. Well, a polite asshole, as I recently read in one article about how to concur something and get something out of it. I am making changes, have been making changes, and will continue making changes to my business in order to advance my career as a professional. I have found there are things I am not doing that I want to do, things I am not shooting that I want to shoot, and things I am doing and things that I am shooting that I no longer want to shoot. I am at the pivotal point in life where things are making a bit more sense and after having spent a few years building the foundation, I am ready to start putting up walls to line them with successful, jobs, prospects, shoots, and images.

Some people tear down walls to get where they are going, but if you think of life like you would a house, you need a place to store your life's achievements, belongings, goals, and other life like things. The foundation of your career is built in the early stages, when you need to do certain things, certain jobs, or working certain hours. From that foundation grows the prosperity of your career. How you form the walls, stairs, and moves up is dependent upon the strength of your foundation. The beginning of my career was spent building two foundations. One for me and one for my former business. It was a small house that I have let go of. It is the past and it is out back, around the corner from where I have been working on my personal house.

While the "house" is a metaphor, my photography remains to be ever evolving and growing. New inspiration, new people, new possibilities influence this change. Change is inevitable in all forms of life. You either grow with it or fall by the wayside. Instead of getting behind the change, I am out, making the change. I am making the change that I want to see. Someone profoundly important said that. "Be the change you want to see." Well, I am doing that, making what I want. I am making something new, to have something new, and go new places.

jeffrey byrnes 6/3/14 jeffrey byrnes 6/3/14

Filmmaking: iPhone Film

iPhone 4 Film Where The Light Is

Watch "Where The Light Goes" here on Youtube.

On Sunday I took over Sue's iPhone. I have been operating on a Droid system since I have had a smart phone. While all my computer equipment is Apple based, I always kept a distance from iPhones. Whenever I was due for an upgrade I would harass Verizon about this, that, and the other thing. It always came back to Droid. Here is why. Everyone is obsessed with iPhones. Yes, they are great. Seeing as how I just updated an iPhone 4 and my Droid, which is a bit younger, is basically a digital paper weight, it is clear that iPhones have a longer shelf life. Droid phones are clearly different. Not with just the operating systems, but with the camera features. iPhones can make a great photo, with the proper light, proper composition, and proper person behind the button. Also, if you know how to apply a filter, you can get away with hiding things such as noise. Droid cameras can do some pretty interesting things, like a real camera. You can adjust the brightness right in the camera, before the image is even made. iPhones can not do that. To be frank, that is why I kept going back to Droid phones, I could make better photographs. There have been a few times where I made prints with photos from my Droid, prints that were very large. This one time, (not at band camp) I increased the image size to about 24" wide by about 18" high. I was impressed and so were the people who viewed the images.

I have a few friends that adore their iPhones, Sue included. Recently I watched a friend play with an app for time-lapse. He was shooting as we were driving through a city, recording an image every 1 second. Droid apps dont really do cool things. Aside from seeing the app do what was needed for a project that we are working on, I was also motivated because of the recent Bentley Commercial that was filmed using two iPhones. When I opened the email that contained the link, I was stunned. Not because a low-tech device was used to film a major campaign, but that the quality is better than what I expected. With the proper light, tools, and composition, anything is possible with a device that can record an image. Hell, I still hold fast to the idea that one day I will use a Holga for a major fashion shoot. The fact is, an iPhone is an acceptable device for making photographs. The socially connected world of twitter accounts, Instagram likes, and facebook tags are powered by such devices. I have always viewed cellphones to be a threat, but as I have made changes to some of my business practices, I realize, it is more of a resource and integral part of my business and life.

Scott my filmmaker friend, iPhone guru, and film mentor has ushered me into a few cool apps. Filmic being one of them. I have barely used the app yet as I have been playing around with the camera features and acclimating myself to the device. I took a half hour to myself, between leaving the studio and getting ready for the gym and played with the video feature a bit. I knew that I had a few minutes and I could make a 1 minute piece just by looking for the right elements to form some compositions. I do not have any fancy jibs, cranes, mounts for this phone, so I had my hands and what ever I could place the phone against or on. Using my body, I was able to move, with a steady hand of course, to produce some motion. I didnt want a dozen static shots and no motion. It would have been nice to have a glidecam or slidder, but hey its just an iPhone. I have seen some cool products for iPhones that can be used to make a stronger film, but I havent even thought about those yet. After finding some strong visuals, the title popped in and once I was back from the gym I could edit the piece together. More or else, I was just looking for an excuse to do something "artsy" with films and play with the phone. In the end, "Where The Light Goes" is 1 minute film, almost, that is a bit fun and of course, inspired by light.

Get out there an play, shoot, edit, and share. Have fun. Take things seriously, but seriously, dont over think the work you are doing that is just for fun.