jenelle + trevor: their wedding.

there is something so sweet about photographing my friends' weddings a time or two each wedding season. it is an honor. and makes me all sorts of warm and tingling in side. jenelle & i have been friends since our early days at westmont and i have grown to deeply appreciate our fond memories and friendship. then i met trevor a few summers ago and saw her fall in love. i knew they would get married and i always secretly hoped i could be their photographer. jenelle wished the same she later told me. perfection. she created a wedding that was perfectly fitting for her & trevor and their families. and of course, it satisfied my appetite for all things vintage and artsy. it was a dream.

we may have a had a few encounters with a mild torrential downpour, or two, or three. but jenelle & trevor were both cool and collected the entire time in spite of the change of plans due to the rain. we made do. and we had fun. it wasn't about the perfect lighting or setting. it was about marriage, family and friends. about being together and celebrating a beautiful moment. about witnessing two lives joining as one. so, that is what we did. and we even managed to get some epic shots along the way. true story.

jenelle & trevor - thank you for allowing me to share in this day with you. it was a joy and honor. i am so happy for the pair of you. be blessed. today and forever. ( well that, and move back to cali so we can all hang out more often :)

click here for a full slideshow of all my favorites from their day.

the conditions.

i am miserable here in flagstaff. it is so lame. no where cool to take photos. i can't work in these conditions. i am an artist people.

haha. okay. i lied. i could not be more EXCITED about this wedding. the location is amazing. my dream-land to be sure. and the people, wow. so sweet.

this is what i will be working with today. it will be rough. pray for me. :)

go.

so often i stay. i stop. i get caught up in the everydayness of life. i do the same thing day-in, day-out. i shop the same aisles at trader joes. i eat the same thing for breakfast every morning. i pull clothes from the same section of my closet. while routine can be legit, helpful and comforting, at times it becomes a complete bore. lame, i tell you. i am tired of staying. i want to go. too.

it's kind of like my dog, bodie. "bodie, sit! lay down. and stay! good boy..." but all the while, that sweet pup was on the verge of leaping up and sprinting excitedly toward me with all his might. i could tell him to stay all i wanted, but at some point he would give-in and come over for some lovin' be it pets or a cookie. and i couldn't resist that sweet, puppy-dog face. or like when i'd play dummy with him. "sit. wait. wait.....GO! hunt it up!!!" and then he'd be off with the speed of a mongoosel. he'd trot back with an air of accomplishment about him and spit that slobbery, dirty thing at my feet and sit by my side waiting a chance to do it all over again. he loved it. the moment when i said, "where's your dummy? hunt it up," and he would instantly start FRAeaking out and getting all sorts of ecstatic over it, beating me with his tail on the way to the door. he loved it. the moment when he sat down beside me and anxiously watched the dummy sail throw the air it talking of him not to just starting running down the dirt road. the moment when he heard "go! hunt it up" and began sprinting down the hill. or the moment where he got to show you what he fetched as if you didn't already know what it was. he was a happy-dawg in those moments. and always, really. but he had to both stay and go. sit and run. wait and hunt it up. and he learned to be content doing either. i loved that about bodie. and i think i have something to learn from him though he may just be a dog, a pet that has a uncanny proclivity for contentedness, loyalty, and friendship.

i need to learn how to stay well, and go well. be content doing and not-doing. be at ease waiting and pursing.

but today, i want to learn how to go well. have y'all seen that movie "Yes Man?" (if you haven't, you should). but for those of you who have: remember the part of the film where Carl & Allison go to the airport and simply take the next flight available to wherever it may be? which just so happened to be to lincoln, nebraska. haha. not exactly a destination resort to be sure. but they had a blast. they went. they lived. they were spontaneous. i liked that. and as i watched, i found myself wanting to be more like them because i realize that so much of the sweetest moments in live are the unplanned, spontaneous ones. the random adventures. in the greasy spoons. or out on the road in the middle of nowhere.

i am tired of staying, sick of the routine. so i will go. not sure where i am going exactly. but i do crave an adventure. nothing grand or crazy, exotic or foreign, extravagant or expensive. nope. something simple, basic, easy. and with good friends of course. a road trip to unknown towns and across unfamiliar pavement. where time allows for the in between, the discovery, and the spontaneity i so desire. perhaps its the male in me. or the american in me. or the human in me. but i long to see new things, meet new people, create new memories. so i am going. soon. anyone care to join? where shall we go?

i'm serious.
for real.
stay tuned.

the site.

so, i thought for my first behind the scenes look into the life of j. shipley photography i would share with you the process of building my completely custom SHOW IT site. i have gotten quite a few e-mails from various photographers asking how-to questions regarding my site and my branding. often, they have been shocked when i tell them i was able to create a fully custom and unique site all by myself using showit. but it's true, people. that is the power of showit. with some commitment, devotion, and creativity, you can create something the speaks to your brand and helps set you apart in that sea of template websites.

i admit that in the midst of all our busyness as photographers, it is tempting to slap up a quick template website (even when using showit) and call it good. this is cool in the sense that the style groups allow for you to at least get something online and makes sense for those of us who are not all that software and design savvy. but for me, i wanted to take the custom approach and start with a blank canvas. so that's what i did.

step one. inspiration. first off, i had to find inspiration, and i had to answer some essential questions about my brand. what are my colors? key words? core values? fonts? logo? goals? what is my target market? what is important to me? why? what inspires me? what sites & designs do i like? dislike? i starting thinking and i remembered something. i went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art last summer with my friend shannon and had a blast. (y'all must got there. it is spectacular). so, i came across a photography exhibition that simply blew me away. it was a polaroid series by an amazing photographer, Philip-Lorca diCorcia. not only did i love his work but also the display itself. since photographs of the photographs were not allowed, i took a mental image of it and purposed to recreate that someday, somehow, somewhere. that very exhibition inspired my site design and a display at my art show. so i got that polaroid gig on the drawing board. good start. and i discovered recently that i love the conversation between the old and new, the modern and the antique. so how could i bring that into my brand and into my website? polaroids? with a modern layout? negative space? and a few modern fonts perhaps?

step two. colors. i love red. a lot. so it is my primary brand color, but i use it as an accent. or for things i really want to pop. you will notice that such is the case with the use of red on my site. brown. i used to like the combo of black, red and white. but i decided it was a little overdone and a bit sterile and distant. and boring. but a dark chocolate brown. now that is just perfect. organic and earthy. rich and elegant. and choclate-y. pair that with a deep crimson red, add in a nice antique white for some contrast and we are onto something, jeffrey.

step three. typography. i used three fonts on my site. geosans light is my heading font. courier is my secondary font that i used for my menu and copy. the first being a more modern san serif font and the latter being a old school, serif, typewriter font. again, that conversation between the old and the new. and everything (save for the headings) is lowercase on purpose. and you'll notice that throughout the brand: on the blog, in e-mails, and for smugmug gallery titles. i am not fighting with the shift key. i know how to use it. haha. but, i choose not to in most cases. also, you may have noticed my penchant for periods. that's all on purpose. i write with lots of periods. and i put them in grammatically incorrect places. take that grammar book. and i have the whole "j." thing going on too. j period. lowercase j mind you. (the dot is important and period are important, people) so, i carried that motif throughout the design. that is why the menu is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise. i wanted all those periods in a line. and then i took that period pattern and infused it subtly into other places on the site. notice red dots anywhere?

step four. layouts. i knew i wanted something clean and modern. and different, of course. that's how i roll. and it had to reflect my brand. j. shipley photography is all about custom-tailored shoots and products, so the site had to be the same. i used that mental image of the LACMA display as a base for the layout. then, i wanted lots of full-screen photo galleries but didn't want the basic design to be busy or overwhelming. i wanted each component to be intentional and every aspect designed. so i had to play around a ton. i had to constantly experiment with different layouts, and finally, committed to the one you see today. lots of negative space. clean. simple. balanced.


step five. content. i spent hours going through files and searching for my best work. the most compelling and interesting. the photos that best reflected my style and brand. i do have a lot of images on my site, but i didn't put up everything i have ever shot or even every good shot. i wanted all my copy to be informative, but also have me in it. my personality. my humor. my writing style. i wanted people to get a better sense of who i am by reading about my story and learning random factoids about me. and of course i wanted visitors to be able to see me too. hence, the video (which i will discuss in depth in the next post) and all the photos. all of the photos on the philosophy page connect to the text. they are personal and meaningful photos to me.

step six. navigation, organization & animation. the portfolio section of my site primarily consists of 7 different galleries, some of which have multiple sub-galleries. and then i have informational pages as well. i spent quite some time devising a way to organize all the content in a user friendly way. while i was tempted to do tons of cool animation, i decided it would get annoying on the user end of things after a while. there is nothing worse than having to wait for something to re-animate each time you hit the back button. i wanted simple and clean animation and transitions. hence, the fact that i have quite fade-out/fade-in page changes and only animated my intro and menu. i wanted my menu to be a design element. i debated for a LONG time as to whether or not it was TOO challenging to read since it was sideways and quite small. i asked lots of people too in beta testing and eventually decided it was too strong of a design element to part with simply because it was a little tricky to read. sure it requires a bit more commitment on the user, but i think most people don't hate me for it (or perhaps i am disillusioned. ha.).

step seven. beta test. i had my art/design friends review the site and consult me on the design. i ran beta tests with non-photographer friends and had them provide feedback on ease of use, navigation and overall impression. i worked out all the bugs and made sure all the links worked and that everything was perfected before it went live.

step eight. share. i told all my friends about my site. i sent out e-mails. i tweeted about it. i posted links all over my facebook. but first, i created some mystery and anticipation. i made 'em anxious for that launch date. i tried to get people excited about it.

step nine. analyze. i watched my google analytics like a hawk in the weeks before and after my launch. i studied the stats. strategized ways to reach more people. discovered what works and what doesn't. and i watched that traffic increase. since it went live a month ago, my site has had over 7000 hits from around the globe, with 88,000 page views. plus i have had over 2500 hits on my blog. (that is up nearly 2000% percent from my previous web traffic). one of my goals was to reach every state in the US. done and done. now, a lot of those stats are in large part due to david jay and jasmine star's shout-outs, so keep that in mind and take it for what it's worth. but nonetheless, having a unique, custom site made and HUGE difference in my web traffic and in my business.


tips (in no particular order): 1) keep it simple. 2) pay attention to the details & ensure that elements are proportionate, aligned properly and well-balanced. 3) don't necessarily neglect function for form; find a happy medium. 4) infuse elements of your branding into your website. 5) be clear on what those elements are. 6). don't get crazy with animation. that can get annoying. 6) use the SHOW IT support staff. they are fantastic. 7) integrate video into your site. (and when you do use, heschle video productions. 8) pimp your blog with the showit embed feature. 9) make sure your blog, smugmug, & site all match and are a cohesive unit. 10) do beta testing with friends, family, colleagues, etc. before you go live. have them give you honest feedback. 11) create buzz about your site. give 'em something to talk about. 12) be you. you site should reflect your brand, but your brand should reflect you. be authentic and real.

all and all, you can imagine that i logged some serious man-hours building my site. i worked long and hard to get it where it is. now, i realize that many of my fellow photographers and creatives are thinking "neat-o jeff! good for you. but i don't have that kind of time. or energy. or patience. or desire." that's cool. no worries. i will tell you right now, you have options. if you're like me and are design and software savvy, you can allot some time to your site, work at it, and come up with something bitchin'. or you can work from the style groups and tweak things here or there and make it your own. or you can hire someone else (such as myself ;) do it for you. all are commendable and accessible to you and quite affordable with Show It either route you go. but you must make your presence a HUGE priority. today. especially in the media driven culture. you must. so, head over to showitfast.com and sign-up today.

okay, i know that was long, but i wanted to be thorough. post a comment if you have any questions. and i will do my best to answer them all either personally or on the blog. aiight?

happy day.

the bridge.

ever been on a cruise ship? or perhaps another type of sea-faring vessel? have you ever wondered what goes down on the bridge? ever been tempted sneak in so you can see who the captain is and hear all the insider information about the ship's charted course? well, i have. and i have always been the kid who asks all the questions and who wants to go behind the scenes or backstage. i love touring factories and always wanted to sit in a cockpit of a jet simply because i was curious. (well, that, and it is cool to sit in a cockpit). i always wanted to learn the ways things work, and to this day, i love to watch that show "how it's made". such experiences are fascinating and helpful i tell you.

so, one of my friends encouraged me to start sharing some of the inner-workings of j. shipley photography here on my blog. at first, i was hesitant. and quite frankly, resistant. why? well, not because i don't want to share. or because i am scared people will jack my ideas. ha. no, no. but because, really, who am i? i am such a youngen. i am not that seasoned professional with decades of experience. or a big time orange county wedding photographer with 50 weddings a year. nope. i am just a 22 year old kid from crowley lake who decided to become a photographer one day. i say silly things. i really love grapes. and i laugh a lot. i don't have any formal training in photography. and i have a proclivity to always do things differently. i am the guy with all the crazy ideas. yup.

but, i thought it about for a week or so. and i suppose my friend is right. perhaps some people want to hear my story, my process, and all about my photography woes. and since i like the inside scoop and a backstage pass a time or two, i thought i would let you on the bridge of the j.ship (haha. i crack myself up) so you can see what is going on at the helm. (yes, the nautical pun is intended. as always. haha :). in this section, i will answer frequently asked questions and write about marketing and branding and my latest shooting techniques. i shall feature reviews on art shows i attend and reflect on articles and books i am reading. i will share with you my thoughts and musings about business, art, people and photography. i imagine this section will be primarily useful to other photographers, but i do hope that it will be helpful to other creatives as well. so i intend to have both specific and general content here. so, what do ya'll think?

featured.

i just got word from David Jay that my site is one of the featured Show-It sites at showitfast.com. i am so excited about it. the week after i launched my new site, David Jay even featured me in his monthly newsletter which was so, so cool. and now this? i am one happy-jeff. one of my goals in building my website was just that: be a featured showit site. check. done and done. :)

justin.

a while back my friend justin asked if i would help him build his modeling portfolio. i, of course, acquiesced, and we schemed quite the shoot. we were able to squeeze it in just before his finals at westmont and before the craziness of the fire ensued. so alas, i am finally getting around to posting a few images from the shoot here in santa barbara. i always aim for variety in my shoots, especially if i am working with a model. versatility is important people! so we shot downtown, at the butterfly preserve, and in hope ranch and did quite a few wardrobe changes throughout. check it...

inspiration & organization.

i got me a new desk the other day. it's an upgrade for sure. especially compared to my little tiny one i had prior. this one has baller status for sure. and it is cool. it inspired me to get all sorts of organized. so after picking out my desk, i perused the aisles of office max for various organizational tools and office supplies. i got me some file folders, fine-point sharpies, and a groovy stapler and tape dispenser. it am stoked about it. i am a "j" after all on the myers briggs type indicator. i get a strange high off of organization and office supply stores. i can spend all day in there. true story.

on a similar note, i have been collecting scraps and such from various magazines for quite some time now. but my friend jasmine star reminded me a while back on her blog about the importance of this. so i decided it was time to bring my a-game to this practice. so, i purchased a folder box specifically for things i like or am inspired by. i was so excited to put some new goodies in there, that i pulled out all of my luxe, gq, and destination wine country magazines and tore out a heap of pages. with my new sharpies, i purposed to note what i like about a particular image or design so that when i need ideas for lighting concepts, poses or wardrobes, i know just where to go...how fun is that? i find that as an artist, i need to actively seek out inspiration and surround myself with good design, fashion, art and photography. it keeps me fresh and alert and keeps those creative juices flowing. if we are constantly producing and not feeding and nourishing ourselves, our wells will run dry. and we can't have that now can we? no, no. i find that when i am constantly seeking out opportunities to learn or be inspired, i produce better photographs. and well, i suppose that is a good thing given that i am a photographer or something. haha.

restoration.

we ruin things. we trample, break, destroy, pollute, uproot, take-over, neglect, disregard. us humans tend to do this all too often to the things that we should rather care for, nurture, water, protect, and restore. i am primarily talking about the earth but i think we tend to do the same to each other, our own peoples. we destroy dreams with cutting words. we disregard insecurities with insults. we pollute our minds with worthless and often lethal images and information. we neglect the widows and orphans in distress and fail to care for and nurture our children in ways that empower them. we allow the things of this world to take over the pure perfection of who God is and taint our image of Him with our own ideas and notions.

this is all very problematic for the life of our people and our planet. we can so clearly see the effects of this careless-ness, this disregard, this pollution. we all need to be made aware of the problems in our midst and actively choose to do something about it, to change our ways and seek to protect and nourish, and till the soil for future generation. we need to be good stewards of what God has given us. and i believe that applies to our environment and communities. it is important. and relevant to all of us.

i was reminded of this issue when i visited my cousin's nursery down in newport beach, ca. orange coast river park is a small facility that my cousin Emily Beck was hired to start from scratch. it is purposed to re-grow native plants and then re-plant, restore and revitalize the southern california coast. at the time of my last visit, all the plants were just seedlings, and as you can see, there has been quite a bit of growth since. wow. she and her team completed their first planting in the marshlands adjacent to the nursery a few months back and as a result after nearly a century, the area will be soon be re-opened to tidal waters. how cool is that? i am impressed. for more info, visit their facebook page here.




on a similar note, this week, i got the chance to hang out with a group of people who are also committed to restoration.



three incredibly talented singer/songwriters, brendan james, jason reeves & amber rubarth are on tour together traveling up the california coast on vespas. they are calling it Vespa Experiment and are actively seeking a lifestyle that promotes green-living. my friend josh newton is the official photographer for the tour, so amy, emily and i got the chance to hang out with the crew as they passed through santa barbara and hear more about their stories as artists. and of course, hear tales from the "experiment". we all even headed up to san luis obisbo last night to attend their show. ah. it was a pleasure to hear their music and get out of fire-y santa barbara. plus the company was quite fun (amy, emily & summer). we laughed. a lot.

jesusita fire.

the past three days have been quite dramatic here in santa barbara due to a horrible wildfire that started on tuesday. so my apologies for being so out of touch here on the blog and via e-mail. bleh. my house was just on the edge of the mandatory evacuation area and thereby in an advisory area. so i loaded up the hard-drives and client files, collected all my valuables and voluntarily peaced-out. i fled south to stay with some friends in carpinteria on wednesday night. it was nice to breathe some cleaner air and get a good night's rest.

but i returned to my eery street late last night only to find the sidewalks covered in ash the street lights dimmed by the smoke. i decided to camp out at the house. that was fun. it was hotter than the hinges of hell in my lil room and due to the smoke and ash, i opted to leave the windows closed. somehow, i managed to get some rest though only to awake to the news that my alma mater, Westmont College, had been evacuated. the community just recently suffered a huge loss in the tea fire and my heart broke when i heard that they had to relive any part of that. although the fire is still rather distant from campus, i am pleased that the students are safe and sound elsewhere. and i am totally bummed for all my buds who are graduating tomorrow. they have worked long and hard for this moment. it is supposed to be a time of celebration. a time where they reflect on what was and what is come. in this time, they are faced with mixed emotions of joy and grief, excitement and angst. it is hard enough to leave westmont after four years of it being your home, your community, your life. throw an evacuation in there and you got yourself one horrible & difficult situation. it sucks. my heart is heavy for them and for the dozens of families that lost their homes.

yet i am filled with pride. am proud of the firefighters, government officials and law enforcement. they are rockin' it. and, they are bad-ass. and i am grateful for their willingness to protect us and fight that fire. seriously, they are awesome. and i am proud of westmont. they stand strong and united in spite of everything. what a community i tell you. and i am proud of my friends who are graduating tomorrow. they pushed long and hard to get to this day. they are here. they made it. through finals and fires, headaches and heartbreak. though all-nighters and nail-biters. and not only that, but they learned and become better people through it all. i am excited for the world today because there is quite a crew being sent out tomorrow. get ready world.

in closing, i invite you to pray today. and love. in time of crisis it is all we can really do. we can pray and we can love on the people who need it most. so today is love your westmont grad day. yup.

catan.

last weekend i got the chance to spend the day with my good friends stephanie & doug. we called it LA DAY. we headed up to Reality LA in the morning for church, and let me tell you, it was such a treat to worship and commune with one of my home church's plants. there is something so sweet about the community of believers networked in Him just here in so-cal. we then headed to the LA Festival of Books, met some friends for fro-yo and then ventured back the the oc for dinner and settlers of catan with the Beyliks (stephanie's awesome family). i met the beylik family this past christmas and got to know them a bit during their stint in mammoth. (i posted about them here). and it was such a treat to see them again this past weekend. seriously. they are great. and in our truest form, we played settlers of catan. i am the one to blame of starting this addiction for them. my bad. and i must say, they definitely have perfected their strategies and skills. and i might add, they don't mess around. haha. they are hardcore board-gamers now. i love it. haha.