"All Aboard"

I recently did a photo shoot at the Rep with Annamary & Greg Thompson for their upcoming fundraiser to benefit the theatre.
This article is in the January issue of Inviting Arkansas

MERRY CHRISTMAS
&
Happy New Year

What is Christmas all about?

Town & Country

One of our weddings was recently featured in Town & Country magazine as well as Mississippi Wedding Register magazine. Chris and Liza's wedding at the Rockefellar mansion is one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever photographed.

Photography as an art & science

I have met with so many people who want to be photographers in the last year or two I can't even count the number. The one thing I tell them all is learn your craft if you want to be a professional photographer. People like to break the rules, be original and creative ,but if they don't know the rules they just don't know what they're doing. I break the rules all the time but only because I know them. Photography is an art and a science. If people tell them they are a great photographer who have seen some of their snapshots that means they probably have a good eye for composition. That is a must, but does not a great photographer make. There is a technical side to photography that seems to be being overlooked these days, perhaps even avoided and unfortunately the result of people not caring about proper lighting, posing, and composition, not to mention being technically ignorant of their equipment, is causing a dramatic fall in the quality of photography being produced. The volume is staggering but the craftsmanship is lacking. Here is a quote from a recent article on "luminous landscape" by Alan Briot

"Photography consists of two separate elements: art and science. It is through the successful combination of these two elements that the creation of world-class photographs can be accomplished.Yet art and science differ greatly in their aim and their practice. In fact, they are so far apart as to present serious difficulties if their respective qualities are not known to the photographer.The science part of photography includes technique and equipment. The artistic part of photography includes the photographer's artistic goals, his vision, inspiration and the use of art-related concepts. These two parts need to merge seamlessly for the creation of a successful world-class photograph to take place. If one of these two parts dominates the other the result is either a technically excellent photograph without much artistic interest, or a very artistic photograph lacking technical excellence."

"Let me be really clear. If you are
a mediocre photographer, or you have
mediocre skills in dealing with clients …
if what you offer is a service for people who
aren’t clever enough to take their own
pictures, you are doomed. D-O-O-M-E-D."
Seth Godin

If you are an aspiring photographer I would encourage you to learn your craft anyway you can. If you are an established photographer I encourage you to learn more of your craft. If you are a potential client I hope you will learn to discern the difference between a good snapshot and a portrait created using all the elements of the art & science of photography.

Little Rock Studio in the Heights

If you haven't had a chance to come by our new Little Rock location I thought I would show you a few shots. It is 99% complete. Just a little painting left to do. It is located at 5813 Kavanaugh feel free to stop by and say hello.

My Daddy: by Mary Dean

My daddy has the best job in the world. He has had a long experience in photography and is really good at it. He has inspired me to be just like him when I grow up.

Interview on KARK

In case you missed my interview on KARK about the APPA here it is.
I fired my hair and make-up people.

Wedding Photographer of the Year

Our annual convention "Capture'09" was a huge success. I am honored to have been named the 2009 "Wedding Photographer of the Year" by the Arkansas Professional Photographers Association. In addition to the photographer of the year Barbara and I received numerous other honors including Two Kodak Gallery Awards for our Wedding album and one of my wedding prints. Barbara and I took home almost every available award in the General and in the Salon wedding categories as well as the "Best Portrait of a Child" and "Best Wedding Candid". Here is a complete list of all of our awards.


Wedding Photographer of the Year
1st Place Wedding Album General Division
1st Place Wedding Album Salon Division
Kodak Gallery Award Wedding Album
Kodak Gallery Award Wedding Print
Best Wedding Candid
Best Photo of a Child
Two Distinguished Album Awards
Two Distinguished Print Awards
Judges Award

Barabara also received her Associate Fellowship degree from APPA
Way to go Barb!




"Here is the crew with Denis Reggie"

Check this out!

I would give a discount on wedding photography to anyone who would attempt this entrance.

Comprtition Prints

"Boys of Summer" Lance

"Sealed with a Kiss" Lance

"Love Actually" Lance

"Vintage Love" Barbara

"Love Elevated" Lance & Barbara

"An Elegant Affair" Lance & Barbara

"Stick a Fork In It" Barbara

"Greetings from Beautiful Lake Como" Lance

Twitter

You can now follow me on Twitter. If you like interesting things that seem all together useless but you can't help but reading or watching. Then Twitter was made for you. Click here to follow Lance on Twitter

New Florida dates

We will be back at Rosemary beach over the Fourth of July. If you will be in the area give us a call. We still have a couple of spots available for the week of June 15-21.

Capture '09

WWW.CAPTURE09.COM

As the President of the Arkansas PPA I feel the need to continue reminding all you photographers out there that our state convention is just around the corner. Check out the convention website, I designed it. Hope you like it. Anyway I didn't realize how much hard work is involved in running an organization it's been fun, but I look forward to being a has been.

American Idol Parade & Concert

I have finally recovered from yesterday. I cannot imagine how tired Kris Allen is after weeks of keeping that kind of schedule.
Here are a few shots from yesterdays parade and concert. I heard that there were 15,000 people at the park.

Kris Allen

The Kris Allen phenomenon is amazing. I will see first hand tomorrow how crazy as I photograph the concerts and parade for the Conway chamber I will post a few images afterwards. My friend Kristian sent me a link to the Kris Allen website. I had no idea what kind of album he would make but his website says it all. Check it out www.krisallen.com I had no idea he was so diverse.

CAPTURE '09

When I first started in photography fifteen years ago, one of the established photographers in my town came by my makeshift garage studio. He showed me how to set my lights up and invited me to an APPA convention. I can truly say that convention changed my photography and my life. I met so many wonderful people who invited me into a community of photographers and freely taught me all they knew. I believe when you teach someone about photography, you elevate the profession of photography. This has been a difficult year for anyone in business, which is why weather you are a new photographer or a seasoned veteran , it is crucial to expand your network, learn new techniques, and be inspired. We have some incredible speakers coming in for our convention. Denis Reggie is the father of wedding photojournalism and a must see program. Thanks to Canon ,Denis's program can be attended free of charge. But don't stop there. If you are registered for the convention you will see John Woodward really does know more about digital photography than anyone, anywhere, that Mitche Graffe is not a best selling author on marketing for no reason, and that Barbie Vallot did not win Photographer of the Year in Louisiana by accident. These are only a few reasons why you must attend and absolutely must invite a friend. The Doubletree Hotel and the Rivermarket are a perfect setting for this year's convention. CAPTURE '09 will be a life altering, business saving, inspiration to someone. Will it be you? I can't wait to see all of you there to spend time with old friends and make some new ones.


Lance Johnston
APPA President


CAPTURE '09

Call it Music Monday

I am in a music mood so I wanted to share these videos that Barbara showed me last week. I didn't cry but I thought about it. Click the link below to watch.
PS22 Choir

New Friends

Josh and Treva have visited our church the last couple of weeks they just moved here from Nashville. I thought I would share a link to Trevas blog. www.trevamusic.com

Shakespeare and the Oxford American

Melissa and I attended a fundraiser for the Arkansas Shakespeare Festival on Saturday night that was great. If your not familiar with the festival here is a link to the website.
www.arkshakes.com
I also spent most of the night talking with Marc Smirnoff who created the "Oxford American". If your not familiar with this magazine you should check it out.

www.oxfordamericanmag.com

Quote of the day

"You will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making.
No man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas to simply tell the truth (without care for how often it has been told) you will become original without having even noticed it."

~ C.S. Lewis

Rosemary Beach June 15-21

It's almost that time again and our dates are set for the beach. Give us a call if you would like to schedule portraits in the Destin/Seaside area in June.

5D

I got the new 5D last week and it has not disappointed I will post some images and video soon. It's amazing.
Right not all my spare time is working on my new program that I will test out next week in Texarkana. I have been doing A little research on the history of photography. It made me realize that a great photograph is truly timeless. See if you can guess the time frame on these images I will post the answers later.
Alfred Steiglitz 1907

Man Ray 1920

Dennis Stock 1954

Doisneau Robert 1950

Speaking Engagement

I was recently asked to speak at the Ark-la-tex professional photographers guild in Texarkana TX. On April 13th I will be presenting a program and judging their print competition. It is always an honor to be asked to speak to other photographers.
Several years ago I did quite a bit of speaking and earned my Craftsman degree from PPA. I have not pursued speaking in the last couple of years focusing more on opening a second studio and serving on the ArkansasPPA board. I would say in recent months as I look forward to the end of my term as APPA president I have been inspired to create a new series of programs and hit the road again. I will be speaking at the Oklahoma state convention in August. The theme of the new programs is still developing but it will involve the idea of finding your own style and being true to yourself as an artist. There is a temptation today for photographers to imitate the latest trends, but not really find a style that is true to them or their community. I hope these programs will inspire photographers to create but not imitate. Finding your niche as a photographer is one of the most important things you can do in creating a successful business. Full Color our lab in Dallas and Burns picture frames are sponsoring our program so many of our engagements will be covered by our sponsorship if you would like more info have having me speak at you photography group let me know.

Senior Special

I thought I would show you guys our Senior promotion. If you didn't get this or if you know a senior who hasn't done pictures yet you can print this flyer and receive 46 free wallets. Pass it on.

Ward Mansion

We recently did a few photos of the Ward Mansion Bed & Breakfast. Joann Stevens has done an incredible job of remodeling this historic house. Check out her website and consider staying there if you will be staying in Conway soon.



Lance

Delta School

Next week I will be in Hot Springs at the Delta School of Professional Photography which I serve on the Board. This is a great educational opportunity. Over the course of four days student's will get an intense small group learning and mentoring experience.

For school info (800)449-9578
www.deltaschool.com
February 8-12, 2009
Austin Hotel and Convention Center
Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas

New Studio and Gallery

We have decided to move our Little Rock studio. Two years ago when we opened our second location we looked on Kavanaugh, but at the time their wasn't anything available. Well our lease was up and the building at 5813 Kavanaugh was for lease. So in the course of about a week we have gutted, painted, built, wired and moved into our new space. Here are a few shots of the work in progress. I will post some finished photos soon. I could not have done this job without the help of many friends. You know who you are and I appreciate you all. We will have a grand opening or open house soon. Watch for details or if you are in the heights drop by and see us. We are between Browning's mexican restaurant and the Sushi Cafe on Kavanaugh.

Wedding Traditions

This shot was taken right after Brooke and Warren saw each other for the first time about 2 hours before the ceremony. It would not have been possible if they would not have seen each other before hand.

This is a little article that describes a question I get on every wedding.

Post by RELENTLESSBRIDE on Blogger Bride at getmarried.com.


"We have had many Brides ask about meeting before the Ceremony and we love it for many reason but do understand tradition. But where do those tradition begins. While most of the Wedding traditions come from a very very long time ago, and we see that some might be out of style..

So here is the tradition about it being "Bad Luck" to see each other before the wedding:


The tradition holds to the idea that in ancient times, often the first time the bride and groom saw one another was at the actual ceremony b/c many marriages were arranged. Thus, in fear that either the bride or groom would reject the other prior based on disliking the other's looks, they were kept from seeing one another until the actual ceremony. Also, the veil was used to hidden the bride's face until the actual ceremony was done and the legalities were sealed with a kiss at which point, it was too late to change your mind. Thus, they say it is bad luck to see each other before the actual ceremony. As one blogger puts it "So the tradition that it’s “bad luck” for a man to see his bride before the ceremony really started out as insurance for her dad (b/c he had arranged the marriage of his daughter with a stranger)"

Reasons why many people are going the "non-traditional" route and seeing each other pre-ceremony:

* The wow moment can still be there as when you walk down the aisle, except in this private moment, the bride and groom can truly enjoy it with full emotion and the privacy of holding on to that moment between the two.
* Photographs can be taken of immediate family, friends and bridal party. This can help make the after ceremony photo session shorter, and give thebride and groom a chance to enjoy the cocktail hour with their guests.
* Getting the photographer to focus on "the moment" that the bride and groom see each other. The Bride and Groom can also pick the scenery in which these pics will be taken... this can give this set of photos a more artistic scenery while also maintaining the pictures from the actual ceremony.
* It can alleviate the "stress" of seeing one another making the moment more enjoyable and less stressful during the ceremony.
* Enjoy the photo shoot without worrying about the guests or that you are missing out on the cocktail hour
* You feel fresher. Make up, hair and etc are all fresher. And if its earlier in the day, it could be cooler depending on which season you have your wedding in
* Technically, last minute details can be discussed - although this is not so romantic, it can definitely help in the practicality aspect.

The part that appeals most to me is that the photographer can really capture the moment (and the immediate moments that lead to) the first moment we see one another. It really can be more romantic and dramatic this way, b/c the wow factor would still be there but there will would also be less distraction!"