New Website and Blog

Well this is the end of Whatsnewlancejohnston@blogspot The new www.lancejohnston.com now contains our website as well as multiple blogs about our different photography offerings. Thanks for following here and be sure to save our new location in your bookmarks. If you have a link to our blog please change the address. Check out our new Facebook pages @ www.facebook/lancejohnston and become a fan today.

The Knot

Patricia and Mikey's wedding on "the Knot"
Check it out.

My Real Wedding from The Knot and The Nest.

"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