James R Kern Photography

12/11/2022

05/26/2019

This is one of the things I LOVE doing with my images (even though this model shot is not my own, see below.) It’s what I call Creative Editing. I’m never exactly sure where each will end up, so every image is unique and one of a kind. Take a look at the before and after, and If this is something you would like for your portraiture then contact me and we will make it happen!

Thanks to Colby Files Photography for the beautiful shot of Crissy Vallen to work with!

01/18/2019

I've been working on composits more lately since I'm not in the studio anymore - here's one from the other night - hope you enjoy :)

12/03/2018

Going to hit the Sierra Nevada brewery in Asheville NC shortly...

06/23/2018

Are you ready for summer?

03/06/2018

What makes a Great food shot?

For any image to work there are a few basics that have to be in place and working together.

You have to have a color palette that works together. And, especially for food, they should be the right colors. Blue food just does not cut it, but a blue background can work great and so on. Yea, I know, now your gonna say “Well, what about blueberries and…” Well, if it’s the natural color of the food, then it works, but if you make blue pancakes… maybe not so much. Know what I mean?

You have to have props that work together to enhance your image. You don’t want to have a soup spoon with a cup of tea or a bread knife with a steak! Right?

The image has to flow. It must be laid out so that the viewer knows where to look. The “hero” of your shot should be obvious and everything else in the image should complement the hero, and lead they eye back to the hero.

The food items in the image have to go together. You need to be able to make logical sense out of what is there as in “I can see myself eating or drinking that…” A potato and a lime probably don’t work too well… You might want to rethink that one.

Focus. Yep, it needs to be IN focus, but how much of the image in focus is up to you. If you shoot wide open make sure you place your focus right on your hero because that’s where the eye will naturally go. Also, if you are shooting fairly wide you might seriously want to think about having your hero be right up front because it’s distracting (at least to me) to have the front of an image out of focus, the center in focus, and then focus fall off to the rear. If you are like me and tend to shoot closer to f8 or smaller then focus placement is not quite as critical, but as a matter of good practice you still want to focus on your hero.

And last but not least, the lighting has to be great. There are lots of different ways to light, and really no right or wrong as long as what you do is killer. You can have the world’s best food plating and styling and light it poorly and it becomes a poor shot. How you light will make or break your food shot.

So how long does it take from start to finish put together a great food shot? Well, it just takes long as it takes. Sometimes it’s all day, sometimes just a few hours. But what’s important is that when you turn off those lights and pull the camera off the stand you know that you got some keepers.

01/07/2018

Creative…

It’s a word that gets used a lot. Type it into Google – go ahead, I’ll wait. I’m guessing you came back with somewhere around 2 Billion 220 million hits. That’s a lot. 2 billion times people have used this word in articles, titles, url’s, etc. Now add “photography” to it – you get a significantly smaller number of hits, around 224 Million, which is still a lot. Start looking at some of the URL’s to see what they are about and you find; creative images, challenges, collections, projects, tricks, “what is…” ideas, how to be, etc.

Everyone has a spin or their own take on what it means. They will tell you what it takes to make you more… tell you how to be, etc. But the bottom line is, this word is totally subjective. It means what it means TO YOU. And it means what it means to you WHERE YOU ARE AT in your journey. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good thing to look at other people’s idea of what creativity is, and to see what they consider to be creative. It can stimulate you, challenge you, and give you fresh perspectives for your own work, which is good and necessary. In fact the better you become at what you do, the more you need this kind of input to keep your edge.

So what’s my point? Well, a couple of things really.

First, “Creative Photography” is not about flash and glamor and big sets with lots of lights and FX. It’s not about having a studio with lots of light and modifiers and models and smoke machines, etc. Those things can assist in the creative process, but YOU don’t need to have that to be creative! Creative Photography is really all about taking what you know and using it in new ways. For instance, say you know how to light a portrait with one light and a reflector so it’s a nice even look. Cool, you got this! So you ask yourself “what happens if…” and you move the light to the side and get rid of the reflector – you have just exercised your creativity! Trying new things leads to learning, and the more you know the more you grow in creativity. But you gotta do, not just watch someone else doing it.

Secondly, don’t judge yourself or your own work by someone else’s standards or what they are doing. They’re not you, and they’re not where you are at. Be yourself and own it. Everyone starts from the same place and everyone puts their feet on the floor when they get out of bed. Everyone. Period.

I have heard a lot of people say things like “I wish I could be creative like…” or “I’m just not creative…” Sorry, that’s just not true. You were “creative” when you picked up your camera and took that shot! The way you grow in creativity is to look at the shot you just took of the cat in the corner of the sofa and ask yourself “how can I show that cat in a different way…” or “what can I do differently…” It’s the “how can I…” and the “what can I …” questions that will cause you to grow in your craft. Creativity, in any endeavor is really about taking what you know and applying it in a different way. The “I’m just not creative…” crap is a soul sucking killer – adopt that as your mantra and you might as well crawl in a hole and pull the dirt in after you. BTW, sell your gear before you do cause it’s not gonna do you any good if that’s where you are livin!

So here’s a challenge for you – go back over last year’s photographs and pick your top ten (or if you don’t have 10, the top 5.) Put them in a folder on your desktop so you can find them easily, give them whatever name you want, and then forget about them. Now go out and shoot, shoot, shoot, and try to show your subject in new ways, do new things, shoot new things, whatever you want. Then, next January do the top 10 again. Pick your 2018 top ten WITHOUT looking at your 2017 picks and then look at them side by side. I’ll bet you will be surprised. Creativity grows as you grow! Now go shoot something!

12/24/2017

Newest studio toy...

11/14/2017

What a client really wants from their photographer…

Here it is, in a nutshell, down and dirty, right up front. If you are shooting consumer photography, you are NOT selling your technical proficiency. What you ARE selling is an experience that will become a lifetime memory. Period. End of sentence. Nuf said. OK, you can quit reading now if you want, because that is my main point. BUT, if you want to know why I say that, read on.

Now, before you nay-sayers flood the inbox, let me explain. I am not discounting technical proficiency and photographic skills, but if you call yourself a “professional” those will be assumed by your client. Your style of shooting and the images you have on your web site are what made them contact you in the first place, and they will assume that you will deliver the same for them. And if you are truly are a professional you will. But is a skillfully done image enough to make a repeat client? Possibly, but if you want to ensure that they will be yours for life, deliver a great experience and create a great memory for them because that’s what they will think of every time they look at that photo. Do that, and they are yours for life.

If YOU are interested in making a memory, drop me a note and we'll set something up! Talk to you soon...

10/06/2017

Great advice from a Pro...

From a recent interview with Vincent Versace posted by Lum Cube on their web page

You have been a working photographer for many years, what is the best lesson you learned along the way?

"The best lesson I’ve learned is that the only person you have to please is yourself. Bottom line. If you’re trying to please someone else other than just you, you’re had best hope they have good taste. Because you are trying to please someone you have no idea what it is they want. I try to make pictures that when I’m done, I’m blown away by them. Why is it that you can look at someone else’s picture and know if it’s good or bad, but when you look at your work you have no idea? Think about it at the moment you took the picture you like it, you don’t take pictures of things that don’t take you. What changed when you are looking at it on a computer screen? It’s not that the picture all of a sudden “sucks,” what sucks are technical aspects of the image that you need to address. That is the biggest lesson I’ve ever learned. Learn to look at your work objectively and like the work you do."