If we've worked together, wether I assisted, you assisted me, you are the client, etc., It doesn't matter really - You know I am prob the least "stiff" photographer out there. I do take my job seriously, but we are going to laugh at work. Period.

I have taught this to students for years, if someone doesn't like working with you, they won't. It is so true for many reasons, but in photography, working on set has so many extra stresses that a traditional office doesn't. You cannot let those ruin the day or change the dynamic.  One of my assistants recently said to me " Jason, you have a solution for everything!". It may not always be the right solution, but yes I do.  I took that statement as a badge of honor to wear proudly! Even if the solution is just to not lose my mind over a mistake, and just tuck my head down work harder to make whatever happen correctly the next try - that's what I am doing. In most situations, its simply making sure everyone walks away from a photoshoot saying  these 3 things.. 

1. That was fun!
2. We love these images!
3. We'd totally work with Jason again! 

No one is perfect, except Chuck Norris and Jason Statham, (and I'm certain Mr. Statham's parents named him after me). But I strive to be in the eyes of my clients, with a little fun and humor sprinkled on top, and in my opinion it's a formula that works. Don't worry though, I definitely photoshop out any spirits or ghosts that show up in your interior shots if my ace assistant cant ward them off first - at no additional charge!

Have a happy Halloween from Jason Jones Photography!!!

Texas Architectural Photographer

Dallas Interior Photographer

Atlanta Architectural Photography

That went by FAST...

 
  So here we are. Another year gone. When I did my obligatory end of year post for 2020, I said I was going to kick 2021's butt or something like that. I would say mission accomplished!


  I don't think any of us envisioned exactly how this year would go, but we had high hopes. For the most part, those expectations were met. I not only picked up new clients, I was just as productive with my existing clients as I have ever been. December is usually one of my slowest months, and as I wrap up the year headed back home from a shoot in DC, it is all soaking in at just how much WE accomplished. The flights are full, offices are bustling, and people along the way seemed happy for the first time in a long time.


  All that being said, I'll take it. We're never going back to the old normal, and thats actually a good thing. We've adapted, and are overcoming. As an Architectural photographer, adapting and overcoming is a necessary skill, but it's a great reminder there's bigger problems in the world besides the exposure triangle, composition, and access!


  Just like the last 12 years, this one is no different for me at its core. I create images, and handle all the issues surrounding the final product from start to finish. From Dallas to Atlanta, Florida to D.C., and everywhere in between, I have enjoyed your company this year - and the time spent creating images for clients in those places. Architectural and Interior photography is a lifestyle for me. I live and breathe it. As always, let's make next year even better. I'm certainly ready!


Hope you had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Years!

Jason Jones

jasonjones-photo.com

Texas Architectural and Interior Photographer

Serving Dallas, Austin, Houston, Atlanta Georgia, Tampa / Orlando Florida, Washington D.C., Boston and Phoenix.

Was it destiny? Success means different things Part 2.

Thankfully, I havent forgot to bring my
camera to a shoot since!

Getting film developed was a regular task then.

Do you think sometimes "this is what I was meant to do!"? I do. ALL the time. I struggled to find my place for many years in a different career, fighting the urge to quit because I feared the unknown. 

Fear of failure, fear of mistakes, fear of anything actually - has kept many good people from doing what they should be. Once you overcome it, so many possibilities reveal themselves, and the prior path to that point will look MUCH different when it's behind you, than it did in front of you.

Looking back, I think I was always supposed to be a photographer / producer. I certainly didn't run down that path the first chance I had, but it came back around when the time was right. So many opportunities I have had, would not look or be received the same a few years before they actually presented themselves.
My dad had this Yaschica 35mm SLR camera he bought so long ago I couldn't even tell you how old it is. He only had a couple of prime lenses for it, and it is as basic as it gets for a camera. But he traveled the world with it, and going through old photos, you can see the care he put into what he documented. He still has that camera some 45+ years later. Im actually VERY jealous of the simplicity and how it allows you to just focus (bad pun intended!) on the scene and craft. Devoid of all the modern features a $4000 DSLR has to make sure you nail the technicalities right off the bat.
Once I came along, dad didn't hang his camera up. He just drug me along. While it was always a hobby for him, he still took pride in what he did and his photos. Looking through old albums, it's like I was there, or it brought back the memories just as I remember them. I am quite certain (even if unintentional) he passed this on to me. My love for photography, as a job, hobby and craft, is certainly attributed to the childhood he gave me.

Dad in the early 70's, getting ready for
shore leave in Europe.

Texas and Oklahoma Architectural Photographer

Dallas Commercial Real Estate and Aerial Photographer

Jason Jones Photography's Instagram

#commercialphotographer #architecturalphotographer #photographylife #bts 

Success means different things, at different times.

Disappointed they did NOT have an Ansel Adams stamp...

Taken in 2009-ish. I know.. It was a nice
thought though!

Before I finally quit my 9-5, and long before I made a living as a photographer, I knew I wanted to be one. I had no idea my path would lead me to where it has - something I am truly grateful for, and still have no idea where I may end up.

When I was working a "regular job", I barely had time, or the the money (and never both at the same time) to REALLY travel. I did what everyone else does, and dreamed of destinations through photos I saw. I always told myself, and my wife, we would go there someday. In my mind, I knew we probably wouldn't, but it's nice to dream and hope. Fast forward to when I was getting close to quitting the corporate world for a life of freelancing - lofty goals and high expectations, that were quickly shot down by the reality of working harder than I had ever worked before, and learning what "Hustle" truly meant. I still dreamed, I still aspired. Without goals, work is pointless.

I remember reading about Ansel Adams and how he came to be a household name, what his photographs meant, etc.. I had always liked landscape photography, although even early on I knew a career taking only landscape photos was probably not a realistic occurrence for most people. I mean even if it was to sell a few prints here and there for pocket cash, that was fine by me. Sometime in the early 2000's I literally told myself I wanted to be "there", when I saw the picture of Ansel on top of his station wagon in a random book or literature. "There", as in "I made it", was just as much a state of mind, as it was standing on my truck in an iconic location to shoot some amazing photo, just like Ansel Adams did.

As things, and life, go, I went a different way. I still remember that conversation I had with myself, what I EXPECTED out of that goal at that moment, like it was yesterday. What I did NOT know at the time, was that success is not always what we thought, or wanted it would be.

Fast forward to April 2018 - more than a decade later. I walked into the Ansel Adams gallery at Yosemite Natl. Park, bought this post card and jotted on the back an obligatory "here", so as to not mail a completely blank postcard. I mailed it to myself from the Yosemite Park Post office next door to the gallery, which had an added bonus of a Half Dome postmark stamp too. When I came home, and retrieved this postcard out of the mail it dawned on me. I DID make it. I DID succeed. I actually teared up, because I realized what had REALLY happened with my life, and the long hard road of sacrifices my family has made to get me here too.

I've sold several landscape prints in the last few years, that I had taken on my travels that photography paid for. I walked the same path at Yosemite that Ansel did many years before, because of money I earned from MY PHOTOGRAPHY.  In the last 4 years I have taken my family to nearly every state in the lower 48 (many of them multiple times), driven coast to coast, and to 3 countries. In 2015 we drove enough miles to circle the equator, plus throw in a trip to the North Pole from Dallas. I made it before I even realized it, but it took Ansel Adams himself (in a weird name dropping way!) to make me realize it.

Texas Architectural Photographer

#photographylife #commercialPhotographer #wishyouwerehere

Another study...

i

I, like many of you, work out of my home. So forgive me if I am a little biased towards a soothing, functional home office / study space. I get genuinely excited when I do a walk through and one is on the shot list!

I think this speaks for itself - so I will shut up and let the image do the talking!












Texas Architectural Photographer

Photography for Interior Designers

Photography for luxury real estate

A lake house project...

Stunning lakeside house in Texas.

 It's easy to get distracted or fixated on one thing. I tend to find the "hero" image from a project or shoot, and focus on that for portfolio material or promotion. Of course all the images I create are amazing (sarcasm dripping all off of that comment!), but for every portfolio image you see, I spent a whole day, sometimes several on location, shooting other equally great images. For whatever reason, they just were not the "feature" image.

   This blog post will be a slight departure from the usual, in that I will show you several images from the same project. I think it's worth noting, that many photographers can cherry pick a few images from a few shoots for an impressive website. But when you hire a photographer, you need someone who can shoot every room of the house with the same stunning look as that one hero image. I'll shut up, and let this gorgeous custom home, built by one of my best clients, do the talking - because it is way more interesting than I am!

Soak up the lake view, and morning sun in the formal living area.

Enjoy the breeze on this amazing patio!

The lower level wine room is to die for!

My favorite feature in a house - ever!

This beautiful kitchen is one of my favorites.

This is a home.

     

Even the lot is amazing!

  Texas, Oklahoma, Gulf Coast, Florida, and New England Architectural photographer

Jason Jones Architectural Photography

Custom Home by MJ Brown Distinctive Homes

It's not always the one you'd think it would be.

Real Estate Dusk / Twilight Image Overlooking Lakefront Lot

  In real estate photography there are some givens, and obvious choices. No matter what the property's condition is, or location, a front exterior elevation photo is needed for EVERY listing. This is the curb appeal that every buyer wants to see before they even inquire about a property.

  We also have the kitchen, the master bedroom, a family area, etc.. All the standard rooms that pretty much every house in America has. But as any top agent will tell you - you're also selling a lifestyle when you enter the luxury level market. That lifestyle can be many things, from a full floor media center, a 16 car underground garage for the collector, an indoor half court gym, (all of which I have seen more than once on shoots), or more commonly, the location.

  More often than not, your buyers are looking for properties in locations that suit their lifestyle. Taking a couple of hours to find some shots/angles that sell the lifestyle of the property along with the bricks and shingles that make the home are a guaranteed way to boost your listing's exposure and traffic. That boost equals SOLD. Ask your real estate or architectural photographer about dusk / twilight, as well as community and amenities shots for your next property. You'll be glad you did.

  Contact me to discuss your Real Estate, and Architectural photography needs.

Jason Jones Photography's contact information

Texas Architectural Photographer

FAA Drone Advisory Committee Formed

The FAA has formed a 35 member committee to establish standards for the industry. With safety as the priority, it should go without mentioning that this will benefit Drone Aerial Photographers and Videographers, by giving the FAA industry input.

While I normally frown upon more Government oversight and regulations in most endeavors, because historically it has smothered small business, I feel this is certainly a good thing, and a step in the right direction. As someone who shares airspace with drones from General Aviation and Light Sport aircraft, and vice versa, I welcome any and all safety and operating guidelines that allow for safe, and prosperous interaction of both.

Here is the AOPA article on the committee, and it is well worth the read:

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2016/september/20/drone-advisory-committee-kicks-off?utm_source=eBrief&utm_medium=Content

Dallas Aerial Photographer

Museum Tower Book of Artwork, Part 2

Slip/Strike by Nathan Green. 48x72", mixed media.

As promised in my previous post ( http://jasonjones-photo.blogspot.com/2016/08/museum-tower-dallas-book-of-art.html ), here are a few more selections from the book of artwork housed in Museum Tower. I opted not to cut pages out of one copy, because they will not fit on a standard office scanner anyway. The text and insets make the book for sure, but the images stand on their own as well in this context. Here is a selection of my favorite pieces - to shoot, and overall in the project.

Gray Area by Robert Levine. 72x72", oil on canvas.

White Wall by Brad Miller. 20x9 feet, in the main lobby.

Autumn Series Commission by Brock Enright. 40x40", Mirror, Metal & Fluorescent Lighting.

Untitled by Nic Nicosia. 21x32", Ink on watercolor paper

Dallas and Ft. Worth Architectural Photographer

Museum Tower Book of Artwork

Museum Tower, Dallas - Book of Art throughout common areas

  I think I can safely speak for most self employed creatives, who are not full time bloggers, or social media managers, that we are all behind on blogging... I am probably more behind than most, especially when it comes to tear sheets / published material. I have so much work published each year I could never post it all, and that's ok. Much of it is just corporate head shots, stock imagery, real estate listings and interiors that are nice, but not necessarily portfolio worthy. Not to discredit those things at all, as they make the world go around, and are critical to the success of any company engaged in business beyond selling flowers on the street corner of a trendy nightlife area on a Saturday night.

  I recently received my copies of a book I photographed. It is a project I am particularly proud of, that turned out VERY well. I was hired to photograph the artwork in all the common areas of Dallas' Museum Tower. A high profile, luxury residence tower that is adjacent to some of the best attractions in Dallas.  Klyde Warren Park, The Dallas Arts District, and the Dallas Museum of Art are all just feet away. The designers in charge of this project had tall shoes to fill, and they did so with the utmost class, and taste. 5 pages feature the images taken by another photographer showing the architecture of the tower when it was built, and the other 42 pages are solely my work, photographs of the art inside. I was excited to participate in this project, but seeing it in print, finalized, and bound, is amazing.

  I will apologize now for the mediocre iPhone photos. I mean, the cobbler's kids don't have shoes do they? I think the stand alone images from my hard drive are not as appealing for this post as are images in the context of the book, with copy and insets. So heres a couple of samples, and I promise to update with better images shortly.

Artwork inside Museum Tower, Dallas, TX.

Artwork displayed inside Museum Tower.

Texas Architectural and Interior Photographer

Park Cities is the place to be!

  If you are from, or live in Dallas, then you know why Highland Park, and University Park is the place to be! Preston Hollow has its benefits, but those are mostly behind tall fences, and gated entries. Park Cities residents know their neighbors, have block parties and raise children in one of the safest areas with the best schools in the country. It also offers some of the most diverse architecture in the area. On the same street you can find a mostly original late 20's home with period correct renovations that were completed as exquisitely as the brand new contemporary at the other end, to something ultra modern - and everything in between.

 Despite the differences, they all have ONE thing in common. Class. This area is for the discerning homeowner. No matter what your tastes, you will find it beautifully executed by some of the best builders, interior designers, and architects in the world. People who can afford anything, anywhere in the world call our humble Park Cities their home. And for good reason. It FEELS like home.

Bathroom talk...

I walk into so many houses that have a great entry way, stunning formal living/dining, and the kitchen is over the top.. But when you get further into the home, the master bedroom just isn't anything to write home about, and the bathroom is probably the last room to even get consideration when doing a remodel in stages.

So when I get the opportunity to walk into a stellar master bath, I always appreciate it. Its just like the old saying about the restaurant is only as clean as its bathrooms, so is the character of a house. A truly great designer will get the master bath up to the level of the rest of the house, just as if it were an area guests would be entertained in.  Who knows - maybe you do entertain in the master bath. Nothing wrong with that. However, I will eat my hors d'oeuvres in the newly remodeled kitchen this time..

Best of Houzz award for the second year in a row..

 2014 has been an amazing year! In fact I was so busy, things like regular blog posts fell to the wayside. However that work has paid off! I was extremely honored in 2014 to have been awarded the Best of Houzz for Design Photography AND Customer Service. I was even more honored to find out I had earned it for 2015 as well!

    Thank you so much to all of my clients and the hard work they put into their projects. It makes my job that much easier when I am surrounded by so many talented people.


Dallas and Ft. Worth Real Estate Photographer Houzz Profile

Texas Architectural Photographer

D Magazine - Real Estate special issue

On the shelves now - I had a great opportunity to photograph some of the DFW area's top Real Estate professionals for the latest special issue. Through my real estate, interior and architectural photography work I have worked with DFW's top pro's for many years, and wouldn't trade it for anything else.  I am always grateful for the amazing people I am so privileged to interact with, in front of the lens, and behind the scenes. Dallas / Ft. Worth is just overflowing with talented people in all walks of life. It's a great place to be a creative!

Go down to your local book store or grocer and grab a copy or 3 of this issue of D Magazine. It's a great read to pass the time, or  to find a Real Estate professional for your home buying / selling needs!

Jason

JasonJones-Photo.com