Ian D. Jones Nature and Flower Photography: Blog

Ian's Amazing Photos Patreon details!

(Ian D. Jones Nature and Flower Photography) — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 21:59:11 GMT

Hello San Francisco Bay Area, California and the world!

For those of you who are considering joining my Patreon for my photography, I thought you ~~might, possibly~~ probably, definitely need something to whet your appetite. Below, you'll find several lo-res versions of some of my work - so, here's a (very small) sampling. These are all physically on sale at either the Alameda Art Association in Alameda, CA., Cafe Soleil in El Sobrante, CA., or both, with more Bay Area locations planned in the near future.

As you can see, they tend toward nature and animals, although that's changing: I have started to spread my wings and take photographs of people.

I hope that on the strength of the images in this little taster, you'll be interested enough in joining me on this journey.

Thanks!

--Ian

Mea culpa - you got me!

(Ian D. Jones Nature and Flower Photography) — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 21:36:05 GMT

Hello visitor!

The good news, as anyone who follows my Instagram can attest: I'm still here. I'm still taking photos, and in fact, I'm actually really happy with how my skills have improved. Since my last update, I've really learned a lot on my Nikon D750, and I can only go up from here.

The bad news -- due to life circumstances, it's been an embarrassingly long time since I have posted - photos, blog posts, ... well, anything - here, and I'll admit to some laziness. It seems I found myself sucked into just posting on Instagram and the contentment that posting there provides, and I thought about posting, but I kept procrastinating... which really goes against my motto of "always take the shot."

So! Priority shuffle time. I will be fixing that problem this week - starting today, in fact. Keep an eye out here for a lot of "new" images. Flowers, birds, nature, abstracts, all of it has been intended to be posted here, and it will be as soon as possible.

Also, today I learned that there has been a bigger problem with my website, particularly with the Store, which has, for all intents and purposes, been offline. I don't know how long it's been a problem, exactly, all I know is... it's been way too long. I had actually wondered why my greeting cards were selling at the Alameda Art Association gallery but not here ... I suppose that's why. Ahem.

I hope to have that problem sorted out soon as well.

In the meantime, I'm still hosting (and have recently passed my second anniversary as a member) at the gallery, located at 2242 Southshore Center in Alameda, California. We're open Wednesdays through Sundays from 12 noon to 5:30 p.m., and I'm typically there the first Saturday of each month. Be sure to come by if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, because the gallery hosts a lot of really awesome work.

Thanks for stopping by, and ... as I'm having to remind myself, "always take the shot!"
--Ian

general housekeeping

(Ian D. Jones Nature and Flower Photography) — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 18:50:20 GMT

Hi everyone!

If you're coming from my new Instagram, welcome!

It has been a busy month here at Ian's Amazing Photos. There's so much to do to keep this site going, it's almost a full time job.

Since winter's coming, flowers are going to be hibernating for a while, so the floral aspect of the site may be slower for a while - but that's a great thing for my abstract photography (so long as we get enough rain in California to do what I'm thinking!) I have a lot of hope that things will turn out well. If not, I have a backlog of my previously unreleased work that I ~~may~~ ...make that will release.

I have been toying with candid street photography. I was anxious about doing it because I thought "what if I get in legal trouble with the person I take a picture of?" I have been reassured that if there's no reasonable expectation of privacy, I'm in the clear. If it's in the person's house or apartment, well, then and only then would I have a problem. I'm excited to toy around with the genre.

Also, I was talking to a friend about why I haven't done much portraiture work - and what it came down to was "I really haven't had the opportunity to practice." Seriously lame excuse, but there it is. The bright side? Zoré (who is also a photographer) was enthusiastic about it, and she has talked me into practicing. I couldn't be more excited, either! Watch this space for news, and before too long, there may be a brand new gallery on the site.

Lastly, once I figure out the system, there will be sales on all current merchandise for the holidays. Again, watch this space!

Take care, everyone, and Americans: don't eat too much on Thanksgiving!

--Ian

I'm Returning to Instagram

(Ian D. Jones Nature and Flower Photography) — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 17:43:18 GMT

Just a quick announcement for today.

A few months ago, before I started this website, I still had Instagram. In theory. I never used it, because ironically, the pics I took on my phone often came out blurry, and I got discouraged and gave up. Then my account got hacked and started posting ... well, porn. I panicked and closed the account.

Then, a couple of things happened. My old camera didn't have wifi capability. My current one does. My website needs visitors, and what's a good way for a photographer to get online exposure? Instagram, duh. I can upload new pics virtually instantly, and advertise this site simultaneously. It was a no-brainer.

In short, I'm back on instagram. Follow me there @iansamazingphotos. It'll take a day or two for me to get something up there, but it's coming, don't worry.

Thanks for stopping by, and always take the shot!

--Ian

New shots coming

(Ian D. Jones Nature and Flower Photography) — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 18:56:05 GMT

Hi there!

Just a quick update for now, to get some thoughts out of my head.

Once I got settled in here at iansamazingphotos, I actually found myself fighting a bug, and it zapped my energy, as bugs are wont to do. Long story short: I'm on antibiotics, and will be fine. Being sick did slow down my output of new nature photos (go figure,) but the minute I started feeling better, I grabbed my camera ... and I've been going (flower) petal to the metal. Yes, I know, it's "pedal," but you know. I'm primarily a nature photographer, and there was a chance at a good pun.

My Miscellaneous gallery has long been ... not dormant, but sleepy. I'm aware it's something I need to work on. Thankfully, when I went out with my camera this week, I was inspired to take some more abstract shots, and even a few honeybee photos! These should be uploaded in the next few days, if all goes well.

It looks like I've figured out how I can best manage a tripod with my wheelchair. This will, after I get my photographic technique down, allow me to get pictures of people, and street scenes. It's going to take some time for me to work out the kinks, so don't expect it to be coming soon or anything. The funniest thing is, somehow I got it in my head that the tripod I had was broken. So I jumped when a friend offered one she no longer needed. I compared the two, and as it turns out, both work fine. One will suit my needs, so I'm trying to figure out what to do with the other one.

Anyway, I think that's all for now. Thanks for stopping by iansamazingphotos.com!

--Ian

Moving Day

(Ian D. Jones Nature and Flower Photography) — Sat, 24 Sep 2016 17:30:00 GMT

Hello, and welcome to my new photo site.

This is (so far) almost exactly the same as my old site, but my previous host wouldn't play nice with domains from the company I got IansAmazingPhotos.com from ... so I went searching for a better deal. My old site worked fine, but controlling the way the site looked was a little cumbersome. Lucky for me, I found Zenfolio.

I'd like to thank my previous host, (Smugmug), 1and1, and LaughingBooda.com, whose deals I considered in the past week. I had a lot to consider.

One major change returning visitors will note is something you're reading right now: An integrated blog! I think that it'll help me keep the site in mind, and not let it (or my photography) go stagnant for too long... So it's going to be good for my work ethic. There's also a guestbook, which is kind of a throwback to the late 1990s, but I thought "why not?"

Another major change: Lots of new merchandise available! Mugs! Buttons! Framed photos! You name it, it sounds like it's offered here. I'm now also available to offer coupons. That's super exciting to me.

One huge change: I've got a business email address: ian@iansamazingphotos.com. Gone are the days of using my personal email for business. (And if you know me personally, I just want to say "no, I won't be giving up that other email address.")

So anyway! I hope you enjoy the refresh, and bear with me for a while as I'm probably going to tweak things til they look right. There will be some dust in the air for a little while.

Questions? Comments? Send me a note through the link above!

--Ian