The James Douglas Studio

Persistence...

There are people who say that "the early bird gets the worm" or that "positive thoughts = positive results" and as true as those statements may be... there is nothing to me that counts more than persistence. I've had so many doors(well... metaphorical doors) slammed in my face so many times, it began to take its toll on me both emotionally and professionally. I began to doubt myself and my abilities to create great work. After a while I started to think that I wasn't going to be able to "make it" in this highly subjective and crowded business. After countless emails and office visits, always going back again and again... but never to the point of stalking or having security know me by name, except for one building that shall not be named... I was given a chance. And I believe that a chance is what 90% of all struggling photographers are looking for, just that one break that will make their career a reality. As much as I would like to tell you that it only takes one chance, one moment, one gig to create a career in this business, that is simply not the case.

I like to think of this business as a bit of a track meet, and more specifically the hurdles. Everyone is allowed a bit of space to get up to speed, and some are faster than others but you should always know that there will be a hurdle coming soon. Those who run too fast and didn't prepare will crash into that first hurdle and their race is over. Once you can see that first hurdle you should begin preparing yourself and when you get there you want to be sure you get over it cleanly/neatly and with a business card in hand. After you clear that first hurdle you have to immediately begin thinking about the next one or you won't have enough time to get ready. Its a long race and the good ones... the really really good ones are looking much further down the track than you are. They know that each hurdle as trivial and meaningless as it may seem has just as much a chance to trip them up as any other. Some artists seem to think that this race is a sprint and that it will be over shortly... but it isn't, and the only thing that is going to get you over all these hurdles is persistence.

And maybe a little air time...

- JD

This shot was taken with my Canon Mark IIDs 24-70mm at F11 and 1/500th of a second with nothing but good old fashion sunlight.

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Spydercam...

There are so many reasons I love living in NYC but one major one is because so much is happening all around you that you just have to keep your eye's open to see it. Down here in the financial district has been a recent hot spot for Hollywood film crews(Wall St 2, The Other Guys, The Adjustment Bureau to name a few), photographers, and even the occasional TV commercial. The latter just so happened to occur recently and it was an unusual shoot to say the least. The commercial was for Barclay and the camera system they were using was called Spydercam(same system they used to film the Spiderman movies). And it is exactly what you'd imagine, a camera on wires. I'd like to say that I was cool enough to have them contact me and use my expertise to shoot product photos but it just so happened that the camera system was flying right in front of my studio window. I went down to meet with the owner of the system Tim Drnec and informed him that his system was flying right past a professional photography studio and I'd be happy to shoot the system in action for him. He said sure... and repositioned the camera perfectly for me to shoot out my window and now the photos are being published in Britian's The Location Guide magazine. You never know who or what could be flying past your window in this city.

- JD

Check out behind the scenes here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOzVLXKSjsA

As always you guys can check out the WEBSITE here... www.JamesDouglasStudio.com

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Personal work...

I've found that even photography can become "work" in the sense that its routine and once you start and get really good at shooting one type of picture someone else wants you to do the same thing for them and before you know it... you're shooting wedding cakes for the rest of your life, not that there's anything wrong with that. But not only does this scare the living daylights outta me but there's an easy way you can avoid being pigeonholed all together.

Enter... Personal work

Personal work must be a major part of your photographic life and development. If I only shot things that other people wanted me to I'm pretty sure I'd go insane. Even though commercial work pays the bills it can't always let you grow and try out new things. That's why for as long as I can remember I would come up with my own projects and ideas and execute them on my own time. Being an advocate of personal work has allowed me to develop my current style and given me a much needed creative outlet for my overloaded brain. Its also what I feel can define the kind of photographer you really are, not necessarily what other people think you are but rather what kind of photographer YOU think you are. And who am I?? I think I'm just another guy with a camera who wants to shoot it all.

- JD

Here's a triptych from personal shoot that I recently did in the studio with friend and model Michelle Zieky... Shot with my Canon Mark IIDs 24-70mm using a simple ring flash.

As always you guys can check out the WEBSITE here... www.JamesDouglasStudio.com

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Lighting...

If you see a style of lighting that you like... you have to experiment with it... see what you can and can't mimic and once you get to a place where you think you have done what the artist has done... put your lil twist on it. Whether it's your subject, colors, little tweaks or however you create your own lighting solutions, the key is to keep playing and keep experimenting and eventually, hopefully people will start looking to your wok for inspiration.

Here's a shot that I recently did with a friend of mine that took me a good hour of prep and tweaking till I finally got it just right. I was going for a little ode to Annie Leibovitz when I started... going for that nostalgic look that she gets in a lot of her imagery but I wanted to put my own lil spin on it.

- JD

Shot in my NYC studio with a Canon Mark II Ds at 1/250 and f/16... three light setup in an over head "triangle" with medium Photoflex softboxes on each.

Email me any questions... James@JamesDouglasShields.com

As always you guys can check out the WEBSITE here... www.JamesDouglasStudio.com

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The Funemployed...

So with this cutthroat world of photography there is a lot of competition for original ideas, especially those that can be translated to a large audience of viewers and readers. I had one such experience working with TIME magazine and a project that I had dubbed "The Funemployed." Spoke with a photo editor there about the idea and she seemed to really be into it. I also went as far as to conduct the shoot on my own for them and hopefully they would print it or at least allow me to consult. The shoot went off without a hitch and the art was exactly what I had envisioned. I was told to hold onto the photos for the next issue, but when the next issue came... I saw that it was the exact idea that I had presented to TIME earlier in the year. At least i know that I can think on the same levels as the big guys... perhaps next time they'll give a young gun a shot before just stealing his idea, maybe.

- JD

Here are a few from the shoot...

As always you guys can check out the WEBSITE here... www.JamesDouglasStudio.com

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The Oakley Test...

Got a call from my agent saying that Oakley might be interested in me to shoot some of their winter lifestyle stuff. They hire guys to shoot all manner of winter activities from drinking PBRs around a bonfire to hucking cliffs in the Andes. But they also do this for every season and they were curious to see if I can do any summer stuff. So I called up a friend of mine Will Konczynin who I know to be quite the wakeboarder and we went on a little excursion this past weekend.

- JD

Here's a few from that.

As always you guys can check out the WEBSITE here... www.JamesDouglasStudio.com

Follow me on TWITTER here... www.twitter.com/TheJamesDouglas

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Shootin with Shields...

With the new studio in tow I've had a bunch of my friends and friends of friends contact me to help them with their photo needs... its been an incredible time having all of you guys come by so here's a couple of my favorites from the last few weeks.

- JD