4 Times When DIY iPhone Photos Simply Won’t Do

By Aimee Lyons

Everyone can be a photographer these days! It’s amazing how much power is packed into our phones and how that power allows us to capture so many moments.  

But no matter how skilled you are with selfie sticks and editing apps, however, there are still times when you need to put down the phone and hire an experienced professional photographer like Joe Chavis instead. Here are just a few times when going with a pro will be your best bet. 

Getting Top-Dollar Home Offers  

If the market and your home are both hot enough, you may be able to squeak by with DIY listing photos to show off your staging efforts, which, at the most fundamental level, includes removing personal photos and decor. Most listing agents also recommend deep cleaning, boosting curb appeal, and taking care of visible and major repair issues before any photos are taken.  

Tending to these tasks is essential when you are relying on virtual tours and showings to sell your home. But you also need to get potential buyers interested in your home before any showings can be scheduled. You want to really “wow” them so that they fall in love and are willing to make an incredible offer. This is why having professional listing photos is so important.  

Standing Out to Potential Employers  

First impressions matter when it comes to your career. If you land an interview with a dream employer, you may think that the interview is the first time they will see your face. But a whopping 70% of companies admit to screening candidates’ social media profiles before they even schedule an interview. In other words, your LinkedIn photo is worth more than you think it is.  

Unfortunately, a selfie may not always convey the right message. So if you want to take your career to the next level, think seriously about having professional headshots taken. If you’re in the New Braunfels area, Erin can work with you on professional images that will help you stand out in all the right ways. With packages starting at $250, it’s a worthwhile investment.  

Capturing Major Life Events  

You’re probably not surprised by this suggestion. After all, anyone who’s dreamed of having a wedding has also dreamed about what the pictures from that wedding will look like. There are moments during the big day you will never want to forget. What better way to ensure this than by hiring a professional photographer who will capture those memories for you?  

By the way, this is also the perfect time for a boudoir session. After all, most brides tend to look and feel their absolute best on their wedding day — not to mention that those steamy photos make for the perfect gift for your first anniversary — who said paper has to be boring? 

Remembering The Little Things in Life  

Little moments are precious, too. In fact, when you look back on your life, you may cherish the seemingly trivial moments with your friends and family the most. This is why so many families, couples, and friends love having professional photos taken together in various chapters of their lives. Lifestyle photography is all about capturing these everyday memories.  

Another perk: You can highlight memories with your own family photo wall. It’s such a personal and touching way to bring warmth to your home. Just remember to tuck those precious personal photos away if you plan on selling your home. Otherwise, put them on display to enjoy every day.  

Your phone is an amazing tool for taking everyday photos and selfies to share on social media. But when it comes to the moments and impressions that matter most, DIY is definitely not your best option. You could end up missing out on precious memories or you could be sending the wrong message. So invest in professional photos when it counts!  

Joe Chavis offers professional photoshoots where clients feel confident and comfortable. Schedule a consultation with Joe today. 

Photo Credit: Pexels

Corona Virus Hits Dallas

“This is not normal” is usually saved for a political argument regardless of what side you’re on. But times like these nothing seems normal anymore. Maybe that is a good thing in the sense that society needs a different direction. Usually out of great distress or trauma do things see changes unfortunately but part of me feels like things will get back to normal even after all of the loss society has suffered in the last month. It would be a shame if we returned to “normal” as we saw it in the past because it would completely negate all the horrible things many people have gone though and suffered to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. Humanity should come out the other side of this better, stronger, smarter. That’s the hope from one photographer though.

Everyone has a job in this pandemic event whether it be keeping other people alive in the hospital, keeping families safe by sheltering in place, keeping food coming in, or simply stocking the food. Or simply documenting society as it goes though this historic transition. As much as I can, and as safely as I can, my job is to document history where possible.

All of these pictures were taken right before shelter in place became an order in my city of Dallas. I waited until dusk or night as to limit my exposure to people. We were advised to keep 6 feet or more away from other people were we to venture out. Being night time made this much easier than during the day.

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Photography is Allowed to be Simple.

There’s been so many times I have been overwhelmed by taking a picture, getting the composure right, lighting, settings, location, post processing, and should I even share it?? I am thankful for this photo shoot I did a week ago. It was very simply and straightforward. I literally showed up with my A7 and just one lens. I chose a light friendly fast lens because I assumed it would be dark by the time we started walking around.

Ultimately, it was a photo walk set up for instagrammers, models, influencers, photographers, and artists. We just walked around Deep Ellum streets. We stopped and took pictures of the models who showed up against the backdrop of buildings, stairs and even on bikes. It was all very unplanned. But probably one of my favorite portrait or head shots I have taken happened by accident. I didn’t even have the right settings in the camera. At the end of the day I gained first hand knowledge of just how simple things are allowed to be.

Credit for this talented model goes to @reona.elaine on instagram. Follow her!!

Technical Details of Art

While I have always been interested in photography I never really sat down with it seriously until last year. I have read about the masters such as Ansel Adams and Henri Cartier-Bresson and wondered how they balanced the technical with the art. A good example of someone who doesn’t bother as much with the technical is Annie Leibovitz. She has self proclaimed to not be a technical photographer, she just sees what she would like to capture and makes it happen. I feel like I am quite the opposite.

The technical aspects of photography seem to come natural to me. I get how to create what I need to create but as far as the artistic side of things my left-brain comes up short pretty often. Take the example below. Technically, following the loose and fast rule of wildlife photography, if you capture the eye and the picture is in focus, you have yourself a good shot. Technically this photo is a good quality. But artistically, pretty uninteresting. The animal looks cute, the water looks clear, and the rocks are faded for a nice background. But not exactly something you’d put on a wall.

Though technically pretty accurate, it does not satisfy my want for an artistic look. Incorporating animals in shots and “making” pictures vs “taking” pictures is the goal I have to achieve. Though using animals artistically has been done ala David Yarrow I do have another “in”…Silly overhead lighting in restaurants!

Stock Photos

Continuing on the idea of keeping it simple, stupid, the most common or irrelevant things can become interesting if presented at the right time and in the right frame…in this case sometimes literally the right frame. Take this picture below for example. The most innocuous thing of locks on a fence but add a red light behind it and put it in a nice frame on the wall and it just might be interesting enough for someone to ask about. Blow it up really big on a wall and someone might ask if it’s a famous fence where everyone puts locks on it as the visit. Anything with a good story behind it can be interesting, even the simplest thing.

I always like to say that every object, no matter how irrelevant, has an interesting angle that could start a story.

Generic Stock Photos

I tend to over think pretty much everything. I have recently started to put some stock photos on Adobe Stock. I felt overwhelmed after looking at all the great photo examples by other people. I immediately dipped into my Africa pictures as I felt those could compete with what I was seeing. I over thought that it would take something special to be selected but eventually I realized it wasn’t amazing pictures of far away lands and uncommon animals, but very common and simple subjects that everyone tended to be submitting.

It was every day things, simple things, and even some boring things. But they all still captured my attention due to the simplicity of their composition and lighting. It doesn’t take much to create a picture that anyone can use. I tend to have this problem often. Keeping it simple is usually the best solution for stock photography. As much as I want to make a super interesting cool and dynamic image, keep it simple, stupid.

Elephants

Not sure what it is about Elephants but they’re so photogenic. Even if I have an “only ok” shot of an Elephant it’s still usually more interesting to me and others than a great shot of a bird. Could it be that they are more mysterious than birds? More intelligent? No matter what, elephants look damn good in black and white.

Children of the photos

I don’t know what it is about photographing young people but it seems to be easier than photographing adults. Maybe it’s the innocence involved or maybe kids are just so much damn cuter than adults and easy to make look good. It’ doesn’t seem to matter what the child is doing but capturing a good clear picture of it seems to be much more of a positive result than any other subject. The only comparison that I can make is some cute little dog or cat pic. Maybe adults just suck! Take this from an adult :)

The Statler

I’ve only recently come to hang around the Statler in Downtown Dallas. My first experience was the speakeasy below the street level “Bourbon and Banter”. The bar staff sure know how to flair a drink! Everything I had there was excellent! From the fresh ingredients to the unusual but charming garnishes, not to mention the cool atmosphere I’ll likely go back there any time I am in a speakeasy mood, or if friends suggest it.

Then I checked out the rooftop pool deck “Waterproof”. Again, drinks on point, bar staff was friendly and the atmosphere reminded guests of a time so long ago, but in a modern way. While the pool isn’t exactly for swimming laps, it does serve a great purpose for lounging which is the idea of Waterproof to begin with. Don’t even get me started on the great views to be had up there!

So far I was impressed with this place. What impressed me more is the history of the hotel. “The Scout” bar and grill was next on my to do list and again, didn’t disappoint! Bowling ally, pool tables, great happy hour, and even a nice music venue! Everything so far about this hotel is easy and fun. Hell, the hotel had even had a feature mention in “Mad Men”! It had only been opened…or reopened for a year due to a complete renovation. I’d encourage anyone visiting Dallas, or even if you live here already and haven’t been, check it out!

Lazy Sunday in Dallas

I’ve been meaning to start adding more to the blog and be more frequent about it. Work has been a bit hectic lately and I’ve been more focused on other things. A good example of that was getting some business cards made up for my photography situation. Now that task is done and work has settled a bit I might be back into the swing of things here.

Sunday is usually reserved for recovery day in our friend circle as we go pretty hard on Friday and Saturday. Lounging about and watching TV are favorite pastimes but this time, since I was in downtown Dallas at my girlfriends apartment, the opportunity to get out and walk the city was too good to pass up. Unfortunately I only had my Samsung S8 on my person when I found this cool sax man cowboy. The tunes alone were pretty slick and his getup was really well tailored to be in the park at that time. Just something about a cowboy playing the sax I suppose!

I ran this though a filter using the VSCO app and adjusted the lighting and temperature a little bit. The guy had a vintage feel so I tried to bring that environment into the photo.

Good times in Mexico

I have the unfortunate honor of having a birthday 3 days before Christmas. A friend of mine, Alex, has her birthday one week before mine. We are united on the anti-birthmus front as far as well wishes and presents go. In 2017 we decided since everyone is off doing holiday stuff we’re going to just go away some where and have a drunken ball! NYC it was for a few days. Celebrate our birthdays by going out of town as a protest to sharing our birthdays with a major religion.

Well this year it was a “go big or go to Mexico” kind of moment. So we did both. We gathered a group of friends up and set off on an adventure to Mexico for a handful of days. I don’t remember most of it but I have pictures proving I was having fun!

While there are a number of debaucherous images to choose from the trip, this one stands out the most. Not only does it not implicate anyone in anything, it sums up exactly what the coast of Mexico can offer. This particular beach is in Tulum, and I would recommend a trip there even if it’s just a half day like we did.

The favorite

I’ve been more serious about photography for about 6 months now and of all the pictures I have taken, this one stands alone as my all time favorite. It doesn’t need a narrative because it tells it’s own story. But here is the narrative:

About half way though the safari trip to Kenya we were winding the day down. It was about 6pm and night was fast approaching. One of our scouts spotted a cheetah far off in the distance with the naked eye, as the usually did, and we pursued in jeep to get a closer look. We inched closer to the spot in the bush where the cat was last spotted. Nothing.

We moved a bit down the path off the side of the hill and again the scout spotted movement toward a small pond. There she was, a beautiful cheetah female getting a drink. It was told to us that it’s a bit rare to see a cheetah drinking but we slowly followed her until she moved toward a mound. It was unlikely she was in the mood to hunt as night was approaching but still she seemed to be scoping out the area.

That is when I snapped the shot. I was about 20 to 30 feet away from her. I had gotten several of her before hand, some of her drinking, some of her on the mound looking else where but this one just made the cut so much better than all the others. I hope you all think so as well.

Bishop Arts District, Dallas, TX

Took a little stroll down Bishop Arts district a few weeks ago. It’s a nice little break from the typical Dallas neighborhoods you see such as Deep Ellum, Lower Greenville, and Uptown. It’s got an Asheville, NC...or Austin feel to it. I didn’t get a chance to take many pictures but there’s always next time!

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Shoutout!

I’ll give credit where credit is due! Shout out to my man Valentin (IG: @real_cpt_ferret) for the great idea of doing features! I’m not much on fluff for content and such but I can tell pretty good stories when it comes to my photos and people seem to be nice enough to pay attention long enough for me to finish the story. good on ya!

That Blue Hue?

I have a fondness for blue. I also have a fondness for black and white photography. I think it was the “Clarendon” filter in Instagram that gave me the idea to start turning down the temperature in so many pics. This technique seems to work the best on night time street shots. It just gives a gritty take on the noir feel to an image that black and white seems to stop short on. I have even tried to bump up the temperature to a warmer feel but it just feels western at that point.

We're live!

I’m official! From here on out new content will be added to this site, the Facebook page, and Instagram. These mediums aren’t meant to be different right now but until I can find a footing for Instagram and Facebook I will stick with being in sync.

On this site are mainly pictures from my most recent vacation to Kenya, a few days in London, and some pictures of events and people I have taken over the course of the summer in my own neighborhood of Dallas. As I run around more I’ll add more content and reviews to equipment and photography related things to this blog.

For now, Welcome!