There’s a crazy challenge some photographers inflict upon themselves called “365″. It’s a picture a day of anything for one year and can be of any subject or theme. It can be random life, like my friend Paul’s 365, or it can be quite specific and collaborative like this one on clouds.  I’ve long resisted doing this simply because it takes time and lugging out the camera gear every day seems like such a chore.  But a funny thing happened to me last week that has given me great motivation to do a 365. We had a baby.

I won’t fill up the blog here with a picture a day, but rather upload a collage every week or so. I hope to put up tips and behind the scenes info for folks to try out with their cameras at home. I’ll occasionally put away my expensive gear and demonstrate how to take pro photos with a $100 point and shoot. Check back and leave a comment on what you think!

While talking to Nathan and Daphna a few months before their wedding, it was obvious they wanted something more than to hire me as their wedding photographer. They wanted a friend first and made me feel like one, even inviting my wife and new born to join their sacred celebration. How sweet is that? These guys are precious people inside and out and it was an honor to capture their most special union.

p.s. They could not have picked a more serene location for their union last weekend. Who knew that just above the U.C. Berkeley campus lies a grove of beautiful redwoods, just across the street from the Botanical Gardens which made for endless portrait possibilities.

Had a blast doing a MYLIFE portrait session with Justin and Kelsey, both from Amador Valley High School. Justin is heading down south for college soon and Kelsey is entering her senior year in the fall. Good luck guys and thanks for the great time in Pleasanton!

We’ll be providing awesome school portraits for all East Bay high schools throughout the summer. It’s time to say no to the corny studio pictures and get your MYLIFE on already! The first 11 people to join the Facebook page will receive a free package upgrade — worth over $110!

Elena claimed her senior status (class of 2011) with a cool set of portraits from around Ruby Ridge in Pleasanton. We found all kinds of cool locations around the golf course and especially at the clubhouse where we found some protection from the wind that was causing significant hair issues. Elena’s MYLIFE website is up now too, a free full screen website that displays all the awesome pictures!

Mention “ELENA’S BLOG POST” when you book your own school portrat photoshoot and receive a $20 print credit!

“Dan Johanson, Welcome Home!” read the huge sign being held by a staff from Compassion International. After a long red-eye flight to Kenya, it was a comfort to have someone waiting for me. And to be welcomed as some kind of long-lost family member was a great feeling, though a bit strange too as I don’t believe I have any African heritage. Nonetheless, the people of Kenya are wonderfully warm and hospitable despite the widespread poverty that most continue to endure.

Working “on-loan” to Compassion was really a wonderful experience on so many levels. First, they are an organization that simply does no better job at demonstrating mercy and love to those born into poverty. With over a million children sponsored, Compassion is one of the bigger groups that provides weekly bible programs as well as meal programs, medical and educational resources. And if a sponsored child achieves certain academic scores, they even have a chance for a full university scholarship. My assignment in Kenya was to document a few of their scholarship recipients (see some profiles below) as well as their Child Survival Program in Tanzania – will post that later. Their stories are truly inspiring and a credit to the hard work of Compassion’s staff and the sponsors that enable the ministry.

Once a sponsored child graduates from high school, they have the opportunity to apply for the Leadership Development Program, which provides a full four-year scholarship to any university. These are some of the LDP students I spent time with at the University of Nairobi.

I was really touched to hear there was an effort last year to provide free portraits for low-income families. Being overseas, I couldn’t participate and now that we’re moving back to S.F. Bay Area next month, I thought I’d search online to see if anything was going on. Well I couldn’t find anything on google. Perhaps someone searching will find this blog and leave a comment. I’m so very willing to help out and if there’s already an organized effort, I’d like to join. If not, then perhaps we’ll have to start our own! Either way, leave a comment if you can help out and share this blog entry on facebook by dragging the image below (hover it and you’ll see). FB seems to magical powers to connect people for these sorts of efforts.

“love is the ultimate app” – david jay, photographer

With Kyrgyzstan in the headlines today, I remembered I had some photos of the last large scale protest when I lived there in 2006. Back then, the U.S. Embassy warden sent out a emergency warning not to go near the rally in the main square. Needless to say, I grabbed my camera and ran as fast as I could.

Hiking the Muir trail in 2007 was the hardest, longest hike I have ever done. My brother and I hiked the lower half, totaling about 100 miles, while while cousins Andy and Zac hiked the entire thing. Plus some side excursions, they totaled over 220 miles of hiking. Both Zac and I ended up hiking in our sandals because our boots caused red-hot blisters. There’s no easy exit off the trail either so we committed to finishing it with climbing Whitney on the last day. My brother Matt, the writer of the family, wrote an article on our trip for Sierra Heritage magazine which is set to publish the piece this summer (2010).

599 Blackhawk Club Drive
Danville, CA 94506-4522
(925) 736-6550
Get directions

Photographer’s Review

For the Bride/Groom: We really like Blackhawk as a wedding venue because it provides ample space to move and a good photographer shouldn’t be in anyones way at this place. Great service and the on-site coordinator is on every last detail. If you’d like a more techie review, please read on but don’t forget to check out our article on getting the most out of your wedding photographer.

Photographer’s review: This venue certainly is one of the more posh locals in the East Bay and works well for larger weddings. There is plenty of room to move around and the staff are very helpful and responsive to every need. The place is fancy and elegant, which is perfect if you like that sort of thing. It does not have the old, classic sort of feel. The ceremony area is usually set up so that the front is angled into a “V”, which makes it challenging for the photographer to get bride/groom faces. The angle that seems to work best is actually from behind and below the patio, near the shrubs. Then a telephoto can shoot up through the black iron railing to capture the bride reactions during the ceremony. The groom shot is tougher, since that same angle from the behind the patio would put you in the water. The ballroom is spacious but high ceilings won’t help much to bounce your flash. They have an in-house projector and screen but no digital video connectors for Mac (we bring our own).

One knows on the drive into the Blackhawk Country Club that they’re not in Kansas anymore. The treelined road approaching the club has by far the largest mansions we’ve ever seen and provide interesting possibilities for portraits. The entryways to any number of these homes could grace the cover of Sunset magazine.

Lighting notes: East Bay in the summer means there probably won’t be clouds. Prepare for harsh light and hot day during the summer. The reception ball room has high, wood/ white painted panelling.

Equipment
Body: Nikon D3, D200
Lenses: Nikon 12-24 2.8, 70-200 2.8, 16 2.8 fisheye, 85 1.4
Flash: Nikon SB900, 40″ umbrella
Pro-line projector & 60″ portable projection screen (not used since BH has in house projection)

Click here for pictures from our Blackhawk weddings

In the past few days, Hazel has entered the 3rd trimester. Now we haven’t actually done many photos of her thus far, so it was time to start catching up a bit. I took more than 100 photos but I’ll edit down to just a few for this blog entry. Oh, and a few of me as well. My wife is proving herself to be a worth photographer but of course she had a professional model to work with here.