I'm thrilled to announce my prints and products are now available via Deck The Walls, The Great Frame Up, and the Framing and Art Centre, thanks to a new partnership with Fine Art America (my premium printer) and the three franchises!

Deck the Walls and The Great Frame Up have hundreds of retail stores located in malls and shopping centers throughout the United States, and the Framing & Art Centre is the largest framing franchise in Canada. Fine Art America has partnered with all three companies in order to power their e-commerce websites and in-store kiosks. The partnership enables all three franchises to sell my art as framed prints, canvas prints, greeting cards, throw pillows, and more.

I am thrilled to introduce my new licensing affiliation with Art Licensing International!  It's a pleasure to be in the company of such amazing artists.  You can read my introduction here and see all the work available for licensing in the gallery on their website.

Just a couple of updates:  We have discontinued artist signed paper prints, and have replaced them with artist signed canvas prints.  Prints are available in two sizes (small and large) for select images.  Retired images are not offered as signed prints, but are still available on our some of partner websites under "Buy Prints and Gifts" on our main menu.

We have discontinued offering greeting cards from this website.  Greeting cards may still be purchased via our artist website and from some of our other partner websites.

We have added duvet covers for select images via our artist website.

If you love throw pillows as much as we do, you're in luck!  Just added to the website last night under the "Buy Prints & Gifts" selection on the upper menu are fabulous throw pillows in a variety of sizes with my art for any image in any of the galleries on the website!  

Sizes available include:  14"x14", 16"x16", 18"x18", 20"x20", a whopping 26"x26", AND a nice lumbar support pillow at size 20"x14".

Choose the pillow size you desire, and then you can click on the pillow image to move the art around on the pillow and position it just the way you wish.  You can change orientation, also.  You can move the image size slider if you want to adjust the size of the final image on your pillows.  AND you can choose whether you want the pillow insert or not.  This choice is great, because if you already have throw pillows at home you simply want to recover, just measure your pillows and order the correct size without the insert.  The art is printed on both the front and back of the pillows, and there is a concealed zipper.  Simply unzip and stuff with the pillow you want to recover.  When it comes time to clean your pillow, unzip the case and toss it in the wash.

Pillows are made from 100% polyester fabric and add an artistic statement to any room.  Click here to see all of our throw pillows available!

A Bowl of Holiday Bounty

I've noticed every December, new things come about.  I guess it's because I have ideas of changes I'd like to make starting in the new year, but then I want to get going on those changes right away! Who says you need to wait until January? :)

One of my big new changes is I have just signed a contract with a new licensing agency for my work.  Yeah!  I look forward to many new opportunities with this company {who will be announced soon}!  

And there's a bit more news...I've had so many people ask me if they can buy my hand-painted chalk textures.  So I decided to start offering them for sale.  I've created a new blog on my other website just to highlight these textures.  You can visit The Daily Texture here, where I showcase a new texture each day and show examples of how I've used the texture.  If you want to skip the blog and go right to the gallery to purchase the textures, click here.

Of course being the holiday season, December is a time of lots of yummy goodies.  And then in January everyone goes on a diet and makes health changes.  I've been having some trouble with one of my knees this month, so I've decided to make my health changes now rather than wait until January.  After all, I chase hawks and eagles and deer around daily...so I have to be in good shape!

Here's hoping each and every one of you has a happy holiday season.  Blessings to you all!

InJoy,

Jai

"Blue is Beautiful"

Recently, I had someone tell me they didn't like birds {I know, can you imagine?} and they thought I should photograph more things.  Knowing this person, I'm assuming they meant "things", like people {babies, kids, families}.  But that's not where my passion lies.  And here's the way I see it -- when you spend time with what you're passionate about, you: smile more, laugh more, are kinder to those around you, and have a zest for life that makes you want to get out of bed in the morning jumping for joy.  When you spend the bulk of your time with something you're not passionate about, you:  dread getting up every day, snap at others, are tense a good bit of the time, and can't remember the last time you smiled.

Almost 2 years ago, I quit a part-time job I had which I was clearly not passionate about.  Leaving that job and its negative environment - I have to say - was the best decision I ever made.  I devoted myself to my own work full-time, and was thrilled at first.  As things progressed, I found myself sliding into the "doing what others say I should be doing" trap from time to time.  And I noticed something profound...when I spent time on those things which I was clearly not passionate about, I had those same feelings, attitude, and general demeanor I had just as if I were still working at that job I'd quit.  It wasn't until this year I realized just how important it is to focus on the things I'm passionate about within my field of work as well.

Photographing people is one of those things I'm just not passionate about.  I could do it -- I just don't want to.  Even if it means I could earn a better living by photographing people.  It's not what I want to do, and it leaves me with an "I don't like my job" feeling.  It didn't take me long to figure that out, and now I have no problem saying if it doesn't have fur or feathers, I'm not interested, but thanks.  I will happily refer them to someone I know who does "do people".  And I'll stick with my birds and animals, because they are something I'm truly passionate about.  :)

Another trap I fell into was thinking I had to spend my time doing many other things I'm not passionate about in relation to my work.  Having my work on a variety of websites is a good thing, but often you'll hear in order to be successful on those websites, you need to spend oodles of time working the systems of the various websites {specifically the liking/commenting/networking aspects} in order for your work to become popular enough to sell, and sell well.   I've spent 11 months now doing this on one specific website.  Not only am I not that passionate about it, but I find the reciprocation which is supposed to happen, doesn't happen much of the time.  

Somewhere along the line, there was a huge shift in the amount of time I spent on this compared to the amount of time I spent on producing new work.   I believe it was the fact I was spending 75% of my time doing these networking tasks, and only 25% of my time creating new work, that made me stop smiling.  Or maybe it was the fact 1/2 or more of the others participating didn't do their part which made me frown?  Let me tell you though, the real reason it's made me extra unhappy is the lack of increase in sales {in fact, on this website, sales have significantly decreased}.  The more I've done to network and share and like and comment {hoping to get the same in return, which I did sometimes, but nowhere near the amount I've put in}, the less my sales are from this particular website.  Therefore, I've made an executive decision {I'm the boss...I can do that!} to reverse my ratio of time.  I do not have to spend 75% of my time behind a desk doing what I consider administrative tasks.  What I do best is CREATE.  It's what I'm most passionate about.  Therefore, creating should take up 75% of my time.  Not the other way around.

I realize with every business, there are things one must do they don't really enjoy doing.  But those things don't have to take over, and they shouldn't be so overbearing that they take away from the joy of why you do what you do in the first place.  When they take over, the suck the passion out of the soul, and it's just not supposed to be that way.  

Speaking of something else I'm totally passionate about, I have something special to announce!  I'm spending more time painting my chalk textures, which up to this point, I've used exclusively in my own work.  I'd had so many requests from other artists and photographers for these textures, I've decided to offer them for sale to the public.  But that's not all...I've also decided to paint one new texture each and every day!  So I've started a new blog focused only on this project, and if you like these textures, you might be interested in visiting The Daily Texture.

I hope you, too, will spend more time with your passions in life and will find yourself smiling more each and every day!

InJoy,

Jai

Quiet At The PondThe pond on the cattle farm is quiet as the sun begins to rise. It's a little too cold for the usual early morning swim today. Maybe later, after it warms up.

Greeting the SunEvery morning, I'll be the first in the tree, as the morning sun rises, cheerfully greeting me.

First One OutIt's tempting to believe the first deer who comes out of the woods in the morning is the bravest and the boldest. But perhaps, she's just the hungriest.

Morning RunA morning run is good for the soul.

Just After SunriseI love the quiet time just after sunrise when no one else is up and the deer are happy to see me.

P.S.  Click on any of the photos to purchase prints and cards. Or Visit my gallery here for more print styles, greeting cards and phone cases.

Tennessee wildlife photographer Jai Johnson releases six new owl images in her growing collection of birds of prey art. Added this week are works featuring the Barred Owl, the Great Horned Owl, and a delightful Red Eastern Screech Owl. All of these owls were photographed in west Tennessee by the artist. Signed prints are available on the artist's website. See the entire owl collection here, where a variety of fine art print styles are available.

Win a Bald Eagle Coffee Mug! 

Love the beauty of the Bald Eagle? Want to start your day every morning with a hot cup of coffee and a vision of strength, perseverance and courage? Enter to win a Bald Eagle Coffee Mug featuring your favorite Bald Eagle Art by artistic photographer Jai Johnson!

Here's How To Enter:

Visit the Bald Eagle Art Gallery on JaiArt.Com and review the images in the gallery.

Leave one comment on each of your favorite image(s). For your entry to be valid, be sure to include your email when leaving your comments (email is only visible to our website staff). Each comment constitutes ONE (1) entry into the drawing. Only one comment per image, please. 

Deadline for entry is November 30, 2014.

On or about December 1, 2014, one (1) winner will be randomly chosen from all valid entries, and the winner will receive a coffee mug featuring one of their favorite bald eagle images! Winner will be contacted via email and asked for a mailing address at that time. Winner must respond to the email within three (3) days or an alternate winner will be chosen. Coffee mug will be shipped direct to the winner from Society6.Com.

Don't want to wait to see if you win? Shop Jai's store on Society6 now for a wide variety of art prints, mugs, tote bags, phone cases, home decor and other fun gifts.

Yesterday was a bad day.  To be quite honest, I felt just like the little duck in my picture "Ten Pelicans Minus One".  Small.  Insignificant.  Like I don't matter and why am I here.

And I did something I don't normally do.  I vented my frustrations on Facebook.  I felt sick about it right after, because I could feel my sales plummet.  After all, no one wants to buy from a negative person.  But here's a newsflash...just because people "appear" positive online doesn't mean they always are.  Everyone had bad days, and I had one.  And I have this bad habit of being brutally honest with the world.  So it may hurt my sales, but at least I'm true to myself.  I really do try, however, to keep my yucky thoughts to myself and just work through them alone.  After all, I don't want to spread negativity around the world.  I want my work to have a positive impact and touch those who may need it.  I want my work to bring the viewer to a place of peace and serenity, or to remind them of a fond memory.   The places I visit in nature and the birds and animals I spend most of my waking hours with are what keeps my sanity and makes me feel at peace and joyful.  That's the feeling I want to translate to the viewers.  But we all have bad days where the bad feelings just take over.

So I posted on Facebook.  And after I did, I went outside with the camera and didn't take one darn photo, but just breathed in the crisp fall air and listened to the birds sing.  To my surprise, when I came back and saw my Facebook comments (which I didn't really expect to get any!), I had received many inspiring and encouraging messages of support from some of my friends.  I re-read those messages this morning, and then I paired this underlying thought with my photograph:  No matter how small you may feel, you make a big difference in this world.  In a nutshell, that's what those who were kind and generous enough to comment said. 

Those people lifted me up, and gave to me a message I needed to hear at a time when I was having a really bad day.  They inspired and encouraged me.  And it's only fair I turn around and pass that inspiration onto the rest of the world.  After all, that's my goal...I want to bring beauty and peace and serenity and encouragement and inspiration to the world through what I do.  Thanks to the unfortunate experience of my bad day, I was reminded of my goal, and was able to get back on track.  :)

If you've been thinking about purchasing one of our large signed prints for your home or office and desire to see a sample of the work prior to making your investment in a signed piece, here's your chance.  We are now offering small size sample prints printed on the same fine art matte paper as our larger, signed prints.  The small size sample prints are now available for purchase on every image page (except for in our retired images category, where prints are no longer offered).  Small size sample prints correspond with the size of the original work and are available in sizes 8x10", 8x12", and 10"x10", depending on the size and orientation of the original.  All prints feature a 1" white border for matting and framing purposes.

Sample prints are unsigned, and are shipped direct to you from our studio printer.  They are priced at only $40 each (which includes shipping).  Not only do these small, sample prints provide you with a sneak peak at the quality and color of our larger, signed prints, but they make great gifts and are a perfect fit for those small spaces in your home or office!

Current Rates

We have very simple and concise licensing agreements.  Click on any license choice on any image to read the text of the agreement specific to the license.  If you would like to negotiate a different license other than what we've offered, please contact us with your proposal and be sure to include the title of the image you're interested in discussing.  Note: We are not seeking royalty-based licensing at this time.  We feel the set-fee license is simpler and eliminates excessive record keeping on everyone's part.  We do offer a discount when licensing five (5) or more images for Product Licensing at one time.  Please review any product licensing text to receive the discount code.

Licensing gives you the full resolution image to legally use for your intended purpose.  Use of our images without purchasing a license is prohibited.

Crated.Com offers prints, framed prints, and canvas prints in a variety of sizes for your home and office decor.  Above is a sampling shown from my galleries.  The site focuses on photography and my work fits in well.  I'm excited to be a part of this new community and hope you'll stop by and visit my galleries.

Someone asked me recently why some of my photos are presented with textures and some are not.  I realize presenting every photo with added textures would probably give me a definitive style, and it might help with sales.  However, I choose to let the photo decide whether a texture is appropriate or not.  Some photos call out for the addition of a texture, such as the Eastern Kingbird photo "Wishing" above.  The background behind the bird was non-existent.  White.  Blown out sky.  By adding one of my jeweled sky textures, I was able to give this little bird a beautiful background, create a mood, and give the photo more of a message to deliver rather than just a pretty bird on a branch.  

Now let's look at a different photo:

Angry SwallowOne Tree Swallow expresses his anger toward another on a wooden post alongside Lake Graham in Jackson, TN. Perhaps he didn't like what was being served for dinner?

This photo was already perfect in my opinion.  There is a mood present in this piece already, and the background is pleasant and unobtrusive.  By adding a texture, it may have taken away from the strong presence of the birds and what's going on in the scene.  I actually began the photo preparation with a texture, but it begged to be left alone.

AirOBatics - Tree SwallowsIt's just amazing to me the stunts these tiny birds perform in the air! I watched this pair at Lake Graham for hours. By the time I left, I was exhausted just from watching them.

This photo "AirOBatics", like the first photograph in this post, once again had a blown out white/gray sky behind the birds.  And truthfully, the shot was too dark overall.  While it's a good action shot, the detail in the birds wasn't as crisp as it needed to be due to the darkness of the original.  By adding this light gray texture, it purposefully softened the bird's features, yet still allowed the incredible action to be shown.  And it added some detail and interest to the plain boring background.

Other than being a little dark due to it being a gray October day, this photo "Pinson Mounds Eagle" was in pretty good shape.  It did ask for a little color, however, so I added a softened texture to add a touch of vibrant color into the clouds behind the eagle.

I wonder if other photographers allow their photos and subjects speak to them and say what should be done with the final photo?   Or am I the only one who has conversations with my photos? :)

Clouds Over the River Cove

Just a small announcement - the Christmas order deadline for this year is November 30, 2014.  All orders intended for Christmas gifts will be guaranteed to arrive before Christmas day when ordering by that date.  Orders received after that date may not be received in time for the holiday, so please make sure to order by November 30, 2014 if your signed prints are intended for holiday gifts!

Select Your Signed Prints From The Galleries Here

My favorite time of year is quickly approaching!  The fall season is knocking on the door here in West Tennessee.  To get in the mood and celebrate the arrival of autumn, I've been adding photos from last year.  Check out the Autumn Art Show for 2014 in this gallery dedicated to the beauty of this wonderful season.

Along with every new season comes change

I turned 50 last month.  Happy Birthday to me!  I figure -- if I'm lucky -- one half of my life is now over.  It's a milestone year...one of those pivotal moments where reflection on the past and pondering the future happen more strongly than they ever have before.  It's a time of deep thought.  For me, it's also a time of big decisions.  Decisions at age 50 are sort of like New Year's resolutions on steroids. :)

Upon reaching this milestone year, one of the decisions I've made is to enjoy life more.  And for me, enjoying life means being creative.  Which means spending time in nature and wildlife photographing the things I love.  Which means turning those photographs into splendid works of art for homes and offices around the world.  Which means interacting with people who love what I do and associating with other artists and photographers in this creative field.

It doesn't mean spending hours at the computer doing administrative work.   It doesn't mean Facebooking, pinning, tweeting, tumbling and stumbling every product with my art on it.  It doesn't mean spending hours in product design, placing every image on every product out there, and on every website.  All for very little reward.  Financially, yes, there are decent rewards.  But when my eyes are failing, my head hurts, and my back is filled with tension, those rewards seem very small.

All that being said, there's been some changes.  The first major change is we have decided to no longer offer a large variety of signed print sizes from the website.  It takes way too much time to set up, and keep it manageable and organized to justify the time spent, therefore we've opted to offer only one signed print size for each active image. Print size is dependent upon the size and orientation of the original image.  Pricing is the same for each image, and all pricing includes shipping.

Licensing options remain as is.  We offer both non-exclusive and exclusive.  And yes, they are on the expensive side, but considering the fact clients don't have to fool with reporting sales, paying numerous payments out every quarter for the time of the agreement, going back and forth on contracts, etc., we feel it's well worth it.  The licensing options offered save me and my staff time and save the client time.  And time is money.  Time is precious.  Time saved is worth a lot, especially these days when the world is churning by at a very fast pace.

The non-exclusive and exclusive licensing options are both the same with the exception that the exclusive is...well EXCLUSIVE.  This means the work is pulled from all sales outlets.  If a non-exclusive license is purchased first, the exclusive option is removed from that image and others can purchase non-exclusive rights to the same image.  Once an exclusive license for an image is purchased, the image is no longer available to anyone.  Licensees can do whatever they wish with the purchased images.  If they want to put the image on a line of greeting cards, no problem.  If they want to use the image for a book cover, they can.  If they want to produce and sell 10,000 prints in a mass retail market, that's fine.  If they want to put the image on every product imaginable and sell it everywhere, they can do that as well.  All for one low fee, no paperwork beyond the initial license purchase, no reporting requirements or check-writing.  

To make the licensing options more appealing to clients, we have decided to offer a 50% discount on our fees when (5) five or more images are selected for licensing.  After adding the chosen images to the cart and going through the first part of the checkout process, there is a coupon code box -- clients can enter the code LD50 in that box and the 50% discount will be applied.  Clients receive an email with download links.  Images can be downloaded individually, or if multiple images have been purchased, there is a link included to download all at once.

You can still purchase various print sizes and mediums (canvas, metal, acrylic, framed, etc) at the outlets listed under the BUY PRINTS button on the website menu at the top of this page.  If you want fun products and home decor with my art, check out our official licensee page on our corporate website - there's a whole list of choices there where my work is sold on various products which you may enjoy.

It's all about simplicity.  It's what I want at 50 and beyond.

InJoy,

Jai

Peacock Fine Art Prints

I had the pleasure recently of visiting our local safari park and photographing a group of beautiful peafowl.  Everywhere I turned, there was another of these gorgeous birds visible through my lens.  They seemed to gravitate to the camera, as if they wanted me to showcase their beauty to the world.  So that's exactly what I've tried to do through this amazing series.

Each original photo has been paired with one of my hand painted chalk textures to create these wonderful works of colorful bird art for your home and office.  The thumbnails are shown above, but you can get up close and personal views in the Peacock Collection Gallery here.

Also, this incredible collection has been paired with uplifting, inspirational and encouraging words and is available on a wide variety of gift items.  From sweet treats to jewelry, home decor, office accessories, bathroom decor and more, you can find everything presented on one web page here!

"Running to Papa"

It's official -- I've turned into a square.  Well, my ART has, at least. :)  You'll notice many of the newest art is being presented in square format, both here and in my galleries at Fine Art America. I feel this format better allows the viewer to focus on the artistic presentation.  A standard 2:3 ratio picture makes one think "photograph".  And my art is so much more than a photograph.  Yes, I utilize photography to begin the process.  But in the end, it's not just a photo - it's a combination of a photograph and hand painting to create a unique and unmistakable work of art.

I also find the square format easier to convert to the many products my art is offered on.  The square is cropped down to fit the product, and beginning with the square makes this process easier.  That being said, if you wish to purchase my art in a standard size, such as 8x10 or 16x20, just drop me a note with the piece you're interested in.  I'll be happy to adjust the image to suit your decor needs.  :)

InJoy,

Jai

On The Fence

Do you ever feel as if you're stuck on the fence?  You know those moments...the ones where you're clinging to the comfortableness and safety of one side, yet longing to experience what lies on the other side.  

I think this is something we all face from time to time -- unsure of whether to stay where we're used to being or whether to jump into something new.  Personally, I think it's wise to sit on the fence for a little while, and evaluate the options on both sides.  Sometimes it's a little scary to jump into the unknown.  Even with what's visible on the other side of the fence, there are always things which won't become clear until later.  I try to analyze the possible risks, but if I do too much thinking, I find myself sitting on the fence much too long.  Ultimately, there comes a time when I finally take a deep breath, lift my wings, and fly into new possibilities.  For it is in the discovery of the new and unknown, I find my creative soul thrives.

How about you?  Do you allow fear to push you back toward familiarity, or do you take a leap of faith and dive into the unknown?  Or do you sit on the fence indefinitely?

InJoy,

Jai 

The Bully - Tree SwallowsBullying...it creates a life filled with turmoil for everyone involved. And it makes me stop and wonder, why? With all the beautiful things life has to offer, why do some choose to behave this way? There's nothing beautiful about being a bully.


Send a message - buy the poster with words {contact me if you'd like it customized for your campaign}

The Bully

There's nothing beautiful about being a bully.  If those who are doing it could step outside of themselves for a moment and see the true picture of what their behavior looks like, they couldn't possibly be proud of it.  Life is hard enough as it is -- we should lift each other up in this world, not tear each other down.  Imagine how much more beautiful life would be if we all joined together and supported each other in this world we share.

Bullies, unfortunately, think the world is theirs and theirs alone.  In addition to the disrespect they have for their targets, they also have complete disrespect for the rest of the world.  They seem to think this world was created just for them, and they can do whatever they want as long as they yell louder and push harder.  They may assume their actions are only hurting the one they set out to attack -- they have no clue that it affects each and every one who witnesses their behavior.  And frankly, they may not care about that, because they think they're entitled to be however they want to be because this world is theirs and theirs alone.

There's always been bullying.  There's always been a bully in the school who picked on others and made a name for him or herself for being "tough".  But it's different now than it used to be.  We have a generation of entitled kids and adults who throw their hands up in the air and say "what the hell happened?"  And in reality, kids are simply modeling the behavior of those who have an influence on their life in some way or another.  When kids are influenced by adults who act like children themselves, or who are inspired by violence in films and on television, or who are the victims of other kids passing around the drugs they stole from mom or dad's medicine cabinet, it's no surprise.  When kids are given no guidance whatsoever in their early lives, it makes their life a prime breeding ground for bully behavior.

Just witnessing the bullying act of another can cause anger and stress.  Sure, you can walk away from it in some circumstances.  But sometimes it's shoved in your face, whether you want it there or not.  So what's the answer?  Is there a cure for this new disease so many adults and children seem to suffer from these days?  Is there a pill for it?  Or maybe, just maybe, the bully needs to be shown what their behavior looks like from an outsiders viewpoint and then asked, are you proud of that?  Does that make you feel good about who you are in this world?  Is that really how you want to spend your life?  With some, it probably wouldn't make any difference.  But even if it changed just one life, it would be worth it to try. 

Behind BarsIt's amazing to me, when having complete freedom in life, how sometimes one can feel trapped and imprisoned within that same life. Does this ever happen to you?


This is a rework of an older photo, taken in 2009. I've added a few textures to really focus on the cat's beautiful green eyes.

"Behind Bars"

It's amazing to me, when having complete freedom in life, how sometimes one can feel trapped and imprisoned within that same life. 

For many years, I've been selling my work in so many places.  And it's been quite successful.  It really was a wonderful thing how we could choose where to sell our work and how much to price it, as well as what medium to sell it in {prints, products, or both}.  But the tide seems to have turned in this past year for artists.  For me, there's been many unfulfilled promises by several companies.  In addition, there's been the "encouragement" to reduce royalties, pressure to constantly produce more, more, more, with veiled threats that if you don't comply, you'll be pushed into some pool of blackness somewhere, to never be seen again.  Top that off with continuous encouragement to push your work to everyone and all generations of their family and friends via social media channels.  Which of course is to benefit us, the artists.   But in reality, it's more for the benefit of the various online retailers, as they have so many links on the pages to draw customers away from our work we've just blasted all over the place.  Add to that, not being notified properly of sales, returns and payments which arrive late -- if at all.  And then, of course, there's the stolen work issue.

In the past few months, I've noticed I've been feeling like I'm behind bars with the way I'm doing things.  I feel trapped that I can't be who I am anymore.  I feel guilty if I don't comply with the "suggestions" from these companies, and then I feel angry when I do.  I feel as if I'm losing control of my works, and I have experienced trust issues.

I think it may be time for me to focus on some new creative works and truly put my heart and soul into those works.  That might mean I have one new work a day to offer, or it may mean I only have one a month.  I think it may be time for me to keep my newer works right here for a while.  That definitely will mean less computer time and administrative work for me, freeing me up to truly create the type of work others will love to have in their homes, instead of worrying about producing more, more, more and keeping up with constantly changing things on so many other websites.  Who knows -- maybe this will be a really good thing?  Maybe I'll start to feel free again.  But right now, I feel as if I'm behind bars in my own life.  And that has to change.

InJoy,

Jai

New:  Stock Photography For Sale

We've just added a new category to the website offering stock photos for sale.  We have three licensing options available:

1) Stock Photo Royalty-free Personal Use (small photo) - Allowed to use the purchased photograph for personal purposes only and not for profit.

2) Stock Photo Royalty-free Commercial Use (large photo) - A royalty-free right to use the purchased photograph for profit or otherwise.

3) Stock Photo Exclusive Royalty Free Commercial Use (large photo) - An exclusive royalty-free right to use the purchased photograph for any purpose, for profit or otherwise.

Which license do you choose?  It's based upon what you need the image for, as well as your budget for your project.  Here's some examples:

Customer #1 sees the image above and would love to have a small print of the photo to place in a frame on her desk.  She doesn't plan to sell the photo - she just wants to print it on her home printer and place it in a frame she has, because she loves the peacefulness of the scene.  This customer would choose license #1 - Stock Photo Royalty-free Personal Use (small photo).  After purchasing, she downloads the photo, prints it, frames it, and places it on her desk in her office.

Customer #2 sees the image above and thinks it would make a beautiful photo for her daughter's wedding program cover.  Being the wedding is a not-for profit event and is for her family use only, this customer would also choose license option #1.

Customer #3 sees the image above and decides it would look lovely for an upcoming event flyer she is creating.  The event is to advertise a walk for a medical cause.  Money is being raised by individual participants in the walk to donate to cancer research.  This is a non-profit event, therefore the license chosen would also be license #1.

Customer #4 is a business owner who loves this image and wants to place it on a brochure she is sending out to obtain new clients.  Being this is for a FOR-PROFIT business, this customer would choose license option #2 - Stock Photo Royalty-free Commercial Use (large photo).  She would receive the largest photo size of the image to pass on to her printer in order to have high quality brochures made for her business brochures.  This customer may also choose to print business cards with this same image to match her brochures, if she desires.

Customer #4 - second scenario:  Let's say this customer wants to be the only person allowed to use this image.  She doesn't want to purchase the image for her business cards and brochures, only to find out a month later, her competitor has purchased the same image.  If this is the case, to secure the image for her own use ONLY, customer #4 would then choose license option #3, which gives her exclusive rights to use the image.  Once she purchases the exclusive license option, this image is removed from all other licensing sales, and she is the only person authorized to use this image, in perpetuity.  

Customer #5 is a mass market retailer of photographic prints and posters.  This customer would like to use the image above to create posters from for an upcoming line of photographs of scenic pathways.  The customer wants to ensure his company is the only company with this image on the market, therefore he would choose license option #3, and obtain the large photo size for Stock Photo Exclusive Royalty Free Commercial Use.

Once an image has sold a non-exclusive license (license option #2), the exclusive image purchase option (license option #3) is removed.

Once an image has sold an exclusive license (license option #3), the non-exclusive option (license option #2) and the personal use option (license option #1) are no longer offered.

A purchaser of an exclusive image license basically obtains the option to do whatever they want with the image forever.  The photographer still owns the copyright and may display the image in her portfolio or in portfolio photo books featuring her own work (which may or may not be offered for sale), but the photographer removes all individual products and prints with the purchased image from the market and no longer sells the image in any format.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss a different licensing option to suit your needs more specifically, please contact us with the name/link of the photo you're interested in, and we will be happy to discuss other options.

Last Tuesday, April 1, 2014, my husband and I traveled to Shiloh to photograph the eagles.  We stayed all day and the sun was beginning to set.  From about 4 pm on, my husband was ready to go, but I insisted we stay.  My instinct kept telling me not to leave yet.  So...we stayed.  Just after 5 pm, while we waited to see if the eagles would bring in another fish for the baby, I saw this delightful little dog being walked near the nest area, and of course I had to get some shots of her.

As many of you, I'm working on a unique series of dog art for my new book "The Spirit of the Dog" to be released late this year.  I knew this little girl would be a perfect dog to include in the book, as she had "precious" written all over her!  Now...many of the dogs I photograph, the owners never know I've photographed them, due to the fact I'm using the same lens I use for the eagles.  The lens has a pretty long reach and I'm often very far away from the dogs when I snap their pictures.  I photograph a variety of dogs at Shiloh, and more often than not, never have a conversation with the owner.  In this case, however, I approached the ladies with the dog.  I was so drawn to this little black pup and I wanted to know more about her.

This little dog is a Yorkshire Terrier Poodle mix.  Her father was a black poodle, and her mother a Yorkie.  She was the only black puppy in the litter.  Just over a year old, it was obvious she was the light of her owner's life (and her owner's mother too!).  Lexi is her name, and she'd even been in her owner's recent wedding. I found her to be the sweetest little girl.  She came right up and greeted both my husband and I, licking our fingers when we held out or hands to introduce ourselves.  Her owner got her to pose nicely for me and also asked if I could email her a photo when I got home, which of course, I did right away.

Little did any of us know, these would be the last pictures ever made of sweet little Lexi.  Just three days after I made Lexi's photos, there was a tragic accident and little Lexi was hit by a car.  She didn't survive.  Her entire family is devastated.  

Remember, I said my instinct told me to continue to stay at the park that day.  Now I believe I was supposed to be there, at that time, to capture these images of precious Lexi for her family.  I never did get any more good eagle photos that day -- but by staying, I got to experience the pure joy of meeting this darling little dog and her family members who were obviously so in love with her.  I've completed her picture for The Spirit of the Dog series, and it is appropriately titled "Little Angel".  RIP little Lexi...thank you for the light you've brought to our world.

To get the painterly look with my photos, I use a variety of textures.  To use textures, you need to learn a few things in whichever software you choose to work with.  You need to learn how to add a texture as a layer on top of your original photo, how to scale that texture to be the same size as the photo beneath it, how to change the opacity and/or blending mode of your texture layer, and how to mask away texture from the photo.  It doesn't matter what software you choose to use, but it has to be capable of doing those four basic tasks: layering, scaling, changing opacity/blending modes, and masking.

Note:  Notice I said masking.  It's like erasing, but it's not erasing.  With masking, you get a lot more precision on what you are taking away, and you also have the option to add back the texture if you don't like the way things look after you've removed it.  With simple erasing, you don't get that option.  Which is why you must learn how to create a mask in your software of choice.  Trust me -- I tried the erasing, and masking is so much better! 

Adding a texture (and multiple textures after you get adventurous!) over a photo can give your photo a whole new look, often painterly in mood and style.  Below is an example.  The original photograph straight from my camera is shown on the left, and the finished photo after adding my Opal Jeweled Sky Texture from my Jeweled Skies Texture Collection is on the right.  {These sky textures can be purchased for only $2 each and they are wonderful for adding a beautiful sky and dramatic painterly look to your photos.}  This photo, Fall Day In The Country, had some basic lighting/contrast/sharpness adjustments made in Paint Shop Pro, and then I took the adjusted photo into my Topaz Software Suite to layer the texture on top of the photo. I changed the blending mode to multiply and masked the texture away from the part of the image I didn't want it, which was on the field area and cows.  I left a little of the texture present around the sides and bottom edges, however, to give a vignette effect to the finished work.  See below for more information on software and for some great tutorial links for beginners.

Examples - click to see larger

I'm often asked what software I use.  Most people use Photoshop.  I am not a Photoshop person. :)  I use Paint Shop Pro, and just recently I purchased the entire suite of Topaz Software.  I am finding while I still mostly use Paint Shop Pro for basic adjustments, cropping, and resizing, I am using the Topaz Software more and more for the addition of the textures.  Topaz has an excellent masking tool, which I find to be more precise and versatile than the Paint Shop Pro masking tool, plus it's much easier in Topaz to learn and do masking functions.  Also Topaz has so many ways you can change the overall look and tone of a photo, I find it has really sparked my creativity.  The Denoise part of the software suite is very good.  In fact, I was only going to buy the specific module for the Denoise work, but after I downloaded their free trial of everything they offer in one package, I decided to purchase the whole kit and caboodle -- and in my opinion, it's my best money spent so far {other than for my cameras and lenses!}.  You can download a 30 day free trial of everything at Topaz Labs to try it out -- and I also found their YouTube Video Channel very helpful!

Here's a few links of beginner tutorials I've found very helpful in learning how to specifically work with textures:

Quick Start Texture Tutorial by Leslie of French Kiss Textures (Leslie uses Photoshop, and she explains masking in this tutorial.  I read her instructions and learned how to work with masking in Paint Shop Pro thanks to the simple instructions and explanations in this tutorial)

Painted Textures Video Tutorial By Melissa Gallo of PaintedTextures.Com

Creating A Watercolor Painting Using Textures by Melissa Gallo

Editing An Image With Painted Textures by Melissa Gallo

Examples-click to see larger

So where do you get textures to use with your photos?  Well, a search on the internet will turn up thousands of free textures you can download from various locations and play with.  Some of the free textures are great, but some of the free textures offered are too small for my liking and not as crisp/clear as I'd like.  So I created a set of high quality free textures in a variety of colors for you to try.  These are high resolution, large size textures.  It might appear as if there are two of each...BUT the second one of each color has a stone wall texture rather than the fine canvas of the first one.  I've made both available, as some people prefer light textures while others prefer heavier ones.  

The example eagle photo shown above features the free Antiqued Brown Painted Canvas Texture.  I used the texture at full strength without changing the blending mode or opacity in order to create a solid canvas background for my eagle.  I also added a vignette using the Topaz Software, and I made some lighting adjustments in Paint Shop Pro to bring out the colors of the eagle better.

As mentioned above, I also have the Jeweled Sky Textures available for purchase on the website here.  Here's a blog post which shows a few example photos processed with the Jeweled Sky Texture Collection.

One of my absolutely all-time favorite places to purchase textures from is French Kiss Collections.  Leslie Nicole is a wonderful artist living in France who offers a fabulous collection of high quality hand-painted textures at great prices.  She also offers lots of other fun goodies, such as overlays, frames and more.  I have been purchasing from Leslie for a couple of years now, and I assure you, you can't go wrong here!

Another place I've recently purchased high quality art textures is from 2 Lil' Owls Studio.  Although I haven't used these too much in my work yet, I've been playing with them and believe they are going to be very useful for some upcoming projects.

There are many, many other texture sources out there.  Just let me warn you ahead of time, it's very fun and addictive!  A word of advice:  start a folder on your computer to save textures into, and when you download free or purchased textures, put them in their own folders within your main folder.  This will keep you somewhat organized, so when you go looking for a specific texture for your project, you won't waste art time hunting down a file. :)

I hope you find this helpful!

InJoy,

Jai

"Placid Moment"

My husband and I took two trips to Shiloh this past week to photograph the nesting pair of eagles.  Shiloh is about an hour drive for us, and it's a beautiful drive, filled with interesting things to take photos of along the way.  I'm the queen of 65 MPH shots, grabbing pictures along the way...barns, fences, fields, and even some animals.  My newest thing is yelling out "STOP" as I see something I "need" to photograph, and my driver {my husband :) } is getting quite adept at coming from 65 MPH down to a full stop in a matter of yards.  Because he knows if he doesn't stop then, I'll make him turn around down the road and go back.

We pass this little pond in Chester County along the way.  It's on an industrial site {tractors, trucks and equipment sales} so I've never really given it much thought, as the setting overall isn't that spectacular.  But on the way to Shiloh on day #2 this week, I noticed something...a little blue boat.  The sun had just risen and the fog had lifted when I spotted that small pop of turquoise blue color.  We were on the wrong side of the highway at this point, but I decided right then and there, what time of day we needed to come back by the pond on the way home in order to get the sun setting over this small body of water, and to be able to capture my little blue boat on the camera.

The little blue boat was embedded into my thoughts all day while I watched the eagles.  It never once left my mind.  And my husband was actually able to get me to leave Shiloh on time {for once!} because I knew I wanted to get that little blue boat in the right light.

We arrived at the exact moment we needed to...the little blue boat was still in the same place, and the sun was right where it needed to be to cast its glow over the boat.  I first took pictures with the telephoto, and got some great close up shots of the boat.  But that wasn't the image I wanted to portray for this art.  I wanted to show more of the entire pond, so my viewers could get the sense of peacefulness I felt while experiencing this country scene.  So I pulled out my camera with my smaller lens.  It wasn't until after I reached home and opened this up on the computer that I saw the lone goose off to the right of the boat, which adds a nice touch to the overall scene.

We've been by this pond many times over the past year, but this was the first time I'd seen a boat on it.  I'm not sure if it's always been there.  Perhaps it was and the light just happened to be right on this day for me to notice.  Or maybe it's a new addition.  I just knew I had to have this treasure, captured forever, as a beautiful, peaceful moment in time.

InJoy,

Jai

"Last Flight of the Day"

It was a warm day.  Almost 70 degrees in winter here in Jackson, Tennessee.  I had a client who wanted shots related to ducks, wildlife, nature scenes, with ducks being the main focus of the request.  And I realized, I didn't have very many ducks in my portfolio.  It's not that I don't see them and photograph them -- it's just that I have been so busy chasing songbirds and eagles, I didn't really give much thought to ducks.  

Since I had this request, I decided I needed to add more ducks to my line up.  I wanted to shoot some with my new camera for this presentation, so my husband and I headed down to our local fairgrounds on this warm day...knowing we could find a variety of ducks on the lake there.  And we did.  We found a small group of ducks as well as some geese.  After photographing them, we decided to explore the fairgrounds area a little more fully.  There's a small walking bridge which extends over a creek.  Much to our surprise, beyond that creek was not just a small field, but yet another lake.  Sitting on the far side of the lake on a tree stump in the sun was a regal Blue Heron.

I shot a few pictures of him from where we stood, but the lake was large and the bird was too small in my frame for my liking.  Gazing around the perimeter of the lake, I realized there was a beaten down path which appeared to end at the lake right about where the heron was perched.  So off we went, to stroll on this path in an effort to sneak up on the heron.

The flaw with this plan was we were coming up on the heron from behind.  Unfortunately, he spotted me before I could get a shot of him, and off he flew, to the complete opposite side of the lake.  Sigh.  Another opportunity lost.  Or was it?

As we walked back the way we'd come from, I kept my eye on the bird.  We went back to the lake's edge where we'd started off.  Studying the ground around the side of the lake the bird now stood, it appeared there was also a beaten down path there, at least part of the way.  My husband told me to stay there, and he would walk around that side of the lake toward the heron, in an effort to get him to fly back to the first spot.  Which would give me a fantastic view of him in flight.

Through my lens, I watched the bird.  And the bird intently watched my husband.  But the path only went so far and my husband couldn't get close enough to him.  He returned to the spot where I stood and we discussed the next plan.  I explained where the heron was sitting now was shaded.  Originally, he was sitting enjoying the warmth of the sun.  I felt he would want to fly back there, to the place he was at before we disturbed him.  So we decided to just wait.  And wait we did.  About 15 minutes went by as I studied the bird through the lens.

And then I saw a hint of movement.  I told my husband, "he's going to fly".  And fly he did!  Parallel to me, right through a flock of geese and right along the shoreline.  At some point he moved away from the shoreline and flew more towards the middle of the water, directly in front of me, before he finally landed in a section of water plant life bathed in sunlight, yet out of my clear sight line.   

My husband told me those shots should be worth the whole trip.  And they definitely are. :)

InJoy,

Jai

Hello everyone!  I've been testing my jeweled sky textures for several months now and I decided it's time to offer them up for to use to enhance your photography and design work.  There are 14 glorious colors in this texture collection!  I have them up for sale singly, because I know some of you only like warm colors or cool colors, so there's no sense in buying something you won't use.  Each texture is a hi-resolution 6000x4000 JPG file and they are $2 each. You have to add them to the cart individually from the gallery, but if you purchase more than one, you'll have an option in your download email to download them one at a time or all together as a zip file.  Download links arrive in the email you receive after purchasing, so be sure to check your email.  I have a special going on now {til February 28, 2014} and if you order all 14 textures, you can receive $8 off your total by entering code 8OFFSKY in the coupon code box on the last page of the checkout process.  Be sure to click on APPLY after you enter the code before you enter your credit card or paypal information.

Here's some example photos of where three of these textures were used.  This first photo is an original picture, with no editing or texture:

And here is the photo after adding the texture TOPAZ Jeweled Sky:

This next photo used APATITE Jeweled Sky Texture:

Sky textures aren't just for landscape scenes!  Here's a floral photo processed using the EMERALD Jeweled Sky Texture:

Joined - FloralTwo purple Hibiscus flowers are joined together in this romantic floral art.

I hope you enjoy these!  

InJoy,

Jai

American Kestrel in Autumn

I love it when my husband and I take random drives in the country just to see what I can find to photograph.  A recent trip took us down to Henderson, Tennessee, where I used to live.  It's about a 20 minute drive from Jackson, Tennessee, where I live now.  I love Henderson - always have.  The people are nice, the scenery is gorgeous, and the living, peaceful.

We chose to explore a new road to me.  And down this lovely road filled with delicious farm country animals and scenes, I spotted this gorgeous small hawk on a wire.  This was one of my "stop the truck and back up!" moments I frequently have {the husband just loves those :) }.  So this beautiful little bird just sits there, posing on the wire for me, while I'm maneuvering my honkin' big lens out the window.  With half of me going out the window along with the camera, I'm able to capture some nice shots of this bird.  In the meantime, the black angus cattle in a nearby field probably got an eyeful of me!

At the time of the photos, I didn't know for sure what species of bird this was - I was thrilled to discover it was an American Kestrel.  I love this description of the bird on the AllAboutBirds.Org website:  "North America’s littlest falcon, the American Kestrel packs a predator’s fierce intensity into its small body."  {kind of reminds me of myself}

This is the first -- and only -- Kestrel I've seen in person.  I had to enlarge my original photo of the bird to position it as I wanted for this art.  Then I had to hand paint a layer of detail for the head and tail feathers in order to truly do the Kestrel justice for this picture.

This completed picture is starting off 2014 in a great way, as far as I'm concerned.  One of my goals in 2014 is to bring the beautiful birds I photograph into a more fabulous light artistically, and I'm pleased with this one.  "American Kestrel in Autumn" is a superb art choice for anyone who loves birds and wildlife.  I can assure you, this print will be hanging on my office wall as soon as possible!

InJoy,

Jai

Sparrow Braving the Cold - Winter BirdsA Sparrow sits on an icy branch on a cold winter day.

Female Cardinal Braving the Cold - Winter BirdsA female Cardinal sits on an icy branch on a cold winter day.

Bluebird Braving the Cold - Winter BirdsA Bluebird sits on an icy branch on a cold winter day.

Male Cardinal Braving the Cold - BirdsA male Cardinal sits on an icy branch on a cold winter day.

"Braving the Cold"

A series of four songbirds in winter images

{click on the images to see them larger}

With winter upon us, I thought I'd take a moment to honor some of my feathered friends.  In this series, I've created four images of my birds on ice.  The first is a delightful little Sparrow, the second, a female Cardinal, the third, a beautiful Bluebird, and fourth, the always vibrant male Cardinal.

You'll see a lot more songbirds and small birds from me in 2014.  I have a collection of over 10,000 photographs I've taken over the past four years, and I'll be working with many of them during the upcoming year.  It's truly a joyful process for me...not just photographing them, but to work to turn their photos into art for your home and office is a process I absolutely love.

Each purchase of a print from my website enables me to feed my little friends, and to continue to bring you their beauty year round.

InJoy,

Jai

One and Only

Sometimes a photo is more than just a pretty picture.  As it decorates your wall, it also has something important to share.  This is one of those photos.

When I was growing up, I found myself always under constant pressure to be like everyone else.  To fit in.  To be part of a group.  Peer pressure in school was tremendous.  If I didn't dress like everyone else, do like everyone else, and totally conform my ways, emotions, and thoughts to everyone else in a group, I didn't fit in.  The message was constantly delivered:  I'm not okay the way I am.

It took me half my life to figure out that was a big, fat lie.  

I'll be honest here...stepping out of the groups and the cliques wasn't easy.  It was difficult to show my true self in situations and life decisions and then be shunned for it.  It hurt to be tossed away from various associations because I didn't conform.  Losing friends because I didn't fit their vision of "perfect" was no fun.  Being belittled when I stopped doing things everyone else thought I should do, and instead put my focus on what was truly in my heart and what I passionately loved was tough.  Experiencing criticism from those who weren't living my life was disheartening.

For years I just dealt with it all, and soaked up the negative messages I received.  They became a part of me.  Eventually I couldn't even stand myself anymore, not to mention I was in a whirlwind of constantly changing to suit everyone else and be "accepted".

I don't know exactly when the turning point was for me.  It was gradual, over a period of years.  I think it began when I realized the only reason I had some of the relationships I had in my life was because I was the one pursuing them.  And I asked myself -- why are you trying so hard to be in these relationships, situations and circumstances which make you downright miserable? 

One at a time, I began to cull out some of those relationships.  Soon I realized, my world didn't end!  The more and more I moved away from what everyone else thought I should do and who everyone else thought I should be, I found myself feeling happier and happier each day!

And one day, I woke up and realized, I'm just a little person in a great big world.  But I am the only ME.  I am unique and special, I have talents no one else has, and I have some things I can give to the world which are truly original.  

Photography and my camera have really helped me to realize this over the past few years.  Each photo I've taken is the only one of its kind.  Even though others might photograph the same scene or the same situation or event, no one else will capture exactly what I've captured in that one second click of the shutter.  Angles will be different, equipment is different, and each photographer sees something different.  In a sea of hundreds of thousands of photos, each one taken is completely unique.  Kind of like each of us in the sea of humanity.  

So I say to you today - You are unique. You are special. There is one and only you in this world. Stand tall. Share your true colors. Be free to shine in the light of yourself. Just be you...because you're perfect just the way you are.

InJoy,

Jai

Yeah!  For those of you who asked about purchasing my art on Amazon with your Amazon gift certificates, now you can!  Via the Imagekind store on Amazon, you can choose from a variety of my art prints.  Check it out here.

The Old Cotton Barn

Every photo has a story.  Whether the story comes from your interpretation of the scene, or the photographer's, there is something about each and every one which makes it special and unique.

This particular scene is a truly a frozen moment in time.  One of those moments where the scene is just a mere glimpse, and the mind may register it and think, wow, that was a nice view.  This scene was photographed from a moving vehicle going 65 mph down the highway.  There was no warning it was coming...no view in the distance of the upcoming field and barn.  On the way to Shiloh, TN last week, we passed by a row of trees and brush and like magic, this wonderful scene appeared.  I managed to get one shot as we flew by it.  It was gone in an instant.  And I just knew since I only got one shot, the photo would stink.

Much to my surprise, this one second moment in time was recorded in amazing beauty.  To be honest, I didn't even know the barn was there until AFTER I'd pressed the shutter and I looked back over my shoulder.  

This is just one of the beautiful landscapes you'll see when driving through my part of the country.  Many of them are passed by each day by thousands who never truly see what they're traveling by.  I often shoot photos from the car {while my husband drives, of course} in an effort to capture fleeting moments and pleasant views which are often overlooked.  This one, however, was a true surprise. One shot at 65 mph has been recorded in an instant and is now ready to hang on your wall for a lifetime - amazing!

InJoy,

Jai

When the remodeling on Barbara's new reading room was completed, she was thrilled.  The ceilings were painted a beautiful shade of white to contrast with the natural dark beams, new dark hardwood floors replaced outdated green carpet, and the paneled walls were drywalled, then painted a creamy shade of neutral gray.  She kept the antique sofa console she'd inherited from her mother, refinished her worn out coffee table with a darker stain, added a neutral white rug, two cream colored sofas, some modern metal accessories, and finished it off with floor to ceiling drapes.  The old sliding patio door was replaced with a new set of french doors to bring nature right indoors.  All in all, it's now a perfect reading retreat for this nature inspired book lover.

Except for one thing:  the plain gray wall above the old fireplace.  

A television on the wall is out of the question.  Barbara wanted this to be a peaceful retreat for her to spend time away from the noise and hustle bustle of the world.  And while she loves the new earth tone, natural colors in the room, she felt as if she wanted a bit of color.  But she still wanted to keep it nature inspired.  She wanted to bring the outdoors in, so on those days when she can't sit with the french doors wide open, she'd still feel as if she were in the middle of nature.

Enter:  Autumn Forest 3, a beautiful autumn path to take Barbara exactly where she wants to go -- straight into nature.

The canvas print in size 30"x40" is the perfect accessory for this plain gray wall.  The color of the path blends perfectly with Barbara's new sofas, and the color in the trees offers a direct continuation from the accessory branches housed in the modern gray vase on the antique console.  And Autumn Forest 3 has just the right amount of added color Barbara was looking for in her new reading room.  Not too much -- not too little.  Now Barbara can enjoy a journey into nature no matter what the weather is doing outdoors.  Any time of day or night, she can mentally take a walk in the woods and find a spot to enjoy her favorite book.

Problem solved.  

Purchase Autumn Forest 3 here.

Just in time for Christmas, we've added these fabulous new art mugs to the website!  These 11 ounce, full image, porcelain mugs make fabulous gifts for anyone!  Pick a favorite scene or your favorite bird, animal or flower from our gallery here.  You can preview and configure your mug to look exactly how you want, too!  Read our tutorial on how to preview and configure our gift items here.  

And because we're already feeling the holiday spirit here at JaiArt.Com, we're going to give away an art mug just in time for the holidays!  Register on our website to be eligible to win an art mug for yourself or a friend.  We will notify the winner of the free art mug on December 1, 2013, and you will be able to choose your favorite image for your mug and have it in your hands before Christmas day!

InJoy,

Jai Johnson & The Entire Staff at JaiArt.Com

No purchase necessary to be eligible to win a free mug.  Registration is required.  Anyone purchasing a mug or any other products from our website will be automatically included in the drawing for the free mug.

Albino Squirrel

Meet my new friend:  Lucky the Albino Squirrel.   Word has it if you see a white squirrel -- and even better yet, if you spot an albino squirrel -- you'll receive some good luck.  And I have to say, it's absolutely true.  The first day we saw Lucky, we had two great pieces of good luck come our way!  Ever since then, the good luck has just kept on rolling in.  So I've created this beautiful portrait of Lucky in order that you, too, will be able to add him to your spaces and bring some good luck into your life.  

I've had a few people want to argue with me and say he's not an albino squirrel.  In some of his candid shots I've shared on Facebook, his eyes look dark.  As you can tell, they aren't.  They may look darker in certain shots due to lighting and the distance he is away from the camera.  Keep in mind, many shots of Lucky are taken with him 10-20 feet or so off the ground.  Yes, I use a large telephoto lens, but it doesn't work miracles and pull in a close up of the eye of a small squirrel at such a distance. :)

Lucky's eyes are BLUE with a RED center.  According to this website, "In another mutation, one in the genes that are directly responsible for producing melanin, no cells make the pigment and the squirrel is not only white but has pink or blue eyes. These true “albinos” are reported even less commonly."  And according to this website, "An albino will have pink or light blue eyes, shades that are very uncommon to the animal. A white, non-albino will have eyes that are usual color of its species, usually black. The estimated rate of albinism in squirrels is estimated at one in 100,000."  

So, despite the fact in some of my photos Lucky's eyes might look darker, they are not.  I've shot over 1,000 photos of him so far, and even though the camera might not reflect his true eye color in every shot, I am well aware of what color his eyes are, and he is an albino squirrel.

Lucky has three brothers/sisters, all gray with black eyes, and his mother is gray with black eyes.  Keep an eye on my animal album and you'll see more photos of all of them soon.  Lucky is the first albino white squirrel born in this neighborhood in over ten years.  We had another white squirrel a neighbor had brought in several years ago.  He stayed 6-9 months before disappearing.  We think he was ran off by the regulars, who didn't appreciate an outsider being brought in.  With Lucky having been born here, we're hopeful he'll be more accepted and remain a resident for a very long time.

InJoy,

Jai

Brrr....it's starting to feel a bit like winter out there!  It makes me think of snow and the holiday season.  And there's no better way to celebrate the Christmas season than with a sweet little snow sparrow.  Check out the beautiful ornament, wrapping paper, stamps, Christmas cards and the lovely ways you can decorate your living spaces this holiday season with "Snow Sparrow".

Snow Sparrow Canvas Print

Snow Sparrow Merry Christmas Ornament

Snow Sparrow Pillow Home Decor

Snow Sparrow Song Bird Christmas Cards

Snow Sparrow Mousepad

Snow Sparrow Bird Mug

Snow Sparrow Stone Coaster

Snow Sparrow Song Bird FLAT Christmas Cards

Snow Sparrow Song Bird Wildlife Christmas Stamps

Snow Sparrow Wall Clock With Numbers

Snow Sparrow Coaster Set

Snow Sparrow Table Lamp

Snow Sparrow Christmas Gift Wrap Wrapping Paper

Sparrow Bird Wildlife Gift Wrap Wrapping Paper

Snow Sparrow Fine Art Print

Morning Shower - MockingbirdA morning shower is a refreshing way to start the day. {mockingbird}

Let's face it - there's nothing that can screw up a wildlife or nature photography outing more than rain.  Sometimes, you're in the field and it starts out of nowhere.  Sometimes, it may rain for days, and you just want to get out in it and photograph something.  While you may have rain gear, your camera might not.  So you stuff your camera safely back in it's bag or tuck it under your jacket or shirt to protect it from getting wet.  And it's at those moments you probably think, gosh, I wish I had a raincoat for my camera too!  Enter, the quick, cheap, camera raincoat you can make yourself and carry in your camera bag or even your pants pocket, just for these special moments:

This camera raincoat cost me $5 and 5 minutes to make.  Literally.  Of course they do sell camera rain gear out there, however, in comparing prices to how often I really would need it, I decided to do this project and make my own.  Please excuse the setting for these photos...I decided to write this up after several people had asked how to make it, and we did this photo tutorial really quick on my kitchen floor. 

Supplies needed:  One pair of waterproof jogging pants (any size, as long as the legs are long enough to go over your lens when fully extended).  These were purchased at the goodwill store for a mere $4.99.  A pair of scissors and duck tape.  That's it.  Really!  You may have a pair of these in the closet that you're not using anymore...if that's the case, you can save yourself the $5 at the store. :)  Make sure the pants you choose have an elastic band around the foot.  These actually have elastic AND a zipper to open the foot area up more, which makes it easier to put over the lens hood.

And of course, you may also have some little helpers, like Miss Peanut here. :) 

The first thing you need to do to begin your camera raincoat project is to extend your lens to its full length, with the lens hood attached.  You want to make sure the raincoat will be long enough to cover your longest lens.  You can make two different lengths to fit different lenses -- after all, you do have two pants legs to work with!  I cut the two I made about 3" longer than my camera measurement.

Once you have your measurement, lay the pant leg out flat and smooth it down the best you can.  Find where to cut on the pants.  You can mark it, tape it off, or eyeball it (that's what I did).  Starting at the ankle end, measure upward.

Then make your cut.  It doesn't have to be perfect.  The ends will be hidden.

After you've made the cut, turn the pants leg inside out.  

This is where we make the "hem".  Now, if you can sew or have a sewing machine, you can most certainly fold the edge over and sew your hem to make it nice and neat.  I don't sew.  I duck tape. :)  Fold the cut edge down about an inch or so (remember, you cut 3" longer than you needed, so you have room to work here) and then use a small piece of duck tape to secure it in the middle.

Then take a larger strip of tape to put over the short piece you used to hold your hem down.  Press it all down securely, flip the pants leg over and do the same thing to the other side until you have duck tape covering the whole hem.  Have I said duck tape it wonderful stuff?  Well, it is.  

Turn your pants leg...I mean camera raincoat...inside out again to reveal your finished product.

Now it's time to try it on!  Slip the elastic over the end of your lens hood.  In my case, I unzipped the end first, and zipped it back up once I got it over the hood. Like this:

Here's a side view:

And a back view, revealing the camera controls, which is loose enough to put your hand inside and operate the camera, but it will still give you protection from the rain:

And now my little helper asks, Are we done already?

I hope you find this tutorial useful and will enjoy making raincoats for your camera and various lenses!

InJoy,

Jai

The real title of this work is "Morning on the Battlefield", and it is normally a place of silence and peace.  At one time, it wasn't, as it is the place the bloodiest battle in American History took place.  You can read all about the Battle of Shiloh here.  

The battlefields are even more silent today, as our government has decided during their shutdown to close our parks.  I started traveling the hour + drive to Shiloh almost a year ago.  I went for the eagles originally.  But as time passed, I went for other reasons.  I went just to sit in the silence, to enjoy the sounds of nature instead of traffic, horns, sirens, lawnmowers, weedeaters, blowers, etc.  I've gone to other parks too, in order to escape our world filled with excess noise.  But Shiloh is by far the quietest and most peaceful place I've been.  And now, I can't go, because there are barricades placed at the entrance where there normally are no gates.  Thanks to our friends in Washington.

I have big plans as the trees turn colors and the summer turns into Autumn.  Plans to travel to Shiloh as the leaves begin to fall and photograph its beauty during my favorite time of year.  I've been planning this for a year.  I have each spot I want to make sure to take photos mapped out.  And now....now I don't know if I'll be able to bring you that beauty and share it with you.  Because we're all locked out of this land -- this memorable place -- which you and I pay for with our tax dollars, and which the Americans who fought there back in 1862 paid for with their lives.

I don't know how long this shutdown will last.  I don't know how long our congress men and women and our president will continue to take away the one shred of true peace and tranquility some of us have to experience.  But I do know this...come time to vote, I'll be voting only for those who were not in office during this event.  I don't want people in office who behave like this.  I want people in office who will try to bring peace to our country and make this world a better place.  

For now, you can enjoy this beautiful, foggy morning on the battlefield through my photography.  And when we are allowed back on our property, I hope you will plan a visit to Shiloh, Tennessee to learn about the history and to experience it for yourself.  Because it is a great place to go, even if only for a short time.

This art is available here.  Seven (7) signed and numbered, limited editions are available as well, if you want to create a large place of peace and remembrance of history in your environment.

--Jai

This year I've prepared a wonderful Christmas card collection, with over 40 of the best of the best photos, from wildlife and birds to beautiful winter scenes and flowers.  Links are available on each card page to purchase folded cards, flat cards and matching postage stamps.  Perfect for family Christmas cards, business Christmas cards, and for friends, this collection is elegant and classy!  Click here to view the entire collection.

InJoy,

Jai

September 9, 2013 - Jai Johnson joins PrintsonWood.Com to offer her incredible collection of artistic photography on wood wall art panels in a variety of sizes.  Unlike other wood printing services where the prints are created on paper and mounted to the wood, PrintsonWood prints directly onto the organic wood canvases, making each piece of art one of a kind, unique and special.   The wood prints are offered in a variety of standard sizes, from 8x10" up to 30x40".  Each wood art panel is a 3/4" (18mm thick) piece of Birchwood.  Three finishes are available:  Bright White, which allows any white in the photo to remain as brilliant as it is in the photo, and Vintage Matte or Natural Gloss, both which allow the woodgrain to show through the lighter colored areas.  Pricing starts at a very affordable $35.20 for an 8x10" wood print.  All prints have a keyhole on the back and are ready to hang upon arrival.  Should you choose to frame your wood print, you can frame any of the prints in a standard open back wood frame, available at most hobby, craft, and framing stores.  The 3/4" wood thickness is the same thickness of the canvases which are often framed in open back frames.  All in all, Jai's landscapes, flowers, and birds and animal artistic photographs printed on wood will make a truly impressive addition to any art collection.  They also make unique and original gifts for birthdays, Christmas, weddings, and other holidays.  See the new Jai Johnson Collection at PrintsonWood.Com today!

Great Horned Owl I - Wildlife

Great Horned Owl - Photo #9

Yesterday was such an exciting day!  There are two Great Horned Owls who have made the cemetery at Shiloh National Military Park their home.  My husband and I decided to go down to Shiloh late in the day to see if we could spot the owls.  Not only did we find them, but I found turkeys, deer (including twin fawns, a young buck and an eight point buck), an Osprey carrying a fish, and a groundhog!  Talk about a worthwhile trip...it was an amazing few hours!  It was so neat being in the cemetery just before dusk and seeing these two owls with their massive wing spans flying around us.  The light was fading fast, but I managed to get a couple of keeper photos.  I didn't do too much to them with my textures.  I added a deep pine green texture to tone down the bright white present in the bokeh spots of light, and I added a couple layers of creamy gray to tone down the green and warm up the overall tone.   Here's the second portrait, featuring a side view of the owl:

Great Horned Owl II - Wildlife

Great Horned Owl II

I was a few feet closer for the second shot.  I was hoping he'd turn and face me, but alas, he flew off into the quickly fading light.  Maybe next time.  :)

InJoy,

Jai

LAST DAYS OF SUMMER - Photo #8

Leave it to me to pick one of the hottest of the last days of summer to visit Shiloh.  I was looking for a pair of owls and of course, the eagles and other wildlife.  As I walked along a trail by the river, I stumbled upon this scene of two men enjoying the hot summer morning on their fishing boat.  As the sun crept up even higher, the fog alongside the bank lifted.  The sun sparkled like diamonds as it touched the top of the water.   I found myself feeling jealous.  Jealous of the fact it might be cooler out there on the water, and jealous of the fact they had views of the entire river bank, which I didn't have from my position.   I don't fish, but it sure would have been nice to ride along on the boat and capture scenes I couldn't see from my viewpoint.  So I took this photo, and every time I look at it, I'll remember the hot August day and the fishermen who had views only I could dream of.

Injoy,

Jai

See gifts with the "Last Days of Summer" landscape scene here and here.

GIANT PANDA BEAR - Photo #7

Recently I had the pleasure of joining a Giant Panda Bear for lunch.  I kind of felt sorry for the beautiful bear, as he sat alone behind a glass enclosure at the zoo, munching on his greens.  And then I realized we had something in common.  Being alone.  In this field I work in with my photography and my art, it's often very lonely.  And it really needs to be most of the time to do what I do.  Although this photo was taken at the zoo, most of my photos are taken out in nature when I'm alone.  With wildlife, quiet is essential in most cases.  (except for when photographing the Shiloh eagles, as they're used to people and there's often several photographers around the area)  When processing my work, and when working with textures, I'm working alone in my studio.  The local art gallery I was involved in years ago closed down, and there's not a similar type of gallery around this town anymore.  I don't like to socialize much -- I prefer quiet and the sounds of nature over loud environments and parties.  I don't have many family members in the area.  Ninety percent of the time, like the panda bear, I eat my lunch or dinner alone.

I stayed with this guy for a little while that day, just so he wouldn't feel lonely, because while most of the time it's enjoyable, sometimes it's also a little depressing.  I thought he would like the company, and I think by the look on his face, he did. :)

InJoy,

Jai

See gifts with the "Giant Panda Bear" here and here.

Grizzly Watch - Bear - Wildlife

GRIZZLY WATCH - Photo #6

Are you watching him....or is he watching you?  I often wonder when I'm out photographing wildlife, as I sit there and watch, how many animals and birds are actually watching ME.  I imagine it's a lot more than I realize.  Sometimes I can feel it...I feel as if something is watching.  You know that feeling, the one where you feel as if someone is staring at you?  That's the one I'm talking about.  I think we're always being watched, whether it be by nosy people or curious creatures.  And then of course there's the government...but I won't get into that. :)

InJoy,

Jai

See gifts with the "Grizzly Watch" grizzly bear here and here.

Grizzly Country - Bear - Wildlife

GRIZZLY COUNTRY - Photo #5

A grizzly bear stands by his pool, deciding whether to jump in the water.  I assure you, if I were this bear during August in Tennessee, I'd be jumping in!  We had sweltering temperatures over the past few weeks.  It made photography sessions limited and uncomfortable.  I've found by wetting down a towel with cold water and draping it around the back of my neck, I was able to stand the temps long enough to be outside and photograph the wildlife and nature scenes I love. :)

You probably wouldn't know it from looking at the picture, but for this piece I used several of my textures layered in different ways over my original photo -- which was horrid, I might add, because this one was taken through a smeary glass window at the Memphis, TN zoo, and the overall color of the entire photo was kind of a sick green.  I mainly used the textures in this case to add depth to a photo which was too faded.  I also used them to adjust the color of the entire photo and to remove the greenish cast, as well as add more blue to the water.  Now the photo features brown and golden tones, which make a nice contrast to the cool blue of the water and the gray rocks.  All in all, I think it is now a suitable representation of art for the grizzly bear lovers out there!

InJoy,

Jai

See gifts with "Grizzy Country" here and here.

Dare to Be Different - Floral

DARE TO BE DIFFERENT - Photo #4

Our world is full of messages to "conform".   When you conform to a way of being like everyone else, you fit in, you're accepted, you belong.  Which to me is totally backwards of the way we're intended to be.  We are each made unique and different.  Our life experiences make us feel differently and behave differently than anyone else.  By trying to conform and be like everyone else, we disrespect and dishonor who it is we're intended to be!  As young as elementary school, I can remember being pressured to be like everyone else and fit in.  In 5th grade, we had to complete a special project to write, illustrate and bind together a book.  I can remember many of the kids picking a topic for their book just like their friends or the kid sitting next to them, in an effort to be accepted and fit in.  I decided to go my own way.  As a result, my book won the contest and was then published and put into the school library.  If I had conformed to the pressure to be like all the other kids, I doubt I would have received the honor I did.  It was then and there I realized being different is a good thing.  And I decided for my own benefit, being different and unique was the only way I would succeed. 

Over the years, I continued to struggle to maintain my individuality, because everywhere we go, we face that pressure to conform, fit in, and be part of the group.  It happens in school, in the workplace, in recreational activities and church.  Sometimes I'd do it for a while, but I'd always end up going my own way in the end when I realized how unhappy I was.  It's only been over the past few years I've made a point to stay on my own path, despite what anyone else says, especially with my art and photography.  I don't do things the way the professional photographers do things.  I don't do things the way the traditional art world says I should.  And as a result, I don't fit in anywhere.  But that's okay, because once I stopped trying to conform to what everyone told me I should be doing, I started making a good income from my art and photography.  As a result of daring to be different, my work is now licensed and available in the retail markets, both online and off.  But most of all, allowing myself to be unique and stay true to my goals and desires has created something within me I couldn't get in any other way -- true happiness.

So my message with this photo is to celebrate who you are as an individual and dare to be different.  Like the purple Iris flower in a sea of yellow Irises, you will stand out and become the star of your own life. :)

InJoy,

Jai

See gifts with the "Dare to Be Different" Purple Iris Flower here and here.

The Other Side - Covered Bridge

THE OTHER SIDE - Photo #3

This etheral portrait of a covered wooden footbridge was created from a photograph my husband took recently while in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  I've titled it "The Other Side".  

We often are hesitant as we prepare to cross over into a new stage in our lives, unsure of what's on the other side.  Sometimes we just have to work up the courage to cross that bridge, even though we can't see what lies beyond.  It might look good in our imaginations, and it might feel like the right thing to do, but it's still unknown and can be frightening.  We can choose to stay on this side and try as much as we can to stand up on our tiptoes and peer into the future, hoping will we see the outcome.  At some point, it becomes a matter of how strong is our desire to move beyond the old and toward the new.  It's at that point when we're finally able to step out in faith, and know what we're doing is the right thing.  

Earlier this year, I faced this exact scenario as I struggled with a decision to leave a part time job I hated which was seriously getting in the way of my goals as an artist.  It was tough to finally step out onto that bridge of change, and make my way towards an unknown future.  Looking back, I can honestly say it was the best decision I'd ever made.  Scary?  Yes.  Uncertain?  Of course.  Challenging?  Yep.  Worth it?  Absolutely!  I would do it again in a heartbeat.  I'm so grateful I finally worked up the courage to cross over to the other side.  Because now I'm even closer to everything I've dreamed of my entire life.

InJoy,

Jai  

See "THE OTHER SIDE" Covered Bridge Landscape gifts here and here.

Pure - Floral

PURE - Photo #2

Photo of the day #2 features this beautiful, pure white peony flower, with rich pink blossoming from within the center of the petals.  

I figured after the disgusting Miley Cyrus fiasco from this week, the world needed a bit of purity.  It's a shame there are such poor "role models" out there, impressing immorality upon our youth.  It definitely explains why the world is in such a mess.  Gone are the days when people respected others and when being fully clothed was the "norm".  We are living in distressing times with an influx of crime, people who have no respect for one another, youth that grunts and grinds their way through life, violent upon violent incidents happening daily.  There's a myriad of illnesses out there now, which I feel many relate to the state of mind of humanity these days.  We can't watch tv without seeing a commercial for viagra or some other sexual stimuli.  Personally, I think they should bring back the beer commercials and perhaps even the cigarette ones.  Bring back music shows with REAL performers, instead of someone who can't sing worth a crap and simply gets attention by gyrating across a stage, putting on a show with a finger and a tongue and other body parts.  Bring back Happy Days, Archie Bunker, Andy Griffith, and Leave it to Beaver.  Today's youth would be appalled!  What?  Kids respected their parents?  They wore clothing that covered their privates?  They knew how to read?  They didn't carry guns and knives and blow up things?  The "F" word wasn't spoken in everyday conversation?  They actually knew HOW to have a conversation?  Really?  Yeah.  I think the world needs to be purified.  Skip the DVR and give me a rewind button for LIFE.

--Jai

See "PURE" White Peony Flower Gifts here and here.

Risk Taker - Photo #1

Yep, I'm going to try again on the Photo A Day Challenge (PAD).    I have thousands upon thousands of photos to work with here, so I have plenty to do 365 days.  :)  

Above is photo #1, titled "Risk Taker" and featuring a Swallowtail Butterfly as it approaches a Bengal Tiger.   It reminds me of how sometimes, even if we feel too small to accomplish certain tasks, we must step out and take risks to get what we want in life and go where we want to go with our lives.  It might be scary, and the mountains we have to climb may seem impossible, but we'll never know unless we take that risk and face the challenge head on.  What challenges are you facing today?  Are you ready to step out and take a risk to meet your challenges?

InJoy,

Jai

See Risk Taker Tiger & Butterfly Gifts Here and Here!

Okay, please excuse the rotten photo, but I was so excited I just shot this with my phone and posted it.  This is the framed sample art print of my art "Little Sparrow Friend" which is being licensed by Dicksons Gifts of Faith and will be in your Christian bookstores and gift shops soon!  I'm so excited to see how the company has completed their vision with my art!  I'm very blessed to have been chosen, and  I can't wait to see the next one they're licensing as well.  It's a good day!

InJoy,

Jai

Light Antique Brown Painted Canvas

In my journey of creating my artistic photography, I've been given a ton of free textures by a variety of people, and now it's time to give back. :)  I created a group of high resolution free textures for you all to download and use in your own artistic creations.  Each texture is offered in one color -- but with two finishes...one is a light canvas finish as shown above, and the other is a painted wall finish, which has a bit more texture showing.  I hope you'll find these free textures useful in your work!

Injoy,

Jai

Hummingbird and the Lotus

With over 4,000 photos of hummingbirds I've taken in the past two weeks, I'm totally feeling it with these tiny birds!  I decided to give this little fella a beautiful lotus flower to sit on.  The hummingbird shot was taken in my backyard, the lotus at the zoo.  I used two of my free textures I offer to create this piece:  Subtle Nature and Teal.  The two combined in several different layers and opacities gave this work of art the perfect finishing touch.  Click here to purchase your signed, limited editions.  Or visit the link below for open edition prints.

Hummingbird Portrait I

It's one of my favorite times of the year again!  Hummingbird season!  They've arrived here in Jackson, Tennessee.  We have the young male ruby red throated hummingbird pictured above who is already guarding our feeder.  

In less than one week, I've taken over 4,000 hummingbird photos with the Sigma lens.  This is my first year using this lens and I am so happy with it.  I still get as close as I can to the birds, which when you have one like "Bossy" (above), it's easy to do, as he's not scared of anything.

Several months ago, I made a blog post with 10 Tips for Photographing Birds.  I have another tip to add - specific to hummingbirds.  Find a branch or twig lying around with no leaves on it, and tape it to your feeder pole or somewhere nearby your feeders.  Position the branch low enough where you can take a photo straight on when the birds land on the branch.  For hummingbirds, it doesn't have to be a very big branch.  I duct taped this one to my feeder pole with the branches pointed the opposite direction from the feeder.  Within minutes, Bossy was landing on it and posing for me.  

Here's a photo I just finished of one of the little girls coming up to get a drink. I've titled it "A Taste of Nectar".

A Taste of Nectar

I was standing in the same position with this photo as I was the last - very close to the feeder.  And yes, she was drinking out of a feeder when I took this shot.  For art purposes - to create a piece of work someone would like to hang on their wall - I finished off the photo by giving her a Hibiscus flower to drink from.  :)

For the above photo, I used one of my new free textures titled Vintage Purple Painted Canvas.  I layered the painted canvas on three times, using different opacity and blending modes for each to create this art.    If you like to use textures in your photography work, you are welcome to click the link to download this texture for free here on my website.  There are also 67 more free textures here for you to download!

I'd be very grateful if you'd share the above photos with your friends and family!  Just click the small images below and beneath each picture are Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google + and more ways to share!

 

See more hummingbird art on Fine Art America.

"Family is Forever" - The Shiloh Eagle Family, Framed

I know, it's been a while since I posted.  There's been some major changes occurring with a few of my sales outlets this summer, and some of them not so pleasant.  My best sales location decided to cut the money to the artist and encourage us to lower royalties even further, meaning we'd almost be giving away our work for free.  Of course I didn't go along with that request - after all, as much as I love what I do, this is not a hobby and I have a family to support.  Their announcement, unfortunately, made sales overall drastically decline.  I don't believe they realized that creating such negativity with the artisans could affect their business so badly.  But it has. 

That being said, I decided to enter into a partnership with another sales outlet for my custom invitations (which I don't show here on this site, as this site is focused on my art).  Invitations are something I like to design here and there - the majority of my time is focused on my art.  But invitation sales help pay the bills while I continue to struggle to bring my art sales up to the level they need to be.  Entering into this agreement created a lot of background work to be done...lots of detailed work including gathering and supplying images and creating spreadsheets.  What I call "administrative crap" which I absolutely hate, but it had to be done in order to make the deal work.  

In addition, I have acquired a new sales outlet for my up close and personal work, mostly of animals.  Visit goBigly.com to see the unique and fun products you can now get with your favorite animals, from dogs to wildlife.  Also, my main art sales outlet, which is via Fine Art America, is now increasing our product offerings as well.  So in addition to the open edition fine art prints, we now have iPhone 4 and 5 cases, with more products coming soon.  Check out your favorites here.  Click on an image and then click on a phone case.  It's easy to position the image exactly as you want it on the cases.  Simply grab the image on the case with your mouse and move it around.  Or make it bigger or smaller using the slider bar on the right.  One of my absolute faves is this image:

I shot this Tiger recently, along with lions and a whole other host of furry and feathered creatures which you'll see being added to my Birds and Animals category.  Be sure to follow my business page on Facebook, where you can see all the new art as soon as it's released!  Make sure to add my page to your interests lists on Facebook so you can actually see the posts.  

What do you think of the eagles pictured above?  It's my art titled "Family is Forever", featuring the eagle family from Shiloh, TN, which I photographed all spring this year.  I ordered a large print on canvas and framed it in an antique gold wood frame which was my fathers, and has been sitting in a closet with nothing in it for probably 30 years.  I feel it has been brought to life now with the picture of the eagle family, and it makes a wonderful addition to my office wall. :)

As always, thanks for stopping by, and stay tuned, because there's a lot more animal art coming soon!

--Jai

Golden Blessings

I can't recall how many dirt paths and fields full of weeds I walked through before I discovered this gem of a scene.  It was a lot, though.  I remember exactly what I thought when I saw it, too.  I thought my trek through some drab and dark areas had finally paid off, for me to be rewarded with such breathtaking beauty.  It was a blessing to have found it, because I was frustrated at the time, thinking there's nothing "good" here and I was ready to turn around and go home.  Then I rounded a curve and I stopped just long enough to allow my gaze to settle on this small area of water, almost black like storm clouds, surrounded by leaves of brilliant gold.  I'm sure my gasp of wonder was heard all the way to the heavens.

During the storms of life which inevitably come along, I often pull up this picture and stare at it.  It reminds me of how in the midst of the dull, the drab, the dark, the unexciting, unfulfilling and even painful times of life, there is a blessing waiting.  The day I found this sweet little spot in the middle of nature, I was hot, sweaty, tired, in pain and bug bitten.  I was ready to give up.  Once I found this place, I immediately became thankful I hadn't given up.  The place was a Golden Blessing, given to me as reward for my perseverance.  

Just this week, a situation came along which made me want to spend time with this picture.  Even though things seem hurtful, and even though there's a huge negative rift in the air because of this situation, I know there's a blessing in it, somewhere.  Things seem out of balance and uncertain -- yet I know there's a blessing in it, somewhere.  Things seem dark, but I know there's light in the situation, somewhere.

I think back to many other similar situations I've been placed in during my art career, and all have turned out to have a hidden blessing.  The blessing isn't something I'm aware of at the time; it's something which has showed up later.  Kind of like watching a storm...the kind where the clouds move overhead, the sky gets all dark, the rain, lightening and thunder perform in the sky for a while, and then a short time later, the clouds part, revealing the sun beaming through from behind.  It's then you know the storm is over.  The thing is, you don't know how long the storm will last.  But eventually, it will be over, and the sun will shine through again.

So with this current situation, I know there's a blessing in it somewhere.  Just like how it was when I walked and walked and walked before I found this beautiful place, I don't know when the blessing will show up.  I just have to have patience and trust it will show up.  And I have to be willing to see it and receive it when it does.  I can only hope it's as beautiful as this scene portrays.

--Jai

Autumn Riches I & Autumn Riches II

I love driving along back country roads.  And we've sure got a lot of them in west Tennessee!  I'm sure some think we're just a little nothing-town, and people who live here get bored a lot.  But if they'd just look around, they'd uncover some of the most beautiful, peaceful places I've ever seen.  It's quite nice to have places like this which offer a breath of fresh air and a break from the hum drum monotony of everyday life.  It beats being in an office and listening to phones all day.  And to me, it shows a portion of beauty one will never see on the news.

Our neighbor took us on a back roads tour one day, and that's when I spotted this little gem.  We were on a dirt road, winding back into the depth of the Hatchie Bottom near the Hatchie River.  As we traveled down this bumpy path he called a road, a beat up old pick up truck passed us going the opposite direction.  The driver looked to be about a 12 year old boy.  And he probably was.

After a sharp curve, we came upon an old wooden bridge over a creek.  The bridge was so old and beat up, I was a bit unsure about going over it in a vehicle.  We stopped before the bridge, and I got out with my camera.  Under the bridge ran a creek, a run-off from the Hatchie River.  These photos were taken facing each way as I stood atop the bridge, trying to make sure my foot didn't slip through one of the many broken boards which revealed the water below.

What a stunning scene!  Filled with citrine yellow jewel colors and gentle reflections of the bordering trees in the water, it was one of those moments where I just took a deep breath and thanked God for this bit of beauty, tucked back in the middle of nowhere.  I could have stayed there all day.  Every day.  I'm glad I captured it to enjoy forever, and I hope you enjoy the scene as much as I do.

--Jai

Believe in yourself, and the world will too.

This post comes on the heels of a week of me participating in something which caused me to no longer believe in myself. (see that post here)  And I feel this is an important post to make, for both myself and for other artists, photographers and creative people.

Maybe you're one of the lucky ones who has the support of what you do from family and friends.  If so, that's fabulous...say thank you and count your blessings.  I'm one of the ones who, unfortunately, hasn't had that experience.  I wish I had.  I wish my family and friends believed in me and supported what I do.  They don't, they never have.  I've had more encouragement and support from a select few internet friends than any of those who exist in my "real life", with the exception of a very select few, who I can count on one hand.  

One of the common traits of successful artist, according to this article by Aletta de Wal posted on Lori McNee's Fine Art Tips website, is:  "Successful artists spend time only with people who are 100% supportive of their art career."  Easy enough to achieve with friends who aren't supportive...move on to other friends or none if necessary.  However, this is very difficult to do when you also have family members who don't support you.  Of course, you could just not spend time with your family.  I'm sure in some cases that's possible.  In some, however, it's not feasible.  At least not without making some major life changes and perhaps a total upheaval of your life.

This is why I feel it's very important is to BELIEVE IN YOURSELF.  You simply cannot escape all of those who don't believe in you.  You cannot always stop the negative messages, the indifference, the rolling eyes, critical remarks and big sighs.  You cannot make these people who should support you but don't pat you on the back and tell you how great you're doing.  You cannot make those closest to you believe in you and your talent.  But you CAN believe in yourself.

Believing in yourself is absolutely crucial to your success.  It is the one thing which will make or break the outcome of your artistic career.  And like everything else in life, you have to make believing in yourself a habit, a way of living.  Sometimes things sway you away from your way of being.  Sometimes others will try to convince you that your way of living life is wrong.  Sometimes others will tell you success can be achieved by doing all sorts of other things.  Some of those things may work and some may not, but the point is, unless you believe in yourself, nothing will work long term.  If something has recently caused you to doubt yourself and your creative talent, you must get back to believing in yourself.  You must.  Because it's the only way you can get on and stay on the track to a successful art career.  

When you believe in yourself, the world will too.  And when the world believes in you, they will buy your art.  And when they buy your art, they support you.  It supports you on a financial level, but also on an emotional level.  Even if they don't buy your art, or don't buy it when you think they should, it doesn't matter...because you believe in yourself.  If you don't believe in yourself, which also means believing in the creative work you do, it may not spin you financially out of control, but it certainly can emotionally send you to a place you don't want to be.  Once you get to that dark place, it's really, really difficult to climb back out of it.  But...if you believe in yourself at all times, you'll never fall into that dark place to begin with.

How does one begin to or return to believing in oneself?  That is the question so many need answered.  There's different ways of increasing your belief in yourself.  If you search Google for "how to belief in yourself", you'll find all kinds of articles on the topic, all with good suggestions which might resonate with you and might not.  I will tell you a few things I've implemented into my life which help me believe in myself.

The first thing I did years ago when I started this journey as a creative artist is give myself the time every day to do my work.  Some people look at photography and art as "hobbies".  They can certainly be a hobby activity, but in my case, this is what I wanted my life work to be, so I made it top priority.  Just like getting up and going to that 8-5 office job when I had it was a top priority, I make getting up and working on my creative projects a priority.  And this is when the fun began, because no one around me was willing to see what I was doing as "work".  When I had my office jobs, people didn't call me all day long or drop in at my place of employment expecting to hang out.  Yet when I left my office job and started my art career, this is exactly what happened.  I gently - and sometimes not so gently - had to explain to those around me, this is my JOB.  Just because I love it doesn't mean it's not work.  I had to explain I'm still working, just at a different job.  Some of those people just didn't get it.  And we parted ways.  Others still struggle with it today.  I still get comments like "I called three hours ago and you didn't answer...".  I'm used to it.  I've learned if I didn't give my work top priority just like the person who went in to their scheduled job from 8-5 everyday, then I didn't believe in myself.  Part of beginning to believe in myself was putting my work front and center.

The second thing I did was learn to focus on my successes, no matter how small.  Maybe I didn't sell a limited edition print today, but I did sell a postcard featuring one of my works of art.  If I were to wait to offer up a big THANK YOU for the times when I have a "big" sale, I'd be waiting a long time.  Because the small sales far outweigh the big sales.  I celebrate every sale, no matter how small.  I express gratitude for every sale, even if it only earns me 28 cents.  That person turned over their hard earned money for my art.  And I am grateful.  They may frame that little postcard and treasure it forever.  The thought makes me very happy!  Maybe the postcard was the only item within their budget at the time.  And they chose to spend a little of their budget on my art, because it meant something to them, or is intended to mean something to their card recipient.  How blessed I am!  Every time I focus on one or more of my successes, it furthers the belief in myself.

The third thing I did after years of doing things totally the opposite was stop participating in groups on the internet.  I still will post in forums and groups occasionally, yet each time I do, if someone says anything which I take as demeaning or critical, I spend a few days to a week getting my belief in myself back up to 100% where it needs to be.  Groups and forums can be helpful when needing certain information or learning how to do a certain task.  But when it comes to having conversations or asking for votes in a contest, they can certainly set you up for a belief system meltdown.  My internet socializing has gone down from probably 75% of my time at first, down to 10%.  

Of course now with the influx of social media, we have experts right and left telling us the only way to succeed is to be social.  Which quite frankly, is bull-hockey.  That is one way to gain some short term success.  As soon as you stop being social, however, those peeps will forget you exist and the "because-I-know-them-like-I-know-my-neighbors" sales will cease.  When you start focusing on producing more work and better work, your sales will increase again.  When they increase from that, it tends to be more stable and long term.  You actually have people buying your work because it speaks to them, it makes them feel something, or it takes them somewhere they want to go.  Or it could just be because it matches their decor and style of the room where they'll hang the art.  Regardless, your art is going to be around long after you're gone and it's best to get them in tune with it as soon as you can.  I'm not saying don't be social with your collectors or show attendees or customers.  It's good business and a kind thing to do to respond to anyone who approaches you and wants to talk about your work.  But getting social in other ways just isn't necessary and it can do more harm to a belief system than good.  

Being in the social circles, however, can help your art get seen more.  Some websites popularize their art listings by the amount of times they are clicked on.  You get enough people to click on your art, it rises up in the website search engine, and makes it to the top where it can be seen.  Socializing can also help you get links placed from other websites to your own, which will help it rise up in the Google search engine, and once again, be at the top and more likely to be seen by possible new collectors and customers.  You just have to decide if that's the route you wish to go, and see if your belief in yourself is affected negatively by being in social arenas.  Just like I mentioned with the quote at the top of this blog post, you want to spend your time around others who are 100% supportive of your career.  Out there in the social network world, there are many who are not. 

The fourth thing I've done to help improve my belief in myself is to stop setting myself up for failure.  In my case, stop entering contests is a key thing, as no matter how much my art sells and how many times people tell me they love my work, contests always make me feel like a failure before they're over with.  Now if you read my previous blog post, you already know I forgot this recently.  And my belief in myself took a big hit.  Which is why I'm writing this post today...in an attempt to learn to believe in myself again and hopefully help someone reading begin to believe in himself or herself.  

I've explained how this particular contest worked in my previous post, and unfortunately a lot of online contests are like this.  No matter what the site administrators tell you, these contests are designed to do one thing:  Get more traffic and links out there to the website hosting the contest.  They aren't designed for the artist, though they will certainly give you all kinds of great sounding benefits if you enter and try to secure those votes.  Those benefits will only be true for maybe 1% of the contest entrants, so the belief that these contests can help you succeed as an artist is not true for the majority.  And what it can do for your belief system if you don't manage to get those votes is trash it.  

So here I was, concerned for a week or so about the lack of votes in I had in this contest.  When in reality, entering a contest I may have a 1% chance of even getting seen in is not in line with my goal of "making a full time income from sales of my art".   Art critics and art peers don't determine the sales of my art.  All they're determining is whether my art is worthy of a vote.  They're not buying it.  The people who are truly voting for my art are the business people in the world, and the workers in this world who take their hard-earned paychecks and actually make a purchase of my art in some way, form or fashion.  Those are the people I need to focus on reaching, and those are the people I need to focus on creating better and better art for in the future.

I'm sure there are many more things I can do to further my belief in myself and strengthen it as time goes on.  This is a learning process.  Each year, I learn something new which helps me to believe in myself a little bit more, and get me closer to my goal.  Actually, I've already reached my goal.  I am making a living from sales of my art.  But of course I want to make a better living.  I want to have extra money to be able to travel and photograph new places, I want to be able to open the first JaiArt Gallery someday, and I want to be able to have money for retirement.  So I still have to work on my belief in myself on a regular basis, and I have to do everything I can to keep it strong.  Because it is the key to my success.   I have to constantly remind myself, if you believe in yourself, the world will too.     

--Jai 

BELIEVE Baby Hawk Nestl Inspirational Postcard 37A

BELIEVE Baby Hawk Nestling Art Stickers 37A

BELIEVE Baby Hawk Nestling Art Tile Box 37A Jewelry Boxes

BELIEVE Baby Hawk Nestling Art Keychain 37A

BELIEVE Baby Hawk Nestling Art Key Chain 37A

BELIEVE Baby Hawk Nestling Art Necklace 37A

BELIEVE Baby Hawk Nestling Art Greeting Card 37A

BELIEVE Baby Hawk Nestling Art Magnet 37A

BELIEVE Baby Hawk Nestling Art Mouse Pad 37A

BELIEVE Baby Hawk Nestling Art Wall Clock 37A

BELIEVE Baby Hawk Nestling Art Poster Print 37A

BELIEVE Baby Hawk Nestling Art Canvas Print 37A

BELIEVE Baby Hawk Nestling Art Throw Pillow 37A

BELIEVE Baby Hawk Nestling Art Tile Trivet 37A

Family is Forever, Jai Johnson

After an entire season of photographing the eagles in Shiloh, TN, I have finally compiled their family portrait.  I was hoping they'd all just pose for me like this, and although it got close on a couple of shots, it never quite made the final picture I wanted to see.  Therefore, I created it myself.  

Family is Forever is a compilation of three separate photos and about eight textures in total.  I've been working on it for a while, but didn't come up with the title until this week.  It was after hearing the song "Grandpa" by the Judds (sung by a contestant on The Voice this week) again that the title came to me.  

As the song says, our world has simply gone crazy.  And I think part of the problem is the decline in the family dynamic over the past fifty years or so.  I can remember growing up, we had dinner as a family almost every night.  At least when my brother and I were younger.  Once we got older, that changed.  Then my Dad left to work out of state and it changed even more.  It was not pleasant.  Family wasn't fun anymore.  My family members were all too "busy" for me.  And to this day, that hasn't changed with my original family.  In fact, it's worse now than it was then.

I remember when my children were younger, and I saw all of these other parents around me signing their children up to be in all kinds of activities.  The families never seemed to be together anymore...one kid was at a school event, another at a ball game, another at a retreat, another was spending the night at friend's houses every weekend, etc.  I made a point to not have it be that way at my house.  I wanted that family dinner....just the like good ole days.  I told my children they could pick ONE activity to do at a time.  And that was it.  I wasn't going to be running around from this to that constantly, and we were going to have family dinner together...PERIOD.

I've witnessed it getting worse over the years as I've watched other families in this day and time.  Family dinner is maybe a once a week happening in many households, if that.  Some children only see a parent once or twice a week for an hour or two during waking hours because of all the activities kids are involved in.  Kids are going to bed at odd hours because of their numerous events they're being shuffled around to constantly.  And it's not just the kids activities...it's the parents, too.  Parents are involved in this and that and gone all the time to different events and functions more than ever before.  People are so "busy".

Frankly, it's no wonder the world is in such a mess.  We have teachers raising children, or worse yet, kids raising kids, because of the lack of parental interaction with their children.  And I'm not talking about the activities interaction...I'm talking about the moments spent at home, talking across the dinner table or breakfast table every morning as a family.  I'm talking about parents being interested in what their children want to do and become and parents having actual conversations with their children, rather than a passing wave in the hallway at bedtime.

Kids these days spend more time in their rooms alone, with their friends at numerous events, or with their face in their cell phones than they do interacting with their parents, grandparents, etc.  The busy-ness of the world has put a severe wedge in the midst of what used to be a great family dynamic.

As I watched these eagles, I thought about this.  There they are, "stuck" in the nest.  All day.  Every day.  Until it's time for them to leave.  The only interaction they have is with the parents.  Even when they leave the nest, the parents are right there beside them, teaching them the ways of being an eagle in this world.  The baby eagles aren't being shuffled out of the nest and sent to fishing games with other little eaglets.  They aren't being taught the ways of the world by other eagles.  They're being attended to, taught, and having meals with their FAMILY.  Their parents and each other is their life.  And I have no doubt the family connection is stronger with these wild birds than it is with most human families these days.

Just watching them reminded me of the good ole days.  And it reminded me of how I've tried to maintain our "family nest" if you will, as our children have grown up.  It made me think about the separations of families these days and how so many family members don't even know each other and how many parents don't have a clue as to what their children are doing because they're so busy.  And it's really sad.

In addition to the above image, I created a separate image with a quote regarding family.  It kind of says it all.

Family is Forever Eagles Art Poster Print 36A

 

"Like branches on a tree, we all grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as ONE."

 

 

Families are spreading out in so many opposite directions these days.  Yet, deep down, they are still connected by their roots.  It's just a shame today's families seem to try everything they can to break that connection, or to distance themselves from it.  But no matter how hard they try, they will always be connected by those roots.  Forever.  No matter what.  And it's just sad that so many families these days miss the journey together.  They end up coming back together and reuniting later in life when there's a problem.  And sometimes, they lose a family member...and then you hear things like "Oh I wish I'd have called her more often."  or "I should have spent more time with him."  And the thing is, everyone has the choice to do that now.  Before it's too late.  

 

 

--Jai

After Daybreak, Jai Johnson

In between my eagle photography sessions the past couple of months, I've been searching for a web site to hold an online show featuring my limited edition prints.  As usual, I was seeking something which couldn't be found.  So, with the help of my manager, I managed to get an online show going on our main business website.  You are all invited to attend my very first ever online limited editions art show, titled "Waterscapes", featuring 36 39 of my most popular water scenes!  

The show includes only my 16x20" limited edition prints, available in editions of only 10 prints per image.  Each print is signed and numbered by moi. An added benefit is show attendees (yes, that means YOU if you click on the show link) receive a 20% discount off of my regular limited edition print prices for this size print.  AND....for a bit more fun, we've added a form for you to fill out - put the name of your absolute favorite piece of artwork in the box, fill out the form and submit it and you could win a FREE print featuring your favorite image from the Waterscapes Show!  How cool is that?

Waterscapes runs for one month.  After that, we'll be holding another show on a different theme.  Stop by the show and take a look at the beautiful water scenes you can add to your limited edition art collection.  There's something for everyone, and every decor!

InJoy,

Jai

A couple of months ago, I started visiting Shiloh National Military Park in Shiloh, TN.  Not because I was interested in military history - although ALL history interests me - but because I could watch and photograph an eagle nest.  In my first blog post about the eagles, you can certainly hear my excitement about this opportunity.  It has been an experience I will treasure forever, for many reasons.  But I write this final post with a heavy heart.

The eaglets were due to fledge this week.  I visited the nest on Monday, May 20, 2013.  My husband and I weren't going to go on Monday.  We were going to wait until Tuesday.  Early Monday afternoon, Michael said "Let's go today".  And I'm glad he said that and very glad we went on Monday.  Because Monday was the last time I'd see the two eaglets in the way I'd been seeing them over the past two months.

Early Tuesday morning, Mike (ShilohEaglePics.Com) made a heart wrenching announcement to the Shiloh Eagles group on Facebook.  He and Eddie were there early in the morning and both chicks were gone from the nest.  After further investigation, they discovered one of the eaglets had fallen from the nest during the night and didn't make it.  The other eaglet had fledged and was flying well around the area.

After bawling my eyes out over the loss of the one eaglet (named Loh), I decided to make another trip to Shiloh to see the other chick (Shi) flying.  And to mourn the loss of Loh in my own way.  We did make the trip and although both parents were around for several hours, we never did see Shi.  He had flown off into the woods behind the nest before we arrived and while we were there, he didn't return to the nest area.  Later in the afternoon, we called it a day and headed home.

It was a somber trip for sure.  A quiet drive.  I feel as if I've lost a family member.  I'm not sure when we'll go back.  I said I'd go until they left the nest, which we did.  We might try one more time to go and get a glimpse of the flying chick.  Otherwise, I'm not planning another trip down there until the fall when the leaves turn color so I can capture the beautiful landscapes and scenery in its autumn glory.

While I've been photographing birds for years, this year is the first year I've photographed the nesting process from start to finish.  I've photographed a Red Shouldered Hawk nest close to my home, with one chick in the nest.  And the eagles at Shiloh.  I've watched the process from hatching to fledging.  And through my lens, I've developed a stronger bond than I ever imagined possible with these wild birds.

After I shared the distressing news yesterday with my real life friends/family and internet friends, I learned even more about myself and why I do what I do and why I love it so much.  Reactions to the news ranged from "I'm so sorry" from compassionate and caring people to "It's just a bird" and even a subtle inference that the eaglets death could be the fault of the photographers.

To those who said "I'm so sorry"...thank you.  You get it.  Your message is  appreciated more than you will ever know.

If I hear "It's just a bird" one more time, I say this:    Until you have  traveled an hour plus drive each way for two months...until you have hand-held a lens that by the end of an 8-10 hour day feels like it weighs 100lbs...until you have looked into the eyes of these beautiful creatures through that lens for hours and hours of photography plus editing time....SHUT UP.  You don't get it.  Keep your comments to yourself.  That's not what someone who experienced a loss of something they care about needs to hear.

And the suggestion that the death of the eaglet in some way is the fault of the photographers because of distance from the nest and/or human intervention is absolutely beyond ridiculous.  I have so much to say about this one, I don't know where to begin.  First of all, we ALL respected the boundary fencing which is a respectable distance from the nest.  Which, I might add, the adult birds CHOSE to build their nest in this location, knowing it is very close to a main park road.   Each and every photographer there respected the birds, did not disturb them, and certainly did nothing to upset the birds.  The adult birds never once appeared aggravated with the presence of people.  After all, they have been nesting there several years and are quite used to the presence of humans.  I'm sure there are situations where photographers will take any risk to get that award winning shot.  At Shiloh, that was not the case.  The birds and their safety, health and welfare are top priority at this nest.  As for being too close to the nest, the park authorities set up the fencing at what they feel is an acceptable distance and we all abided by their rules.  The eaglet died during the night. We don't know what happened.  But it was hardly the fault of the photographers - especially when no one was there after dark.

So, to say this could possibly be due to "human intervention" from the photographers at a time when we are all grieving over the loss of the one chick is totally disrespectful to the situation and to all of us who worked tirelessly to bring the majestic beauty of these birds to the world.  And it made it very clear to me why I choose to do what I do with my time and why I love to spend my time in nature, with wildlife, and away from "humans", other than those who understand, love and respect nature and wildlife as much as I do.  Because out there in nature, I don't have to be a certain way, meet certain "human standards", suffer judgement from those who have no authority to judge, and deal with unjust criticism and blame.  I do what I do because of humans and my dislike for the world "human intervention" has created.

I often get asked about photographing people.  NO.  NEVER.  And this has reminded me of why I don't.  This experience has reaffirmed my love for wildlife and nature, and for me, has once again validated my decisions and my choices.

People have often told me they want to hear more about my inspiration behind my work, and what I was feeling when I created a certain piece.  Now you know some things I feel and why I do what I do.  But I'd rather let my photos and art tell you the rest, and let you figure most of it out on your own.  Look at the face of the bird on the right in this next photo.  Look closely.  What do you see there?  I'll tell you what I see:  HOPE - CURIOSITY - EXCITEMENT - JOY - ANTICIPATION.  That's what I see in this picture.  I try to give what I see and feel back to you through the pictures I create and share.  To me, that is enough.  You don't need me to tell you what I think, see and feel.  If you really take the time to look at my work, you will see it for yourself.  And to be totally honest, what *I* think and feel in creating a picture isn't even what's really important.  What's truly important is how does the picture make YOU feel?

So here at the end of this wonderful journey, I'd like to present my final Shiloh Eagle Album 7.  Click the link to view the individual photos or view the slide show below:

If you'd like to see to other albums, please visit Album 1, Album 2, Album 3, Album 4, Album 5 and Album 6.  I'd like to mention a few of my fellow photographers whom I've enjoyed meeting and talking with on my visits to the nest:  Don Holland, Jay Turner (ShilohEagles.Com), Mike (ShilohEaglePics.Com), Ronald and Faye Armour, Emily Tanner, David Gunter, and Ken and Peggy Crawford and many others.  Thank you all for making me feel welcome on during my first year visiting Shiloh, for teaching me so much about the birds and their habits, and for sharing your beautiful photos of these majestic birds.  It has truly been a pleasure.  See you at the nest sometime.

--Jai Johnson

Nestling ~ Jai Johnson, 2013

When we are young and just starting out in the world, most of us have a dream of "what we want to be when we grow up."  From a very young age, I knew I wanted to be an artist.  I knew it from around age five.  It wasn't until I was around age ten that I was introduced to photography.  It was actually my aunt who introduced me to it - she was an avid photographer and on family visits, I would follow her around, begging to take pictures too.  Eventually I got my first camera - it was one of those Kodak Disc Cameras...remember those?  From that point forward, the adventure began.

The problem came in as I grew older and I was constantly pulled and pushed away from what I really wanted to do.  This is when the identity crisis began for me.  I had numerous people in my life telling me I could never make a living - either as an artist or a photographer - and that I needed to do something so I could have a "real" career.  Stupidly, I listened to the words of the masses and put my own dreams to bed.  But I always had a camera and was always taking photos.  Because I knew that was who I truly wanted to be.

Span ahead 20 years or so. I went to college to become "something" and did work I absolutely hated for people who didn't appreciate me as much as I thought they should for many, many years.  At some point, I had enough of it all, and said that's it, I am going back to what I always wanted to be from day one.  An artist...a photographer.  But the identity crisis has continued, because for the past 20 years I haven't been able to decide if I wanted to be an artist OR a photographer.

As you can tell from my website, I've done both.  There's a ton of photography, and a lot of art and digital art, too, in my portfolios.  It wasn't until I combined the two into what I call "artistic photography", that I truly felt like I was finally where I belonged in my own life.  It's what I want to do.  It's who I want to be.  It's what inspires my soul and makes me feel as if I've accomplished something amazing.

I've been in a photography seminar this week and I just visited the teacher's blog.  In one article on her blog she says: "We give so much of our time to others, wondering what they will think or how a certain new piece of work will be accepted, when acceptance is not important, nor are the opinions of others.  Originality is creating from the heart. It is paying little attention to the trends, opinions, or thoughts of the time."

That statement really struck a cord with me, since I've been struggling - not necessarily with originality, but more so with my own identity again.  As a licensed artist, I am required to pay attention the trends.  The opinions and thoughts of others matter on a daily basis.  I am often requested to do works I don't want to do at the moment, but in order to possibly "get the deal", I have to do the work.  I have to drop what I'm doing that I truly love and pick up something I don't want to do at the request of someone else.  What I just realized, is I don't have to do that. I've done it because there's a possibility doing a certain project could make me some income.  And because it's been drilled into my head how important "making an income" is from a young age, I felt I needed to accommodate.

But you know what?  I've discovered most often when I drop what I love to do because of a request of someone else with the "must make an income" thinking in mind, it doesn't even happen.  There's been very few deals come out of that scenario.  And over the past few years, I've been finding ways to decrease expenses so I could continue to do what I love and be who I WANT TO BE in my life.  In the past year, I've actually bought new photography equipment with my earnings from doing the things I didn't want to do, where previously, all that money went to bills.  I decided, however, it was finally time to invest in myself, and invest in who I truly want to be.

So who do I want to be?  I want to be an artistic photographer.  I want to create beautiful works of photography, which when printed on canvas, framed, and viewed from across the room, the viewer will wonder, is that a painting, or a photograph?  I love to create works of photographic art which hang over the fireplace mantel and look like rich, elegant, gorgeous, timeless, classic, fine art.   I love to see the responses of others when I say, "It's a photograph".  Because it is, originally.  Then I take what I've learned from painting, apply it to the photograph, and turn it into art.

Graves Pond ~ Jai Johnson, 2012

I finally feel as if my identity crisis is coming to an end.  I know who I want to be and the type of work I want to spend my time on creating.  I'm to the point where opinions of others do not matter.  What matters is that I create from the heart.  Because that and only that is what is going to make me a success.

--Jai

Eagles at Shiloh

I know, I've been really negligent (once again) with my painting a day series.  But I have a VERY good excuse!  I learned about the Shiloh Eagles at the Shiloh National Military Park in Tennessee in a recent Sunday paper.  Shiloh is about an hour away from us, but I couldn't wait to get my gear loaded and get down there to see these awesome birds.

I was quite surprised upon arriving that we could be so close to the eagles!  Named Hiram and Julia, the adult eagles have built a fabulous nest.  We have to stay behind the fence, but we're still very close to them, which makes for great photos, even for my cameras.

There's the husband, and the empty green chair next to him is mine, but I don't stay in the chair too much. :)

We've been twice so far to see the pair of eagles and two eaglets (Shi and Loh).  The first time we went, it was cloudy but I still managed to get some decent photos.  See album 1 of the Shiloh Eagles here.  The second time -- just last week -- the sun was out and it was a gorgeous spring day.  See album 2 of the Shiloh Eagles here.  

Week two was rather exciting - the babies have grown so much!  Hiram and Julie brought in at least three meals while we were there.  And Julia replenished the nest with grass and pine needles a couple of times.   At the end of the day, Hiram flew to the roosting tree and all the photographers followed.  He seemed to have a great time posing for us and we all got some incredible shots.

We plan on going back at least once a week until the babies have left the nest.  As I said, this is a nature photographers dream!  I truly expected the nest to be back in the woods and that I'd need a $10K lens just to be able to see them.  I feel very blessed to be able to take advantage of this opportunity and still get great photos with my limited equipment.

Check out the Shiloh Eagle gallery I've set up on my Fine Art America website too, with the best of the best of my eagle photos.   If you're looking for great wildlife art prints on paper, framed and matted, or on canvas, that's where to get them.

--Jai

eagle art

House Finch and Berries - Birds

House Finch and Berries

Here's another little bird I feel is often overlooked.  This a female house finch, who tends to blend in so much with her surroundings, it's easy to miss her presence.  Sometimes I don't even know she's there unless I hear her little chirps.  I will seek her out by watching for movement in the direction of the sound.  These finches are present in abundance - it's estimated there are billions of them in the United States today.  They were originally from the Western United States and Mexico.  They were taken to Oahu before 1870 and by 1901 were abundant on all of the Hawaiian islands.  In 1940, there were attempts made to sell these little finches as caged birds called "Hollywood Finches" in Long Island, New York, and this venture failed.  The birds were turned loose, quickly started breeding, and spread across the US over the next 50 years.  The male is often more easily spotted than the female because of his reddish coloring on his head and breast.  As you can see, however, the female is just as beautiful, despite her lack of red coloring.   I've paired her with deep turquoise blue berry branches in this piece of art, which I feel helps to show her true beauty and helps her stand out in a fashionable way.  See numerous other gifts below with this lovely little lady's art, titled "House Finch and Berries":  

House Finch and Berries Canvas Print

House Finch and Berries Greeting Card

House Finch and Berries Wall Clock

House Finch and Berries Stone Coaster

House Finch and Berries Pillow Home Decor

House Finch and Berries Kitchen Tile Trivet

House Finch and Berries Coaster Set

House Finch and Berries Mousepad

House Finch and Berries Ornament

House Finch and Berries Plaque

House Finch and Berries Fine Art Print

House Finch and Berries Business Cards

House Finch and Berries Journal Notebook

House Finch and Berries Trinket Box Premium Trinket Boxes

House Finch and Berries Collectible Plate

House Finch and Berries Kitchen Hand Towel

House Finch and Berries Placemat

House Finch and Berries Napkins

House Finch and Berries Refrigerator Magnet

House Finch and Berries Sterling Silver Necklace

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bird art]]> [email protected] (Jai Johnson | Photographic Artist) art backyard bird birds house nature photographs sparrow watching wildlife https://jaiart.zenfolio.com/blog/2013/2/house-finch-and-berries Sun, 03 Feb 2013 12:00:41 GMT https://jaiart.zenfolio.com/blog/2013/1/my-little-sparrow-friend

Little Sparrow Friend

We have a huge abundance of cardinals at our feeders.  And while I love them and think they are beautiful birds, I always delight when the little house sparrow visits the feeder.  Often this little fella stays back in the bushes, waiting and watching for the perfect time to hop to the feeder.  Like many of the smaller birds, he prefers to grab a seed and take it to a nearby branch rather than sit on the feeder for long.  He also is a delightful songbird, with sweet chirps which can't help but cheer you up on a blah day.  I feel he is often overlooked due to his neutral colors -- in fact I'm guilty of it myself by seeking out bright colored feathers in the branches and foliage with my camera.  Lately, however, I've realized how darling this tiny bird species is, and I've made a point this year to capture his image more frequently and add him into my artwork to help show his true beauty.  I've created a number of gifts with this image, titled "Little Sparrow Friend", which will be perfect for the bird lover in your family.  See them all below:

Little Sparrow Friend Greeting Card

Little Sparrow Friend Ornament

Little Sparrow Friend Refrigerator Magnet

Little Sparrow Friend Kitchen Hand Towel

Little Sparrow Friend Journal Notebook

Little Sparrow Friend Placemat

Little Sparrow Friend Mousepad

Little Sparrow Friend Fine Art Print

Little Sparrow Friend Canvas Print

Little Sparrow Friend Sterling Silver Necklace

Little Sparrow Friend Pillow Home Decor

Little Sparrow Friend Collectible Plate

Little Sparrow Friend Napkins

Little Sparrow Friend Trinket Box Premium Gift Box

Little Sparrow Friend Wall Clock

Little Sparrow Friend Kitchen Tile Trivet

Little Sparrow Friend Plaque

Little Sparrow Friend Stone Coaster

Little Sparrow Friend Coaster Set

Little Sparrow Friend Business Cards

Little Sparrow Friend Stamps

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Black Capped Chickadee - Birds

Black Capped Chickadee

The Black Capped Chickadee is one of my favorite backyard birds.  He's very hard to photograph, however, because he's super fast and his dark face often totally swallows his eyes in the photos.  Every once in a while, I get lucky and manage to get a shot where you can see that tiny little glint in his eye, which just adds to this tiny bird's sparkle.  I love his black and white coloring - he looks very exotic!  If you need a unique, beautiful gift for the backyard bird lover in your life, check out the Black Capped Chickadee on a variety of products below:

P.S.  I'm not sure why, when I post my products, this system cuts off the complete title of the product...if you click on them, you can see all of the details about the products.

Black Capped Chickadee Sterling Silver Necklace

Black Capped Chickadee Refrigerator Magnet

Black Capped Chickadee Napkins

Black Capped Chickadee Placemat

Black Capped Chickadee Kitchen Hand Towel

Black Capped Chickadee Collectible Plate

Black Capped Chickadee Trinket Box Premium Keepsake Boxes

Black Capped Chickadee Journal Notebook

Black Capped Chickadee Business Cards

Black Capped Chickadee Fine Art Print

Black Capped Chickadee Plaque

Black Capped Chickadee Ornament

Black Capped Chickadee Mousepad

Black Capped Chickadee Coaster Set

Black Capped Chickadee Kitchen Tile Trivet

Black Capped Chickadee Pillow Home Decor

Black Capped Chickadee Stone Coaster

Black Capped Chickadee Wall Clock

Black Capped Chickadee Greeting Card

Black Capped Chickadee Canvas Print

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Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 - Hummingbird

Tea Time With A Hummingbird 2

After finishing Tea Time With a Hummingbird 1, I decided my first little hummingbird art needed a companion piece.  So here is another of our favorite tiny bird friends, a Ruby Red Throated Hummingbird, perched on a tiny tea cup and ready to share a special moment with you!  Honestly, working on these two pieces has fueled my desire for hummingbird photography again.  Being it's January, I'm going to have to wait a few months until the new flock rolls in -- but this year, I'll be even more ready.  I'm armed with a bigger, better telephoto lens -- unfortunately it's not as fast at the lens I used last year, so I'm not quite sure about how the in flight shots will turn out.  I'm anxious to give it a whirl and bring even more new and exciting hummingbird images to the art world.  In the meantime, you can enjoy some great gifts below featuring Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2, and remember to check out the first design in this new series I'm working on, just in case you missed it.   

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Plaque

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Mousepad

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Ornament

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Coaster Set

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Canvas Print

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Stone Coaster

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Fine Art Print

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Kitchen Tile Trivet

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Wall Clock

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Greeting Card

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Napkins

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Placemat

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Trinket Box Premium Jewelry Box

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Journal Notebook

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Pillow Home Decor

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Collectible Plate

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Sterling Necklace

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Kitchen Hand Towel

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Refrigerator Magnet

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Business Cards

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 Stamps

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P.S.  I made a special pillow just for hummingbird lovers who like this design!  It features Tea Time With a Hummingbird 1 on the front and Tea Time With a Hummingbird 2 on the back.  Click on the image below to see both sides of this one of a kind hummingbird pillow:

Tea Time With Hummingbirds Pillow Home Decor by jaiart

Tea Time With a Hummingbird 1 - Hummingbird

Tea Time With a Hummingbird

I've been uploading my stock photos all week onto a wide variety of gifts in my stores across the world wide web in an effort to get my complete inventory out there and selling.  I've completed quite a few birds and animal photos -- the flower category leaves a bit to be desired at this point, but I expect everything to be caught up by the end of the first quarter.  

I finally took a break on Friday to finish the work on this photo, Tea Time With a Hummingbird.  The photo is the first in a series of unique, artistic bird photography images, where I'm pairing my birds with interesting still life objects to create works of art specifically for backyard bird collectors.  Teacups are dainty and delicate, just like the tiny hummingbirds, so I felt it was quite suitable to pair up the two in a few images in the series.  I've created a nice range of gifts with this image  - so if you're looking for that perfect little something for the hummingbird lovers in your life, you might just find it here:  

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Ornament

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Greeting Card

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Mousepad

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Canvas Print

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Fine Art Print

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Plaque

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Coaster Set

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Stone Coaster

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Stamps

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Kitchen Tile Trivet

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Wall Clock

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Placemat

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Journal Notebook

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Kitchen Hand Towel

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Refrigerator Magnet

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Napkins

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Trinket Box Premium Keepsake Box

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Sterling Necklace

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Collectible Plate

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Pillow Home Decor

Tea Time With a Hummingbird Business Cards

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The Bird and The Bee Greeting Card

Flowerpot Swallows Baby Birds Greeting Card

Baby Warbler Bird Greeting Card

Baby Warbler Bird Post Card

Hummingbird I Bird Photo Tile Trivet

Hummingbird I Bird Photo Postcard

Hummingbird I Bird Photo Greeting Card

Hummingbird I Bird Photo Flat Note Cards Personalized Announcements

The Bird and The Bee Tile Trivet

The Bird and The Bee Canvas Print

The Bird and The Bee Ornament

The Bird and The Bee Mousepad

The Bird and The Bee Coaster

The Bird and The Bee Magnet

The Bird and The Bee Fine Art Print

Red Shouldered Hawk Portrait Bird Stamps

Flowerpot Swallows Baby Birds Fine Art Print

Red Shouldered Hawk Portrait II Bird Stamps

Flowerpot Swallows Baby Birds Coaster

Flowerpot Swallows Baby Birds Mousepad

Flowerpot Swallows Baby Birds Magnet

Flowerpot Swallows Baby Birds Tile Trivet

Flowerpot Swallows Baby Birds Ornament

DATING ADVICE Funny Bird Photo Postcards

DATING ADVICE Funny Bird Photo Card

Wood Thrush Bird on Branch Aprons

Wood Thrush Bird on Branch Bags

Wood Thrush Bird on Branch Hoodie

Wood Thrush Bird on Branch Shirt

Wood Thrush Bird on Branch Tshirts

Wood Thrush Bird on Branch T Shirts

Wood Thrush Bird on Branch Shirts

HEAD FIRST Funny Bird Photo Greeting Cards

HEAD FIRST Funny Bird Photo Postcards

Black Capped Chickadee Backyard Bird Aprons

Black Capped Chickadee Backyard Bird Tote Bag

Black Capped Chickadee Backyard Bird Hooded Sweatshirts

Black Capped Chickadee Backyard Bird T-shirts

Black Capped Chickadee Backyard Bird T-shirts

Black Capped Chickadee Backyard Bird T Shirts

Black Capped Chickadee Backyard Bird Shirt

THAT'S COLD! Funny Bird Photo Postcard

Flowerpot Swallows Baby Birds Canvas Print

Wood Thrush Bird on Branch 2 Apron

Wood Thrush Bird on Branch 2 Tote Bag

Wood Thrush Bird on Branch 2 Hooded Pullover

Wood Thrush Bird on Branch 2 T-shirts

Wood Thrush Bird on Branch 2 Shirts

Wood Thrush Bird on Branch 2 Tees

Wood Thrush Bird on Branch 2 Tshirts

THAT'S COLD! Funny Bird Photo Greeting Card

HEAD FIRST Funny Bird Photo Flat Note Cards Announcement

Bewick's Wren Backyard Bird Aprons

Bewick's Wren Backyard Bird Canvas Bags

Bewick's Wren Backyard Bird Hoodies

Bewick's Wren Backyard Bird Shirt

Bewick's Wren Backyard Bird T-shirts

Bewick's Wren Backyard Bird Tees

Bewick's Wren Backyard Bird T Shirts

THAT'S COLD! Funny Bird Photo Flat Note Cards Personalized Invitations

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Moonrise Landscape Business Cards

Icy Road Winter Landscape Greeting Card

First Snow Landscape Greeting Card

Black Horse Landscape Business Cards

Wishing Path Wishing Well Landscape Magnet

A Place to Dream Landscape Mousepad

2013 The Peace of Autumn Landscapes Calendar

Shine on Colorado Landscape Ornament

Winter Creek Landscape Greeting Card

Water Fountain Landscape Greeting Card

Summer in the Grove Landscape Greeting Card

Behind the Gate Landscape Greeting Card

Summer Pond Landscape Greeting Card

Fence Line Landscape Greeting Card

Moonrise Landscape Post Card

Home Sweet Home Southern Landscape Greeting Card

Timbers Pond Landscape Greeting Card

The Old Mill Landscape Greeting Card

A Joyful Place Spring Landscape Greeting Card

Misty Autumn Morning Landscape Greeting Card

Autumn Gate Landscape Greeting Card

Ride at Timbers Farm Landscape Greeting Card

Wishing Path Wishing Well Landscape Greeting Card

2013 Autumn Landscapes Fall Colors Calendar

Abandoned Barn Landscape Greeting Card

Hint of September Landscape Greeting Card

Meeting of the Seasons Landscape Greeting Card

Fishing Day Landscape Greeting Card

A Place to Dream Landscape Greeting Card

Winding Drive Summer Landscape Greeting Card

The Old Mill Landscape Fine Art Print

Shine on Colorado Landscape Greeting Card

Spring Morning Landscape Greeting Card

Summer in the Grove Landscape Mousepad

Summer in the Grove Landscape Canvas Print

Summer in the Grove Landscape Fine Art Print

Evening Snow Winter Landscape Greeting Card

The Back Gate Landscape Post Card

Graves Pond II Landscape Greeting Card

Summer in the Grove Landscape Magnet

The Back Gate Landscape Greeting Card

Summer in the Grove Landscape Coaster

Summer in the Grove Landscape Ornament

The Back Gate Landscape Flat Note Cards Invitation

As Evening Falls Landscape Greeting Card

Divinity Landscape Christian Art Post Card

Behind the Gate Landscape Mousepad

Evening Snow Winter Landscape Fine Art Print

Divinity Landscape Christian Art Stationery

Summer in the Grove Landscape Tile Trivet

Behind the Gate Landscape Canvas Print

Behind the Gate Landscape Fine Art Print

Winter Path Landscape Greeting Card

Riverbend Landscape Christian Art Greeting Card

Impending Autumn Landscape Greeting Card

Lakeside Memories Landscape Greeting Card

Divinity Landscape Christian Art Greeting Card

Home Sweet Home Southern Landscape Mousepad

One Moment in Time Landscape Greeting Card

Summer Pond Landscape Mousepad

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I use this chair daily when photographing on my property.  It simply squeezes together and it's easy to carry.  At first I was hesitant that the canvas material would last - but it has, for almost a year now. The legs are made of heavy duty metal, and it's still in fantastic shape.  It has a cup holder, which is a great place for me to put my water bottle while I'm outside.  The chair also comes with a pouch with a handle - which is fabulous for taking it on hikes and nature treks, as you can easily carry it along with your camera gear.  When you find a spot you want to focus on, simply unfold the chair and sit -- it's that simple. :)

Now I can sit and photograph the birds -- after ten years of standing, this is quite a help to me.  And I like the green color of this chair because it helps me blend in with my natural surroundings easily.  So if you're looking for something new to help you in your photography this spring, this type of chair is a must have!

--Jai

Juvenile Coopers Hawk

Photographing backyard birds is extremely fun and rewarding, although very challenging!  I've been seriously photographing my backyard birds for the past five years, and I'm still as obsessed with it as I was in the beginning.  I have taken thousands of birds photos, many of which you can see in my photography albums.  And I've learned a few things along the way so I thought I'd share with those of you who also enjoy photographing birds in your backyard and at your feeders.  I hope you enjoy these backyard bird photography tips.

Tip #1:  Get the biggest and best telephoto lens you can afford.  And then...get as close to your birds as you can.  Bird are definitely skittish and if you move too fast to get close to them, they'll dart off in a second.  The smaller the bird, the faster they move.  I position my lens and get the bird in focus, and then take one step at a time to get closer, shooting photos the entire way.  I don't wait until I get close enough to get a shot, because that bird can exit the scene in a heartbeat.  By shooting photos as I go, I can at least capture the bird's photo at some points along the way.  With the hawk shown above, I started shooting about 100 feet away.  Taking one step at a time with my lens on him the whole way, I shot a progression of photos from far away until I reached the point above, which was about 15 feet away from him.  He didn't seem scared of me at all - the only reason he flew after this shot is because one of my cats ran through the walkway between the trees underneath him.  Below is another example where I was super close to the bird for the shot.

Hummingbird

Tip #2:  Don't speak.  Be very, very quiet.  Birds - especially small ones - get startled easily by noises, and it's best to be doing this at a time when things are quiet around you.  When your neighbor is mowing the lawn or using a leaf blower is not the time to be photographing your birds.  Before you start your photography session, check out your surrounding environment for loud noises, equipment running, and even barking dogs close by, as these noises will startle your birds, and you'll end up getting frustrated from missing the shots.  And for goodness sake, put your cell phone on vibrate or shut it off.  There's nothing more aggravating than getting all set up for the perfect bird shot and to have your photo start ringing (or playing music!) from your pocket.  Unless your birds are used to phone and music sounds, you can kiss that shot goodbye when the phone is in action.

Tip #3:  Pay attention to your backgrounds.  If your birds are on a branch of a filled out tree, you'll most likely capture the leaves behind the bird in clear or semi-clear focus, which can create a busy background.  (which isn't bad as long as it's pretty!)  If you want a softer background which is blurred, position your feeders at quite a distance in front of any background material.  Referring back to the hummingbird photo above, this feeder is right outside a screened porch on a house.  In my first photos, I was actually shooting the feeder with the edge of  the porch in the background, which showed a strip of wood and some screen behind the bird.  YUCK.   By shifting myself to where I was standing against the porch and photographing towards the big open backyard instead, I was able to get a much better background which blurred beautifully!  Below is a photo of another hummingbird with a feeder positioned directly in front of a bush.  It's still a good photo, but the one above gives the viewer a clear focus of the bird and makes the bird really stand out, therefore, I prefer it.

Tip #4:  Pay attention to your perches.  I will photograph birds on feeders, but I typically prefer them to be on a branch nearby.  My feeders are positioned in a small cove of trees and bushes, giving my birds plenty of places to land other than on the feeders for photos.  If you watch your birds and learn their habits, you can determine such things as when they're approaching or leaving the feeder, which branch they will perch upon.  You can also figure out how long a bird will stay on the feeder.  For instance, I've learned the little Tufted Titmouse (shown below) is a very fast, hyper little bird.  He will move from branch to branch very quickly before he ever lights on the feeder, and he's only on the feeder for a second to grab a seed before he leaves.  When he leaves, however, he takes his seed to a nearby branch and breaks it open and sits on the branch for a short time after eating.  THIS is the time to get the photo.

Tip#5: Pay attention to your light and sky.  If you have a bright sky showing behind your bird, you could end up with a silhouette photo, as the bird will be too dark.  Or the bird will not stand out clearly enough against the background of the sky.  However, if the sunlight is shining on your bird, you'll be able to get a better photo.  The experts often say to not photograph things in direct sunlight -- however because there is often sky showing behind birds, I feel it helps in those cases.  Plus the sun will really bring out the beautiful colors in the feathers which you might not otherwise capture.  Below is a photo of my red shouldered hawk up high on a branch, with no sun shining on him.

Male Bodybuilding - INBF CANADA PHOTO TEAM-29573

Now here is a photo in the same location once the sun came out and illuminated him slightly:

His colors really glow in the second photo!  Use the sun to your advantage.  I always watch for how bright my sky is behind the subject, and for what light is on the bird.  I will even check out nearby branches to see what their background is and whether the sun is hitting them or not, and once I find a branch or portion of a tree I'm happy with, I'll wait for a bird to land on that particular branch before I shoot anything.  Below is a more extreme example.  The first photo turned out to be a silhouette because of incorrect lighting (sun behind the subject).  

In this second photo, the flying hawk was bathed in sunlight (sun in front of the subject):

Tip #6:  Be patient.  Anytime you approach your feeder area, or another area you often see birds, they will fly away.  Find a spot to stand or sit and just WAIT.  My songbirds often make a mass exodus upon me getting into position.  But after 10-15 minutes of me sitting there quietly waiting, they will come back, and they usually ignore me.  My daughter is impatient with birds -- she'll go outside with her camera and if the birds fly away as she approaches, she'll wait a minute or so and give up.  With birds, you can't do that.  They have to learn you're not going to hurt them -- and they often learn that within 15 minutes or so.  Don't chase the birds around - unless you want some extra exercise. :)  Find a spot and wait for them to come to the area.  When I photographed the hawk above, I was leaning against the side wall of a neighbor's house for probably 30 minutes before she showed up.  I just quietly waited.  In the cold.  With a heavy lens positioned and ready.  Which brings me to my next tip.

Tip #7:  Holding the lens can be difficult, but with practice, you'll get it figured out.  Some people prefer to use a tripod.  I don't.  I want to be free to follow my birds easily.  Whether than means panning the lens around the area, or getting up and moving to another location, I want to be able to easily move.  Many of the photos shown in this blog post were taken with a Tamron 70-300mm lens.  This lens is fairly lightweight for a telephoto, but definitely heavier than a kit lens.  The lens I'm currently using is a Sigma 150-500mm.  The very first hawk photo shown in this post was taken with the Sigma, which is a much heavier lens.  Since I don't have any photos of how I hold the lens, I'm going to attempt to describe it.  I hold the lens as a hunter would hold his rifle.    I am right handed, so this perspective is how I, as a right handed person, holds the lens.  I hold the right edge of the camera body with my right hand and use my right forefinger to press the shutter.  I put my left hand - palm up - about midway under the lens to stabilize it.  Then I bring my left elbow as tightly into the middle of my chest as I can and I squeeze my right elbow inward as well.  And I hold my breath while I shoot, to try to avoid camera shake.  I often will space my feet far apart to brace myself further.  If I have a wall of a house or building to lean up against, I utilize that as well.  I also have a portable camping chair I'll sit in near my feeding area.  I hold the lens in the same way as I'm sitting.

Tip #8:  What to wear.  And what not to wear.  Wear comfortable clothes, suited for the weather.  You don't want to get all situated in your favorite spot to only have to get up and go change or add clothing...figure this out beforehand.  I've done it numerous times...gone outside and settled myself only to realize that breeze was just a little chilly and I needed to go get a jacket.  It's frustrating to have to get up -- which makes the birds who've arrived all fly away -- and have to come back out and start the waiting process all over again.  Wear neutral colored clothing, such as greens, grays, browns, blue and blacks.  Stay away from bright colors.  Unless you're photographing hummingbirds.  Hummingbirds love red and if you wear a red shirt, they will often fly right up to you.  Don't wear perfume, cologne, hair spray or other extra smelly stuff.  Birds have a keen sense of smell and you want to blend in as best as possible in order that you can get close to your feathered friends.  Strong smelling perfumes and colognes will keep them away.  But those scents WILL draw bees and other irritating bugs.  As will the bright colored clothes.  So if you want birds, but not the bees and bugs, wear bland colored clothing and don't wear perfume.

Tip #9:  Photograph your bird from all directions.  Birds are moving constantly.  When they land on a branch, they'll look straight ahead, to the left, to the right, and then turn around and look over their backside, all in a matter of seconds.  Get photos of all of it!  This way, you can pick your best photo from a multitude of choices.  I can't tell you how often I've photographed a male cardinal with a black face, thinking I've obtained a great shot, only to see his face was too dark in the final photo.  By shooting when he looks left AND right, if one side is too dark, the other will often come out more to my liking.  

Tip #10:  Always focus on the eye.  This is true of any living creature.  I sell my photos in a variety of venues, and I can tell you the ones which sell the most are the ones in which the eye of the bird or animal is clearly in focus.    Your viewers want to feel like they can "know" your bird, as if they're right there with him.  This happens through the connection made via the eyes.  Also, always look for the white glint in the eye.  This brings more life to your bird and his expression, and it's definitely appealing to viewers.  When editing your final bird photos, if you need to, enhance that white glint in his eye.  Or if it's a great photo but the glint isn't there, consider adding it via your editing program.  It will bring your photo to life.

Thank you for reading my article - I hope you've found some of my tips useful!  Be sure to keep an eye on my bird photography albums, as I'm adding more and more each week.  And check out my artistic photography birds and animals albums as well, where you'll find photos with my artistic vision applied to create even more beautiful wall art of our fine feathered friends.

--Jai

View more of Jai's Bird photo gifts at Zazzle.

2013 Autumn Landscapes Fall Colors Calendar by jaiart

View more landscape photos

Some people won't purchase art for a gift - they feel art is a personal choice by the recipient. However, the majority of the people choose a piece of art for their home for at least one of these three reasons:

1) It goes with their decor, either by theme or color

2) It contains a subject the person loves or collects and/or

3) It gives them an emotional feeling or response when they view it...i.

View more autumn landscape photos

I often ask myself how "bad" of a photo I can transform.  And I challenge myself to make it work.  That's exactly what happened with this snow leopard photo.  I captured several photos of this guy last year and this year at the Memphis Zoo.  The original photo above is one of the worst from this year as far as lighting and color - but I love the pose and have been anxious to complete a portrait style piece of art featuring this big cat.

Six textures later, plus a few color and saturation adjustments on his eyes, and I now have a finished portrait of this handsome leopard.  Wouldn't his portrait look lovely hanging in your home or office?  I believe he'd look spectacular framed and matted.  Pick out your frame and mat choices here.

Miniature Red Rose IV - Floral

Miniature Red Rose IV

Part of the thrill of what I do is being able to provide customers with the perfect art they're looking for to add to their home living spaces and their office decor.  When I don't have a customer request to work on, I create the images I want to see and be around.  I love customer requests, however, because it helps me get out of myself and create something for someone else to fit within their desires.

The good thing is, I've decided what I want to do when I grow up.  I love creating the artistic photography.  I love it better than straight photography, and I love it better than painting and drawing.  The beauty of it is, each piece involves the best of both worlds.  The benefit of it is I have a stock of so many photos taken over the past 20 years, I have a virtual encyclopedia of photos to choose from in order to create what anyone wants.  And if I don't have it, I can find it, photograph it, and create it for my customers.

The art above featuring the miniature red rose is a piece created for a customer.  She wanted a romantic, floral piece of art for a dining room.  She loves vintage, and wanted an antique feel to the work.  She wanted something unique and different than what's out there in all the stores, so she could be assured those she entertains won't be seeing something they have hanging in their own dining room when they visited hers.

She also wanted something a bit less "colorful" or "saturated" as many of my works are.  More brown, more earthy, she told me.  Less orange, less gold.  And I said, no problem!

I use heavy colors and a firm saturation of golds and oranges in my work for two reasons.  This goes back to my book I wrote many years ago titled Healing With Color.  We are living in times of financial distress, and we are living in times where people need healing in their lives.  In my book, I discuss the benefits of color therapy and how certain colors can be used in living spaces in order to achieve certain outcomes.  Gold is a rich color -- designed to bring about better financial situations.  Orange is a healing color -- it will bring about healing of the body, mind and soul just by being around it.  Red is an energetic color -- offering more vibrant energy to those who view it.  Green is the color of growth -- it is used to bring you more of the things you want in abundance.  And brown is an earthy color -- which brings a sense of grounding and stability to those who view it.  I feel many people in our world need more of all of these things, and that's why I tend to drift to those colors in my palettes.

But my customer wanted earthy brown, less saturation and a red rose.  So I prepared four images (see them all in my floral section).  Two with the use of the brown she desired, and two with the use of a more saturated look with green, to bring abundance.  Not surprisingly, she chose the artistic photo above.  Despite the fact the photo features a miniature rose, it's being ordered and framed in a large size, to make a big impact in her dining room.  Much to my surprise, however, she actually loved the other photos with the green textured background, and she is ordering both of them in matching mats and frames for another room in her home.

When you tell me what you want, I will often prepare a few choices for you.  Of course, I always strive to create something to fit your needs and desires exactly.  But I also like to prepare a couple of extra choices for you if I can, in order to encourage you to step outside the box and try something a bit outside of your color comfort zone. :)

So...now the question is, what kind of artistic photo can I prepare for you today?  Do you desire a landscape, a romantic floral design, a still life photo of something you love, or a beloved animal or bird for your home or office?  What are you looking for to compliment your home or office decor?  Go ahead and share your thoughts with me on what you want -- and let me see what I can come up with for you.  Feel free to email me a photo of the room you're looking to decorate with new art and I'll see what I can come up with for you!  Let me help you make your space YOU.

InJoy,

Jai

P.S.  Have you signed up for the JaiArt weekly newsletter yet?  It's a great way to be inspired with new art each week, and I also often give away lovely art gifts to my newsletter subscribers who provide a mailing address in their signup. :)

Strawberries & Cream

Strawberries and Cream

Sunday, I began working on some still life photos to add to the art selections here on the website.  I started with working on some perfume bottle pieces as a warm up.  (see them in the still life section)  What I was working up to was a piece like Strawberries and Cream.  This is  a style of creation which is somewhat new to me, especially in regards to objects, so I always do some warm up art to prepare myself.  It's just an added blessing when the warm up art turns out good enough to publish as well. :)

I have some delightful old tea pots, cups, bowls and pitchers I used to play with at my grandparents house as a child.  Looking at them in my dining room fostered the desire to create something artistic with their photos.  This creamer pitcher used in Strawberries and Cream is not part of the set however.  I picked it up about a year ago.  Here's a little tip for artists looking for cool, old things for still life photos and paintings:  go to your thrift stores or Goodwill stores.  This small pitcher was picked up at my local Goodwill store, purely for the intention of artistic creation.  These stores are a great place to pick up wonderful collectibles -- not just for adding to your collection, but also for your artistic purposes.

For this still life art, I first photographed the antique creamer alone.  Then I added the bowl digitally from another photo.  And the strawberries and cream in the bowl from yet another photo.  So this finished creation is actually a compilation of three photos to create the old world, vintage still life look I was after.  I added approximately six textures, plus made color adjustments, darkened some areas, smoothed some areas, etc, to get to this finished art.  

Take a look at where I started the process, and compare it to the finished design in the photo below.  Strawberries and Cream is now a beautiful work of art, perfect for hanging on your dining room or kitchen wall.  Want to add it to your kitchen in a small way?  Check out this lovely tile trivet.

InJoy,

Jai

P.S.  Have you signed up for the JaiArt newsletter yet?  Get fresh art delivered to your email each week!

Eagle I

Eagle I, Patriotic Style

With our Independence Day holiday -- 4th of July -- right around the corner, I found it fitting to create a patriotic symbol for the special day which celebrates our freedom.  I photographed this beautiful eagle at the Memphis Zoo back in May.  Using a variety of textures, I've given him a red, white and blue background to represent the good ole USA.

In addition to the above photo, I've created another bald eagle artistic photo below, suitable for most home and office decor thanks to the neutral color scheme.  Perfect for any wildlife enthusiast, this photo will make a great gift for any occasion.  

Eagle II

Eagle II

Both are available here on the website as artist signed, framed canvas prints in ornate frames.  For other types of prints (framed and unframed) and other gifts featuring the beautiful American Bald Eagle, see the "where to buy" tab at the top of this page for our retail partners.

InJoy,

Jai

Golden Dogwood Flowers

Golden Dogwood Flowers

For some reason, I'm in a Dogwood flower mood this week.  I shot a lot of photos back in the spring when the Dogwoods were in full bloom here, and I've just now been tempted to work with them. (yes, the work speaks to me, tempts me when it's ready.:))  I think Dogwood flowers are really sweet.  The Dogwood trees aren't really big, and the flowers follow suit and are somewhat small.  They're just sweet.  

I'm kind of taking a mini vacation this week, and I feel sweetly relaxed as a result.  Maybe that's why the Dogwood flowers spoke to me and said, "Take me! Take me!  Create something beautiful with ME!"  Whatever the reason, the first part of the week has been spent with them and I've created several artistic flower photos this week using these Dogwood flowers.

For this particular art, I was reminded from my original photo how the sunlight trickling through the tree branches and leaves basks the creamy pinkish-white petals in a golden glow.  I chose textures for the final art which enhanced that golden glow, and make the flowers seem almost ethereal.  I was still after my vintage/antique feel with the work and managed to squeeze in some use of deep and rich colors like the old masters, while at the same time, I tried to lighten the work up enough to give it an airy feeling of how a sweet, relaxed life makes one feel.  I think I've succeeded.  I'm very pleased with this one, and I'm already thinking how lovely it will look in certain rooms in my home.  :)

--Jai

P.S.  It would look lovely in your home too. :)

This week I completed my Dogwood Flower Collection.  I actually created 4 pieces - two large size and two smaller size "skinny" art pieces for your smaller spaces.  You can see them all individually in my artistic flower photos section.  But I've put together 3 of them into a group of framed canvases, artist signed and ready to hang when they arrive on your doorstep.  I've chosen my ornate gold frame with red accents for this group.  If you'd prefer one of the other frames I offer, just let me know which one when ordering.  This grouping is priced at $749.95 and is sure to be a welcome addition to your home or office decor if you are looking for floral artwork, with the lovely browns and golds of the old masters art in the colors.  Price includes free shipping.  -- Jai

The Old Mill

We have a special 24"x36" edition of The Old Mill framed, signed and for sale direct from the studio.  Exclusive canvas print is size 24x36 and is framed in a large gold wood frame with deep red crackle accents.  Perfect for over a sofa in your home or office!

$449.95 price includes shipping

Secret Pond Landscape

Secret Pond

We have a unique, framed version of Secret Pond available from the studio!  Framed in an antique gold wood frame, this artist signed canvas print adds a special touch of nature's beauty to your living space.  This exclusive print is size 20x24" and comes to you ready to hang, right out of the box.  

$349.95   Price includes shipping

Water's Edge Landscape

Water's Edge

We also have a matching unique, framed version of Water's Edge available from the studio!  Framed in an antique gold wood frame, this artist signed canvas print adds a special touch of nature's beauty to your living space, and it is a lovely compliment to Secret Pond (above), since they are framed in matching frames.  This exclusive print on canvas is size 20x24" and comes to you ready to hang, right out of the box.

$349.95 price includes shipping

Fence Line Landscape

Fence Line

Some days are just loaded with dust.  Lots of it.  Okay, so sometimes it's dirt.  And there's nothing worse than carrying it home with you at the end of the day.  I always wash my hands before going to bed...because I want to wash away any negativity from the day.  This picture kind of speaks the same thing to me.  When I looked back on the photo before I processed it into this piece of art, I thought about how nice it would be to just leave the dust of the day outside the fence.  There's no reason to cross the fence into the beautiful golden field, among the glow of the gorgeous trees, and underneath the rainbow of color in the sky, carrying the dust of the day any further.  Leave it outside the fence.  Tomorrow is a new day, so start the evening with a fresh start and sleep peacefully, dreaming tranquil dreams filled with glorious color.

Buy prints, cards, and other gifts featuring this art here on the website.  Just add your favorite product to your cart and preview/configure your picture on your product to make it look exactly the way you wish!  You can also purchase cards and prints with the Fence Line art here, and also in my shop here.

InJoy,

Jai

Black Bantam Chicken

I'd like to introduce you to this dear little black Bantam chicken.  About a month ago, Michael and I were at the grocery store and my daughter called.  She said, "You'll never BELIEVE what's out here by the bird feeder!"  I expected another stray cat (we've had tons as we are the place they love to come to!), or perhaps a stray dog, or maybe even one of the hawks I've been stalking all spring.  I never expected to hear the words "a chicken".  I mean after all, this is a suburban neighborhood.

My first thought was it escaped from down the street.  A neighbor who lives right by the edge of the woods has some chickens and a rooster.  I just knew it had to be hers.  After seeing the chicken, and after it roosted in a tree overnight, I contacted her and she came up.  She said something had broken into her coop, killed one of her chickens, and another was missing.  But as soon as she saw this chicken, she knew it wasn't hers.  She was going to take it though -- if she could catch it.  Well, that didn't happen.

Day after day, the chicken stayed.  We got some chicken food and threw it out for what we thought was a little boy, since after a few days, it had crowed every morning.  As I always do with stray critters, I started trying to make friends with this chicken.  I named "him" Buddy.  One night, Buddy didn't get into his roost in the tree.  He disappeared.  The next morning, he was still gone.  I panicked, thinking something drastic had happened to him.  Suddenly he showed up.  And then disappeared again.  This went on for a few days, before I finally figured out what was  happening.

I followed Buddy after he had been eating one afternoon.  I saw where he went - into my neighbor's circle of bushes, deep down into them.  Sitting.  I showed my neighbor.  The next morning, Buddy emerged from the bushes, and my neighbor took a peek into the bushes.  Low and behold, Buddy was not a "he" at all.  He was a she - and was sitting on 13 eggs!

Being that I know absolutely nothing about chickens and was learning on the fly during this situation, I was dumbfounded about what to do, if anything.  She seemed to be in a pretty safe place.  Research showed there was a possibility that Buddy (now renamed "Betty") could have been fertilized by a rooster before she arrived -- and perhaps these eggs were going to hatch into baby chicks.  We marked the day she started sitting on the calendar and were counting the days until birth time, if they were going to hatch.  We began planning to build a small coop, and we planned on keeping one or two of the chicks, and giving the rest away.

And last weekend, our plans all fell apart.  My neighbor called Saturday morning.  There was a problem.  A big one.  Buddy/Betty was missing, and 10 of the 13 eggs were gone.  We found 3 eggshells busted open in the yard.  We found some feathers, which appeared to be tail feathers. More research on my new favorite website - BackyardChickens.Com.   From what I read, it wasn't looking good.  We were thinking dog, raccoons, or a fox.  We don't have any stray dogs running this area right now.  Raccoons and foxes though, we have them.  They pass through. I haven't seen either since winter, and I actually had forget they even were around.  Another neighbor said it looked like fox behavior.  And that the fox probably carried the chicken away.  Since she hasn't returned, it's a good possibility.  And whoever the predator is, it came back and got the final 3 eggs the next night.

I really miss her.  This was my first experience having a chicken around, and even after the short amount of time she was here, I can see why people really love these birds.  I've always loved Bantam chickens, because they are a little smaller, and I love the black ones and the pretty colors in the feathers.  I captured several photos of Buddy/Betty while I was out for my regular bird photography sessions, and this is one of the best photos.  I really hope you all enjoy her - I know I sure did, and I catch myself looking for her to come out of the bushes several times a day.

--Jai

P.S.  This black Bantam Chicken Art is available here on the website as prints, cards, and on other gifts.  The art is also available in my Fine Art America store as canvas prints and framed/matted prints.  And it's also available in my Zazzle store.

Behind the Gate -Landscape

Behind the Gate

Well it's official.  I'm shutting the gate on Facebook.  Which means I'll no longer be posting my art there.  Or anything on a "status" for that matter.  I've posted one final status, inviting people to follow this blog.  Each time I make a new blog post, I'll comment on that status and include a link to the post.

I'm just tired of spending my time sharing my art there.  Not that I expected to get "sales" (though it would have been nice).  I mainly was looking for comments and feedback from the general public who is on my "friends" list.  Likes would be nice too.

The problem is, Facebook is now deciding which posts to show in the timelines.  First of all, they keep changing the sort method from "most recent" to "top stories".  I kept selecting most recent as my sort method (since I want to see things happening NOW, not 20 hours or so ago), and it kept changing back to top stories.  At first I thought I was doing something wrong -- but I ran a test this past week and now I realize it's not me at all - Facebook is doing the deed.  Second of all, they don't show my posts in the main timeline.  Sure, they show it on my page, but when they don't show it in the timeline which everyone else sees, no one is going to see it unless they happen to decide to click on my profile page.  It kind of defeats the purpose of trying to see whether people "like" ones art or not, because in order to like it, they would have to SEE IT first.

I'll still stay on Facebook, but I won't be posting any new statuses (just commenting on the last one I posted is all).  And the new art will only be posted here.  Of course I'll continue to share it on Twitter and Pinterest.  Pinterest, actually, has been quite refreshing.  People actually like and repin my art much, much more in the short time I've been on the site than they ever have in the years I've been on Facebook.  I believe for visual artists like myself, Pinterest is a much more viable outlet to see what people think of your work.  And I look forward to spending more time there.

InJoy,

Jai

Edit:  Thanks to some help from some friends, I was able to get my art page on Facebook back up and running, so you can still see my art on Facebook there. :)

Home Sweet Home - Landscape

Home Sweet Home

The discovery of adding textures to my photography has been a wonderful thing.  With this technique, I'm now able to create the mood I feel when I see the subject I'm photographing.  I'm able to turn my photos into works of art - almost painting-like - with these new techniques I've learned.  I'm thrilled at the response on Pinterest to my artistic photographs - they get liked and repinned more than they are shared on any other social media site.  Which tells me when people SEE the art, they, too, feel what I feel.  They feel the mood I've created.  And that is truly a wonderful thing. :)

Many weekends lately, I've had my husband Michael drive me around to different areas so I could find beautiful landscapes to photograph.  We have so many here in Tennessee, and it's a shame not to share the stunning vision we get to see here.  Last weekend, we stumbled on this little gem.  Okay, so it's not so little. :)  We almost missed it - we had been out for an hour and still had to take care of my least favorite chore (grocery shopping).  

We were heading back into town as we passed this gravel drive with a simple wire gate with a padlock and a for sale sign in front.  I almost didn't turn my head to the left - I was actually photographing a farm on the right and happened to see this out of the corner of my eye.  My neck still hurts from cranking it around so quickly after the glimpse.  And I told Michael, "Turn around!  Go back!  Pull in the drive of that house for sale!"  And like the good husband he is, he did.

When we pulled into the drive, I stood and just stared at the vision behind the padlocked gate.  What a gorgeous southern mansion!  I think I was somewhat dumbfounded something like this didn't have a more elegant entrance.  But it was completely okay, because I was able to get awesome photos of this masterpiece of a home.  I also took a photo of the for sale sign, knowing there was no way something so gorgeous would be in the budget of this struggling artist.  Maybe someday...but not right now.

The original photo was beautiful - how could it not be with such a stunning subject?  But it needed more.  It needed that home sweet home feeling I felt when I saw it.  That feeling that captures your breath in your throat when you see it.  A feeling which says, ahhhh, I'm home and this makes me happy.  The feeling that said "I'd love to come home to this view every evening."  With adding a few textures, some work on the sky, and the addition of the grazing horse, my feeling came to life.

Home Sweet Home can be yours too.  You can look at this beautiful Southern mansion every day when you hang this art on your wall.  Or when you order a mousepad with the art on it to add to your desk.  Or even if you simply add a refrigerator magnet to your kitchen.  You can get all of this and more right here.  And more prints and cards are available here.  And even more products and prints are available here.  You pick.  You choose. And you get the feeling too.

InJoy,

Jai

The Old Mill

Today I thought I'd share an example of a photo transformation with you.  The original photo shown above was taken by my brother on a trip he made to East Tennessee.  I love the shot - the composition is beautiful, and I could envision this as a stunning landscape.  A typical thing which happens when shooting photos of cool places is the blown out sky.  Which is the first thing I tackled with the addition of two layers of texture.  I have a favorite texture I like to use to give my artistic photos an old world, vintage glow, akin to that of the old masters, with just a pop of additional color.  I like rich, elegant artwork, and I could definitely see my brother's photo as such.

After adding my two layers of texture and adjusting their layer mode and opacity, I then go back to the original photo and adjust color to make it warmer or cooler (depending on my final objective), and then I increase light and saturation where needed.  Then it's back to the texture layer to gently erase areas where I want the colors and tones of the original photo to show through.  After the addition of one more texture on top of it all to brighten things up a bit, this photo was transformed.  Now it is a beautiful work of art with dramatic, rich colors, a beautiful sky, and a warm glow.

Not all photos transform quite this easily.  Some take many, many layers of texture "fiddled with" (how's that for a technical term?) endlessly to create the look I wish to see in the end.  Sometimes I can transform a photo in 15 minutes.  Other times, it takes as long as 15 hours.  It depends on the original photo and the colors involved, and how the textures interact with those colors.

If you have a special photo of a place, thing, or animal you'd like me to transform into a work of art for your home or office, please contact me and I'll be happy to see what I can accomplish for you!

--Jai

Fishing Day Landscape

Fishing Day

Have you ever asked a person who's gone fishing "How many did you catch?" only to hear "None" as the response?  Or "I caught a few little ones but threw them back"?  That's because it's not always about the catch.  Oh sure, for some it is.  But for others it's totally about the experience. Sitting on the boat in the middle of a lake, enjoying the peace, escaping the cell phones, email and constant Facebook and Twitter beeps is an experience people who go fishing really enjoy.

This original textured photograph is designed to bring that same experience into your home or office.  Just looking at it can give you that peaceful feeling in the middle of a busy, hurried day.  The art transports you into that boat, onto that lake, and into a serene place.  Perfect for anyone who enjoys fishing, the deep, rich colors offer a warm glow to personal spaces.  Even though you may not be able to go fishing often, you can still enjoy the feeling of the experience every day through this artistic photograph.  

--Jai

CNP_3329

In every form of artwork I've made, I've always created some miniatures.  Now is no exception.  While many people enjoy my artistic photography on large level, there are others - like me - who appreciate the small things in life.  There are people who enjoy tiny things in a world full of super-sized stuff.  There are people who enjoy a simple gem of color - which is what you'll find in my newest artistic photography miniatures.

These little jewels of the art world are not your traditionally created miniature paintings.  That is a specialized area very few artists have the talent to be a part of.  I've done the detailed tiny painting work for years.  I created numerous color pencil, watercolor and acrylic miniature paintings size 4" and under.  My biggest feat was creating miniature paintings with tinted liquid polymer clay (shown below).  The necklace here consists of beads I handmade and painted each side with tinted, liquid polymer clay.  One side features birds, the other features tropical flowers.

Unfortunately, I can no longer work with polymer clay because I developed a sensitivity to it, and my eyes just can't handle the painting in miniature anymore.  I can, however, make beautiful, artistic photographs, and print them in miniature and frame them for the miniature art fans out there!

Miniatures have many benefits.  First and foremost, they are small and can fit in a variety of locations in your home and office.  Second, they are affordable.  Smaller size equals less material cost.  Third, they are cute.  For people like me who love collecting tiny things, this is probably the most appreciated benefit!  Fourth, they make that perfect, special gift for someone when you have no idea of what to get them for a wedding, anniversary, birthday, Christmas, or other holiday.  One of my most treasured gifts from my wedding is a miniature piece of art, no bigger than 7".  This miniature art has traveled with me from home to home, and still hangs in my home today.  It is, in fact, one of the only wedding gifts I received that I still have.  It was given to me by a friend of my parents, who had no idea of what to get for a wedding gift, I'm sure.

My photographic miniatures are each printed on ultra premium photo paper at the highest setting to ensure deep, rich, long lasting ink saturation.  These mini prints will last 200+ years in the right environment!  Each is hand-cut, signed, and framed in a hand-selected frame which best highlights the miniature art.  Then they are presented to you at a fabulously affordable price for your own collection, gift-giving needs, and personal enjoyment.

You can purchase my miniature artistic framed photographs from me directly.  Simply visit the Framed Miniatures Gallery on the site to pick your favorite!  Free shipping is included in all pricing.

--Jai

Above and below, you are viewing a 16x20" canvas on 3/4" stretcher bars (purchased from Zazzle).  I bought the gold frame locally after I ordered the canvas.  That is the actual canvas print (gorGEOUS!) photographed as it hangs above my fireplace.  So if you're hesitating about ordering because you're having trouble visualizing, maybe this will help.  On every image page here on my site, there is a product list to the right.  Every image can be purchased right here as a print or canvas.  Here, you can also select frames after you add the art to your cart.  Fine Art America offers one stop shopping for prints, with excellent framing and matting choices.  My Zazzle shop also offers framing options.

If you have any questions or need help with placing your order, please email me, and I'll be happy to assist!

P.S.  See my sample room gallery for more examples of how beautiful my artistic photos can make your home or office!

Love Letter VII - Hydrangea - Floral

Love Letter VII - The Hydrangea

This next flower in my love letter series was created at a special request for a client.  She wanted something with soft blue and yellow colors for her bedroom, and I thought Ms. June's blue Hydrangea flower was the perfect choice.  Once again, the text from a vintage love letter is infused into the texture of the photograph. (read my original blog post about the Love Letter Floral series here)  This love letter was written in 1941 from a young lady to her beau in the armed forces.  One thing she said in her letter was quite beautiful:  Try to keep your spirits up.  Remember, the sun always shines after the darkest of days, and remember I love you with all my heart.  What a wonderful message to have interspersed through this beautiful floral art!

You can purchase prints, cards and other gifts with this lovely Hydrangea flower here.  And you can always visit my Fine Art America shop for more printing, framing and matting options.

Italian Greyhound

Out of all the photos I took of the beautiful dogs at the Jackson, Tennessee AKC 2012 Dog Show, the one above captures my heart the most.  I love how the little Italian Greyhound looks at his owner/handler with such adoration!

I don't have the breed photos labeled yet, but you can take a sneak peek at the dog show album here.  The one breed which seemed to be missing this year was the German Shepherd.  We attended the show for three days, at different times each day, yet never saw the first German Shepherd.  Since we own one, I always enjoy seeing them.  Oh well, maybe next year.  I enjoyed seeing all of the other dogs and captured some photos of breeds I haven't been able to photograph before.  Here's another one of my favorite photos from the show:

Australian Shepherd

Leopard I - Wildlife

Leopard I

This leopard is one of the first active big cats we saw on our Memphis zoo trip.   You wouldn't know they are one of the most elusive of the big cats, as she was wide out in the open and coming right up to us at the fence.  She was in the area with the black panther.  He was messing with her and she sure didn't like it, as you can see by the next photo.

Leopard II

She snarled at the panther on more than one occasion!  I captured a large amount of photos of her, and chose the best of the best to create a series of four artistic photos for your home and office decor.  I gave all a textured deep brown background to blend seamlessly with her fur.

Leopard III - Wildlife

Leopard III

She looks so soft and fluffy, it makes one just want to reach out and pet the kitty.  Not advisable, however, since she is the shrewdest of the big cats and is quite capable of killing prey larger than herself!

Leopard IV - Wildlife

Leopard IV

I love this final photo.  The morning sun was pouring into the enclosure and she seemed to love it, turning her face toward the sun several times.  The sun brought out the terra cotta brown tones in her fur, and made her spots (called "rosettes") just glow.  This leopard is a beautiful creature, and I was pleased to have the chance to photograph her!  In the end, she tired of the panther and all of us gawkers, and she climbed to the top of her enclosure to do her nails!

Black Panther - Wildlife

Black Panther

I finally went on my 2012 Memphis Tennessee Zoo adventure.  We've been talking about the trip for months, and because time was so limited, it was a quick, half a day excursion.  Of course, the big cats are my favorite, so we spent quite a bit of time in "Cat Country".  I took over 1200 photographs in just under 3 hours.  And I've spent the past 2 days going through them, trashing the bad ones, finding my keepers, and deciding on some so-so ones which might need a little extra work.  All I can say is thank God for digital cameras!

The black panther was one that produced so-so pictures.  He was very hard to photograph, especially with cage bars in front of him.  My lens has a lovely trait of making those cage bars "disappear" when it's focused in just the right way and at just the right angle, and I tried so hard with this fella to get some good shots.  He was very active and between his constant movements and those darn cage bars, this whole event was a major challenge!

My goal with any animal is to show the eyes clearly, or to convey a certain mood or message.  Some of my funny photos might not make great artistic portraits, but they will make a cute or funny card in my greeting card shop where I'm featuring some of my humorous images.  I was bound and determined to create a fabulous artistic image with a panther for my home decor market.  Out of all the black panther photos, and after trying several different textures and color adjustments, I finally came up with one which worked and gave me the look I was after.

The Black Panther photo above is the first of many to come.  I'm photographing a dog show on and off over the next 4 days, but my goal is to get at least one new artistic photo of a zoo creature completed each day.  By the time I'm done, you can have an entire collection of your favorite zoo animals for your home or office!  In the meantime, I've put up a small selection of my zoo photos in this album, if you'd like to browse through them.  I'd love for you to leave a comment on the animal you love the best!  Keep watching the blog (subscribe to my blog RSS feed using this link: http://www.jaiart.com/blog.rss ) for the newest zoo animals released in this collection.

InJoy,

Jai

Secret Pond Landscape

Secret Pond

Everyone needs a secret, special place to call their own.  I used to have a place like this when I was a teenager living in Hendersonville, TN.  We lived on Bayshore Drive, and at the end of the drive, there was a cove which backed up to the woods.  I'd ride my bike down there every day, and follow a path through the trees to the edge of the beautiful lake.  I'd sit for hours on the log of a fallen tree, and write poetry and stories in my journal.  Eventually, man came in and destroyed my beautiful, secret place, replacing the trees with bricks and stone and placing windows to offer a view.  It will never replace the original view, the one where I could listen to the rustle of the breeze filter through the branches above my head, and feel the cool spray of water on my face.  Fortunately, the memories are strong enough where I can close my eyes and still smell the scent of the water, see the fish jumping as they celebrate life, and hear the sounds of the birds singing all around me.  But for those days I can't pull up the memory, I have this picture to help me remember.

--Jai 

Hummingbird

Dancing Hummingbird

Here in Tennessee, it's that time of year again with the Hummingbirds arrive.  Over the past week, these tiny birds have arrived in droves, and I've been lucky enough to capture some fabulous photos of these delightful creatures.  Click here to see the entire album of Hummingbird photos.  And, if you'd like to see these spectacular birds year round, take a look a two calendars I've created for Hummingbird lovers below.  The first calendar goes from June 2012-May 2013, so you can start using your calendar right now.  And if you're looking for a great Christmas gift for the hummingbird fan, the second calendar follows the traditional annual format and goes from January 2013-December 2013.

Hummingbird Calendar June 2012 to May 2013

Hummingbird Calendar January 2013 to December 2013

Springbrook Pond Landscape

Springbrook Pond

Last weekend, I asked my husband to drive me out to Springbrook, which is a community outside of Jackson, Tennessee, with a variety of interesting homes, rolling hills, lakes, trees, and trails.  I was able to capture some lovely photos of the area, despite the fact this was one of the hardest hit areas by flooding a couple of years ago.  I was quite surprised to see the main lake was no longer a full lake, as it used to be.  During the flood, the levy broke.  We drove by a house we looked at moving into many years ago.  The house had been "on the lake" at that time, and it was really enlightening to see there is no longer a lake behind the house - instead, it looks like a swampland, with trees growing out of the area where the lake used to be.

Despite the fact the beautiful lake was basically destroyed, it's still a lovely community, and I hope to share some of it's renewed beauty through my photographs of the area.

Home on the Hill - Landscape

Home on the Hill

Before we even entered Springbrook, I shot this photo of one of my favorite homes out there.  It belongs to friends from a long time ago, and it looks just as gorgeous now as it always has, even more so with the passing of many seasons since I'd seen it last.  I especially like it now that I've given it a golden glow.

Springbrook Lake Landscape

Springbrook Lake

This is not the original Springbrook lake, but it appears to be a new lake area.  The sun on the sparkling water was gorgeous.  I decided to give this photo more purple and blue tones, in order to focus on the beauty of the water and the stunning colors in the sky.

I'll be adding more photos from Springbrook as I finish them - keep an eye on my landscape section for new work featuring this community.

Graves Pond - Water Scene Landscape

Graves Pond

This group of photos was extremely fun to work with.  Being almost summertime here in Tennessee, everything was green, green, green.  I knew it needed more colors.  Using only one texture with a variety of colors, I applied the same texture to all photos.  I think it's amazing how each came out with a totally different look while using the same texture.  Now they all have color and the glow I like.  I think any of these will make beautiful art for a home or office now!

Graves Grove Landscape

Graves Grove

Graves Barn - Rural Scene

Graves Barn

The Back Gate - Rural Scene

The Back Gate

Sometimes, the most beautiful places in the world reside right outside the back door. 

Peaceful Path

What a beautiful place to be.  You can almost smell the fragrant scent of the lovely flowers as you make your way down this peaceful path, full of the wonderment of God's beauty.

Black Stallion

Black Stallion

As a child, I read the Black Stallion books constantly.  And of course, I saw the movies.  I always dreamed of having a beautiful black stallion of my own.  The model in this Paintograph is a beautiful boy who lives at a friends.  He got a wild hair one day and was frolicking through the field right toward us, and we managed to capture a great photo.  With the addition of some painted textures, I transformed him into a beautiful work of art -- perfect for horse lovers.

Arabian Horse

Arabian Horse

Another favorite horse of mine has always been the Arabian.  I love their chiseled features in their face.  This is Star, a beautiful chestnut mare rescued by a friend.  She is the epitome of beauty.  I'm not sure if she is full blooded Arabian, but she definitely has some Arabian features in her.  Look at that beautiful face!  And so spirited - she's just full of life!  I used the same texture pattern on this Paintograph to create a similar look to the first one shown here.  Another great work of art for horse lovers!

Our Special Place Landscape

Our Special Place

My daughter is always saying she's "bored" of taking photos around here.  She says it's the "same old stuff".  I find it challenging myself at times, but if I look around with my artist vision at the simple things I see everyday and tend to overlook, I often can create something totally unexpected.  Which is the case with this picnic table made from old wheels.  I see it everyday.  Most of the time, I don't even see it - my gaze just skips right over it because I'm so used to the view.

A couple of days ago, I was chasing a bluebird through the area.  I lost the bluebird, but was faced with the same table I see all the time.  The light, however, was different.  The afternoon sunlight was melting through the trees, casting a lovely glow over the same table I've seen everyday for ten years.  Because I was thinking in full artistic mode, I recognized this as an excellent display of light and shadow, and I snapped the photo of the area.

In post processing, I added several textures to the photo to enhance the overall warmth a bit.  And, the tree doesn't really have a carved heart in it, but I thought it needed one. :)  Now, this has become a special place.  A place where two lovers can sit and cuddle, or have a picnic, or contemplate their future.  A place where two can relax, and simply have a quiet moment together.  A place of peace and serenity.

Love Letter IV - Lilac - Floral

Love Letter IV Lilac Flowers

The Love Letter series continues, first with two beautiful Lilac flower images.  If you missed the first post and the story behind the Love Letter floral series, click here to read it.

Love Letter V - Lilac - Floral

Love Letter V Lilac Flowers

Yesterday I completed artistic photo #6 in this series.  I chose a lovely Dogwood Flower to work with, and I created a light, ethereal image of this beautiful pink and creamy yellow bloom.

Love Letter VI - Dogwood - Floral

Love Letter VI Dogwood Flower

I hope you're enjoying this lovely series as much as I'm enjoying creating them!  

Birch Tree Landscape

Birch Tree

I like my landscapes warm and cozy.  Unfortunately, when taking photos in any season other than Autumn, they don't always look that way!  My challenge this week has been to take some of my really "green" landscapes and give them the warm and cozy look I want via the use of layers of color and textures.  I hope you enjoy this collection of artistic landscape photos.

Reflections

Bridge at Cypress Park Landscape Bridge at Cypress Park

Evening Landscape Evening

Boardwalk Landscape Boardwalk

Love Letter I - Pink & Yellow Rose - Floral

My new series of artistic photography features a group of florals I'm working on called Love Letters.  The inspiration began with my neighbor's gorgeous garden and the beautiful flowers within.  To further inspire me, however, is the story of this delightful couple who lives next door to me.

Earl and June have been married over 60 years now.  Their son told me their story.  It began when they were very, very young.  Earl was 16 and June just 14.  Both still in school, but they had fallen in love. They decided they wanted to get married -- but they didn't want to tell their parents just yet.  So they eloped for the day.  To their parents, they were just having a normal "date".  When in reality, they ran off to find a justice of the peace who would marry them.  They had their ceremony, and came home, marriage certificate in hand.  They each went to their respective houses and continued on with their lives, as if nothing had changed.  But they knew in their hearts, their commitment had been sealed.

Love Letter II - Vintage Roses - Floral

It wasn't long after, June's mother discovered the truth.  If I remember correctly, she found the marriage license June had hidden in her room.  Her mother and father had a sit down with June in the living room, and told her quite frankly, "You're a married woman now, you must go live with your husband and be a wife."  So Earl and June moved in together and began living as husband and wife.

Fast forward 60+ years.  They're still together.  Two children later, grown grandchildren, the passage of long careers for both of them, and they're retired now.  They still act like teenagers sometimes.  They always speak to everyone with respect and kindness, and they still speak to each other that way too.  June's passion is her flowers and her beautiful garden.  Earl loves to work in the yard and he also makes the most beautiful hand carved wooden canes in his shop behind his home.  It's a joy to watch the two of them, and even more precious is the love, dedication, and commitment this couple has for one another.

Love Letter III - Peony - Floral

This series "Love Letters" features my artistic photographs of June's beautiful blooms.  And it features the handwritten text of antique love letters, some dating back over 100 years.  Each piece of art in this series is a tribute to true, long lasting, beautiful love, which seems to be a scarcity in our world today.  My hope is that by viewing these works of art, you will know, it's not an impossibility.  There is a chance for true, romantic love to prevail.

InJoy,

Jai

P.S.  Watch the series unfold by following my Artistic Photography board on Pinterest.