wait till you see these

Here’s a preview of a recent shoot I did with Katrina.  We are in the midst of a whole new portfolio remix/revamp/update… I’m talkin complete overhaul here… And it’s coming along nicely, thanks to all the wonderful people that have agreed to participate!

More new stuff from this and other shoots will be up hopefully soon, but for now, NBA all star is finally here. And although I’m looking forward to some of the parties, I’ll be glad when it’s over so we can all get back to our normal lives…

And I’m actually happy that the Saint’s won the super bowl, but I am not looking forward to all the “who dat” chants for the next six months…

Also, stay tuned to the facebook page as I’ll be posting a TON of stuff from late last year that somehow slipped through the cracks…

Excitement ensues: I reacquainted myself with a little program called tweetdeck, and it’s awesome because it puts all my social networks in one place – facebook, myspace (which I never use), twiiter (never really liked), and linkedin (forgot I even had).  So since it does all this, I can keep up with all this stuff without having to go to each website all the time.  I hope that this will help in my personal mandate to get all this internet stuff under control soon, cause it’s a hazardous mess right now.

That’s basically it for today.

so, uh, bye.

Candy

Ok, I went back and read a few old blogs and realized that I never really write about my on-the-job stuff… And this blog will be no different other than the hysterical fun that this wedding was…  I’ve been waiting for this wedding for a while, because I knew it would be fun. The reason I knew it would be fun is because Kyle and Elaine are old high school buddies, which means I’ve known them for like 10 billion years.  Through this process we were finally able to catch up on things. So that was pretty awesome.  And also, Elaine knows how to take a great photo (as you can see). Lot’s of “aww” moments to go around, and I’ll post those later…

But the real reason for writing this blog now, is because at the end of the reception there was this table in the hall with candy on it.  I REALLY like candy.  This was the first wedding where I got candy. And not that lame stuff (like candy corns or something), but that HOT ish like sweettarts, starburst, milky ways and such.  Perfect end to a wonderful wedding!

*I’m eating the candy I got from that table now and that inspired me to write this blog today.

Julian + candy = soft addiction

Stay tuned for photos from Kyle and Elaine’s Dollar dance… I promise you don’t wan’t to miss this.

stung by the bee

Model: marcelli // MUA: jennifer Davis

So I finally did it.  I got a new strobe.  And a big ass soft box. Photo gear heads are probably familiar with the alien bees, and there are plenty of blogs out there about it, so I’ll skip that. But what I will say I am crunk about the new addition to the studio kit family.  Today is testing time and Marcelli was kind enough to come through while I tested some new setups.  We did a few looks and there will be more pics of that soon, but in the meantime, this one in particular stood out to me, so here it is!

The reason that this is blog worthy is because I have always been known as an outdoor shooter.  And I’m fine with that as I’ve made a career of it.   But always looking for ways to differentiate and expand, I started getting into more studio work.  The hardest thing about it really is the cost of everything. But that’s where the Bee’s come in.  Still plenty more gear to buy and I’m going to keep building piece by piece. Now I’ve never been a very technical guy when it comes to photography, but now I’m really starting to get a handle on this stuff – an epiphany of sorts…  Watch what happens.

Off topic – I found out Sade has an album coming out, and the single sounds crazy. Despite the fact that it’s been 10 years since her last album (lover’s rock), she’s still got it.  And that album cover is something I wish I shot, LOL.

wait, maybe I will…

Fun with abstracts

Lens testing Round 3…. I’ll come back to round 1 and 2 later, because I’m going to count backwards like Star Wars kind of.  This day was a short tour of downtown Dallas.  Always in need of new subject matter and looking to put some work in with a new lens (Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8 for you gear heads out there). I got a ton of stuff done and one of these days I’ll compile it and post it somewhere, or make a book or something along those lines.

Skyscrapers and urban scenes are neither new or original, but like flowers, every photographer has to have them, LOL. So for today, enjoy the pretty buildings, and sky lines our city has to offer.

a warm moment

So those who know me know that I don’t get the warm and fuzzies when the holidays come around (or really ever for that matter), but there was a moment that made me say “wow… that’s what it’s all about”….

and it goes like this:
I went to the local Pizza hut in GP to pick up my pizza right before the Cowboys game started. There was an older lady at the front of the line (who had an oxygen tank w/ the tubes around her waist), and she was having an issue with her card. Several more people arrived after I did and the line began to get long. This woman’s card had been rejected and you could tell she was frustrated and the girl at the counter was looking mighty awkward due to having this convo in front of everyone in there.

Then out of nowhere a young woman, stepped up and handed over her card and said she got it. She didn’t ask how much it was, she just offered up her card to pay for this woman’s food. Now the older woman tried to defer, but there was nothing doing. The warm and fuzzy moment came as this older woman thanked the younger one and gave her a hug (definitely an awwwwwwwww moment – you had to be there).

I’m sure this happens in America, but man it is rare to actually witness people helping other people, and that is what makes this story blog worthy.

Work sucks. Fun? forget it

“Trying to shoot what you enjoy shooting, rather than what can make you money. Insisting on creating artistic images in your vision, rather than commercial images that the client wants.”
-The words of a photographer when asked what mistakes other photographers make in business.

For you long time readers out there, you probably know that I whole heartedly disagree with this statement. But Race(ism) is all about bringing different perspectives to the table, so I thought this deserved a bit of dialogue…

One the one hand, I can actually see the merit in this statement, because as a working photographer (especially a new one), and operating under the assumption that photography accounts for the majority or one’s income, there’s really no way around taking jobs that aren’t very enjoyable. And I know better than anyone, that the life of a photographer is less than glamorous at times (even if you shoot fashion exclusively). Any person who’s ever worked with the general public will attest to this. Depending on the nature of what you’re shooting, be it a lame event, a difficult client, or a overly demanding bridezilla, a photographer’s job is to get the image. period. Yes this can suck sometimes.

In addition, as a new photographer, often times you will not be getting paid for your vision, and as I’ve been going at this, I have found that I don’t make as much money doing the things that I want to do, or enjoy the most. (That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the work that I get, it just means I haven’t found a market for my ‘art’ yet).

On the other side of this argument, I’ll say that this is one of the few jobs in the world where if you don’t really love it, there’s no point to do it. For example, you’re full-time job is a traveling sales rep, with aggressive hours and high commissions. You spend countless hours working for this company, and you sacrifice family time and much of your personal life, but you can easily rake in 6 figures a year for your effort…
Photography and entrepreneurship in general requires the same amount of time and effort (if not more) starting out, but pays (maybe) a quarter of that, while you still bear all the financial risk of starting a business. At least with a sales job, you get benefits and a 401k… not so with photography.
This is why it is absolutely critical that you love photography. I mean really love it. If you think about it, you really really have to love it to assume the risk, because you can make so much more money doing something else with the same amount of effort that it takes to be a professional photographer.

So why do it? It always comes back to love on some level. I’m the type that will always make time for the artistic expression and will always do what I feel, even if it doesn’t make me any money. I’ve gotten this far by doing things that way, and so far it has served me well.

But I’m one of the lucky ones. The Art vs. Commercial question is a good problem to have. I’m really happy that I’m even in the position to to have to ask that question. And in the end, I don’t see why we can’t do both.

Next Level

(sigh)

TIme for an upgrade.  But not a tangible one.  I’ve already got a shiny new computer and the list of photography gear to get is endless  is a never ending story so no worries there.  Plus that would be too easy and not blog worthy, so… What I’m looking for is a creative overhaul. What’s the next big concept I can do? What’s the next evolutionary step I have to take to go from being a technically proficient, or “good enough to take consistent/salable images” in the portrait & wedding realm to being the guy that shoots editorials in his free time for practice?

Progress reviewed.

Year 1) Learn how to work a camera. composition comes naturally, but this is where I learned how to produce a consistent result on purpose.  Being self taught I probably made way more mistakes than the average learner, but that’s fine cause there’s not a lot of pressure… Plus I had maaaad time on my hands to get these things right. Here there was no vision, and having one was not as important.

Year 2) So I passed that test with flying colors. I grew a lot, learned a lot, and got a lot done.  I know I can take a good picture any day of the week, so now it’s vision time.  It’s time to shift the focus back to being an artist.  It’s time for some damn evolution!

In the midst of a much needed update to the website, it’s often fun to look over the images that are on there from last year and this year.  Those are supposed to be the best of the work I’ve done.  They are consistent and moderately creative, but I feel like it’s time to add a new style to the pot.  At this point I have no idea what that style will be, much less what it will look like, but it’s fun to explore.  Now there’s a bunch of stuff that I’ve shot over the last few months that hasn’t seen the light of day yet.. I know it needs to, but effective time management was never my strong point, so maybe one day I’ll get it all out (future blog).

In the meantime, have a look at this piece featuring Ro Parrish, and hopefully soon Julian’s 2010 renaissance will commence.

Julian begins to explore commercial shooting

Julian Takes a shot at boudoir

bringing back the sexy in 2010…

Yea, so I had some ideas inspired by the latest victoria’s secret catalogues. I know it’s really bad to say this, but as I thumbed through the catalogue, I said to myself “I can shoot this… maybe”. So I set out to give it a shot, and it’s still a major work in progress, but if it continues to go well, then I’ll have a new genre to tackle! I’ve already made room for it on JulianRace.com, and as soon as the holidays are over, I’m going to hit it extra hard. So check out this lovely shot of Chardonnay, and there’s plenty more where that came from (as soon as I can find the time to write blogs and update my website, lol)

TIffany’s sexy dress

Hadn’t posted any pictures here in a while… and since this is a photography blog… Here’s something a little new, hasn’t been posted anywhere else. Normally, I’m not a fan of animal print, but Tiffany made it hot!!

enjoy!

the kairos collection

Well it’s big deal time.  Race returns and Kairos: the supreme moment art exhibit is nearly upon us.

For me, this is big because it’s been such a long time since I’ve done an art show.  But I’m really excited about it because it brought me back to painting, which is something that had been missing from my life for a while.  I think that since I traded in my brushes for a camera last year, I kind of lost something… Well despite knowing that this show was coming and knowing months in advance, I still did not make enough of an effort to paint new work to have a good showing.  As recently as last Thursday, I was worried. Worried that I wouldn’t finish anything, and worried that art had passed me by.  Nothing I tried was working and the paint was beginning to look like mud.  This is after several stops and starts throughout the last several months.  But then a few days ago, I found whatever it was I was looking for… and I went to work.

I started with a canvas that had been kicking my ass – a 12 x 12″ (rather small for the type of headache I was getting). But it was a start. It had already gone through several layers of pain (experiments/concepts) that didn’t work.  I pulled orange as my inspirational color. That along with some brown set the foundation. In no time, I had completed the piece that really got this collection moving and in that same day, I knocked out 2 more 12 x 12’s and a larger 12 x 48… All up to the level that I was hoping for. So with that came some new fuel to continue working and I’m pleased to report that I  will have several new pieces to show this Thursday with ease. I guess in this case the procrastination served me well. I know it’s tough to do everything like that, but I work that way with a lot of things in life, and I know I’m not alone…

So what we have here was literally a last-minute, 11th hour thought. But its a complete thought. And this show is the first time in 18 months that I’ve shown a complete thought to anyone in regards to fine art.  That in itself is more exciting to me than the show itself. There are no pictures here, because if you’re reading this I hope you’ll take a few minutes to come out this thursday and see what all this is really about.

Backbeat cafe | 300 N. Akard Dallas, TX | Thursday 11.12.09 | 6p-9p