Posted by Jason Kindig on Mon, Feb 13, 2012 @ 11:43 AM
I am just going to ask you guys a simple question: Is there anyone out there that doesn’t like breakfast? Seriously, does anyone just turn away from the smell of freshly baked biscuits and the sound of sizzling bacon? That’s the only thing that gets me out of bed on a Saturday morning.
So when I took on the project to photograph some of the best breakfasts in the Fort Worth area, I was naturally quite excited. So when you think of great breakfasts, what are some of the top items you think of?
Of course I already said biscuits and gravy and a side of bacon. Eggs are a breakfast must have. I personally could eat them all of the time, though I think Ayns would have a complete breakdown if she had to be subjected to scrambled eggs every day. Of course after those solid breakfast staples of hearty proteins you cannot forget the carbs. Let’s all be honest, the real favorite pat of any breakfast is going to be the carbs. I don’t even think Dr. Atkins could have passed up a stack of expertly cooked buttermilk pancakes coated in warm maple syrup. And then there is waffles, crepes, regular toast, french toast, cinnamon toast, breakfast burritos, muffins, bagels, donuts, pastries, strudels, kolaches, and the list of yummy carbs could go on and on. Now I can’t help but notice the irony that your first meal of the day consists of all of these items that will make you want to take a nap afterwards, but that’s just how it is.
So, now let’s get on to the top breakfasts…
As a Dallas Photographer I shot everything from hole in the wall joints to grand breakfast buffets and a healthy, or unhealthy mix of everything in between. One of the sweet perks of being a Dallas photographer is that I get to have a little sampling time after each shoot. I have learned that eating more than a sample will turn me into a beached whale, but I do like to a little bit every dish that I come across. I must say though some of the dishes, it can be very hard to stop after a few bites, so maybe this is just a great way to work on my self control.
One of the most memorable dishes for me, were the pancakes from Paris Coffee Shop. This place has been around for decades and really epitomizes the diner experience all the way down to the blue laminate counters, and tons of regulars. I have never had fluffier pancakes in my life!
Below are some of my favorite shots from the great breakfast projects. If you haven’t eaten yet, I suggest you do pretty soon after reading this Dallas photographer blog, because you are going to get hungry.
Enjoy!
Posted by Jason Kindig on Fri, Feb 10, 2012 @ 01:00 PM
When hiring a Dallas commercial photographer there are some specific questions you should
be asking your potential photographer before you sign on the dotted line. In my experience I have found that businesses know that want:
In order to insure that you achieve these goals with your photography, here are some of the first questions you need to ask when searching for your Dallas commercial photographer.
1.) What kind of experience do you have in commercial photography?
It may seem elementary, but ask about your Dallas commercial photographer’s experience. Check out their portfolio and see if their photographs coincide with what you are looking to achieve. The last thing you want is to spend a lot of time shooting only to find out that the images are subpar.
2.) What are your turnaround times?
This day and age of immediate gratification businesses are expected to have fresh content all of the time for their customers and potential customers. You need to have your website, social media outlets, catalogs, brochures, etc, updated constantly in order to stay in front of your customers. You need content and you need it quickly. In order to meet that need make sure that your Dallas commercial photographer can turn your images around quickly. You need to know how many days it will take before you have your photographs. In some cases you may need your photographs immediately. Can your Dallas commercial photographer handle a super rush? Timing is everything, so make sure your Dallas commercial photographer is prompt.
3.) Will I be able to view the images on site?
With technology you can now instantly look at the pictures your Dallas commercial photographer is taking moments after the frame is shot. This is a huge benefit because you know exactly what you are getting and you can tweak things as necessary. Talk to your potential Dallas commercial photographer about being able to view the images on site. You want someone that can show you the pictures instantly to ensure you are getting everything you hoped for.
4.) What kind of backdrops can we shoot to?
If you are having a Dallas commercial photographer out to your business, you are going to be looking for a lot of different photographs. Perhaps you need pictures of your building, and offices, candid shots of your employees and clients interacting, and even headshots and group portraits of your staff. Portraits and headshots are where you may want a clean backdrop. Be sure to ask your Dallas commercial photographer about the backdrops they have to meet your portrait and headshot needs.
5.) Will you take care of posing and basic creative direction?
It is a Dallas commercial photographer’s job to represent your company in a professional manner in every shot. You want a photographer who has a lot of experience with commercial shoots so that they can properly pose and direct the shoots. This all goes back to question number one, their experience.
Posted by Jason Kindig on Tue, Feb 07, 2012 @ 07:38 PM
Ok, it is just me or is everyone announcing they are having a baby? Seriously, every time I
turn around someone else is pregnant!
Well I recently had the privilege of photographing and attending a baby reveal party. It was my first one to go to and I must say it was lots of fun. When the guests arrived they each got to choose a miniature clothes pin appropriately colored pink or blue. The rest of the night you wore your clothes pin signifying what you thought the parents-to-be were having. A majority of the guests were banking on a baby girl, but the couple was pretty sure they were having a baby boy.
But, we had to wait for a bit before we would know for sure. As a Dallas photographer I went around and captured all of the details that 
made this party so special. It is the Dallas photographer’s job to bring events to life through pictures, and I wanted to create wonderful memories for the parents-to-be.
After a tasty meal and time with friends and family the new parents were ready to make the big reveal. All of the guests were getting pretty anxious themselves, especially the grandpa-to-be. Both Kristi and Peter had decided to wait to find out what they were having. They chose to have a cake made to celebrate the big reveal. Now we all were waiting to see whether the cake was pink or blue. As a Dallas photographer, my favorite part was photographing all of the anticipation right before the couple cut into the beautiful cake! Just look at all that excitement. For me, this is one of those times that make my job as a Dallas photographer so wonderful. What a privilege to get to capture such a special event in a family’s life!
Finally Kristi and Peter cut the cake and we were all thrilled to find out that they are expecting a baby girl! Everyone erupted with cheers celebrating this new life! Kristi and Peter have named their baby girl Faith, and we cannot wait for her to arrive. I think I will skip out on photographing the birth, but I will be sure to post some pictures of the new baby once she gets here!
I hope you enjoy these fun pictures from the baby reveal party! I wanted to say a special thanks to RedRaspberry Cakes for providing such a beautiful reveal cake for the party. Enjoy!
Posted by Jason Kindig on Tue, Jan 17, 2012 @ 03:50 PM
Ahh the F word. Freeze. What were you thinking it was? I think it's time to get that mind of yours out of the gutter.
I’ve always said how I love my job. Besides getting to be a Dallas photographer, I am constantly out and about, plus I get to experience all kinds of different things, be it people, food, or something else entirely. This post fits the latter description. A little while back I was assigned to photograph a cryosauna. Yes, if you take the two parts of that word that is indeed what was going on. I had the opportunity to photograph a deep-freezing sauna that uses liquid nitrogen to make you incredibly cold.
When I called Dr. Jeff Johnson, who is one of a few people in the country that has one of these machines, he described its appearance as a giant red bull can. He was spot on, though I’ve never seen a red bull can quite this cold. When I arrived at his chiropractic practice, the Dallas photographer in me became very excited, as the machine was super space age, complete with color-changing LED lights and fog rolling out of it. To be honest, it felt like something that would have been on the Jetson’s, though Rosie the robot was nowhere to be found.
I never would have though that giving your body a flash-freeze would have so many benefits. Sure it works great for the peas and pizzas I get at Target, but a person? Apparently there are tons of great things going on. For instance, it works great on cellulite, gets your blood pumping, and can even reduce anxiety and depression. There are plenty of professional athletes that use cryosauna technology to aid in muscle recovery, including our very own Dallas Mavericks. You also get a huge adrenaline rush, and your body can burn fat and calories.
Now I was kind of nervous in trying it, but I had to give it a shot, especially after learning that most of the benefits come from thinking your body is dying. Once your immune system kicks in, it is game on. So after I finished my official Dallas photographer business, it was time to get special socks and gloves on (to prevent frostbite), and head into the chamber. I situated myself in the cryosauna, and got to have some music rocking as well, this was going to be fun! Jeff slowly cranked down the temperature, it was an interesting experience to say the least. It started out cool, then cold, then really cold with a bit of teeth chattering beginning to set in. Two minutes is a long time when you are being immersed in liquid nitrogen gas. Thankfully I am an extremely manly Dallas photographer, so it wasn’t so bad. I only cried once.
Any way, it was a very different experience, as I’ve never subjected my body to temperatures below 200 degrees Fahrenheit, plus I had such a rush for the rest of the day. I also kept burning calories for the next few hours. It was totally worth trying, you guys should check it out sometime if you can. Enjoy!
Posted by Jason Kindig on Wed, Dec 28, 2011 @ 11:18 AM
Hey guys,
I thought I would share a few images taken from our somewhat annual family Ski Trip. Each year or so, my wife’s family loads up several vehicles with tons of warm winter gear and heads west towards the land of Colorado. The resort varies year to year, and this year we settled into a big house in Breckenridge, Colorado. With 18 people in attendance, the scene was pretty energetic, and Aynsley’s family always has a great time hanging out. The scenery was beautiful, but as is typical for my vacationing Dallas photographer self, I kept my photography somewhat limited and just tried to kick back as much as possible.
It is unfortunate that Breckenridge has not had much snow, and only had about 30% of the lifts open. I will say though, that we had a blast, and got to ski all kinds of fun runs on the three peaks they have up there. I’m still somewhat of a newbie to skiing, but by day two I was keeping pace with everyone else. I’m pretty proud of myself, and hopefully get a ribbon or sticker. We all had our iPhones up on the slopes, so I did make sure to get a few of the fam, and Ayns and I. We had a random ski instructor come over and pose with us for some of the pics; I even put my hand on his shoulder to show how cool I was with whatever his name was. There were also some fun jump/wipeout videos, though I have to say the best moments were of me hitting barrels and having epic wipeouts. As I was the resident Dallas photographer, there was no footage of any of it unfortunately. At least Ayns was able to get a few laughs.
Now you may think that I only have one skill set as a Dallas photographer. Wrong. I also like to cook, and made a menu to feed the horde of people we have. After cooking multiple meals for 18 (with plenty of great help), I have even more respect for chefs that do this on a daily basis. I really tried to kick things up, and upgraded the family from things such as Cheerios to hatch chile breakfast tacos and delicious onion rings. The rings were for dinner by the way; I don’t know that those would sit well whilst skiing.
When it came time to come home, of course a ton of snow hit the route back to Texas. Though Breckenridge was still hurting for snow at the end of our trip, the way back got more than its fair share, to the point where several roads and passes were closed down for safety concerns. We heard a crazy story of a family getting buried in snow on one of the roads we were coming back on, so we felt very blessed to have everyone make it back in one piece. I will say though, this Dallas photographer and his wife will be flying from here on out. As much as I get a kick out of 19-hour drives, it’s not happening. I hope you enjoy the images, and have a happy New Year!
Posted by Jason Kindig on Wed, Dec 14, 2011 @ 09:40 AM
I hope that all of you enjoyed Thanksgiving with friends and family, I wanted to share with you some of the setup from our annual group Thanksgiving. Aynsley and I are blessed to have a great set of friends, specifically four other couples that we hang out with on a weekly basis. One of the traditions we have is to have what is essence a Thanksgiving dinner warm up, because no one can ever get enough turkey and stuffing. Everyone came over to our home the Monday before Thanksgiving, so Aynsley and I wanted to make sure we made it a dinner to remember.
Its amazing how small your dining room becomes when you try to fit ten people in it, so instead of everyone crawling all over themselves, we decided to turn our living room into a banquet hall. We moved out our couches and other furniture, and extended the table out all the way. From there Ayns took over.
Aynsley has always been a very creative individual, whether it is interior decorating, painting, or inspiring her Dallas photographer husband. When it came to setting the table, she had to do something unique to her style. She loves the organic look, I do too, so the tablescape was set to have a very natural feel. We scored a long piece of burlap, and from there she placed pumpkins, cranberries and acorns throughout. There were even twigs on there from the cottonwood in our front yard. That thing sheds small branches like crazy, so it was good to finally make use of some of them.
We also wanted to have a nice roaring fire in the background, so it was very convenient that the temperature dropped Monday. It is not the most pleasant thing to have a fire when it is 76 degrees out after all.
Everyone brought their favorite dish, and it was quite a sight. Everything from goat cheese salad to awe-inspiring sweet potatoes, and of course Aynsley’s family recipe stuffing were to be had, and I even cooked my very first turkey. All by myself. I’m going to pat myself on the back a bit, that bird was tasty, and super tender. Hopefully you enjoy the setup that Aynsley created, and are staying warm! This Dallas photographer has been struggling with a cold, so I will be making sure to keep bundled up.
Posted by Jason Kindig on Wed, Nov 23, 2011 @ 11:01 AM
It is that time of year again, where waistbands expand and pocketbooks contract. I’m getting emails left and right from Central Market that are full of temptation, and my wife’s Black Friday counter is almost to launch. Yes, the holiday season is upon us, and with Thanksgiving going down tomorrow, I thought I would get everyone geared up for the food fest.
Even in blogs that aren’t related to food I talk about how I love food, so you know how excited this Dallas photographer is to share with you some of the best culinary delights Fort Worth has to offer. My magazine recently did a feature on the Top 25 Dishes in Fort Worth, and the images you see here are some of my number one favorites. The list was very diverse, which meant you had top-notch steakhouse fare running alongside classic diner grub, and it definitely was fun for me.
It is both a blessing and a curse to shoot this much editorial food photography in about a month’s span. I of course love getting to sample all kinds of cuisine, but when the Dallas photographer has trouble fitting in the door and it has nothing to do with the amount of gear he’s carrying… well, that’s not good. Especially considering I went from this feature straight into the Thanksgiving and Christmas run. Everyone acts like calories don’t count this time of year, though I guess reality comes back in with New Years resolutions.
All of the dishes photographed were awesome, that’s why they made the list, but as you look through there may be a few that look unfamiliar. The most unusual-looking one has to be the German Pancake from Ol’ South Pancake House, which is a crepe-like pancake creation that literally is the size of a plate. Seeing a hefty carb cake like that with some butter, lemon and powdered sugar, coupled with watching the waitress mix it all together like a ninja with an up do, it’s almost performance art. This was one of those dishes that I did enjoy trying, but anything beyond a few bites would have put me down for the afternoon.
The other unusual one is the House-cured Pancetta pizza from Fireside Pies. It’s a pizza with what looks like salad and a sunny-side egg on top. Now that may sound weird, but after exhaustive research by my assistant and I, this Dallas photographer declares it a success. Plus it’s fun to smash the egg and mix it into the rest of the pizza.
Finally, I do have to talk about the burger. If you are in Fort Worth, you have to stop at M&O Station Grill and get the Bleu Cow Burger. Unbelievably good, and the fries are out of this world. As a Dallas photographer, this is one of the food shoots I look forward to the most; that and anything at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse. Obviously I’m not a vegetarian. Any way, I hope you enjoy, and have a happy Thanksgiving!
Posted by Jason Kindig on Thu, Nov 17, 2011 @ 04:11 PM
Well guys, be prepared to get a craving in your sweet tooth, because I have some very sweet treats to share with you today. These images were shot for Red Raspberry Cakes, which is a new cake company in Frisco. Two sisters, Ally Plummer and Amanda Buccola, run Red Raspberry. In fact, their grand opening celebration is this Saturday, so major kudos to them!
The demand for web content has increased drastically in the past few years, and as a Dallas photographer, there are many shoots that I do now where the clients only need images for electronic purposes, and may never have them printed. That’s a pretty crazy thought since I have always considered print as the end product, but that’s how technology go. Let’s see if anyone gets that.
For this shoot, the main goal was to make sure that Red Raspberry had a very filling, I mean content-rich website, that showed off the ladies and their delicious creations.
Everything was shot onsite at their kitchen, and we even set up a small studio space to shoot all of the confections. After all, transporting cakes is an art form, and not one that this Dallas photographer is comfortable with.
I started off with the portraits Peyton, who is Ally’s daughter, and then moved on to Amanda and Ally. Peyton was great; we had her holding on to that cupcake and smiling, though I think all she wanted to was chow down. We finally let her have at the cake as you can see. Amanda and Ally got their portraits done, and then we went on to some more casual looks of them in action. I do have to say, my favorites are from when they were joking around and having fun. That’s why as a Dallas photographer I love candids, because that is typically when you have a chance to let the personality of the subject or subjects really shine through. I mean, baking is serious business, but there’s nothing wrong about having some fun too.
After the portraits, it was then time to go after the cakes. My Dallas photographer self loves some cake, it’s hard not to act like a four-year-old and take a swipe of icing midshoot, though I can proudly say I haven’t done that. Actually I’m not sure that is something to be proud of. Moving on.
I say it time and time again: I love shooting food. With the cupcakes and cakes, there is so much texture to capture, which I enjoy. Ally and Amanda did a great job with the icing, you can see there is a lot of shape and structure to work with, and they really photographed well. Everything was shot to a white seamless to keep the focus on the creations instead of the background. I prefer to keep the things I shoot very simple, so that was perfect for me. I hope you enjoy the images, just don’t eat the screen!
Posted by Jason Kindig on Mon, Nov 14, 2011 @ 10:49 AM
Hey guys, I wanted to share some images from a recent event I photographed out in Fort Worth. The event was the Next Generation Project Texas 2011, which was put on by the Strauss Center at the University of Texas in Austin.
Basically it was a nonpartisan gathering of bright minds from around the state of Texas to discuss solutions to various problems that face both the United States and the world. Their main focus this year was national and global energy solutions, and they had experts in the fields of both traditional and alternative energies, which certainly made for passionate discussion.
One of the fringe benefits of being a Dallas event photographer is that I have the opportunity to attend events and functions that I wouldn’t normally be at. Whether it is photographing corporate speakers, business conventions or conferences such as Next Generation, I get to learn and be exposed to new ideas. As these are some of the brightest minds from around the state of Texas, there were definitely great thoughts to ponder upon and bring away.
The event began with an opening reception at Bass Hall in Fort Worth, which has magnificent architecture. The area in Bass Hall where I typically photograph events has floor to ceiling windows, which gives the best natural light. In fact, I only had to use my flash for a select few frames! Any time a Dallas event photographer can make use of good natural light it is such a beautiful thing, you have no idea how exciting that is for me.
The event itself took place at the Hilton Fort Worth, where they had distinguished speakers such as Mr. Richard Fisher, President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and the Hon. Sharon E. Burke, who is Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy Plans and Programs. There were also roundtable discussions to go over policy ideas and solutions, which was fascinating to listen in on.
Now I am a big fan of puzzles, which certainly translates over to my photography. As a Dallas event photographer, I like to put all of the pieces together, especially with lighting and posing, to where it creates the exact image I’m looking for. Towards the end of my event shooting, I had the opportunity to do a very large puzzle. They wanted to photograph a portrait of everyone that was in attendance, so I had about fifteen minutes to shoot a portrait of around fifty to sixty people. This can often be like herding cats, which is still one of my favorite visuals ever, but thankfully the group here was very cooperative as I shouted instructions from a second story walkway at the Hilton Hotel Fort Worth. With the location already scouted out beforehand and the lighting rigged and ready, the shoot went very quickly and turned out great. I had good expressions on all my faces, which made the Dallas event photographer in me very happy.
It was a great event that I was thankful to be a part of, enjoy the images!
Posted by Jason Kindig on Sun, Oct 30, 2011 @ 09:26 PM
As a Dallas photographer, I get to photograph a lot of things. There are a lot of terms for taking pictures, including the phrase ‘shooting.’ I do shoot a lot of pictures, but on this occasion I wanted to do some shooting that didn’t involve a camera. My dad, who is quite the hunter, gave me an old Remington Wingmaster 12-guage shotgun, and I have been waiting for months for the opportunity to get out and shoot some skeet. Enter Jim.
Jim is a great guy, and has been an incredible mentor to me. We have discussed heading out to his ranch, and between his schedule and my Dallas photographer schedule, it’s taken a while to make things line up. However, there was finally a point where things worked out, so we loaded up in his truck and headed west to hang out for the day.
The entire journey out there consisted of one postcard-worthy image after another. Between the small towns and wide open spaces, it could have taken at least twice as long to get out there if we had stopped for all of the interesting things I saw. That will probably happen in the future, but today was mission oriented. Once we arrived out at the ranch, the Dallas photographer in me did finally take over, and I shot various images of his land. I just couldn’t help myself. There is just so much space and texture abounds, so I tried to find areas of the landscape and textures that interested me. To really break things down into their most basic forms, I wanted to show them to you guys as black and white images, which I think allows the light and form to show through so well. Everything from the dried mud cracking to cactus skeletons caught my Dallas photographer eye, and it is just so cool to see the lines and shapes that are all around us. Plus there is something about being out in the country that is so relaxing. When you couple being in a stress-reducing area with taking images, I wind down completely.
Shooting was obviously a fun part of the day, especially for the Dallas photographer in me, but the best times were had as Jim and I got to hang out. We started out by walking the property and checking up on the feeders he has, and switching out memory cards on the game cameras. If you haven’t seen the photos from these cameras, it’s awesome. My dad has some up at his place and Colorado, and it allows you to see all kinds of amazing wildlife. Any way, we got everything taken care of, and then it was time for lunch. Boudain and hotlinks over the fire, eaten off makeshift plates made for the perfect outdoor meal. A great cigar for dessert, and then Jim threw skeet for me.
In essence it was the perfect day, and I hope you like the images. Enjoy!
