internship program now available for high school and college students with related emphasis.  students should be studying or have an interest in art/photography/advertising/public relations.  should have a working understanding of digital camera file formats and photoshop.

6-12 weeks long - 4 - 8 hour days(college students) after school and summer for high school students.  opportunities only available to 1 college student and 1 high school student at a time.  it is important that the intern actually gets credit for the internship... since at this time there is no pay, you need to have some consideration for putting in all this work... here are the responsibilities:

post production - editing, raw processing, stock image editing, post processing, image retouching
marketing and promotion - email blast, newsletter writing, blog posting, press release writing, graphic design
producing - pre and post production on assignment/stock shoots, photo shoot assistant, casting
general studio work - answer call, shipping, cleaning studio

interns would be responsible for their own travel and housing to Oceanside, ca.

interested parties should contact jay at jay@jayreilly.com

hi all, here are some casual reviews and thoughts on my new drobo system.  if you do not recall, it was time to change my hard drive system so that i had a faster, more reliable, more professional drive system for my mounting data...that was to some regards taking over and controlling my life.

So thanks to many i was referred to drobo and now have it up and running.  here are some thoughts.

- the product is nice, well made, cool looking, easy to use.  had it up and running in no time and was able to buy the standard drive sizes at best buy. 
- next time, i would get the drives right from drobo, i found their prices to be more reasonable than what i can get them at best buy for...but i expect that price to come down over the months ahead
- i am now backing up on hard drive instantly, which is nice.  i was still doing DVD back ups which is just insanity, so that is saving me time.
- the disc space is now cheaper on the longer term, but not super super cheaper, but still worth it.
-  i did have a problem when i first got it up and running, i accidentaly was using the USB cable and not the firewire cable...did not work well, the firewire works great.
- also have a friend that mentioned his firewire cable was popping out easily...and had to tape it in...i have not had that issue.
- as far as price, it was listed cheaper at some distributors but the sales person filled me in on some promotional code which brought it down to a more competitive price.  i hear we are gonna get a promo code to for this blog post...we shall see...how much would you like off? ;-)

But it is a very nice system that now makes me think less of space and lets me concentrate on shooting, which is great.

http://www.drobo.com/

UPDATE -- promo code is JAYR, that will get you a discount.

hi all, i am on a big design it yourself kick!  i found this book month ago but just really started to dig into it.  its call DIY design it yourself.  the book is basically a creative resource for DIY projects from anything from blogs, books, business cards, cds, newsletters, web site, promotional pieces...whatever...if you cant find it in here, it inspirse you to make it on your own!

for me, its just been good to get the creative juices flowing and i am neck deep in a project that is totally DIY and if it works out, i will share...if not, it will be back to the drawing board.

got the book from urban outfitters and it is editted by ellen lupton.

i went for a run today and was thinking of my creative life before photography.  i was really looking for that creative outlet that would satisfy.  i was a guitarist and teamed up with bass player, song writer, brad nolan to create and original set of music.

it was a fun process but what is most interesting is the connection of how my journey as a musician and as a photographer are similar on many levels and different on a few.  i think the most important and notable was the natural ability to create.  i am convinced that photography comes very easy for me.  i could be wrong, or perhaps i am faking it...but i feel like this is something i can do as well as anyone.  music not so much!  it was a complete struggle the entire trip.  but i think it made the achievements that much more great yet i wish i had found photography sooner!

well brad has much more natural ability to create in music.  he is doing very well with his music on many levels. 

here is a song that we collaborated on and brad has since improved upon.  brad has a nice sense of mixing and arranging.  love the swelling electric in the back on this track...

brakelights.mp3

hi everyone!  had a small mention in this months issue of PDN.  i always look forward to the stock issue...find out what people are doing and who else is out there...  in an effort to find a second agency beyond aurora, i first signed with jupiter/workbook which has been good, but wanted to keep my options open.  i have always been a fan of uppercut images in the stock world and when they expressed some interest, it all fell into place.  upper cut has been super easy to work with and look forward to future shoots and submissions.

the article is about who agencies are signing and why...wish that i had this article to read about 3 years ago.  it is a pretty interesting read if your interested in this niche of photography and if there is interest enough from this blog readership i would shed some insight on how to get an agency contract. 

saving the point of destination for a fun blog game...but i am packing for somewhere warm and wet.  location looks great and i am looking forward to the trip and shoot...but...thought i would share this packing tip.

when i am traveling for a shoot, i like to have all my necessary equipment fly as a carry on.  in fact, if i can carry it all on, i am much happier.  so i have a tamrac turbo cyber pro that is used for the location camera gear, while shooting.  large enough and it also has a room for my 17 mac laptop. 

the next bag i have is actually a tool bag/luggage.  i found it at a home depot type of store.  it doubles as a gear/clothing bag.  in here i pack all the extra necessary harware that i might need and some overflow from the camera bag.  on this trip, since i shooting underwater and around water alot, i am bringing my waterhousing and some speedlight equiptment in the tool bag/clothing bag.  the bag is perfect for this because is has a hard shell(yet it is soft), has a handle and wheels fits in overhead.  i might use some socks and tshirts to provide a little extra padding for the stuff that needs it like the water housing.

i also stuff a small lens bag in the tool bag and use it on location for smaller locaiton outings with simpler needs.  all of this is carry on, easy, easy.  the tool bag was cheap, like $30.  but works great!

i am convinced that i am not loved at all.  i have been on portable hard drives now for about 8 years and not one family member or associate ever says anything.  in fact they enable me all the time...taking me to best buy, where larger and larger hard drives are cheaper and so easy to score.  i would think by now, someone, other than myself would get to the point, where they might round up a few other digital asset management people and sit me down and conduct a real hard drive intervention.

you can see from the photo, years of hi resolution raw photography, there is no doubt, i am hard user.  i have thousands and thousands of gigs of portable hard drives.  there has got to be a better way...so, i have hit rock bottom.  and time to turn my life around.  please help me on my journey to healing.  if you know a good system for someone like me, please share in the comments below.  thanks. 

or if you are in he same situation as me, you can just comment, "hello, my name is _____, and i am a portable hard drive user, and i need to change." 

so with much success with my aurora collection of images licensing on getty and corbis, i felt like experimenting a bit.  the only big agency that i was unrepresented on was jupiter.  so i thought i would push a smaller collection of people/lifestyle images images direct with jupiter though workbook.  all agencies are a bit different on the expected return and the time it takes to make it happen.  but after about 8 months from the time i signed paperwork, to today, i am happy to say that the first license with jupiter was a great one!   also very interested to see what images do well.  it is very hard to presume one image is going to do very well and another one is not... and if i posted all my big sellers, you might laugh!  certainly not portfolio gems;-)

but the funny story behind the first image license with jupiter is that the image was from an editorial stroy shot for riviera magazine where next to nothng was paid to me for producing the image.  it was one of those smaller stories that does not really have much of a budget, but i agreed to take it as i felt the images might be marketable beyond the editorial.  here are a few but the bottom right image made me $4500 this month!  yehaa!

hi everyone,  well, still working out the self promo and actually was really inspired by the nikon promo awards.  if you have not seen it yet, check it out, pretty cool stuff.  the tough thing with me is i do not really have a set advertising budget.  i really need to start setting budget aside for these type of projects but currently i am looking at making promos for a local/regional market and in some instances some potential national clients.

so i am getting crafty and tryng to do it on my own budget.  still working out the paper selections, sizes, shipping method and design.  here are some tested layouts.  next step is to source the envalopes or shipping package.  i am thinking something clear to see the work inside.

as a follow up to the question, how do you build a great lifestyle portfolio...i referenced books that i take with me out on a shoot.  i was using an iphoto book, but changed over to my new inkjet book.  its great because i can keep it up to date with the best/newest stuff and can custom create books for the type of person or groups i might approach.

all in all it has been really enjoyable just to be able to print and share.  thanks to all for adding their comments and tips on inkjet printing.   look for a post on how to use them for promos...i am not sure yet, but working on it!

both shots below are ideal senarios on lifestyle stuff that i stumble upon...or in the case of the fly fisherman, hunt down and shoot...long story.