Dallas, TX photographer Jonny Carroll's Blog. DTX photography.

The time has come - New blog

2011-09-30T07:59:00.002-05:00

Hey guys, so I have a new blog. A couple new blogs in fact.

My commercial and consumer identities have grown so much and at the same time, so far apart that I felt it was time to do this. Additionally my two new blogs: Weddings and Commercial and built in a completely integrated into my new web site designs. Here they are:

Commercial
DTXphoto.com

Wedding
DTXweddings.com

Enjoy.
-Jonny Carroll

Christine and Andrew Post Wedding

2011-09-24T09:14:00.000-05:00

Have you ever heard of a trash the dress shoot? This was one essentially, although the dress went home unharmed. I call it a "post-wedding" or "day-after" shoot. Still in the wedding gown and the groom can wear whatever he wants. I highly recommend them, it allows for a relaxed shoot that's not the pace of the wedding day and it's a lot of fun. Plus the extra time and need to not worry hurting a dress really make for fun and creative photographs.

Here's christine. We got some shots of just and and some with Andrew. We did not do a bridal shoot, so this essentially took it's place.

These shots were at the McKinney Cotton Mill in Mckinney, TX

Note the strobe under the planks. Allowed the ground to be visible and made the photo much more dramatic. I got shots without it too.

I had to pull of some crazy lighting here. But I love the way the clouds came out looking.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer DTX photography Dallas, Texas Aerial Photography Dallas, Denton Texas Wedding Photographer Portrait Photography in Dallas, TX DTX Dallas, TX editorial photographer

Comanche County Memorial Hospital - Part 3 of 3

2011-08-22T10:00:00.000-05:00

Day 3. Feeling the effects at this point. But still charging strong.

Babies! Now this was a real patient and mother. Photos with consent of course. Doesn't she look amazing for just having a child same day?!!

Rehabilitation by swimming.

They had a mock-up grocery market which allows patients to practice everyday tasks.

Kiddos

They had a chapel there for prayer. I thought that was so neat. The man in the foreground is a minister and the background is a man who was actually seeking prayer.

Well that's it. Day three complete and I got to go home to my wonderful wife.

-Jonny Carroll

DTX Jonny Carroll photography

Dallas Texas Aerial Video

Dallas commercial photography

Dallas medical photography

Dallas Video and time lapse production

Happy Birthday to Sarah!!

2011-08-21T07:00:00.001-05:00

Sarah is my absolutely wonderful and gorgeous wife.

Here's a photo of her. It's a couple years old, we should probably update it. But it still gives you an idea of how beautiful she is. Sarah has been such a support to me and my photography career. I certainly owe a lot to her and of course Jesus Christ my lord and savior for the success I've had as a photographer.

Sarah has her own blog. It's called Carroll Creations .com She post recipes, sewing instructions and etc. You'll see a lot of my food shots on there of the creations she makes.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer

Comanche County Memorial Hospital - Part 2 of 3

2011-08-20T09:01:00.000-05:00

This was a stint surgery. This doctor was amazing. I wore a full lead suit for this one.

Machine medicine selector. Pretty crazy.

DTX Jonny Carroll photography

Dallas Texas Aerial Video

Dallas commercial photography

Dallas medical photography

Dallas Video and time lapse production

Comanche County Memorial Hospital - Part 1 of 3

2011-08-18T09:01:00.002-05:00

I had a three day on location shoot at a hospital. Here's the photos.

I tried to narrow them down as much as possible but there's just so many. Any shots that show patient faces are fake patients, but the surgeries are real. I was in open heart surgeries. Pretty nuts.

Don't worry, this is a fake patient.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer

Wichita Falls Texas photographer
Dallas Texas Aerial Photography
Dallas professional photographer
Dallas medical photographer
Dallas Videography and media

Forney Powerplant

2011-08-16T09:12:00.000-05:00

I took aerial photos of the powerplant in Forney Texas. I had a pilot in specific who would refer to this place as the "cloud factory". On the clearest of days there would sometimes be a little white cloud above this place, haha.

It's really hard to show scale on things like this. Look at the handrails at the top of the stacks. That gives you a little idea of how a human would measure up to this massive structure.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Dallas photography
Dallas Aerial Photography
Dallas commercial photography

St. Edwards Aerials

2011-07-27T12:22:00.000-05:00

Made a trip to Austin to get some photos of St. Edwards University.
It's a beautiful campus. If you went there or know someone who did, leave a comment. I'd like to know.

Here's a high altitude shot that shows downtown Austin, the capital of Texas.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Dallas TX photographer
Austin aerial Photography
Dallas commercial photography

Kevan and Alex Engagement

2011-07-21T17:52:00.000-05:00

Kevan is an architect, so naturally we shot their engagement photos in downtown Dallas, and made sure to work in a little architecture. I'll be photographing their wedding as well.

See my orange gel strobe behind them. Mmmm.

Then they decided to walk on the water. Don't ask me how they did it. I'm just a photographer.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Dallas photography
Dallas, Denton Texas Wedding Photographer
Portrait Photography in Frisco, TX

Allmand and Lee Headshots

2011-07-11T17:00:00.000-05:00

Allmand and Lee is a law attourney firm in Fort Worth and Dallas Texas. I got to take head shots for the company. This in particular is the Fort Worth office. I set up a mobile studio in a conference room and we go from there.

The wave photo. This is the whole office. This photo is a "tradition". They've had it every year.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Dallas photography
Head Shots in Dallas, TX
Dallas head shots photographer
DTXmedia.com

Kori Bridals

2011-07-06T13:57:00.000-05:00

Kori took her bridals in Arlington, TX. The first part were at Veteran's Park.



After the park we headed over to Woods Chapel. This is where Sarah and I got married.


Then to a beautiful shopping center. By this point we had run out of light.



-Jonny Carroll Photographer
DTX photography
Dallas, Texas Wedding Photographer
Portrait Photography in Dallas, TX
Dallas Media and Videography

Summer fun. Underwater.

2011-06-29T14:49:00.002-05:00

A little over a couple years ago I bought a waterproof camera for my point and shoot. It's been well worth it. This is my niece Jessalyn.

My brother in-law Alec and his son Griffin.
(the battery died before I could get a good photo of my other nephew connor, we'll blame Sarah for that one, also this will be a test to see if she reads my posts. :)

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
DTX photography
Dallas, Denton Texas Wedding Photographer
Portrait Photography in Dallas, TX
DTX Dallas, TX editorial photographer

Microchips

2011-06-28T13:03:00.004-05:00

Microchip Macros. Pretty much the extent of what I can tell you about this shoot is it's in the technology world, a world of secrecy and competition. What I can tell you is that these things were small. I mean really really small. It's was quite the challenging shoot. How small? you ask..

See the regular sized golf tee (that I happened to have in my pocket). See the black looking dust speck? Well that's a plastic container... the microchip is inside that. (the little dot of gold)

And here's what the photo looks like of it.
Gotta love a challenge, haha :)

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
DTX macro photography
DTX Dallas, TX macro commercial photographer

AMA motocross nationals - Freestone Raceway

2011-06-27T14:43:00.002-05:00

Motocross is a sport I raced growing up. The most prestigious tour, the Outdoor Nationals comes to Texas now annually. It's a blast to watch these guys. Hot, but still a blast. Shown above is Christian Craig. A normally top 20 rider, he surprised everyone by leading several laps of the first moto. He had the only clean bike out there. I didn't take many pics as I wanted to relax and enjoy the racing, but here's a couple more.

Defending supercross champion Ryan Villipoto charing through the pack behind veteran Kevin Windham

Scotty Winnerstrom. I used to ride with and hang out with Scotty back in the day, so I needed to get a shot of him before I called it a day shooting. He doesn't run with the leaders, but he still qualifies for the races weekly which is a pretty big deal considering the competition out there. Good to see him.

And Chopper. My childhood and still best friend who between him and his dad got me into motocross.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
DTX extreme sports photography
DTX Dallas, TX action sports photographer

Storms 2011

2011-06-26T21:57:00.000-05:00

This year has been one of the craziest years for storms for North Texas and the central plains, but we're on the decline now. I've had the chance to storm chase twice with some meterologists. That was a blast, although extremely close and following the right cells, I've still yet to see a tornado. One of those things I'd like to do before I die. Here's some more shots from this season.

This actually turned into a tornado, but streets didn't allow us to keep up with it and see it. Bummer.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
DTX photography
DTX Dallas, TX photographer

Garren and Carlye Engagement

2011-05-14T08:45:00.002-05:00

Garren and Carlye got there engagements taken at the Botanical Gardens in Fort Worth.

I know Garren from the aviation community. He is a helicopter pilot. Carlye is also a pilot.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Fort Worth photography
Fort Worth Wedding Photography
Fort Worth portrait Photographer

Double Rainbow - all the way - OMG!

2011-05-12T08:30:00.001-05:00

Yes, it's a funny youtube video, but it's also a spectacular natural phenomenon. It was quite a pleasant sight from the kitchen window, and I quickly drove Sarah and I to an open area so I could see the whole thing.

This is it in our neighborhood! On our street.

From the car window.

Panorama double rainbow

Neat looking mammatus clouds followed.

VIDEO:
If you're not familiar with the viral video. Please watch this informative breakdown:

link if embed does not work - http://youtu.be/1qyQIKd_B68

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
DTX Dallas, TX photographer

Locker Room Clothing

2011-05-11T08:51:00.000-05:00

Locker Room clothing hired me to take some fashion photos for their children's clothing line. They have some really neat clothing. The kid models were adorable too. It was a solid plain white background shoot, with cut-out intentions (see her site).

Solid white is always a little challenging and on top of that we had very little space to work with, but we made it work and in the end we were both really happy with the photos.

Here are some more shots:









Here is the designer Dominic McCullough:

Check out her work and more at
http://www.lockerroomclothing.com

The seamstress was Janelle Wooten, who coincidently I'm friends with from know from high school. Her website is: http://janellewooten.com

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Arlington photography
Arlington portrait Photographer
Dallas fashion photographer

Spring time macro fun

2011-05-10T08:47:00.000-05:00

Spring is upon us.

Which means a few things, but best of which is that flowers are blooming and bugs are coming out for photos. haha. These shots are actually from last season. I hope to get out again this year for a pleasure shoot. I don't do many of those anymore.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer DTX photography Dallas, Texas Aerial Photography Dallas, Denton Texas Wedding Photography Portrait Photography in Dallas, TX DTX Dallas, TX commercial photography

Happy Mother's day

2011-05-08T09:02:00.001-05:00

Thought I'd post a few photos I've taken of my mom's.

Here's my mom:

My mother in law:
(in the middle)

and my step-mom:
(far right)

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
DTX photography

Reed Parsons - Magazine cover.

2011-05-07T10:33:00.001-05:00

Reed Parsons on the cover or Director of Maintenance.

Reed is the DOM at Longhorn Helicopters, a flight school in Denton. With the help of the school, I landed this gig, thanks Longhorn. We had a lot of fun shooting, and the editor was thrilled with the photos.

Here are a few other photographs from the shoot:

I always love commercial portraits, editorial photos for magazine covers and working in the aviation industry. This was a win all around!

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Denton photography
Dallas Aerial aviation Photography
Denton portrait Photographer
DTX Dallas aviation photographer

Kelli Bridals

2011-04-29T00:29:00.000-05:00

A couple shots from her bridal shoot.

She looked pretty good for having the stomach flu. The shoot lasted about 10 minutes total and forced short by very unfortunate circumstances. I felt so bad for her. But she did get a huge discount, free digital files and a photo she was happy with, so I guess it's all good.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Dallas photography
Denton Wedding Photographer
Las Colinas Photography

Lifespan of a lady bug.

2011-04-06T13:17:00.000-05:00

Well, most of it.
I had no idea they went through this transformation. But I had my macro lens out and followed the progress in my backyard. Pretty neat.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Arlington tx photographer
Arlington Photography portraits
Fort Worth, TX commercial photographer

Vaupell Tubes

2011-03-30T08:45:00.000-05:00

This company makes tubes. Like the ones at the bank, but much bigger and for hospitals. They were particularly interested in shots of the padding material. I was a little nervous about this shoot, not knowing how to execute it, but let me say, I've never seen tubes looks so good. haha. Enjoy.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Dallas photography
Dallas commercial photographer

Monette & Andy Snow Bridals - Trash the Dress

2011-03-10T16:54:00.000-06:00

Well, we had a snow storm a couple weeks back.

Now that doesn't happen often in Dallas. Schools and businesses shut down, students flock to the parks for snowball fights, and photographers go out taking pictures of poor freezing brides. Meet Monette. She's the wife of a teacher who works with Sarah. I've already done a trash the dress shoot with Sarah, and to be honest, I'm not sure she would've wanted to in the snow. She did come along and help though. Gotta love her!

Andy is Monette's husband. (Sarah's school teammate / coworker). We made him get in a few shots.

Always fun when you get to be creative.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Fort Worth photography
Fort Worth Wedding Photographer
Photography in Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth commercial photographer

Lori and Kyle Engagement Shoot

2011-02-25T11:31:00.000-06:00

Well, it's my first post of Feb. Sorry for that. More to come soon. Things have been busy, but I certainly can't complain.

Here is Lori and Kyle.
I'll be shooting their wedding on June 11th, which is actually my birthday.

Lori knew of this beautiful park in the Coppell. We had beautiful fall colors to work with. At the end of the shoot, a storm was rolling in and we saw a full rainbow. It was pretty neat and we got a few shots with it. Check them out below.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Dallas photography
Dallas Wedding Photographer
Coppell Photography

Casey's wedding photography bridals in Frisco, TX

2011-01-27T11:36:00.001-06:00

Casey is one of the most spectacular brides I've worked with.

We had our bridal shoot at the NYLO hotel, and it was just perfect. Notice the colors of the flowers and the accent colors of the locations. Just spot on. The colors also match my DTX Photography site, but that's just lucky.

The hotel is very high end, beautiful and just a joy to work with, as was Casey. They were very photography accommodating and the shooting fee was only $100.

Casey and her mom absolutely loved the bookshelf, so we had to get a few shots with it. Notice the flash behind her with an orange gel, it really did wonders for the shot.

Here's the one we chose as her display photo at the reception. Printed on a wrapped canvas frame. Doesn't get any better than that.

All in all a fun shoot and very cooperative bride. She was up for my fun ideas and I was very happy with the outcome of the photos.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Frisco, TX Photographer
Frisco Wedding Photographer
Frisco Portrait Photographer

Alyson Wedding Bridals Portrait

2011-01-24T12:44:00.000-06:00

Here are some shots from Alyson's bridal shoot. We went out to a historic house in Wylie, TX. The weather was beautiful and of course, so was the bride to be.

On the property, there's this old western looking building. We took a few shots there, until I was attacked by fire ants. Then we moved on.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Dallas high end photography
Dallas Wedding Photography
Dallas portraits photographer

Katherine Maternity

2011-01-20T10:17:00.001-06:00

I got the privilege to photograph Katherine and her husband Cody for their maternity photos.

Katherine is a professional dancer for the Dallas Stars, Ice girls and FC Dallas. Needless to say, she was a natural in front of the camera. She said this was her favorite shoot because she could eat anything she wanted before hand and not worry about it. :)

Cody and a tech-deck. I used to love these things as a kid. Cody used to race motocross, like me, so we bonded. lol.

This was the one "nakey" shot (as Katherine called it) that she wanted to do. Turns out she stole the idea from a friend. (insert unknown original credit here).

That's a wrap.

This was shot in my home studio in Aubrey, TX. Which is just north of Frisco.

-Jonny Carroll Photography
Dallas TX photography
Frisco Photography
Frisco, TX Photographer

Natgun

2011-01-16T15:42:00.000-06:00

Aerials of water tank construction in Sunnyvale, TX.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Dallas Denton Frisco photographer
Dallas Aerial Photographer
Dallas commercial photographer

Billboards in Wichita Falls

2011-01-13T10:54:00.000-06:00

Sarah and I got a chance to make it up to Wichita Falls to see my photos on a few billboards.

There's just a few here, but they were up all over town, first it was really neat to see my pictures in print so large, and even neater to be driving through the city and stumble upon a poster or billboard.

They really don't seem so big until you're right up next to them. For some reason I visualized the people as "life size". Boy I was wrong. :)

Thanks to Graphics II, Wichita Falls chamber of Commerce, the models and of course Sarah. (She took the last photo).

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Dallas Photography
Frisco Photography in Dallas, TX
Dallas advertising photographer

Gainesville stadium

2011-01-06T15:30:00.001-06:00

I got a chance to take night-time aerials of the new Gainesville ISD stadium.
You gotta love Friday Night Lights in Texas.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
DTX Denton photography
Denton, Texas Aerial Photography
DTX Gainesville commercial photography

Happy New Year

2011-01-06T06:06:00.000-06:00

Welcome blog readers to 2011.
I have big things planned.

First off, sorry for a low-posting December. Things got busy around here... which was a good thing believe me. I'll have a post up later today at 3:30pm

I suggest if you read via RSS or another feed to click the link and check out the new design. One of my new years resolutions is to close the gap between all my identities and to make a site that clearly communicates my company as a whole. That might just be accomplished already, but there is much work to do on the other sites.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer

Fort Worth Texas Football Stadiums - aerials

2010-12-18T06:31:00.003-06:00

I photographed these for the track and turf company that installed on these fields.

Farrington Field in Fort Worth, Texas

Herman E Clark stadium aerial.

Herman E Clark Fort Worth

Farrington Field

Farrington Field

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Dallas photography
Fort Worth Aerial Photography
Fort Worth commercial photography

Carolyn and Micah Wedding

2010-12-07T10:09:00.000-06:00

It was a beautiful wedding at the Chapelle des Fleurs in Flowermound, TX
www.chapelledesfleurs.com

Carolyn is also a photographer. It's always a great feeling when another photographer requests your services for their special events. :)

ALL IN! It's a good thing he won the hand.

Thanks to Charlie, who was my second shooter at this wedding. Thanks to Carolyn and Micah for allowing me to cover your special day.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Dallas Lewisville photographer
Dallas, Denton Flowermound Lewisville Texas Wedding Photography
Portrait Photography in Dallas, TX

Time of Day

2010-11-29T10:58:00.000-06:00

Time of Day.
Probably the most important factor in outdoor photography.

Below is Prince of Peach church and school in Carrollton, TX.

This was my ultimate choice, about an hour and a half before sunset.

Here's the same shot, but with cloud cover. Depending on the day, you might have to wait anywhere from a few seconds to 30 minutes to get some nice good sunlight.

Golden Hour:
Right when the sun is on the horizon. Everything looks golden and this is the "ideal" time to photography. There are exceptions, like in this case.

Early Twilight. This is the phase where the lights outside as just slightly dimmer than the ambient light.

Twilight. This is usually a winner. The outdoor lighting is strong enough to act as accents, but the ambient still does good work.

Late twilight.. I don't have a photo, but as a general rule, you never want to photography at pure night. When a client asks for night shots, I make sure they're late twilight shots. Like this:

Notice how at "night", you wouldn't see the top of the bridge or all the post or even the water edge.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Dallas Architecture photography
Dallas Aerial Photography
DTX Dallas, TX commercial photography

Christine and Andrew Engagement

2010-11-08T14:30:00.000-06:00

Christine and Andrew's engagement was a lot of fun. We started at Galatyn Parkway in Richardson, TX. There are some fountains there at the Renaissance Hotel that they really wanted photos in. Shown below:

But before it was dark, we made our way to Mockingbird Station on the Dart train.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Plano photographer
Plano Wedding Photography
Photography in Plano TX

UNT Aerials of the New Stadium - University of North Texas

2010-11-07T17:00:00.001-06:00

UNT is where I earned my undergraduate degree, so I was very excited when they contacted me about getting aerial photos for them of the new stadium (and a few other aerials on campus). Here they are:

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
DTX photography
Dallas Aerial Photographer
Denton Commercial photography

Meredith and David Wedding

2010-11-03T14:38:00.000-05:00

I know David from the helicopter industry. He's a pilot and a dang good one at that. I used to fly with him alot before he moved out to West Texas to herd cattle from a helicopter. .. what a job.

He met his gorgeous bride Meredith out there. I was delighted to photograph their wedding.

photo by Sarah Carroll actually. ^

David's family came all the way from South Africa to be there! Pretty awesome.

The rings.

Everyone loved the miniature cows on the cake.

A lego helicopter cake decoration.

They had a pretty short wedding and reception. Then threw a party that night. Inbetween we had a photo session with just David and Meredith. We got some great photos out of it.

We made our way to the airport where we had an old crop dusting airplane waiting for us to take pictures with!

The party wasn't part of the wedding photography, but I took my camera as a nice gesture (:
The helicopter / aviation community is pretty small, there were a lot of people there that I knew and it was really neat to see everyone I usually work with in one industry.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
DTX photography
Dallas, Texas Aerial Photography
Dallas, Denton Texas Wedding Photography
Portrait Photography in Dallas, TX
DTX Dallas, TX commercial photography

Lindsay Bridals at the Japanese Gardens

2010-11-01T14:45:00.002-05:00

Remember Lindsay from my last post? Well here are her bridals. You know, you can't post bridals until the wedding day, so they miss the blog or get much posted later than the wedding date because they don't flow with my normal "social networking photo flow". haha.

We shot at the botanical gardens in Fort Worth Texas in the Japanese gardens. It was a blast. I know noone is crazy about paying a location fee to shoot somewhere, but it's always well worth it. The photos turned out fantastic.

I was thrilled to see so many great pictures in a matter of 2 hours. Both Lindsay and the gardens were beautiful. Bridals are definitely one of my favorite things to shoot.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Forth Worth photography
Fort Worth Wedding Photography
Fort Worth portrait photography

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T06:00:00.004-05:00

This is a photo from last year's pumpkin carving party at our house. I haven't edited the ones from this year.... clients get priority of personal photos :).

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

Jonny Carroll photography

Lindsay and Austin Wedding

2010-10-28T15:00:00.002-05:00

Lindsay and Austin's wedding was great. See below:

Guys gotta have good breath!

They got ready in a room with a puppet show window. Naturally, I couldn't help but make a few photos out of that.

They were all looking at me like I was crazy when I had them pose like this. Now they all love it. Ha!

MOTB: Deanna.

Most animated minister I've seen.

yay!

The next 7 photos happened in a matter of 5 minutes. Fast pace like none other.

THEY HAD A PHOTO BOOTH!!

Me and my crew got a turn in on the photobooth. I'll try to post those soon. For now, look at the photos they got inside photo booth:

Aren't those good? Looks like a professional took them. :P

Most parents after the wedding. For what it's worth, they said the photography was well worth it! Ok, I may have made that up, but I'm sure they would agree. :)

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
DTX photography
Frisco Wedding Photography
Frisco Photography

Wichita Falls editorial Part 5: Dinner and a movie

2010-10-27T15:00:00.001-05:00

Meet heather. She's pretty much my favorite model I've ever worked with, just absolutely stunning. The guy, who's name I forgot is pretty well known in Wichita Falls as well.

They didn't actually eat this, it was just for the photo. Being the professional I am, I made sure it didn't go to waste. I'm not much of a fine diner, but I know a delicious steak when I taste one. I'm getting hungry just typing about it.

Take a look at the pretty lady in the back of the bar. That was one of our directors from the shoot with the city of Wichita Falls. The other director was Buck at Graphics II. Great people to work with. A great shoot.

And our final shots of the 3 day, 5 part blog post adventure. The Wichita theatre.

Hope you enjoyed it. If you're in the city before Thanksgiving, make sure to look out for some billboards. I took those pictures! (that's a post coming soon).

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Dallas photographer
Dallas editorial photography

Wichita Falls editorial Part 4: United Regional & Castaway Cove

2010-10-25T15:00:00.002-05:00

This is part 4 of 5.

Day 3: daytime.

this is the new hospital in town.

Waterpark!

Now this was probably the greatest challenge of the whole shoot. You had high reflectivity, noon light, children and less than an hour, oh.. and it was hot, like 100+ degrees hot, I actually got in the water a little bit.

Keep in mind, these photos would be used for commercial purposes, so we could only photograph children who we had parental consent for, and couldn't include any others in the background. I like a good challenge though. I think the photos turned out great.

What a cute kiddo.

And that's part 4. Only one more post left, and they're some of my favorites.
Stay turned for Part 5

-Jonny Carroll Photographer

Jonny Carrol Photography

Dallas editorial photography

Wichita Falls editorial Part 3: Prairie dogs, Riverbend and cyclists

2010-10-22T08:30:00.000-05:00

This is part 3 of 5.

Day 2 evening and day 3 morning:

Wichita Falls has a designated prairie dog living area at Kiwanis Park.

They didn't actually request these photos, but I went and got them in my off time anyway. They're so cute, how could I not?

Riverbend Nature Center:

There are a bunch of butterflies and neat birds inside here.

Wichita Falls might be most famous for it's annual bike race the "hotter than hell"
which takes place in August. August in Texas is horrible. The cyclist community there is pretty big, so bike shots were a must. It's a surprisingly active city and there are a lot of nice places to enjoy the outdoors. These were taken at Lucy Park.

having some fun panning.

The falls in the background. This is one of my favorite shots.

major strobist work going on here. I have a ton of great bike shots, but I'm limiting this post to just four.

And some beautiful flowers at Lucy Park.

Part 4 coming soon.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Jonny Carrol Photography
Dallas editorial photographer

Wichita Falls editorial Part 2: Golf, art, technology & shopping

2010-10-20T15:00:00.001-05:00

This summer I did a big job for the city of Wichita Falls, Texas. It consisted of 3 full days of shooting, literally from sun-up to sun down. The first day was aerial photography only, the next two days would be just crazy. While the sun couldn't always be in the ideal position, we got a ton of great photos and they sure got their money's worth.

This is part 2 of 5.
Day 2:

golf

farmer's market

art gallery at midwestern state university

chemical lab at midwestern

technology lab at the water supply

editorial shopping photos.

MPEC from the ground

Kell House

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
DTX photography
Dallas Editorial Photography

Wichita Falls part 1: aerials

2010-10-19T08:01:00.000-05:00

This is part one of 3 at least. I took many pictures for the city of Wichita Falls, TX.
Here are the aerials. You might recognize some of these locations if you've ever been to the city.

commerce park

water tower

the falls or wichita falls

Midwestern State University

Sheppard Airforce Base. We got to land here. It was pretty cool.

MPEC event center

Waterpark.

Posts coming soon, you'll be seeing many of these places from the ground too.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
DTX photography
Dallas Aerial Photography
Dallas commercial photographer

Carolyn Bridals

2010-10-15T18:23:00.000-05:00

Carolyn was a lot of fun to work with. She's also a photographer so she digs the whole creativity thing.

She may have felt silly in the process, but this is one of my favorite pictures to date.

Fire Truck!

By the end of the shoot it was actually raining, so these are authentic pictures. That was fun. I've been wanting to shoot at this texas flag for a long time. I was happy to finally get to.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
DTXweddings.com
DTXportraits.com
DTXphotography.com

Black and Whites vs Infrared

2010-10-13T16:55:00.000-05:00

Infrared is one of my favorite forms of photography. I'm a color guy. I love love color, and typically only use black and white when I can't get my colors to work. Which is really what most photographers do, but that's just a little secret of ours. However, black and white can really make an impact and can really be appropriate sometimes. It can even be harder sometimes, forcing a photographer to use tonal variation and separation vs relying on color to do that.

Here's a black and white photo at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming:
It's pretty. I could probably expose up a tad.. but you get the picture.

Here is an infrared shot. There's not too much difference, and no matter how much someone can swear they could do this in photoshop, they're wrong. There's nothing like infrared.

Here are some key notations. Look at the trees in the top left. Plant foliage either emits or highly reflects infrared light, now look at the sky. See how black it is. Beautiful.

Cameras can be modified to take infrared photos. This was taken with a modified camera, my first digital SLR. However a simple filter can have the same effect. With an infrared filter, almost all of the visible spectrum is blocked and the same effect will occur. However, you will need a tripod and a really long shutter speed. There are numerous tutorials online.

Also as a side note, "black and white" is not a category of photography. It's a lack of color or at most a style, so if you're a photographer and you have a portfolio gallery titled "black and white", that's just silly. That's like me having a category called "2:3 ratio", "digital" or "warm". //end rant :D

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
DTX photography
Dallas, Texas Aerial Photography
Dallas, Denton Texas Wedding Photography
Portrait Photography in Dallas, TX
DTX Dallas, TX commercial photography

Joanna and Jeremy Wedding

2010-10-01T12:07:00.002-05:00

Joanna and Jeremy got married at the Lantana Country Club in Denton, TX

One of my absolute favorite pics.

The night ended with a surprise Mariachi band. It was really cool.

Thanks to Tre who second shot with me.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Dallas photographer
Denton Texas Wedding Photographer

White Balance

2010-09-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

White balance is somewhat of a new effect and is a term used only in the digital photography rhelm. It's extremely important for interiors and especially weddings to make sure white is white (or a neutral gray).

A lot of people use a "gray card". I don't. I don't care if the white balance is "correct", I care if it looks good. I'll often make a portrait warmer or a food photo cooler. I also shoot in raw, which allows me to adjust the white balance in post without data loss. If you don't shoot in Raw and you're a photographer you should.. but that's a whole other post for another day.

Take this photo I took for example of Yellowstone Lake at Yellowstone National Park.

It's pretty, warm, cozy and energetic. The oranges in the sunset are beautiful.
But what if I changed the white balance...

Take this photo. Same scene, same time of day with a different white balance.
In this case, one is not better than the other. They just have different feels and different moods to them.

The colors here feel relaxing, cool, crisp. This is the same photo essentially but with a different white balance to create completely different effects.

Most photos will not work like this however, but the really great, well lit photos will. And one more little tip, as a last resort, if your colors really really aren't working, because you have multiple light sources that are different color temperatures or etc... just make it black and white. A black and white post is coming soon. :)

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer
DTX photography
Dallas Aerial Photography
Denton Wedding Photography
Little Elm Photography
Dallas Commercial photography

Macro flowers and bugs. - Botanical Gardens

2010-09-27T09:41:00.000-05:00

I got a macro extension tube, so Sarah and I made a stop at the botanical gardens while we were in Fort Worth. I recently bought a macro flash too, so look out for more posts with a flash. Here's what I got that day though.

Bee. It was def scary to bee so close to these things.

Eating a bug.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Dallas photography

Tutorial - Why to use a polarizer filter.

2010-09-22T15:00:00.001-05:00

This is one of those things that can really make a difference. A small detail, yet extremely important in particular circumstances.

I polarizer only allows light to enter the lens from a particular direction. While light from a source is always omnidirectional, as well as most light bouncing off an object, some reflected light is coming from a single direction. See these examples:

Take this normal aerial photo of a Fort Worth, TX stadium

Compared to this polarized photo.

Both of these are unedited out of the camera. The difference is amazing, and the difference is between an amateur and a professional. I almost always have a circular polarizer on my lens. For only $50-$100, it makes and enormous difference. Watch out though. You don't always want to use one, they make the image much darker, so they're bad in low light situations.

Here's another example:

Look at the effect on the clouds / sky and the removal of the reflection off the water. If you don't have one, get one. It will be way worth it. Everyone and their pet dog asks me what kind of camera to buy. I tell them the camera is the least important thing to buy. This is one of the important things.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer
DTX Photography
TX Aerial Photography
DTX Wedding Photography
DTX Portrait Photography
DTX Photo - commercial photography

Cowboy Katherine

2010-09-21T21:17:00.002-05:00

While I loved these photos, I was a little hesitant to post them because some might consider them pretty sensitive, but seeing as I haven't updated in about two weeks, a shocking 'return to blogging' post felt in order. That and Katherine was perfectly ok with me posting these.

Katherine was great to work with and was a natural in front of the camera.
Hope you enjoyed, I don't blog many of my boudoir / sexy photo shoots.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Dallas photography
Portrait boudoir Photography in Denton and Dallas, TX
DTX Dallas, TX glamour and fashion photographer

Kayla and Joey Wedding

2010-09-03T14:34:00.004-05:00

Kayla and Joey got married at the Little Chapel in the Woods in Denton, Texas in the gardens of TWU, Texas Women's University. Joey flys helicopters, but we didn't know that until after we had met. How funny is that.

The reception was later at Giuseppe's Italiana, where Sarah and I actually had our engagement party.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer
Dallas Texas Photography
Denton Wedding Photographer

Burton: Conference room head shots

2010-08-27T14:05:00.002-05:00

Yep. I was given a head shot of one employee and had to match that photo to the other employees in the company. It involved a very specific color of blue, soft lighting with the camera left just slightly brighter and a bright to darker circular gradient behind them.

I set up the studio in the conference room of their office. It was pretty neat and very convenient for them.

Unfortunately I don't have the rights to post the sample photo, but it looked like this, I assure you.

A good shoot. I personally would've edited a little different, but I was attempting to match the other head shots foremost.

-Jonny Carroll
Dallas Photographer
Dallas Head Shot Photographer
Dallas Texas Photographer

Amelia and Joe engagement

2010-08-24T14:30:00.002-05:00

Amelia and Joe had their engagement shoot in good ol' downtown Denton, Texas. We started off at the TWU gardens then made our way to the square. I thought it was going to be difficult to light with the high contrast between their two skin tones, but I ended up really liking the contrast. Perhaps it's our culture's history, but I for some reason just find a special beauty in interracial couples and get excited to photograph them.

The shoot was great, and you can't even tell that we almost all passed out from humidity. It was so so bad. They were quite the couple for sticking it out with me.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Denton photographer
Denton Texas Wedding Photographer
Denton portrait Photographer

Mustang Technology Air to Air

2010-08-17T08:13:00.004-05:00

I was hired to do both aerial photography and video for Mustang Technology. We ended up getting two helicopters to cover this. Alan was in one, I was in the other. We're focusing on that strange looking, box shaped radar on the left side, just behind the wing. The shoot was pretty amazing. It was actually in Feb, but I'm just now blogging about it, so sorry about that.

VIDEO:

Filmed at Lake Texoma, Texas.

Video Pilot: Chris Creamer
Stills Pilot: Brenton Thomson
Caravan Pilot: Svein Tveitnes
Grip: Alan Farmer
Direction: Jonny Carroll
Still Photographer: Jonny Carroll
Editor: Lorraine Sherrill
Producer: Jonny Carroll with TXaerial
and Kevin Williamson with Mustang Technology

Special Thanks to:
Longhorn Helicopters
Grayson County Airport

Photos:

Action Shots:

Making Of Video:

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

Dallas photographer
Aerial Photographer
DTX Dallas commercial photographer

Dashaney's Senior Portraits

2010-08-03T13:57:00.002-05:00

Dashney is a senior at Pilot Point high school.
Her mom is actually my mail carrier, she see's mail addressed to my house as "photography" all the time, and knows I work from home, so she just came to the door. How cool is that. Turns out, yep I take senior portraits.

Dashaney is involved in athletics and you can certainly tell from the tone of her arms and such. She's very pretty and has a just gorgeous skin tone.

These photos were taken at Savannah Texas

This was one of her and her mom's favorites.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer

Aubrey Texas photography

Senior portraits photographer in Pilot Point Texas

AEG Solar Panels Ground + Aerial

2010-08-01T07:15:00.002-05:00

I got a chance to take photos for AEG via the MCC ad agency. I love when I'm able to combine ground photography with aerial photography as a service. I was lucky enough to do that on this job. Not only that, but I'm crazy about solar energy!

To the nerds that read my blog, no this is not HDR, but similar. Multiple exposures with layering and masking.

And of course the aeria

AEG.com

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

DTX dallas photographer
Texas Aerial Photographer
DTX Dallas, TX commercial photography

Jana's Kaiden

2010-07-21T16:20:00.002-05:00

Kaiden is a cute little kid. Jana works with my wife Sarah. I was thrilled to take pictures for her.
I don't take too many baby / kids portraits. I think it's because right now in my life, they just scare me. It's the next big step for me: having kids, and I'm not ready for it. haha. However, I'm plenty ready to take pictures of them!

Jana lives in Providence Village off of 380, pretty close to us. We ending up taking most the outdoor shots at Savannah, TX. Then headed back to the studio.

what did I say about being scared of them... jk

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
Dallas photographer
Denton, TX portrait Photographer

Horn Brothers Roofing

2010-07-17T16:30:00.001-05:00

Now that things have greened up a bit everything looks so much better from the sky. Gotta love the lush aerials. These were for Horn Brother's roofing. I took shots of multiple properties all with different roofing colors and styles. It was difficult and fun to pick out so many individual houses in a neighborhood from my map. I was happy with the results and so was horn bros, can't beat that!

Here's just a few from the shoot.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

Jdonut Photography, LLC
Dallas Aerial Photography
DTX Dallas, TX commercial photographer

Christie and Mark's Wedding in Denton, Texas

2010-07-14T16:30:00.004-05:00

Mark and Christie had a great wedding at the Denton Country Club. You might remember seeing their engagement shoot. Mark is an Executive Pastry Chef, http://Culinarycompositions.com, and Christie is a Nurse.

It was a good night.
Charlie was my second shooter and Chelsea assisted.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
DTX photography
Denton Texas Wedding Photography

UTD campus

2010-07-13T16:00:00.001-05:00

I was hired to take a picture of the University of Texas - Dallas campus like this:

1960's

here's the result: 2010

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
DTX photography
Texas Aerial Photography
DTX Dallas, TX aerial photography

MOSE show 2010

2010-07-12T16:45:00.003-05:00

The mose show is put on every year at UNT. They're a great group and always happy to have me out shooting their show. I didn't make last years, so I was happy to make it out this year.

First up we have Kellye, who some call a perfect 10. I can see why they think that, she rocked the night and her outfits for sure.

Monde was great as well. She has just the most beautiful skin tone.

Lauren is always a blast to work with, I see her around quite a bit, we've even had a one on one photoshoot together. Just a fantastic model. You can see I changed my lighting set up here. It's fun to switch things up.

But perhaps my favorite model of the night was Kendyl. I have what you might call a "photographer's crush" on her. I just want to photographer her more. Don't take that the wrong way, it happens with children, animals and even buildings.

And Jerome to salute us farewell, also to prove there were guys there too. :)

Here's a post from the 2008 Mose Show:
http://blog.dtxphoto.com/2008/04/mose-exposed-fashion-show.html
Can you beleive I've been blogging over two years?!? cool

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
DTX photography by Jonny Carroll
Portrait Photography in Dallas Texas
Dallas texas glamour photography

Hawaii, Hawaii

2010-07-11T13:59:00.001-05:00

My last big trip was about a year ago, Sarah and I went to Hawaii for our honey moon. It was fantastic. We just returned from our 1 year anniversary trip to Yellowstone National Park. I figured, I'd better make a post about our last trip before I make any uploads or posts about yellowstone, right?!

Here we are on a small plane flying from one island to another. Many of you know how much I love aerials. This is one of my favorites. I love where we are in relation to the cloud line and I love seeing that very defined volcanic crater. Very cool

This was where I played golf. Gorgeous. I walked it the morning prior for these photos.

Then we took a helicopter ride. .. naturally. This is an active volcano.

That's the magma flow. You can see some lava down there. So cool.

Here's the flow dumping into the ocean.

Some amazing waterfalls.

broken ship underwater

ocean

hula dancers, my favorite!

Macros and tons of pretty flowers:

Our resort.

exploring

old lava tubes now caves.

night time lava. This is the same place the aerials were taken of the massive steam clouds from the ocean.

wildlife

proghorn in hawaii, not sure how they got there. Def not native.

Black sand beaches

closed beaches.

relaxation.

mixed beautiful beaches.

Hard to think this trip could be topped... but just wait for yellowstone photos!!!
hope you enjoyed.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

Dallas, TX Commercial Photography
Dallas, Texas TX Aerial Photography
Dallas, Denton Texas Wedding Photography
Dallas Frisco Texas Denton, TX Portrait Photography

Commscope Portraits

2010-07-10T09:44:00.002-05:00

Here are some executive photos I did for Commscope in Richardson, TX. You might also know Commscope under the name Andrew Corp or Systimax. They are a great company. This is a high executive, Ted Hally. He was great to work with and was able to dedicate almost 30 minutes out of his day for us, which was wonderful. His time is very valuable.

Here I have a four light set up. On Ted I have two flashes: 430ex's either side with umbrellas. Camera left is at 1/4th and camera right at 1/8th. In the back I have a flash hitting the guy in orange from the left with umbrella at 1/16th power. The I have the color kicker, a flash just behind the left monitors with a blue gel and cap diffuser set at 1/4th power.

Here I used a green gel. These highly protected servers were neat, but not too photogenic. The green backlight made them come alive and gave the photo a very techy industry look.

They originally didn't want to shoot in this room because of how it looked with the ambient lighting, but I talked them into it and we were both thrilled with the result. In fact, so thrilled that they flew me out to New Jersey to shoot another executive. Pretty neat.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

DTX Dallas Texas photography
DTX Portrait Photography in Dallas, TX
DTX Dallas, TX corporate photography

Lindsay and Austin engagement

2010-06-24T18:34:00.004-05:00

I just finished taking Lindsay's bridal photos this week, and because I can't upload those until wedding day, here's a few from their engagement session.

These were in and around the downtown square in Denton, Texas.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

Dallas Wedding Photographer
DTX Portrait Photographer

Comment Moderation

2010-06-22T00:01:00.003-05:00

Someone left three extremely vulgar comments on different posts that were insulting and degrading to both my clients and family. Whoever you are, I hope you see how what you wrote could be extremely damaging to those who might read it. By the way, you're a coward for posting anonymously.

Anyway, I didn't think it would come to this. I highly hate censorship especially in art, but I felt forced to. In fact, had the comments been directed toward me or insulting to me, there would probably be no change. To my other readers, your much appreciated comments and feedback will just take a little longer to post as I will have to approve all comments now.

Swisher bridge night

2010-06-11T06:50:00.005-05:00

I took photos of the new Swisher Road toll bridge over lake Lewisville, Texas as it went up, for the drilling company and for the construction company: Jensen. I was also lucky enough to take completed photos. Day and night. See the construction and day shots in the JUMP below.

Night is a relative term. It's always best to shoot at twilight and mix in just a little bit of ambient light. It's a delicate balance, but beautiful when done right.

In our case, we had an absolutely beautiful sunset. Not only that, but I had my favorite pilot: Chris Creamer flying me. Slow shutter speeds in a helicopter are quite tricky as well. I was thrilled with the results. Here's more:

The really neat thing about this bridge is that I take it all the time from my home to pretty much anywhere west of DFW. It's very convenient.

JUMP:
Day shots of bridge
Construction photos of bridge

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

Texas Aerial TX Photography
DTX Dallas, TX corporate photography

Beautiful Sunset

2010-06-08T08:57:00.002-05:00

Occasionally we'll get some just killer sunsets in Texas. Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Yee Haa.

Jonny Carroll
Photographer

DTX photography
Dallas, Texas Aerial Photography
Dallas, Denton Texas Wedding Photography
Portrait Photography in Dallas, TX
DTX Dallas, TX commercial photography

Leah and Carey Wedding

2010-05-23T15:37:00.004-05:00

Leah and Carey had a beautiful wedding in Justin Texas at The Country Abby

I think this one the earliest in a day that I've ever left a wedding. It was around 2pm. Weddings have become more intimate in regards to lighting, with candles and darkness. I'm hoping this is just a fad. This wedding however was daytime and nice and bright! The more light the better for us photographers.

Thanks to Tre who second shot with me this wedding.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

Dallas and Denton Texas photography
Justin, TX Denton Texas Wedding Photography
Portrait Photography in Denton, TX

Amber Leigh College Seniors

2010-05-18T16:35:00.003-05:00

I photographed amber's wedding back in Dec of 2008. Seems so long ago. She graduates from UTD this semester and we took her college senior pictures.

These pictures were out by my house in Paloma Creek @ Savannah, TX. near Providence Village, TX

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

DTX Little Elm Frisco Savannah Providence Village, TX photography
Little Elm Texas Wedding Photography
Portrait Photography in Aubrey, TX

Catalogue Photos

2010-05-12T13:10:00.004-05:00

I was contacted by a company today about catalogue photos of jewelry. I realized I didn't really have a portfolio of this on my website. Categorizing portfolios is really hard when you offer such a wide variety of services. In any case, instead of going through the coding of creating a portfolio, I thought this would be the easiest way of showing a quick compilation of the work I've done which relates.

These are shots I did for Catherine Page Jewelry and are the most relevant.

We used this strange human art piece in many photos. Other photos were taken with just a solid white background, but I feel these are more creative and better to show. I'll have plenty of pure white photos in this post.

You can see more pictures on here website (although they are not all by me). click the photo or the link below.

http://www.catherinepage.net/

iRam Technology and Avant Memory
Here are some catalogue shots of RAM memory. This was also used on their packaging.

Here's more. And just in case all didn't believe me about having plenty of solid white shots. :)

Then of course some of the commercial shots

You can see more pictures at their website. I also did the virtual tour for the manufacturing facility. Click the photo or the link below.

http://iramtechnology.com/

Here is just a random compilation of
Metals:

Ad campaigns with small product shots:

and Misc editorial product photos.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
DTX Dallas, TX commercial photography

Finding a wedding photographer

2010-05-05T12:37:00.011-05:00

Everyone these days seems to be on a budget and very conscious about where and how they spend their money when planning a wedding, not a bad idea. And while cakes, flowers, venues, a DJ, etc. are all nice; photography is the one thing that will last more than just one day, and what will capture the other elements forever as well. It's how you'll remember the fast paced day after the fact, what you will show to your kids and grandkids, what you'll hang in your house for years and the one thing everyone will see who didn't make it. Needless to say, other than the marriage, it's the most important venue.

First off, don't ever book a photographer online, just by their portfolio or especially by their price. It's vital that you meet with him/her in person. Why? No matter how good their photos look, or how low their prices are, you must mesh. I'll always remember a wedding I attended as a guest where the photographers were very rude and demanding. So much so that for everyone in the wedding party, that was the one thing they remembered from the day. Find someone with a smile, a sense of humor and who is relaxed. After all, you'll be stressed and you'll spend more time with your wedding photographer on the day of your wedding than with your spouce, you want that time to be enjoyable.

A few tips and questions to ask when you meet with wedding photographers:

Editing:

Is editing included? Seems standard, but not always, some people have an editing fee. Then what kind of editing is included? It should be basic darkroom / lightroom adjustments and maybe some skin touch-ups on the close up shots. Anything more than that is a red flag, as it probably means that their photos are not good enough alone and that they need some tacky edit to make them look artzy. Black and white in most cases is for those who couldn't make color work, a few scarce black and whites is ok. I wouldn't want any more than 1 for every 10.

Coverage Time:

How many hours of coverage are you getting, will they be there plenty in advance and after you leave? Will they bail according to their watch right before the bouquet toss?

Turn around time:

How long does it take to get your photos back? Any more than a guaranteed two months should not be accepted. And if it's any less than a couple weeks, beware, that's not near enough time to dedicate the care needed to edit an entire wedding.

How long are the pictures available once presented to you?

Some people will put them online for a couple weeks and if you don't order prints in that time, tough luck. A good amount of time is a year. If you haven't ordered anything by your one year anniversary, you probably never will and shame on you. Some things like a wedding book or the digital files would be great 1 year gifts to each other if you can't afford it at that time.

What are the print prices?

Get them to lay this out in front of you. You might get the photography cheap, but will break the bank to

actually get a physical photograph. This is way too common of a practice and becomes like a hostage or ransom situation. Don't fall victim to it. Also realize that the prices are going to be more expensive than a corner pharmacy. They should be professional quality prints.

Do they offer the digital files?

Don't assume you're getting them, and certainly don't assume they're free. This is the same as giving you the film negatives. To the opposite, if the photographer just hands these out like business cards or toothpicks, then they don't care about their work. If the digital files are offered, at what resolution? You don't want 600px images good for nothing but facebook. Also what rights do you get? Are you allowed to print and make books, and give to family, etc etc?

How many photos do you get?

More is not necessarily better, the photographer should narrow and sort down the photos, eliminating the bad ones. This is their job, not yours. Any good shooter will be taking over 2000 photos. On delivery, 350-800 is a good range depending on the wedding, if any different, be weary.

Team:

Are they doing the job alone? Hopefully not. Some photographers have broken up their pricing and packages to be more affordable, but let me tell you, you want a second photographer or at least an assistant. The guys and girls are separate halves of the wedding anyway. Don't you want to see what took place in your fiancé's room and don't you want him/her to see what took place in your room? One person can't be in two places at once. What if there's data corruption or if the photographer gets sick.

References:

A neat way to get references is by viewing their other weddings. Do they have a purchasing gallery? What about uploaded and tagged clients on facebook? Do they have a blog with the couples names? All of these are great resources to utilize your stalker skills and contact a previous couple. You'll get much more authentic replies than from one of their pre-determined references. Of course the testimonies or peoples names they give you will have good reports. Can you see one of their galleries for a sample of a whole wedding? A photographer should be happy to give you access and to give you the contact info from a previous wedding on request.

Booking:

Expect to pay to book the photographer up front to reserve the date. This day should be just as important to them as it is to you. If you're not putting money down, and there is no contract, they'll happily take another 'better' job if it comes around. If you're afraid to give them money up front, you shouldn't be hiring them in the first place to document the most important day of your life.

Professionalism:

Do they do this full time or is it a side job? Not that someone working two jobs is inadequate to be a photographer, but their preparation, delivery and care for the photos, as well as quality will be hindered. Also, what if their main job moves them in another city, state or country. If something came up at work, you really think they would sacrifice their career for you? More importantly, are they legitimate? Do they take credit card, do they charge sales tax and have the permits. Hire a shady photographer and you're just asking for a no-show. And even if they do show, what's their plan in the case of equipment failure? How are you protected if they get sick or a hard drive crashes, is that in the contract? How is their quality? Can they handle no flash ceremonies if your minister requires that? Etc, etc.

Price:

A typical photographer in Dallas will run $3000-$5000 when it's all said and done. I beg and plead with you to never accept wedding photography as a gift from a friend. A discount.. maybe. First off, if they're such a good friend you should want them to enjoy the wedding or be in it. Let them celebrate. Secondly, if there is no money exchanged and no contract what happens in a discrepancy? What obligation do they have to you? Had they not been a photographer, would they really be giving you a $3000-$5000 wedding gift? Photographers price weddings according to what it's worth for them to photograph it. The rare exception to this would be maybe paying a friend with an all expenses paid trip for two to your destination wedding.

Be weary of those who range from $500 - $9000. You really think they're not going to bail on your cheap rate when a $9000 client comes along? Even I would be tempted to fake getting sick or etc. I mean, that's $8000... who wouldn't be tempted? This dilemma is sealed in my contract. I joke with my clients that if a $1M job comes along on the same day, that I'd pay them off to break the contract. haha. Point is, find someone who has packages that aren't drastically different.

These are just some questions to ask and things to look out for. Hopefully meeting in person should calm your nerves, or better a reference or referral. I've seen a lot of people get burned and would hate to see that happen to you. Happy shopping and if you're looking for a good wedding photographer in Texas, I know one, so just ask.

-Jonny Carroll Photographer
DTX photography
DTX Weddings

Megan and Steven Wedding

2010-05-02T08:16:00.003-05:00

Megan used to be a photographer's assistant in Dallas, I was thrilled and flattered that after working with some of the best in the industry and having a great deal of knowledge and skill in the art, that I was her first choice to photograph the most important day of her life.

The wedding was a blast to photograph. It was a very small and low-key wedding, in fact there was only one bridesmaid and one groomsman, no bouque or garter toss or . I was a little nervous that this would mean there would not be too many photo opportunities, but I couldn't have been any more wrong.

Here are the results of dedicating just a little bit of time to bride and groom shots. I love how these turned out, and at 12 noon, that's a hard time to shoot.

@ TWU's Little Chapel in the Woods and Hubbard Hall.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

Denton TX DTX photography
Dallas, Denton Texas Wedding Photography

Mark and Christie Engagement

2010-04-25T14:17:00.003-05:00

Mark and Christie engagement photos at the Denton square. They were a fun couple to work with, Mark is an Executive Pastry Chef, http://Culinarycompositions.com, and Christie is a Nurse.

And the closing fountain shot followed by a classic fountain fight. Gotta love a couple willing to get wet, the way I see it, if they can put up with me for a couple hours, they can surely put up with each other for the rest of their lives. Just Kidding. Pretty sure this was actually Christie's idea.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

DTX photography
Dallas, Denton Texas Wedding Photography
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The Island - Horn Brother's Roofing

2010-04-23T09:11:00.002-05:00

I took aerial photos for horn brother's roofing. This is The Island in Austin, Texas on Lake Travis. Horn brother's repaired the roof.

These pictures were taken last month, so the grass was still not green. You can see the original photo below. This is an example of my beautification service. We can make winter look pretty!

And then a few more up detail photos.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

DTX photography by Jonny Carroll
Austin, TX Texas Aerial Photography
Austin, Texas commercial photograp hy

UNT Photo Club at Old Alton Bridge

2010-04-19T09:45:00.001-05:00

The UNT photo club is something I had the privilege of being a part of during my years there. I love what photo clubs offer to folks trying to learn more about the art and simply just network. I was recently honored to be asked by the Dallas Photo Club to judge their photo competition. I'll be the youngest judge they've ever had. hehe.

Anyway, while I'm not part of the UNT club anymore, because well I'm not a student, I still try to get out and hang out with them when I get the chance. This was at the Old Alton Bridge, aka the haunted goat man bridge to locals.

First up, my wife Sarah. She's naturally very used to having her picture taken and has become quite the model, not to mention being in the best shape of her life. She posed for the group for a bit, and I'm not ashamed to brag on how pretty she was.

Next model up, Alyssa. She was pretty awesome as well. We used a reflector for fill.

This is what it's like having to model for the club. There's 5 more people not even shown in this picture.

Despite my plea to stick around for the golden hour, everyone headed out except Sarah and I. In their defense, they were there a lot longer than us. The area is really peaceful and pretty, so it wasn't so bad being alone out there. Here's a few more after that point.

Another good day with the UNT photo club.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

DTX Photography
UNTphotoclub.com

Kayla and Joey

2010-04-17T04:03:00.005-05:00

Kayla and Joey were fun to shoot with. Joey is a Helicopter Pilot so we have plenty to talk about. Kayla just continued to look stunning and put up with us as we put the shoot on hold to watch any helicopter that flew over head. haha.

It was a good shoot. These were all at or neat the downtown Denton square. You can see the courthouse between the pillars in this last photo. I look forward to shooting their wedding next month.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

DTX photography
Dallas Texas Wedding Photography
Dallas portrait Photography

Kellie and Cameron Wedding

2010-04-15T22:18:00.004-05:00

Kellie and Cameron's wedding was a blast. I photographed this wedding back in December, but it's just now making it's way to the blog. In fact I have many blog posts I'll be catching up on very soon. I was lucky enough to photograph Kellie's bridals. She's just stunning and one heck of a singer too.

The girls got ready at the Hyatt Hotel at DFW airport.

The guys: at the church.

A great wedding. A special thanks to Sarah and Tre for their help on the day.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

DTX Carrollton photographer
DTX Dallas Texas Carrollton Wedding Photographer

Andrew Corp - New Jersey.

2010-04-06T08:38:00.002-05:00

Earlier this year I made a trip out to New Jersey for a photo shoot. It was a great experience. The photos were for the annual report for Andrew Corp.

I never know what to call these kinds of photos. They're not quite head shots and they just don't fit what I seem to think portraits are. Maybe executive or commercial portraits. I don't know. On a side note is was great to visit the north east. It's still the US, but it's like a whole other world. I was feeling special to be flown out there, but then just very humbled by the enormous amount of people and businesses and trees, and just how insignificant I and we all really are.

-Jonny Carroll Photography

Dallas Aerial Photographer
DTX Dallas commercial photographer

Carolyn Birthday Shoot

2010-03-30T09:05:00.003-05:00

Carolyn was just great to work with, very relaxed and just a natural at this. Originally from Plano, TX, Carolyn plays soccer for The University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has a full ride there and has been proving why this season. I was lucky enough to see her play a game at PESH, (Plano East) my senior year when she was a freshman.. I think she scored three goals alone that game.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Carolyn as a athlete model in tons of magazines one day. I just hope she suggests her favorite photographer!

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer
Jdonut Photography, LLC

DTX Portraits - Dallas Texas Photography
DTX Photo - Dallas TX commercial photography

Ben and Cassie Mayer

2010-03-25T20:46:00.002-05:00

Ben and Cassie just brought their sweet child, Corbin into the world this week. Here are some maternity photos I took of them at the studio. This was one of the first really genuine studio shoots. The shoot was originally planned outdoors but rain forced us inside, and with the due date a week away, we figured postponing wasn't an option.

Check out some of their pics:

A great shoot at my Aubrey / Little Elm, Texas studio with Ben and Cassie.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

Portrait Maternity Photography in Dallas, TX
DTX Dallas commercial photography

snow bunny shoot - warning:moderate content images

2010-03-23T06:21:00.001-05:00

Dallas has seen record snowfall this winter. Our weather is bipolar and completely unpredictable. I personally like it. Snow is so unique to this area and me that I just had to get out and shoot in it. Adrian answered the facebook status model call. She was quite a trooper.

All in all a great shoot. She looks comfortable in these photos, but we were both freezing.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

DTX dallas texas photography
Portrait Photography in Dallas, TX
DTX Dallas, TX commercial photography

Prince of Peace

2010-03-16T10:57:00.001-05:00

Prince of peace is a private school and church in Carrollton, Texas. Shown below is their new fine arts building. I took both interior and exterior structural architecture shots of the new building. These were just a few of my favorites.

I made sure to go out on a day with great clouds for the exterior shots. I can't emphasize the importance of clouds enough. They make and break a photo. Of course time of day is even more crucial. This building would be in shadow in the morning hours.

Here's the interior of the auditorium.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

DTX Dallas, TX architecture photography

Swisher Bridge

2010-03-08T17:17:00.002-06:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. Things are getting fast paced again. Hard to complain, but the blog does get put on the back-burner a bit when clients need their photos.

I got the privilege of taking these photos for Jensen Construction Company, who built the new toll bridge that runs over lake lewisville. What's neat about this, is with my new house location, I take this bridge quite frequently now.

I took pictures of this bridge while is was under construction for ATS Drilling. This company found me thought them, which was pretty neat.

The project was on hold for a little while, as they had engineering issue with the lights under the arc, but everything has been worked out now, and the night pictures are beautiful. They will be posted shortly.

A good job.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

Texas Aerial Photography
Dallas commercial photography

Ilsa L. - Prior Miss Teen America

2010-02-22T08:20:00.000-06:00

Ilsa is my new step-sister. She's gorgeous and a joy to work with. She's a former Miss Teen America contestant from Frisco, Texas

We took these over "christmas break" while she was in town from UCLA. We were lucky enough to have good weather that day. My brother came along on this shoot and helped out as well as took some photos of his own.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

DTX Portraits - Photography in Frisco, TX
DTX Dallas, TX photography

Tomlinson Family

2010-02-19T10:43:00.001-06:00

The Tomlinson family is a family very close to me. Chopper (far right) has been my best friend for life basically, he was my best man. Jonathan, (next to him) who married into the family was also a groomsman at my wedding. It was great to see them all and a privilege to take their family photos.

These were taken at the Yanez home in Plano, TX

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

Plano portrait photography

Helicopter Night Vision

2010-02-16T18:48:00.004-06:00

Aviation Photography is one of my favorite genres. An area I'm very excited to be breaking into.

These are promo editorial pictures of the first Schweizer helicopter to have night vision technology. This shoot involved a lot of strobist work which of course made it even more exciting.

I have two strobes here. A 430ex at 1/64th power with a green gel covered by a small plastic diffuser on the ground by my pilot's (Dale's) feet. This is what's illuminating his face green. The panels were not nearly that strong. Then I have a second strobe next to me at 1/4th power shooting through my green t-shirt and white sweater. This is just enough to light his arm and side of the helmet.

I used my brother, Jason Carroll, who was assisting me on the shoot, as a model for this photo. He's shown on the right.

Some of these shots should be in the next Wing and Rotor magazine, so keep a look out.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

Dallas, Texas Aerial Photography
DTX Dallas, TX photography

Sarah's new haircut.

2010-02-13T04:59:00.002-06:00

This was a little while back, but Sarah got a hair cut so we went out and had a quick photo shoot. For those of you who don't know, this is my wife. I'm pretty lucky.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

DTX photography
Dallas, Texas Aerial Photography
Dallas, Denton Texas Wedding Photography
Portrait Photography in Dallas, TX
DTX Dallas, TX commercial photography

Tycha and Sam Wedding

2010-02-05T11:17:00.003-06:00

Tycha and Sam's wedding was a lot of fun. It was at St David's Epic in Denton, TX. A church right behind my old rental home. I've always loved how beautiful the outside was. It was neat to go photograph there.

There pretty much wasn't a bad looking location for photos on the exterior. Just gorgeous.

Groom, Sam on left. Note the neat red doors. Loved them.

Flower girl and ring bearer. Precious.

Announcement

The girls

Thanks to Sarah and Charlie who assisted and photographed with me.

-Jonny Carroll
Photographer

Dallas, TX wedding Photography