In 2012, I traveled to Israel with Andy Cook, pastor of Shirley Hills Baptist Church in Warner Robins, GA. This book is one of the fruits of our work on that trip.

The book is a beautiful 6×6″ hardcover product by Kregel Publications that features Andy’s words and my photos.

If you order a copy for $15 via my web site, it will be signed by both Andy and myself.

Andy and I will also be having a book signing on May 18th from 11am to 1pm at Gottwals Books, 1806 Russell Parkway, Warner Robins, GA 31088.

The Bible has secrets. Hidden among all the words and all the stories are a handful of details that are very much in plain sight, yet are easy to miss. These details can transform even the most familiar passages of Scripture and allow readers to find new life in the biblical text.

Pairing emotive writing with stunning photography, Andy Cook guides readers into these familiar but misunderstood passages so they can experience the Word as if they were among those hearing it for the first time. Cook places readers as wanderers in the Judean wilderness, invites them to celebrate a wedding in Cana, sets them in a picturesque theater perched on a slope overlooking the Sea of Galilee, and more. Through each “trip,” readers discover road maps that reveal key information, direction, and help for their Christian journey. At the end of each lesson, Cook offers practical advice for how to apply what they’ve learned to the challenges of life today.

Whether read as a devotional or browsed as a gift book, Secrets from the Ancient Paths is a lavishly illustrated resource that helps readers connect with the Word of God.

Unsigned copies of the book and bulk orders are available from Kregle Publications. You can also find the book at your local bookstore. Middle Georgia residents are encouraged to support locally-owned Christian bookstores Gottwals Books and Lamb’s Well which have the book in stock.

“Secrets from the Ancient Paths” Book Out! is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

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This year was no exception as we took inspiration from the classic O.Henry short story “The Gift of the Magi” and had Trey and his friend Yen act out the tale of situational irony (with a bit of a happier ending in our version). We hope you enjoy this story of sacrificial love and remember that it is the true “reason for the season.”

Merry Christmas!

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Last week I got to attend Sufjan Stevens’ Christmas Tour in support of his recent release Silver & Gold. You can read my writeup on the epic boxset over at The Blue Indian. The concert in Athens was incredible. I was sick as a dog with a terrible cold and sinus infection but the excitement and thrill of the show had me forget about my misery for 2 1/2 hours while Sufjan and friends performed.

Some of my photos were published on Stereogum and some others ran on The Blue Indian along with a great write-up by Holly Etchinson. I highly recommend you take the time to read her review. She’s got a way with words that really does the show more justice than I could by writing about it here.

Below you can see all my images or head over to Flickr to see my photoset there.

Sufjan Stevens’ 2012 Christmas Tour is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

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Here are some of my favorite scenes from Miniland:

The Fire Department rescuing cats and a cat lady from a rooftop.

 

Check out the detail in the stands at the Daytona 500 – hundreds of individual cheering fans!

A Lego man enjoys the sunset from a park in Miami

A scale model of the Capitol Building

Window washers on the side of a skyscraper in NYC

This dome home reminded me of Damien Jurado’s Maraqopa album cover.

 

On closer inspection of this castle, you’ll find a two lovers kissing by the tower.

A Lego magician pulls a rabbit from a hat

Some Scenes from Lego Miniland is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

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The event was insane. 11,000 people crowded onto a small field on a hot, humid Florida day (is there any other type of Florida day?). People were passing out from heat exhaustion and dehydration. Security was really tight since the venue was a last minute decision.

One observation I had was a seeming lack of enthusiasm from the incumbent’s supporters. Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was the fact that the 2008 “Change” fanfare set the bar too high. I was expecting more red/white/blue, more “costumes”, … just more energy. It wasn’t the photographic goldmine I was hoping to see.

With the election finally over, I figured it’d be safe(r) to share my photos on here without ruffling too many feathers. I’m not a fan of political debates via the anonymity of web so I’ve disabled comments below.

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While I took plenty of digital photos, here are some of the medium format film shots that I took on my Holga Plastic Camera. Only one of the images is from my Super Ricohflex since I had trouble with its shutter sticking and not releasing properly (that was bummer).

The medium format negatives were developed locally at Coke’s Camera, scanned by me with an Epson Perfection Scanner and processed in Adobe Lightroom 4. I do some basic color correction and sharpening but don’t mess with cleaning up all the imperfections because that’s what a plastic camera is for after all! Its beauty is in its faults.

Zion National Park, Utah

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada

Zion Nat’l Park & Valley of Fire Shot With a Holga is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

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The idea was to create a “save the date” sort of poster/flyer/postcard to catch folks’ eye and remind them of the festival. They had a great designer take my images and come up with the poster to the right. The photo was also used on a couple billboards around town over the last few months.

There will also be a life-size standup of the photo at the festival and you can stick your face through it to get your picture made at Muddy’s bride.

The festival is this Saturday, July 28th and if you are in Macon, you’d better attend. Where else can you pay $20 to see 46 (yes, FORTY-SIX) bands!!

Here are some of the outtakes from the shoot.

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Wowser Bowser w/ Shook Foil
June 27, 2012 at The Hummingbird Stage and Taproom in Macon, GA

Tallhart (formerly Marksmen) w/ Argonauts
July 1, 2012 at Roasted Cafe & Lounge in Macon, GA

Sterling Waite and the Cotton Avenue Hustlers
July 4, 2012 at The Hummingbird Stage and Taproom in Macon, GA

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Two years ago we did a pretty involved video shoot in Waleska, Georgia with students of Reinhardt University for a music video project that never quit panned out. The footage was great and we hated that it had just been sitting around unused. Turned out it was a perfect compliment to the live footage of SVIIB.

Jym and I co-edited the video and merged the two video sources together into a very loose & abstract narrative that we feel really caught the mood of the band’s song.

Out of the 43 submissions, ours wasn’t selected as the “official” pick, but we’re still proud of the work and hope you enjoy it.

** on a related note, you can see my still photos from School of Seven Bells’ concert at The Earl in Atlanta, GA on April 8, 2012 over at TheBlueIndian.com **

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Arthur put out a fantastic album last year called I Have Not Seen the Wind and ended up winning NPR’s Mountain Stage Newsong Contest. The prize was that he got to record a new album with famed producer Mikal Blue in L.A.

The album is finished now and this week Arthur is holding his CD release shows in Tennessee followed by a couple shows in North Carolina. I’ve heard the new album One Silver Needle and it’s wonderful. It’s got the same amount of brilliant lyricism for which Arthur is beloved, but this time he added a little extra kick of country. If you or anyone you know lives in Nashville TN, Knoxville TN, Hickory NC, or Winston-Salem NC, I can’t recommend enough that they attend these shows.

Below are two slight variations on the above two designs. They are for the follow up shows in Knoxville, TN and Winston-Salem, NC.

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I’ve occasionally played with 120 medium format film and a Holga, but it’s always been just for kicks – never anything serious.

Last month, film aficionado and professional photographer Neal Carpenter held a fantastic workshop called “Regain Your Life: An Introduction to Film for Professional Photographers.” I attended along with several other Middle Georgia photogs and learned a ton about shooting film, processing film, and incorporating it into your workflow.

After a lecture & presentation from Neal, we hit the streets of downtown Macon with quite an assortment of film cameras to put into practice what we’d learned and to get some hands-on tutoring from the expert. Neal had lined up several models for us to work with.

Here are my images taken with my 1950s Super Ricohflex. They are mostly portraits of the other photographers I met and shot with that day. Seeing as these were just test shots, I had the negatives developed locally and then I scanned them myself on my Epson Perfection 4490 Photo scanner (older version of their now popular V600).

One of the most valuable things I learned from Neal was that I could take advantage of the incredible dynamic range that film offers by adjusting the levels at the time of the scan. I had always wondered why I never got the range from shadows to highlights that I expected.

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When I approach a graphic design project, aesthetic value is obviously a primary objective. However, I feel particularly pleased with my work when I can create something that is not only pleasing to the eye, but conveys a message. In the case of collaborating with a musician, I try to visually represent the themes presented in their art. Sometimes that theme is just a sentiment – say nostalgia, for example. Other times it is a very concrete idea – as is the case in the Hales’ EP “Light + Love”

So here are the three core elements (one literal, two thematic) in my album cover for Nathan and Amber Hale that I felt connected with their art:

1) LITERAL: Arizona & Light

I last saw Nathan and Amber in 2010 when I took a road trip across the US with my family. They were kind enough to let us crash at their place in Phoenix so I immediately went to my images from Arizona when looking for a starting point for the design. The photo I ended up using was taken at Walnut Canyon National Monument - a stop we made on the way to the Hales’ house. This image was taken inside of one of the Native American cliff dwellings. Between the Arizona connection and the brilliant light streaming in through the opening, this was an obvious pick for their project.

2) THEMATIC: Light

Listen to the album and you’ll quickly figure the source of the “Light + Love” that Nathan and Amber sing about. White light is pure light and in it is contained the entire spectrum of all other colors. At its core are the three primary colors: Red, Yellow, and Blue. Somehow, those three colors are able to be independent of each other, compliment each other, and come from one pure white source. The Holy Trinity, three in One.

3) THEMATIC: Love

God’s love for us was demonstrated through Christ and the foundation of our faith lies in what He did when He died on the cross and was resurrected from the tomb. When I see this image I envision the perspective of one looking out from the inside of an empty tomb. (Bonus: a square cross, or Greek cross, was a common symbol used by the early Christian church before the elongated Latin cross we are familiar with today became more prevalent).

This may seem like a rather lengthy exercise in introspection, but these are the thoughts that went through my mind as I worked on this project. It always seems a bit odd to flesh them out in writing since it is a much more organic process as I’m working on the design.

This is just the first in a series of EPs that I’ll be collaborating with The Hales on, and I’m looking forward to the creativity that will be poured out in those.

Cover Art for The Hales’ EP LIGHT + LOVE is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

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While most of my art work is in photography, I enjoy jumping into graphic design to dabble a bit. Though you’ll notice in the designs that most of them are still based on photographic images of mine. Since I can draw/illustrate worth a flip, I’ve got to rely on my photos as a foundation to build upon.

Click on the poster images below to view larger, full-screen versions.

Little Tybee, River Whyless, and sunDollars show poster
March 10, 2012 at Macon’s The Hummingbird Stage & Taproom

Eisley, Marksmen, and Christie Dupree show poster
September 27, 2011 at Macon’s The 567

Frontier Ruckus, Megan Jean & the KFB, and Molly Parden show poster
August 31, 2011 at Macon’s The 567

Molly Parden show poster
June 13, 2011 at Atlanta’s Wonderroot Community Arts Center

My Latest Concert Poster Designs is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

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Last year I had the opportunity to do some photojournalism work in West Africa for a missionary organization. The war in Ivory Coast had just ended and I was able to return to the country where I grew up. I revisited my childhood home which is now dilapidated and bullet-riddled from nearly a decade of civil war.

In Abidjan, I met Gaston, a deacon in the local church, who shared the most incredible testimony with me. On the day the violence in the city was at its peak, his pregnant wife went into premature labor and was hemorrhaging. He risked his life over and over in an attempt to save her and his unborn child.

His story is riveting, heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. Most importantly it is a shining example of what TRUE LOVE is. Not a fleeting emotional flight of fancy but a committed, death-defying, act of sacrifice and selflessness – one modeled so brilliantly and perfectly by Christ himself.

With Valentine’s Day a week away, I thought it quite appropriate to share this video now. I hope Gaston’s story inspires you as much as it has my wife and me.

Download options (right-click and choose “Save As…”):

• H.264 720p HD (377MB)
• H.264 480p SD (187MB)
• MPEG-2 480i SD (207MB)

The song at the end of the video is by my talented friend Adam Randall. You can get his latest album on iTunes for under $7.

Adam Randall – The Vanishing World

The music that scores the video was composed and performed by Japanese musician Yusuke Tsutsumi. He graciously releases his work under the Creative Commons license meaning other artist like myself can use it in our creative process. To him I say, “Arigatou gozaimasu”!

If you are interested in more stories of faith from the front lines of the war in Ivory Coast, check out my coverage for the IMB’s AfricaStories.org web site.

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The Blue Indian music site asked me to do a write up on my favorite eleven albums of the year. I usually make a list on my own and I had previously published my 2010 list on their site so I was ready. As usual, I spent way to much time fretting over the order.

Head over to my 2011 Staff Picks article at TheBlueIndian.com to see my list, read my insights on the bands, and listen to samples from all eleven records.

On a related note, I designed the graphics for the series using images from my 2010 trip out West. The graphic above is from my foggy visit to Bryce Canyon National Park.

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These images were taken with an iPhone 4s and processed in Lightroom.

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I re-edited the video to work with the pacing of Commerce’s track and we got it in on time. They didn’t win the contest and despite my bias, I think that is very, very unfortunate.

Music Video for Commerce’s “Juno” cover is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

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Why? I’m not sure. Maybe the pros in Georgia are too busy, maybe they don’t care about the Fair, maybe they just don’t know about the contest. As a pro photog, I love participating in the fair’s competition for several reasons.

#1 – Cash prizes
Sure, you don’t win $1000 or $10,000 for a winning photo. First place only brings in $20, second place $15, and so on. But hey, cash is cash. I came away from this year’s contest with about $375. That covered all my expenses in printing my photos and leaves me with enough to replace my 50mm f/1.8 when I drop or lose it for the fourth time. Speaking of cash…

#2 – It’s free to participate
Most photo contests that offer cash prizes have entry fees. The Fair has been and always will be free. Your only expenses are shipping/driving to Perry, GA to submit/pickup your prints. And of course the cost of printing and matting or mounting the prints. But that last expense is also a benefit because…

#3 – It’s an excuse to finally print your digital images
Too often we make beautiful images and they just sit on our computers in a virtual world. Granted we share them on Flickr, Facebook, and other social web sites but there is something about seeing you image in a tangible medium.

My wife and I have a rule each year that we don’t print and submit any photos to the Fair that we don’t want to hang on our walls afterward. That way, even if we don’t win anything, we’ve got some physical prints we’re proud to put up in our home. It gives our home’s walls an annual face lift!

Another thing I’ll do is give my wining prints away. A lot of my work is done in third world countries for non-profits. On several occasions I’ve given them a print I took of their work or subjects that I exhibited at the Fair. It makes it special when I tell them it’s an “award-winning print.”

#4 – Learn to shoot subjects you don’t normally (and enjoy it)
I’m pretty stuck in my ways. I enjoy photojournalism, landscapes, and concert photography. Animals, flowers, still life, and textures aren’t subjects I seek out. That said, throughout the year and with the Fair’s contest in mind, I do push myself to try some different genres. This year it paid off as I won the Award of Excellence for Monochrome Photography with an image of sheep in the Animals category. I also placed in the Plant Life and Textures categories.

Sometimes professionals get burned out shooting the same thing over and over (think senior portraits or engagement sessions). By delving into some other subject genres you might end up spicing up or improving your normal photographic pursuits.

#5 – Your images are seen by tens of thousands of people who otherwise would never see them.
The Fair attracted nearly 440,000 visitors this year! Granted, they didn’t all wander in to the arts building and look at the exhibits, but a lot did. My winning photos definitely get looked at as they show off their flashy colored ribbons. As a pro, that is some great publicity! As a visitor peruses the exhibit, if they see your name with a ribbon over and over again, they are going to take notice. Everyone in the photography business knows that name recognition is HUGE. Business aside, photography (and any creative art) is not about what you get but what you can give. Your great images on exhibit can…

#6 – Inspire young and/or amateur photographers
Over 1200 photos were submitted in the Beginner class this year, double that of the Advanced and nearly triple that by pros. Obviously, there are tons of amateurs who take their photography seriously. The building where photos are exhibited also hosts a dozen other art competition exhibits, many geared towards youth. When my best work of the year hangs in that gallery, I can hope that some aspiring photographers will be motivated and inspired to keep working to improve their skill and vision. After all, I was in their shoes not so very long ago.

If interested, you can see my winning photographs from 2011, 2010, and 2009 on my blog. I hope to see some of yours next October at the Georgia National Fair.

Six Reasons You Should Enter the GA Nat’l Fair Photo Contest is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

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This year I submitted 15 photos and won 13 ribbons. I didn’t come near sweeping the Open class – the talented Jason Hyung-gu Kang held that honor by taking 18 ribbons! That doesn’t in any way diminish my excitement with receiving six 1st Place, two 2nd Place, three 3rd Place, and two 6th Place ribbons. It’s always re-affirming to see my work being accepted and honored by my peers.

I had a couple surprises, my image “On the Lamb” won the Award of Excellence in Monochrome Photography. It was not a print I thought would take such a big prize. The flip-side is that two of my favorites “Temper, Temper” and “Cops and Robbers” took 6th place. I was certain that both of those were 1st place winners. Just goes to show, you can’t rely on your own personal attachment to photos.

Another lesson learned was to plan ahead. The thirteen that won had been picked out in advance. The two that lost were last minute grabs that I submitted just to throw something in the mix.

** Are you a Georgia photographer who didn’t participate in the Fair this year? Read my six reasons why I think you should submit to the annual Georgia National Fair photography contest.

“On the Lamb”
Award of Excellence in Monochrome Photography
First Place in Animals, Monochrome

 ”Ivan’s Childhood”
First Place in Action, Monochrome
more from this series

“Macon, GA – Est. 1806″
First Place in Georgia Street Scenes, Monochrome

“War Orphanage”
First Place in Photojournalism, Monochrome

“Sierra Leonean Farmer”
First Place in People, Color

“The Ruins of Shechem”
First Place in I Spy:Texture, Color
more from this location

“Valley of Fire, Nevada”
Second Place in Scenic, Monochrome
more from this location

 ”The Crest”
Second Place in I Spy:Texture, Monochrome
more from this series

“Phantastes Underground”
Third Place in Scenic, Color
more from this series

“Slot Canyon Survivor”
Third Place in Plant Life, Monochrome
more from this series

“Jubee at Bragg Jam”
Third Place in Action, Color
more from this series

“Cops and Robbers”
Sixth Place in Photojournalism, Color

“Temper, Temper”
Sixth Place in People, Monochrome
more from this series

2011 GA Nat’l Fair Winners is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

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