Jay P. Morgan Pictures Photo Blog

I love Photography and some times it loves me. This is a photo blog about the Photographs that I have shot, am shooting and will shoot. I write about the good times and the bad times of making a living taking pictures.
Wed Nov 10
We had such a great time at Universal Studios shooting this past weekend. I had about 5 minutes with one of the talent so I took a couple of shots. I’m about to post a video of the stunt man jumping through a window. Great Seminar.

We had such a great time at Universal Studios shooting this past weekend. I had about 5 minutes with one of the talent so I took a couple of shots. I’m about to post a video of the stunt man jumping through a window. Great Seminar.

Thu Oct 14

It has been very busy the past few weeks and its been hard to find time to get things on the blog. I just posted a teaser for my next seminar with Samy’s camera that is coming on November 6th. I’m very excited about this one. Its on Universals Back Lot in Hollywood. We are doing 3 full on Shots with the class on the western town there.

We are getting western actors and great styling. Each of the students will get to shoot on the western street with talent provided. The class members will bring their cameras and be able to shoot for their portfolios.  It will be a great day.

Go to http://www.samys.com/index/page/product/product_id/37009 for more info. See you there.

Mon Sep 20
Shooting on the Back Lots!A series in preparation for my Seminar at Universal Studios on Nov 6th 2010. http://www.samys.com/index/page/product/product_id/37009 I have shot on the back lots in Los Angeles for years. It is a neat feeling to be in a place where history and possibilities exist all at the same time. It’s exciting to be there working on a project and to feel the energy of the place. There is so much going on.Not just what you are doing but what others are doing all around you. There is an energy there that is hard to explain. You never know what will happen when you’re on the lot. Once Teri Hatcher came by to look at the location where we were working because she was going to shoot there the next day.One day Mel Gibson and Danny Glover came riding by in a golf card and started to make circles around us as they did an interview.Late one night a group of road warriors dressed in post apocalyptic clothing came streaming through our set on the way to their location. It was for the 5th Element movie.It’s just a cool place to work. In November when I do my seminar they will be shooting Spiderman 4 (I guess) next door. Very Cool! I cannot wait.This shot was done on Warner Brothers back lot. We had finished a shot for Masterpiece Barbecue Sauce and were on the lot. You have 24 hours when you rent a street so we stayed all night and did a western rain shot for me.We brought in a horse and talent for the shot and started to light the inside of the buildings. We placed diffusion on the windows and set strobe heads in each room. Getting everything to work at once was a nightmare. We had rented a pumper truck to come in for the rain but he never showed up. It was two in the morning and we are scrambling to create rain with garden hoses and sprinkler heads we had brought as a back up. The raccoons were everywhere as we set up. It got a bit spooky quite frankly. We finally got the rain right and finished at about 5 a.m. in the morning. One of the crew slept in his truck in the old barn rather than going home. The next morning as he got up he found the street covered with people dressed in western gear and shooting a scene. He opened the door to the barn and drove away as people were yelling at him to get out of the shot. Its a crazy place.

Shooting on the Back Lots!
A series in preparation for my Seminar at Universal Studios on Nov 6th 2010.


http://www.samys.com/index/page/product/product_id/37009


I have shot on the back lots in Los Angeles for years. It is a neat feeling to be in a place where history and possibilities exist all at the same time. It’s exciting to be there working on a project and to feel the energy of the place. There is so much going on.
Not just what you are doing but what others are doing all around you. There is an energy there that is hard to explain. You never know what will happen when you’re on the lot. Once Teri Hatcher came by to look at the location where we were working because she was going to shoot there the next day.
One day Mel Gibson and Danny Glover came riding by in a golf card and started to make circles around us as they did an interview.
Late one night a group of road warriors dressed in post apocalyptic clothing came streaming through our set on the way to their location. It was for the 5th Element movie.
It’s just a cool place to work. In November when I do my seminar they will be shooting Spiderman 4 (I guess) next door. Very Cool! I cannot wait.

This shot was done on Warner Brothers back lot. We had finished a shot for Masterpiece Barbecue Sauce and were on the lot. You have 24 hours when you rent a street so we stayed all night and did a western rain shot for me.
We brought in a horse and talent for the shot and started to light the inside of the buildings. We placed diffusion on the windows and set strobe heads in each room. Getting everything to work at once was a nightmare. We had rented a pumper truck to come in for the rain but he never showed up. It was two in the morning and we are scrambling to create rain with garden hoses and sprinkler heads we had brought as a back up. The raccoons were everywhere as we set up. It got a bit spooky quite frankly. We finally got the rain right and finished at about 5 a.m. in the morning. One of the crew slept in his truck in the old barn rather than going home. The next morning as he got up he found the street covered with people dressed in western gear and shooting a scene. He opened the door to the barn and drove away as people were yelling at him to get out of the shot. Its a crazy place.

Wed Sep 8
I did this shot after a long day shooting lions for a pillow company. The lion was sitting on the pillow to show that they were soft and tough. Not my idea but I was more than willing to take the money to shoot the idea. I negotiated with the Tiger owner to keep the tigers (We had 3 there) after hours to do my shot. I built the set and got everything ready a few days before. I was very excited about the shot and everything was in place. When it came time to shoot I asked the tiger owner to put his animal in the tub. Being faced with the reality of what I wanted and what we had discussed, he began to him and haw. “Its not that easy to make a tiger do things. Or for that matter do anything.” It seemed a little late for this conversation to me. I started to express my displeasure. We had discussed the shot as part of the shoot and he was happy to say “no problem” before the job was awarded, but now it was late and the main work was done so it was impossible. My directness got him back into the game. He led one of the females over to the tub. He managed to get her front paws into the tub with her rear end facing the camera. Not exaculy what I had in mind. We tried the second tiger and it went crazy and would not get into the tub. It looked very bad at this point. We pushed in the last cage containing the large male. Now I have to admit that I had been told that tigers will spray just about anything that gets too close to the cage. I was pushing the back of the cage when I looked up and saw the tiger lift its tail.  It was a curious moment as I looked deep into the back side of a tiger. Then he simply peed all over me. I was furious. We can’t get the tiger into the tub and now to add icing to the fail cake, it peed all over me. Quite frankly when I went home that night my cat freaked out. It thought some very large animal had just moved in. Well the trainer was more determinied than ever to get the tiger into the tub. He needed to save face. In the mist of all this process we came up with the idea of cutting a whole into the back of the set and leading the tiger in from behind. It worked! The tiger in this shot only has its front paws in the tub. The back end was sticking out the back of the set. It worked in the end.LightingThe lighting was very simple. We had the following strobe lights.1. A head with a reflector pointing at the tub from camera left. To give it the look of a doorway we simply used two pieces of foam core to simulate a door.2. We cut a hole in the wall and placed a light coming through the medicine chest.3. There was a 20 degree grid on the woman from camera right.4. There was a 20 degree grid on the man from camera right.5. Extra large Soft Box from overhead for a top back light.6. An umbrella behind the camera.

I did this shot after a long day shooting lions for a pillow company. The lion was sitting on the pillow to show that they were soft and tough. Not my idea but I was more than willing to take the money to shoot the idea.

I negotiated with the Tiger owner to keep the tigers (We had 3 there) after hours to do my shot. I built the set and got everything ready a few days before. I was very excited about the shot and everything was in place. When it came time to shoot I asked the tiger owner to put his animal in the tub. Being faced with the reality of what I wanted and what we had discussed, he began to him and haw. “Its not that easy to make a tiger do things. Or for that matter do anything.”

It seemed a little late for this conversation to me. I started to express my displeasure. We had discussed the shot as part of the shoot and he was happy to say “no problem” before the job was awarded, but now it was late and the main work was done so it was impossible. My directness got him back into the game. He led one of the females over to the tub. He managed to get her front paws into the tub with her rear end facing the camera. Not exaculy what I had in mind. We tried the second tiger and it went crazy and would not get into the tub. It looked very bad at this point.

We pushed in the last cage containing the large male. Now I have to admit that I had been told that tigers will spray just about anything that gets too close to the cage. I was pushing the back of the cage when I looked up and saw the tiger lift its tail.  It was a curious moment as I looked deep into the back side of a tiger. Then he simply peed all over me. I was furious. We can’t get the tiger into the tub and now to add icing to the fail cake, it peed all over me.

Quite frankly when I went home that night my cat freaked out. It thought some very large animal had just moved in.


Well the trainer was more determinied than ever to get the tiger into the tub. He needed to save face. In the mist of all this process we came up with the idea of cutting a whole into the back of the set and leading the tiger in from behind. It worked! The tiger in this shot only has its front paws in the tub. The back end was sticking out the back of the set. It worked in the end.

Lighting
The lighting was very simple. We had the following strobe lights.
1. A head with a reflector pointing at the tub from camera left. To give it the look of a doorway we simply used two pieces of foam core to simulate a door.
2. We cut a hole in the wall and placed a light coming through the medicine chest.
3. There was a 20 degree grid on the woman from camera right.
4. There was a 20 degree grid on the man from camera right.
5. Extra large Soft Box from overhead for a top back light.
6. An umbrella behind the camera.

Fri Aug 13
I was out last week backpacking into Havasupai. Its a small little town on the Havasupai Indian reservation that is only accessible by Helicopter or walking. By the town is a set of water falls that are truly an oasis in the Desert. The water from the area collects and runs through the canyons on its way to the Colorado River in the lower Grand Canyon. I love getting away and meditation about my work and what I want to do. I come home more energized and ready to shoot when I get away for a few days. I’m back and will start keeping my blog up. This image was taken as we walked out at Dark. You can see all the way down the canyon that we had just walked up.

I was out last week backpacking into Havasupai. Its a small little town on the Havasupai Indian reservation that is only accessible by Helicopter or walking.

By the town is a set of water falls that are truly an oasis in the Desert. The water from the area collects and runs through the canyons on its way to the Colorado River in the lower Grand Canyon.

I love getting away and meditation about my work and what I want to do. I come home more energized and ready to shoot when I get away for a few days. I’m back and will start keeping my blog up. This image was taken as we walked out at Dark. You can see all the way down the canyon that we had just walked up.

Here is Mooney falls.

Here is Mooney falls.

Sat Jul 24

Bees in my ATTic! One night I found a bee in my bed room. It seemed odd to me being that I have never seen a bee in the house before. Well the next night I found 2 bees in my room. It was to strange to be left unexplored. I saw nothing out side but decided to explore the attic above our room where we keep a lot of props. As I crawled into the back I found more and more bees until I came upon the hive. The cable guys opened the screen to the vent just enough to run the cable through and that was enough space for the bees to move in. I decided to play Marlin Perkins of Wild Kingdom and Do some Video of them. While Jay P. wrestles the wild bees I’ll be sipping my mint drink here in the studio. Well 5 bee stings later I got some interesting footage. Its fun to be an images maker. I got 3 feet from the hive with my 5D and a small IKan LED light. The bees went crazy over the light. It was only 2 feet form the camera and my face. I got stung on the face twice. That night I went up while they are sleeping and tapped plastic over the end of the attic to isolate them. Then I poked a hole in the plastic and pushed my 50mm Macro less in the whole and taped the plastic to it so the bees could not get out. It worked very well and I was able to push the lens about 5 inches form the hive. It could have been closer but It was hard for me to tell. This was great until I poked a whole in the plastic with the leg of the tripod and got stung again. It was quite an experience. I do Love what I do. I will submit the footage to the stock companies.

The bees were Swarming my ikan LED light. It was a bit unnerving being that I was 2 feet from the light. I was concentrating on staying very still until I was stung and then I was screaming like a little girl.

The bees were Swarming my ikan LED light. It was a bit unnerving being that I was 2 feet from the light. I was concentrating on staying very still until I was stung and then I was screaming like a little girl.

Fri Jul 16
This was one of the final shots.

This was one of the final shots.

I did another 50’s shoot. I know enough is enough but I could not resist we had clothing on a one week rental and there it sat for a few days crying to be used again before it went back. I tried to resist at first but gave in after a couple of days. Seriously they needed to be used.

I started to look for a 50’s truck to go with the cloths and found a great one in Pasadena driving around. It passed us as we drove over the location we wanted to use.  We chased it for several block and finally lost it. Julene saw the name on a car club on the side of the truck so I went home and looked it up on the internet, made a call and got the truck owner on the phone. She was the president of the club. She was very excited to shoot with us.
We found an amazing location in Alta Dena to round everything out. The location belongs to the mother of a good friend.
I wanted to shoot something a bit different so we decided to shoot a rain scene. I have done a lot of rain in the past with pumper trucks and rain rigs… well we did not have that type of money on this shoot so we used a garden hose and a fan sprayer. Hey it works. Sort of. You do not have to have rain hitting everything in the scene you just need a solid sheet from side to side and see some water interacting with your subject. You can see in the production still how we set it up. It was quite simple we placed a garden hose and a fan sprayer on each side of the frame and aimed them up. Water must be coming down for it to look right. It spreads out and creates the right look on the way down. Its got to be back light to look good or its very hard to see. I do love doing effects.