Hello, I am 41 years old and my name is Jeffrey Mann. I live on the outskirts of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. My wife and I just celebrated 22 years of marriage, and we are the proud parents of three wonderful kids. I am a shift worker in operations at a major chemical manufacturer in Baton Rouge. While shift work isn't for everyone, it does allow me the time to pursue other activities such as my photography, and working with youth through our church. I do on location portraits, wedding, and event photography through J.K. Mann Photography, my budding business. "Through The Lens"is a blog that I keep (mostly) up to date to catalog my photographic endeavors.

Trial, error, and hard knocks mostly, though I also have a huge appetite for reading and studying anything on the subject of photography. I would like to say I am an accomplished all around type photographer, but in truth have found that my strengths lie in photographing people rather than landscapes or still life type work. In light of that, I tend to focus in on subjects that will enhance my skills as a portrait photographer. Feedback from the many excellent photographers that frequent the DGrin forum has been an invaluable learning tool. After all, if you can somehow pass muster with other photographers, then you shouldn't have a problem satisfying anyone else. The folks there on the forum are saying I have "a style" now. Imagine that!

An uncle lent me his 35mm Canon when I was 16. He spent about 15 minutes explaining the trinity of aperture, ISO, and shutter speed. I remember it had the old analog exposure meter built in; a needle that moved from left to right to represent under, over, and ideal exposure. At the time, I wanted to capture landscape and architectural type photographs for the sake of reproducing them in pencil or watercolor. It wasn't long before I was capturing these images solely for the sake of the photograph. He is my number one recipient of emailed images.

My parents gave me a Pentax MESuper when I graduated from high school. I still have it and a decent collection of lenses to go along with it. I haven't used it in ages, although everything still functions as new. When I began my foray into digital photography I chose to use Canon gear. I am currently using a Canon XTi/400D body. People sometimes seem surprised that I accomplish as much as I do with the XTi, an entry level dSLR. My take is that any camera will have limitations. I know the limitations of this camera and work within them. I doubt my images would be much improved with a more expensive camera, although I will admit that a higher end model would give me more flexibility; especially in dim lighting. My lens selection includes Canon 50mm F1.8 and 85mm F1.8 primes, and a 28-75mm F2.8 Tamron zoom along with a Canon 17-55mm F2.8IS zoom. I use a Canon 580EXII flash, and have a wireless transmitter(STE2), a diffuser, and color correcting gels in the bag to go along with that. I use a heavy duty Manfrotto monopod with a ball head, almost religiously!

My photography goals for 2008 included experimentation with off camera flash and purchasing a 70-200mm F2.8IS zoom lens. These may seem like simplistic goals, but both will have a tremendous impact on the dynamics of the images that I produce. I have already acquired the necessary gear and have begun dabbling with off camera flash. My next purchase will be the telephoto zoom. I like working with shallow depth of focus, and I think the new lens will benefit me there, especially for full length type portraits. After that, I am considering another camera body, probably the 40D. The excellent sharpness and predictable results with my 17-55mm F2.8IS weigh heavily in favor of me staying with one of Canon's APS-C sized sensor cameras.

My personal preference is on location outdoor portraits in shade or overcast daylight. Although I am constantly on the lookout for promising and picturesque locations to use as backdrops for my portraits, I much prefer that the location actually mean something to my subjects. Such locations instantly add value to the photograph for that person, even if it is only sentimental. As a sentimental type of guy I think there is something to be said for that.

As for the choice in using shady locations? Natural light in shady locations is much easier to manage than a sunny location. Nice shaping shadows can still be had in the shade, but are much less harsh than when in direct light. An added bonus is that a common speedlight can be used to provide any additional light that is needed. I get frequent comments on my photographs referring to how beautiful the light is, but in reality it is beautiful shade. If I have done my job well you should not notice it, but I use flash in some form or other in most every portrait I shoot.

Though my style may not show it, I am a huge fan of 1960's portrait and wedding photography. I find the colors and tones of the prints as well as the atmosphere created with those bare bulb flashes to be purely magical. It stems from the available equipment as well as the overall mood and style of that era. I like that classic look.

I have hosted on SmugMug for just barely over a year. I had tried several other alternatives. The simplicity of storing, sharing, and printing through one site combined with the ability to fully customize my website is what sold me. My favorite feature is their speedy and common sense customer service. These folks will go way out of their way to make sure that they are not the weak link in your photographic endeavors.

My clients see three things from me. They meet me on the day I photograph them. They view their proofs on my website. They receive the prints they order. Of these three, I am relying on SmugMug for the finished prints and for a pleasant web viewing experience. SmugMug has yet to drop the ball on their end. My storefront is secure, and reliably accessible. Always!

There is no time like now!!! With the instant feedback of an LCD on the back of today's digital SLR's the learning curve isn't nearly as steep as it was with film. That makes it fairly easy to pursue and master the technical aspects of photography. The downside of this is that everybody is a photographer nowadays. This makes it important to chase perfection, and to develop your own style to separate you from the pack. Find your niche, and master it!