Since the mid-1970s, I have been a photographer, filmmaker, and all-around creative person traveling the world on assignments for companies such as General Electric, Lockheed Martin, and General Dynamics. In this time I wrote, directed, and produced over 100 video and multi-media productions, designed dozens of national-level trade show exhibits, wrote and produced countless pieces of printed literature, wrote many key executive speeches, and shot film and digital still images from the land, sea, and air in many locations around the U.S. and in Europe.
In 2005 I left the corporate world and started FRESH Creative, a marketing communications company based in Burlington, Vermont and now, more recently, in Pensacola, Florida. Working with a diverse group of clients, FRESH creative provides a range of services including graphic design, website design and hosting, photography, public relations, email marketing, and brand development.
In 2008 I launched epicPLANET.tv, a video production company producing the epicRIDES series of virtual cycling videos for use in indoor cycling classes and for home training on indoor bikes. Since then, I have produced 19 epicRIDES titles, shot on location all over the United States. epicRIDES downloads and DVDs are sold on the epicPLANET.tv website to home trainers and indoor cycling instructors around the world. The video series has also been licensed to the Bicycle Television channel in Italy and to exercise video-on-demand companies in the U.S. and Denmark.
In more recent years, I decided to return to still photography with an emphasis on architecture and landscapes in the Pensacola and surrounding Gulf Coast region. My current body of work exceeds 100 released images and can be seen at www.photographybyallenjones.
In March of this year I participated as a photographer in my first juried art festival, Gulf Breeze Celebrates the Arts. I have also been accepted by the jury to participate in the Pensacola Museum of Art’s, Art in the Park festival to be held in May of this year.
I currently reside full time in Pensacola and am married and have four children and three grandchildren.
My goal as an Architectural and Landscape Photographer is to accurately and expressively interpret the beauty and inherent drama in a chosen setting.
My criteria for success is to produce an image that is a richly lit, highly dimensional and appealing depiction of the scene before me. One that is free of unnecessary distractions. An image that has strong drawing power and appeal.
In taking an image, I often visit a location several times: scouting; wait for the right weather, light, and sky; and then usually arriving before dawn or staying long after sunset. Patience is more than a virtue here – it’s a prerequisite.
And then there are those times when serendipity visits, I just happen to be at the right place at the right time, and fortunately have my camera at the ready. When lightning strikes (which isn’t often) you have to be ready to grab it.
When the time is right to push the shutter release, I strive to capture an extremely high-quality raw image, with shooting parameters optimized to achieve my vision for the scene before me. To do this, I use the best of cameras, lenses, and filters as well as give careful attention to the myriad technical details of digital photography. Depending on the situation, I might also employ specialized photographic techniques such as extremely long exposures, exposure bracketing, multi-image panoramic shooting, and the use of a small remote control quadcopter for low altitude aerials. A level of technical mastery is crucial but more important is a sense of composition, an understanding of the possibilities and limitations of lighting, and a desire to connect with a place to better grasp its essence and then translate that into a photograph.
In post-processing images, I believe in providing an accurate presentation of the scene while at the same time enhancing and optimizing the tonal range and color to give it appeal and drawing power. While the photographer of today has an extensive array of processing tools available, restraint and a vision for the final result is essential. Often, less is more. In the end, each finished image becoming a prized trophy in my photographic trophy case.
Narrowing my subject focus to build a body of work has led me to interpret through photography the iconic buildings and businesses, monuments and churches, key activities and landmarks in and around the city of Pensacola and build it into a comprehensive collection I call – Pensacola Icons.
I am now well along that path with over 100 released images available for purchase. Since going on sale at local galleries in 2014 and at juried art festivals in 2015, these images have garnered several Pensacola News Journal and television mentions and now grace the walls of numerous homes both near and far as well as those of several Pensacola businesses.
