JRo Photo Blog

Mother’s Day

JRo — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:04:38 +0000

A portrait of my mom, taken on Mother’s Day.

Mila | Reston Newborn Photography

JRo — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 18:30:38 +0000

I photographed Mila and her parents a few weeks ago. Here are some of my favorites of this beautiful baby girl.

My Two Sons | Portfolio update

JRo — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 03:50:23 +0000

I’ve been updating the images in my portfolio over the past few weeks and making some minor changes to my web site. I added some images of Max and Oliver in a category called My Two Sons. If you have a chance, check it out!

Wham, Bam, Instagram

JRo — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 19:17:53 +0000

Hey, are you on Instagram? I am, and I really dig it. My user name is jrojcewicz (or click here to follow me, since that’s kind of a mouthful).

Wide Angle Portraits | Sterling Portrait Photographer

JRo — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 20:15:46 +0000

Although wide angle lenses are not typically known as “portrait lenses”, don’t be afraid to use yours to create portraits. I often hear other photographers say they would never use a wide angle lens (or anything wider than a 35mm lens) for a portrait. Too much distortion, they claim. This is true, wide angles can produce quite a bit of distortion, but if done right the images can turn out cool and fun. I’ve had the same 24mm lens for about 15 years and I love using it in portrait shoots to create something interesting and a little different.

I have a background in photojournalism, and when I shot assignments for newspapers I would often use wide angle lenses to tell the whole story in one photo. Wide angles are great for storytelling as they allow you to incorporate more of the environment in the image. For instance, in this shot of my kids, seeing the wide open beach helps tell the story.

One of the downfalls in seeing so much of the environment in wide angle photos, is that people have a tendency to get lost in the frame. Because of this, I like using the old “frame within a frame” rule to isolate subjects and move the viewer’s eye towards them. Here I’ve framed the subject in the window of the fire engine, so your eye goes right towards him.

In this image, I used the trees to frame this father and son.

I also love incorporating architectural and graphic elements in wide shots, such as buildings, shadows and lines. They not only add a sense of place and a storytelling aspect to the picture, but they can also be used to lead the viewer’s eye towards your subject. In this image, you immediately see the Washington Monument, but also the long shadow which tells you it’s early morning.

And here, the lines and shadow lead you to the little girl.

This was a self portrait I took last year where I’m breastfeeding Oliver. I felt a little self-conscious about the image, so I used the 24mm lens to create some space between the viewer and myself. But I also used the door and wall as leading lines so I wouldn’t disappear in the image.

And finally, sometimes you need to use a wide angle because you’re in a tight space. I took this one of Max a few years ago after he woke up from a nap. I was laying on the floor looking up. I wanted to get the ceiling fan in the image, and could only do that with a wide angle.

Thanks for reading my thoughts. Now, go out and shoot some wide angle portraits of your own! They are fun!!

Best of 2012 – client pics | Sterling VA photographer

JRo — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 16:30:06 +0000

As promised, here are some of my favorite client images from 2012. Thank you to all my clients and supporters for a great year!

I agree with the baby! That’s enough

Best of 2012 – Personal Pics | Sterling Virginia photographer

JRo — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 02:58:29 +0000

I wanted to share some of my favorite images of 2012. These are my personal photos, mostly of Max and Oliver. Some were taken with my real camera, some with my iphone. (I’ll be posting my favorite client pics later in the week!)

This one makes me laugh every time! Thanks for looking!

December self portrait

JRo — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 03:45:23 +0000

Well, this is my last self portrait for the year, and maybe for a long time I’m glad I stuck with this monthly project, but I have to tell you, it wasn’t easy. Taking self portraits is kind of a pain in the butt. Setting up your camera and tripod and trying to get yourself in focus is pretty hard! And honestly, I took the easy way out a couple times by using my iphone or shooting my own shadow. But it’s fun to look back on the year and remember each month. I can’t believe I was still breast feeding in January! That seems like a lifetime ago. But I am glad I took that shot, and I think it might be my favorite of all of them.

For December’s image, I stood outside my bedroom window to get a silhouette from the afternoon light. I didn’t know until afterwards that Max had come into the room and was trying to figure out what I was doing.

Here are the rest of my 2012 self portraits…

I need to come up with a new photo project for 2013. Any thoughts??

Bethesda children’s portraits

JRo — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 03:27:54 +0000

I photographed Elise in April when she was a newborn. Now she is 8 months old and sitting and crawling. And she still has those stunning eyes! Her big brother Leighton is a fun, sweet boy!

November self portrait

JRo — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 21:24:06 +0000

Truth be told, I didn’t take this in November. I took it in September when I was testing out some studio lights I rented for a corporate assignment. It’s my usual look: no make-up, hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, my eyebrows could use a wax. Yet, for some reason, I like the photo.