Press Release- Jason Lanier Photography now offering Apple Ipad Wedding Albums!

Jason Lanier Photography is excited to announce that we are one of the first wedding photography companies to offer the Apple Ipad for our wedding photography clients. In this day and age it only makes sense for our industry to evolve so that we can suit the needs of our clients. Today's brides and grooms are asking more and more about how we can help them integrate their beautiful digital images from their wedding into their everyday lives.

The Apple Ipad Wedding Album offered by Jason Lanier Photography allows our clients to share their images from their wedding within weeks (not months like traditional albums), with all of their friends and family. Our couples love being able to take their images and the slideshow we give each of our clients and share with co-workers as well. Our couples also enjoy the fact that their Apple Ipad Wedding Album also serves as a regular Ipad, meaning they can enjoy all the fun and exciting things that Ipad's do everyday for millions of people around the world.

While there will always be a need to provide (as we do) albums such as flush mount, coffee table, and other traditional album types, digital photo albums are the way of the future and are here to stay.

The Apple Ipad Wedding Album by Jason Lanier Photography comes complete with:

• All the developed images that are included in our client's package.
• Beautiful slideshow set to music and movement of the wedding day.
• All shoots conducted for the wedding client including engagement, fantasy shoots, bridal, and groom portrait shoots.

All Apple Ipad albums are brand new, in the box 16-gb wifi Apple Ipads.

We are honored to serve each and every one of our our clients and can say that the response to our Apple Ipad Wedding Albums has been overwhelming. We look forward to continue to find ways to lead the wedding photography industry as we strive to provide the best experience for our treasured brides and grooms.

Sincerely,

Jason Lanier

Website Preview - Hyatt Maui Wedding

We traveled to the beautiful island of Maui to shoot this wedding. Click on the link below to see one of our featured weddings in this gorgeous location!

http://hyattmauiweddings.jasonlanierproductions.com/

Website Preview - Nature

Some of the most amazing shots are those taken of our natural surroundings. There are so many beautiful places all over the world - click the link below to see how we captured some of these amazing places. Thanks again for visiting!

http://www.jasonlanierproductions.com/#/nature/

Website Preview - Grand Tradition Estate Wedding

Today's website preview is the beautiful wedding from the Grand Tradition Estate in Fallbrook, CA. The gorgeous grounds make this one wedding you need to check out! Click on the link below to see the gallery.

http://www.grandtraditions.jasonlanierproductions.com/

Great Alaskan Adventure Day Three- Our First Bear Experience

Day Three- we woke up in the morning at the Riley Creek Campground (which is very nice), to freezing cold weather inside the RV from BNBRV (BNB RV). The heater stopped working after only being on for 40 minutes, and that's after running the generator as we should have.

We got up and went to the Denali Park Visitor's Center and found out about their awesome Dog Sled Dogs and tour. Denali is the only National Park that uses the dog sleds for real purposes, and they've done so for nearly 100 years. We got to pet the dogs, and then the Park Ranger did a demonstration by running a 5-team dogsled around the grounds on dirt (the sled had wheels). The most awesome thing was how all the dogs (around 4o dogs) yelped and begged to be chosen as the 5 dogs for the demonstration, they really love running. Our boys got pictures with the sled and then we took off to spend the night at the Savage River campground further inside the Denali Park.

While driving inside the park towards the campground we passed a marsh and got out to hike and take pictures. When we got back inside the RV we drove up the road a mile and got our first great look at true wildlife. There was a big moose literally on the side of the road, and traffic stopped both ways to take pictures. I got out of the RV and grabbed some shots as shown below of the moose grazing in the wild...it was awesome to see something like that (and not in a zoo), but in real life.

We made our way to the Savage River campground, got everything situated, ate dinner, and at 8pm (still light outside for hours to come) then the boys and I went on one of the most awesome hikes of our lives. We went down to the river and for about 20 minutes I tried to keep everyone dry, especially because it was cold outside. When I determined that we weren't going to be able to go where we wanted to go and stay dry, I told the boys to forget about and we were going to go wherever we wanted to do whatever we wanted to do...which as you can imagine they absolutely loved.

The sky outside was absolutely magical, full of clouds and pastel colors. We passed through the braided river many times in different places and then started hiking up a bluff to get a better perspective on everything. While stopping to take a picture of the boys I heard a sound I will never forget, the huffing breathing sound of a bear! We knew we were in bear country and I had some bear pepper spray that we'd bought in Alaska, and all the advice we'd been given was to make a lot of noise and not surprise or startle a bear. If we managed to keep some distance and let the bear know we were there, the high probability would be that we would have no problems.

The boys froze and said, "What do we do?" Even though it was a little scary I felt like we couldn't get a good view of where we were (and the bear) if we didn't continue to head up the bluff. So I told the boys to keep saying loudly, "Hello, Bear!" We slowly but surely hiked up the bluff with our eyes peeled for anything that moved. When we got to the top of the bluff there was nothing there, the bear had left. I was glad that it happened though because it was a good experience for the boys to practice some bear safety.

At this point it was after 9pm and we were about 2 miles from the camp. We started heading back and this time we took even less care in crossing the river as we all got soaked. The boys even got their shoes stuck in the mud which was hilarious. As we neared the end of the hike around 10pm we were treated to the most wonderful sunset of deep magenta reds and pinks in the sky. The pictures below weren't enhanced at all regarding the color...I'd never seen that in a sunset before and it was the only color! We got back to the campground around 10:30pm and got ready for bed. It was literally one of those kinds of days that I will never forget as a Father....absolutely wonderful. When my boys are all grown and gone some day....I will always reflect upon this great day......

Great Alaskan Adventure Day Two- BNB RV SCAM

We woke up in the morning cold but determined to start our Great Alaskan Adventure without delay. I got up with the boys and went to meet the guy from BNBRV, Bob, the only guy working there to get things straightened out. When I mentioned the issues as shown below of broken cabinets, the refrigerator cabinet bulging out, the refrigerator stinking, the blinds being bent and broken, the table where we eat and convert to a sleeping bed was busted, the upholstery was filthy, there were springs sticking out of the bed, the shower was dirty and walls were peeling, the vehicle had 121,000 miles on it, and that the vehicle wasn't even one of theirs (found the registration), his response was, "Well, we don't have any other vehicles, so you are stuck."

Realizing I didn't have many options available to me because I had already prepaid I asked him, "What about what was said on the website of 'Hand picked, self contained, clean, late model class "C" motorhomes with memory foam beds and LCD/DVD Flat Screen TV's' where is the RV I paid for?" His response was, "Don't have it." I told him I wanted a refund or discount if I wasn't able to find another RV. He said that would be fine but I'd have to talk to the owner of BNB RV Pete Harkovitch. I asked where Pete was and he said, "Out of the country." I then said, "I have triplet boys and we are going to be driving a lot of miles...I needed that TV/DVD." He responded by handing me three Coby portable DVD players that are cheaper than the toy ones you'd buy as a joke for someone.

He then proceeded to ask me for a credit card to cover the damage waiver. I gave him my American Express and he said, "Do you have anything else? They charge so much that we hate to use them." I responded, "It's a damage waiver, you shouldn't charge anything unless there is damage." He responded, "Well, you never know." At this point I was convinced that he planned on charging the card but I knew AMEX would tell him to stick it so I let him authorize, not charge the card. I stepped out of the office and called a few other RV places, but on short notice there was nothing available, so I was stuck.

Determined not to let these idiots at B&BRV ruin my vacation I reluctantly took the "Majestic" (the name alone for this piece of crap still makes me laugh), we grabbed sleeping bags, and some pots and pans, and we left. We went to every RV's favorite store, Walmart, and stocked up for the two weeks ahead. I even had to buy a power inverter and power switch just so I could plug in the boys TV's...what a joke. After I had a 4-alarm heart attack (we spent $1,100 in Walmart) we took off to the beautiful Denali National Park which was about a 6-hour drive away. The drive was beautiful as we passed Mt. McKinley and headed to Riley Creek campground which was at the base of the Denali National Park. The campground was a dry campground, meaning no hook-ups, but we had an RV...what could go wrong, right? Bob assured me we had enough propane to last us the trip and the heater would work through the night. So we went to sleep dreaming of our first real day exploring Alaska in Denali...we couldn't wait....

This is what their own website says about the RV's they rent.

This is what we were supposed to get!!! The picture's even on their website...what we got was below...

Busted cabinets..

Refrigerator cabinet bulging out...

Blinds bent and broken...

Table busted...we couldn't put any weight on it...couldn't eat on it..

Upholstery was filthy, not fit to sit or sleep on...needed extra sheets to cover the grime...

Got cut on my arm on this spring during the middle of the night...

Shower walls peeling and dirty..

Power inverter I bought just to run the boys' DVD players.

Car had over 121,000 miles on it!!

Wasn't even a registered vehicle to BNB RV, probably borrowed it from their uncle.

Our Great Alaskan Adventure Day One- BNB RV Bait and Switch

So we headed to the airport for our 6pm flight on Delta (best airline in the world!!) heading out of LAX to Anchorage. With a layover and a long flight we (myself, wife, and boys) finally landed in Anchorage around 1am. We contracted with a rental agency called BNBRV in Anchorage Alaska for a 2008 30ft. Winnebago Chalet Motor Home so we could truly enjoy the nature of Alaska and go anywhere we wanted to go.

We had prepaid $3,052 and they required it in advance for the 11 days we would be there, so about $300/day....not cheap but necessary for my landscape photography project that I'm doing. We got a taxi ($20) and arrived at BNB RV at 1:30am where they had arranged to leave the RV with the lights on and heater running with our name on the RV window. When we arrived we saw an old 2001 Majestic RV with our name on it....only 1 other RV was in the lot and it looked worse than the one we had.

Exhausted and a little cold we climbed into the RV only to find that the lights worked but the heater didn't....and they didn't leave any blankets or sleeping bags in the RV like they were supposed to. It was also missing any TV and many things were broken on it. The upholstery was filthy and it smelt like a Moose had died in it. With no other choice, we bundled up the best that we could, locked the doors, and made it through the night assuming that this must be a temporary set up for the night until our 2008 Winnebago Chalet arrived in the morning. We were frustrated the heater didn't work and there were no sleeping linens or blankets....but we were so excited about being in Alaska that we hoped for the best and assumed everything would be worked out in the morning....a cold but exciting start to our Great Alaskan Adventure!

Go ahead and click on their website to see what BNBRV claims to offer!

Website Preview - Bridals

Today's featured gallery shows off all our beautiful brides. Here they are in their stunning dresses and gorgeous locations. Click on the link below to check them out!

http://www.jasonlanierproductions.com/#/bridal-image-gallery/

Website Preview - Montage Wedding

What a gorgeous setting for a wedding! Click on the link below to see the pictures from this beautiful wedding at the Montage in Laguna Beach, CA.

http://montageresortweddings.jasonlanierproductions.com/

Website Preview - Ocean Gallery

Today's website preview takes you to the wonders of the world's oceans. Click on the link below to see the beauty these deep waters and their gorgeous surroundings have to offer! Thanks for visiting!

http://www.jasonlanierproductions.com/#/oceans/

Website Preview - Engagements

Check out these beautiful couples in today's website preview. Engagements are such fun shoots as we capture the couple's spark and excitement before their wedding! Click on the link below to see why we love shooting these so much.

http://www.jasonlanierproductions.com/#/engagement-image-gallery/

Website Preview - Four Seasons Wedding

Today we wanted to feature this amazing wedding at the Four Seasons in Westlake Village, CA. The couple was gorgeous and so fun to work with and the grounds were perfect for fantastic pictures. Please click on the link below to view this beautiful wedding! Thanks for visiting!

http://www.fourseasonswestlakevillage.jasonlanierproductions.com/

Website Preview - Tropical Gallery

Check out today's website feature...our Tropical Gallery. These gorgeous photos of paradise are the best of our tropical landscape shots taken from around the world!

Please click on the link below to view our new Tropical Gallery! Thanks for visiting!

http://www.jasonlanierproductions.com/#/tropical/

WPPI 2010 Winner Press Release- Jason Lanier Photography

We are proud to announce that we were honored with an "Accolade of Excellence" in the WPPI 2010 16x20 print competition, the largest print competition in the world. We entered a number of prints and scored well on all of them. I featured this print below taken of my bride Christine Holcombe in North Carolina, because it was our highest scoring print.

I'm especially proud of this print because I took it in an abandoned house that I found buried by the railroad tracks in a very rural area of North Carolina. The slanted walls, broken glass, etc. are all real, no photoshopping. While I used photoshop to enhance the image, I didn't add to what you see below. I actually have a video on my website of this shoot that I did on my own with just the bride, click below to view! Hope you enjoy!!

CLICK TO SEE VIDEO

Brady- the anatomy of a Groom Portrait Session

Below are images taken during our Groom Portrait Session with Brady Bluhm just last week. Something I find fun and challenging is creating something out of nothing. For these shots we actually set up in Brady's small bedroom during the middle of the day with a small backdrop, card table, a deck of cards, and some dice. We used blankets and blinds to block out the light, and used video lights and flash to light Brady.

When I printed some 16x20's at our local lab they asked how we photoshopped the cards into the picture! I told them there was no photoshopping of the cards or the dice, we simply had to be patient. We literally sat there and had Brady throw cards at me for an hour. We had to wait to get the cards to come out the way we wanted, the same as the dice. We shoot Groom and Bridal Portraits for almost all of our wedding clients as we create a portrait session for them that they will remember the rest of their lives. I hope you enjoy!

"Jesus took me to the beach?"

Today while getting the boys ready my son Kevin poked my chest and looked at me and said, "Daddy, I wish I had this." I looked down at my chest and asked, "Wish you had what?" He looked at me and said, "I wish I had skin like you and Mommy." (For those of you who don't know my wife and I are white, and our triplet boys who we adopted are half white/half Mexican and have beautiful light brown skin).

I asked Kevin, "Why do you want skin like me and Mommy?" He replied, "Because I want to be like you." I knew that when we adopted children that didn't look like us that we would someday get these questions from our boys. I knelt down and looked into his little brown eyes and said, "Kevin, you know we've always spoken about all skin colors being beautiful. The only difference between you and me is that Heavenly Father gave you a tan before he sent you down to earth."

Kevin thought for a moment and then a big smile came over his face. He gently grabbed my face and asked, "So....Jesus took me to the beach before sending me to you?" It was so sweet and innocent, and he said it with so much sincerity that I grabbed him, gave him a hug, and laughed. I replied back, "Yes, you went to the beach with Jesus."

As Kevin started imagining all the things he and his brothers did with Jesus on the beach I thought about how life could be a little better if we were all just happy with the way we look, and always find ways to find the beauty in others......

Getting back to my blog

After a long overdue absence, mainly due to the fact that I've been posting so much more to Facebook recently, I am dedicating myself to getting back to my blog. I apologize for the absence and will make sure to post consistently with content that will help to inspire, make you laugh, and maybe sometimes make you cry. I hope you will enjoy the new blog as I will be revising some of the look, feel, and message of the blog. Thanks!

Jason

Puerto Rico- Day 3...shooting all day long

Today was the day of shooting. We woke up early (for us), and got out of the hotel by 8am. We met out first model Anne at the hotel and traveled 1.5 hours out to the Yunque rainforest to the abandoned house in the middle of the rainforest that seemed to be custom made for a photo shoot. While driving there it rained on and off very heavily. We got to the house and set up for the shoot. The shots below are taken by Michael...and the one in particular of me at the house is a shot that Michael got while I was showing the model what I wanted her to do.

While shooting it started to rain very heavy and we were able to grab some great shots of the model with the rain and the house. Two hours and 20gb later we left the house and thanked Anne for doing such a fantastic job. There are many more shots from the shoot but I will have to post them later. I truly enjoyed the lines and lighting of the house which were just perfect for a photo shoot.

We left the house and traveled back to the city to the heart of old San Juan. We got stuck in the traffic that was just horrible. Trying to get through the old streets of San Juan with all the other traffic, especially on a Saturday was an absolute nightmare. We were trying to get to what the locals call the "Totem Pole," which is a monument in the city near the famous castle of El Morro. After 2 hours we found a parking spot, and met up with the lovely Ilka Tamar for her shoot.

The shoot was planned for El Morro which is a castle that was built by the Spaniards back in the 1500's. The castle is one of the primary locations for the new upcoming movie, "Pirates of the Caribbean 4." We entered the castle and have access to the entire place....and let me tell you it was nothing short of AMAZING! The castle was so large and offered so many options that it turned me into a kid in a candy store. I have never shot at one location for 4 straight hours, but this place was truly remarkable. It was so windy up there that the veil kept flying off of Ilka. Michael was kind enough to retrieve it which got him the nickname of "Veil Boy," by Ilka...and the name stuck. The most awesome thing about shooting there was that there were no regulations...we were able to climb anywhere we wanted and to shoot what we wanted which was something we don't find very often.

The most awesome part was shooting on the side of the edge of the castle which you can see on the shots below. You wouldn't know it but the edge was only 5 feet away, and was about a 300 foot drop. Michael and I grabbed shots of each other shooting which was really fun....We ended the shoot outside of the castle using HDR on the massive lawn in front of the castle. Sometimes I swear I am shooting and I can't believe what I'm shooting. That was exactly what this experience was for us today. We planned on meeting Ilka for dinner after the shoot but honestly we got lust in the traffic and never got hooked up again. We ended up back at the hotel and grabbed dinner in the restaurant. I shot a total of about 55 gb today...and all of them were so much fun I can't even describe how much I enjoyed it.

Puerto Rico- Day 2 Pictures in the rainforest....

These are some of the shots taken during our time in Puerto Rico, day two in the Yunque Rainforest. It really was this beautiful and was an absolute ton of fun. Michael grabbed some shots of me shooting in the rainforest...and then I turned the camera on him. Michael climbed on top of the SUV and started a professional photo shoot which included the infamous Betty Boop shot where he displayed his backside while kissing is fingers to his lips. I laughed so hard after the shot was taken that I'm sure I woke up the entire forest.....more shots and stories to come later...hope you enjoy!

Car Accident delight with a side of theft of a laptop!

Today was a very trying day to say the least. I was in a car accident yesterday that left me in bad shape....I had to go to the hospital via ambulance so I never got to get any of my belongings out of the car. The car was towed at the order of the CHP by HP Tow to their towyard in Walnut Park near downtown LA. I called HP Tow this morning so I could make arrangements for my wife to pick up my belongings and they told me we weren't allowed to do so. Being that I bought the car 2.5 weeks ago the registration process wasn't completed by the dealer, even though the temporary registration on the windshield showed the car was registered to me! I actually had to call the CHP and speak with Sergeant Hawkins and tell him about my situation. He told me I had every right to get my belongings and had to personally call HP Tow to instruct them to do so.

My wife wasn't with me when I bought the car so she wasn't on the registration...so I was forced to go down there which was important considering my laptop, GPS, tripod, images, and luggage were still in my car.....with most of it in my trunk which was sprung open! Kara loaded me up on painkillers and we went down there...and believe me my neck, back, and right leg/hip and left knee were throbbing so I wasn't happy about having to go down there but I also wasn't comfortable about my belongings being out there for public consumption.

We went down there and the first thing I asked about was my laptop. They acknowledged that the paperwork filled out by the CHP noted that a laptop was in the car. As my items were being removed from my car and my laptop was nowhere to be found I kept asking, "Where is my laptop?" They started getting nervous. When my car was emptied completely I asked again, "Where is my laptop?!" They responded, "It must be in the office." Well, they looked in the office for over an hour and surprisingly couldn't find the laptop! I asked the dispatcher what the next step was and she said to fill out a claim form. I thought that was insufficient so I again called the CHP. Luckily the CHP cared a lot more about the situation and I got through to a Sergeant Helms who helped me tremendously. I now have to go down to the CHP office to on Monday to file charges against the towyard. He even called the officer who was on the scene yesterday and he verified that my laptop was in the trunk as noted on the report. By the end of it all it was a miserable day because my laptop was stolen by a CHP authorized towyard and I had to deal with all this with a very sore body....the guy at the towyard even asked me why I was limping so bad and I told him the accident just happened yesterday.....worst of all now I'm without a laptop....I have to say that I really hate thieves.....

In regards to the condition of the car it looks totaled. The whole back is smashed, the side rear doors won't close straight, the seat I was sitting in is busted and I'm sure the insurance will just total it which really sucks considering I just bought it a little over two weeks ago.....

Key lessons learned:

• If you are taken in an ambulance from the scene of an accident and you are conscious, demand that all items of value are taken with you in the ambulance.
• Never, ever trust a towyard.
• Always get your items out of your car ASAP.
• Call the cops when the towyard lies to you.