Side One - The collectors card image is Sailing On The Cooper River. The image explores time, movement and memory using a series of layered exposures.

Side Two - Includes my personal thoughts are on how 1/125th of second preserved a moment in the lives of two people that will never be forgotten.

I also want to take a moment to thank all of those that have signed up this past month. The group receiving my USPS letters is small, but it’s still a bigger group than I ever could have imagined.

If you’re not subscribed and you’r interested in receiving a monthly snail mail letter and collectors card you can subscribe at:

www.JohnCraigPhotography.com/subscribe

Thank you,
John

The John Craig Photo Club is a monthly snail mail experience designed for those who value photography as both art and artifact. Each edition centers on a carefully selected landscape image, reproduced as a high-quality collectors card, accompanied by a thoughtfully written letter. The letter offers insight into the moment the photograph was made—exploring the environment, the creative process, and the emotional resonance behind the image.

This project is rooted in the idea of slowing down and reconnecting with the tactile experience of holding a photograph in your hands. Rather than scrolling past images on a screen, members receive a physical piece of work that can be collected, displayed, and revisited over time.

Subjects will primarily focus on landscapes, often created using intentional camera movement and layered techniques to produce painterly, expressive results. The John Craig Photo Club is both a personal artistic outlet and an invitation to engage more deeply with the stories and impressions that shape each photograph.

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This project is rooted in the idea of slowing down and reconnecting with the tactile experience of holding a photograph in your hands. Rather than scrolling past images on a screen, members receive a physical piece of work that can be collected, displayed, and revisited over time.

Subjects will primarily focus on landscapes, often created using intentional camera movement and layered techniques to produce painterly, expressive results. The John Craig Photo Letter Club is both a personal artistic outlet and an invitation to engage more deeply with the stories and impressions that shape each photograph.

The cost will be $9.95/month or $95.00/year and sign-up for subscriptions will begin on May 4, 2026.

The results of that initial experience fascinated me. Most of the images from that trip are the soft painterly images that seem timeless and yet evoke memories of the brief time spent photographing that landscape. Since then, most of my fine art images; images of White Sands National Park, the Organ Mountains and more recently, Cooper River Park have been shot using this style.

The style has many facets and it’s not only just moving the camera with a 1 second exposure. Shooting and processing individual images is just the first step. Multiple layered images, sometimes soft from camera movement, sometimes sharp and sometimes mixed have been added to the process. Unlike “straight” photography the results cannot be anticipated in the field and are always a surprise to me. Using different layers, opacities and blending modes there could be a dozen different solutions to the final result.

For me the answer is always what best represents the memory and the experience of the brief time spent in that location.

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Breed: Airedale
Age: 8.5 years
Born: Outside of Albuquerque NM, 2016
Favorite Toys: Tennis Balls, Monkey

Coco found us while we were living in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

While walking our dog Jasper, my wife spotted something moving in the low scrub of our local park. After she knowingly asked; What is that?, this Airedale popped out in front of us onto the path. Seeing see had a collar, I sat on the ground and she approached me. I was able to grab the collar, walk her to our home and call the phone number on the collar.

My walk home with her was about a quarter mile and in that short walk I fell in love with this dog. She was gentle, calm and friendly, even with no lease she just trotted along side of me with no pushing or pulling.

The owner had left her outside while he was at work because it was such a beautiful day, not realizing the four and a half foot wall around his back yard was not enough to contain her. About an hour after my call his parents came to pick her up and we made an offer that if the owner felt she was too much for him to handle, we would take her and giver her a good home

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.

Five days later Coco at the age of two, came to live with us and we’ve all been living happily ever after.

The headshot is great for social media and resume profiles, but sometimes a headshot is just not enough. It might take environmental portraits to get the bigger picture of a someone’s place and importance to a location.

Such is the case of Robert Bingaman. Bob is the president of the South Camden Theatre Company

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and a set designer. In a recent production of The Toxic Avenger, The Musical, Bob created a two story set in which the actors were able to move around, across, behind and up and down the stage. In addition, the stage required space to hold a four piece band that provided the live music for the production.

Since this was the most complicated set that the South Camden Theatre had ever taken on, I asked to photograph Bob using the stage as a background.

The results were dynamic portraits that not only placed Bob center stage, but also showed the brilliance, the creativity and the care he brings to every show at the South Camden Theatre Company.

For more information about narrative portraits or headshot, please contact me at www.JohnCraigPhotography.com

Your Face Is Your Superpower!

I can’t remember a time I had so much fun doing a headshot session.

I met Andrew Bozzelli while he played Toxie in the South Camden Theatre Company production of Toxic Avenger - The Musical.

Our session was a longer session where I provided portraits, headshots and kazoos to entertain ourselves during the shoot. As an extra bonus, Andrew brought along his significant other; the very wonderful Micaela Hickey. As she watched the proceedings she gave insights and suggestions to both Andrew and I that really helped make the session successful.

Even though this image is not a traditional headshot, it is among my favorites. After taking a number of shots with more formal lighting and posing, I asked Andrew to turn the chair around. He leaned on the back of the chair and I knew when taking the shot it was a winner. The ease in which Andrew slipped into the pose, his strong profile and the light coming from camera right came so easily, I knew it was a great shot in the moment. Sessions like these are why I do the work I do, thanks Andrew, thanks Micaela.

If you’re in need of a new headshot, click HERE to schedule an appointment

Tech Notes:
Camera: Canon 6D
Main light: Paul C. Buff White Lightning 800 - Digital Flag
Fill Light: Paul C. Buff White Lightning 800 with Soft Box

Since moving back to southern New Jersey a year and half ago, I have found some cultural differences from the central part of the state where I grew up. First we don’t have Italian Ice here, we have Water Ice. Secondly, the term Down the Shore is not used as much because in most cases it’s more appropriate to say Out East to the Shore. Thirdly, living very near the Cooper River has opened my eyes to the culture of competitive rowing. The activity of rowing comes In many forms, kayaking, crew, which can have shells (boats) that can have from one to nine members on a team. But one of the most fun to watch is the Dragon Boat Regattas.

I attended one of these Dragon Boat Regattas a few weekends ago. 53 teams with 18-20 members of all ages and genders on a team. The races are either 100 or 200 meters long and are often over within a minute or two. No money or scholarships were on the line, yet everyone was working hard to win and having a great time being out on the river.

One of the local groups, The River Sisters were there for the fun, comradery and support. You see, although there are very few barriers to become a member of a Dragon Boat team, this team has a very special requirement - you must be a breast cancer survivor.

A couple of days after the regatta, I met the River Sisters before their late Monday afternoon practice. They were one of the most joyous groups of people I have ever met. They seem to be thankful for the opportunity to go out on the river, compete, have fun and accept whatever the results may be.

If these women have learned to accept the results in their lives, perhaps it’s not so hard for me to be able to do better in mine.

112 Arts

Recently I launched an online magazine called 112 Arts. The first issue focuses on Deborah Sperry, the 2025 Gloucester City, New Jersey Artist In Residence. This will be the first year of the AIR program in Gloucester City and Deborah explains what she hopes to accomplish during her residency.

This four page issue was put together as a prototype, giving us an opportunity to ascertain interest, discover design flaws (and there are a few) and begin to set up infrastructure for growth and sustainability. We expect upcoming issues to be at least eight pages with multiple articles on art and artists. Eventually we hope to make it available in both online and printed formats.

The road may be a slow slog for right now, but we hope you will take the ride with us and see the world according to 112 Arts.

I have been struggling with the name of this blog/email newsletter since it began months ago. Some of my struggles include; can I sustain it, what should I write about, does anybody care? I think the answers to those questions are maybe yes, maybe no, but focusing my thoughts will probably make me a better photographer.

I’ve chosen the title The Next Shot because I believe my best work will be the next time I take my camera out. Although that is something that can’t always be true, I think most creative people including photographers, painters, musicians and writers believe in their next shot. We believe our next work could be Moonrise, Hernandez New Mexico, Guernica, Abby Road or The Great Gatsby. I said in an earlier post, I feel like a prospector and every time I bring my camera out I am not looking to take a snapshot, I am looking to make a photograph.

The idea is to just do it, make it the best you can and keep on looking for that next shot.

Here are a few of my favorite photographers that always seem to get better with every shot:

Dan Winters - https://danwintersphoto.com

John Russo - https://johnrussophoto.com

The Late, GREAT Irving Penn - https://irvingpenn.org

Thanks for your time.
John

On Friday of this past week (April 5, 2024) New Jersey was the center of a 4.8 earthquake that shook the east coast and impacted more than 42 million people. Since I am located just outside of Philadelphia and only 65 miles away from the epicenter, I felt the earth rumbled and our building shake for more than 10 seconds. By the time it was over I knew it was not a low flying plane, helicopter or an explosion of some kind, I knew it was an earthquake reaching a rare magnitude felt in New Jersey.

News channels were a bit slow on picking up and broadcasting information, but soon there were dire warnings. For instance on X, formally twitter, we had everything from people predicting the Rapture to New York City officials recommending people remain indoors.

Since it seems that there were no injuries or substantial damage from the quake, I’m thinking it’s probably safe to go outside now.

Today’s total eclipse will cross more population centers in the United States than the 2017 eclipse allowing more than 31 million people to experience totality. In previous ages solar eclipses were believed to be created by angry gods, quarrels between the sun and the moon,  animals devouring the sun, and more recently a prediction of death, destruction and disasters.

Here are some solar eclipse facts:

First recorded solar eclipse: March 5, 1223 BC

Last total solar eclipse in the U.S.: August 21, 2017

Next total solar eclipse in the U.S.: August 23, 2044

I’m hoping that we can get through the next week or so without any disasters, pandemics, pestilence or rare astronomical events, because I am on the verge of believing in some crazy gods.

www.JohnCraigPhotography.com

6:00 AM - 3 cars, 6 people
6:15 AM - 14 cars, 25 people
6:30 AM - 40 cars, 100+ people
7:00 Am - 100 cars or more, too many people to be counted

In September of 2015 I was able to spend a few days in Death Valley and the numbers above were an approximate number of people and cars on my first early morning shoot at Zabriskie Point.

Soon I noticed I was taking the same photos of the mountains as everyone else. That’s when I decided to move the camera while taking exposures of 1/4 second or longer. My first results were the blending of lines and colors creating an image like I had never made before. From that point on most of my images on that trip were taken in that style, a style that I learned only years later is called Intentional Camera Movement (ICM).

ICM users not only use long exposures for their compositions, but also multiple exposures and post processing techniques such as blending layers and changing layer opacities. The resulting images can range from completely abstract, to impressionistic and colorful, to sharp details blending with the soft lines and colors of the surrounding space.

ICM has been a way for me to break from traditional landscape photography. It has allowed me a vision where the layers of sky, land, time and memory all intersect to capture moments of the invisible.

Listed below are the instagram accounts of a few of my favorite ICM photographers:

@pep.ventosa / @andrewsgray / @dorisklaar

"Find your place on the planet. Dig in, and take responsibility from there"
Gary Snyder

We’re Back

After living in New Mexico for four years, my wife and I returned to New Jersey almost a year and a half ago mostly because of family (and for good pizza, sorry Las Cruces). We’re now living in Collingswood, close enough to Philadelphia that Philly’s tallest buildings almost cast shadows on us at sunset. We live just a block away from Cooper River Park and this is the place where I have chosen to dig in.

The Cooper River Park

The Cooper River Park is about 346 acres in size. The river offers boating, sailing and rowing within a 3.8 mile loop. The tree lined park surrounds the river and provides a refuge for people just being themselves. That’s how I found Jay.

The Prospectors

Jay, with his metal detector and shovel is like a modern day prospector. In fact he told me he had found an old coin a short time ago while out in the park. I asked if he had done any researched to see if the coin was of any value and his response was “nah, it’s just pretty cool to be out here and find these things.

As a photographer, I realized that I too am a prospector. I am always looking for something to dig up, something that is not easily seen. And there are times I get disappointed that I have returned from my shoot with very little to show for it. Maybe there’s a lesson to be learned from Jay, it’s not always a journey completed that’s the reward, the reward is the journey itself.

As I dig in deeper, find my place and take responsibility, I hope to share my journey with you and if you come along that will be reward enough for me.

www.JohnCraigPhotography.com

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