Life Through a Lens

Josh Spray - Owner/Photographer
This is my first stab at a blog about photography. I have no real goal or agenda, but wish to only share my passion and love for the arts through photography and sometimes other mediums.

After almost 28 years I have found my passions in life: Family, Country & Photography. I bring my camera and supplies with me wherever I go, just in case I see something rather unusual, beautiful or just want to catch that once in a lifetime moment from those around me. I suggest doing this because then you will never be telling yourself 'I wish I would have had a camera for this!'...trust me, it's worth it. Like most who delve into photography or art, I have always enjoyed looking at it and trying it out here and there since I was a lad. I really started to love photography in 2003 in Monte Lindo, Paraguay. At this time I was a missionary for my church. I was just transferred to this area with a new Missionary Companion who absolutely loved photography, always snapping pictures with his fancy Canon K2 35mm camera. Although it was an expensive purchase for him, the price of film and printing pictures was not because the currency exchange was great at the time. I was able to experience the wonderful culture and weathered faces of each man, woman and child we came in contact with...shooting along side my new comp. with my amateur film camera that worked for my needs. I will be scanning some of my favorite pictures soon from my sabbatical in Paraguay soon for you to see.

My first experiences with a true Digital SLR camera was with the 8 MP Canon Rebel wonder, of which my father-in-law owned. I shortly became familiar with all the basic functions and fell in love with taking pictures like a "Pro"...come to find out that there's MUCH more to it than the "green" Auto settings. At a wedding in 2005 we all gathered to take pictures with the family, I thought I should tag along with my father in-law's camera to get some experience, and if they turned out good I would give them as a wedding gift to the new couple. It was a great learning experience. I learned to always jump at an opportunity to take a picture, no matter what the circumstance or where you are...you thank me later. I was so impressed with the pictures I took I decided to dive into this wonderful world and see if I 'have what it takes' to be a true photographer.

I started Epic Studios with my wife's cousin Kirk Kinsey, who also has the passion for photography and a natural talent for picking the perfect pose or scene. We started with taking pictures at a local Martial Arts Dojo I belonged to called Bushi Ban. Each year they hired someone from California or back east to come take creative pictures, superimposing the student doing a kick or punch onto a mystical backdrop of their choice. I had some experience with photoshop and photography, so I decided to see if I could do better! I bought an inexpensive VuPro Chroma Key green screen backdrop with stand and lighting umbrellas ($199) , a Canon 75-300mm lens and a brand new 10 MP Canon Rebel XTi ($800). I also invested in a 15" MacBook Pro ($3,000) and Photoshop CS3 ($600) for photo organizing and editing. Because I had no real talent designing mystical backdrops I decided to turn to stock photography websites for ideas. I found www.shutterstock.com . For $199 (at the time) I downloaded over 250 hi-resolution backdrops and photos which are royalty free! I used these as options for these students to choose from. The set up was perfect, and it was a hit! We booked a larger venue shortly after at a National Karate Tournament in Houston, Texas where we set up our equipment and had ourselves a business that costed us less than $4500 and was paid off within only a few jobs!


With each job you take...or do not take, you learn the do's and do not's. From there we booked a few more dojo's and decided to try weddings (much easier) with the same if not more of a pay off. Most wedding's don't require artificial backdrops, umbrellas and superimposing people (unless Uncle Eddie is too drunk to be in the picture). Our first real wedding gig was in Mesa, Arizona for our cousin's. We offered to do the wedding at our cost (no profit's were made...in fact we lost about $3,000 and all the reception pictures!). On our drive down, my Jeep blew the transmission ($3000) so we rented a car for the weekend. Since we were using two camera's to shoot the wedding we somehow mixed up the memory cards, didn't download the pictures from the reception and accidentally deleted all 300 or so! AHHHHH! What a nightmare! You can't bring back those memories through professional picture, only through cheap point and shoots which people don't really know how to use even still!

Thankfully we were forgiven, and life went on. We have shot several bridal's, weddings and receptions all with successes and only one with downfall. Now it was time to try out the family pictures. I quickly decided I did not like using the umbrella lighting unless it was in a natural setting in the great outdoors. With each family portrait we got better! Although not quite the money maker as a wedding, family pictures are simple in nature...you gather for about 1-2 hours in 1-2 locations...take under 100 pictures, go home and scrap the one's you prefer not to be seen, quickly touch up the rest and burn them to a CD and hand it over the same day or the next. Epic Studios was a suffering business because I was working full time, and Kirk was at school full time and we really treated it more like a word of mouth hobby with income opportunity rather than a business. Below are a few sample pictures of what we did as Epic Studios Photography. Remember, we only had a few months experience so bear with me here and enjoy.