Alan Thomas Photography

Baby Shower

Alan — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 22:20:29 +0000

Well we are definitely one day closer before Isaac gets here and we are very excited. We got the baby shower done and all we have left is to patiently wait for the big day. Its a good thing that I have a few more weeks left because I am still wrapping up a few more things for his room. Never been to a baby shower in the past so this was definitely a new experience. I wonder why they don’t have a baby shower for the dads, lol? After all they do have a bachelor and bachelorette party. We are very happy to see people come out and visit us. We also understand not everybody can come out all the way to Montgomery Well with baby shower all over now its back to work and a shorter wait. I hope you all keep us in your prayers and wish our little one the best

My future little boy and his Mommy!

Alan — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 18:46:11 +0000

This has to be one of my favorite posts of 2012. In Feb 2013 I will take up the role of a married husband to a married father Soon this blog is going to be filled with pics of my little one. Too bad he doesn’t know it yet. Anyways Suma and I are SUPER DOOPER excited and we are hoping everything to go well with the pregnancy. From reading reviews of cars and cameras now I have been reading about gliders and cribs and believe it or not even thermometers. Thanks to the web every info you need is just a click away. Not sure what to expect but from talking to other people seems like the greatest feeling. So here are some super cute shots of his mommy

Boston, MA

Alan — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 18:00:33 +0000

Back in August I had the chance to visit Boston to see one of my old friend’s from good ole Ras Al Khaimah, UAE. True Facebook, Google Plus have given people the ability to connect with many of our long lost friends but rarely do we see them face to face. Sometimes I feel they are lost in the social stream . Nonetheless its a great tool to reconnect when you want to step outside the realms of the virtual world. While I was in Boston we had a quick road trip to New Hampshire and it was great to see green slopes again compared to the flat terrains of Montgomery, Al. Wish I had more time to explore the town if it were not for the expensive parking fees, lol. Anyways I have posted a few pics from my mini trip and if you are interested they were all shot with the Nikon F100 film camera with Portra 160 and 400 as the “digital card” For people who haven’t see a Tibestan Mastiff they are absolutely gorgeous. I hope to have one of my own

Love of my life ;)

Alan — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 17:50:27 +0000

I love my wife and I love shooting film. So what happens when you bring them together? Well let’s say it was magical I am very excited about these results sorta like when I met Suma first, lol. Hoping to shoot more of our beautiful life in this forgotten medium.

Film: Portra 400 :: Camera Nikon F100 :: Lens 85 mm 1.4G

Mamiya RZ Pro II

Alan — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 05:06:32 +0000

I don’t think I have ever dedicated a blog post just about a camera but this was one was special because you don’t see it all the time. This by NO means is a complete review of the camera but just a mere reflection of my thoughts/experience using the camera. This is the Mamiya RZ 67 Pro II. This is a medium format camera which means its the next step up from the 35mm film camera. The film rolls are larger than your traditional 35mm rolls. For that you get larger, sharper, crisper detailed images with very little grain. This camera used to be THE camera along with Hasselblad’s for fashion portraiture. I got the 35mm film camera to test it out and liked it enough to move on to the medium format body. I noticed the differences right away and was very impressed. Apart from the sheer size and weight this is a really good camera especially when you can find one around $600-700. This has a waist level viewfinder which means you look down to compose your pics. Rather than looking at a tiny view finder you have a much larger screen to compose your pic. In other words, your view finder is about the size of a traditional polaroid pic. The camera also takes a polaroid film back which mean you can convert this camera to take instant prints. How cool is that? With most lenses, the focusing is adjusted on the lens itself. This camera uses a bellows focusing method which means you physically move the move the lens back & forth to focus.

Let me know if you have any questions and I will be glad to answer them.

Jai Achen + Family

Alan — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:46:09 +0000

It has been a very long time since I blogged about anything that I almost forgot my password to log into my site. The achens {priests} in the Mar Thoma church as some of you are aware move around every 3 years. I can’t imagine moving to a new place every three years. I have already done my fair sharing of moving from DTW to ATL to MGM and its NOT fun. Jai Achen and family are moving from Atlanta back to Kerala, India. I thank God for their devotion and commitment to get up and move around every 3 years. I wanted to give a special gift that they can always look back and remember their years while in ATL. So what’s better than pics, after all pictures say more than 1000 words, right?. I asked if Achen and family would be willing for a session at the parsonage and they were very excited!

I started off with a good cup of hot chai [tea] and you can see the rest below.

On another note, some people have asked me why I shoot with film. Isn’t that the past? Well shooting film was a personal choice of mine. Both mediums [film+digital] have their own pros and cons. Digital is easier, convenient, faster and cheaper in the long run if you take lots of shots. Film camera bodies are about 9x cheaper than digital, less time spent in photoshop/lightroom, you tend to keep more pics, and it just looks better . You tend to keep more pics??? What do you mean? Well when you shoot with film you SLOW down because you know each click is going to cost some $$$. This helps you to be a better photog because you THINK before you SNAP which means less time spent in PHOTOSHOP fixing those OOPS.

I got into film and am continuously learning because of Jonathan Canlas and many others. Recently he launched a book on how to shoot film and is a really good source for those who want to get into film. You can get it here.

All my scans were developed and scanned by Indiefilmlab and these guys are good at what they do!! Even better since I live 2 min from them!

Technical Info: Frames [1-11] Mamiya RZ Pro II shot on Portra 160
[12-20] Nikon D700
[21-23] Nikon F100 on Portra 400 {23 on rt}

Islands of Adventure + Local

Alan — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:25:53 +0000

Well I got my second roll of shots and I am really enjoying the new medium. Expect to see more shots in the future with this medium. These scans were done by Indiefilm Lab in Pratville, AL. A few of these shots were taken nearby my apt to test out my very first roll of film. I may sound like a geek but I am very excited and can’t wait to try out more. Thanks again for looking around and let me know your thoughts/comments

Islands of Adventure + Lancaster SC

Alan — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:24:28 +0000

Lately I have been experimenting with film photography and I was really excited to try it out. It conveniently turned out that my friend and I planned a trip back in Oct of 11 to the Islands of Adventure in Orlando, FL. For those wondering I used the Nikon F100 and Portra 400 to take all these shots. The film was developed and scanned by NCPS. Most of the other shots were taken by a nearby place in Lancaster, SC. Some of you maybe wondering if digital or film is better and the real answer is that it really depends on YOU. So I say, shoot whatever medium you prefer and make your own opinion. You can read all you want but till you start doing it you won’t really know I am waiting on one more roll of film but till then enjoy these few pics. Always love to hear if you have any questions/comments about film/digital/pics or anything else

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Alan — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 08:48:08 +0000

Well 2011 is coming to an end and I wanted to thank all my friends and family for all your support. I am not sure what 2012 will bring, lets just hope it will be AWESOME This will be my last post for this year and I thank you all for checking out the blog and leaving me your wonderful comments Earlier in November we went to Frankenmuth, MI to check out the famous Bronner’s Christmas store. I am sure all my Michigan friends have already heard about this store. For all my non-Michigan friends, this store is open 24×7, 365 days a year selling mostly Christmas decorations. There are ornaments imported from all different parts of the world. This was my first time visiting store and it was a lot of fun checking out all the fancy Christmas ornaments. You can get custom made ornaments, meet Santa, watch a play and the list goes on. Here a few snaps from the store. Hope everyone has a joyful Christmas and all the best wishes in the New Year

CD Cover

Alan — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 04:33:08 +0000

Later this year I decided to offer custom DVD/CD covers for all my clients. I really prefer these personalized look and its just one more way to put a smile on your face knowing that you are getting something special from me. I always go an extra mile for all my clients and I want my clients to have the best. So go ahead and take a look and leave me your thoughts.