All images, photos and videos, contained herein on Flickr.com on the jasonsargo/scnightrod account, were created by, and are copyrighted by me, Jason Claypool, the owner/user of this account, with all rights reserved. No person, group, company, corporation, organization, agency or government has my legal permission (past, present or future; implicit or explicit) to download, copy, modify, use, publish or repost any of this content or this profile, or any information contained therein, in whole or in part, in any form, format or forum, for any reason, including any personal, editorial, commercial, educational or research reasons.
Do not steal. Just ask, because we can probably work something out, anyway.
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Introduction
Thank you for your interest in my work!
What can I shoot for you?
My name is Jason Claypool, and I am a photographer from Denver, Colorado.
I have been dating my girlfriend, LeeAndra for a few years. She just adores my kids, and lets me drag her to a lot of shows and shoots. We have a dog named Talulah, I brew beer and mead, grow hops, and always have Photoshop, Flickr and my website open.
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Specialties and Experience
My specialties are concert, music, promotional and event photography, and I have been published since 2008 as a regular and contributing (now archived) writer and photographer for the Denver Post's Reverb music review blog. My work has been used by several bands, including Carrie Rodriguez, Rob Drabkin, American Relay, Reverend Deadeye, Bad Luck City, Vonnegut, Overcasters, Ghost Buffalo, Hawks Of Paradise, The Limbs, Gavin Glass, and Burn Sand Burn for album artwork, web, and promotional use. My pictures were featured in the gallery at the massive 2009 Underground Music Showcase in Denver.
My commercial experience also includes real estate photography in association with Agent Rick Myers of the Keller Williams, brochure and web work for Rotors Of The Rockies, and corporate publication and profile work for Omni Eye Specialists / Spivack Vision / Madison Street Company in a clinical and surgical setting, and published articles for Colorado Country Life and Draft Horse Journal.
I am especially proud of my experience, since 2006, in funeral and event photography with the Patriot Guard organization, regularly donating my time and services to the families of Fallen and Veteran members of America's military.
I also have experience in youth sports photography (with a son and daughter in football and cheerleading), child candid photography (baptisms and birthdays), engagements and portrait work, as well as couple's photography. I am looking forward to building on this experience and branching out into senior pictures and as a second photographer for wedding work, as opportunities arise.
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Style
My style matches my equipment, and I prefer to focus my skills on discreet, handheld shooting in low-light conditions with little flash, rather than invest in studio equipment. I want a candid pose or the available light to emphasize the beauty of the subject, or the energy or humor of the moment. I love the thrill of walking away shaking from a bitterly cold and windy mountaintop, or sweaty and injured from the crushing weight of a front row at 2AM, or tearing up privately after a Fallen or Veteran military service member's service, knowing I caught that one perfect shot that's going up on MY wall. I am open to your ideas, and love subjects that have fun with a shoot. My creativity, combined with yours, can yield some fantastic results.
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Equipment and Process
I began with a 2Mp Canon Elph in 2001. It was a great camera to always have in my pocket when I was a Sheriff's Deputy on patrol in Jeffco, but I couldn't take the pictures I wanted, as you can tell in a couple of the older sets.
I have been taking pics more seriously since 2004, when I bit the bullet and bought an 8MP Konica Minolta Dimage A2 and all the goodies. I quickly realized that camera's limitations, but loved most of it's features. I was stuck with a practical limit of ISO800 as far as noise was concerned. That camera forced me to focus on my skills, as well as learning Photoshop and post-processing, as I was beginning to explore live music photography.
In 2008, I stepped up to a Nikon D300 (for it's great low-light capabilities) with Nikon's 18-200 and 50mm/1.4, LensBaby Original, Hoya UV and Circular Polarizer filters, MB-D10 battery grip, SB-600 Speedlight flash, Lowepro Slingshot 200 AW bag, Quantaray 5-in-1 folding reflector, and an Epson Stylus Photo 1400 printer, with archival quality Epson paper and Epson Claria inks.
I work in a RAW digital workflow (specifically, Nikon’s .NEF format) in Camera Raw and CS3, and produce CD-R’s with .jpgs as the finished product. I also post my resulting sets on Flickr, to make my work available to a variety of clients, friends and family.
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Contact
Feel free to contact me with any questions you might have about my services. Spend some time in the links above, or explore my best and favorite work to get an idea of what I can do for you.
Jason Claypool
Photographer
Lakewood, CO
720-251-0834
jasonsargo@yahoo.com
Check out my website link on the right of this page for details on my pricing and terms.
I am on Facebook, here:
Keep up with my upcoming show schedule on Gigbot, here:
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My Music Photography
In addition to the work I provide to several bands, I have been a regular contributing photographer and writer with Reverb, the Denver Post's music review blog, since August of 2008. Some of my best work has been published there:
The Denver Post Underground Music Showcase 080108 and 080208
Left Lane Cruiser, Scott H. Biram and Bob Log III at the Larimer Lounge, 081308
The Knew and Black Diamond Heavies at The Larimer Lounge 091008
Reverend Deadeye, The Omens, Badman and Bad Luck City at the Larimer Lounge 091908
Bevin Luna, Pink Lightnin' and American Relay at the Lion's Lair 092708
Rob Drabkin and Back Door Slam at the Soiled Dove Underground 093008
The Omens and Ghost Buffalo at the Larimer Lounge 101008
McDougall, Nick Sullivan, Reverend Deadeye and Hillstomp at the Meadowlark 101108
The Utah County Swillers and Whiskey Throttle at the 3 Kings Tavern 102408
Blue Million Miles, A Shoreline Dream and the Overcasters at Moe's 110808
The Crystal Method at Beta 111308
Ace Enders and hellogoodbye at the Marquis Theater 101808
Sofo, The Epilogues and Vonnegut at the Bluebird Theater 112808
Born In The Flood and Friends Holiday Revue at the Bluebird Theater 121208
Hello Kavita, the Heyday and Flobots at the Gothic Theater 123008
Big Head Todd And The Monsters- New Years Eve! at the Ogden Theater 123108
American Relay, Becky Lee And Drunkfoot, and Reverend Deadeye at the 3 Kings Tavern 010909
Vonnegut and My Dear Disco at the Larimer Lounge 011709
Popwreck, Eleanor, Portamento and Pena at the Lion's Lair 012209
Andrea Ball, Vonnegut and Rob Drabkin at the Soiled Dove Underground 012309
Cody Crump, Chris Nelson, Ellison Park and the Epilogues at the Meadowlark 013009
Facing Sunday, Lions The Brave, Blue Million Miles and Sonnenblume at the Meadowlark Lounge 013109
Whiskey Throttle at the Skylark Lounge 020609.
American Relay, The Hollyfelds and Split Lip Rayfield at the Bluebird Theater 020709
Gavin Glass and Lisa Hannigan at the Bluebird Theater 022409
Hawks Of Paradise, Overcasters and The Omens (album release) at the Hi-Dive 022709
Nick Sullivan, Reno Divorce and Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band at the Bluebird Theater 031309
Hillstomp and Slim Cessna's Auto Club at the 3 Kings Tavern on 031409
The Limbs, Light Travels Faster and Bad Luck City at the 3 Kings Tavern 042509
Queensryche at the Paramount Theater 042809
Romantica and Carrie Rodriguez at the Soiled Dove Underground 052109
Endless Hallway and VAST at the Bluebird Theater 052209
The Limbs and Burn Sand Burn at the 3 Kings Tavern 052409
The Pack A.D. at the Hi Dive 052509
The Legendary Shack Shakers at the Larimer Lounge 060309
The Hollyfelds and Southern Culture On The Skids at the Gothic 061209
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My Work With The Patriot Guard
As I mentioned above, I am a member of the Patriot Guard Riders, and have attended and photographed many, many, missions and events since early 2006. The Patriot Guard is a nationwide organization, now over 120,000 strong. It was initially formed to provide, at the specific invitation of the families, a silent, visual barrier of American flags at the funeral services of Fallen military service members, between the family of the Fallen and the group of "church" idiots from Kansas who were showing up and protesting and spewing their vile hatred against homosexuals.
In attending all those missions, I have really focused on capturing, to the best of my abilities, the history that I have been so privelaged to witness. In doing so, I have been honored to be asked by several families of the Fallen for copies of my work in remembrance of their loved ones. As is everything related to the Patriot Guard, these services prints, and files are completely free of charge.
I was a cop for eleven years, and served my community that way, but it is too late for me to join the military, and I would not have the great kids I do today if I had. I joined the PGR for a few reasons. I initially wanted to counter the hate that was being spewed against gays by the Kansas "church" idiots when they were showing up and desecrating military service members' funerals. Thankfully, they have not shown to too many services around here, so we have turned our attention to honoring the Fallen soldiers and veterans, and welcoming home the ones that make it back.
The PGR motto sums it up- STANDING FOR THOSE WHO STOOD FOR US.
But with my camera, I have taken on a new personal mission- that of documenting a rare group of individuals who put aside their political beliefs and give their time and energy and sweat and tears to honor the Fallen.
Of course there have been groups in every conflict, including Vietnam, who were there to send care-packages and welcome home the troops, either living or dead. But I have met a few Vietnam vets in this group who never got a chocolate bar or a hand-shake, but were lucky enough to get spit on instead. This organization is historically unique in that its mission is to never let that happen again for the soldiers in today's conflicts and the veterans passing on here at home. And trying to take the most beautiful, touching, historically representative photographs I can is the way I contribute. I want my kids and grandkids to be proud of what I do, proud of the people I associate with, and proud of the country we live in.
If you are at all interested in joining, please take a look at their website. The home page pretty much sums it up. Your politics are not important, and I am proof of that. Whether you ever served or would never personally serve is not important. What you ride or drive or the pogo stick or electric wheelchair you use to get to missions is not important. Your willingness to show up, shut up, and hold a flag is what is important. There are members in every state and several foreign countries.
A special note about the Patriot Guard pictures- If you are a family or friend of the deceased, please note that I do have my own guidelines when I shoot at funerals. In order to respect your privacy, I avoid taking identifiable pictures of the family and friends, and the few pictures I do take with the casket or urn visible are password protected, and viewable only by my family. THOSE PICTURES WILL NEVER BE MADE PUBLIC. If you are a family member of the deceased, and want a copy of those pictures, I can be contacted through the PGR, via the state captain who was originally in contact with your family when you invited the PGR to attend the service. That way, your identity can be verified and those pictures would never end up in the wrong hands.
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- JoinedMay 2006
- OccupationOphthalmic Photographer / Fluorescein Angiographer
- Current cityDenver, CO
- CountryUSA
Most popular photos
Testimonials
Jason's work displays a rare sensitivity and captures a deeply and profoundly difficult period in a person's life with compassion. If you are a veteran or an active duty soldier, sailor, airman or marine, this is a person who respects your work.