It is always a challenge to learn something new and become good at it.
Luckily for Jon Barnes, when it comes to something he is passionate about, the work becomes fun.
“I definitely had some ‘beginner’s luck’ in composing images, and I think that is probably due to seeing so much art throughout my life from my family,” Barnes said.
Growing up in Medford, the Shawnee High School and TCNJ graduate was exposed to art from the get-go. His great grandmother was a successful artist who would often paint the same piece several times until she got it exactly how she wanted it. She painted several scenes in Medford.
The town’s natural landscapes have provided motivation for several Barnes family members to get into art. By the time she was in her 90s, she had filled most of the walls in her home with her paintings, so she began to pass them down to family members.
This influenced Barnes’ grandmother, mother, aunt and sister to start painting.
The switch never really went off for Barnesm, though, until he made the 3,000-mile journey from Medford to San Diego. He decided to make the move out west after his best friend from New Jersey, Dan Cleary, said he would come with Barnes for the drive to San Diego and fly back under one condition: He wanted to stop at various places on the way and photograph them.
“I still had a film camera and shot about 20 rolls of film in the week we took to drive out,” Barnes said. “It opened my eyes to something I would eventually fall in love with and would become my passion.”
The two still go on a trip every year, flying from their homes in San Diego and New Jersey and meeting to shoot for five or six days. Their last trip was to Wyoming and Montana, and this year they are going to Utah and Northern Arizona to shoot the rock formations and canyons.
Growing up playing various sports and playing semi-professional volleyball all over the country, Barnes has been a competitor for as long as he can remember.
“With photography, I am the same way. I am a perfectionist,“ Barnes said.
He often goes back and shoots the same image or type of image over and over again until he feels it is up to his standards. He depicted the feeling of finishing an image as indescribable, because he understands how much work goes into the process of developing the perfect photo.
“I’ve found out just how much goes into photography. It isn’t just about going out there and shooting a photograph,” Barnes said.
Barnes puts hours of research into his craft before even going out to the scene with his camera. He keeps tabs on the sun and moon phases, the weather, the tide charts and the time of year, among many other variables before taking a photograph.
Technology also plays a large role in photography after the picture is taken. Photographers use software such as Photoshop and Lightroom to emphasize the strengths of their work after the picture has been taken.
However, Barnes believes there is a fine line between using effects to highlight a photo and taking away from its natural feel.
“As a photographer, I want my work to look finished and polished but not look like something I did not see,” he said.
His goal is for his audience to look at his work and say it is surreal instead of not real.
Barnes’ work is with Sparks Gallery in San Diego, an organization that runs a new exhibit every two months. It also has smaller shows more specific to one artist, but the general exhibit structure is bi-monthly.
The current show following “Wandering the Dream Field” that wrapped up in January is called “Verdant.” The theme is focused on capturing the vision of bountiful greenery. Barnes will have four pieces present during this exhibition that will be on display at Sparks Gallery in San Diego until March 13.
He’s won several awards for his displayed work, including three first-place ribbons at the San Diego International Photography Exhibit run each year at the Del Mar fairgrounds.
Barnes used to come home once a year to visit everyone and keep them posted on these career feats, but after getting married and welcoming a new addition to the family in June 2014, his priorities have shifted.
Luckily, his mom has had more opportunities to come out west and visit him over the last couple years to see his new work and her new granddaughter.
While Barnes seems to be settled into his new life in California, his goals are still far from being accomplished.
“I feel like I am just getting started. My ambitions are way too far down the road to call myself a success story,” he said.
Being a fan of photography at his core, he aspires to one day open a gallery of his own where he is able to select art from others. Barnes admits to constantly being humbled by the work of others in his line of work as his motivation to grow as a photographer. He is constantly browsing images from several artists he follows through social media to spark his creativity.
“My passion has only grown each year, and I don’t see it going anywhere but up from here. I feel so deeply about the world seeing what I want to show them. Some ideas and images are already in my head. Others are yet to come, but they are all there deep down. I love what I do, and I can’t wait to do it for years to come,” Barnes said.
