Thursday, March 31, 2005
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Nice way to start the day.
I'm in the shower this morning shampooing my hair... got the radio going and stuff as usual when all the sudden, the music cuts off and the lights go out. There are no windows in my bathroom and the door is closed so now it's pitch black. Nice. I had just gotten into the shower so I still had the majority of my showering to do. I was able to finish anyway since I knew where everything was without looking. Yeah, I've got skillz.
After I got out, I checked my breaker box to make sure something didn't inadvertantly trip. It was fine. I looked outside and none of my neighbors seemed to have power either so it wasn't just me. Next challence was how to dry my hair. I can't just let my hair air-dry. If I do, I'll end up looking like one of those kids in a hunger-relief campaign poster. All I'd need to do is get an empty bowl with some bits of oatmeal in it and sqat down next to a dried up creek.
But I digress.
Being the technofile I am, I realized that hey - I've got a serious backup power system for my main computer at home. SCHWING! I plugged my hair dryer in and... was kind of disappointed. I had power, but not enough power to run the dryer like it normally runs. So after all that, I had what I called "Pilgrim Hair" - dried it the way the Pilgrims did... without electricity. In the end, I got my wig looking passable but had to use more hair products to accomplish what normally doesn't take much.
How's THAT for a start to my day! This will impress you - even with all that, I was only about 10 minutes late for work. The power did come on just as I was about to leave. I still don't know what caused all this but I suspect a nearby susbstation went BOOM.
The weather was awesome today. So awesome that me and some co-workers ate lunch outside by the river at Jemisons. I quickly finished my lunch and took off with my camera to get some shots of plants and people in the park. I got a few that I'll post later.
It was laundry night tonight. Jeans and towels.
After I got out, I checked my breaker box to make sure something didn't inadvertantly trip. It was fine. I looked outside and none of my neighbors seemed to have power either so it wasn't just me. Next challence was how to dry my hair. I can't just let my hair air-dry. If I do, I'll end up looking like one of those kids in a hunger-relief campaign poster. All I'd need to do is get an empty bowl with some bits of oatmeal in it and sqat down next to a dried up creek.
But I digress.
Being the technofile I am, I realized that hey - I've got a serious backup power system for my main computer at home. SCHWING! I plugged my hair dryer in and... was kind of disappointed. I had power, but not enough power to run the dryer like it normally runs. So after all that, I had what I called "Pilgrim Hair" - dried it the way the Pilgrims did... without electricity. In the end, I got my wig looking passable but had to use more hair products to accomplish what normally doesn't take much.
How's THAT for a start to my day! This will impress you - even with all that, I was only about 10 minutes late for work. The power did come on just as I was about to leave. I still don't know what caused all this but I suspect a nearby susbstation went BOOM.
The weather was awesome today. So awesome that me and some co-workers ate lunch outside by the river at Jemisons. I quickly finished my lunch and took off with my camera to get some shots of plants and people in the park. I got a few that I'll post later.
It was laundry night tonight. Jeans and towels.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Buzzzzz....
After all the bee excitement this morning, the rest of the day seemed fairly dull. The story on the bees was that somehow they got into an old chimney in my office building. This chimney no longer opens into a fireplace anywhere so there wasn't a problem inside. The plan was to get the queen out and move the swarm into a bee house/hive/whatever and get them relocated. Unfortunately, the queen was down too deep to get to so as a result, had to get rid of them before they caused more problems. There were some painters across the street re-doing the outside of a home (our office is in a historic district) and the army bees were flying over there trying to sting them a few days ago. That's what got all the attention.
Tonight I worked on photography stuff for a good bit then took a break and played my drums. That was relaxing believe it or not. I also took a stab at cleaning my office more, mainly getting rid of old books in my bookcase. Eric stopped in to get a copy of the music Kyle and I recorded over the weekend so he could work up a bass part for it. We're making pretty good progress. Hopefully we'll be ready to get Charity recording again soon. There are some things that have to be done though before it's ready for public consumption. Copyright stuff. As soon as I can post a clip, I'll get one up here.
Tonight I worked on photography stuff for a good bit then took a break and played my drums. That was relaxing believe it or not. I also took a stab at cleaning my office more, mainly getting rid of old books in my bookcase. Eric stopped in to get a copy of the music Kyle and I recorded over the weekend so he could work up a bass part for it. We're making pretty good progress. Hopefully we'll be ready to get Charity recording again soon. There are some things that have to be done though before it's ready for public consumption. Copyright stuff. As soon as I can post a clip, I'll get one up here.
Monday, March 28, 2005
Napoleon Dynamite
That was one weird movie. It had funny parts but overall it was just... well, weird. I actually did find myself being entertained at times but at the end, you're left feeling like you're not sure if you enjoyed it or not.
Anyway.
Things at the office were suprisingly mundane for a Monday. This is not a bad thing. Kevin informed me that the last few days of Lobsterfest (at Red Lobster) are about to be over and that we need to get in one good dinner there - so at 6:00, me and Burns met up there and stuffed our faces. It was scrumptious. When the grazing was over, I hauled Kev over to Kyle's to track a keyboard part for the song we've been working on. After Kyle wired everything up using all kinds of adapters and converters, Kev was able to record without incident. Also, I had to sing again. I didn't mind at this point. We'll soon get Charity back in there to re-record her vocal track once we're done.
Wrapped up the evening watching the aforementioned movie back at Kevin's. That was about it.
Anyway.
Things at the office were suprisingly mundane for a Monday. This is not a bad thing. Kevin informed me that the last few days of Lobsterfest (at Red Lobster) are about to be over and that we need to get in one good dinner there - so at 6:00, me and Burns met up there and stuffed our faces. It was scrumptious. When the grazing was over, I hauled Kev over to Kyle's to track a keyboard part for the song we've been working on. After Kyle wired everything up using all kinds of adapters and converters, Kev was able to record without incident. Also, I had to sing again. I didn't mind at this point. We'll soon get Charity back in there to re-record her vocal track once we're done.
Wrapped up the evening watching the aforementioned movie back at Kevin's. That was about it.
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Rainy days and Sundays...
First, Happy Easter to everyone!
Today started off with my usual Sunday morning routine except that for some unknown reason, I was up at 4:30. I've found that if I just lay there, I don't get back to sleep any quicker. On the other hand, if I get up and just go do something, I'll soon be sleepy again and can just conk out as soon as my head hits the pillow. I did make one interesting discovery though, my morning newspaper was already sitting in my driveway at that hour.
Fast forward a few hours and I'm behind my drums at church going through the set list for the morning. Like we always do, warm up was a bit bumpy but when we played "for real", it all went off without a hitch. I really enjoyed it. Dave used some cool multi-media clips leading up to the message which meshed nicely with all that was going on. Good stuff.
Afterwards, I had supper with Dave and his family. They've pretty much adopted me for family-type events like Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas since the majority of my family is overseas. It was a peaceful afternoon. Ate too much so naturally, a nap was in order.
Headed over to Kevin & Stacey's for pizza. Kyle was already there chasing the cats around. Kev and I got a few quick games of Ridge Racer under our belts before the food arrived. Ate and watched Extreme Home Makeover. I LOVE that show. It's so great to see how family's lives get changed and to see the tears of joy in their eyes. I know that's kind of sappy sounding but there's something moving about seeing other people so happy.
Wrapped up the evening bringing a CD to Charity to listen to of the results of yesterday's recording session. She was thrilled with it! Again, another person happy.
That's what it's all about.
Today started off with my usual Sunday morning routine except that for some unknown reason, I was up at 4:30. I've found that if I just lay there, I don't get back to sleep any quicker. On the other hand, if I get up and just go do something, I'll soon be sleepy again and can just conk out as soon as my head hits the pillow. I did make one interesting discovery though, my morning newspaper was already sitting in my driveway at that hour.
Fast forward a few hours and I'm behind my drums at church going through the set list for the morning. Like we always do, warm up was a bit bumpy but when we played "for real", it all went off without a hitch. I really enjoyed it. Dave used some cool multi-media clips leading up to the message which meshed nicely with all that was going on. Good stuff.
Afterwards, I had supper with Dave and his family. They've pretty much adopted me for family-type events like Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas since the majority of my family is overseas. It was a peaceful afternoon. Ate too much so naturally, a nap was in order.
Headed over to Kevin & Stacey's for pizza. Kyle was already there chasing the cats around. Kev and I got a few quick games of Ridge Racer under our belts before the food arrived. Ate and watched Extreme Home Makeover. I LOVE that show. It's so great to see how family's lives get changed and to see the tears of joy in their eyes. I know that's kind of sappy sounding but there's something moving about seeing other people so happy.
Wrapped up the evening bringing a CD to Charity to listen to of the results of yesterday's recording session. She was thrilled with it! Again, another person happy.
That's what it's all about.
Saturday, March 26, 2005
A little tracky-tracky.
Got aquainted using Kyle's old-school DrumKat. (There should be a picture of it in the vicinty of this post) For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a flat unit, with several pads on it that are used to trigger sounds on a drum brain - in this case an Alesis DM4. It's easier to record with at this stage because I don't have to deal with my full drum kit and assorted mics/cables/electronics. It takes a little getting used to especially the hi-hat pedal. It's either on or off, no in-between. It works for our purposes though.
Funny conversation of the night as Kyle was getting ready to do the guitar part:
Kyle: "Dude, I'm gonna need you to... uh... sing."
Me: "What?!? There's a reason I'm a drummer."
Suprisingly, I was able to make all the correct sounds. From a distance, it's possible it would sound like singing. Anyway, I think I ended up singing the song at least half a dozen times. At one point, Charity called (the songwriter). I let her hear what we had done up to that point and she was SO excited! Almost to the point of crying. Very touching. Made all the time spent on this project this afternoon worth it.
I think I'll just do some reading to wind down for the night.
Funny conversation of the night as Kyle was getting ready to do the guitar part:
Kyle: "Dude, I'm gonna need you to... uh... sing."
Me: "What?!? There's a reason I'm a drummer."
Suprisingly, I was able to make all the correct sounds. From a distance, it's possible it would sound like singing. Anyway, I think I ended up singing the song at least half a dozen times. At one point, Charity called (the songwriter). I let her hear what we had done up to that point and she was SO excited! Almost to the point of crying. Very touching. Made all the time spent on this project this afternoon worth it.
I think I'll just do some reading to wind down for the night.
Kick it.
The weather cooperated this morning for shooting my friend's kid Jared practicing his kicking. For some reason, I thought he was going to dress out for the photos - that didn't happen. I primarily used the 70-200 lens with the camera set to shutter priority and burst shooting mode for the shots. I took a few casual ones of Michelle on the way back to the car. She was protesting and such but I took a few anyway.
Heading back to town, we swung by Kevin's so we could try out a wireless game on our PSP's. That worked like a champ. Kyle also went across the street to repo a shirt used in last weekends shoots. Heh.
The big suprise of the day was at Wal-Mart where I picked up my first set of prints using the Fuji equipment there. HOLY MOLY. What a difference from the prints I was getting at CVS on their Kodak gear. The prints were fantastic! And get this... .10 cheaper even! They also had great prices on 8 X 10's as well. As much as I dislike going to Wal-Mart, the quaility of the printing there will be worth the hassle.
Time for me to head over to Kyle's and try to track drums for one of Charity's songs. I hope that goes well. We'll see.
Heading back to town, we swung by Kevin's so we could try out a wireless game on our PSP's. That worked like a champ. Kyle also went across the street to repo a shirt used in last weekends shoots. Heh.
The big suprise of the day was at Wal-Mart where I picked up my first set of prints using the Fuji equipment there. HOLY MOLY. What a difference from the prints I was getting at CVS on their Kodak gear. The prints were fantastic! And get this... .10 cheaper even! They also had great prices on 8 X 10's as well. As much as I dislike going to Wal-Mart, the quaility of the printing there will be worth the hassle.
Time for me to head over to Kyle's and try to track drums for one of Charity's songs. I hope that goes well. We'll see.
Not quite the crack of Dawn... more like the tailbone.
Okay, it's a few minutes before 5:00AM on a Saturday and I'm wide awake. Not wanting to put this time to waste, I got a load of jeans in the washing machine. Might as well since I'm up.
I wrapped up the week at the office and freed up my Friday afternoon so I could take off. It was so nice outside and I really hadn't taken a break from work in some time. Originally, my plan was to come home and work on my yard but that didn't materialize. I decided that I needed... okay WANTED to experiment with some nature photos. I looked around online and decided that my location for the day would be the botanical gardens. Before heading that way, I checked out their site online and went ahead and downloaded a membership form to join up. I was pretty sure this would be a place I would frequent.
On the way over, I stopped off in Madison for some lunch with Joe, a friend of mine from my days at The 'Graph. He shares my interest in video games so I offered to let him check out my Sony PSP in-person. He dug it. Caught up with him a little on the latest happenings in Stalag #5 which is always good for a chuckle.
Arrived at the gardens a little later and got my membership stuff taken care of then I wandered out onto the property. It was a nice place but it was still early in the season so not much was yet in bloom. You could tell that there was a lot of potential though. Kyle, who also had schemed to take off work early - joined up with me in a membership also (what a trooper) and we did more scouting around the place. Definitely a lot of possibilities for photos and videos. Soon after, my sister joined in the fun as well. Spent several HOT hours shooting different things including a goose that was being uncooperative and wouldn't look my direction despite Kyle making all sorts of noises.
I don't know about you, but anytime I spend outdoors in the sun usually drains me. We all felt this as we sat down to an early dinner at Macaroni Grill. I had the Crespelli de Mare which was fantastic! Went home right afterwards and reviewed my shots. I got some good stuff, some of which I've already posted. Spent the remainder of the evening doing more photo stuff and reviewing some footage Kyle took for a side project he's working on. Last stop of the evening was Logan's where we just hung out. I had a Corona (see pic on Kyle's site for the size of the lime they stick in your bottle) and a bowl of soup.
Sleep happened at this point.
What's on tap for today? Barring a last minute call from Nashville to head up there to shoot at the NASCAR Busch race, I'll be sticking around here. Weather permitting, I'll be heading over to a nearby location to shoot a friend's son for some football pictures (he's a kicker for a local HS team). No plans other than that. I may actually just take it easy today since my last few weekends have been jam-packed.
I wrapped up the week at the office and freed up my Friday afternoon so I could take off. It was so nice outside and I really hadn't taken a break from work in some time. Originally, my plan was to come home and work on my yard but that didn't materialize. I decided that I needed... okay WANTED to experiment with some nature photos. I looked around online and decided that my location for the day would be the botanical gardens. Before heading that way, I checked out their site online and went ahead and downloaded a membership form to join up. I was pretty sure this would be a place I would frequent.
On the way over, I stopped off in Madison for some lunch with Joe, a friend of mine from my days at The 'Graph. He shares my interest in video games so I offered to let him check out my Sony PSP in-person. He dug it. Caught up with him a little on the latest happenings in Stalag #5 which is always good for a chuckle.
Arrived at the gardens a little later and got my membership stuff taken care of then I wandered out onto the property. It was a nice place but it was still early in the season so not much was yet in bloom. You could tell that there was a lot of potential though. Kyle, who also had schemed to take off work early - joined up with me in a membership also (what a trooper) and we did more scouting around the place. Definitely a lot of possibilities for photos and videos. Soon after, my sister joined in the fun as well. Spent several HOT hours shooting different things including a goose that was being uncooperative and wouldn't look my direction despite Kyle making all sorts of noises.
I don't know about you, but anytime I spend outdoors in the sun usually drains me. We all felt this as we sat down to an early dinner at Macaroni Grill. I had the Crespelli de Mare which was fantastic! Went home right afterwards and reviewed my shots. I got some good stuff, some of which I've already posted. Spent the remainder of the evening doing more photo stuff and reviewing some footage Kyle took for a side project he's working on. Last stop of the evening was Logan's where we just hung out. I had a Corona (see pic on Kyle's site for the size of the lime they stick in your bottle) and a bowl of soup.
Sleep happened at this point.
What's on tap for today? Barring a last minute call from Nashville to head up there to shoot at the NASCAR Busch race, I'll be sticking around here. Weather permitting, I'll be heading over to a nearby location to shoot a friend's son for some football pictures (he's a kicker for a local HS team). No plans other than that. I may actually just take it easy today since my last few weekends have been jam-packed.
Friday, March 25, 2005
Thursday, March 24, 2005
In summary, I've been busy.
Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've been swamped with work, social life and picture processing. Regarding the latter, I'm extremely pleased with how my photography is being received. I'm well on my way to putting an up-to-date portfolio together. Lately, I've really put a lot of time into portraiture but I do want to diversify more and do some landscape and maybe a few wildlife shots. Studio lighting is still a tricky thing for me but like everything else, with more practice it will come to me.
Met up with my work crew Wednesday night at 113 where I think we can all safely say we had a good time. Some photos were taken but we'll keep those on the down-low as there were some scandalous situations involved.
Some disappointing news... there was a chance me and the video guys would be heading to the NASCAR Busch race this weekend in Nashville to do video and photography work for a race team. I *think* it fell through although I'm still in a bit of a fog over the whole thing - who it is, what we were supposed to be doing, purpose of the work, etc. Oh well. At least there was a chance of that kind of job happening.
After band practice this evening, we all headed to Ruby's for supper. Jaime was there but she wasn't working. Didn't get a chance to talk to her though. While there, I showed Jack some of the pictures of Leah (his daughter) I took over the weekend. He was pleasantly surprised I think.
With easter coming up, I'm sure I'll be doing some casual shooting of babies and families over the weekend. Glad I can be of service.
Met up with my work crew Wednesday night at 113 where I think we can all safely say we had a good time. Some photos were taken but we'll keep those on the down-low as there were some scandalous situations involved.
Some disappointing news... there was a chance me and the video guys would be heading to the NASCAR Busch race this weekend in Nashville to do video and photography work for a race team. I *think* it fell through although I'm still in a bit of a fog over the whole thing - who it is, what we were supposed to be doing, purpose of the work, etc. Oh well. At least there was a chance of that kind of job happening.
After band practice this evening, we all headed to Ruby's for supper. Jaime was there but she wasn't working. Didn't get a chance to talk to her though. While there, I showed Jack some of the pictures of Leah (his daughter) I took over the weekend. He was pleasantly surprised I think.
With easter coming up, I'm sure I'll be doing some casual shooting of babies and families over the weekend. Glad I can be of service.
Monday, March 21, 2005
More pictures.
You'd think I would have had my fill of picture taking after the weekend I had but NO!!! I spent most of the day at a client's office taking photos destined for their website (which we're doing). Nothing exotic here just typical "Sit here, knees pointed here, shoulders facing this way, eyes here, drop your chin a little..." type stuff. I do have the full lighting rig with me including one mammoth softbox and umbrella (lighting related). I guess people see the softbox and umbrella and that adds some "seriousness" to the look of the setup as many people commented by saying "Wow. This is the real thing." I wonder what they were expecting?
Ate lunch for the first time at Miwon over in Huntsville. DELICIOUS, FRESH SUSHI. Probably some of the best I've ever had no doubt. Good prices too. I'll be going back there. Nicole came along and ate too. She's an old friend of mine that actually professionally models. We talked about my weekend and after a short conversation, she agreed to let me photograph her. There's a little pressure on me here even though I'm just building my portfolio. She's shot with several pro-level photographers. I have a feeling she'll be directing me more that I'll be directing her. No worries though, she's a friend and I highly value her opinion and insight.
Me, Kev and Kyle met at the Guad for dinner. Food was good but the margarita was toxic. It was actually TOO strong. I had things I wanted to do tonight and didn't want to be impaired so I only drank a little of it before taking off.
I ended up bringing a memory card from Sunday's shoot over to CVS pharmacy to try out thier Kodak print station thing. It actually worked suprisingly well although it looks like I need to boost the color saturation on the 4x6 printing machine. The 8x10's I printed came out splendidly though. No adjustment needed there. Looks like I've found a new place to print photos en masse. At home, 100 sheets of 4x6 paper runs about $14. A full set of ink cartridges (6) runs about $80. I don't go through all the ink typically on 100 shots but invariably you run low on at least one of the ink colors. I'll cut down printing at home and just print when I need one or two and go to CVS when mass quantities are needed.
Bedtime already?
Ate lunch for the first time at Miwon over in Huntsville. DELICIOUS, FRESH SUSHI. Probably some of the best I've ever had no doubt. Good prices too. I'll be going back there. Nicole came along and ate too. She's an old friend of mine that actually professionally models. We talked about my weekend and after a short conversation, she agreed to let me photograph her. There's a little pressure on me here even though I'm just building my portfolio. She's shot with several pro-level photographers. I have a feeling she'll be directing me more that I'll be directing her. No worries though, she's a friend and I highly value her opinion and insight.
Me, Kev and Kyle met at the Guad for dinner. Food was good but the margarita was toxic. It was actually TOO strong. I had things I wanted to do tonight and didn't want to be impaired so I only drank a little of it before taking off.
I ended up bringing a memory card from Sunday's shoot over to CVS pharmacy to try out thier Kodak print station thing. It actually worked suprisingly well although it looks like I need to boost the color saturation on the 4x6 printing machine. The 8x10's I printed came out splendidly though. No adjustment needed there. Looks like I've found a new place to print photos en masse. At home, 100 sheets of 4x6 paper runs about $14. A full set of ink cartridges (6) runs about $80. I don't go through all the ink typically on 100 shots but invariably you run low on at least one of the ink colors. I'll cut down printing at home and just print when I need one or two and go to CVS when mass quantities are needed.
Bedtime already?
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Busy but fun weekend.
WOW. That's about the only way I can sum up this weekend.
First, thanks to all the girls for their time and effort. Thanks also to Kyle for doing ALL the driving as well as being another set of capable hands on location. And again thanks to my friends for letting me use their locations to shoot at.
After a tiring day yesterday running around all over the area. I repeated the exercise today. Started the morning off with some rousing tunes at church. I really got into the music - more so than normal. Eric and I are really working well as team holding down the drums and bass. Good stuff. Dave sounded GREAT with his new microphone as well.
I talked to Sam right before I was to start playing and got everything confirmed for this afternoon. I got a quick bite to eat while watching the remaining part of the Malaysian F1 race. My favorite team, Renault, won another one! This was one of the most exciting races I have seen in a long time. I really enjoyed it, plenty of action on the track, lots of passing, cars breaking (not brAKing, but breaking, as in busted) and general drama.
Kyle swung by and we were off to get Sam. We were able to get several shots over in Hampton Cove, UAH and then at Bernie's farm. Had a fantastic time. Sam was incredibly easy to work with, extremely pleasant and lot's of fun to be around. Not to mention she doesn't look too bad either... After she made it known she was starving, we had dinner at Princeton's where she discovered that in the town where I live, you can't get alcohol on Sunday's. Whoops. After dinner, we were both exhausted so I ran her back home before coming in for the night. Between the last two days, I have taken over 1000+ pictures. That's a LOT of shots. I'll be busy for several nights I'm sure.
As if I hadn't had enough picture taking going on, I have to shoot portraits of 20 employees at a client's firm tomorrow with 3 different office settings. I may turn this into a two day job because that's just a lot of work moving all the lights and stuff around.
Long day tomorrow. I'm off to bed.
First, thanks to all the girls for their time and effort. Thanks also to Kyle for doing ALL the driving as well as being another set of capable hands on location. And again thanks to my friends for letting me use their locations to shoot at.
After a tiring day yesterday running around all over the area. I repeated the exercise today. Started the morning off with some rousing tunes at church. I really got into the music - more so than normal. Eric and I are really working well as team holding down the drums and bass. Good stuff. Dave sounded GREAT with his new microphone as well.
I talked to Sam right before I was to start playing and got everything confirmed for this afternoon. I got a quick bite to eat while watching the remaining part of the Malaysian F1 race. My favorite team, Renault, won another one! This was one of the most exciting races I have seen in a long time. I really enjoyed it, plenty of action on the track, lots of passing, cars breaking (not brAKing, but breaking, as in busted) and general drama.
Kyle swung by and we were off to get Sam. We were able to get several shots over in Hampton Cove, UAH and then at Bernie's farm. Had a fantastic time. Sam was incredibly easy to work with, extremely pleasant and lot's of fun to be around. Not to mention she doesn't look too bad either... After she made it known she was starving, we had dinner at Princeton's where she discovered that in the town where I live, you can't get alcohol on Sunday's. Whoops. After dinner, we were both exhausted so I ran her back home before coming in for the night. Between the last two days, I have taken over 1000+ pictures. That's a LOT of shots. I'll be busy for several nights I'm sure.
As if I hadn't had enough picture taking going on, I have to shoot portraits of 20 employees at a client's firm tomorrow with 3 different office settings. I may turn this into a two day job because that's just a lot of work moving all the lights and stuff around.
Long day tomorrow. I'm off to bed.
Overcast skies, some drizzle, and a hat.
The photo shoot DID happen Saturday after all! The clouds never broke so I had to make do with the light we had. After loading up, our first location was a friend's farm. Great location - nice textures, good backgrounds. The girls were a little cold but were real troopers and wanted to keep going. When what little light we had waned, it was time to move on. Quick run back to my house where the girls changed into some formal dresses and I moved the digital images to my computer. Back on the road again to another friend's place for more shots. The girls really loved the place. It's spacious and colorful. Tried a few shots without the studio lights but in looking at the histogram on the camera, I needed much more light. Gave the girls a break while Kyle helped me set all the lighting up. Finally, we had something workable and were able to continue. Took plenty of shots mainly on the staircase and in the entry foyer. It was getting late so we really didn't have the time (or energy) to try much more. Not to mention we were all hungry and it was already 9PM. Packed up and took the crew to dinner at Logan's.
I went ahead and rough processed a few shots and posted them so you could see a sample of my work today. A big thanks to Jordan and Leah for their participation and also to Kyle for his help driving and being an extra set of hands. A HUGE thanks goes out to my friends that let me use their property today as photo locations. Thanks guys.
I went ahead and rough processed a few shots and posted them so you could see a sample of my work today. A big thanks to Jordan and Leah for their participation and also to Kyle for his help driving and being an extra set of hands. A HUGE thanks goes out to my friends that let me use their property today as photo locations. Thanks guys.
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Ah...
I got some much needed rest last night. I'll tell you what, there's something inherently nice about being able to come home in the evening to peace and quiet. My usual routine if I don't have any plans is to:
Put my briefcase and camera bag down in my office
Hang up my coat
Turn on my computer
Get something to drink
Turn on the living room TV and see what's on the Dish
Lie around on the sofa for awhile
Fix something to eat
Check on my bLog friends
Play on the drums awhile
Do at least one domestic thing - laundry, dusting, vacuuming, mopping, etc.
Read something be it a book or magazine
Spend some time with my dog and feed her
Read in bed till I get sleepy
To me, that's a nice NORMAL evening. No disruptions, no drama, no other issues than my own... It should come as no surprise that I'm in no hurry to upset this situation. Why would I?
Okay - that turned into more than I was going to say on that topic.
So far this morning I have made breakfast, surfed the net, read email, vacuumed the livingroom and hallway, cleaned up the kitchen, washed dishes and have one load of laundry going. The weather for the photo stuff today doesn't look to promising this morning but according to the forecast, this afternoon should be much better. Speaking of weather and forecasts, the channel I watch for news, WAFF 48, has a new weather person - Sarah Dearman. She must be new as her forcast was agonizing to watch. She needs to loosen up a WHOLE lot. It was like watching a poorly made instructional video. She'll improve with practice - I hope.
Put my briefcase and camera bag down in my office
Hang up my coat
Turn on my computer
Get something to drink
Turn on the living room TV and see what's on the Dish
Lie around on the sofa for awhile
Fix something to eat
Check on my bLog friends
Play on the drums awhile
Do at least one domestic thing - laundry, dusting, vacuuming, mopping, etc.
Read something be it a book or magazine
Spend some time with my dog and feed her
Read in bed till I get sleepy
To me, that's a nice NORMAL evening. No disruptions, no drama, no other issues than my own... It should come as no surprise that I'm in no hurry to upset this situation. Why would I?
Okay - that turned into more than I was going to say on that topic.
So far this morning I have made breakfast, surfed the net, read email, vacuumed the livingroom and hallway, cleaned up the kitchen, washed dishes and have one load of laundry going. The weather for the photo stuff today doesn't look to promising this morning but according to the forecast, this afternoon should be much better. Speaking of weather and forecasts, the channel I watch for news, WAFF 48, has a new weather person - Sarah Dearman. She must be new as her forcast was agonizing to watch. She needs to loosen up a WHOLE lot. It was like watching a poorly made instructional video. She'll improve with practice - I hope.
Friday, March 18, 2005
Fun Friday.
Today was laid-back at the office. It was the end of the week, folks were taking off early or leaving on vacation, etc. First order of business was to take some photos of the awards we received at the ADDY's a few weeks ago for our company website. The awards themsleves were some kind of clear lucite with a deep blue bases. I ended up shooting them in natural light on a big sheet of heavy white paper. I thought if I could get a good shot that way I wouldn't have to hassle with setting up the studio lights. Luckily, things worked out on my first try! I took about a dozen shots so our artist would have plenty to choose from. I did have to "help" the focus a bit on the camera as there really wasn't a contrasty area for it to lock onto to focus by itself.
After transferring those pictures to our server, I went back upstairs to get the lights set up for another photo of a guy being used in an ad campaign for one of our clients in the central part of the state. That ad isn't running yet so I'm not posting any of those shots. Actually, *I* am running in the current ad! (LOL) I've got my hand over my mouth and the caption is "You have a voice. At ****, we let you use it."
Speaking of me being in stuff... for those of you local to me, yes, that is me in the airport commercials. If you remember a several weeks ago, we did a video shoot at the airport. The production company ended up using the footage of me so I'm fairly prominent in the first several seconds of the video spot. Too funny. I'll have to make copies of all these things and send them over to the other side of the globe to my parents. They'll get a kick out of it.
I've got a lot of photography scheduled to happen this weekend. Unfortunately, the weather is a bit "iffy". I have 1 outdoor location and 2 indoor/outdoor locations lined up. I hope things work out and everything goes as planned. We'll see.
I'm going to up for a while to catch the first round of qualifying at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
After transferring those pictures to our server, I went back upstairs to get the lights set up for another photo of a guy being used in an ad campaign for one of our clients in the central part of the state. That ad isn't running yet so I'm not posting any of those shots. Actually, *I* am running in the current ad! (LOL) I've got my hand over my mouth and the caption is "You have a voice. At ****, we let you use it."
Speaking of me being in stuff... for those of you local to me, yes, that is me in the airport commercials. If you remember a several weeks ago, we did a video shoot at the airport. The production company ended up using the footage of me so I'm fairly prominent in the first several seconds of the video spot. Too funny. I'll have to make copies of all these things and send them over to the other side of the globe to my parents. They'll get a kick out of it.
I've got a lot of photography scheduled to happen this weekend. Unfortunately, the weather is a bit "iffy". I have 1 outdoor location and 2 indoor/outdoor locations lined up. I hope things work out and everything goes as planned. We'll see.
I'm going to up for a while to catch the first round of qualifying at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Thursday, March 17, 2005
C'mon... let's have some sunny weather!
Geez... another gray day. It's hard to stay cheery with the weather being the way it has been the past few days. Allegedly, things should be improving by the weekend so that's a plus.
Went to a meeting at the Chamber of Commerce today then met up with Jack for some lunch at Logans. My steak, which I ordered medium - came out medium-well... a little closer to the well side than I would prefer. I ate it anyway. Swung by the homestead on the way back to the office only to find that UPS tried delivering a package I was expecting them to bring later on in the day when I was home. It was a bunch of sound gear I had ordered. Luckily, I was able to arrange to meet the UPS driver at a friend's business after I got of work. Good deal.
Band practice was a bit bumpy tonight. Even so, it was fun. Later, I ate dinner over at Cracker Barrel where I ran into Phillip and Candy from my old church. Phillip's a car enthusiast and I ended up sharing my Home Depot car adventures with him.
That about wraps up my day. Tomorrow I have a photoshoot at the office then errands to run in Huntsville. It should be a good end to the week. I do have photoshoots scheduled for both days this weekend pending the weather situation. Should be a good time whatever happens.
Went to a meeting at the Chamber of Commerce today then met up with Jack for some lunch at Logans. My steak, which I ordered medium - came out medium-well... a little closer to the well side than I would prefer. I ate it anyway. Swung by the homestead on the way back to the office only to find that UPS tried delivering a package I was expecting them to bring later on in the day when I was home. It was a bunch of sound gear I had ordered. Luckily, I was able to arrange to meet the UPS driver at a friend's business after I got of work. Good deal.
Band practice was a bit bumpy tonight. Even so, it was fun. Later, I ate dinner over at Cracker Barrel where I ran into Phillip and Candy from my old church. Phillip's a car enthusiast and I ended up sharing my Home Depot car adventures with him.
That about wraps up my day. Tomorrow I have a photoshoot at the office then errands to run in Huntsville. It should be a good end to the week. I do have photoshoots scheduled for both days this weekend pending the weather situation. Should be a good time whatever happens.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
What a mess...
my house is in. I've got crap everywhere. Luckily, the livingroom is presentable so folks that come over don't see the mess right away. My kitchen table is covered with mail and news papers, sink isn't bad, only 3 bowls and 2 glasses, my office has papers and stuff everywhere, drum room has all KINDS of stuff everywhere - cymbals, cases, heads, sticks, cables, mics, posters, stands... SHEESH!!! I'm going to stay in tonight and try and knock out the kitchen and my office. It's getting ridiculous.
Crappy weather out today. In looking at the forecast, the weather may hose my photography plans this weekend. At least the outdoor stuff. We'll see.
Crappy weather out today. In looking at the forecast, the weather may hose my photography plans this weekend. At least the outdoor stuff. We'll see.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Ants.
Looks like I had some ants decide to come visit me. They're probably sorely disappointed since I don't leave anything out they can eat but still, they're around for some reason. As if on cue, my pest control guy called to see if he could stop in and spray tomorrow morning. Talk about timing!
After work today, I ran over and picked up some photographic lighting gear from our old office location. It was two lighboxes that I didn't know we had. Cool! Kyle and I had talked a few weeks ago about getting some shots of him with his guitars for his use and for me to get more lighting practice in. While the lighting is cumbersome to transport and set up, the results are worth it. Pictures just take a completely different look when you have lighting (and flash) coming from a different location other than the top of your camera. It was tiring work but I ended up with several great shots. It was also tiring hauling guitar cabinets up and down 2 flights of stairs.
After all that I was hungry. Ruby Tuesday's was the dining experience of choice tonight. Time for bed once again. Got a meeting in Huntsville tomorrow.
After work today, I ran over and picked up some photographic lighting gear from our old office location. It was two lighboxes that I didn't know we had. Cool! Kyle and I had talked a few weeks ago about getting some shots of him with his guitars for his use and for me to get more lighting practice in. While the lighting is cumbersome to transport and set up, the results are worth it. Pictures just take a completely different look when you have lighting (and flash) coming from a different location other than the top of your camera. It was tiring work but I ended up with several great shots. It was also tiring hauling guitar cabinets up and down 2 flights of stairs.
After all that I was hungry. Ruby Tuesday's was the dining experience of choice tonight. Time for bed once again. Got a meeting in Huntsville tomorrow.
Monday, March 14, 2005
Off the drugs.
Today, I thought I'd give it a go without taking any Claritin to see how long I could go before I turned into a mouth-breather. To my suprise and relief, it wasn't bad! I had been taking Claritin every day since last Wednesday and I thought that surely I was over that stuff by now. I hope this continues to improve and I can be all at 100% by the weekend.
Work for me was uneventful today. Accomplished a few small things for the most part. I moved my haircut up to today as Wednesday, the original date, got all clogged up with other appointments so I was lucky to get squeezed in today.
The evening was just as mundane. Ate dinner at Princeton's (where it was karaoke night - good grief) then ran a quick errand. I'm home now and think I might call it an early night. Yeah, that sounds like a plan.
Work for me was uneventful today. Accomplished a few small things for the most part. I moved my haircut up to today as Wednesday, the original date, got all clogged up with other appointments so I was lucky to get squeezed in today.
The evening was just as mundane. Ate dinner at Princeton's (where it was karaoke night - good grief) then ran a quick errand. I'm home now and think I might call it an early night. Yeah, that sounds like a plan.
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Okay, I was busy.
I was determined to get out and do fun things this weekend so... after getting out of bed Saturday I did a few things around the house before band practice. After practice was done, I made my Wal-Mart & Post Office runs (btw - I hate going to Wal-Mart) then hoofed it over to Huntsville with my camera to see what I could find. My first stop was the pond at the UAH campus. Lots of people there as well as lots of duck poop. Had to watch where I stepped. The sun was working against me there and I was too lazy to walk over to the other side (of the pond) and try shooting from there. Headed to Big Spring park next. Wow! LOTS of folks there. Plenty of action, plenty of kids running amok. It was a good mix of people though and I was able to get a few good shots. I was suprised to run into Elizabeth and Emma there. I took a few shots of them before packing up.
Ran by Best Buy and picked up the new Jack Johnson CD - good stuff BTW and also picked up a few books at Barnes & Noble before heading back to Decatur. Stopped off at Lynn's to look around at potential photo ops at his place and snapped a few shots of his NSX in the process. Finally I met up with Kyle at Logan's for dinner. Took a long time for our food to get there and as a result, we got our dinner for free. Still... my chopped steak done medium was "crispy" on the outside. I don't think it's supposed to be like that.
I was sitting behind the drums Sunday as per my usual routine. Music was great I thought. Me and Eric really got into the groove and had a good time. Ate a quick lunch then Kyle and I picked up Jordan and went to Huntsville for more pictures. The sky was getting a little TOO overcast for my tastes and I was concerned that we'd get over there and the light would just be too weird to get any good shots. Luckily, I was mistaken. Jordan did a great job and was such a good sport. Things got better as she relaxed more and the photos showed it. This was really just for testing purposes but I think I got some shots that will be keepers.
Hit the mall for some food and walked around a little before heading back homeward. Next, I met up with Burns clan for dinner at Kyoto. Happy stomachs and sad wallets was the result. Now I'm home and it's time for bed.
DANG. Weekend is over already.
Ran by Best Buy and picked up the new Jack Johnson CD - good stuff BTW and also picked up a few books at Barnes & Noble before heading back to Decatur. Stopped off at Lynn's to look around at potential photo ops at his place and snapped a few shots of his NSX in the process. Finally I met up with Kyle at Logan's for dinner. Took a long time for our food to get there and as a result, we got our dinner for free. Still... my chopped steak done medium was "crispy" on the outside. I don't think it's supposed to be like that.
I was sitting behind the drums Sunday as per my usual routine. Music was great I thought. Me and Eric really got into the groove and had a good time. Ate a quick lunch then Kyle and I picked up Jordan and went to Huntsville for more pictures. The sky was getting a little TOO overcast for my tastes and I was concerned that we'd get over there and the light would just be too weird to get any good shots. Luckily, I was mistaken. Jordan did a great job and was such a good sport. Things got better as she relaxed more and the photos showed it. This was really just for testing purposes but I think I got some shots that will be keepers.
Hit the mall for some food and walked around a little before heading back homeward. Next, I met up with Burns clan for dinner at Kyoto. Happy stomachs and sad wallets was the result. Now I'm home and it's time for bed.
DANG. Weekend is over already.
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Allergies.
I stopped off at the drugstore on my way to work this morning to see if there was anything to help me feel better. I walked out with a box of Claritin, some Kleenex and a bag of Ludens. Well, looks like the Claritin did the trick as I feel GOBS better. I'm not an allergy "person". This is a new development. As one of my co-workers indicated, I'm just getting old. Great. Just great.
On a lighter note, I dropped off some stuff at the cleaners on my way back from lunch. As I pulled away from the drive-up window (which is elevated), I went into a fairly deep puddle. That sound reminded me of days gone past when I would be backing into the boat launch to get my jet-ski in the water. Those were some good times.
On a lighter note, I dropped off some stuff at the cleaners on my way back from lunch. As I pulled away from the drive-up window (which is elevated), I went into a fairly deep puddle. That sound reminded me of days gone past when I would be backing into the boat launch to get my jet-ski in the water. Those were some good times.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Getting tired of this...
So, am I sick?!?! Are these allergies?!?! WTF?!?! My throat is on again off again sore and my nose is runny. Monday I could have sworn I had a cold, flu, STD, shingles or malaria. Now I'm not sure. Grh!
Went to work today as I had lots to do. Spent the morning doing mundane stuff then took off for Huntsville. Kay was supposed to go with me but ended up having to stick around the office at the last minute. It was almost noon but I called up Rikki (one of the "new friends" pictured from the weekend entries) to see if she had lunch plans. Suprisingly she didn't. Ended up being both of them as Sam wanted to go also. Had a good lunch at Macaroni Grill and learned a lot about them both. Cool. They mentioned trying out karaoke tonight but I mentioned my sinus/throat funk and we all agreed that it would be best for me to just take it easy till I'm better.
Ran my errands after lunch - dropped off some paperwork and took photos at one client's office, met up with Kay and took press release photos at another clients and then made my last stop and presented a proposal to a prospective new client. Everything went well. I still felt like crap though. On the way home I filled up my car with, get this... close to $30 worth of gas. Crazy stuff.
Oh, got another 2 positive feedback points on my eBay account today. Rock N' Roll!
Went to work today as I had lots to do. Spent the morning doing mundane stuff then took off for Huntsville. Kay was supposed to go with me but ended up having to stick around the office at the last minute. It was almost noon but I called up Rikki (one of the "new friends" pictured from the weekend entries) to see if she had lunch plans. Suprisingly she didn't. Ended up being both of them as Sam wanted to go also. Had a good lunch at Macaroni Grill and learned a lot about them both. Cool. They mentioned trying out karaoke tonight but I mentioned my sinus/throat funk and we all agreed that it would be best for me to just take it easy till I'm better.
Ran my errands after lunch - dropped off some paperwork and took photos at one client's office, met up with Kay and took press release photos at another clients and then made my last stop and presented a proposal to a prospective new client. Everything went well. I still felt like crap though. On the way home I filled up my car with, get this... close to $30 worth of gas. Crazy stuff.
Oh, got another 2 positive feedback points on my eBay account today. Rock N' Roll!
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Still not well. Gonna say about 70% right now.
Woke up this morning feeling well enough to try going in to work. Besides just having to deal with a sore throat and the overall feeling of "blah", I made it okay. Before lunch I had a photo shoot to do for a client. Our model showed up (on time even) and we got going. The most fun I had was when I got her into position then said, "okay, now I need you to cover your face...". I loved that part. Anyway, the idea behind the photo is to convey frustration and the designer on the project wanted this image. I hit the exposure RIGHT ON the first time! This is with the studio lights. I did use the cheapie light meter available to me but even with that, it's kind of a gamble. I was pretty pleased with myself.
Had lunch with Lesa at Applebee's. While there I enjoyed a much needed perfect margarita. Charity was working but she was all the way over on the other side. After lunch, I was in need of a nap. Got a few things done then called it a day. Ran by the mall to pick up my alterations from Ms. Reed. There was a girl and her mom(s) there getting fitted for a wedding dress. A younger girl was there trying to take pictures of the event with a disposable camera. I *almost* volunteered to get my big camera (it was in my trunk) and take some pictures for them gratis. Unfortunately, I was tired and figured in my condition it would have been better for me to go on home and rest - which is exactly what I did.
My sis came by and brought me some stuff from the grocery (thanks!) and hung out to watch NCIS and The Amazing Race. The only other thing that happend is that I got one more positive feedback on my eBay account. Whee!
Had lunch with Lesa at Applebee's. While there I enjoyed a much needed perfect margarita. Charity was working but she was all the way over on the other side. After lunch, I was in need of a nap. Got a few things done then called it a day. Ran by the mall to pick up my alterations from Ms. Reed. There was a girl and her mom(s) there getting fitted for a wedding dress. A younger girl was there trying to take pictures of the event with a disposable camera. I *almost* volunteered to get my big camera (it was in my trunk) and take some pictures for them gratis. Unfortunately, I was tired and figured in my condition it would have been better for me to go on home and rest - which is exactly what I did.
My sis came by and brought me some stuff from the grocery (thanks!) and hung out to watch NCIS and The Amazing Race. The only other thing that happend is that I got one more positive feedback on my eBay account. Whee!
Monday, March 07, 2005
Rest.
That's all I accomplished today. I woke up feeling yucky and thought it best just to stay in and let my body rest. Sometime's your body just tells you to STOP. If you try pushing it, you'll pay. It was a good day to stay in anyway.
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Craptacular.
After avoiding "the sickness" so far despite having sick co-workers all around me for the past few MONTHS, I think I'm finally coming down with something. No fever yet so don't trip out if you've just recently hung out with me but I can tell it's on the way. Progressively since Friday, my throat's been getting sore. Such is life. I guess it's just my turn now.
Church, at least from my standpoint, went well. Our music came together nicely. At first, my hands were really cold from the A/C being on the "snow" setting so I was concerned that my grip on the sticks would be lacking. I had no problems though when we got rolling. Had many visitors today there too. That's always encouraging. The message on kids and discipline was entertaining. Later on, a whole bunch of us headed to Quizno's for subs. I got home in time to watch the closing laps of the F1 race. Renault, my favorite team, finished 1st and 3rd. It's going to be an exciting racing season! I can't wait till the USGP in June!
Pretty much took it easy this afternoon in the hopes of getting to feeling better. I still feel about the same but hopefully the rest did me some good. Ordered Steak-Out for dinner - steak tips and a grilled chicken breast along with thousand island dressing for my salad. What did I receive? Steak tips with shrimp and Lite Ranch dressing. Sigh. I was hungry so I ate it instead of calling in to complain. I'll mention it the next time I order and try to wrangle a discount or free stuff out of the deal.
Oh, one thing I DID do this afternoon was try and put together parts for some of Charity's songs. I've got a lot of work to do there before I'm ready to track the drum parts. I'm looking forward to making progress on that soon.
LATE UPDATE: Got a call from Bill on the way home from Sebring. Brian in the #20 car finished 3rd in his class out of a field of 18 cars! Not bad for a "rookie"!!! Congrats to Brian, Bill and John for what I'm sure was a memorable weekend. Bill should have some pictures for me soon.
Church, at least from my standpoint, went well. Our music came together nicely. At first, my hands were really cold from the A/C being on the "snow" setting so I was concerned that my grip on the sticks would be lacking. I had no problems though when we got rolling. Had many visitors today there too. That's always encouraging. The message on kids and discipline was entertaining. Later on, a whole bunch of us headed to Quizno's for subs. I got home in time to watch the closing laps of the F1 race. Renault, my favorite team, finished 1st and 3rd. It's going to be an exciting racing season! I can't wait till the USGP in June!
Pretty much took it easy this afternoon in the hopes of getting to feeling better. I still feel about the same but hopefully the rest did me some good. Ordered Steak-Out for dinner - steak tips and a grilled chicken breast along with thousand island dressing for my salad. What did I receive? Steak tips with shrimp and Lite Ranch dressing. Sigh. I was hungry so I ate it instead of calling in to complain. I'll mention it the next time I order and try to wrangle a discount or free stuff out of the deal.
Oh, one thing I DID do this afternoon was try and put together parts for some of Charity's songs. I've got a lot of work to do there before I'm ready to track the drum parts. I'm looking forward to making progress on that soon.
LATE UPDATE: Got a call from Bill on the way home from Sebring. Brian in the #20 car finished 3rd in his class out of a field of 18 cars! Not bad for a "rookie"!!! Congrats to Brian, Bill and John for what I'm sure was a memorable weekend. Bill should have some pictures for me soon.
Busy Saturday, Part Two.
Yeah, it's late. I'm still awake though so I thought I would go ahead and upload some of my pictures from today and wrap things up. Tracked 7 songs with Charity today. Despite her feeling a little stuffy this morning, she was able to crank out some great vocals during the afternoon recording session. Her song compositions were very well done - I don't know what I was expecting but I was pleasantly surprised. Great attitude and personality! Super to work with.
The Addy awards were fun. I'm glad I got to go even though I was a bit iffy since I was feeling like I might be coming down with something. Saw plenty of friends there and made new ones (yeah baby). After receiving our awards, the crew stopped in at Cafe' 113 for some burgers and drinks. It's time for bed now. I've got drumming duty in a couple of hours.
The Addy awards were fun. I'm glad I got to go even though I was a bit iffy since I was feeling like I might be coming down with something. Saw plenty of friends there and made new ones (yeah baby). After receiving our awards, the crew stopped in at Cafe' 113 for some burgers and drinks. It's time for bed now. I've got drumming duty in a couple of hours.
