It's been an active weekend for me. The Daikin Festival Friday night, the balloon launch Saturday morning, photos at Crossroads Saturday night, European Grand Prix Sunday morning, church, Indy 500 in the afternoon then eating out with friends Sunday night.
Headed to Crossroads Saturday night to take some photos of Tim Tucker, one of Lesa's friends. He was wanting pictures for either a website or CD cover or something. I rode over with Lesa and Lori. Lesa assured me she didn't want to stay out late. She was lying at the time and I didn't know it. Brought along the big cameras, me with my 20D and Lesa with her D60. I got several good shots especially after I switched to not using flash to get more of the stage lighting effect. I used my fastest lens (f 1.4 baby) and cranked my ISO to 3200. I think Lesa gave everyone a tan with her flash. That night I realized just how powerful our flash units are. Holy crap. They can put out some SERIOUS light. I was ready to go a little before midnight. You can understand how twisted up I was when we didn't finally leave until 1:30 AM. Grrrr...
Despite the late night, I got up at 6:00 AM to shower and clean up before sitting down to watch the F1 race in Germany at the Nurburgring. Another EXCELLENT race! Renault, my favorite team won but I still felt bad for Kimi in his McLaren/Mercedes for his suspension breaking at the start of the last lap after he had led most of the race. THAT sucks!
Church went well. The music came together nicely. I had my doubts after our last practice. Good crowd there despite the holidays. Grabbed up some lunch at Quizno's before heading home to watch the Indy 500 race. Congrats to Danica Patrick for her great 4th place finish in only her 5th Indy car race! Not too shabby for a HOT 23 year old girl.
Met up with Kevin & Co. + Kyle at Kyoto for dinner. I had a filet and lobster which were extremly satisfying. Some other friends of mine showed up too and I chatted with them a bit. Swung by the bookstore on the way home to see what was new before going home to watch "National Treasure" on DVD. Good flick.
This morning so far, I've just done some demestic crap. Dishes, vacuuming, etc. Also finally took time to clean my pistols from last Sunday's range session. I've been needing to get all the funk out of my guns but was busy all week and didn't have time to do it right away.
I don't really have any plans for the rest of the day. I might try and do some photo work this afternoon with Jordan as she's got some poses she wanted to try. Sharon, Satcey's sister, has some studio lights and a backdrop with her. Hopefully, it'll all work out and I'll get some good stuff. We'll see.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Memorial Day
Let me start of by saying a sincere "Thank You" to the men and women that risk their lives in service to our country. An even bigger thanks to those who have paid for our freedoms with their lives.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Events everywhere!
Last night, Lesa and I headed to the Daikin festival over at the fairground. Daikin is a Japanese company that has a large facility near the river here in town. For the past few years, they have put on this GIANT event with free admission, food, entertainment and prizes. It's truly an extravaganza. I heard a rumor that they budget around $250k for this one event... Kay met us there and soon my sister and a friend of hers showed up. Lesa and I shot a lot of photos and I helped her along with her camera settings. It's funny because she gets the 3 most important numbers on her camera mixed up... shutter speed, ISO and aperture. I'll post pics from that soon.
Got up this morning at 5 and picked Lesa up on the way to Point Mallard for the hot-air balloon launches. Lucked out on a super parking place and only had to walk a short way to the field. I surprised at the number of folks there.
Getting ready to head to HSV to shoot pictures of a friend playing at a club tonight.
Got up this morning at 5 and picked Lesa up on the way to Point Mallard for the hot-air balloon launches. Lucked out on a super parking place and only had to walk a short way to the field. I surprised at the number of folks there.
Getting ready to head to HSV to shoot pictures of a friend playing at a club tonight.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Sorry!
I know that lately my postings have been few and far between. Truth be told, I've had so much going on the past few weeks that I've had to push blogging down on the priority list a good bit. Mainly, I've been backed up working on a few thousand photos to try and get them out to clients. To help speed up that process, I ordered another gig of RAM for my main PC to speed up the workflow process. It arrived today and I installed it right away. MUCH better performance now working on large files.
On the memory front as well, I picked up a 4 GB CF card for my camera. Everytime I've gone to shoot either an event or a model shoot, I invariably use up all my CF cards.. up to now I had been using a 2 GB, 2-512mb, and 2-256mb CF's. Those small ones fill up quick. The new card gives me a good bit of room.
Ran some cables at work to connect the network on 2 floors together. We're preparing to move into the floor above where at long last I'll have my own office. That will definitely be nice. I'll once again be able to think in peace.
Lot's going on this weekend. Plenty of photo ops. It should be a good time I hope.
On the memory front as well, I picked up a 4 GB CF card for my camera. Everytime I've gone to shoot either an event or a model shoot, I invariably use up all my CF cards.. up to now I had been using a 2 GB, 2-512mb, and 2-256mb CF's. Those small ones fill up quick. The new card gives me a good bit of room.
Ran some cables at work to connect the network on 2 floors together. We're preparing to move into the floor above where at long last I'll have my own office. That will definitely be nice. I'll once again be able to think in peace.
Lot's going on this weekend. Plenty of photo ops. It should be a good time I hope.
Sunday, May 22, 2005
So it's been awhile...
A lot has happened since my last post. For my loyal bloggers who don't have time for the details, here's the condensed version:
Went to Atlanta for meetings this week, shot pictures of a dance recital, went to the shooting range with the guys and then saw the latest Star Wars movie.
The detailed version:
Left for Atlanta late Tuesday afternoon. I was riding with Luke and Lesa followed close behind. She was heading back a day earlier than us which is why she took a car as well. Got checked into our hotel and adventured out around Marietta a little. Ended up finding a quaint little square where we discovered several unique antique shops and restaurants. Had a sumptuous dinner at a place called Shillings. I had a filet dish along with some wine. I conked out as soon as I got back to the hotel.
Wednesday morning was rough. We had to leave the hotel at 6:15 AM to factor in the traffic as we drove from Marietta to the Hyatt Regency in downtown Atlanta. Leaving at 6:15 means me having to get up around 5'ish to get going and cleaned up. Here's the kicker - we lost an hour going east so I was getting up at 4:00 AM "my" time. OUCH!
The presentation from Adobe was good. I learned lots of things I didn't know before. Good stuff. During the lunch break, we walked over to the Hard Rock Cafe and chowed down. Back to the Hyatt for the afternoon session. While in town, we ate dinner outside at a Mexican place called Willie's. Apparently, they have really good burritos according to Luke. The one I had was okay, but I'm not a burrito fan so if it was good, I really didn't have anything to compare it to. Interestingly enough, while we sitting outside eating, a man, probably in his late 30's or 40's, goes strutting by wearing a pink leotard, a halo, fairy wings, twirling a baton and blowing a whistle. I did NOT take a picture.
Thursday's meetings were at the hotel we were staying. MUCH better morning when you just have to go downstairs to make it to your destination. Meetings were informative, but boring at times. I found myself nodding off occasionally. These meetings were from a partner we use to handle large volume email campaigns for our clients. Met some nice people there.
That evening, I hung out with a buddy of mine that lives over there. Ate a nice dinner then did some things downtown. Got in a little late but got rested.
Friday went well. Wrapped up meetings, had lunch then packed up and headed home. Went through some SERIOUS storms on the way back. It was nice to be home again. Ended up going to Cracker Barrel for dinner then drove over to Huntsville to try and get into a theater to see Revenge of the Sith. No luck. Drove home, passed out.
More later.
Went to Atlanta for meetings this week, shot pictures of a dance recital, went to the shooting range with the guys and then saw the latest Star Wars movie.
The detailed version:
Left for Atlanta late Tuesday afternoon. I was riding with Luke and Lesa followed close behind. She was heading back a day earlier than us which is why she took a car as well. Got checked into our hotel and adventured out around Marietta a little. Ended up finding a quaint little square where we discovered several unique antique shops and restaurants. Had a sumptuous dinner at a place called Shillings. I had a filet dish along with some wine. I conked out as soon as I got back to the hotel.
Wednesday morning was rough. We had to leave the hotel at 6:15 AM to factor in the traffic as we drove from Marietta to the Hyatt Regency in downtown Atlanta. Leaving at 6:15 means me having to get up around 5'ish to get going and cleaned up. Here's the kicker - we lost an hour going east so I was getting up at 4:00 AM "my" time. OUCH!
The presentation from Adobe was good. I learned lots of things I didn't know before. Good stuff. During the lunch break, we walked over to the Hard Rock Cafe and chowed down. Back to the Hyatt for the afternoon session. While in town, we ate dinner outside at a Mexican place called Willie's. Apparently, they have really good burritos according to Luke. The one I had was okay, but I'm not a burrito fan so if it was good, I really didn't have anything to compare it to. Interestingly enough, while we sitting outside eating, a man, probably in his late 30's or 40's, goes strutting by wearing a pink leotard, a halo, fairy wings, twirling a baton and blowing a whistle. I did NOT take a picture.
Thursday's meetings were at the hotel we were staying. MUCH better morning when you just have to go downstairs to make it to your destination. Meetings were informative, but boring at times. I found myself nodding off occasionally. These meetings were from a partner we use to handle large volume email campaigns for our clients. Met some nice people there.
That evening, I hung out with a buddy of mine that lives over there. Ate a nice dinner then did some things downtown. Got in a little late but got rested.
Friday went well. Wrapped up meetings, had lunch then packed up and headed home. Went through some SERIOUS storms on the way back. It was nice to be home again. Ended up going to Cracker Barrel for dinner then drove over to Huntsville to try and get into a theater to see Revenge of the Sith. No luck. Drove home, passed out.
More later.
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Wow. I'm tired.
Shane was late. An hour late. I was a little on the anxious side at this point because now the extra time I had factored in to spend planning the shots I wanted to be sure not to miss and more importantly EATING LUNCH had to be cut from the schedule.
Once we arrived at the church, it was pretty warm on the inside. Apparently, the person who knew how to turn the A/C on couldn't be reached. It did finally get turned on much later but it was off when we were shooting pictures beforehand. I thought I was going to have the luxury of using the house lights to brighten up the stage and the people so I wouldn't need to use flash but somebody's mother kept screwing with the lights and turned them down too low to be useable. The last time the lights got fooled with, I stormed back there. When the mom saw me coming, she stepped away from the board to avoid me. Grr. Finally, I got tired of policing the lights and used my flash full time. I will inform the bride and groom what the situation was so they can hassle this person about it. I can understand why wedding photographers charge what they do. It's so they can tolerate meddling people without having to kick some ass. But I digress... Shane and I actually moved through the poses and got done shooting with some time to spare. The people in the bridal party followed direction well and made my life a little easier. I found a really nice area to shoot some shots of the girls in which I took advantage of.
While waiting for the wedding to start, I was cooling off in another room. There was a huge lightning strike somewhere either on or near the building that set the fire alarm off. Soon, there were 4 full-sized engines and ladder trucks there. It's good to see how quickly they responded! I don't think they found anything but they did do a thorough check of the place.
Finally the wedding started. Got some good pictures during the ceremony that I think they will be pleased with. When that was done, we hustled over to the art museum for the reception. I give a big thumbs up on the food! Remember, I hadn't eaten lunch yet. I've been to a number of weddings where you have cake, nuts and chips as the food. Here there was quite a spread - giant shrimp, chicken strips, fruit, veggies, smokies, rolls, cheese thingys, dip, crackers... so much that I got a photo of it here somewhere. Got my fill which made me much happier. Met some nice people too while I was there and saw some old friends.
Downloaded the pictures when I got home. I've got a lot of work ahead of me. Time for bed now though.
I see Kyle and Jeff are getting around a good bit on thier whirlwind tour of beaches. I *hope* that in addition to the pictures he's posted on his blog that they work some women in there somewhere.
Once we arrived at the church, it was pretty warm on the inside. Apparently, the person who knew how to turn the A/C on couldn't be reached. It did finally get turned on much later but it was off when we were shooting pictures beforehand. I thought I was going to have the luxury of using the house lights to brighten up the stage and the people so I wouldn't need to use flash but somebody's mother kept screwing with the lights and turned them down too low to be useable. The last time the lights got fooled with, I stormed back there. When the mom saw me coming, she stepped away from the board to avoid me. Grr. Finally, I got tired of policing the lights and used my flash full time. I will inform the bride and groom what the situation was so they can hassle this person about it. I can understand why wedding photographers charge what they do. It's so they can tolerate meddling people without having to kick some ass. But I digress... Shane and I actually moved through the poses and got done shooting with some time to spare. The people in the bridal party followed direction well and made my life a little easier. I found a really nice area to shoot some shots of the girls in which I took advantage of.
While waiting for the wedding to start, I was cooling off in another room. There was a huge lightning strike somewhere either on or near the building that set the fire alarm off. Soon, there were 4 full-sized engines and ladder trucks there. It's good to see how quickly they responded! I don't think they found anything but they did do a thorough check of the place.
Finally the wedding started. Got some good pictures during the ceremony that I think they will be pleased with. When that was done, we hustled over to the art museum for the reception. I give a big thumbs up on the food! Remember, I hadn't eaten lunch yet. I've been to a number of weddings where you have cake, nuts and chips as the food. Here there was quite a spread - giant shrimp, chicken strips, fruit, veggies, smokies, rolls, cheese thingys, dip, crackers... so much that I got a photo of it here somewhere. Got my fill which made me much happier. Met some nice people too while I was there and saw some old friends.
Downloaded the pictures when I got home. I've got a lot of work ahead of me. Time for bed now though.
I see Kyle and Jeff are getting around a good bit on thier whirlwind tour of beaches. I *hope* that in addition to the pictures he's posted on his blog that they work some women in there somewhere.
The weekend begins.
Did a lot of paperwork stuff in the office today as I was out most of the week shooting photos. There was a building here in town I had been trying to get a shot of (it's newly constructed) but everytime I've been by, there were all sorts of contractor trucks/vans/trailers there. I finally lucked out and drove by when there was only a Bellsouth van in the lot with a guy in it. It turns out that I knew the guy and it was no trouble for him to move the van for me so I could get a clear shot. That's another shot down. I still need to get a pic of the opposite side of the building but the lighting's never been good yet. I should have that soon though.
Late in the evening, I got a message from Lesa that she was heading over to Cafe 113. She had told me earlier that she and some friends were going to be hanging out to celebrate someone graduating from nursing school. Got over there and joined up with Maria, Lori, and Josh. Lesa showed up a few minutes later and we all just kicked back and relaxed. Good times. After a few hours, we headed across the parking lot to The Brick where Gulliver was playing tonight. Got a table and soon we had a small crowd with us. I saw Heather, Christa and Juli there. There was also some girl Lesa introduced me to that was interested in having me do some shots of her. She looks like she's got a lot of potential so I'm looking forward to that. I finally came on home around 1 AM. Ugh... the one thing I hate about The Brick is that I came out of there reeking of smoke. Bleah.
I've got all my battries charged up and my lenses clean. Shane should be here in just a bit before we take off to shoot Mike and Neva's wedding over in Huntsville. Wedding aren't my cup of tea, but they were in a pinch and I was in a position to help. Hopefully all will go well. That should keep me busy most of the afternoon.
Time to jump in the shower and get cleaned up.
Late in the evening, I got a message from Lesa that she was heading over to Cafe 113. She had told me earlier that she and some friends were going to be hanging out to celebrate someone graduating from nursing school. Got over there and joined up with Maria, Lori, and Josh. Lesa showed up a few minutes later and we all just kicked back and relaxed. Good times. After a few hours, we headed across the parking lot to The Brick where Gulliver was playing tonight. Got a table and soon we had a small crowd with us. I saw Heather, Christa and Juli there. There was also some girl Lesa introduced me to that was interested in having me do some shots of her. She looks like she's got a lot of potential so I'm looking forward to that. I finally came on home around 1 AM. Ugh... the one thing I hate about The Brick is that I came out of there reeking of smoke. Bleah.
I've got all my battries charged up and my lenses clean. Shane should be here in just a bit before we take off to shoot Mike and Neva's wedding over in Huntsville. Wedding aren't my cup of tea, but they were in a pinch and I was in a position to help. Hopefully all will go well. That should keep me busy most of the afternoon.
Time to jump in the shower and get cleaned up.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
WORN OUT
You know how you get drained of energy when you've been out in the sun for a long time? That's what's happened to me. I spent a good bit of the day out on the tarmac at the airport shooting photos. It was HOT. I got some great shots though. I just posted up a few samples so you could get an idea what I was doing.
Took a break from that and ate lunch over at Mac Grill (again) and then got back to it. This time, I was taking photos of some industrial buildings in the area. At least on the tarmac I had a breeze. There was no wind in the industrial park.
Got suprised when I walked into one of the places I was going to shoot. I was going in to tell the receptionist who I was and what I was doing. Come to find out, a girl I used to date a LONG time ago was working there. She gave me her phone number but I'm not too sure I'm interested in spending time with someone that had screwed me over in the past. Anyway, not going to dwell on that.
Spent the latter part of the afternoon getting an estimate to convert my home's termite protection over to the Sentricon system. Doesn't that sound like fun? Afterwards, I worked on photos to get them ready to deliver to Jaime. I'm almost done.
Took a break from that and ate lunch over at Mac Grill (again) and then got back to it. This time, I was taking photos of some industrial buildings in the area. At least on the tarmac I had a breeze. There was no wind in the industrial park.
Got suprised when I walked into one of the places I was going to shoot. I was going in to tell the receptionist who I was and what I was doing. Come to find out, a girl I used to date a LONG time ago was working there. She gave me her phone number but I'm not too sure I'm interested in spending time with someone that had screwed me over in the past. Anyway, not going to dwell on that.
Spent the latter part of the afternoon getting an estimate to convert my home's termite protection over to the Sentricon system. Doesn't that sound like fun? Afterwards, I worked on photos to get them ready to deliver to Jaime. I'm almost done.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Stayin busy...
Okey dokey, I've had lots going on. Started Tuesday off visiting a client in the morning then had lunch with another client. Next, I drove to Huntsville to meet with ANOTHER client and go do a good bit of photography for their website. Drove around a pretty swanky neighborhood in Huntsville called "The Ledges". Nice homes there for sure. Wrapped up there and headed back to Decatur. My buddy Dave was in town from Ohio. He and I used to work together at Intergraph on that medical customer I used to complain about all the time. Had plans to pick him up later for dinner then meet up with Rikki, Sam and Sarah for drinks later. So... back to Huntsville I go again after stopping by the office briefly then swinging by the house to get cleaned up. Ate dinner at Macaroni Grill (again) and ended up over at Humphrey's. Good times. Got home kinda late but fell asleep almost immediately. That's a good thing.
Today's big news was the arrival of Zachary, Kevin and Stacey's new baby boy. Honestly, they are the closest friends I've had that I've been around the whole pregnancy cycle with - TWICE! Their little boy has a full head of hair! Cute kid. Stacey was in good spirits. I'm sure that after you shed 10+ pounds in an afternoon, you can only be feeling better.
As you can tell from the pictures, this kid's first encounter with an Asian is of course one WITH A CAMERA. We all laughed about that.
While I was visiting with them, band practice (I was off "duty" this week) was going on. The news comes along that the drimmer that was supposed to be playing didn't show up. Well, I told them I could be there in 20 minutes as I would have to go home, pack up some gear and drive there. That's exactly what I did.
Ate dinner with Jack S. at Applebee's afterwards. Now I'm home and getting ready to conk out.
Today's big news was the arrival of Zachary, Kevin and Stacey's new baby boy. Honestly, they are the closest friends I've had that I've been around the whole pregnancy cycle with - TWICE! Their little boy has a full head of hair! Cute kid. Stacey was in good spirits. I'm sure that after you shed 10+ pounds in an afternoon, you can only be feeling better.
As you can tell from the pictures, this kid's first encounter with an Asian is of course one WITH A CAMERA. We all laughed about that.
While I was visiting with them, band practice (I was off "duty" this week) was going on. The news comes along that the drimmer that was supposed to be playing didn't show up. Well, I told them I could be there in 20 minutes as I would have to go home, pack up some gear and drive there. That's exactly what I did.
Ate dinner with Jack S. at Applebee's afterwards. Now I'm home and getting ready to conk out.
CONGRATULATIONS KEVIN & STACEY!!!
Congratulations to you guys on the birth of Zachary! As of 1:25 CST, Stacey now weighs at least 9 lbs. 4 oz. less...
I'll be heading to the hospital shortly to take some photos.
I'll be heading to the hospital shortly to take some photos.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Mellow Monday
Okay... looks like travel for me is getting postponed again. No biggie though, I wasn't all that excited about the prospect of going to West Virginia.
After work I ran some errands. One was to the mall to get my favorite pair of sunglasses fixed. This microscopic nut came off where the temple attaches to the lens but luckily, the girl at the sunglass place had a replacement. We chatted about retail management and how bad it sucked. I sure put in my time with that crap. Next stop was Wal-Mart where I picked up some photos. On the way out I ran into Sommer - a girl I wanted to add to my portfolio. I got her number so hopefully I can get something set up with her soon. We'll see how that goes.
Back at home I got some laundry going.
This has been one of the more boring days of late.
After work I ran some errands. One was to the mall to get my favorite pair of sunglasses fixed. This microscopic nut came off where the temple attaches to the lens but luckily, the girl at the sunglass place had a replacement. We chatted about retail management and how bad it sucked. I sure put in my time with that crap. Next stop was Wal-Mart where I picked up some photos. On the way out I ran into Sommer - a girl I wanted to add to my portfolio. I got her number so hopefully I can get something set up with her soon. We'll see how that goes.
Back at home I got some laundry going.
This has been one of the more boring days of late.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
So... that's what it means to get older...
Remember I was happily running around on the tennis courts yesterday? As I was leaving church this morning carrying all my drum gear, I had some kind of weird pain/sensation on my right knee. All I could think of was "Hmmm, THAT's new..." Maybe I should have warmed up a bit more or stretched yesterday, I don't know. Just lovely I tell you.
Speaking of church, the music was hoppin' today. I think it all went well - I know I had a good time. Kevin played keyboards today. That REALLY helped give us a "richer" sound. That may just be the missing piece that takes us to the next level.
Afterwards, I went straight home to watch the Spanish Grand Prix. The races are a lot more exciting this year with the advent of the rule changes. Kimi's McLaren/Mercedes was incredibly fast. No one could close the gap on him. My man Fernando Alonso in the Renault stuck it out and held on to 2nd place although he clearly was no match for the Mercedes. I'm glad for Kimi though, he's been needing a good finish. Man, Ferarri have had it tough so far. Michael Schumacher retired after suffering 2 tire punctures, the last of which damaged his suspension.
Took a nap.
I got up and checked the hours of operation at the botanical garden as I wanted to turn in my entry for a photo competition. They closed at 8... or so I thought. I get all my stuff together and drive over. They don't stay open till 8 until after Memorial Day. $#%@ #%^# @#%^ @#%! They closed at 5 and I got there at 5:20. What a $#@&*! waste of time. I was NOT happy. Drove back home in time to catch Extreme Home Makeover.
Working on some picture stuff then I'm off to bed. I'll find out tomorrow if I'll be heading to West Virginia this week for a photo shoot or not.
Speaking of church, the music was hoppin' today. I think it all went well - I know I had a good time. Kevin played keyboards today. That REALLY helped give us a "richer" sound. That may just be the missing piece that takes us to the next level.
Afterwards, I went straight home to watch the Spanish Grand Prix. The races are a lot more exciting this year with the advent of the rule changes. Kimi's McLaren/Mercedes was incredibly fast. No one could close the gap on him. My man Fernando Alonso in the Renault stuck it out and held on to 2nd place although he clearly was no match for the Mercedes. I'm glad for Kimi though, he's been needing a good finish. Man, Ferarri have had it tough so far. Michael Schumacher retired after suffering 2 tire punctures, the last of which damaged his suspension.
Took a nap.
I got up and checked the hours of operation at the botanical garden as I wanted to turn in my entry for a photo competition. They closed at 8... or so I thought. I get all my stuff together and drive over. They don't stay open till 8 until after Memorial Day. $#%@ #%^# @#%^ @#%! They closed at 5 and I got there at 5:20. What a $#@&*! waste of time. I was NOT happy. Drove back home in time to catch Extreme Home Makeover.
Working on some picture stuff then I'm off to bed. I'll find out tomorrow if I'll be heading to West Virginia this week for a photo shoot or not.
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Tired... AGAIN.
I don't think I accomplished anything I intended to today. That's how it goes though. Ended up spending some time down at the tennis court with Kyle and Jeff though. It's been a long time since I've played tennis but it was nice to get out there again. Nice that is up until I realized that I need to get in better shape. Luckily, I knew when to take a break before I died. I also had my camera with me as my original thought was to practice taking action shots. Kudos to Kyle for taking over photo duties for a bit and getting some shots of me for once.
Went home to clean up then laid around for a bit to recharge. Met back up with the fellas and headed to Macaroni Grill for a delicious dinner. Maggie was working and hooked me up with a glass of wine. That was an unexpected surprise. I also ran into Tonja there with some friends coming back from a wedding reception. One of her friends recognized me from back in my bowling league days. Wow.
On the way back home we stopped in to visit Sarah where she works. Chatted with her a little then finally made it home. I need to get in bed so maybe tomorrow I can do more fun stuff.
Went home to clean up then laid around for a bit to recharge. Met back up with the fellas and headed to Macaroni Grill for a delicious dinner. Maggie was working and hooked me up with a glass of wine. That was an unexpected surprise. I also ran into Tonja there with some friends coming back from a wedding reception. One of her friends recognized me from back in my bowling league days. Wow.
On the way back home we stopped in to visit Sarah where she works. Chatted with her a little then finally made it home. I need to get in bed so maybe tomorrow I can do more fun stuff.
Up and at em...
On my way to the party last night, I stopped off at Simp's and dropped some photos off to Kathi as a mother's day present sort of thing. There was some event going on down at the Old State Bank which took up all the parking. As a result, I had to park 2 blocks down the street and walk. It was a nice night out though and lots of people were around so it made for a pleasant stroll. It almost felt like a "real" city for a few minutes. Next, I went down to Cafe 113 for Susan's birthday party. Originally, I was going to bring my BIG camera but decided against it because I didn't want to have to lug it around and I didn't want it exposed to a smoky environment. I did bring my little Sony along though. Met plenty of folks, shot some pool, drank a little then called it a night. Well, almost. Stopped in at Ruby's to hang out a little before finally making it home.
It's 5:30 Saturday morning now and I've got a load of laundry in the washer. Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix comes on in a few minutes so I'll be watching that. It's probably back to bed for me for a little while after that.
It's 5:30 Saturday morning now and I've got a load of laundry in the washer. Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix comes on in a few minutes so I'll be watching that. It's probably back to bed for me for a little while after that.
Friday, May 06, 2005
Wrap it up...
the week's finally over!
I think this has been one of my busiest weeks of late. All week my plate has been full. Thursday, I was out shooting photos for one of our clients. While I was over in Madison, I stopped and had lunch at Edo's. Mmmmm... sushi. As usual, I ordered too much. That is TWICE this week that's happened to me. Anyway, it was nice to see old friends there. I had gotten to be pretty good friends with some of the folks there especially Keio, the owner. She's a sweet lady.
I spent the rest of the day scampering about taking photos all over the place. After I took my first shots and got in my car to move to my next location - my car wouldn't start. Long story short, my battery died. I was sitting there with my AAA card in hand ready to call when I decided to call my buddy Bill over at Intergraph. About 5 minutes later he's on the scene and I'm jumped off and on my way to the tire store. 30 minutes later I have a new battery and can get on about my business. After a tiring day shooting, I headed back to the office to download my camera then it was off to the house to get my gear together for band practice. Packed up a few cymbals, my snare and my stick back and like a pair of dirty underwear, I was off! Practice went okay - actually, it was more entertaining than anything else. Things were rough. I had a special moment when I tried something different out and well, it didn't sound so good. Heh. Logan's was the dinner choice and the whole band headed there. Good food all around. While there, I was able to set up a photo shoot for the weekend. Nice.
Friday was no less busy. Did a few things around the office then hit the road at 10 with stuff to drop off and photos to take. Stopped in at a few locations to take care of bidness' then met up with a few of my former co-workers for lunch at Tai-Pan. As usual, it was nice seeing them again. After eating too much, I headed into Huntsville to drop something else off before I made it back to the airport area to get going on the photos. Once again, I was all over the place. I took a few panoramic shots as well as some artsy kinds of blurry shots. Hopefully, my work today will turn out good. Once I got back to the office, I found out I may have to travel to West Virginia next week for a few days. Fascinating.
Time to get cleaned up for a party tonight. Should be fun.
I think this has been one of my busiest weeks of late. All week my plate has been full. Thursday, I was out shooting photos for one of our clients. While I was over in Madison, I stopped and had lunch at Edo's. Mmmmm... sushi. As usual, I ordered too much. That is TWICE this week that's happened to me. Anyway, it was nice to see old friends there. I had gotten to be pretty good friends with some of the folks there especially Keio, the owner. She's a sweet lady.
I spent the rest of the day scampering about taking photos all over the place. After I took my first shots and got in my car to move to my next location - my car wouldn't start. Long story short, my battery died. I was sitting there with my AAA card in hand ready to call when I decided to call my buddy Bill over at Intergraph. About 5 minutes later he's on the scene and I'm jumped off and on my way to the tire store. 30 minutes later I have a new battery and can get on about my business. After a tiring day shooting, I headed back to the office to download my camera then it was off to the house to get my gear together for band practice. Packed up a few cymbals, my snare and my stick back and like a pair of dirty underwear, I was off! Practice went okay - actually, it was more entertaining than anything else. Things were rough. I had a special moment when I tried something different out and well, it didn't sound so good. Heh. Logan's was the dinner choice and the whole band headed there. Good food all around. While there, I was able to set up a photo shoot for the weekend. Nice.
Friday was no less busy. Did a few things around the office then hit the road at 10 with stuff to drop off and photos to take. Stopped in at a few locations to take care of bidness' then met up with a few of my former co-workers for lunch at Tai-Pan. As usual, it was nice seeing them again. After eating too much, I headed into Huntsville to drop something else off before I made it back to the airport area to get going on the photos. Once again, I was all over the place. I took a few panoramic shots as well as some artsy kinds of blurry shots. Hopefully, my work today will turn out good. Once I got back to the office, I found out I may have to travel to West Virginia next week for a few days. Fascinating.
Time to get cleaned up for a party tonight. Should be fun.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
A little snappy-snappy.
Wow... ANOTHER busy day at the office. That's 3 in a row now! I had to shoot photos of one of our clients for a magazine publication. I used the same setup I had at home when I shot pictures over the weekend as I liked how easy it was to light the scene with the two HUGE softboxes and a strobe in the back to burn out the background. Once again, I made my life easier by remembering to shoot my black/white/gray reference card beforehand to make color balancing easy.
Had lunch with Kay and Jeremy at the old Greenbriar. I made the mistake of ordering the large pork plate. Normally, I can eat quite a bit of food in one sitting... just not THIS much. Jeremy followed suit and thought if I could eat it, he could too. Same results... it was too much food. Man was I paying for it this afternoon. I sure could have used a nap!
After work, I headed over to Simp's for a drink. Got a call from Jim, an old friend of mine, and he joined me there at the bar. Had a good time talking to Kathi. Cynthia showed up a bit later. It was nice seeing her as she hasn't been around in awhile. While there, I got an invite from Kevin and Stacey for grilled steak and lobster at there place. Wrapped up there and ran into Lorri as I was leaving. She had been working late on someone (she does hair). Trekked across town and made it to Kev's just as the steaks were ready to come off the grill. When I arrived, Kev was crawling around the floor wiping something up. Stacey was standing there and I first thought that maybe her water broke. Well, it wasn't anything nearly as exciting... she had simply dropped a container of melted butter. Stacey, when things come out of the microwave with melted stuff in them, it can be hot sometimes. :-/
The food was delicious. I kind of felt guilty that I didn't bring anything but I really had no time to go by the house and get something and a store wasn't anywhere along the way. Thanks to the them though for the great dinner.
I had grand plans to accomplish SOMETHING tonight but looks like that's not going to happen. I'm tired and think I will actually get in bed early tonight. That's always the intention, but that just doesn't happen often enough.
The weekend is stacking up... I've got a friend's birthday party Friday night, Saturday, I have to turn in my photo entries for a botnaical garden contest and that evening I'm supposed to meet Ellen and Linda for drinks. Oh, and I have band practice tomorrow night. All this excitement and NO drama! See? It CAN be done.
I'm deliriously sleepy. G' night mate.
Had lunch with Kay and Jeremy at the old Greenbriar. I made the mistake of ordering the large pork plate. Normally, I can eat quite a bit of food in one sitting... just not THIS much. Jeremy followed suit and thought if I could eat it, he could too. Same results... it was too much food. Man was I paying for it this afternoon. I sure could have used a nap!
After work, I headed over to Simp's for a drink. Got a call from Jim, an old friend of mine, and he joined me there at the bar. Had a good time talking to Kathi. Cynthia showed up a bit later. It was nice seeing her as she hasn't been around in awhile. While there, I got an invite from Kevin and Stacey for grilled steak and lobster at there place. Wrapped up there and ran into Lorri as I was leaving. She had been working late on someone (she does hair). Trekked across town and made it to Kev's just as the steaks were ready to come off the grill. When I arrived, Kev was crawling around the floor wiping something up. Stacey was standing there and I first thought that maybe her water broke. Well, it wasn't anything nearly as exciting... she had simply dropped a container of melted butter. Stacey, when things come out of the microwave with melted stuff in them, it can be hot sometimes. :-/
The food was delicious. I kind of felt guilty that I didn't bring anything but I really had no time to go by the house and get something and a store wasn't anywhere along the way. Thanks to the them though for the great dinner.
I had grand plans to accomplish SOMETHING tonight but looks like that's not going to happen. I'm tired and think I will actually get in bed early tonight. That's always the intention, but that just doesn't happen often enough.
The weekend is stacking up... I've got a friend's birthday party Friday night, Saturday, I have to turn in my photo entries for a botnaical garden contest and that evening I'm supposed to meet Ellen and Linda for drinks. Oh, and I have band practice tomorrow night. All this excitement and NO drama! See? It CAN be done.
I'm deliriously sleepy. G' night mate.
Music by Jo.
A friend of mine that I photographed recently launched her music site today. Go CHECK IT OUT!
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Tuesday follies.
Once again it was a busy yet productive day at work. Had lunch at the Chinese place in the mall which turned out to be decent - except for the the pork part of my meal. It was a little dry IMO. The honey chicken and eggroll were good though. Checked out the Napoleon Dynamite shirts at Dillards before going back to the office.
Talked to Carol, one of my F1 buddies, to firm up our Indy plans. I checked my hotel reservations to make sure that was all a go and also get my registration in with the BMW Club for access to the hospitality tent and facilities there at the US Grand Prix. Less than 2 months away! I'm excited.
After work, I went on home to work on some photos so I could print them tonight. Got that done and watched some tube. Finally got up and went to pick up my photos... they already know me there and as soon as I got to the counter, they were handing me my envelope all ready to go.
Stopped in at the bookstore and picked up the latest DRUM! magazine before heading to dinner. Jaime suggested a new dish they had that was excellent! Some sort of mandarin chicken concoction. Time for bed yet again.
Talked to Carol, one of my F1 buddies, to firm up our Indy plans. I checked my hotel reservations to make sure that was all a go and also get my registration in with the BMW Club for access to the hospitality tent and facilities there at the US Grand Prix. Less than 2 months away! I'm excited.
After work, I went on home to work on some photos so I could print them tonight. Got that done and watched some tube. Finally got up and went to pick up my photos... they already know me there and as soon as I got to the counter, they were handing me my envelope all ready to go.
Stopped in at the bookstore and picked up the latest DRUM! magazine before heading to dinner. Jaime suggested a new dish they had that was excellent! Some sort of mandarin chicken concoction. Time for bed yet again.
Monday, May 02, 2005
Busy today.
Today was rockin at the office. I had appointments to set up, emails to answer and send, domain registrations to transfer, problems to fix... the whole ball of wax. Whew! Glad that's over with!
On another note, the circular polarizer I ordered last week came in today. That's going to help me a lot when it comes to shooting outdoors. It does marvelous things on water, skies and foilage. I can't wait to try it. I've had one before on one of my other cameras so I know what to expect, but I *so* needed one for my Canon. Also on the photography front, I picked up a few prints today from the weekend's photo sessions. I' m really liking what I'm seeing.
After work I went over to Publix to do some grocery shopping as I haven't got much in the fridge right now. I'm all stocked up once again. I took my time going through looking at all the different spices and ingredients they had. I might have to crank up my cooking again soon. I was hot and heavy into that a little over a year ago but as most of you know, it's a pain in the ass to cook for one person. Especially one who isn't big on eating leftovers. One of these days I'll have some folks over for some really fine dining - past favorites I've made were herb-crusted pork loin and filet mignon that I pan-seared then finished in the oven topped with a demi-glace sauce. It was fun to do all that but time consuming. I digress.
Ate a sub sandwich for dinner and watched some TV. Paid bills. Worked on a few more photos. I'm going to try and climb into bed a little earlier tonight. I'm tired.
On another note, the circular polarizer I ordered last week came in today. That's going to help me a lot when it comes to shooting outdoors. It does marvelous things on water, skies and foilage. I can't wait to try it. I've had one before on one of my other cameras so I know what to expect, but I *so* needed one for my Canon. Also on the photography front, I picked up a few prints today from the weekend's photo sessions. I' m really liking what I'm seeing.
After work I went over to Publix to do some grocery shopping as I haven't got much in the fridge right now. I'm all stocked up once again. I took my time going through looking at all the different spices and ingredients they had. I might have to crank up my cooking again soon. I was hot and heavy into that a little over a year ago but as most of you know, it's a pain in the ass to cook for one person. Especially one who isn't big on eating leftovers. One of these days I'll have some folks over for some really fine dining - past favorites I've made were herb-crusted pork loin and filet mignon that I pan-seared then finished in the oven topped with a demi-glace sauce. It was fun to do all that but time consuming. I digress.
Ate a sub sandwich for dinner and watched some TV. Paid bills. Worked on a few more photos. I'm going to try and climb into bed a little earlier tonight. I'm tired.
Sunday, May 01, 2005
While I had all this stuff out...
To make the best of the fact that the studio lights were still set up, Jaime and her sister came over tonight. The first order of business was to review the shots I took earlier last month and pick out her favorites. The second bit was to take some upper-body and head shots with the light setup.
It was nice meeting Courtney and her daughter. They ran some errands while Jaime and I were shooting. Like before she was very easy to work with. I did make it a point this time to shoot a photo of the gray card so I could easily color correct the shots under each of the different lighting conditions. Save me a bunch of time and guessing. She had fun with that - holding the card like it was a mug shot.
I didn't do too much today. Took a short nap and also knocked out 3 loads of laundry. I briefly thought about trimming the bushes in front of my place but found other things to do instead. I'm sure you know how that goes.
It was nice meeting Courtney and her daughter. They ran some errands while Jaime and I were shooting. Like before she was very easy to work with. I did make it a point this time to shoot a photo of the gray card so I could easily color correct the shots under each of the different lighting conditions. Save me a bunch of time and guessing. She had fun with that - holding the card like it was a mug shot.
I didn't do too much today. Took a short nap and also knocked out 3 loads of laundry. I briefly thought about trimming the bushes in front of my place but found other things to do instead. I'm sure you know how that goes.
Fabulous weather.
So far today, the weather has been glorious! It's a bit cool, but not uncomfortably so. Church went off without a hitch this morning - acoustic set and all. Playing the djembe makes you have to think a little more since there's only so many different sounds you can make on it unlike the drum kit where you've got all sort of options when it comes to playing. Still, it's easy to close your eyes and really get into the music with the single instrument.
I had to run over to Wal-Mart (ugh) to pick up some photos and some home stuff. It wasn't too crowded yet which made it a little more tolerable. As a side note, an amazingly beautiful woman was there with her kid. She wasn't just pretty, she REALLY stood out. Just thought I'd share that.
Last night, Jo came by with Scott to check out some of the shots I took the previous evening. I think she liked what she saw. Hopefully, I'll have her stuff all done sometime this week. Later on in the evening, Shane came over for awhile to see what I've been up to and talk a little about studio lighting. Good times.
I had to run over to Wal-Mart (ugh) to pick up some photos and some home stuff. It wasn't too crowded yet which made it a little more tolerable. As a side note, an amazingly beautiful woman was there with her kid. She wasn't just pretty, she REALLY stood out. Just thought I'd share that.
Last night, Jo came by with Scott to check out some of the shots I took the previous evening. I think she liked what she saw. Hopefully, I'll have her stuff all done sometime this week. Later on in the evening, Shane came over for awhile to see what I've been up to and talk a little about studio lighting. Good times.
