The past 10 days have been some of the busiest in recent times! My schedule was JAM PACKED with photography, band practices and performances, travel for work, etc. The previous weekend I was doing some shooting for a local dance studio's performance of Cinderella. 2 different shows on Saturday and a matinee on Sunday. The average length of the show was in excess of 3 hours so by the time all that was done, I was pretty much wiped out. Mixed in with all that was a morning band practice on Saturday, playing in 2 church services Sunday morning and then playing through our full set list for our youth group Sunday night in preparation for our band's performance at the Alabama Jubilee the next Saturday.
After getting home that night, I spent the remainder of the time packing for my trip to Seattle. Normally when traveling, I prefer not to check baggage if at all possible. That wouldn't work this time because I had to bring my camera gear and laptop as well. My laptop's huge and needs its own bag so I can pack it with my camera. There goes my 2 carry-on limit. My garment bag would have to be checked.
I need a lighter, thinner laptop. There. I said it.
Somehow, everything came together and at 5:45 AM Monday morning, I was sitting in a plane. After a brief stop in Atlanta and an almost 5 hour flight from there, I arrived in Seattle. Checked in at the Hilton there then stopped in to meet with a client before joining them for dinner at Salty's. Dinner there was FANTASTIC! I think I had one of, if not THE BEST dinner I have ever had. I'm a big fan of seafood and just everything was SO fresh! The lobster tails, mussels, oysters, Copper River salmon, scallops, crab legs, wine, chowder... OMG it was glorious! I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.
Tuesday was all business. When the last meeting was over, we headed downtown to look around. Strangely, a lot of the attractions there closed at 5:00. It was after 5:00 so there wasn't too much to do other than walk around and look. Dinner was in the restaurant at the top of the Space Needle. The retaurant rotated slowly so as you ate, you saw every direction around the city. It was gorgeous! After eating, I got up on the observation deck and took more photos and just took it all in.
Despite Seattle being know for rain, it's also interesting to note that there was very little humidity. I don't think I ever sweated or got sticky there AT ALL. Granted, lows were in the 50's and highs in the 60's but it was always pleasant.
Wednesday I was up in Everett which is just north of Seattle. There I saw to Boeing assembly plants for their largest planes. WOW. Those plants are the largest structures I recall ever seeing. They are just MASSIVE.
Ate lunch there in town and took some shots of the ferry to Whidby island before coming back to town. The plan was to go back to the Pike Street market which was closing up when we arrived the previous day. This was the place where the fish monger throws the fish around to the guys behind the counter when he makes a sale. I also had a chance to get a mocha latte at the FIRST Starbucks Coffee house. How cool is that? Next, we made it over to the Science Fiction museum to check out some unique things. They had Captain Kirk's chair from the Enterprise, the Death Star they used in the Star Wars movies, the suit Charlton Heston wore in 1968 for the original Planet of the Apes, the arm and skull of The Terminator, the yellow hydraulic loader thing Ripley used to fight the alien queen from the movie "Alien"... just all sorts of stuff. This was the real deal! Kinda geeky, but fun.
Spent the next little bit shooting photos outside the museum and in a neighboring park. The sun came out and made for some nice shots. After a nice quiet dinner, headed back to the hotel to pack for the trip home the next day. Thursday was a travel day. Flew out at 6:30 AM and arrive back home about 5 that afternoon. While I had fun, I looked forward to my own bed.
After work Friday, I came home and started packing up my drums for Saturday's performance. Jack would be over in the mini van the next morning at 10 to pick me and all my gear up. Took it easy that night and rested.
After getting up and taking a shower, I brought some of my drum gear outside to get loaded. It was then I realized that taking a shower was a moot point. I was sweating as soon as I stepped outside. It was blazing hot. When we took to the stage, it was 93! Thankfully, I brought along my BIG fan which kept me cool while I was playing. Kyle took a few photos and some video as well. Maybe I'll have a clip of us playing soon. (thanks dude)
When we finished playing, we packed up again and headed home. Jack and I unloaded all my stuff and got it back in my house. Cleaned up then met up with everyone again for drinks and a snack at a place on the river. Ahhhh... A friend of mine and I continued on to Huntsville for a nice dinner at Macaroni Grill. That was a great way to wrap up a long and busy week.
After church Sunday, I watched some of the Grad Prix of Monaco. The Formula 1 circus was there racing in the principality this weekend. I did venture out in the heat though to get some photos at the Jubilee for work. Soaked with sweat, AGAIN. Joined up with friends in Hartselle to do some shooting on a farm. We all had a good time! Oh, there was this one incident where Matt's .44 made me jump. Some powder or other material came out the side of the revolver and hit me in the neck. That stung for sure. I was definitely glad I had protective glasses on. If that had hit me in the eye, that would have been a bad thing. The rest of the evening was spent eating pizza and just hanging out at Will and Helen's place.
It's good to be home.
Monday, May 29, 2006
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Click. Click. Click.
I think I had a photo shoot every day this week. No kiddin. Some architectural stuff early in the week then some product photography midweek. Wrapped up the week shooting at a college girls softball tournament going on nearby. 22 teams are here for it, one of which my employer sponsored. I've got a truckload of shots from that. They had set up some scaffolding for the photographers to use so I took full advantage of that. Up high, you don't have the protection of the fence or net so you have to keep one eye on the action at all times or you could be in for a nasty (and PAINFUL) suprise. The weather cooperated and made for a very pleasant time outdoors. I'm glad I work my thick khakis because the tops of the scaffolding were very rough (for traction I'm sure) and I was kneeling most of the time.
After I finished at the ball game Friday, I went by the venue where a local dance studio performs. I had to pick up a copy of the program and production notes as I'll be doing all the performance photography this weekend. These notes will be a guide for me so I'll know what to expect from each performance. It'll be a fun but VERY busy time for me. I'll have my kneepads on for sure as I'll be doing a lot of crawling around between the first row of seats and the stage to get my shots.
My buddy Kyle will be upstairs shooting video, but he has the luxury of being in one spot watching what he's recording on a laptop screen. Between performances, I'll join him there on a bank of laptop computers to download photos from my memory cards and burn the data to DVD so I'll be ready for the next round. I am READY this time. I have 12 GIGS of memory cards on me and 2 camera bodies. The 2 camera bodies lets me put a short lens on one and a long lens on the other so I won't have to go through the hassle of switching lenses (which can be a bit tough in the dark) to get all the action, just grab the appropriate camera and shoot.
As if that isn't enough fun for one day, I have band practice this morning. I'm really glad we were all able to fit a practice in though. It's been a hectic week for all of us in the band but you still have to get in a practice somehow. Our gig is coming up this weekend so practicing is a good thing.
After I finished at the ball game Friday, I went by the venue where a local dance studio performs. I had to pick up a copy of the program and production notes as I'll be doing all the performance photography this weekend. These notes will be a guide for me so I'll know what to expect from each performance. It'll be a fun but VERY busy time for me. I'll have my kneepads on for sure as I'll be doing a lot of crawling around between the first row of seats and the stage to get my shots.
My buddy Kyle will be upstairs shooting video, but he has the luxury of being in one spot watching what he's recording on a laptop screen. Between performances, I'll join him there on a bank of laptop computers to download photos from my memory cards and burn the data to DVD so I'll be ready for the next round. I am READY this time. I have 12 GIGS of memory cards on me and 2 camera bodies. The 2 camera bodies lets me put a short lens on one and a long lens on the other so I won't have to go through the hassle of switching lenses (which can be a bit tough in the dark) to get all the action, just grab the appropriate camera and shoot.
As if that isn't enough fun for one day, I have band practice this morning. I'm really glad we were all able to fit a practice in though. It's been a hectic week for all of us in the band but you still have to get in a practice somehow. Our gig is coming up this weekend so practicing is a good thing.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Thanks, but no.
As more and more people find out about the photography side of my life, I naturally receive more requests to do shoots. That's a good thing. Today though, I got asked about shooting another wedding. I say "another" because I've shot 2 already. The thing is though, I just don't feel comfortable enough shooting weddings. Not the technical aspect mind you, I can definitely get the shots, but more so knowing what shots the family wants to get. I have a good friend that's a wedding photographer. I've offered to help he and his business partner shoot weddings as a third phtographer or assistant so I can at least learn from someone who shoots these types of events for a living. That should happen soon so maybe I can pick up a few wedding gigs here and there. Aside from that, I also need additional items like a backup body and another flash unit. I'd hate to be responsible for the images at such an important event only to have an equipment malfunction totally messing up the day. Those additional items can put quite a dent in the wallet though. For a second body, I'd really love to have either Canon's 1Ds Mark II or the 1D Mark IIN - the latter for it's speed and usefulness for sports.
Despite all the above, I did accept a request to shoot an outdoor wedding for a friend's friend. I've got a good handle on lighting outdoors PLUS the bride and groom are furnishing me with a list of shots they want. That should make things easier... I hope.
Anyone see the F1 race today in Spain? Renault's Fernando Alonso won! I just like that kid. Maybe this year I can get an autograph or something at Indy. That would be cool. We'll see. The CBS coverage I was dreading wasn't too terribly bad which was a pleasant surprise. Two weeks from now they'll be racing in Monaco. There's not a lot of passing there but it's exciting to watch. If I had the means, that would be a place I'd like to see the race in person at.
In other car news, I got the hail damage repaired on my car this week. The damage was light enough that the paintless dent repair (PDR) service was all it took to get the metal back nice and smooth without damaging the paint. It would really stink to have a car not even a year old needing paint work!
Today was a good day for me... church this morning, lunch with friends at Kyoto then dinner at Jawana's. Watched Extreme Home Makeover afterwards then stopped off at my sister's new place before heading to the homestead.
Sigh. The weekend's over. Back to bizz-nass.
Oh, I've added my buddy Kenneth to my list of blog buddies. He's a good friend from back in my high school days!
Despite all the above, I did accept a request to shoot an outdoor wedding for a friend's friend. I've got a good handle on lighting outdoors PLUS the bride and groom are furnishing me with a list of shots they want. That should make things easier... I hope.
Anyone see the F1 race today in Spain? Renault's Fernando Alonso won! I just like that kid. Maybe this year I can get an autograph or something at Indy. That would be cool. We'll see. The CBS coverage I was dreading wasn't too terribly bad which was a pleasant surprise. Two weeks from now they'll be racing in Monaco. There's not a lot of passing there but it's exciting to watch. If I had the means, that would be a place I'd like to see the race in person at.
In other car news, I got the hail damage repaired on my car this week. The damage was light enough that the paintless dent repair (PDR) service was all it took to get the metal back nice and smooth without damaging the paint. It would really stink to have a car not even a year old needing paint work!
Today was a good day for me... church this morning, lunch with friends at Kyoto then dinner at Jawana's. Watched Extreme Home Makeover afterwards then stopped off at my sister's new place before heading to the homestead.
Sigh. The weekend's over. Back to bizz-nass.
Oh, I've added my buddy Kenneth to my list of blog buddies. He's a good friend from back in my high school days!
Saturday, May 13, 2006
A catch-up of sorts.
I've finally posted a couple of photos from recent personal stuff I've worked on. I have plenty more that I'll get posted as time permits.
A few weeks ago, me and some of the band got together one night to record a quick and dirty demo CD we needed to provide to some venues that we were hoping to play at. Despite the less than optimal circumstances of recording outside of a studio environment, it came out sounding pretty decent although I wasn't overly thrilled with my playing. We didn't have the luxury of listening to each track as it was recorded - we just played then moved to the next song for the most part. It did make me look forward to doing a studio session in the near future though.
Formula One. That's a topic I haven't talked about lately. The engine and rule changes this year have made F1 races the most exciting I have seen in quite a while. Cars are more closely matched and no one in particular is running away with the championship so far. Renault is leading in the meantime but Ferrari is clawing away at their lead. McLaren and Honda aren't too far behind, they're definitely in the mix. The USGP is coming up in a few weeks. I always look forward to that weekend to see the race live and in person! I received my tickets not too long ago. Whee! Tomorrow they're racing in Spain. CBS is covering the race... I MUCH prefer it when Speed TV covers it but oh well. I think that out of the 19 races, 4 are on CBS including Indy.
Anyway, had a productive Saturday. I got out the hedge trimmer and whipped the bushes in front of my house back into shape. They were starting to get a bit out of hand. This wasn't the holly bush hedge though. If you'll remember last year, you know how much I look forward to dealing with that. After cleaning up all the clippings, I got cleaned up and headed out for lunch and to get some shopping done. I hit the local mall but ended up in Huntsville where I finally found what I was looking for. Came back home and watched some racing then messed around the house a bit (which includes this blog update!).
Time for bed.
A few weeks ago, me and some of the band got together one night to record a quick and dirty demo CD we needed to provide to some venues that we were hoping to play at. Despite the less than optimal circumstances of recording outside of a studio environment, it came out sounding pretty decent although I wasn't overly thrilled with my playing. We didn't have the luxury of listening to each track as it was recorded - we just played then moved to the next song for the most part. It did make me look forward to doing a studio session in the near future though.
Formula One. That's a topic I haven't talked about lately. The engine and rule changes this year have made F1 races the most exciting I have seen in quite a while. Cars are more closely matched and no one in particular is running away with the championship so far. Renault is leading in the meantime but Ferrari is clawing away at their lead. McLaren and Honda aren't too far behind, they're definitely in the mix. The USGP is coming up in a few weeks. I always look forward to that weekend to see the race live and in person! I received my tickets not too long ago. Whee! Tomorrow they're racing in Spain. CBS is covering the race... I MUCH prefer it when Speed TV covers it but oh well. I think that out of the 19 races, 4 are on CBS including Indy.
Anyway, had a productive Saturday. I got out the hedge trimmer and whipped the bushes in front of my house back into shape. They were starting to get a bit out of hand. This wasn't the holly bush hedge though. If you'll remember last year, you know how much I look forward to dealing with that. After cleaning up all the clippings, I got cleaned up and headed out for lunch and to get some shopping done. I hit the local mall but ended up in Huntsville where I finally found what I was looking for. Came back home and watched some racing then messed around the house a bit (which includes this blog update!).
Time for bed.
