My family and I went for a walk along some trails. Along the way there were a couple of concrete paths and out in the middle of no-where was this spray painted on the ground...Big Fun...not sure what it's purpose was, but, we were having big fun during our fall walk.
A shrine in Central Park to John Lennon.
So, I was able to visit New York a couple of months ago. My shooting that week was horrible. I had stabbed myself in the hand with a knife about 4 days before I left (a whole other story of my total lack of common sense sometimes) so I was popping pain pills. Plus I couldn't grasp the trigger of my tripod without grimacing. Overall I was super disappointed with the shots I got there. I don't know if it was the pain pills or lack of sleep, but I also shot a bunch of stuff at ISO 1600 for some stupid reason. Anyways, I hope I get to go back sometime with a clearer head and fully functional hand!
Watch this one Dad...ok, watch this one...ok, here's a good one...
As we walked along the winding trail we came to a wide open area. It was mostly tall green grass with an occasional cat tail sticking up. There were some dead dried up flowers, but then there was this one lone flower. It seemed so out of place and wierd.
I visited Cleveland, Ohio a couple of days ago. It's a neat city, too bad they didn't make it to the World Series!
From the calm and serenity of Central Park to the congestion and grittiness of the New York Subway.
So, I got to visit New York city this past week. Wow, it's a very different place from where I live. I'll expound more later, but for now, I'll just say Wow! Out of the noise and apparent chaos we found ourselves in Central Park. It's a huge and amazingly quiet and peaceful place in the middle of New York, Manhattan to be specific. The anxiety and craziness of the city seemed to fade away behind us, and I was glad! :)
I really miss getting out and shooting, but I'm working a second job, doing some web programming stuff in the evenings and it's eating up all my free time. The rest of my free time goes to my family and Church. I'm scheduled to be done in February so I can get back to shooting again around then. In the meantime I try and do some here and there. Thanks for stopping by!
I know it seems I've fallen off the face of the earth, but really I haven't. I've been working more hours than I care to think about and have little time for much. But, I did manage to get away with my family last week and we ventured to St. Louis where we visited their Zoo, the Arch and other touristy sorts of things. I also managed to break out my D70 and blew the dust off it to snap some shots, nothing too inspiring, but it was fun non-the-less.
Play-Doh is hours of creative fun for my kids. It's fun for me just to sit there and watch their little minds spin as they decide what to make and what shapes to form. Good stuff...
I shot this while wondering around the countryside near Las Vegas. The sun was setting behind the rocks which made the backsides light up. The countryside was way more interesting than Las Vegas itself! Man I'd like to get out and do some shooting! :)
Shiny rust doesn't really make much sense as far as titles go, but I always go with the first title that pops into my head when I look at a shot, no matter how non-nonsensical it may be. I've been doing some extra work in the evenings, so I have absolutely no time to shoot or process stuff I have shot. It stinks not having more time, but the extra money is nice.
My nephew looking for easter eggs on a cold easter afternoon.
One plastic cup, some water, some soap and a straw = babysitter for 6 kids for 1 hour.
I bought a 2006 Volkswagen Jetta last week. It's great to have a new car (except when the payment comes around). Our old car was costing me too much money.
For the life of me I can't remember what this guy was saying. You'd think he was talking about fishing based on his hand gestures, but, we were at the Grand Canyon and nowhere near water. I wasn't actually paying attention at the moment, I was just amused by his mannerisms and how intently everyone was listening to him.
I hadn't ever tried stacking a polorizer and a neutral density filter to get the smooth water, but it worked well here even for being almost noon with little cloud coverage. In the past I had always shot in lower light (like at sunset)with long exposures which works but you run the risk of the other areas in the shot not being as sharp because of slight movements. Another benefit to doing it this way and at this time of the day is you don't have to fight with bugs as much!
Hooray for decent weather! I finally got to get out and do some shooting! I wandered around the Springfield downtown area for awhile. I didn't get as many good shots as I had hoped for, but it was sure relaxing. Plus I finally got to use my new Manfrotto 3021 tripod and 3265 Grip action head and man I love it! It's so...steady and well controlled. I also tried out my new infrared lens filter, but I must have been doing something wrong because I got a bunch shots that look like something from an acid trip or something. They all came out a weird pinkish red tint. I'll have to do some research on that later!
...and I couldn't be happier! I saw these little guys poking up through my neighbor's yard and I thought...I need to take a picture of that. I haven't been shooting much lately. Been doing a bunch of reading about photography, but no shooting.
All those faces all looking at the same exact place. From a recent MSU game.
Psalms 4:8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.
What was your first thought when you saw this picture? Don't be shy, you aren't going to hurt my feelings. Did the caption sway what you feel or think? Do you like it when a photoblog has more than just a picture each day? To me it's not that great a shot, technically, but I've been thinking more and more that getting and posting the perfect shot isn't the end goal. The hotel holds no particular significance. But, it takes me back to a day and a feeling. A day and a feeling that you didn't experience, but that's the blog part of photoblog I guess.
Luckily this mess is over, though I see they are calling for more ice this week. Hopefully not as much as last time.
While the ice had still coated everything I finally got out and took some pictures. I grabbed my kenko extension tubes and found some interesting things before getting too cold to shoot anymore!
I think the recent cold weather here has frozen my photoblogging as well as my blog! Maybe I'll get thawed out and get to work?
This is the tip of a branch from one of the trees in my front yard. The ice is finally all gone leaving a couple of my trees pretty well demolished. We've finally got electricity back. 12 days without electricity is a wierd experience. :)
He stood there almost daring me to try and pass him.
I'm still stuck with no electricity at home and more ice and snow falling today. A week and a day without power now.
It's wierd how disrupted life gets without the everyday things! :) I'm warm and have food though so I'm doing good.
This is another shot from my trip to Vegas. I braved the cold yesterday and snapped some shots of the ice left from the recent ice storm.
But, alas, I haven't the energy to work on them. Besides looking at pictures of this mess doesn't sound like fun just yet.
Update: 01.17.07 Sorry I haven't been posting for the past week or so. We are covered in a blanket of ice right now. I still don't have power at my house and it probably won't be back on for several days. Thanks for stopping by!
Brandon taking aim at the Grand Canyon. If you ever get the chance to see the Grand Canyon I highly recommend going, it's well worth the visit.
It was a really fun time driving around in the Nevada desert in this Mustang. This was certainly one of the best parts to my trip to Vegas by far.
On my recent trip to Vegas I went out of the city to explore the desert area that surrounds it. Not far from Vegas was a really neat area called Red Rock Canyon and they have some visitor areas around it where you can walk on paths and such. They had these wooden paths so you wouldn't trample on the vegetation, it was a really cool area. The sand in that area was a trip, it was super smooth sand and was a dark red color.
I badly want to go back and spend more time around the beaches in the Malibu area, the sunset was stunning. Here in Missouri we don't have cool bodies of water like that. We have silly Lake Springfield, blah! :)
I sure wish I had more time when I went to the ocean. I would have traded going to Vegas for going to the beaches around Malibu in a heart beat! I wish the rocks were more in focus, but I was so frantic by the time we reached the ocean and the sun was setting. I couldn't find my remote and my crappy tripod was giving me fits. I just wasn't relaxed and I really regret that now.
Crazy Brandon...We recently drove from Vegas to the Grand Canyon. I thought for a moment that I would be driving back alone if he didn't get himself back away from the edge!
Kinda wish I hadn't cut off the r in Hummer, but oh well. They had an off road track setup and I got to drive this H2 around it. There were some crazy inclines and other obstacles to get over. After that I drove a new Vette and that was fun too.
More from Las Vegas. The sky there is just crazy. I didn't do much to the sky in Photoshop and I wasn't using a polarizer either.
This is the Casino/Hotel where the WinConnections conference was held that I attended a couple of weeks ago in Las Vegas. Pretty cool place one of my favorite buildings there. Shot with my new 10-20 Sigma lens, which I'm liking alot! I thought about fixing the distortion, but I like it this way. :)
Check out a picture of Brandon and I at the Grand Canyon over at Brandon's site. I'm the one with the Navy Pier sweater.
Not content with seeing just the Grand Canyon we decided it would be cool to drive from the Grand Canyon to the Pacific Ocean. Not a terribly long drive, but tiring none-the-less. It was certainly worth it to see this magnificent sunset, which we came close to missing!
I'm almost hesitant to post any of my shots from the Grand Canyon. They just don't seem to really capture the size and beauty of that area. If you ever get a chance to visit it you should. You quickly realize that God is huge and beautiful. I almost posted this in black and white because it looks cool, but I wanted to show the colors in this amazing area.
I visited an Ansel Adams exhibition while here in Vegas and was highly moved by his images. I love the tones in his black and white images. When you think about the equipment he used while shooting you have to be impressed. I wonder what he would think of the digital cameras we use today compared to the huge equipment he carried.
One of the many really nice hotel/casinos here in Vegas. I'm going to guess by the grandeur and splendor of the casinos and other attractions that most people must lose a lot of money here. I still haven't tried my hand at the gambling, mostly because as I walk through the casinos it doesn't seem like most people are having very much fun. The ones that look like they are having fun are drunk and probably don't realize the money they are losing. Not that everyone here loses money, but you don't walk along and see lots of people hitting the jackpot. I guess it's like any other pastime that can get out of hand quickly.
Las Vegas is certainly a different kind of place. I'm not particularly crazy about the main strip where the casinos and such are. The casinos and hotels themselves are interesting architecturally. One thing I don't get are the numerous young people standing on the street handing out cards with mostly naked women. It's kinda sad really. Then these cards are thrown on the ground so you end up walking on hundreds of them. I most like getting out of the city and seeing the desert and mountains. The landscape reminds me how incredibly awesome our God is. The trashing of women that goes on here reminds me about how badly the majority of people need God in their lives.
John 12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
Nothin special...just playing with a 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC Sigma lens. I'm heading to Las Vegas this weekend and wanted a lens that would give some good wide shots. We plan on heading to the Grand Canyon and thought this lens would come in handy around that area. I'm digging it so far. Check back next week for some shots from Vegas. My hope is to find some really cool stuff around that area.
I actually picked up my camera and took some shots this weekend...it felt good.
I'm slowing down posting lately, if you hadn't noticed. Instead of trying to post something everyday on days when I just don't have anything I like, I've decided to just not post. I'm sort of taking a breather and will only be posting every couple of days or so. I plan on diving back in full boar in the coming weeks.
This girl was treating the pigeons around downtown Chicago as pets. She kept breaking pieces of bread and sprinkling them all over herself and the birds would walk around on her and eat. Not sure this would be sanctioned by most health departments.
I just want to swing...
Black and White or color?
Also, are these HDR type shots interesting or trite?
I should have framed him a bit better, maybe not so centered.
