D116: Special Delivery

Mr. Hooker, I have a delivery for you. Please sign here.

signs & then opens package...

Prescription-strength reality, take with water.


Life can be looked at much the same as a mathematical equation. If things aren't adding up, you're probably overlooking a variable.

Do you give up? Hell no, you keep plugging along. You dust yourself off, pick up your camera, and keep shooting. When Thomas Edison was working on a better light bulb, he didn't just find a solution. He also found a thousand ways NOT to make a light bulb.

In much the same way that I like my "horribly bad" photos, I also like my "mistakes" in life. Everything in this life can be turned into a learning opportunity. You just have to change your way of thinking.

Did you have a photoshoot go horribly wrong? Learn from it & move on.
Have you been stricken with debt due to GAS(Gear Acquisition Syndrome)? Make your "debt" work for you.

The point is, innovation isn't born out of complaining & pessimism. When one door closes... make your OWN door! Climb out the window! Do whatever it takes to keep the forward momentum going.

Manual: Page 114 - Single Image Playback

Images:Karlin Connell
This morning I took a look at Karlin's family images. Just what I needed to brighten up the day! I have a family shoot coming up this spring with a family that is very dear to my heart, and she inspired some new ideas to really communicate the bond that this family has.


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D115: Getting Out Of My Comfort Zone

This mon-fri I decided to confine myself to the east side of our downtown area for my images.

The rules are simple:
1. All travel has to be done on foot
2. I can only shoot with my 50mm
3. I can only use the available light

I'm hoping this will help me overcome my "composition block" I've been experiencing. My hindsight is a perfect 20/20 when it has come to composition lately. I'll be editing in post and realize a few little tweaks I should have done. Its not just about getting-it-right in-camera, I'm also working on getting-it-right in my head.

After I was satisfied with today's image, I stopped at the coffee shop inside of our local co-op. If you read my posts, you know that I'm a huge supporter of local businesses, so stopping in was a no-brainer. I enjoyed a great cup of coffee and I'm thinking perhaps I'll do this week's posts from there?

Manual: Page 113 - More About Playback

Images:Dan Mitchell
Today I took a look at Dan's nature images. Great stuff there, reminded me that I need to start planning my summer photo weekends.


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D114: I Hate Sugar!

Or at least I hate the fact that I like sugar. I avoid sugar as much as humanly possible, and I generally refuse to buy anything candy related. I do well enough at avoiding it, but when I do partake I usually get sick.

Kind of a fitting punishment, don't ya think?

Well today was filled with things far more important than me taking pictures, so I decided to take a shot of "S'mores Delight". Its from a local popcorn shop here in town. They've been in business for about 7 years, and I stop in ever few months to say hi, and pick up some popcorn. Sure, I could get popcorn for way way cheaper at the grocery store, but that is not what my visits are about.

My visits are about supporting local business.

The internet has become a valuable tool in keeping many retail markets competitive. However, I feel that we are too quick to look to the internet to save a buck or two. You might have saved $2.23 on that new book you wanted, but what does it cost you in the long run? Local Mom & Pop operations are a dying breed, and that makes me a little sad. There is an intrinsic value to shopping at a store where they know your name year after year.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you should NEVER buy things online. I buy things online from time to time, especially when I can't find them locally. If I can't find a substantial discount online, along with some good service, I keep my dollars here in town.

That's just me.

Manual: Page 120 - Taking A Closer Look: Playback Zoom

Images:Luis VallecilloLuis is amazing with his lighting. That is one area that I am completely lacking on the equipment side.


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D113: Meet Me In St. Louis

My sister's boyfriend is the drama teacher at one of our local high schools, and this weekend was his big musical production. We decided to go support him, and had a great time in the process.

I'm a huge fan of supporting local arts, its the creative in me. In fact, that's probably why I'm also drawn to other creative types. Without artists, we would have no culture in the world. Where would we be without Van Gogh, Shakespeare, Ansel Adams and countless others?

The musical was actually really good, beyond anything that I would expect from high-school students. If you don't have plans on Monday night, go see their closing show!












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D112: Really?!

*DISCLAIMER* If you are easily offended, you may not want to read today's post. These are strictly my opinions, and mine alone.

Tonight I sit at my desk distracted by many things, including the content of today's image. While I was driving around town I saw a home with a confederate flag hung in the front window. I quickly rolled down the window, parked, set my exposure, shot, then drove off.

Typically I would have spent more time getting the shot right, but I didn't want to chance dealing w/ the owners of the home. Being a brown man makes me annoyed when I see things like this being displayed, but I also don't want to start a conflict where I am outnumbered.

Which brings me to tonight's question. Have you ever had personal experience with racism?

I have a few friends that tote around the cliche "I don't see color" when the topic of race comes up. I think that would be a wonderful world to live in. However, that is not the world we live in. Every friend that has said that to me has been Caucasian. A white kid growing up in a small white town is going to have few problems when it comes to discrimination.

I grew up as a brown kid, born to a mixed-race couple, in a small white town. I was being subjected to discrimination & racism before I could even understand what it was. Most kids that gave me problems had no idea that I was Hawaiian, so they simply chose whatever racial slur they could think of. By no means was this an everyday occurrence, but it was something that I grew up with.

As a young child I understood that some of my friends were darker than me, but most of my friends were lighter. I didn't realize that this actually signified ANYTHING, until other neighborhood kids informed me it did. I think we need to spend more time thinking about what behaviors we are passing on to our kids.

In my adult life, one particular experience stands out. I was fishing with two good friends on a river in northern Idaho, and we decided to take a lunch break at the only cafe for miles. As my two friends(both Caucasian) walked into the cafe, they were met with smiles and passing glances. When I walked in behind them, THE WORLD STOPPED SPINNING. I kid you not, the entire place went silent. I think the grill even stopped sizzling. My friends asked me if I wanted to leave, but I assured them that this was where we were eating lunch. Other than the occasional stare, we had a great lunch and continued our fishing trip.

I don't agree with racism.
I don't agree with stereotypes.
I do realize that they still exist.
I do hope for a day that they only exist in history books.

Your thoughts?

Manual: Page 153 - Custom Setting 22: Monitor Off

Images:Carmen Stansberry
I stumbled across Carmen's site this evening, and I was really blown away by some of her work. There is an image of a little girl sitting on some steps, and it is just awesome.


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D111: Cursed

I partly blame Gabrielle Geiselman. The rest of the blame rests on me for not breaking the rules today.

Gabrielle has talked about the funk you sometimes get in after you produce some really great images. Well every time I look at my image from day 109, I fall even more in love with it. I can't really explain what it is. It just works for me. It works so well that I'm having it printed on canvas.

Crazy, I know.

Anyways, I'm not really having a creative block, I'm just uninspired. While traveling home from a morning meeting out of town, I pulled over at a rest stop. This particular rest stop has some massive lava bluffs, so I wanted to try and get a nice landscape shot. I initially ignored the sign that said the trails were closed during the winter and headed up the trail. Then I came to a large gate that sternly read "TRAIL CLOSED". Super easy to walk around, but this would be a little hard to explain. You can't exactly miss seeing a huge gate across the trail.

Maybe I'll head up there one morning and sneak in for a sunrise shot!

Manual: Page 198 - Troubleshooting

Images:Jeremy Cowart
I never EVER get tired of looking at Jeremy's work, he is crazy talented. I'm truly inspired by so many of his images. It doesn't hurt that he's pretty much one of the most amazing human beings, either.


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D110: I Promised Myself I Wouldn't

Yeah, so about that. Tonight is a filler image fo sho. I got wrapped up in some charity work I do, and the day completely got away from me.

I've had this random bag of animal hair in my closet for years. I bought it for fly-tying, the kind of thing you do when you fly-fish. I used to fly-fish a lot, but I haven't done much of it in the last 2 1/2 years. Don't get me wrong, I love to fish; however, I have a hard time doing anything outside anymore without my camera strapped to my hand. Oh well.

I'm hitting the sack early tonight, in hopes of an earrrrrrly morning at the gym!

Manual: Page 196 - Caring For Your Camera And Battery

Images:Gabrielle Geiselman
I know that I just reviewed Gabrielle a month ago, but I listed to her interview with Ron Dawson today. For some reason I totally look at another photographer's work differently when I hear the back-story behind the images. It was fitting to look at her work again due to the fact that some friends of mine are putting together a band, and they want me to do the pics.


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