A New Year is approaching......

Saturday I'm starting to shoot for the New Year so keep an eye on the blog. This last year has been very good with several new accounts and a couple of visits to older past clients. I'm looking for continued success with the business. The weather has played a bit of a role in the season as it is colder that I can remember it ever being. We've had little snow but the wind is stifling and almost hurts if you're out in it too long. I have to try some types of shooting this next week if the weather will allow it. I've been reviewing some information on different techniques that should result in some pretty interesting images. I did discover why my tripod leg collapsed several weeks ago.

It sounds really dumb but the clue was right in front of my nose. I stopped into a camera store that I buy some supplies from to look for a new tripod as I thought the other was shot. I explained the situation to the clerk and he asked me if I had checked the screws on the tripod legs to see if they were loose. With a blank look I said " no ". He then showed me the screws and nuts that control the tightness of the clamp that holds the legs solid. ( Never noticed them before....) He then showed me a tool that was clamped to one of the legs that held a screwdriver and a cresent hub on opposite end.
( I had noticed that, but never realized what they were for.....duh....). Amazingly enough they fit the screws holding the clamps tight and could be used to tighten them if necessary.  If the clamps would ever got loose, then the leg would collapse. AND end up costing almost $ 700.00 to repair a camera body and lens via Nikon......

Anyway....Have a great New Year...check back on the blog after the first of the year to see some new exciting images. Thanks for your continued viewing !!!!

Loch Ness found here in Tulsa

I went down to the river the other day to try to see how my camera that I just got back from Nikon was working. What a stroke of luck. I was taking an exposure to check out the shutter speeds and the Loch Bess monster appeared almost jumping out of the water !!! In my panic I must have pushed the shutter button down and to my surprise I got the exposure of a lifetime ! WHAT LUCK !! I'm going to offer it to National Geographics to see if I can get a story, what a deal !!!!!

I must be living right !!!

I got my Nikon back yesterday ! After I had sent it in the forecast was for a 4 to 6 week repair time.
I gave Nikon a call and told them I was a professional photographer and they must have slid it to the head of the line. UPS notified me that I will be receiving a package today and it must be the lens. No more walking around with a forlorn  look and the feeling of something not right. I'm going out to shoot today so look for some new images this weekend.

Spoke with Nikon....

I got a call yesterday from Nikon and it will be about a week more before I get my camera. I feel as though I'm walking around missing part of my body. I drove to Hulbert, Oklahoma yesterday to speak with a new commercial client and on the way I saw many images I wish I could have captured. But....no camera...no capture.

I also have regrets that I didn't have it Wednesday night. Adam Cain, our grandson, gave a fantastic performance in Oklahoma City at his school as part of his Senior Graduation requirements. He is a French Horn musician and was JUST AMAZING. I think he is planning to go to grad school when he finishes in the summer to get his masters. What a great future he has. I would have loved to get some shots of him playing. The intensity on his face was remarkable.

It's the coldest it has been so far however the waterfall in the Koi pond isn't frozen over. The fish are at the bottom hibernating and the pond very clear since it is too cold for the plants and algae. I finished the walnut pieces I've been working on for Christmas gifts and it will be good to see if they are well received. They are made from the trees I grew up with and have some family history connected with the. I was speaking with a "woodsman" that knows his wood and he speculated the judging from the girth of the trees that were about 500 years old. About the time the walnut sprouted, historically speaking, seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fern Pipes de Andrade was meeting with Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary. How's that for some information you didn't really ever think about. Just file it away for future reference. I guess this really shows how much I need to have my camera back......