Raining again...

I guess it's better than snow but the rain is coming down with a vengeance. I cleaned out the filter in the pond yesterday as we had a very lucky break in the weather. It almost got to 70. It's cold now and there is a forecast for a mix of rain and snow through the weekend.

I have gotten some new equipment in this past week and am looking forward to improving my delivery of images to clients. I just have to figure out how it works in "real life". It doesn't look as though a rocket scientist is necessary to use it but it must be considered that I am not the smartest rock in the box when it comes to tech issues.  We'll see.

I'll keep you posted....

Bye Fall...HELLO WINTER !!!!

Needless to say Fall didn't last...............I really dislike the Winter. Snow is a pain in the tail and I just don't like it ! I did however go out and get the last of this years last tomatoes. I really learned a lot about the growing of them. I had the right soil, mushroom media mixed in with the sandy loam of the area built up in a raised bed. I planted several varieties some which I bought already started - which turned out to be a huge disappointment - and from seeds I bought from rareseeds.com.

                                                                                                     

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This is the Large barred Boar tomatoe which is very meaty and tasted like tomatoes did when I was a kid. The seeds from Rare Seeds are non GMO thus delivering the same taste I grew up with.

The hard freeze the last couple of nights totaled what plants were remaining. I'll clean them up tomorrow when it is to get to 50 degrees or so. I've decided to lay out some more mushroom soil also and let ti sink into last years soil and it may make a difference next year in crop yield. There is also not enough sun hitting the beds so a cropping of the trees will also be done soon.

I've been working on the mobile assignment I got from the designer on OKC for a project he has done for a client. It's really much more interesting than I had anticipated. Translation....it's pretty difficult. But we all need new challenges. I'm making a 1/5 scale model for his approval as the finished piece will be 10 feet wide and 21 feet long. It will be made out of aluminum and steel and be monochromatic. It is a challenge.....  As a member of FabLab I have access to laser cutters and the tools I will need to fabricate the pieces.

The Fair...

When I was in undergraduate school I went to the County Fair and did some shooting, still having some of the shots. At that time I was toning them and selectively altering their look to give them a different sense of presence so to speak. Wandering throughout the fair in Tulsa the other night I started to do somewhat of the same thing. Grabbing images to see how they would fit in my more senior vision. Here are a couple of them that I have altered so far. It's a really different feel as to the reality.

I really like the look. Be sure to click on the images to have them enlarge.

Running sound at Cains

One of my nephews was in town several week ago running sound at the Cains Ballroom here in Tulsa. Andy has been handling Anderson Easts sound on the road for over a year traveling the United States, Northern Europe and Scandinavia. In the spring they are headed back to Europe for more gigs.
Cains Ballroom is an iconic music venue here in Tulsa having had some of the best and most famous musicians play here since 1924. Starting as a honky tonk it has grown into a first class venue here in the Midwest. I got an image of Andy in the green room waiting for Andersons time to stage up.

The green room is the R&R room set aside for the musicians to use so they may eat, shower, practice,

and rest. Available only to the musicians and their crew.

Naked ladies...

I have always valued the quality given by Nikon lenses and camera bodies. My Naked Ladies imagery says a lot about that. We had a surprise appearance of a new plant in our west bed and, as suspected, it turned out to be a Naked Lady plant that must have sprung up from the roots of a nearby bunch of them. I'm enclosing two images of the bloom and I really like the close-up almost abstract of the blooms.

By clicking on the images they will enlarge and it is really worth the time to view.

I love my job..................

Just a quick note , with more coming later...

I just checked the stats an the blog and we've had over 72,000 views !  More invisibility coming with flying included. This is going to be fun ..........

Invisibility from the past......

As I mentioned in an entry or two ago I rediscovered some invisibility images from my past. I traveled old Route 66 from Springfield, Missouri to Hemet, California to see what the Mother Road had to offer. I photographed along the way and found several of the images a few days ago. I had just started experimenting with invisibility and quite frankly had forgotten about the images with the exception of an occasional blip of a thought of them. I stopped along the way at interesting spots and a couple just for the hell of it. I photographed invisibility images throughout the trip. I just have to find them now.

One of the great memories of the trip was one roadside attraction that boasted of a very large collection of baby rattlers, possibly the largest in the world. I hate snakes but these must be penned up and not threatening so I stopped just to see the collection. Thought it might make an interesting picture. I paid the guy at the counter a buck and he directed me to a large box with screen wire over the top that was outside in the sun, adding that I should be careful. I didn't know if it was safe, the snakes could weasel out through a slight loose part of the wire, I approached slowly. No activity on the outside after careful due diligence, and I looked in over the walls of the cage. There were approximately 60 baby rattles in pink, green, cream, red, brown, you name it. It was immediately evident that something was lost in translation and I had been had. It was worth a chuckle and the realization that a little creativity can make you some money. I still hate snakes.

After 47 years invisibility returns with the addition of invisibility flying..............coming soon....

History repeats its self.......again...

In my November 6th post from last year I was doing some invisibility videos.....
I found a box of old negs from my last project in undergrad school ...... they were invisibility images. I had decided to travel down Route 66 from Springfield to Hemet California the end of the route. Along the way I decided to do some invisibility images while "on the road". I stopped at some road side attractions and did the deeds. Pretty amazing that the "invisibility" has been with me this long and just re-found. I'll get them digitized and publish some of them. You may notice that I appear somewhat younger then, I was 21 to be exact, and hoping to get into Grad school after graduation the upcoming summer. Stay tuned..............invisibility from my past is in your future.....on route 66.

Hard to believe....

I guess we all spend most of our time going through the days noticing that some are more memorable than others. I have really never considered how they stack up, one on another, some slipping away as nothing days. This weekend I'm going to my 50th high school class reunion and it really doesn't make much sense.  I'm only 18. Been that way for years.....times just been slip sliding away. Thank you Paul Simon.

I guess the true reality is that I'm on the downhill slide of life but I really don't want to recognize that fact. I am still vertical, work at something everyday, and am enjoying life as I always have. Business is still good and the challenges I meet on the job are still intriguing and fun problems to solve. I have a great wife and am surrounded by friends several of whom I have known for decades. I still look forward to the new models of cars as they come out, have a fun backyard that is soon to be finished after about 6 years of design work. Our new cat has discovered the treat of a belly rub and has started throwing herself on her back as we approach. Life is good.

I'm looking forward to this weekend, as in some cases, this may be the last time I see some of my past school mates. It seemed as though we lost some on the road so to speak but it was an occasional occurrence. More recently however there seems to be more of us cashing in the chips. My dad died when he was 63, at that time I looked at that age as being well down the road of life. How wrong I was. He was just blooming with his business and circle of friends. I'm five years older than he was and am hopefully looking to twenty or thirty more.

I can remember shooting a class reunion for one of the Jasper high school classes. I spoke with a guy about something, I can't remember what, but I do remember it was their fiftieth reunion and thinking that he was sort of old. He probably thought he was just 18.

Gone too long...

With great apologies I must say it has been too long since I posted anything. I've been just too busy. I have had work coming in from different companies ranging from headshots to location imagery. It has been wild. Also of course there was the creation of my raised tomatoe beds and the purchase of a Treager Grill.

I love tomatoes and great food, cooked well. While at a garden show two months ago a guy offered me a hamburger as we were looking at a Treager grill. After the first bite I was sold. The Treager uses pellets as opposed to gas or charcoal and cooks with the smoke generated from the pellets. The taste is phenomenal ! We have cooked steaks, fish, hamburger, hot dogs, and even a whole turkey on it and it is just amazing. The meat is juicy, tender and perfect in taste. We gave away our gas grill.

These are pictures of the grill and the finished turkey. The temperature is controlled by software contained in the pellet box on the side and more pellets are fed into the ignition area as needed. The temperature varied about 5 degrees throughout the cooking time. 

The Tomatoes....

I love tomatoes and the store bought hothouse tomatoes are really not acceptable. I built these raised beds expressly for tomatoes. Tulsa had a guy that specialized in selling heirloom tomatoes plants for years and everyone just called him the"Tomatoe Man". He passed on to the garden in the sky and is daughter is handling the business. It is now "The Tomatoe Mans" Daughter. I picked up around 24 plants to add to the starts I started from seeds I got from RareSeeds.com that are GMO seeds of different varieties. By the end of the summer we should have enough to can, stew, and eat through the winter. The guards around the beds of chicken wire are to prevent the rabbits we feed carrots to from enjoying a free lunch salad on me. It's going to be a great summer !

I love summertime and my job......!!!

The Kite....

The wind is about to carry off all of Tulsa and it reminded me that I promised to show you the kite that the Japanese kite maker made on the floor of the Palestine hotel where we stayed in Baghdad. as I said in my original post of several days ago he gave this to me as we went through customs at Norita Airport in Tokyo in 1995.

He drew it all freehand in ink with brushes. No sketching, he just started and drew it. This is one of my most prized pieces of art because of the art its self and the story behind it. He also asked for my passport, I gave it to him, and he drew the face of God in it to protect me on future journeys. That image follows soon.

About the wedding....

I had posted some thoughts concerning an upcoming wedding up a couple of weeks ago and it was a great time. I've known the the Bride and Groom for a couple of years and I really enjoyed the day. When the couple booked me several months ago I was actually wondering how the occasion would go as they were planning an outdoor wedding........IN FEBRUARY !! In the event of snow, rain, wind, and all sorts of other weather options, they did plan to have a very large tent to fall back on. On wedding day Oklahoma skies came through for us as it was mildly overcast and around 60 degrees. PERFECT !

I had scouted out the location a week or so before the wedding so I would at least know something about what I was running into. I found the location, and met with the couple and finalized the shooting plans for the wedding. I always photograph the Bride and Groom together before the wedding as well as all of the other images I can, groups, table setting and cake. This allows me time to get the images without a pending reception rushing everything along. The plan looked good and I knew where to be.....life was good. On the wedding day, as I said, the environment cooperated and everything came off with out a hitch. The best part of the event was that I was able to shoot outside in available light which allowed be to have some very good illumination for the wedding portraits.

I always take a  background with me for the formal groups and individual images. I think it just gives a more professional set of images. This doesn't mean that I use it in every shot....it just gives me options that I wouldn't have otherwise. Below are a couple of images from the wedding.

It was a very good time and I was pleased with all of the images.

Stairway through the night..

I don't think I have ever published this image for the public but the sight really amazed me. While I was in Baghdad one of the Japanese me attracted my attention. He was wearing a hat with a very broad brim like the ones Steve Fennimore wore and was obviously an artist of some sort. I couldn't speak Japanese and he spoke no english so we just nodded when we saw each other. Walking through the lobby of the Palestine Hotel, that I realized later was used by all of the traveling Diplomats and visiting dignitaries, which since has been turned into rubble, I saw a group of people gather around someone on the floor. I went over and it was the man I described looming over a large piece of rice paper. He had inkwells out and a bunch of brushes and was creating something on the rice paper.

As he progressed the image came into being of a Japanese woman with a large umbrella as a background looking back at us. It was a fantastic drawing/painting/creation. The ink dried almost immediately as it was hot and he brought out some string and bamboo and started working with the painting. When he was finished I saw one of the most amazing Kites I had ever seen. THIS GUY WAS A KITE MAN - LIKE ME !!!!

I have always loved kites and have had some great times just watching them in the air. With Spring around the corner I'll get some out that fly in ways you have probably never seen. One of the ways is as a "train" That is a multitude or just several kites on one line streaking to the sky. This is the first one I had ever seen and it was flown outside of the soccer stadium in Baghdad. This is one of those images I feel very lucky to have captured because of the place, the people, and circumstance. As we were going home through Tokyo, he came up to me and gave me the kite he made on the floor of the Hotel. I have it framed and will try to have a picture of it in my blog soon.

There were over 500 kites on that one line and he made them all....

I love my job.....

Today we surpass 70,000 views.....

It's really amazing how many views I'm getting when I add a new image to the blog. Yesterday I had over 300 views which I find just incredible. Who'd a thunk ??? I'll have another image of a building exterior tomorrow if it doesn't rain this afternoon. The weather is finally getting friendly with some much needed rain. We really need it badly. Tune in tomorrow for the new  image. Thanks for your support. That averages out to 158 views per entry......

The PACE Center at TCC

I was asked by a potential client in Dallas to furnish them with an example of how I would shoot the interior of a performing arts center. This images are of the Performing Arts Center from Tulsa Tech here in town. The images are a composite of 8 separate images blended together to complete the 180 degree look. Click on the images to see a larger view.

I love my job !

Fresh Carrots...

With Spring on the way I happened to think that it might be appropriate to post an image associated with gardening. I've seen these carrots in the store many times and have wondered if there was a taste difference from the standard orange carrots. So we bought a bunch to check it out. Yes !!! There is a subtile difference between the colors. But what I find fun is the color they add to our salads. I guess it's like a carrot Easter Egg hunt with the color but not the eggs. I'll have to think about that.

I did get some exciting news today however. Towards the end of the month I have a client that is delivering to me approximately 4 castings of her sculptures to be photographed for her new catalogue. That is really exciting to me. I love to photograph difficult images and sculpture fills that bill. Lighting is of utmost importance as wells color due to the platina on the pieces. It's going to be fun and interesting to say the least.

Try to remember that Spring isn't far away.....

Cold weather but time to have an indoor shoot.......

The weather outside is absolutely horrible. It's very cold, when the wind blows temps streak downwards, it's just not fun. Tonight we are expecting a touch of snow but that's OK. We have had little measurable snow so far this winter.  Tomorrow I've got an interesting shoot lined up here in the studio. Come back tomorrow and see what has transpired....................

An amazing sight seen in town...

There are times when it is a really lucky break when you have your camera with you. Coming back from a short time in Branson we passed through Carthage for a look at the present state of affairs in town. I always look at my old building which is slowly self destructing due to the lack of the present owner not keeping  a good eye on maintenance. Window panes are missing and covered with what looks like cardboard, and the front doors are in great need of sanding and refinishing. Truly tragic that such a fine building would be allowed to waste away such as it is. The building is 135 years old and you must keep up with the normal fix ups such as paint and replacement of exterior pieces or it will fall down through neglect. So sorry for it's present state. We rounded to corner and approached the square to see another amazing sight. Thank God I had my camera....

I hope everything is still under control..............and hopefully.........it's only a movie....