Portraits Abound

White backdrop, $20. Light, stands, umbrellas, and backdrop holder, $250. Love after over 55 years, priceless.



I had to shoot some portraits for Steph and I tonight and do some for a girl she works, Carly with and her daughter Brenna tonight. We did them out at her grandparents house because we didn't have enough room in our apartment. On a whim I decided to go ahead and take her grandparents portrait while I had everything still set up.

This was my favorite picture that I ended up with. Along with the one of Steph and me. I hope Steph and I are young enough and still as much in love as Jim and Audrey are at 73 years old too.

I've been going full boar photos lately. I'm really excited to have the motivation to do a lot of work. I'm really pushing myself to come up with a plan to possibly open my own portrait studio eventually. It may still take a year or two, but I would really like to work for myself if I never work for a paper.

Even then I would still like to work for a paper. It could give me the time to do what I want when I want. I can make my own hours and dictate my own wages by how hard I work. I'm really going to push an at home portrait studio this next year. Another one of my many goals for the new year that I'm working on. I only completed half of last year's but at least I got those.

I also have some stuff from the basketball game the other night where I got to use my White Lightning for the first time in a while. First time for a basketball game too. It was so funny to see how many people freaked out because of the lights. None of them had really seen a lighting system like mine before. I'll add them after the paper gets published on Tuesday. I don't want to step on any toes.

Typical Day Off

Steph looks very cute with her snowman. One of these days she'll get sick of being my model.


I just wanted to play with my strobes tonight even though I don't have my radio slaves yet. Nothing too new in the works right now. I spent my day off the same way I always do. Breakfast at Olive Branch, laundry at the laundromat, exercise, video games, and then television. I unfortunately missed 'The Office.'

To those of you who don't know, Stephen got engaged this week. Congrats to him and Mallory. They're getting married about 3 weeks before mine. He's making me look really bad because he's getting married earlier than me, but I've been engaged for over a year.

I actually got to listen to my photography history class podcast today. I'm really getting down with it. I'm hoping I get the book for the class that I wanted for Christmas. I'm not actually enrolled, but I can follow along with it and email with questions just like I was participating.

I also signed up for satellite television today. I'm excited to actually have shows to watch other than Will and Grace, which is on right now by the way.

Snow Day!

At least I accomplished something on my snow day.



Today was a snow day from my job. I didn't get plowed out of my apartment until 4:30 today. It was kind of nice because I got to play my game all day and watch movies, but I wish I would have done a little more with my day. I should have gone out and shot more photos of snow related things for the paper, but I just didn't have the motivation to go out. Who knows if they would have used it anyway.

One thing good is that the apartment is pretty much spotless. Steph and I took a trip to the video store and rented Me You and Dupree. It was a pretty good choice. A lot funnier than I thought it would be. The guys that did the soundtrack for it were awesome. I looked them up on IMDB and found they had actually done a lot of good soundtracks.

I think my favorite was the use of the band "The 88." I heard this band on another soundtrack a long time ago and forgot about them until now. If you get a chance check them out.

I also filled my day with watching a few more episodes of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." Charlie Day has become one of my favorite comics.

Thanksgiving Going to the Dogs

Faith gets in on the Thanksgiving festivities Thursday.

It was so nice to have today off and spend it with Steph and her family. Normally when I have days off they're not on the same days as Steph. Tomorrow starts the craziness. I'm not sure how this is going to go for work.

People are absolutely insane on Black Friday. I will be glad when the holiday season is done. I enjoy the money, but it's just such a hectic time. I can't even imagine what the few days before Xmas will be like.

I really wish my radio slaves would show up from Ebay. Gadgetinfinity is where I bought them, but they can only ship to the address shown on Paypal. Since it was listed at my old address in Charleston it went there. I don't know where they package is now. I really want to play with the couple of strobes I have.

Well I'm going to get ready for bed now because all the food has made me sleepy and Steph is getting up at 3:30 am to go shopping. I KNOW, INSANE!

Recovered iPod+Photos+Day Off= :)

I know it's b/w and I said I was going to stray away from it, but I couldn't help myself

Good news for me today. I found my iPod. Well, okay, I didn't actually find it, but the guy who lives below apparently picked it up off the ground the other night. I went door to door with a flyer this afternoon to look for it and sure enough he had it. I thought it was gone forever. I have to admit being a pessimist I thought someone stole it out of my car, but it looks like I was absent-minded once again. Either way, it's back and I can continue listening to podcasts.

My day off was pretty typical other than that. I worked on the Will Chiropractic website a little. The basics are finished up. Now all I need to do is create all the individual pages. It's going to be pretty soon that it's up now.

I also took pictures at Wills Chiropractic Ladies Night at Hickory Grove Conference Center. It was a really nice turn out for them. I'll post a few more pics from it when I get them. I tried to cover like a news event as much as possible, but this photo kind of caught me off guard. I've been really considering doing a photo story dealing with elderly people. I don't know my angle and I don't know how I'll go about approaching the story, but hopefully I can get some input and suggestions. I was really hoping to go with an Alzheimer's angle simply because my grandfather is suffering from it.

Either way I loved the beauty of this picture. It's not overly done. It's simple and the lines and the glasses say so much to me. This is also the first time I've really used my own camera since it came back.

My battery grip for it is sitting at the camera store. Now I just need $160 to buy it. My stroboframe is also there. Stephen also took my idea and made it his own by adding the lights behind the droplets. I think we both wanted more of each other's photos. I wanted more lights to get his effect and he wanted more droplets to get my effect.

P.S. Random Thought: If you haven't heard the new Plus 44 album check it out now.

Raining in Rockford

Rain drops collect on the corner of a window in Lundgren Camera store in Rockford Ill., on Friday November 11, 2006.

My camera finally came back earlier this week. A little more expensive than I had planned, but I had a small glitch with my pop-up flash. I don't ever use my pop-up flash, but I can't stand to have something wrong with it, so I paid the extra $80 to have it done. The sensor clean turned out pretty good too. I haven't had a chance to try it on my macro box which will be the real teller because of the all white background, but I'm happy for now.

Unfortunately the picture above is not actually from my camera, but another one from the store. I really like the macro feature of the Fuji F650 camera we have in stock. It doesn't work as well as a 100mm Macro lens, but does the job for the most part. I actually made a black and white version of the same photo, but I put the color one up on here because I feel I rely on black and white too much.

I bought a few of the radio slaves from Ebay the other night. They should be here in a few days. I'm so excited. I can't wait to use them. I'm going to try a few portraits with Steph whenever I get them.

The other big excitement of the week is I got to go skating for the first time in forever. Now that I finally have insurance at work I'm not scared of breaking my arm needing some stitches. Maybe I'll actually make some friends down there or get some cool photos at least. Unfortunately it's now cold as hell so there will be very few people down there. ***Sighhhhh*** So goes my life.

Getting Things Done Actually!

Give me some suggestions for improving this picture please. I like it, but want to add some flare. If nothing else constructive criticism never hurt me.


My camera is being cleaned in Chicago because of all the dust spots, but that means I've actually done some work. Not having my camera around has forced me to get some work done. I'm finishing up the sorority photos this weekend. If Herff Jones hadn't messed up my shipping address once again I would have them completely done.

Secondly I finally edited my stuff from Lindsey and Kristi's wedding as well. After I finished that stuff I was able to start working with IMovie HD. For being a free program it works pretty smoothly. Obviously I would like to have Adobe Premier, but beggars can't be choosers at this point.

Thirdly, I was able to work on the Wills Chiropractic site a little bit that I'm helping them build. It's nothing super fancy, but since the average users will be 55+ years old I think it will work pretty nicely.

Lastly, I edited Dana's photos from our last session about 2 weeks ago. I think her senior pictures are turning out pretty nice. Right now I have a solid 3 or 4 that I really like. I need to come up with at least 1 more for me to be happy. I think I'm going to plan a winter one with a heavy black and white influence. I need to find a really cool old stairwell though.

I'll throw up the link for the movie I made as soon as it's done rendering for the web. As soon as the site is complete I'll put that link up too.

The drawback to not having my camera right now is that I'm actually in the mood to try some creativing lighting stuff. I need to order my eBay slave remotes though so I can play with them. I always want something more, but is there anything wrong with that?

Foreign Substance on the Lawn

I woke up yesterday morning to find a white foreign substance on the ground. Since it's not winter yet I know it can't possibly be snow. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.



I think someone dropped their cocaine all over my lawn. It could also be a white confetti plane that exploded over the whole upper Illinois area. I just know that I can't possibly be snow because it only snows in the winter.

Where to start? Well, I've been busy. Mostly lost in my own world lately. That's the Harry Potter world I mean. Yes, I'm a dork. I've decided to completely quit denying it. I'm on the 4th book in about 3-4 weeks. I have 2 more to go, but this one is 734 pages long. I'm doing my last wedding of the season tomorrow and then the camera gets sent off to Canon ASAP to be cleaned and checked. I'm going to cry when I have to send it out. At least when I get it back it will be dust free. I've come to the conclusion that I really need to get another camera for backup. I just don't know if I want to get the 30D or the XTi or if I want to go balls to the walls and save up for a Mark II. Christmas hint to everyone. If you have about $3000 sitting around throw me a bone.

Derek's wedding was 2 weeks ago. I got some more really nice stuff from his wedding. Maybe not having my camera around will mean that I can edit all that stuff and some of Lindsey and Kristi's stuff finally so I can get both of them their wedding gifts.

I went to Jon's bachelor party in Crystal Lake last night. We started out and went to Giorgio's followed by a club called Crystal's at the Holiday Inn. I had a blast. It was nice to hang out with some guys. Just wish the club had more ventilation. You never notice things like that until you're no longer a smoker.

I'm going to post some galleries of stuff I've been working on soon. I have some product shots that I worked on for Steph's office, but more importantly I need to work on the website I'm building for them and my own site.

Shit, is what I really need is a photo job.

Geese in February-Obviously I'm Bored Tonight

Here's the pic for the day. Just another archive photo.



I just wanted to play with the sepia filter in Photoshop CS. Actually does a really nice job in my opinion. I may look at another few methods to switching it. I'm still trying to figure out how Stephen makes his black and white pop like it does.

I've had more requests for weddings now. The question to myself is do I go ahead and book them now or wait. The wedding's not until April, but my boss wants me to lay off doing weddings as I'm required to be there on the weekends. I'm not sure what to do because I can rake in a grand in a day doing them, but I can't upset my boss. I also would like to find another job by then with a paper so who knows about that even.

Or do I say the hell with it, and open my own studio and do it full time. Opening a studio could be so freaking scary. Not knowing where your paycheck will be coming from. Sure it would be nice to work for myself and there would be times where money would be rolling in, but when it would be lacking how would I handle it. I'm a person that likes a sense of security. Honestly, if I didn't have a lot of college bills it would be much easier to start, but I have an obligation to get those paid off. *sigh* So many choices....

Back with the Boys

This kid is one bad motha. Tony Gullli is quite possibly the United States most photogenic guy.



Just wanted to throw up an old archived photo. I started going through my old photos on my day off today and absolutely loved this one. I don't think I've ever taken a bad photo of him. Eventually once all photos are up I might make a gallery of just Tony Gulli.

Anyway, I went down to Charleston the other day to shoot bid day photos. I had a great time. I did 6 of the 9 houses at school. Everything seemed to go as planned. Now I just have to hope for a lot of orders.

After working it was time for a little R&R with the boys. It was really nice to see all the guys. I have to congratulate myself for hanging with everyone even though I don't drink all that much anymore. I made it until about 1:45 am when it was definitely time to pass out.

I hadn't played flippy cup in over a year but don't worry. I brought my 'A' game all the way from Rochelle. (Even though I was on the B team.) It was no contest. I did however lose my voice from screaming 'Chug and Flip' from the top of my lungs. Always a good time.

Sometimes I need reminded that it's not about the camera and more about seeing the situation. This picture was taken with a $150 camera.



Just throwing up a quick photo as an update. I went to play some pool the other night with Steph, Julie, her new boyfriend Ryan and Laura. Had a great time and got to know Ryan quite a bit. Him and I actually have a lot in common.

Nothing new really going on in my life right now though. I have a wedding coming up in a week. I should have an update on the website soon after then.

I'll also be giving an update on my reading excursion soon as well.

Starved Rock

I love Starved Rock



I finally made a trip to Starved Rock the other night with a few of the guys from work. I haven't posted in a really long time so I figured I would at least throw up a new photo or two for the one person who probably looks at this.

I also started playing with an 87A infrared filter. Check out the photo here. Unfortunately, we only have one for a 56mm lens and no step or step down rings that fit my lenses so I did this. I stepped it down to a 49mm. Then added a Step up ring up to 56mm and then added the 87A on top of that. Not very effecient but funny none the less. Never realized how long you have to expose a photo for when using it.

I'm really excited because I got my new 50mm f/1.8 lens today. The crispness is amazing. I'm in the process of updating my website. It will probably take some time and a few more jobs to be able to put up examples but I'm working on the layout of it right now. As soon as I get a basic layout I will post it. Anyone with photo sites they look feel free to pass them along so I can get ideas.

I will try to update tomorrow. As if you cared!

One quick mention too. If your into podcasts check out Stephen Haas new podcast at www.jg-tc.com. I've already started subscribing to his blogs over iTunes. If enough people support his podcast and complain to his boss maybe they'll get him some equipment for better recording sounds. Good job on the first though Stephen.

Lindsey is Officially an Old Man.

Congratulation Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey Thompson.



Steph and I left for Zion after she got off work Thursday night and we headed up to Zion, Ill., for my cousin Lindsey's wedding. The first night was obviously the rehearsal and hanging out with friends and family.

We stayed at Country Inn and Suites the first night. Lindsey, Scott, Jason, and I stayed in one room and Christy, Brittany, and Steph stayed in the other room. It was a really nice time. Lindsey and I stayed up until about 3 am just talking about all the crazy things we used to do as kids. We go over these things every time we get together, but it never fails to entertain us for hours. There's things that I completely forget until he brings it up and then it seems like it was just yesterday.

The next day we got up, got some breakfast, and got ready to go over to the beach resort. We got checked into our room and started getting everything ready for the ceremony and reception. I felt so bad for Lindsey. He was trying to take everything on himself. The groom shouldn't have to be worried about those things. He's got enough on his mind as it is. Everything got settled down though and the ceremony went wonderfully. Christy looked beautiful.

My best man speech went well. I left out a few things I would have liked to say, but when you're in front of everyone and nervous you can only do so much. I know I made at least one person cry in the audience, but it doesn't really count if it's my fiance. (She cries at almost anything.)

The rest of the ceremony was great. Our side of the family controlled the dance floor from beginning to end. What can I say, we like to dance crazy and drunk. All in all, everything was awesome. Couldn't have asked for a better time or a better day. I'll be adding some more photos as i get them edited. It's going to take me a little time, but I'll make sure to update.

Patient Appreciation Day

The irresistable face painting shot. Doesn't matter how many times you shoot it, the lighting always looks beautiful when you do these shots for some reason. Just wish everything you could shoot had this kind of soft natural light.



Yesterday was the Wills Chiropractic patient appreciation day. It ran from around 1o am to 2 pm. Unfortunately I was only able to shoot until 11:30 because I had to go to work by noon. I love the fact that I get to pull my camera out every couple of days and sometimes daily. I'm getting ready for Steph's sister's senior portraits. I need to find a few more places and wait for a day that she is free. I really need to get it done soon though.

I should be starting a freelance thing with the Rochelle News Leader soon. I'm just going to do it part-time until something more permanent comes along. I can work on my portfolio for a little bit and hopefully make a change in the level of journalism done here.

I don't really want to quit my job at the camera store because I really like it, so hopefully I can do both for a couple of months until I'm ready to quit completely. Either way I just want to start my own business eventually. I'm really coming to learn how important it is for me to be my own boss.

Breaking In Again

Rochelle firefighters wait around to clean up a gas spill at a station on Illinois Route 38 on Thursday August 3, 2006 near Rochelle, Ill. Firefighters estimate about 60 gallons leaked onto the pavement.



I covered my first breaking news assignment today in about 4 months. Though I'm actually not working for anyone it still felt nice to go out and cover something. I was running from business to business and trying to promote Creative Vision Photography on my day off when I happen to hear and see the fire truck take off.

It wasn't even a conscious thought really. I just kind of took off. I find it so funny how as a journalist you immediately react to any kind of a siren. I guess everyone reacts in their own way to look and see what's going on or pull over, but journalists immediately think oh my god, what's going on and where are they going?

I'm going to go ahead and send one of the photos to the Rochelle News-Leader. If they use it, they use it, if not, who cares. I saw another lady shooting there, but I didn't know if she was with the paper or if she was just shooting on her own. She was a bit strange and seemed really startled by there being another photographer.

Anyway, I'm getting excited for Lindsey and Kristi's wedding. I really wish I could get my camera cleaned from Canon before I go, but it would take too long. Til then I'll just have to edit my photos carefully in Photoshop.

Back in the Macro Mode...Only with no Macro Lens

A photo of one of Stephanie's angels using my homemade built softbox on Saturday July 29, 2006. This photo was shot using a Canon 550 on 1/4 power at 1/250 second at f20. The lower highlights are blown a little out.

I found a cheap way of making a small softbox from another blog named Strobist. The name of the article was "How to: DIY $10 Macro Photo Studio." In actuality I made it absolutely free. It took me about an hour to make it and I justed used gift wrap paper. I'm going to make it a little bit better tomorrow when I can get some more materials, but I had to do with what I had tonight.

I need to work with it a bit, but I'm slowly getting the hang of it. I really need to get a small stand for my 550 and apparently clean either my lens or camera really bad. When you have an all white background like that you never realize how much dust shows up. I thought I cleaned it pretty good at work today too. Anyway, just sitting here bored on a Saturday night with nothing to do. I did buy a 1963-66 Polaroid camera from a Salvation Army today. I'll have to get a shot up of that pretty soon. Off to finish my movie, "The Squid and the Whale." Definitely recommended for anyone with divorced parents and/or people who like dark humor such as "Life Aquatic" or "The Royal Tenenbaums."

IPPA Photonight = Fun Times

I wonder if Mr. Manley is excited about the homerun he just hit or the fact that now he can go back to his 312 beer and his Camel Lights?



I went to the 4th annual IPPA Photonight at Chris Hankins' home in Belvidere, Ill., the other night. I posted a few of the photos that I took from the event. My three favorites are the one listed above, the semi-silhouette of Brian Valentin and Scott Bort playing whiffle ball, and one with Bill Manley and Ryan Rayburn playing whiffle ball. I had a blast. It was nice to be around photographers again.

Speaking of which I got a new job Saturday. I got a position as a camera salesman at Lundgren's Camera Store in Rockford Ill. It's less pay, but I think it will be better for me mentally and artistically. At least I won't groan to go to work everyday.

I also decided on a new name for my photo business. Creative Vision Photography is what I decided. I have new business cards coming and hopefully within the next 2 months I can start posting my photos to Clark's Photonews Website.

Love the Laundromat

Damn you parilax. I was in such a hurry to shoot a photo earlier I forgot to zoom a little more to get rid of that. I need to buy some better short lenses as well. Anyway, at leat I'm thinking more creatively now. It's not an outstanding phtoo, but anything helps me these days.


I'm gaining motivation. Whether or not I'm shooting well or not right now doesn't matter. The fact is I'm constantly thinking about something to shoot. I'm also constantly thinking about new equipment I can buy. I'm buying Scott Bort's old 550ex flash tomorrow so I'm stoked. I think the new name for my photography business is going to be Creative Images Photography. Not 100% locked down, but if I had to make an instantaneous decision that's what it would be.

I just loaded up another wedding for October. Steph's friend Laura and her newly acquired fiancee are getting married Oct. 13. If I can line up 2 weddings I'm going to quit TLC. It will be enough to cover me for that little bit.

Oh btw. The photo is in sepia tone because I wanted to learn how to do it for portraits. There's about three different methods I've found and I'm sure I'll find about another 10 before I'm done searching. Any suggestions let me know.

Expect a photo almost everyday for the next couple of days. I'm going to try and get on 'A Photo A Day' as well.

Quick Photos

I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate the 4th of July than by sticking an American flag on mannequin head and setting on your front porch. Only in Rochelle.



After moving to Rochelle I have realized it's the Pekin, Ill., of northern Illinois. The only difference is less stores and more hispanics. I can't remember the last time I filled up with gas and didn't see someone buying a case of beer. This includes when I've filled up at 8:30 am.

Anyway, I threw up like 3 or 4 photos from the parade. I basically just took the camera out just to use it. I didn't get anything exciting. I'm going to start doing Steph's sister's senior portraits soon so hopefully those turn out nicely. I'm going to do her photos over a period of a couple of months so she has plenty and she can kind of be my first model for Cropreality. Speaking of which, I think it's time to find a new name. I don't think the Cropreality is working very well for two reasons. The first is that people can't seem to pronounce it properly. They keep saying Croprealty instead of reality. Also I don't think people really understand what it means. I had originally taken the name from a class I took with my advisor Brian Poulter and he said photographers are essentially "cropping reality." So I will be taking suggestions for new names as I don't feel my audience relates.

Be sure to check out this kid from the parade that I got a photo. He drove by in this electric batmobile so fast I couldn't get his name but I'm incredibly jealous.

Oh, I almost forgot to add links to the Terrapin photos I got up. I particularly like this b&w one of him and Steph. As soon as I get my light systems working I will try to get some photos of our new ferret Nalla. Well she's not necessarily new. We've had her for about a month. She looks like a racoon, but you'll see soon enough.

Finally Back

It's been so long since I updated this blog. Since June 6 actually. I have to admit it's been a combination of me being depressed, busy and lazy.

I've been depressed because I'm working in a cold storage faciltiy on an average of 50-55 hours a week. It's -10 in the freezer and 30 in the cooler. I work 12 hour days 4 days of the week one week and 5 days a week the next week. The job is running a fork lift all day and stacking boxes on pallets. It leaves me drained and exhausted by the end of the day and when the weekend comes all I want to do is lie around.

I'm almost depresed because it leaves me little time to do anything photographically. Which in turn leaves me even more depressed because I feel stagnant and incomplete.

I'm obviously busy because I just moved into an apartment, started a new job am trying to get a set schedule. Not to mention that I've also been running to the suburbs for job interviews that my friend Nick Kempen has hooked me up with.

After an unsuccessful search for journalism and photography jobs in the area I've decided I might have to go another direction just for now. That's why I applied as an "admissions advisor" for DeVry University Online. Basically I would be a salesman, but making a really good salary. The job woldn't be my dream job, but it would free up time for me and provide me with enough funds to purchase some more camera equipment.

Other good news as well. I might actually get some work with the local newspaper here in Rochelle. I'm going to do some freelance work for free for a bit just to keep working on my portfolio. Most importantly I'm going to start building a writing portfolio. There is a rumor that I could possibly create a spot on the staff if my work is quality enough. Only speculation though.

Lastly, the depression just makes me feel lazy. I don't know if you could consider everything I do lazy, but I at least feel that way.

One last thing to mention. Clark Brooks just told me last week that his business The Photo News will start hosting photos for other photographers for a percentage fee a month. I believe he said the split will be 80/20 with a $12/month fee that will be waived for every month a photographer makes over $300. Something I'm definitely planning on taking advantage of for a while until I can afford my own server and website.

I'm planning on a posting a few photos later today if I get around to it. Nothing that cool or interesting, but just something to get me in the mood.

Dusk

I love pictures at dusk.


This isn't really that great of a photo, just one that I like personally. Every night that I worked at Pizza Hut I would end up driving by this Marathon gas facility in Champaign and on good nights I would see a beautiful sunset kind of like this one in the background. It's something I always wanted to get a picture of so I didn't forget what it looked like so I forced myself the last night I was in Champaign to go shoot it. I got lucky and had a nice clear night to shoot it on and even got part of a crescent moon in it.

It's sad I just now tooks the time to edit it, but I guess better late than never, huh? If I would have been able to get inside to shoot I could have done something really neat I think, but that's what I get for procrastinating so much. If I ever get back there I should find a way to get inside.

Green Thumb

In the move to Rochelle I apparently brought a green thumb with me.



It's been a while since I've gotten on here, but that has to do because of many factors. One being the insane amount of time I've spent moving stuff in, putting it away, and then moving it to a new place because it's not in the right place. The second has to do with not having internet until about a week ago. I'm trying to find the time now to blog between working my full-time job, working part-time around the apartment complex as an assistant maintenance, and having a life.

good news though. I have a new lens on the way. I've got a 70-200mm lens that I can shoot some sports with. I'm going to hopefully start something like what Clark has going on in Champaign here in Rochelle. I think it could work, but it's going to take a lot of work and hob nobbing. Maybe by then I'll be able to get a job with a paper. I'm starving to do something journalistic.

I'll fill in what my regular job and everything is tomorrow when I get the chance. It's about 10:15 pm and I'm wiped out. So much for the college hours.

Old Beer+Nasty Bottles+Random Items=Perfume

Attn: News-Gazette, this was shot on my own time with my own equipment and didn't run with the story in the paper. HA!



Happy Sunday everyone. Today I went down to Charleston to help clean up the house so we could get part of our deposit back on it. I have to say it's absolutely gross in that house. The oddest part of it was when I took the bar apart and underneath there was a whole bunch of old cups and nasty bottles just hanging out and I was picking them up and it ended up being the only part of the house that didn't smell moldy or like vomit. My conclusion is that old beer+nasty bottles+lots of random items= nice perfume.

On another note, my photostory with Caitlin Allen finally ran in the News-Gazette today. I have to say I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. If I find a link to the story I wrote for it I'll post it later, otherwise I'll post the story on here myself. Well it's almost 11 pm and Aroma's is closing and kicking me out so I gotta go.

Beware the Army of Angels

Believe...

The newly formed band from former Blink-182 band member Tom Delonge, Angels and Airwaves, is on the brink of releasing their debut album. There is only one word to describe this band. EPIC!

After Delonge's departure from Blink-182 and he spent 3 weeks thinking of what his next move in life would be. After many sleepless nights he decided a new band would be perfect. He set out to create his perfect ideal band. Not the best musicians, but the best possible band.
After careful consideration Delonge laid out the guidelines for the new band. First and foremost band members were to be respectul to the other members at all times and to understand that family was to come first before the band, which points to signs of tension among Blink members and somewhat verifies rumors of the band's demise. He also made it clear this band was not a side project, but the next step in the musicians lives.

After thinking of names for the new band he eventually came up with the name of Angels and Airwaves. Delonge was unsure about the name for awhile until he realized if you invert the middle 'A' it spells his daughters name. (Ava)

The new band consists of Ryan Sinn on bass, Atom Willard on drums, David Kennedy on guitar and obviously Tom on vocals and guitar. Sinn is former bassist for The Distillers, Kennedy is formerly of Boxcar Racer and Hazen Street, and Willard has a list of bands but most importantly (to me) are The Offspring and Rocket From the Crypt.

The band set out to tour in early May and is now making it's way through the U.S.

The first single was recently released, "The Adventure" followed by "It Hurts." The first album "We Don't Have to Whisper" will be released May 23, 2006. It's being released along with a movie that plays along with the album much in the likes of Pink Floyd's "The Wall."

Influences are bands like Nirvana, The Police, U2 and any other band deemed highly influential to their time.

I'm not 100% sure why I'm so obsessed by this band. I do however know that the music speaks to me for some reason. I already have tickets to their show at the Charter One Pavillion on June 30 in Chicago.

I truly think this band is the next step for rock music as a whole. Delonge seems to have left is immature toilet humor behind and upgraded to a much more influential and determined personality. Though there are still a few 'dick' jokes here and there.

I know I'm not the only one after hearing their music on a commercial for 'The OC.' A clear sign of the soon to come popularity. Check them out and let me know what you think.

Badmitton

Birdie or cock?



I figured if Stephen was going to show you his shuttle-cock I might as well show mine. In case you didn't know I covered IHSA State Finals for badmitton yesterday for Visual Image Photography. I think I found the only sport harder to shoot than volleyball so far.

It wasn't all that bad. At least Stephen and I got to hang out and talk about all the high school girls and say how good of personalities each of them probably had. HA! I'm just disappointed none of them asked me to the Sadie Hawkins dance.

While I was there I had to take a 5 minute break so I could order tickets for a concert. I'm extremely excited. I haven't been to a concert in such a long time. I just wish Ticketmaster would tell you straight up how much tickets will cost. Instead they hide fees in every little part of it.

I went to order tickets for Angels and Airwaves, which they said were $25.50. Now I'm not naeive. I know there are taxes and whatever per ticket you buy. So I had calculated spending anywhere from $60-$65 for both the tickets. I quickly ordered the tickets moving from screen to screen in fear I wouldn't get tickets. I was relieved seconds later when it was confirmed and I had my 2 tickets. I checked my email for the confirmation upon finding my total bill was $78. I mean what the hell Ticketmaster? I paid for a whole other ticket by ordering online. Either way it'll be worth it.

Update

Speedy knows the importance of newspapers.

Nothing really important happened the past few days. I finally fixed the internet at the house here today. For some reason Catie's router wasn't working anymore. The internet was still working but the router wasn't letting the information through. I think today was the last day I got to babysit Speedy. I'mm going to miss the little guy a lot.

I should here about jobs either later today or tomorrow. I'm really hoping for Crystal Lake. We'll see though. I'm hoping to get my check from the University this week so I can start making plans to move up north with Steph.

Other than that, I have another freelance assignment for Saturday and with any luck, my story should be running on Sunday of next week. Darrell should let me know tonight. John had a wonderful photostory in Sunday and Monday's issue with a girl who lost both hands and feet to bacterial meningitis. She seems like a really cool girl from what John had been telling me. Has a real sense of humor about an unfortunate situation.

As soon as my photostory runs I'll post the photos on Sportsshooter, but I don't want to step on anyone's toes.

Good/Bad news with my Hermes (my car). Yes I've officially named my car. I named it Hermes for the Greek Messenger God. He's also the god of travel and thieves. I figured with as much as I drive him around he might as well have a name and Hermes seems to fit him well. Anyway, it was shifting very peculiarly for a bit at work last night and then all the sudden wouldn't shift at all. I thought it was transmission fluid at first, but after a trip to Autozone today I found out it was actually the Vehicle Speed Sensor. I got it fixed here in town for about $160. Not bad considering a rebuilt transmission would cost me over a $1000.

Well I should probably get to bed so I can get up for coffee in the morning.

SPEEDY!

This ferocious little guy's eyes are deceitful.



Just because he's a puppy doesn't mean he can't strike fear in you. Okay, so he's really not that ferocious, but he does have some sharp teeth.

Everyone, meet Speedy. No I didn't go out and get a dog. Catie and Derek did though. They brought home this 10-week-old Beagle puppy Friday night. Since they both work the day and I work night I volunteered to dog sit until Catie's done with school later this week.

It's really too bad I'm not single. I could carry him around and have a date every night of the week. I took him to Aroma's with me this morning for coffee with the news crew and almost got mobbed. Don't worry Steph they were all way too old for me.

I took a lolt of photos of him this morning, but this one was my favorite. Check out the gallery if you want to see a few more. I'm sure over the next few days I'll have tons of photos of him. hell, I might buy little accessories to put on him and make him look cool. I believe there's a pair of pink star sunglasses at work that would fit perfect on his head.

It would make it that much more sweet because then I could make fun of Derek saying his dog is turning gay. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

Officially Alumnus

In case you're wondering, the glasses are prescription. Because my future is so bright!

My motivation has officially returned from near death and I am back working. I shot the freelance job on Friday night, graduated yesterday, and worked on photos today as well. There's more photos from graduation in front of Old Main as well. I shot some of my little sister and I, my whole family that came, and one with just my parents, sister, and me.

I learned through Clark about a neat little feature to Photomechanic that will help out if I shoot sports photos later on called code replacement. I think if I have coffee with the news crew in the morning I will show them how to use it. That's going to mean getting up really early though.

I need to be up early though because I have to babysit Catie and Derek's new beagle puppy Speedy. There will obviously be photos of him on here when I dogsit because I will most likely be bored.

Good news also. The photo story is almost done. I interviewed Caitlin's mom this morning. I will interview her dad tomorrow and turn the story in. From there I need to fully finish editing the photos for it, and then put it all together. Should be running two weeks from today with all luck.

I had coffee with Clark again today to give him the photos from the jazz fest the other night and there might be the possibility of some more freelance work. I'm getting really excited becaue I'm learning a lot about the way he does business and I might be able to swing something similar to what he has in the Rockford area. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Well I feel like I babbled on too much for this blog so maybe I'll blog later tonight about something else. Or I'll just do it tomorrow.

Yes I'm Alive

Gizmo has an identity crisis. He thinks he's a grey hound!


So what have I been up to you ask? I'll be honest. Not a lot until this last weekend. If it can't be downloaded or played on Xbox I haven't been doing it. Can't figure out if I'm depressed or just lazy. Anyway here's the quick run down from the past couple of weeks:

1. Work at Pizza Hut a lot!
2. Had my alumni weekend.
3. Be lazy.
4. Freelance job in Chucktown
5. Photo conference in Wisconsin.
6. 2 interviews for jobs this past week.
7. Finish my photo essay story.
8. Another freelance job tonight.

I'll try to keep this brief even though I need to update much more if I get time later. I had two interviews for jobs earlier in the week. Both went well and I'm hoping to get one or possibly even both the jobs so I can decide. The first was at the Northwest Herald for a videographer position and the other was at the Midweek in Dekalb, Ill., for an editor position. Both would be excellent oppurtunities for a journalist. I should know by early next week.

I did a freelance job for Visual Image Photography in Charleston last week at the IHSA State Journalism Finals. It was nice to see everyone that was down there and to see the new talent coming out of our high schools.

From there it was directly back home for a conference with my grandfather in Wisconsin the next day sponsored by Herff Jones. Two best things out of the whole thing was the auction and the return of motivation. The conference got me fired up to do photography again, but the other thing is I actually got a light, a background, a super clamp and a fog machine all for under $45. (Excellent deal).

I have another freelance job tonight for Clark Brooks. Hopefully I can get a few more jobs from him if possible before I have to move up north. If I get anything interesting from it tonight I might post the photo, but no guarantees. Hopefully this really breaks my lazy slump and I can get some stuff done.

And for the closing note, I graduate tomorrow. Not excited too much. Just going to go through the motion for the sake of my parents and grandparents. I'm sure I'll be happy I did later, but I just don't care at this point. Don't know if I'm being apathetic or bitter. Maybe I'll be excited about it tomorrow. Anyway, check back.

In It For the Long Haul

What do you do when you don't have cable or a real full-time job? Read!



I thought since I have so much free time on my hands for the next few weeks I would start reading a lot more. I found a list of 101 Great Books for college-bound students. So far I think I counted just over a handful of the books that I've read which is sad considering I'm a pretty avid reader. I know what most of the books are about, I just have never actually read them. I'm kind of looking forward to it. I'm making it a long term goal of mine to finish every book on the list. I think it will take me anywhere from 2-5 years.

This may seem like a really long time for some people, but I also have to figure in that about once a month I find something I absolutely have to read. I'm actually in the end of Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World' which just so happens to be on the list. It's a great book and would recommend it to anyone. It's a quick read as well.

Other than that, my life has been filled with playing poker, Xbox and working Pizza Hut. I have a couple of leads on jobs, but don't know how they'll turn out. I know I promised to blog more often and I will. I've been really lacking motivation lately with anything. My room has been destroyed for the past week and just finally started getting really picked up today. I should probably pack up some shit to move out of here soon.

On the bright side, I found a way to finance a 70-200/f2.8 lens this week. It's actually really crazy how it's all worked out. First on Tuesday a guy from some Visual Image Photography called me after seeing my stuff on Sportsshooter and wants me to shoot two freelance jobs on April 29 and May 13. Both will earn me around $150-200. Then on Wednesday John (News-Gazette staff photographer) called me wanting to know if I wanted to do a freelance job for the Chicago Tribune. That'll make $150. So altogether I'm looking at anywhere from $450 to $600. Then I called Clark Brooks today to see if he had any stuff to shoot for him and we talked about equipment for a bit and he said he has a 70-200 for sale for around the $650 range. Much better than the $800 range I was thinking I'd have to pay for a used one. Now all I need is a strobe and a wide angle and I'll be in business (with minimal equipment).

Last Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

No I'm not stealing Stephen's bird watching idea. Although after seeing his pictures it makes me more compelled to do some bird watching and photographing as well. I mostl like the way the water was rippling off the fountain so I shot the photo.

Today was my last day at the News-Gazette. I was pretty disappointed to be leaving after these 3 months, but it's time to move on. I'm currently in the search for a job of some sorts. I have no idea what I'm going to be doing. Right now I'll concentrate on my pizza delivering skills and hope for something to fall into place. I really don't want to have to get a job out of journalism, but if that's the case then so be it. I had to get one nature photo before all equipment and was surrendered. I didn't want to give up the cameras (mostly the lenses and flashes) and especially didn't want to give up my University of Illinois parking permit. That thing has helped out in so many situations.

I'm going to be blogging more as I have a lot more time. I'm running a 5k in the morning so I need to get to bed for now, but I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow morning. Maybe I'll even get a photo from the event. Check up soon to see what I get posted.

Feature of the Day

Maybe I'll Catch Fire

This reminded me of the "Maybe I'll Catch Fire" album by Alkaline Trio. It's not exactly, but the warm tones of the city lights kind of did. Anyway, I saw this when I was drving home from an assignment tonight and I was feeling in a featuresque mood tonight. I shot another one for the paper earlier in the day so that technically makes two feature on the day. Possibly a record for me. If anyone knows me, they know that features are my least favorite part of the job most of the time. I'm just usually a guy with schedule and I like to keep that schedule generally.

The most amazing thing about this photo is that this is a handheld 3 second exposure. I braced my body against the windowsill of my driver's side door and held as perfectly still as possible. It's a tad fuzzy when blown up and at 1600 speed it's a little grainy, but I can't complain.

Tomorrow leaves two weeks left at my internship. I'm excited, scared and nervous all in one. I'm looking at possible job oppurtunities as a reporter at the Dekalb Daily-Chronicle and The Sterling Daily-Gazette. I'm hoping one of them if not both will lead to potential jobs. If I had to choose I'm not sure which one I would go with. Obviously money will be a factor, but at the same time Dekalb is closer to Rochelle which will make mine and Steph's life easier. Also, Dekalb's paper is a Lee Corporation paper and would have oppurtunity to advance to another Lee paper especially for moving into a photography position.

I'll just take it one step at a time and see how things fair. I'm suprised more and more at my dad's reaction to all this job hunting. He keeps telling me to calm down and that things will work out and to not get locked into one certain field. It's great advice, but I'm just not used to it. For some reason he seems to be the only person that can calm me down about all this stuff. Well it's late and I would like to read a few more pages out of 'Moneyball' before I fall asleep.

This job is so freakin hard!!!

I bet KFC wouldn't fry these chicks.

When the worst part of your day consists of being interrupted from your lunch to hurry up and shoot a couple of a photos of girls protesting KFC for their euthanization practices in their bikinis, I don't think you can complain about your job. Nicole and Maya here stood in front of the KFC store for over an hour in the low 40 temperatures just so little chickens wouldn't die.

Both of these girls were PETA members (read insane) and felt that there are other means of killing chickens than the methods KFC generally uses. I don't disagree with them, but in my experience, anyone that loves animals that much has a little bit of a screw loose. PETA members in general are nuts. I'm all for the ethically treating animals, but these people take it way too far. The girls were both very nice, but I can only imagine that in about 5 years when these girls are married, there will be some guy out there bitching to all of his buddies in a bar about how the dog gets more respect from his wife than he does.

The press release on PETA's website explains exactly what this is all about and gives a list of celebrities involved. Who knew Al Sharpton cared so much about chickens. Right here is where I could be really insensitive and add a racial joke, but I think you all know what I'm thinking.

My other photo from the day is from a prarie burn. This was something very interesting to me. I've never been to one of these and thought it was really cool. I really liked the closeup of the fire. I'm glad I brought my own camera along today so I could post a few of these images.

Only two more days and I get a day off. Unfortunately I will probably spend it by working at Pizza Hut. I'm down to three more weeks at the paper. Then working at Pizza Hut full-time until I find a job in Rockford/Dekalb/Rochelle area. If you hear of anything let me know.

New Blog

I started another blog the other day. I officially abandoned the Chamban Scene blog and started the Musictopia Review blog. After talking to Stephen about how we're both tired of bands becoming popular 6 months to a year after we have already played them out, I decided I could actually prove to people that I knew about this band before they did by blogging it.

Besides, this blog will force me to stay current on music. Something I feel I've been lacking for sometime now. I used to do nothing but look up music and things about it. I read "Rollingstone" each month like it was the Bible.

This is not necessarily going to be about bands I like though. I'm actually going to review a new cd each week. It also features a "Throwback of the Week" song each Monday. I'm hoping to add a few more special sections later such as Danny's Library Pick. Library Picks will be cds that can usually be found in your local library. On occasions I'll review music DVDs and even try to link to important music news.

My first cd to review is Dave Matthews Band's newest live release "Weekend on the Rocks." Check it out.

Jack's Mannequin

See What Enthusiasm Does

My ode to Macintosh computers.

I felt that if I was going to be an Apple enthusiast I should at least represent well. Plus this gave me the chance to try something I've been wanting to play with. I'm going to work on this a little bit and figure out how to get rid of the flare at the bottom. I did this using a sync cord on top of my hot shoe with the flash lying directly behind the apple on the base the apple was resting on. It probably would have been a much better photo had I used a bigger apple. The apple I was using was only about 2 in. tall and the flash was slightly taller and wider than the apple. If I get bored tonight, maybe that's what I'll mess with.

I'm planning on reading a little bit more in my book "27 Men Out: Baseball's Perfect Games" tonight if I get the chance. I'm through the third disc of Ken Burn's "Baseball" as of today. I'm not sure if I'll go get the fourth disc tonight or wait until tomorrow. I'm planning on watching "The Office" with Derek tonight if he's home and probably playing a little online poker.

I also got a 2-mile-run in tonight. I haven't ran since Sunday when I did a 4 mile trek that took me much longer because of the snow and ice that started forming. Hopefully I can get a quick 2 miles in tomorrow either on my lunch break or before I go to work at the Hut.

As can be expected, blogging will increase due to my accessibility to doing it now. The only thing I really need is a laptop carrying case now. Well that and a mouse. I hate these little thumb pads. Steph has one, but I need one sooner than she'll be able to get me one. I also found out that my internship ends a week earlier than I expected and a week longer than my boss had anticipated. Either way, this means an extra week to finding a job up north and a week longer for more hours at Pizza Hut.

Entering the Age of Macintosh

This is my blog from my laptop that my grandma bought me for a graduation gift. I was so ecstatic to go pick it up today. I couldn't believe when my grandma called me on Saturday and told I would be getting a new laptop for my gift. She told me to research it and tell her how much it costs. Thinking I would be nice and try to save her as much money as possible I first looked into Dell machines. After realizing it was going to be expensive as hell no matter what I decided to check out some Mac deals. I knew Apple had an education discount, but it wasn't that much ordering online so I decided to stop in the University of Illinois computer store in the union and found out they had overstocked them from Christmas. In fact, the 14 in. iBook G4 in the store was the same price as the 12 in. was online. This one has a slightly faster processor and a much bigger screen for seeing photos much better. After seeing that I could get this laptop for essentially about $200 more than what the Dell's were I decided to ask my grandma about it. She didn't think the price was bad at all. She almost sound suprised at how low. (Almost!) Anyway, I also got it upgraded with another 512 MB of RAM for $60. I actually have a photo to shoot for the blog tomorrow that I'll try to do if I get the time. I feel so lazy because I haven't run in like 3 days, but so running will be first on my list. I do have to mention one thing before I forget. I did reach my first goal of my New Year's resolution. I was 164 lbs. when I woke up on my birthday. I was very excited. I haven't weighed this much since my first semester of college. I'm also in the process of gathering all my old photos to put on flickr. I will begin posting them next week and they will be finished whenever I get them done. Which basically means anywher from 2 weeks to 2 years. I will eventually scan all my old family photos in as well. That way they're preserved in case of an accident. (Or because Dad gets o a Spring cleaning trip).

In other Daniel Williams news, I've been kind of a nut lately. I realize it, but there is nothing I can do about it. I'm trying to figure out how to pay for all my college loans. $43,000 is not an easy debt to erase. Especially when it looks like I'll be spending about $400/month for the next 15 years. I've been talking with Steph all week about it, but have felt really down still. Today has been fine, but best of all I talked to my dad tonight. The saddest part is he didn't really tell me anything different from what Steph told me, but hearing it come from my father made me feel a little bit better. It's conversations like the one's tonight that really make me proud to be son though. There were no, "I told you so's" or "Well you should have done this," which he would have been more than fair in saying. Just simply encouragement. No dramatic fashion or over extended bits about life. It was exactly what I needed. I just hope when I have a son or daughter that I know to say the right thing in these situations.

I think the most profound thing he said tonight was "Well, you just go to work everyday and you do the best job you can possibly do and at the end of the day it's worth it." Those may not have been the exact words, but something very similar, and it makes sense. We can't spend our lives worrying about things we don't have control over. I don't have 100% control over whether I'll have a photography job when I graduate in May. I most likely won't, but I will still go to whatever job and at the end of the day be proud of the work I've done.

Been Awhile!

I know it's been a long time since any of you heard from me. I'll just give you a quick update on what's been going on. First of all, I had my 23rd birthday last weekend. I went home for it and had a great weekend. Lindsey's part was that Saturday night and Steph and I had a blast. My birthday was the next day and I got to go to dinner with my whole family. It was nice to have everyone there. Steph and I got our engagement photos on Saturday as well. This one is my favorite. We're still going to have some more done, but we needed something for the newspaper and to give friends and family. Thanks to my grandpa for doing these.

This week has been crazy. I started off Monday by working at the newspaper 9:30-6. Then I had to hurry home, change and go to my second job at Pizza Hut. I worked there until 10 pm. Then I did it again on Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday I worked until 11:15 pm. Altogether I figured up by Thursday I had put in 45 and a half hours in by the end of Thursday and I still have to work at least 8.5 hours tonight. It doesn't seem like a huge amount, but when it's split between two jobs it really is a lot more difficult. I'm sure it will pay off in the end. It's helping me get out of debt sooner I guess.

I also officially started my photo essay this week. I met with her last week and snapped a few photos, but I actually went to shoot stuff on Monday. The girl's name is Caitlin Allen and she's from Homer, Ill. Now I thought I worked a lot of hours, but Caitlin is just insane. She works in Truman Hall on campus in the crop sciences labs, goes to class, is involved with a coed fraternity, and goes home nearly every weekend to work on the family farm. The story revolves around Caitlin going home a lot to work on the family farm and eventually trying to take the farm over when her father is done. I have to shoot some stuff for it tomorrow out in Homer so I'm looking forward to that.

I'm going to try and make more of an effort to post on here, but no guarantees. I probably had a little free time last week to do it and I didn't and I could have done something this week if I really tried, but to be honest I was a little down early this week. Just a lot of problems coming crashing in all at once. Most of it all was my fault because of my lack of planning, but there was some other stuff going on too. I find it more difficult to leave Steph after everytime we see each other. I know I should be glad I got to see her, but it just makes me depressed when I think that we still have a ways to go before we live together.

One last thing. I'm going to try and go through the photos from the Will Hoge show last week. I'm sending the photos off to the guy today or tomorrow and I'm going to edit a few of them myself and maybe throw a couple up on here. The band "Backyard Tire Fire" was awesome and seemed to be really nice people. Not to mention the band "Southern Bitch" too. I ended up having a conversation with the bassist Wendy (I think!) for about an hour. Unfortunately I was so annhilated by that point I have no clue what her and I talked about. I got really messed up that night, but will save that story for the blog with the photos.

Firefox Rocks

To the right is what my Firefox screen used to look like. Below is what it now looks like thanks to themes and addons. Click on the photos for a larger view of them.

Making your stand - Opinions

This was an article that I found on the DI while searching for more information about the suspension of the editors. It really has no significance for my blogging except it's the first thing I found and tested after downloading an extension for Firefox today. I stumbled upon FF extensions today while trying to bookmark a page. I absolutely love this one. It's a blog extension. It allows me to quickly bog about something I find on the internet. I also found this one called a Beer O'Clock Extension.
I have yet to download it, but will soon and let you know how well it works. Just another reason for me to shamelessly promote Firefox. I have a feeling my Firefox will never be the same. I'm downloading add-ons and themes like they're going out of style. (And knowing the internet world, they probably are.)

Return from the Great Beyond

I am back. I have been busy the past couple of weeks. Probably not too busy to blog, but busy enough. I'll recap the past two weeks for ya. Work is going good. I finally got to shoot my first NCAA University of Illinois basketball game last week. I was very excited about doing this and the excitement paid off. I got a great shot of Dee Brown and James Augustine celebrating. I couldn't have done as well without the advice of John Dixon. John has been an extreme help. He's probably the best 'teacher' I've had yet. He knows how to cut out the bull and give me the important stuff. Especially when it comes to lighting. I'm over a third the way done with my internship now. Heck, I'm coming up on half way. I definitely don't want this to end.

I also shot IHSA state wrestling championships on Saturday and then did another U of I game on Sunday. Wrestling was fun and so was the game even though I didn't really get anything noteworthy out of either. I have my stuff from wrestling on Sportsshooter. Unfortunately at the U of I game I didn't get the one shot I wanted. At the end of the game James and Dee were walking off the court together after their interview with CBS and I got a shot of them walking arm in arm. I only had my 80-200 available and as I'm walking backwards Dee jumps on Augie's back. perfect moment, unfortunately they were about 2 feet too close for my lens. I got the shot, but it was blurry. We needed a shot for the senior day section this coming weekend. At least I got something for them I guess. My one picture should be on my portfolio soon on Sportsshooter, but I want to make sure it's okay with Darrell that I put it up.

I also won two third places and two honorable mentions for my photos at the ICPA this past weekend. Unfortunately they have not updated the site and no one knows for sure which photos I won for, so as soon as I find out I will post them so you can all revel in my awesomeness. (Or tell me how to do a better job!)

In other news, my birthday is coming up. Anyone wishing to send me money may do so at 305 S. elm st. in Champaign, Ill. 61820. I'm going home this weekend for it. First time I will have spent a birthday with my parents in I can't remember how long. I get back late Sunday and back to the daily grind. I'm starting my photo essay either today or tomorrow. I couldn't get a hold of the girl last night or today, so hopefully I can call her in a bit.

Oh by the way, I'm rocking the Pizza Hut again. Champaign's store is a lot different and I love it. I basically drive the whole time except for about a half hour at the end when I do dishes. It's exactly what I liked about the Charleston one and minus the stuff I hated.

And one last thing to mention was the susepension of The Daily Illini editors. I'm not going to go into a lenghty discussion right now. I'm only going to direct you to my comments on the EIU Hall of Fame Blog. Hopefully I will get the chance later today to blog all my thoughts about this as I feel people should understand a lot of things about this before jumping to conclusions and screaming First Amendment rights.

What the Hell Does This Dream Mean???

Sorry for being so long. I haven't really been doing a whole lot lately except working. I haven't shot anything for my own personal enjoyment for a while either. Luckily I'm going to see Stephanie this weekend so I will probably shoot pictures of her or something this weekend. She got a new dog this week, but it looks like they're going to have to give it away already. His name is Hercules. He's a 1-2 year-old golden lab. Her dad picked him up from outside his friend Bruce's house. He's already snapped at Dana and Stephanie. The vet told them he was just trying to gain dominance over and that they should yell at him. Steph did yell at him and he cowered his tail between his legs. I'll probably get some photos of him this weekend.

I drank for the first time in probably 2 months last night. Obviously didn't take a lot for me to get pretty tanked. I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow. I do have to see I'm pretty wierded out. This is the first time I can ever remember having a reoccuring dream. I've had this dream 4 times in the past 8 or 9 days. I always have a dream about me going out and getting drunk and the next thing I know I'm smoking again. I always say something to the effect of 'oh 1 cigarette won't hurt me.' It's actually got me freaked out. I haven't wanted to drink at all because I'm scared it will actually happen. Who knows, maybe the cigarette is actually representative of something completely different in my dreams. Who knows, maybe it means I'm gay. Wait...that's crabs...if there's crabs in my dreams that means I'm gay. Oh I need to find that dream book Dane Cook talks about.

Other than that, work is going good. I'm starting my photo essay with a student who works on a family farm this next week. The girl's name is Caitlin Allen. I'm excited to actually do this essay. I've never actually done an essay where I took longer than a couple of days to do it. This one should take me about 6 weeks. I'm also getting ready to post my ultimate fantasy league baseball team for 2006. As I tried to explain to Kman earlier, this team is based solely on numbers mostly. I have also been drafting what my personal fantasy team I would like to see in real life. Basically the difference is that in my personal team I would do things like choose Jason Varitek over Victor Martinez for catcher simply because Varitek is known as one of the smartest catchers out there. He analyzes each and every player on the roster. So things like experience count in to this one. It should be posted by Monday or Tuesday.

Superbowl Commercials

I actually did watch the Superbowl tonight, despite my lack of television watching for the past 3 weeks. I was glad to see Pittsburgh win. I don't really have any feelings for either team, but for some reason I just liked the Steelers a little more. I'm just glad football is done so we can all concentrate on the 'real' American sport. Baseball. Only 54 days until opening pitch.

I do have to give a run down on what I thought about the commercials during the game obviously. First of all, here's my top five in no particular order:

1. Hummer Commercial: Giant Monsters
2. Motoral Razor: Paper Boy
3. Sprint: Locker Room
4. Desperate Housewives
5. Budweiser Superfan: Sheep Streaking

If you check out Ifilm you can watch all of them. It's obviously slow tonight and will probably be slow tomorrow because everyone and their mother will be checking it, including me, to play their favorites over and over again and assured they are wore out by the middle of the week and you won't even be able to stand the sight of it when you see it on tv the next week. Luckily for me I don't have network or cable.

Out of all of them I think the Sprint Locker Room one is my favorite. When the guy says his phone has theft deterrent and throws the phone in the other guys face I lost it. And then when he threw it a second time I literally pissed myself. (Just a little something for all you David Cross fans. If you don't understand what I'm talking about, go get David Cross' first cd 'Shut Up You Fuckin' Baby').

I do have to say this was the most disappointing Burger King commercial I have seen in awhile. I'm a big fan of the King. There just wasn't anything funny about the singing commercial. I hate musicals which is probably what prompted me to hate this commercial.

Sprint takes the cake for me for overall best sponsor this year. The other commercial they had where the guys couch catches fire was my number 6 commercial. (Mostly because of the Benny Hill incorporation). Anyone that hung out with me this summer knows that I had an obsession with the Benny Hill theme song.

Although Pepsi's commercials were moderately good, I hate their new "Brown and Bubbly" slogan. The P.Diddy Commercial was okay, but the Jackie Chan one was too cheesy. Well, time for you to give me feedback. Give me your top 5. Or criticize mine. Anything you want to do.

One last thing...I apparently missed a Coca Cola commercial on a bathroom break. The scarecrow one should be in my top 5, moving Sprint's no. 6 to no. 7 and kicking Desperate Housewives to no. 6 and therefore out of the top 5. So to review:

1. Hummer Commercial: Giant Monsters
2. Motoral Razor: Paper Boy
3. Sprint: Locker Room
4. Coca Cola: Scarecrow
   
5. Budweiser Superfan: Sheep Streaking

There's my revised top 5.

Fantasy Blog Stock Market???

Interesting little bit I discovered while being vain today. I decided to google the word cropreality. Obviously the name of this blog and what I use as my screenname for many things as well as what my 'side business' is called. (Cropreality Imaging). Anyway, I started seeing this website popup called Blog Shares. I was curious as to why my blog would show up on this and I started looking at it. It seems this is a fantasy blog stock market of sorts. The reason mine was on there was because by my linking to Tips From the Top Floor, I had helped it earn B$687.00. That's blog money for those of you unfamiliar. (Not actually real) I was in the top 100 earners for their site. Sitting at number 23. I guess not too big of a deal since there were only 81 links to the site, but hey, don't burst my bubble. I'm not sure how often they update, but I will do some research into. I've decided to start whoring myself by promoting Tips From the Top Floor now and see how much worth I can get them. Let's get these numbers moving people.

And Stephen Thought He Was Bored

See what happens when you're bored and it's midnight.

This is either the result of me playing too much of this roleplaying game I just beat or it's due to me playing 'In the Dark' by The Grateful Dead one too many times. Suffice to say I am bored. I just finished the videogame I've been playing for two weeks, Fable, a very in-depth first person/role playing/medieval/I'm a huge nerd. The good thing is that I admit it, embrace it, and now maybe I can get help. Doubtful. I basically just wanted to play with light. I might try some other stuff tonight but I'm getting tired. I have to work from 1:30-10 again tomorrow.

I must make a small correction before Nora yells at me again. The photo problem with the blogs is not Eric's fault. It's Wills. I stand corrected Nora. I need to add the DEN blogs to my site. I really like Holly's blog. It's probably because I agree with her on many things.

One last thing. I'm working on a project for Stephen. Nothing big. I can't tell you what it is, but I think he'll appreciate it. He seems really down lately about his job. I would be too if I was as good of a photographer stuck in Mattoon.

Shame on you Charleston!

For those of you that think there is no such thing as discrimination apparently you haven't been south of Chicago lately. A news article in the DEN talks about how Charleston will not be celebrating Black History Month. Now I understand what the city says, but this is definitely not good PR for a city in southern Illinois with a dominant black community on the campus. What do you teach the kids at school when you don't celebrate it.

I for one am fully supportive of the month. I know, I know. More hippy liberal crap, but honestly. Black History Month is an important time in our year for us to reflect on the ways blacks were mistreated and to learn from our mistakes. It would be like a history books saying they acknowledge World War II happened and that Nazi concentration camps took place, but we're not going to fill the pages of our book with that because it's not state mandated.

I think the city council and the community as a whole should be utterly ashamed of themselves. It's possible the city just doesn't know how to celebrate it. In that case maybe they need to outreach to the community a little more for help. They almost make it seem like BHM is a burden.

Well, at least Morgan Freeman now has a town that he can finally settle down in I guess.

James "monotone" Augustine

So here's a photo from one of my assignments the other day. The photo is of James Augustine laughing at a question from an elementary student after reading a book to them. I"m just surprised the kids stayed awake for the length of the story. Augustine was more monotone than a robotic voice from your computer.

Don't get me wrong, he's a hell of a guy. Really nice and respectful. It was just nice for him to actually show up, unlike Dee Brown who yo can obviously see from the picture is not there. I almost feel bad for James. The goddamned parents were worst than the kids when he showed up.

One lady almost tripped him because she wanted to compare her size to his monstrous 6' 10" build. She snuck up behind while he was talking to someone else without even asking him and stood back to back with him. He backed up and stumbled a bit. The look he rigtfully gave her was like "who the hell are you and what the hell are you doing."

Now I say I almost feel bad for him because as I'm sure his celebrity stardom is burdensome I realize his first paycheck will be more than I'll see in several years as a photographer. So I guess if his arm cramps from signing a few hundred autographs at a time it's worth the millions he'll make. At least his back won't kill him when he gets home because he's been lugging around 2-3 pound Nikon cameras, a bag containing a 3 or 4 pound 80-200 mm lens, and two other bags containing a dyna-lite system in each othem probably each weighing over 5 pounds.

I must say I love little children. They kind of put people like James in their place. Especially when they ask what sport he play, or when they ask what team he plays for and my ultimate favorite, "Who won the Final Four last year?" Absolutely classic moment. James grinds his teeth and finally answered the young kid with North Carolina.

I also got to go up on the grid today in Assembly Hall. We've been having problems with a strobe so me and RK had to go up and look at it. I have to say I held myself pretty good for being up over a hundred feet suspended on steel grates by cables. I wanted to take pictures, but you have to empty your pockets of all unnecessary items and take off all things like cameras. Safety precautions are a bitch. If I ever get a chance to shoot photos of it again I will though for sure.