My Crazy Life

Hey there gypsy. You can't have me.


This is by far the most random lady I have ever met. After covering a meeting in Charleston Wednesday I left the Panther Paw to head back to Tuscola. While walking out I see this lady starting at me as she's pulling into a parking space. The conversation goes a little like this:

Lady: He..He...Hey!
Me: Uhhhh...ya???
Lady: Is it...Is it..busy in there?
Me: MMM....not really, sort of, I guess it depends on your idea of busy.
Lady: They're really nice to me in there. The kids give me cigarettes and beer.
Me: Oh yeah? Well that's nice of....{cutoff by lady}
Lady: I'm 64.
Me: Cool!!??
Lady: My landlord broke my leg today. This is my daughter.
Me: {awkward silence}
Lady: My birthday's July 17.
Me: That's pretty soon.
Lady: Take a picture of me.
Me: {Beginning to laugh as I take a picture} Sweet!
Lady: You're kind of cute. I'm hitting on you.
Me: Thanks, I don't think my fiance would like that.
Lady: Bye!

Apparently because I have a fiance she was done talking. I called Kevbot to tell him about this lady and of course during our discussion he realizes he and Peaches have run into this lady before too. The whole time I was talking with her I kept thinking how great it would be to run into her with those two. Peaches would have definitely found a new best friend. This is just another incident to prove my life is a series of random episodes spiraling out of control.

5 mojitos later

You're an animal Chris!



I had a real tough day at the office Friday as I was golfing 18 holes with my regional manager, Chris, and the head of advertising Dean. We we're playing in the Charleston Chamber of Commerce tournament. I had a blast out there. I was introduced to the mojito which is fantastic. Though Katie, Derek's wife told me is out of style. I've always been just a little behind the times I guess. No real news to report that most of you aren't aware of. So I'll say so long for now.

Daniel Williams Tent for Those Who Can't Fish Well and Want to Do Other Things Well Too

I can only imagine the person who designed this model of a tent got the repsponse, "How are the children going to read if they can't even fit in the tent? It's going to have to be at least.....3 times this size."



I got my fishing license for the season today. Stephen and I spent most of Sunday at Lake Charleston. I forgot how much I love to go fishing. I'm going to try and do it more often. I found out the Embarass River runs about 5-6 miles outside of town. Maybe I'll try catfishing out there. I'm going to pick most of my equipment up from home when I go to shoot the wedding this weekend. I need to do a little research on river fishing this week too because Stephen and I both realized we know nothing about river fishing. When it comes to lakes I think I know how to catch pan fish, but I'm still not that experienced with bass or anything large. I did catch the only bass out of the two of us in the river today. Too bad it was about 6 in. long. I did manage to catch my own shoe as well. I'm sure Stephen will share the picture.

A Day at the Track

How long do you think his hair took to cut?



I spent the day at IHSA Boys Track Finals today. I love this shot. I like finding interesting things to shoot other than the actual action. I have to cover graduation tonight, select two of my best photos, send them to the N-G and then head to Steph’s. It’s going to be a late night.

I got to hang with Stephen for a little bit and saw a few more photographers I haven’t seen in awhile. I can’t wait to see Poulter’s updates on what he was shooting today. He says I outshot him last week, but I think he definitely took it this week. I’ve been horribly unmotivated lately.

I hit that burn out mode every few weeks now because of all the reporting mostly. If I was just doing photos it wouldn’t be such a big deal, but both things combined wears me out. I’m sure I’ll find a permanent photo position somewhere eventually. I’m just happy to be in journalism for now.

I’ll probably have a few photos from Dana’s graduation this weekend. I’ll update if I get anything good.

Pugilism, the Greatest Sport Ever

Hoey is awesome


*Edit* *This was written last Tuesday. *Edit* Work has got me stressed out. I typically don't get like this, but I'm just busy and feel unappreciated at the moment. I probably won't feel that way tomorrow, but I definitely do now. If you're really interested I'll tell you about it over the phone. So there's my little complaint blurb. Now that we've got that out of the way I have to say I'm pretty happy with the way a couple of my photos turned out this week.

This was one to go along with a Kelsi Hoey story that we did about her being a multi-sport athlete. We ended up using a different one so I don't mind putting this one up. I imagined this photo as a bit better, but with as big as it was going to run and the time constraint I was under I chose one with a closer view and a different angle.

I also have to say that boxing is probably the best sport ever. As I sit here watching USA vs. UK on ESPN, I got wondering a bit about boxing history. I didn't realize how old of a sport it really was. I assumed it started in the 10th or 11th century for some reason, but Wikipedia says it could have begun as early as 3000 BC. I'm not sure what I love about boxing. Maybe it's my pure animal instinct of watching someone kick someone else's ass that's so awesome about it. I'm really going to try to watch more boxing and learn a little more about it.

I've actually done a pretty good job at learning how to score. I could probable be a judge for a match sometime. So far, watching the last round of this show I've scored all the rounds correctly accept one round.

By the way, USA wins.

(cont. today)

Work has gotten better. More photos, less writing. I can't wait to see Stephanie again. I may see her Sunday if I drive all the way to Rochelle. It's going to be a long day on Saturday if I do. Boys track finals all day long and then a 3 hour drive up to Rochelle is not my idea of fun. Plus I'd have to come back the next day because I need to be here for Memorial Day events.

I've gotten to read a bit more as well so that's got me happy. I just need to write in my journal more often. it's so hard to balance everything.

The Red Sox are doing awesome right now in the season so that's got me excited, but I realize it's still very early in the season.

Good Weekend

Name that bird.



I finally put up the 2 pictures of birds from this past week that I have. One is red breasted Robin and the other I'm not quite sure on. I'm sure Stephen will know as soon as he sees it, so I'll update the info in the picture as soon as he gets it. I need to get myself a field guide.

I went home for a weekend. It was really nice to have a weekend off since starting my new job. I've put in a ton of hours over the past couple of weeks and this was exactly what I needed to recharge.

We had an editorial meeting the other day and I just felt very underachieved after it. I don't think that was the purpose and nothing was aimed specifically at me, but it felt like none of us were getting the job done that we needed to be doing. Things like taht usually work as a motivational tool for me, but for some reason I left this one negatively. Maybe this week I'll start to hit a groove and it won't be such a big thing.

I'm almost done with my Margaret Bourke White book. I should be considering it's only 120 pages, but I haven't had much time to read it. I read half the book on Thursday night and then 20 pages over the past two days.

The brightside is that I got to visit with my parents and Stephanie this weekend. I haven't seen Steph in about 2 weeks now and it's really wierd not having her around all the time. I'm excited for summer to come and go so she'll be down here with me.

Before I leave I need to take a picture of the necklace Stephanie and I gave Mom for Mother's Day. It's perfect because now all the women have heart jewelry for the wedding.

The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the 3 hour drive home today. Maybe I'll stop in at Borders on my way home, even though I know I shouldn't.

I'm a Big Let Down

I think it's pretty safe to say Stephen is a walking multimedia communication center.



So Post 100 will not be a cataclysmic event revealing the meaning behind life as some may have thought it would be. And by 'some' I mean all 1 of you that reads this (Stephen). Because it's been so long since I've written in this thing I'll recap the past month for all of you.

-Interviewed for a job in Tuscola in early April
-Accepted job with East Central Communications in Tuscola for the Tuscola Review and Coles County Leader in Mid-Aprill
- Found out I'm partially colorblind. Felt like the kid in "Little Miss Sunshine" when he finds out he'll never be a pilot. I literally threw the book that had the test in it and said "Fuck this thing, it was published in 1986 anyway!"
-Quit Lundgren's.
-Moved to Tuscola.
-Started my job in Tuscola.
-Joined the Tuscola Chamber of Commerce board
-Worked non-stop for the past 2.5 weeks.
-Bought a washer and dryer.

So that's the past month to 2 months in brief. I know I always say I'll write in this more so I won't say that this time. I will however say I'll make every effort to keep this more updated in order to attract new readers and show off some of my photos. I have some bird photos to put up soon too. Hopefully tonight. *Sigh* Never enough time in the day for everything I want to do. I am however getting to running a lot more which is awesome. I ran 6.2 miles (a 10K for those metrically inclined.) I'll probably do 4 miles tonight. The last thing to comment on is I may be reactivating my other blog of "Musictopia Reviews." I think now would be a good time to do it since I live alone and need to find something to do. I want to concentrate on local music acts. I need to get a hold of the music teacher at TCHS and find out if there are any cool younger bands to do a story on them.

I'm All Over the Place With This One

T-mount ring and a Pentax Bellows = Macro



As you can see I've started experimenting with Macro work. It's all part of my upcoming Spider series I want to do this Spring/Summer. I'm excited about creating a series. I've never tried to do a photo series before and this one should be interesting. Plus it's all my own idea. I shot a few more the other night, but nothing too big. I'll definitely be doing a lot more detail shots in the future.

I'm waiting to hear what the News-Gazette is going to tell me soon. I should hear back from them either tomorrow or Tuesday. I'll update all 1 of you that looks at this when I get the call. Besides, you'll probably get a phone call from me before you read this anyway.

MLB's opening day is today. Cardinals vs. Mets. I typically don't watch these games, but I generally make a point to watch the opening day game no matter who it is.

I came up with what I consider a brilliant idea for a screen play this morning. My idea is loosely based off of "This is Spinal Tap" combined with the ever popular reality television theme. No full ideas, but I'd actually like to do research for it and write a really funny script making fun of everything from Music videos to bands outrageous backstage requests.

My next post will put me at the Century Club of blogging. I don't know if that's sad or an accoplishment. Either way I'll make it a good post. I have a little news, but I think I'm going to let it wait for the next post. It's nothing extremely exciting, but something that really freaked me out when I discovered it....is that enough of a cliff hanger for ya?

Killbuck Creek

My first bird isn't an exciting one, but I promise it will get better.


In my attempt to actually BE Stephen Haas I went bird watching yesterday for the first time. I figured I should give it a try. It was mostly nice just to be outside. I went to a habitat that I've seen on my way to work several times but never stopped. I had never seen anyone out there and it was right a long the highway. Now I know why know one ever goes there. One, there is no easy access to the place. It's apparently sponsored by Ducks Unlimited, but I can't find anything about this place. It hardly even mentioned anywhere on the web. It's called Killbuck Creek. The most information that I can find on it is that it drains into the Kishwaukee River. Maybe I should do some research on it and either do a story or at least create a wiki for other enthusiasts.

The biggest reason I wanted to stop is because I know I've seen a heron there before. No herons today. I'm surprised there's any birds there at all because of all the traffic noise. Nothing peaceful about it. All I got to see was Canadian Geese, ducks, sparrows, and Redwing
Blackbirds.

If I'm going to continue to do this I really need to get a Nikon P series camera with a digi scope. I don't know how Stephen does it with his 70-200. I can't get close enough to them to get any really good photos. Oh well, that's why he's Stephen I guess.

*Added later*

I actually came into work today and the store was completely rearranged. We had a ton of new stock. Oddly enough in the new stock was a Promaster 18-36x field scope with attatchments for slr cameras. It's going to work out perfect for me I think. It's probably not the best thing in the world, but It's going to cost me 1/8 of what it would to buy a new point and shoot and a Nikon scope. Stay tuned for more blogs to come...

Newspaper Goals

Nalla pokes her head out of my Coors Light box on Saturday March 17, 2007.


Here's another ferret picture for you. I haven't had a big chance to do much photographically this week. I did set up a self-portrait and had Shawn help me at work with it, but other than that it's mostly just been playing around.

Tomorrow starts the search for a printer so I can get some prices on starting my own weekly community paper. My goal would be to eventually put it out a couple of times a week. I want a graphically based paper with strong community content featuring mini essays and regular local news. I would provide free classifieds to begin with and charge only for the commercial advertising. I want to start off by selling just enough to cover my costs and turn a profit later on.

My goal isn't to make a huge profit. It's to provide the well needed journalism for this community. I think I could sell many of the ads myself if I had a prototype of the paper and have someone design the ads for me. I could design the paper to start and maybe hire a designer later on. The great part about designing a weekly like this is that I could enlist the help of some colleagues not in the immediate area to put it together and email me the design back. For a fair price obviously.

Oh by the way, Creative Vision Photography will be listed in the paper as their highlighted business of the week. I about started laughing when they called me the other day. I'll throw up a shot of the article after it runs on Tuesday or I'll link to it. Don't expect much out of it. I did the photo for it more of a survey than an article. This is the exact reason I want to start my own paper.

Fun in the Tub

Caption goes here

I've been looking to shoot more often so I decided to shoot bathtime with the ferrets the other day. I'll have a few more pics of them from time to time now. Basically when I have nothing to shoot you'll get to see the ferrets.

I got a chance to go to IBOP this weekend sponsored by IPPA (Illinois Press Photographer's Association). It was really nice to get back to a setting where people really cared about photojournalism. It just made me realize how much I want to shoot again. I'm thinking about trying to start a new blog and possibly posting to The Photo News. Clark Brooks talked with me a lot and got me fired up about possibly starting my own weekly newspaper. I think I might start seeking out some ideas this week on my day off.

I shot a few photos at IBOP that you can look at if you want. I also won a 512 High Speed card while I was there so double word score for me.

There will be a new blog of mine up soon. I'm planning on starting a Rochelle Community Blog. Name and specifics to be determined at a later date. I got the idea from a small section that Steve Jessmore from Flint did, only mine will be online based to begin with. It's something I would eventually want to incorporate to a paper.

Last thing to mention is Creative Vision Photography is going to be featured as business of the week in the Rochelle News Leader next week. So I got that going for me...

Strobing

My buddy Kyle from work wanted some pictures of his tatts so I hooked it up. Canon 10-22, 1/250 second f/11. 1 Canon 550EX to the right with a softbox and 1 SB-24 behind him.


We were just a little bored at work today so I decided to bust out the strobes and play around a bit. Here's a few other photos if you're interested. I was fairly pleased. I can't wait until I get to the chapter in my "Skin" book where they talk about black and white toning.

I hope to try and get some more strobing photos soon. Now that I've actually started playing with it a bit it's got me a lot more interested. I'm officially up to 3 Nikon SB-24 flash units and 1 Canon 550 EX. Luckily I have Strobist to help me out a bit with some ideas.

Shawn decided to start a seperate blog about his coffee shop so I may decide to start one based solely on creating a studio. I'll decide on doing that a bit later. Tonight I'm going to start a list of items I need to get in order to do a studio though. If you need a wedding photographer hit me up. I also put an ad in Tuesday's paper. I'll take a pic of it and post it.

Oh, and Steph and I have a website on The Knot's website. Check it out and sign our guestbook.

Tough Day at the Office

Can you say Superbowl Shuffle!

Without this work would have been a huge bummer today.

Just because I could.

As you can see it was a rough one around the store today. When the hardest part of your day comes from trying to hook a VCR up to a projector and then literally having customers come in and hand you a paper and say I want everything on this list, you know you're going to have a pretty easy day.

I think after the Bears game started there were maybe a handful of customers to walk through the door. No worries off my back though. I got what I needed sold for the day, enjoyed bits and pieces of the game, and even finished my little ring light flash project. Didn't work as well as I would have liked so I'm going to try again. This time I'm going to take a bit more time on it and try to figure out why I can't get the bottom half of the circle to fill up as much as the top. If you have any ideas let me know.

Other than that, look for some new photos on flickr too. I'm just in the mood to shoot random stuff lately so who knows what will pop up. I may go to the paper tomorrow on my day off to see if they have anything for me to shoot. I won't get paid for it, but at least I'm still shooting. I feel so out of practice lately and have a loss of creativity.

Oh, the photos above were shot with a 10-22 Canon Lens. I want one so bad. I'll blog more about some other equipment I want tomorrow, but my eyes are falling down as I type so it's probably time to put on the Simpsons and fall asleep.

Marlin Stoneking-1937 to 2007

Marlin Stoneking - September 19, 1937 to January 07, 2007. Beloved husband, father and grandfather.

I got some bad but relieving news on Tuesday. My grandmother called me Tuesday to tell me my grandfather had died. As sad as this news was it was a relief and a blessing because my grandfather had been suffering from Alzheimer's Disease or a stroke for about 2 years now.

No one is completely sure which was the problem because Alzheimer's can only be diagnosed after death and through and autopsy. My grandmother as far as I know opted out of an autopsy. My grandfather also died on Sunday and I didn't hear until Tuesday.

It's hard and complicated to explain. My family doesn't really have the most normal communication skills nor is our family life very normal. My mother and my uncle refuse to talk to my grandmother and have for years. My cousin doesn't talk with her father and he hasn't been allowed to see his newest granddaughter who is now 6 mo. old.

I'm not here to air dirty laundry though. The only thing I can say is that I felt bad for my grandfather. Because of the family issues, the only people at the service were my grandmother, my cousin dave, his mother and step-father, my cousin kirsten, one of my uncle's and his girlfriend, my father, and my sister.

It's not that no one cared for him. In fact, grandpa was kind of the glue that held most of us together. People just felt they couldn't get along during the ceremony and one of my cousins didn't even know about it because he was in Cancun on vacation and no way of getting a hold of him. My grandpa deserved better than that. He had a lot of friends and a lot of people who cared for him.

Anyway, I left work on Wednesday night. I drove to Alpha. Spent the night and took off for Nashville at 7:30 am. Made it by 5 pm. Ate at Outback with my grandmother, father, sister and cousin Dave. Spent the night with Dave and grandma. Drank with Dave until 12:30 am. Woke up at 6:30 am. Services were at 11 am in Pegram, Tenn. about 70 miles away. Ate at Cracker Barrell after the service and drove immediately home. Got caught in freezing rain. Finished the drive home the next day. Drove from Alpha to Rochelle. Showered and went to work at 2:15 pm and returned home by 5:30 pm.

So that's my end of the week wrap up. I have a few pictures from the gravesite if you wish to take a look. At least I have the day off tomorrow. Hopefully I can do something productive with it. Last thing I would like to tell you about is the poem my grandma had my dad read at the ceremony. It's called "The Dash." I felt it was very fitting.

I'm BAAAAAAAAACCCCKKKKKK! (inshttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifert voice of Kyle from Southpark)

Congratulations Ed and Carol. So many people I know are getting married now. It's about as contagious as the flu.


Okay, so it's been awhile. I'm not that exciting therefore there hasn't been that much to write about. I'm stuck in a quandry of whether to find a new job with a university so I can go back to school, stay where I'm at and continue to pay bills, or go for the gold and start my own business.

I'm just so confused. If money was no problem I would definitely start my own business right now, but as that's not the case I just need to do some sidework I think and see how that goes. My portraits seem like they're getting a bit better. I read a book on posing last week by Jeff Smith that helped me a little bit I think. I think I may go back and get his book on Lighting. I thought I had lighting down pretty good, but everytime I think I have a hang on it I find a small glitch.

I think sometimes I get too down on my own work. I know there's a time to be critical and a time to just be satisfied, but I'm having a hard time finding that fine line. Either way, here's the portraits I did the other day with Carol Hendricks and her fiancee Ed. (Sorry, I don't know Ed's last name.) I promise to get a few more posts here and there from now on. I'm almost done with the Wills Chiropractic site too. At least I feel accomplished. My next blog will be on the how cool my Nike+ shoes and sensor are for my iPod.

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.