Archive: July 2008   |   View all recent posts

The Start of A Bittersweet Goodbye
WHAT: Personal   |   WHEN: July 30, 2008
I've been in this apartment for the last 2 years, and although I'm really excited to get the keys to my first house tomorrow, I'm gonna miss this view. I can see this church from my bedroom window, and even though I don't attend service there, there's something very peaceful about it's presence.

Tonight we had a pretty nasty storm, but it let up right before sundown and painted the sky an amazing - almost unnatural-looking - orange color. I've only seen it look like that one other time in my life, so I grabbed my camera and ran outside to catch the fleeting light. It literally only lasted a couple minutes, but it was truly majestic. This first image below was helped along a bit in Photoshop because I want to make a cool print out of it, but the 3rd image was pretty much straight out of the camera. can you believe that color?




I don't actually move into the new house until the middle of August (apparently I'm waiting for it to be 106 outside instead of the relatively chilly 102 temps we're experiencing now), so I'm just gonna sit back and soak up the view for a couple more weeks. I can't think of a better way to put off packing even longer.


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This is del.icio.us
WHAT: Useful Stuff, Tools for Photographers   |   WHEN: July 30, 2008
If you're like me, I always seem to have bookmark issues. 'Hmm.. where did I put that bookmark for cool new packaging ideas? Was that in Firefox or Safari? And was it on my laptop or desktop machine? And was that my old workstation or new workstation? Great googily moogily... there's gotta be a better way.' Enter del.icio.us. My bookmarking debacle instantly got a whole lot easier... and cooler. I feel compelled to share this little bit o' heaven in hopes that somewhere I can help just one person who suffers from the same plight I used to. Okay, that last part was a little dramatic and so charity cliché speak, but roll with me here - there's a payoff somewhere down the line. I promise.

So what is del.icio.us? Quite simply, it's a way for you to tag your favorite sites into categories that you can then access from any browser on any computer at any time. For example, I've got several packaging resource sites that I've tagged, so anytime I want to see one I just go to my del.icio.us page (you'll need to create a free account, and no, you don't get junkmail offers) click on my "packaging" tag, and voila... there's all the sites I've bookmarked in addition to any notes I made about each site as I bookmarked it.


Also, there's an option to add super convenient del.icio.us icons and/or links to your browser of choice (or at least Internet Explorer, Safari & Firefox and possibly a few others) so that you can tag any site for future reference or quickly get to your list of tagged sites. So go ahead, tag anything you want. Tag that "Top 10 Signs You Might Be Addicted to Blogging" site you stumbled upon the other day. You know you want to read it again. Seriously, you need to.



Here's a sample of my collection of tags I've used to group the sites I want to remember. Each tag brings up a list of at least one and most of the time multiple sites I've bookmarked under that category. You can also choose to view your categories in list format and it will show you in parentheses how many sites have been bookmarked in those categories.


One of the coolest things about del.icio.us, too, is the "popular" feature where when you click on this link you see a constantly updated list of - what else - popular sites that people are tagging recently. You'll see a fair amount of techy programming sites here, but you'll also find just as many entertaining if not useful sites. Warning, this may not help your aforementioned addiction.

If you're looking for a way to simplify your internet life, give it a try. It might be just what you're looking for. And if not, you'll at least spend 5 minutes of your life trying it out that you would have otherwise spent wasting brain cells mindlessly surfing the web.


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Somewhere Alfred Hitchcock is Smiling
WHAT: Random   |   WHEN: July 27, 2008
I've started slowly packing a few things in getting ready to move into the new house. I. Hate. Moving. I especially have a strong distaste for packing all the little things. I'd much rather move big pieces of furniture all day long than pack up small things like dishes, silverware, pictures, books, etc. for two hours. Except for photos, I'm come to realize I'm just not a details kinda guy. Where am I going with this? I dunno. Anyway.

So, for the last 2 years or so, I've been collecting N's from time to time as I find them. I don't really go out of my way looking for them, but if I run across a cool one when I'm out or when I'm traveling, I'll pick it up. I knew I had a few, but it wasn't 'til I started packing that I realized I'm on my way to a pretty snazzy collection. I'm imagining one day it could look a little obsessive if I'm not careful, like something out of a Hitchcock movie. Instead of "The Birds", think "The N's".

I took a few images thinking I might string together some cool images for a series somewhere in the new house. Here's a couple samples.









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Trace & Kristie ~ One More TIme
WHAT: Weddings   |   WHEN: July 26, 2008
Here's a slideshow of Trace & Kristie's wedding day. Check it out.



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Trace & Kristie ~ Married!
WHAT: Weddings   |   WHEN: July 24, 2008
I was truly honored that Trace & Kristie asked me to photograph their wedding, and as far as photographing first weddings solo, I couldn't think of a better couple to start with. It was awesome to see the way they looked at each other throughout the day, at times like there was no one else around. And the moment Kristie came down the aisle and both the bride and groom started tearing up... I still smile every time I look at those images. Such a sweet and telling sign of their relationship. It's obvious they are best friends.

The ceremony was at the former Governors' Mansion in Bismarck, North Dakota. A beautiful location and what I thought would be a nice escape from the Texas summer sauna weather. I thought wrong. According to the locals, the weather on the day of the wedding - low 90's and humid - was "unusual". Of course it was. Nonetheless, it was a perfect day for these two.

My favorite moment of the day? When the limo taking the wedding party back to the reception while we did a few portraits of just Trace and Kristie never came back for us. Not so funny for Trace and Kristie at the time, but they handled like two people who didn't care because they just got married. Besides, it'll make for a great story for them as they remember their big day. It already is a great story. The funniest part was Kristie standing in the street trying to flag down passing cars to give us a ride to the reception (see images below)... the friendly Bismarckians musta just thought she was doing a 'hey-look-at-me-I-just-got-married' wave because they would just honk, wave and drive on by. Golden.

I'll post a slideshow tomorrow showing more images, but here's a few of my favorites to hold you over until then.

Again, congrats, Trace & Kristie, and thank you for trusting in me to capture and preserve your wedding day. May God bless you in every new step together.




















This might be my favorite image of the day. Both Trace and Kristie were tearing up when they saw each other for the first time that day.
















Kristie's dad was the sweetest guy. Soft -spoken, but with a big heart... and he plays the accordion!





Ahhh the Red Eye. This is a homemade tradition for Kristie's family. There was a whole separate hotel room dedicated to serving it up during the reception.








And finally, here's me photographing the whole gig on this professional point-n-shoot. I was worried about bringing all me gear to Bisamarck, so I packed light. [grin]



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