There’s Still Time to Start Again.

I’ve been thinking about this for the past couple of weeks and come to the conclusion that I’m not going to make any resolutions this year. There isn’t some act of rebellion going on here, it’s more because I don’t have much I want to fix in my life. Instead, I have things that I want to achieve. The word “resolution” to me sounds a whole lot like “resolve” which is what you do when you have a problem…strive to resolve it. So rather than discover problems in order to set a resolution in place, I think I’d rather set goals.

I’ve come up with 30 of them! Some of them don’t have a time-frame outside of “before I die.” So here we go…

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New Years and some self dicipline.

So how much of a blog slacker am I?

Wow.

Sorry peeps.

2008 is over, I won’t say anything like “thank God” because while the year kinda sucked (deaths, lack o’ jobs, common struggles) I am more than blessed in the quality of the life I lead. I have a strong family and a steady paycheck. All is well.

I’m still entering ‘09 with some trepedation though. “Times is ‘ard” and I have some big plans that I need to get moving on. Given that a lot of people read this thing, as usual I have to stay tight lipped for now. The biggest of my plans will happen in the next 3 months though.

So let’s go over my obligatory ‘09 resolutions:

1.) Reach Shodan in Go. (an ancient game that I have an intense love for) And finally buy a nice goban no matter how much it conflicts with my environmental beliefs.

2.) Move.

3.) Double my business from 2008.

4.) Save 30% of my income.

5.) Commit at least one hour a day to each of my endeavors.

I think the last will be the hardest by far, because it includes the blog. I obviously struggle with this one pretty consistently.

Within the next couple of days I will be posting about a wedding I shot on the 3rd so keep your eyes out. For now, I have to run and continue to play catch-up from my week long retreat from working.

Adios.

Thanksgiving

Hey everyone,

Still out of town, but I thought it would be great to take a second and wish you all a happy Thanksgiving. Hopefully you ate enough to last the rest of the week.

All the best,

David

Mike the Druid

It wasn’t until I started reading more that I considered how boring my life has been so far. That’s bound to happen when comparing your life to a Zombie War though. When trying to come back to some memory that could have been even remotely entertaining I usually encounter a kind of memory black hole. It consumes all aspects of my past, from childhood to whatever it was I ate for lunch today.

Every once in a while my slippery memory will return a gem to me though, like today.

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Barack Obama, President-Elect

Well folks, it’s over.

Succinct right?

Barack Obama is the next president of the United States. Many fears went by the wayside. Many individuals changed some deep rooted views. Personally, I am glad for this. It may turn out that those of us that voted Obama into office were wrong. Maybe his lesser amount of experience will be to our detriment. Then again, maybe that lack of time served will show us a man untainted by the same corruption that is a disease in the heart of our country.

Great leaders are forged in strife.

The election is over, but our job isn’t done. Those of us that wanted a new direction for our country have won a small fight today, but it cannot stop there. As citizens of the U.S. it falls squarely on our shoulders to move the country consistently in the right direction. It is our responsibility to demand change, as we have done today, and we must continue to demand the right path.

If we want a greener planet, it falls to us to find a way. It falls to us to shut off the lights, and carpool to work. If we want a war to end, we must make it end.

Do whatever you must do to move the country in the direction that is best for the people, all of the people. If that means you work to become a senator, do it. If you can make an engine that gets better gas mileage, build it.

The country is crying out to move forward, and we are the vehicle to take it there. Government has no power that the people do not grant it.

As Americans we must understand… We must take responsibility now, or this small stride will be in vain.

Early November and Cheap-o Fog Machines

I can’t believe I forgot about this.

Halloween is over and that means that all of the tacky fog machines that places like Home Depot and Target carry, will be on sale now.

They aren’t quality products by any means, but for $30 or less you can’t help but grab one for grins. A little smoke can do wonders for an image. Fact is, nothing makes backlight cooler than a bunch of fog with beams of light shooting out of it.

Normal professional-grade fog machines are a few hundred dollars to start which is why the popular lust for cheezy halloween decor is a great lighting opportunity for photographers.

Also they tend to clog, so every few times you use one, run a half/half mixture of water and vinegar through it to clean it out.

It stinks like mad but it will keep it from clogging and therefore keep it running.

Jeff Goldblum, Frozen Fly King

Ok, fine. So it’s not really Jeff Goldblum, nor is this little guy likely to be the king of flies. He was however, sitting on the roof of my car this morning, an unfortunate victim of our first frost of the year.

You’ll have to forgive the lack of awesome focusing. It’s mighty tough to stay steady when you’re shivering and shooting macro.

Home Again.

Hello readers, sorry for the brief sabbatical from blogging. I went home to Kansas City this weekend to hang out with family. Always good times. Had a few surprises while I was out there. One being the fact that Obama came to town, that was kinda cool. I didn’t bring my press pass home with me cause, well, who knew I would need to?

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Close Up Experiment

I love portraiture. Most of the time though, I take a portrait to show people that they are beautiful. Sometimes it is to show other people that the person is beautiful. Last night though, I decided that I wanted to show people as they are flaws and all, at least for one image. No retouching. For me this is a different kind of beauty. A braver kind.

(By the way, click the image for a larger version, or here for the largest version)

If the style of these images is familiar to you there is a reason.

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Impermanence

Found her in passing the other day. While trying to understand what happened to her it dawned on me that I never really thought about the fact that birds die just like everything else.

They have always seemed ethereal to me, and free, like death himself could never catch them. Perhaps that perception is fueled by the fact that I very rarely see dead birds lying around. Whatever the cause of this line of thinking is for me is really no matter. The point is more about what it brought to mind upon further contemplation:

That even the freest of us can fall.

and also

Does anyone have a parachute for sale?