ROAD TRIP!!

Okay, I'm not sure when this road trip is going to be taking place. I don't even really know where the road trip is going to lead me. I have some research to do. Here's the story.

My great grandma had her own photography studio in Missoula, Montana back around 1910. She was a pioneer in the photography field and took her camera with her on expeditions and family outings.

One of the outings, she captured an image she called "50-miles of the Rockies". I'm not sure where she was when she captured this image. I'm trying to contact my aunt to see if she knows a bit more about it. She did a lot of family history and I'm hoping she will know.

The last time I traveled was in January to Yosemite with the Aperture Nature Photography Workshop. By the time I'm able to hit the road to try to re-shoot my g-grandma's image it will be about six-months since that trip. That's about the time frame I seem to have before the itch to travel someplace become unbearable.

So, here is a copy of the original photo. You will need to click on the image to see it a bit larger.

New photo project gains momentum

I have created a new blog for this new project. I'm VERY excited to see where it goes. Take a peek at the new blog and please bookmark it. This is one you will definitely want to follow.

Those that borne the battle:

http://thosethathavebornethebattle.blogspot.com/

More Chihuly

Chihuly - Take Two

New Tanzania Images.

Another photo entered in another contest

Theme for the entry is: Emotions.



You can see the other entries here: http://tinyurl.com/dflp62

The REAL Bee's Knees

This afternoon I kept seeing flying things past my arcadia doors. Tazo was also going spazo and jumping up trying to catch them as they came close to the windows. When I finally got up to see what was going on I saw several hundred bee's going crazy around my balcony.

After I went to the complex office and they called the exterminators, I promptly went back home and grabbed my camera to take photos. Well, what else would you expect I would do?? Hmmm?? ;-)

New contest. Seeking your votes.

Hi folks,

As you know, last week I lost my job as video director at SBC. I truly believe the Lord has plans to use me and the photography skills He has blessed me with.

I have entered another contest. This one, like the last one, starts out with people voting for a project idea. It then goes to judges to vote on, not only the idea, but the photographers skill. They do look at portfolios.

Here is my project idea:

A Child's Point of View

My heart for this project is to capture the simplicity of children at play worldwide.

Children worldwide learn about the world around them through play. However, in different countries and cultures, what a child plays with varies.

Children in first world countries are focusing on activities such as video games or spending time surfing the web while children in third world countries find as much joy in playing with a simple metal ring and a stick as the runs through the African bush.

I would like for the images to show the joys of childhood that can be found in the process of play and how this is one similarity that can be found worldwide, regardless of culture.

This voting process is much easier than the last. There is no registration required. All you need to do is go to the site and vote. AND, you can vote as many times as you like.

If you like the project proposal, please click on the link below, or on the badge to the left, and place your vote.



Thanks.

Portfolio glance

Photography is a my passion and capturing the moment is what brings a smile to my face. The following are some of the images I have captured over the past year. If you have a need for a photographer, whether it's for your business needs or to preserve cherished family memories, give me a call. It would be my pleasure to create images that tell your special story.

Randomness

My shower head in Kondoa, Tanzania.

Some more casualties

I'm still processing photo from my last trip to Tanzania and found more photos of people I will miss dearly.


Laveena, Elisha and Anna. These were the three people I "hung" with when I was out in Mairowa. They became dear, dear friends of mine during my stay out in the bush.

Elisha wears the collar I had made for me.

Aperture Nature Photography Workshop

This week was the deadline to submit up to ten of my favorite images I captured while in Yosemite at the Aperture Nature Photography Workshop in January. They will be reviewed and the best ones from all 12 winners will be published in a book at the end of this year. There are two more contests to be run this year to determine the next eight winners.

Here are the photos I submitted:

A photographer's ramblings

I found this video on one of the blogs I follow and found it very moving. It really spoke to me, especially at this time in my life where I'm trying to shift my focus to my photography as a main source of income and a way for me to tell the stories that are near and dear to my heart.

If you know me, you know how I struggle with being able to view my photos objectively. Comparison always comes into my thoughts and looking at how someone else might have shot this particular scene.

Bottom line though is I love the photo that I take. I really do. I'm like a proud parent only my children are not the subjects in the images I pull out to show people, they are the images themselves that I birthed. My passion is to shoot. I am literally like a child when I bring the images back to look at them on the computer and begin to process them and tweak them to make the "pop" all the more.

The video is 10-minutes long, but if you have the time and want to "go deep", watch the entire thing. He brings my thoughts to life with his words.

Unknown Final Farewell.

I'm going through all my images and files on my work computer, trying to put some order to it so Bradley can find things when he needs them. Today I have been processing all the Tanzania images from my three trips. Cataloging them and doing some photoshop work to make them look their best. I was doing fine until I ran across this image.
















I know it's not the best image, but it holds special meaning to me. One of the saddest parts of me losing my job is losing the opportunity to return to Tanzania to record the SBC projects. I have made some dear friends and the thought of never seeing them this side of Heaven is harder to take than the loss of income.

This image is of Len Gai (middle), his brother and mother walking away. I snapped this image on one of my last days in Mairowa. If I had known that this was going to be the last image I captured of this little boy who holds a very special place in my heart I would have run after him and given him one more big American style bear hug and held it a bit longer than usual.

Whenever I would arrive in Mairowa, Len Gai would always ferret me out. What makes him so special? Other than his quiet spirit and gentle heart who melted into this big body of mine when I hugged him, he has an added challenge to his life, he is legally blind.

My boss and his small group sponsor Len Gai and I sponsored him by default. I was the small groups representative and would always deliver things to both side.

I recently found out that Len Gai is now going to school for a the blind and I look forward to hearing amazing things from this young man, but I will miss standing in the grassy area of the school only to turn around to see his shy smile greet me. He will always have a special place in my heart.

Loss brings a new beginning!

My number has been selected. I signed the paperwork yesterday and I am no longer a video director at SBC. I am now counted among the many, many Americans who have found themselves out of work.

I can't say this has come as a surprise to me. With the economy tanking and offering down, the writing was basically on the wall. It also didn't help that we had two video directors on staff and I was the "low man on the totem pole."

Things are going to be changing in my life over the next month. I am moving out of my apartment and into my brother and sis-n-law's Casita. That in itself should be an adventure; condensing my two bedroom apartment into one room the size of my current living room.

I am having to say good-bye to one of my kitties. Lilly has been with me since I moved into my apartment, but I'm going to have to find a home for her or take her to the shelter. Out of all of these changes, this is going to be the most difficult for me. So, if you know of anyone who wants a very independent cat who doesn't get along with other kitties, please let me know. Tazo the spazo kitty will be going with me to the casita.
















So, what am I going to be doing with my life??? That is a very good question. I don't know what the Lord has in store for me, but I'm very excited. I feel he has been preparing me for something but I don't know what it is.

I do have a project I'm trying to get off the ground and would very much appreciate your prayers. This is not a paying project, at least right now. I don't know what the final project is going to look like but my passion for it is growing with each person I tell.

Some background on it first.

I recently reconnected with a friend from high school. I had not been in communication with Michael since the end of my Sophomore year. He was one year behind me. Throughout the years he randomly came to my mind and I wanted to know what he was doing.

Michael and I reconnect twenty-seven years after our last communication. I found out that he went on to become a Navy SEAL and served in the Gulf War. I filled him in on my life journey and referred him here to see some of my work.

Upon seeing my photography he planted the idea about going to the VA hospitals and capturing images of the Vets and telling their stories. And so a seed was planted and it has grown into something with huge potential. I would ask for your prayer pertaining to this project.

Our veterans have stories that NEED to be told. Their experiences need to be conveyed to the next generation. Just as God gave us the Pentateuch to tell the Jewish people where they came from so they could understand where they were headed, we need to understand our history for the very same reason.

I also have some other things in the works, but nothing definite right now. I will keep you up-to-date.

In the meantime, if you or anyone you know, wants to have a portrait taken, please let me know. I would very my enjoy the opportunity to capture special family memories for you.

Thanks for all the support and encouragement I have already received. It means a great deal to me.