In the presence of greatness

Wow. I was excited when Chase Jarvis followed me on Twitter. Now Mark J. Rebilas added me. I have seen Mark's work over on SportShooter for a few years now and regularly read his blog. Mark embellishes the sports work I want to achieve and Chase is the visioneer that I hope to become.

Now, if I can only find that twitter-elixer that has the magic of osmosis via the web......

Daily observation

It's snowing here in Pittsburgh. I have my computer on a desk and I look out two windows in the corner. Right now, all I see is grey (gray?) sky and white flakes falling. Not sure if it will accumulate, but even if it does it won't stay. We are suppose to get temps in the 50's in a few days.

In all honesty, the weather doesn't bother me. But I am going a little bonkers trying to come up with a few ideas to shoot in this kind of weather.

Instead of taking pictures, I am going through the pictures of the Potter & Raccoon Red Devils v. Beaver Bobcats game a few days ago.

Business of the day

Strange as it may be, I haven't actually taken a day off of some sort of photography work in several weeks. I thought today was going to be the day, but it ended up being almost all photo related activities.

I started out with some emails about some photo events next month. Then I stopped in at the Dollar Store to buy some mailer envelopes for mailing CD's. Next, I went and did a little work at the new local studio for about an hour. After that I mailed off a CD to one of my models and got to talk to Jenn about shooting again now that I have the small studio in town.

Not bad for about an hour and a half.

On my way out of town, I stopped back at the house and grabbed my camera (just in case) and headed to the bank then to the craft store to pick up some materials for my photo display at the football field (that included a 16x20 frame for my picture that is in the Fe Gallery exhibition and clear picture covers). After that stop it was off to Fe Gallery to frame my matted print.

((Funny story: I finally found a parking spot in Lawrenceville and walked over to Fe Gallery. When I got there, the windows were all covered up with paper and cardboard. It kid of looked abandoned or closed, but I know it was to keep everyone from seeing the art being set up for the opening next week. So I knocked a few times and double checked the time to make sure I didn't get here too early or late. Time was okay.

Still waiting.

Then the door unlocked and opened just enough for a hand to reach out with a stack of printed invitation cards. Immediately, I felt like a drug transaction (or in Laurie's words, Trick-or-Treating).

I had to chuckle at the whole ordeal. I mentioned that I brought a frame for my piece as instructed. Laurie looked at me, then into the gallery, then back at me and said softly, "then you would have to come in?"

"Well", I responded "or you could do it for me."

Laurie replied, "or you could do it out on the sidewalk."

"Yes, I could." I said.

The door shut. A few minutes later, as I was standing on the sidewalk staring at this paper and cardboard covered window, she returned with a hammer and my print.

"Here you go." she said.

I told her I would knock twice when I was done.

So there I was, kneeling on the sidewalk and door stoop putting my print into a frame. It was very weird.

After I had finished putting all together, I knocked and had to laugh when she opened the door just enough to get the hammer and frame. Then she said "You knocked three times."....I walked away telling her this was the most entertaining part of my day.

When I was done at Fe Gallery, I made it home to check on the evening activities. In the mail was a wedding contract so I headed off to make copies for the bride and groom as well as deposit the check for the calendar schedule fee that had been included. On the way back we stopped at Hanks Custard for a treat while I talked to the bride about her wedding day, the formals and a few other details.

Tonight, I have to put together the display and get everything ready for the football game tomorrow. I definitely won't forget the roster this time.

View from the rooftop

Well, there aren't any angels singing, but the view is mighty nice.

I have several pictures to post, but have to wait for a better internet connection. It should happen this weekend. Just an FYI.

I was roofing Mon/Tue/Wed. It's an experience and I cannot say it's something I would want to do for any length of time.

Wednesday I was coming off the ladder carrying a bundle of roofing shingles. I stepped onto the ground and stepped on a support board and my ankle twisted and POPPED. I fell to the ground, and the shingles landed on my head.

Don't worry, the shingles were fine.

My ankle is bruised, swollen to about a baseball and hurts to walk. Life is good. I was also hit in the face by a shingle that caught the wind and smacked me in the lip. No blood, so it doesn't count.

Today I dug a dozen holes for a wheel chair ramp/deck. All I can say is GET A FOUR YEAR DEGREE.

I can't wait to get back shooting again.

I can smell the trees

I am back "home". Back in Washington state. For most of my summer trip I will be in the Cascade Mountains. My Internet connection is limited so my posts will be only text when I get online while up in the mountains. When I get into town, about once a week, I might be able to upload photos. So be prepared to see large posts every so often. Or several different posts (with pictures) once a week on the same day.

On the ground 3 days, I have already scouted a few sites, shoot a baseball game, chopped wood and did a birthday party. Well, let me re-phrase that"wood chopping" thing. Someone else used a chain saw to cut up the trees (3 or 4 of them) and I loaded the wood into the trucks (with help) and cleaned up the mess (with help). Still, it was pretty heavy duty physical work. NOT what I am used to doing. In all of that, I made a point to take pictures. Hopefully I can get some uploaded in the coming week.

Upcoming week

I won't be posting much this week because I am getting ready for a trip back to the Northwest. Once there, I may slow my postings down to one or two posts a week (or less) and very few if any images. The biggest reason will be from limited Internet access and the speeds will not be what I am used to (satellite Internet connections are limited to total usage and not by speed). Also, the photo opportunities may be significantly less.

Do not fear, I don't plan on being totally off the grid.