Back from the Sun

Just returned yesterday from PHX to visit family. Hope, Emersyn and I all made the trek out to the valley of the sun for a few days. This was a make-up trip, of sorts, from Christmas when we weren't able to make the flight because of ice on the roads (which I'm still trying to get reimbursed).

We arrived on Friday night, late. We took the evening flight hoping that Emersyn would sleep since the flight started close to her normal bedtime. No such luck. She fought how tired she was the whole way. She was pretty fidgety after a couple hours - but she's 22 mo. old so considering, she did pretty well. Not only did she sleep about 20 minutes before the flight landed on the way out, she managed to do the same thing on the way back. Ugh!

We were able to spend time with family. Emersyn was able to meet my aunt & uncle for the first time, along with cousins (Jamie & Ryan & Nyah). I was also able to connect with a long-time friend that has gone through a lot over the recent years. It was good to catch up. I was able to get some nice pictures from the weekend which will be posted shortly.

See the rest of the images

Its always interesting to go back to where you grew up. For those of you that have never left your hometown, its hard to convey the feeling exactly. Its like going back to that place that's so familiar, a place you could never get lost, a place where you know what to expect, where time kind of stands still in some ways. Its nice to visit but I left there almost 9 years ago and could never imagine living there again. I've felt for a long time now that once you get to comfortable, its time to put yourself in a different place; on purpose.

On my way in today, I was quickly reminded that I was home. The hustle and bustle and the colder weather. Its definitely different but its good to be home.

Never enough time

Why does it seem that no matter how efficient you may be on a given day, there's never enough time to "get it all done"? I guess that's just the way it goes but its quite frustrating sometimes.

I'm starting to wonder if this new flood of material in my world (especially around the subject of photography) is overloading my brain. I'm feeling a little too connected sometimes. Between blogging (I write and there are several I follow), email (personal and work), instant messaging, flickr, facebook, twitter, texting, calling...AAAHHHH! Make it stop...but wait, if I stop, did I miss something? And then if you let any of this go for too long, its sooo hard to catch up again.

First Experience: Fashion Show

Last Sunday I was asked to participate in shooting a fashion show that was an extension of Fashion Week in NYC. Hmm. Let me think? Uh, okay - please sign me up! Now lets figure out how to get there - and what fun would it be without a little struggle to make this happen, right?

I found out about this on Friday evening and the event was on a Sunday night (of which Monday was a holiday). I also knew that Hope (my wife) would be in the city with a friend for the day and I was scheduled to watch the baby for the day. Problem was that there was an overlap of a couple hours between the time when Hope was headed back and I was scheduled to be in the city. Being the creative problem solver that she is (after exhausting all normal babysitting options at the last minute), she suggested that I get the baby fed and ready for bed, then put her in the car and 'make the exchange'. So we did.

Once in the city, I headed uptown to the restaurant and met up with Lou (my Flickr friend). He knew the designer (Dolita) which is what made this all possible. We met with her shortly after being there and proceeded to do some test shots to get our settings right for the shoot. The models were going to basically make their way around the restaurant coming up a set of stairs from the basement then back down - and repeat. Lou and I positioned ourselves and started shooting.

For me, this was a lot of fun and challenging as well. Not only am I a pretty novice photographer but I now have moving objects to capture. So many things to remember in the moment. The shot lasted for about 20 minutes. Overall, there are a handful of images that I thought were pretty good (me being critical of myself). Shortly after the show, Lou and I packed it up and I made my way back home on the train. The whole way back, I'm thinking about all the things I could have or should have done differently (typical of me). Next time will be that much better!

Red Doors and 9/11 Remembered

I took a walk around the city, the village mostly on my birthday a few days back.  I was actually seeking out this neighborhood that is all cobblestone and looks like it could be something in Paris right in the middle of NYC.  I've been through there before but couldn't find it - even doing research ahead of time and even asking cops on the street.  Oh well, I'll find it.

So as I walked, I kept coming across these red doors that were really cool.  So I started snapping.  After a while I had several pictures but here are a few of them.

I also came across a chain link fence that had painted tiles with memories of that faitful day 7 1/2 years ago.

 

Recycle your stuff: One person's trash...

It seems that I found out about some new resource of material just about everyday. A couple days ago, I saw a piece on the news that talked about a site where people can post your stuff you don't want for people to pick up for free. Kind of a neat concept. Check it out here -> http://www.freecycle.org/

I've been feeling a little under the weather the past couple days. I hope to post some photos from my birthday walk around the city back on Tuesday. For some unknown reason, I ended up with several photos of red doors. Not sure why. Stay tuned for the images.

First "real" photo shoot

A few weeks back, I sent a note to a flickr member asking if he could include me the next time he has a shoot.  He responded nicely and said something to the effect of, "okay, I'll let you know".  I figured this meant nothing would come of it but it was nice that he even responded. 

Several days ago, I sent another note over and asked again if there was something on the agenda and it turns out there was.  So, I met up with him and the couple to have their photos taken in Rutherford, NJ.  It was still pretty cold out even though it was supposed to warm up later in the day.  Nissa & Matt (models) were great sports considering the temperatures.

The couple had an old building near some train tracks for their location picked out.  It turned out to be a really nice setting.  Still snow on the ground.  Lou (flickr guy) was nice enough to stop and talk to me about setup and give some pointers on how to make proper adjustments on the camera and even let me borrow some equipment for me to capture some images on my camera as well.  Check out my favorites of the day from my camera...and here are some that Lou has posted to his account.

Hopefully we can work together again.  I had a lot of fun (if you couldn't already tell from this entry).

Its been a while

I can't believe it was November of 2007 the last time I posted something here.  Time goes so fast!

It was a little over a year ago that I got a DSLR and I've become crazy about getting involved in photography.  I try to shoot as often as I can and I've started getting involved in as many on-line communities as I can to help establish a network of people and explore the world of photography.

More specifically, I've shot two weddings as a guest but have the taste for trying it as more of a hired person.  I'm hoping to connect with someone that is looking for an assistant.  Really want to learn about the trade and take some of those "wow" shots that you see in magazines and on-line sometimes.  There are a couple people that are really doing some interesting stuff.  Watched a video chat with Jasmine Star.  She's doing some great visual work and was kind enough to share some time with many of us on the PhotographyMentor site.  Until you look, how would you ever know that such a community exists.  Good news is that there seems to be a lot of on-line resources for photographers.

On a related note, I've taken a little time over the past few days to update my flickr account.  I've posted several photos that I've taken that I like for one reason or another.  I even received a request to use a photo of mine from an on-line publication.  Still trying to find out the logistics.  More to come on that.