I Wish I Had Given Al Gore More Consideration

"If you asked me to name the three scariest threats facing the human race, I would give the same answer that most people would:nuclear war, global warming and Windows."

- Dave Barry

The past few weeks, mainly all of May actually, have been an interesting one. Much of it has been contending with the Veteran's Administration regarding injuries and problems from my Army days. As of recently, the wrist has been wrapped up for the last 3 weeks, but trust me there are other issues too. This is the first time in my life where I've felt like the body is just breaking down. Yeah, I know...people keep saying I'm getting old is the rampant joke. I've never had an issue with my age, but at 41, I know I experience pains that should be a ways off, yet. I beat the hell out of my body and practically gave it away to the service of my country in my youth. I gotta tell ya... I'm paying for it now.

Daughter and Granddaughter

As mentioned in my last post, I got to spend a little time in Tennessee visiting my brand-spanking new grand daughter. My mom also flew to TN and that was a pleasant visit as well. It was a first for getting to spend time with just my mom. Usually some of the other siblings or family members were around, but during out stay, we shared a room at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville. I don't remember ever having Mama all to myself. My daughter and her husband have two cars so I got the loan of her car to chauffeur moms around when necessary. Tennessee, especially the Nashville and Clarksville area were recently hit with record flood waters only weeks before our arrival and it was still raining. Waters were receding by the time we got there, but you could still feel the dampness in the air. Humidity was high. There was an extreme contrast in environments. I flew in from one of the hottest and driest places in the U.S. into an area of the country with the most water looming in the air still. My body hadn't experienced that since my deployment to Central America from Fort Campbell on a peace-keeping mission. We practically needed scuba gear just to walk off the plane. TN was also so green...a total opposite to the desert browns. I got lots of pictures that I am still editing on, mainly  pics of the baby along with family and friends who came to see the baby. These are a few of the miscellaneous shots I took.

Tugboat heading down the post-flooded Cumberland River.

So what's my title about, you ask...

I recently and finally watched "An Inconvenient Truth" which was made back in 2006. I'm 4 years behind on this documentary. I just never made time for it, mainly because I did't really like Al Gore all that much and I can't really tell you why. At the time the documentary was made, I wasn't keen on environmental change and didn't understand fully what we could do to make a real difference. I just didn't believe it could be done. The different advocate groups could yell and preach all they wanted but I just didn't see the rest of the world caring so much and thus my own attitude became very passive about the issue. We weren't giving up oil. I couldn't see electric cars replacing American muscle. Solar panels were too expensive and they look ugly on your roof. I guess I gave as much respect to the issue as I do they guy wearing the aluminum foil hat to keep aliens from controlling his mind.

Cameron, entertaining at his house

I watch many-a-documentaries, though. "An Inconvenient Truth" was on my list to see. It just never beat out the more interesting documentaries that discussed space, science, sex, religion, or elements of the human condition. What did get my attention a little was some of the cable television shows that made a series out of going green, particularly some of the house constructs that implemented  renewable energy tech into their homes that looked gorgeous. Also about this same time frame I was in grad school and touched on this a little while getting my MBA in 2006. The next year however, we really dove into this during my Master of Science work in Telecommunications. It was a misunderstanding on my team's part that made me stumble into this green tech thing head first. Our final class project consisted of basically wiring a brand new university for state of the art Telecom. Because of some ambiguity in the instructions, we interpreted it as building the entire school from scratch when the requirement was just for the infrastructure! We went all out in construction design, materials, techniques, and technology to build the school while minimizing our carbon footprint. By the time we finished, we had build the school for free (due to actual existing government grants, partnerships, and tax credits), we were completely off the grid and selling energy back to the Tennessee Valley Authority, and used as much local material and talent that could be acquired. We incorporated new and cheaper non-silicon solar tech (CIGSS), the latest and greatest in energy efficient IT (Virtualized Servers and MAID systems), and even a wind farm. We even had waterless urinals, for crying out loud. We were Platinum rated in LEED compliance. We didn't miss any element of infrastructure design. We built in consideration for the nearby New Madrid fault as well as social concerns such as the school shooting that happened Virginia Tech that same year in 2007. This was a great project management challenge and we did well with it.

Magnolia Leaf and Bloom

So that left me with a wondering of why more companies weren't seeing the benefits of this. This point in time was a complete 180 from where I was before. I moved to Nevada in 07 and was amazed at the fact that this state gets more sun and has more federal land than anywhere else in the US, yet we don't take advantage of it. Casinos are more tech savvy than the state, yet there is more that they could be take the lead in. They certainly do when it comes to protecting their money...how about the same with the environment. Agencies are doing a good talk about green tech, but I'm just not seeing enough action. I worked for the State of Nevada in a huge government building. I got a 3 hour tour of the facilities and explored everything from the HVAC systems to emergency controls, but not so much in green efficiencies. I've seen the nay-sayers and listened to their views. I've analyzed the propaganda of those who refute the obvious. I have never before seen so much organized effort that has wasted so much money and time. Wait, actually I have...from the same people who kept trying to say cigarette smoking wasn't really causing cancer. As you can imagine, many of the anti-global warming pundits are also backed by the oil conglomerates...like BP!

 So, yeah...I wish I had given Al Gore a little more consideration.

"The warnings about global warming have been extremely clear for a long time. We are facing a global climate crisis. It is deepening. We are entering a period of consequences." 

~ Al Gore

Minority Rule

A perfect example of minority rule is a baby in the house.

-- Anonymous

Child rearing myth #1: Labor ends when the baby is born.

-- Anonymous

If your baby is "beautiful and perfect, never cries or fusses, sleeps on schedule and burps on demand, an angel all the time," you're the Grandpa."

-- Theresa Bloomingdale

Okay, I've been away from the blog for a bit. Didn't realize it had been this long since I had posted though. The biggest news though is that I've had a chance to meet my new grandkid. She's a gem. Its been 20 years since I had a little thing like that in my arms so much, but it was still a very familiar experience. I guess you don't forget things like that. She seems to like my singing. She doesn't do so much fussing when I've got her walking around and humming a few melodies. Well, listen. I'll do some more writing real soon. Give me a few more days and I'll give you the dish on all the latest and greatest. In the meantime, my daughter said its cool for me to post some of the pics I took of the baby. She's about 4 weeks old here.

Grounded

"A muscle is like a car. If you want it to run well early in the morning, you have to warm it up."

-- Florence Griffith Joyner 

-One element of my last End of Semester Project-

Sound advice. I don't know how many of you have experienced muscular tears, but those of you who have can sympathize with me. I'm not sure which location is the worst, but a high hamstring tear has GOT to be close to the top. I've got to drop some poundage to take pressure off my knee. I blew that out some years back in the military, but in addition, lumbar and cervical issues have plagued me much more over the last few years. All this has kept me less mobile than what I'm accustomed to and it shows. All around the gut! Well, I realize this is sort of a catch-22, because the heavier I get, the more pressure on the knee, the less mobile I become....the heavier I get again. Determined to break that cycle, I've been doing a few things to burn some calories. The stupid part was when I tried running without warming up. Within seconds, I felt muscle fibers give way and rebound down my leg. And the worst part of it is that its a high tear, like right below the cheeks.

So now sitting down is problematic, especially when you're wrapped up with an ice or heating pack. It is soooo not nice. Ever try going to the toilet on one butt-cheek. Try it. Stick a couple of tacks along the rim on one side. Then you shall share my pain. But I know, why would you want to...right? Over the last two days, I've totally forgotten about being a grand dad. Some business follow-ups never came to memory. This high-thigh hammy pull has all the attention of a colic-y baby that's been sitting in the same diaper all day. This is day three for me and  the first two days were lessons of constant reminders of what I CAN'T do for the time being. Its easy to get comfortable and forget the lack of mobility. Suddenly you become distinctively aware of your lapse in judgement akin to the way an infamous Catholic school nun might bring your attention back to reality from a fantastic daydream. At present, I have been fully trained on these sensitivities and I do not make those mistakes even when I sleep. So now its all about recovery. I am quite certain this is only a grade-2 tear. Its more than a simple strain resulting in sore muscles that I can rub out in a few days, but its also not quite a complete tear across the muscle or detachment from the bone. I give my self 2 weeks. So until then, this kid is grounded. I appreciate the help from those who have gone out of their way to assist me, as well as the well-wishers who wish me a speedy recovery.

On another note, I just found out that my old college professor is teaching his last class period today. I learned well and much from Michael Johnson whom I took instruction from as a photo student. I took 4 semesters of undergraduate photography under his tutelage while at the same time pursuing graduate studies in two fields. This is how important photography was to me. In two years time, I acquired two graduate degrees. I received a MBA first, and then a MS in Telecom next. Every semester I was in school, I took a Michael Johnson photography class. I can tell you very accurately that about 75% of all my scholastic time was spent in his darkroom, much to the dismay of some of my graduate study peers. I was still able to produce GPAs of 3.5 and 3.8 in both studies, but at one point I even risked not attaining the second masters in order to get one final lesson from Michael. As it were, I simply finished the degree a semester late, but that's how important it was for me to get better in the medium of film.

I was not attempting to get an art degree. So there wasn't the same pressures on me compared to those who were. I could fail one of his classes and not be affected. However, I did impose those same pressures on myself to succeed in his courses and sometimes even moreso. I didn't always get along with all my peers in Michael's classes. The opposite was true in my grad studies. I'm not even sure where I stood with Michael at times, but he still gave me permission to come back every semester to take the next higher level of photography. It was Michael who first suggested I try my hand at the art nude. He noted that I liked to challenge myself and suggested there was no more difficult genre of photo than shooting the nude, or at least something along those lines. I mulled over the idea for a second and decided against it, fearing the inability to attain models. On a whim I, by chance, asked a girl to pose for me and she happily agreed. The rest is history.

Michael's course work consisted of lecture and then an assigned project of 4 mounted prints, maybe 6 per semester which were critiqued by the entire class and then he gave his view. He have us pretty much one roll of film to get 4 shots out of 36. Critiques were ofttimes harsh, especially among cliquish groups that never had anything good to say about anyone else's work but their own. At times I took issue and wished Michael would step in. More than once, a girl's efforts were condemned by some in the group and tears were shed. I didn't care when my own work was blasted and I could also take it when a friend did the blasting. To me, it was constructive and there's nothing any of them could say to me that would have been worse than my military days. At times, it took all I had to not call upon my days of old and verbally berate the clique groups who were mean to their peers. Then again, I had to remember that 90% of the class were the same age as my kids. These projects then culminated into a final project of I believe 16-18 images which were not peer-critiqued. These were Michael's alone. I still have the notes on my first final project where I got blasted to bits by Micheal at the end of the first semester, yet I came back for more. I never got another scathing review like that. I learned.

-This is one of the shots I got blasted for during 

my first final project review. It was by model 

request, but I didn't use it. It was only on the contact sheet. Michael hated it and 

sat me down with my contact sheets afterwards.-

-First Polaroid Transfer-

-First Nude Series-

One of my influences from Micheal was a love for film. The ONLY reason I switched over to digital was due to a lack of  darkroom access here in Vegas. Many of us also took on some of his personal tastes and disdains such as a lack of love for some of the Kodak processes and film. Much like a son may chose some of the same affiliations as a father, I loathe Kodak's C-41 processed Black and White film, preferring pro-grade true B and W instead. My usage of borders also stems from his stipulations. His "cup of light" explanations on exposure made learning photography very simple compared to many whom I know who cannot understand the relationship of shutter and aperture. Photo under Michael was laid back but you had better have your ducks in a row. The flannel shirt and jeans might have a tendency to fool the wary into believing art classes are about personal tastes and that you would couldn't help but get an "A" in a class so subjective. In four semesters from 2005 to 2007, I watched many take Michael for their first semester in Art, never to return, opting for painting or drawing instead. I don't recall how many years exactly he's been a professor at Murray State University but I'm sure its been more than 30 years. So on your last day, Michael... I salute you.

...And This I Shall Do

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he had imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."

--- Henry David Thoreau 1817

The biggest news for me right now is that, as of last week, I became a grand dad. I've been asked if I began fathering children at the age of 13, but such is not the case. I was 19 when my son was born and my daughter came into existence a few years later. My daughter became a mom at an age older than I became a dad, so no, she wasn't just out of puberty either. I was young but I was not that young and neither are my kids. I'll get my own pics soon enough, but it bothers me to no end that I was not there for my grand-daughter's birth. My son-in-law's mother is getting plenty enough shots of the baby, who was born a very healthy and big red-head baby. I envy her greatly for her presence there but I am thankful as well. I'll be there soon enough, but I was present for both my kid's premiers and I'd have liked for it to have been no different for my grand-kid's world debut. Its just not easy scheduling a flight on a due date and rightly so, since she was a week late. So yes, I am a grand dad to a beautiful 8lb, 2oz, 20in baby girl. She shall call me Big Daddy T. Gramps just didn't seem fitting for me.

I got to sit out on my patio this evening and stare at a full moon while sippin' on a cup of Joe. Actually my coffee is always pretty sweet so maybe I should say sippin' on a cup of Joanna. This gave me a moment away from my computer to contemplate things in my life, from the challenges, the surprises, the dramas, and the also the blessings. Right now it seems like the blessings are on short supply, but I tend to weather most storms fairly well. One thing that has the heart aching a bit is a surprise from a friend I thought to be lost to me only to hear the return has some agony with it. My elation was quickly deflated when I learned that this friend is at extreme odds with another person also dear to me. Between the two, all is lost where a once admirable and flourishing relationship existed. Its almost analogous to a marriage. You are equally friends with both husband and wife and they suddenly divorce. And then it gets ugly. Its hard to talk about his and remain vague at the same time, but I don't wish to convey details when I have no real understanding of behind the scenes. I do know that steps were taken that has made the relationship irreconcilable and more harm and negative consequences may ensue. I know what love is and right now, I'm not seeing it. And it sux.I grieve for them all.

So I shall concentrate on what I can that's a bit more positive. I'll console where I can and give a shoulder as necessary. Mine are quite knobby and may be uncomfortable, but they are nonetheless supportive and sure. In the meanwhile, my focus lies with my grand daughter, my photo business, and my own emotional and physical well being. I've mentioned before about an inability to focus. Well, I'm still trying to get better at that. I have relationships right here in Las Vegas that need attending to. I need to be a better friend. I need to be better at practicing my own faith and living as according to my own values and beliefs. I need to get healthier, if for no other reason than because I'm not yet ready to let my son beat me at anything. He'll have his day, but not yet. May is going to be an interesting month. I've got to be prepared for it and engage it with the kind of enthusiasm that is more befitting my natural self; and this I shall do.

I hadn't worked with model, Melissa in a while. These are older shots that I've either re-edited or visited for the first time. Where have you been girl?

Best Practices on Photo Storage? I'm Asking...Not Giving

"I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best"

- Frida Kahlo

Damon

Back-ups! Storage is definitely getting cheaper, which is a good thing, but the tech for my money needs to be more efficient. Okay, I'm a little frustrated over my computer storage. When I had this thing built about 7 months ago, I figured a TB and a half would do me for a while. I'm already halfway through that and I know its mainly the RAW files I shoot. I only shoot RAW and I really never get rid of them even after I do my conversions and edits to Jpeg. But remembering to back-up on a regular basis is a pain in the ass. I use external drives to back-up, but I can see that I'm going to have to look at some other options, like either a home server or online back-up systems. I prefer the online option. I'd rather have off-site storage. Right now, its cheap. But it ain't cheap for photographers. If you need to back up a few gigs...cool. When you have to do that with 500GB of images... not so cool. Especially when you like having a minimum of 3 copies of everything. That's redundancy for ya. So I gotta get better at workflow management. I'm reminded of the folks that don't understand why photogs charge what they do for a project. Other than crack, I can't think of a more expensive hobby or career choice. Oh, that reminds me...I still have a donations button on the right over there. You may have to scroll down a bit -->.

Maaike

Something I saw recently that I thought was pretty cool is the iPhone app for photography contracts. My friend, John showed it to me while we were in Zion last week. The thing is cool. you can generate contracts for anything right on the spot. Some are preloaded sample and general contracts, whereas others you can customize for your own needs and requirements. You basically plug in the pertinent info like names, dates, etc. and the ap plugs all that into a full into the contract. And the best thing is that you can SIGN IT right on your phone with your finger! When John told me that, I didn't believe him. At most, I figured you'd have to have a special stylus or something but when he demonstrated it, I went bonkers. Whoa...did I just say "bonkers"?

Angeli

What's the best movie you've seen so far this year? I gotta tell ya...for me, its "How to Train Your Dragon". I know, that may be quirky for a guy in his 40's but I don't need to have young kids to go see movies like this. I can walk right up to the box office counter and ask for one ticket, with no shame whatsoever. Anyway, I liked this film on a bunch of different levels. First, it was funny. Second the story-line was superb. It took you where you just didn't think you'd go. How many stories, movies, TV shows end up with the dragon NOT being the enemy or getting killed? Sure, it starts off like that, but wait til the ending. Third, I like the relationship that develops between a father and son. I think I also have a propensity to favor story lines and thems where the least significant can change the world. Think about Hobbits. And then there's the Bible which is full of that. You also have in this movie the voice of Gerard Butler who sounds even tougher and more bad-ass than he did in the movie, 300. Contrast his character with Jay Baruchel, who you also just saw in "She's out of My League". You can't even think of two more different personas in the world alive today. Craig Ferguson's character was also funny which makes this a not-to-be-missed kind of show.


These are shots of some new friends, Damon, Maaike, and Angeli, that I shot last month. Talk about some remarkable people! They are all some of the most interesting people I've ever met. It was definitely a good day, well...evening. Hoping to see them again tonight. Other projects: More nudes. I haven't been shooting many naked chicks lately. I guess I accomplished my goal of shooting less nudes. Now I'm in withdrawal. I think I'm going to revisit my self-nude project as well at some point. I abandoned self-portraits, not intentionally, but rather just out of it slipping off my list of priorities. That stemmed from Unbearable Lightness' challenge to me a year ago, so I want to revisit that project again. Shooting your yourself is not an easy thing. I've tried being my own model and its exceedingly difficult,which is why I want to get back to it. I've seen amateurs do it so well. They make it seem easy. I've got a few shots that I've done (some of which are posted on this blog somewhere, but I'm too lazy to search and post a link) but weren't satisfied with the outcome. I think its cuz I may not have the patience. Behind the camera, I can see the shot, zoom, compose, and focus as I wish, and take the shot. That's much more difficult when you are alone and in front of the camera. Well, at least for me.

Getting Some Time Away...Thanks To Some Good Friends

"A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water." 

- Carl Reiner

Okay, so anything look a little different? Come on, guess! Yep, I've modernized my blog design a bit, but I'm not done yet. This is just one modification to kick things off, but its not my end design.

Last week was full of doctor visits getting poked and prodded every single day except for last Monday. I didn't get much of anything done from being in pain for one thing or another, but mainly this trick knee. As my last post detailed, I had some focusing issues. Well, maybe God saw fit to help me out a bit, cause a few friends from my church got me to go out to the Las Vegas 51's baseball home opener last Thursday. I did NOT want to go, but wasn't doing a darn thing when a friend basically told me she was coming to pick me up. So I went. Met some interesting new people, got antagonized and harassed by some kids who seemed to take to me fairly well, and watched the 51's beat a Utah team, 7-3. After the game, there was a tremendous firework display that seemed to last a half hour.

The next morning I went to Zion on a whim with my friend John who was also looking to get away. He pretty much negated every excuse I could muster. It was a good trip. We started out early and got back late. The Narrows was closed due to high water volumes, which was expected because of all the new snow melt. The water was very muddy and I wouldn't have wanted to be in it anyway, not to mention COLD. Being a Saturday, it was crowded as expected. People still walked the mile from the drop-off point just to watch the water. I was amazed at how many people had never seen a squirrel or a deer before. For a brief moment we thought about doing Angel's landing. I'm in need of updating some of my landscape work, but that notion was quickly put to rest when I started feeling the knee. I've got to get some new hiking shoes as well. My toes were rubbing in my boots which are just a bit too large. All in all, it was a good day. We stopped off at my favorite joint, the Cracker Barrel on the way back and for the first time, I had something other than either the pancakes or the Sourdough French toast. They had a grilled fish and shrimp dinner that was pretty darn good.

What's next? I don't know yet. Taking it day by day right now.

Focus

"Never again clutter your days or nights with so many menial and unimportant things that you have no time to accept a real challenge when it comes along." 

- Og Mandino

Model, Joan

Its been easy to lose track of time as of late. I didn't even realize it had been so long since my last post. So what's been going on in the land of Photo Anthems, you ask? Well, I've recently closed down my deviantART account. Well, I guess I should say, I've taken down my images. I've more than 300 images up and I've put them all in the sites "storage" feature. For the most part, there's just an ongoing ill feeling I've been having of late. Its been cool getting to know people on dA, but there's more and more non-artistic nudes in the ARTISTIC nudes section. Mixed in with the great work of masters of the trade are more and more pollution nudes that just contaminate the good stuff simply by association. I can't peruse the art nudes without being inundated with tasteless porn, specifically more and more male close-ups that have no merit or warrant to being categorized as art. Yeah, I know...then you get into defining what art is. I'm not splitting those hairs, but those who post what they post know their intent and I am certain I could safely wager, artistic expression is far from their purposes. I got rid of my MySpace a while back too but that was more for lack of use.

Model, Dana

And that goes with many things on my agenda and regular rituals. Especially in these times, I've found it necessary to trim back things that don't contribute to my goals as well as eliminate those things that hinder them. I have to admit to focusing issues as of late. Sometimes, its hard to get mind mind trained on any one thing or task and then do it well. Like I said, I didn't even realize how much time had elapsed since my last post. So my goals right now are to begin the week more productively and get done what I need to get done despite how I feel. If I have to slap myself in the face, then so be it. I've got to gather my thoughts and execute my plans. I am better than this. Og Mandino once advised people to repeat to themselves, "Day by day, in every way, I am getting better and better." I used to have my kids say that in the mornings. I need to take my own advice.

"I will act now.

I will not avoid the tasks of today and charge them to tomorrow for I know that tomorrow never comes. Let me act now even though my actions may not bring happiness or success for it is better to act and fail than not to act and flounder. Happiness, in truth, may not be the fruit plucked by my action yet without action all fruit will die on the vine." - Excerpt from "The Greatest Salesman in the World - (The Scroll Marked IX), Og Mandino

Happy Birthday Mr. Norris...So Long, Mr. Moore

Chuck Norris once kicked a horse in the chin. Its descendants are known today as giraffes.

 The square root of Chuck Norris is PAIN. 

Godzilla is a Japanese rendition of Chuck Norris' first visit to Tokyo.

When Bruce Banner gets mad, he turns into the Hulk. When the Hulk gets mad, he turns into Chuck Norris. 

Yes, We live in an expanding universe. All of it is trying to get away from Chuck Norris.

Model, Joan "By the Serenity Pool"

Last week I attended the WPPI 2010 Trade Show and got my hands on a few interesting new products that I think could be helpful in my arsenal of photo works. And then I also encountered a booth that promoted their wedding albums at every 3.2 stations I passed by. Good GRIEF! I think there should be a limit to how much of one product or service that we should be inundated with. They were like the porn card pushers you encounter on the Las Vegas strip.There's got to be some regulation on that sort of thing. Of everything that I came across, I think the most intriguing thing and funniest was the View-Master style reels and views being offered by Celebrations3D. Everybody had a View-Master when we were kids. To see one now, was both funny and a potentially great novelty to promote. It wasn't all that cheap though, but it could be well worth it to pursue. Check 'em out.

 

A few days before the WPPI trade show, I also did a certification training seminar for the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation, which is a special organization of which I have recently become a volunteer. The workshop proved to be very insightful for me. In a nutshell, this group was founded about 5 years ago to help parents deal with the grief of giving birth to a stillborn child or one who is not expected to be in this world very long. This is a nationwide foundation that collaborates with hospitals and parents to provide professional portraiture of these babies free of charge for the families as a remembrance that these babies were actually here and to confirm that they did indeed exist. A birth certificate is certainly a certification of proof of life. However a photograph truly announces to the world that a life existed today and has left an indelible impact on the world, even if that world only consists of a mother and a father. 

I've taken a personal interest in promoting this cause because they could use a few more photographers to lend a hand and serve this need. I understand that this is not for everybody. It's actually a good thing for you to know your limitations and accept them, if even just for the time being until those limits change. For those of you wishing to find out more about NILMDTS, you can visit the website,www.NILMDTS.org. A documentary has recently been produced on DVD entitled Capturing a Short Life. You can view a short trailer on the film by going to it's website and then selecting the TRAILER tab. www.capturingashortlife.com. If this is something you feel you have a heart for, please consider a closer look and become well informed before making a decision. I believe this to be a cause worthy, not only for consideration, but also service. 

You'd think that a person who's dedicated to his craft would know 90% about the history of their chosen field. Sort of like an actor who knows of all the notables who came before him; or the musician who has studied all the famous artists of her genre. I'm so not there yet. There are a whole bunch of photographers. I was talking to a lady on the phone today who asked me about a few photogs here in Vegas. I think I had heard of one. Vegas is chock full of photographers. Even moreso than a Chips A'Hoy cookie has chocolate chips that you are promised to get in every bite. Well, in a little bigger news, I was surprised to see a good friend of mine make a message board post about Charles Moore who passed away at the age of 79. This guy was the front and center photographer who was up close and personal getting many of the shots from the civil rights days. According to Wikipedia, he also covered conflicts in the Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Venezuela, and also Haiti. He was all over, but he's mostly know for his shots traveling throughout the South.

I've seen his shots, but never knew who took them. The images were so powerful in nature that, I just never bothered to ask who the author was. You were too emotional about the images and the people in them. He's got the one image of the demonstrators being hit with  high-pressure water hose. Finding out who took the picture would have been the last thing on your mind unless you were a newspaper editor and needed it on your front page. No, in this case your heart would inevitably go out to the young black people being blasted with the water and then become so angered by such atrocities that you want to cry out. But you don't really stop to ask how the images came to be. Until my friend Scott, mentioned it, I never knew the man. The guy certainly put his life on the line to get these shots. It was one thing to be black during these days. But being white and supportive of black causes could have been even more appalling. You can see one of his books at Amazon, "Powerful Days: The Civil Rights Photography of Charles Moore". Do a Google Image search on his name. 

These are images of Joan who wanted to see how I might capture her with a camera. I was humbled that she felt I was the right guy to do these shots and was very pleased that she enjoyed them. Being so uninhibited made her easy to shoot and I knew things were flowing well when we were interrupted by 3 hikers and her clothes were out of reach. There was no sense of anxiety. I even gave some directions to the hikers to help find a path up the canyon walls since I had been up there before and gotten stuck.We kept on shooting for another few hours and called it a day. AND she waited patiently for me to edit the shots. As anxious as she was, she never called me once about them to ask to see "some" of them. It was a cool shoot. Expect more. 

Oh, Chuck Norris recently had a birthday and turned 70. Thought I'd share some interesting facts I found out about him from Chuck Norris Facts.com.

 

• James Cameron wanted Chuck Norris to play the Terminator. However, upon reflection, he realized that would have turned his movie into a documentary, so he went with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
• Chuck Norris is the reason why Waldo is hiding. 
• According to Einstein's theory of relativity, Chuck Norris can actually roundhouse kick you yesterday. 
• Chuck Norris CAN divide by zero.
• Police label anyone attacking Chuck Norris as a Code 45-11.... a suicide.
• Chuck Norris ordered a Big Mac at Burger King, and GOT one.
•  If you spell Chuck Norris in Scrabble, you win. FOREVER...
• Google won't search for Chuck Norris because it knows you don't find Chuck Norris, he finds you.
• Chuck Norris uses a night light. Not because Chuck Norris is afraid of the dark, but the dark is afraid of Chuck Norris.
• Chuck Norris' first job was as a paperboy. There were no survivors.
• Contrary to popular belief, the Titanic didn't hit an iceberg. The ship was off course and accidentally ran into Chuck Norris while he was doing the backstroke across the Atlantic. 
• Human cloning is outlawed because if Chuck Norris were cloned, then it would be possible for a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick to meet another Chuck Norris roundhouse kick. Physicists theorize that this contact would end the universe. 
•  There are no such things as tornadoes. Chuck Norris just hates trailer parks. 
• Chuck Norris and Mr. T walked into a bar. The bar was instantly destroyed, as that level of awesome cannot be contained in one building. 
• Chuck Norris does not follow fashion trends, they follow him. But then he turns around and kicks their ass. Nobody follows Chuck Norris.
• When an episode of Walker Texas Ranger was aired in France, the French surrendered to Chuck Norris just to be on the safe side.

Death Valley First Visit

It always rains on tents.  Rainstorms will travel thousands of miles, against prevailing winds for the opportunity to rain on a tent.  ~Dave Barry

How is it that one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?  ~Author Unknown

I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.... People think pleasing God is all God care about.  But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.  

~Alice Walker, The Color Purple, 1982

Its been a very interesting past two weeks or so that has been both a kick in the 'nads as well as a breath of fresh air. Its definitely been drama city over the last few weeks, but I think I'll concentrate on the breath of fresh air part. To start with, last weekend, I took the opportunity to head to Death Valley and camp out there with some friends. So let me give a big-ups to Soibhan (pronounced, Shev-on), for arranging the whole thing for us campers. She still had several people RSVP and then bail on her at the last minute which is totally unsat in my book. She booked the camp sites for us and put this thing together and asked politely that anyone who had a change of plans to announce the fact early. All the slots filled and still 7 people no-showed or cancelled at the last minute. Ridiculous. But I'm glad I was able to be a last minute addition. I found out about it the day before, so I jumped on it.

Death Valley isn't but about 2 to 2 and a half hours from Vegas, which is good. I plan on treating this place much like I did with Zion National Park when I first got here. I drove out there at least 5 times in less than 2 months. There was just so much to explore and I wanted to get to know the place. It's so beautiful out there. I've still yet to do my main project of hiking the Narrows from top to bottom with a model, but it'll happen. I may not do Death Valley every weekend like I did Zion, but I'll be making multiple trips to explore the place. A car may suffice, but I'd much rather be in a truck. I rode with Soibhan who has a small SUV that was surprisingly roomy and comfortable.

This trip didn't pan out as well as I had hoped. DV is the lowest place below sea level in North America. It boasts the hottest temperatures in the western hemisphere of 134 degrees, just shy of the wold record of 136. The place gets less than 2 inches or rain a year! Yet THIS WEEKEND, it rained on us almost the whole time. Our campsite flooded around us. Fortunately we were on higher ground at Furnace Creek, but the same couldn't be said of some neighbors from India. Three of them were camped about 20 feet in front of us and found their gear and tents in a foot of water. On and off, the rains came on Saturday til about just after midnight on Sunday morning. Our potluck had to be quickly eaten, but we did chill by the fire...in the rain, but it wasn't coming down in torrents at least. I still took out my camera to get some portraits of everyone, and it got wet enough that I had to let is sit for a few hours the next day to let it dry out. Mainly the lens and the settings LCD screen fogged up. I didn't get any landscape shots until the ride home, but that's okay. I'll be back. And next time, I'll have a rain bag to operate my camera no mater what the forecast. We knew it was supposed to rain, just not that much for so long. I mean, come on...it's Death Valley!