GQ here we come

It's late and I'm tired, so I'm not sure how good this post will be, but I will definitely try to make it entertaining. This whole thing started because one of my friends asked me to shoot her prego belly. So I quickly ran to my end all/be all of photography, Mrs. McWillette. She, by the way, is awesome. She agreed to lend me some of her equipment and show me how to pose her. So off I went to the house with the yellow door, and since she was preggers I learned quickly what and what not to do. Before I left she suggested that I practice on some of my friends before I shoot her. These pictures are the result of that suggestion.

This boy is one of my best friends in the whole world. We have known each other since high school and we can still make each other laugh until we pee. The best type of friends. For this reason, it was so easy to shoot him. We laughed and joked. So I hope that you can see a little bit of our friendship in them too.

What you see here is only two photos of about one hundred that we shot. Yes, I did say one hundred! I had to catch every little movement. I impressed myself with these pictures. I believe that I am finally catching on to this photography stuff. I hope that your are enjoying my progress too. Enjoy!

Peace is possible...at least for a moment

I love this picture because it shows how much they love each other. These are the moments I assume most parents live for, because there is was no arguing. Simply a peaceful rest in the woods. As I continue to get into my photography, I start to understand that it's not always about catching the expression on someone's face. I love the way that these kids are sitting, their angle to one another and that they are both so into their surrounding. By the way, this was a park -- which I think should be renamed a forrest. Because when I think of a park, I think of swings and shit!

show me your biscuits

So BISCUITS! What better way to bring friends and family together? What better way to spend a rainy Sunday than cooking biscuits? Well you could spend it with a five-year-old asking you if you would show your boobies to see Radiohead in concert. By the way, I told him "no", but I really think I might. Come on, it's Radiohead!

I love these pictures. Not that I'm into product shots, but I think they represent my entire Sunday. Plus, who doesn't love biscuits.

These pictures are going to be part of this project that I started. I was reading the blog of Ali Edwards and I found a great project called, A week in the life of(http://aliedwards.typepad.com/_a_/a-week-in-the-life.html). She instructs participants to bring their camera with them everywhere for a week. Document everything you do and scrapbook it. Now I'm not one for scrapbooking, but we will see what comes of the project. I think the pictures that are chosen will definitely be interesting. Maybe I will post some pages. Come back and see!

...so I can fly far, far, far away!

So I tried to come up with cliches about butterflies, but the only one that I could come up with was: "butterflies in my stomach." I think this one gets a thumbs down. I thought that there was one about letting it go and if it comes back to you then it was always your's. But not so much! Oh yeah, let me not forget the Michael Jackson song.

This picture was taken in my sister's back yard. What you don't see is four kids standing right on my back yelling, "There's the butterfly! Take it's picture!" That's great training for taking a picture. It's almost like being a sniper, and not being distracted by any sudden movement. Now talk about an analogy. I really like this picture even though it is a little out of focus. The colors on the wings are beautiful!

Not that I'm into nature pictures, but when you have your nieces and nephews yelling at you to get the picture you have no choice but to oblige.

So question: Do you have any butterfly cliches? If so, share.

a few things about me...

This is a picture of my boy. We have been friends close to 15 years. He text me today and said he cannot believe the MJ is dead! That led to a 30 minute convo about MJ. I believe these are the conversations that made our friendship last so long.

After my celebration of MJ with Phil (we discussed our favorite song and album), I went online to read some blogs. I always start with Kelly Willette's blog. It is amazing and full of such bright colors. She is an absolutely amazing photographer who started out as an English teacher. Her creativity is so explosive that she had no choice to become a children's photographer. Check out her website http://www.willettedesigns.com/ SHE gave ME the push to start taking pictures and blogging my photography. She is an open book, and is always willing to give me advice about my own photography. This is what I admire the most about her. So while reading over my blog, I noticed that I don't tell you a thing about me.

The things you should know about me is that I love my family, my friends, my music, my tv shows, my car, my work and my camera. Sharing makes me shake! And, away we go...

Outside my window...A tree and a fire hydrant.

I am thinking...that I need to go out and shoot.

I am thankful for...all of the people in my life.

From the kitchen...nothing tonight. I am home alone and hoping someone invites me out for dinner.

I am wearing...my work clothes, but I really want to be in my pjs.

I am going...to go back to school. Hopefully!

I am reading...blogs about scrapbooking, even though I don't scrapbook. My favorite is http://www.jamaicamakes.com/

I am hoping...that the man of my dreams will come in to my life soon.

I am hearing...NCIS in the background. It's gross, but good!

Around the house...I like the hum of the ceiling fans.

One of my favorite things...is a good laugh with a great friend. You know the one where you can't stop laughing for 20 minutes.

A few plans for the rest of the week...I'm going to Northern VA, having a birthday party for my nephew, visiting with my dad and being productive.

A moment of silence...

So today two American Icons passed away: Farrah Fawcet and the "King of Pop", Michael Jackson. The biggest icon of our generation! I dont' know much about Farrah except that she was a Charlie's Angel and to some a sex symbol. But for Mr. Jackson, I grew up with him, own his cds and lived for his epic videos. I know many of my friends did too. His catalog of music is so powerful that I bet everyone can name a favorite song.

Mine -- Off the Wall! Who doesn't love to "leave the nine to five up on the shelf, and just enjoy yourself"? I can remember dancing with Phil, Pablo, Beth, Bryan and Brian to DJ Feelgood's mix of this song -- classic! Can you remember where you were when you first saw the 'Bad' video, 'Black and White' video or 'Smooth Criminal video? All exciting times in history for those 25 and above. That may be a little generous! Oh yeah, and who didn't want to live on the Neverland Ranch or try to moonwalk. Don't be ashamed -- we all did (some just better than others).

So when you think about Michael, don't think about the accusations. Think about his lyrics:

"Do what you want to do
There aint no rules its up to you
Its time to come alive
And party on right through the night"

And remember: "Who's bad?"

Summer, Summer, Summertime!

I have not written in a few weeks. Mainly because most of the pictures that I have been taking have been of people, so I've been debating on whether or not I should post them. But I had to post this one, because I think it defines summertime. Think about when you were young and how much a cool, orange popsicle refreshed you. The more you had on your face, the better it taste. Remember how vivid the colors were when you were young. I'm not sure if that was because we were less jaded, but I am trying to see the world like that again. That is why I love the colors, especially how her shirt matches her popsicle (on the stick and her face.)

Now she is so easy to shoot because -- as you can see -- she is gorgeous. On top of her beauty, she also knows how to pose for a picture. I also had the chance to shoot another kid at the same time I shot her. His picture will be posted later. I absolutely love shooting children, but I don't always find it to be the easiest thing. Some don't want to sit still for you and others cover their face. But the challenges are what make the end results worth every bit. So more pics are to come.

Real or fake?

Not that I think this picture is great or anything to write home about--I just think it's cute. The fact that painted on kids are looking through a fake window and a real-life person is sitting in front of it makes me laugh. I guess I also laughed because this would never happen in true life. This was a day of just needing to get out and shoot something. I am still learning about my camera, so I make myself get out and shoot as much as possible. Some quality, some not and some are just like this. I guess the weird thing that happened to me on this outing was that a bum hit on me. Not this one, but another one asked me if I wanted to get with him. Now, I'm a scared so I picked up the pace. He laughed and I thought later that maybe I should have asked him if I could take his picture. Smart or dumb?

...and the sky opened up!

Tonight I was driving home from Elliot's in Norfolk and this is what I saw. I thought that maybe a funnel cloud would come down and do some damage, but no such luck. That would be a great picture! Anyways, for anyone who lives in Hampton Roads you know that you can't go anywhere without going over a bridge or through a tunnel. This happened to be while I was going throught the Monitor Merrimack. Of course we were stopped for some unknown reason, and I thought what else do I have to do while sitting in traffic. So I took out my D80 and began to shoot the sky. It was beautiful. It was that time during stormy weather when it looks like it getting ready to be pitch black but the sunlight provides a nice backlight. So romantic!

Get In Line

So, I am loving industrial pictures. I drove around all day to get this shot. I followed Warwick all the way up route 60 to Williamsburg and found nothing. I probably wasn't looking hard enough. I did see Busch Gardens and a lot of cops though. I finally decided to go downtown to see if I could find some more things to shoot. Here is what I found. While I was there I also found at new place to fish and eat. Hopefully, they don't get their fish from that river though. I know that the fish must have five or six eyes, simply because there are rusted carriers in the water. So more cranes -- I changed the color, but I'm not sure about it. Though, I do love how the cranes line up. Too by the book--maybe. Beautiful--definitely to me.

What a drought!

I haven't posted in forever. I haven't had the time to take pictures! This makes me sad, because I feel as if that is my only creative outlet. I guess I can't really say that I haven't been able to take picture, but all of my pictures are of children. I have reservations about putting children's pictures on the internet. Now don't get me wrong I know there is some safety thing you can do, but you never know what people do when they look at pictures. So hopefully this memorial day weekend I will be able to get out and shoot some things. So if you know of anything that is going on this weekend let me know. I would love to get out and take pictures.

Dancing Cranes

So cranes -- not much I can say about this. Yesterday was so beautiful! I went out to find some spots to shoot, which led me to downtown Newport News. It's an area that's industrial. It's also near the shipyard. So there are a few things to shoot. I had a little trouble finding them though. I think it was because it was way to bright outside. I know an unwritten rule is that it's best to shoot early in the morning or around sundown. But I was sleeping in and I wanted to see Star Trek that night. (Sidebar -- that movie is so good! Go see it.) Anyways, I walked a while and decided to move to a different area until I turned around and found these cranes. It was something about the way that they looked together. I originally shot them in color, but decided they looked much better in black and white. I love shooting industrial type objects, but I find it hard to find the best way to shoot them. So any suggestions are appreciated.

The Little Things

This place is one of the best place I have ever eaten. It probably holds about 15 people total, but has some of the best food. On my last trip to New York, we stayed in Chinatown. And, on our last day we needed a place to grab a quick bite to eat before we went to the train station. We found the Cup and Saucer online and decided that it would be the best place because of proximity to the hotel where we were staying. Little did we know that we would fine this treasure in the middle of Chinatown. I can't remember what I ate, but I do remember that they had huge pastries. Delish! Also, the coffee was some of the best that I have had anywhere. Sometimes it's the small things that make your trips worth while. Not that I think this picture is the best by any means, but I did want to talk about this restaurant. Next time you're in Manhattan -- google, then visit it!

Flower Power

So I wonder if everyone takes pictures of flowers when the first pick up their camera. I find flowers the easiest to shoot. For obvious reasons -- they don't move and they're beautiful. Well this one was shot in Williamsburg near William and Mary. I was looking for some old buildings to shoot, but instead I came upon some tulips. Not a fan of flowers -- meaning never really wanted a boy to send them to me, but when I saw these I fell in love. There was a big patch of tulips behind this lonely flower. But I think that this picture turned out the best.

Wall Street -- This is about all I can stand, and I can't stand no more.

So it's been a couple of days since I last blogged, and again my picture is of a spot in NYC. Can you guess where? There are two reasons why I posted this picture: one, I think it's one of the better pictures that I have taken; two, it's in my "quality world picture." Only a few people that read this will know what that means. Anyways, my friends and I take a yearly trip to NYC. I definitely think that we would live there if we could afford it. This picture was taken this past December -- it was freezing and I don't even know why we went out. But I got a really nice shot. Not much else I can say about this shot. I laugh while I write this next statement -- My mom asked me for this picture. She said she really liked it. I love that she is always there to support me.

Oh yeah, no standing in the middle of the street to take this shot! Hooray!

Car Meet Tree

So the first person I told about starting this blog told me that I needed to post something everyday. That immediately made me nervous because I have a fear of commitment. I think that I always have one foot in and one foot out the door. This is in case something better comes along, but I feel that if photgraphy is something that I truly want to do then maybe I need to post everyday. My second thought was what if I can't find that much to shoot. So today was the first day that I decided to carry my camera with me and this is what I was able to shoot. We had a horrible, horrible short thunderstorm today. It came fully equipped with downpours, heavy winds and hail the size of gumballs. As I mentioned before it lasted only 10 minutes, but all of that business caused this. I immediately thought "CAR MEET TREE." This sucks for this owner of the car, but makes for a beautiful shot. I didn't want to get too close because I believe that was the owner standing near. I would be pissed off already, but to have someone snapping a picture would put me through the roof. So I kept my distance, but I stood in the middle of the street. I should trademark that! So funny thing -- I can appreciate this person's pain. About three years ago a breaker exploded in front of my house. All of the pieces landed on my car and burnt little holes in it. It sucked because I had to pay to get it fix. Hope it works out better for this person.

Freedom Plaza, but Skateboarders aren't really free!

Oh my gosh, I have not been to DC in so long! We did they crazy tourist thing -- we saw the zoo, the Washington Monument, the White House and the Capitol. And, of course skateboarders! I have an endless love for skateboarders. I even spoke to one of my friends before I went up there to ask him where the hot skate spots were. He said the one that he skated and really liked was Freedom Plaza. Plus it had a lot of skate history. Now, I didn't even think that we would find this place, because in my mind I thought it would be in some seedy alley. So as the day passed and we continued to walk on to see Obama's house my hopes of getting any skateboarding shots faded. We walked out of the Metro, continued towards Penn Avenue and one of my friends I was with needed to run into the drugstore to get some water. So we walked across the street to sit at this plaza and take pictures of the Capitol (which again called for me to stand in the middle of the street.) All of a sudden we ran up on about 30 skateboarders. Even then it didn't really click with me. So I just started shooting them doing tricks. It was a lot of rolling around and kick flips at first, but it eventually led to these types of tricks (see pic). They really were amazing. So funny thing happened -- I noticed that all of the skateboarders were looking in the same direction, like they were scared of something. Then they all just broke camp. I mean it was like cockroaches when the light is turned on. When I turned around there was a cop rolling up. So, I immediately pretended like I was taking pictures of my friends. So really cops harassing skateboarders --this seems like a waste of time. (As the soapbox turns over and I fall to the ground.)

Times Square

So if I stare at this picture any longer I might convince myself that I'm better off living as a bum on the streets of New York, then middle class in suburbia. I love NYC! There are so many things to look at and so many things to shoot. It seems as though all of New York is photograph. This picture was taken (obviously) in Times Square, but I had to get into the middle of the street to take this shot. Brave -- some may say, but stupidity comes to mind. If I had really thought about it, I probably wouldn't have stood in the middle of the street in the middle of Times Square. But then again, I wouldn't have gotten this shot. I am very proud of this shot. Tell me what you think.

And it all starts...

So I have been talking about photography for as long as I can remember. I have admired others photography, and always thought to myself if I could just do take similar pictures it would feel amazing. After admiring and getting to know a local photgrapher, I decided it was time to buy myself the Nikon D80. Now the trick here is I already had a Nikon 2020 with three lens that I bought from an ex-coworker a few years back. This was when digital photograph was gaining some speed and was expensive. He was always on the cutting edge of the new technology and wanted to get rid of the old stuff. He actually sold the camera and lens to me for $300. This I later found out was a great deal. My decision to buy the D80 came only after I learned that you were able to use film lens with this model and up. I lucked out because my bro was kind enough to let me use his ebay account to bid on the camera. Of course I had to pay him back -- he's kind, not stupid! Found the one I wanted and the next day it was mine. Thus began the Tales of a Novice Photographer.