Something Different

I shot this around Wolf Bay in Orange Beach.   Bad camera handling, I didn't pay attention that day that the metering on my Nikon was acting wonky.   lots and lots of noise.   Still, this pier looks sort of old and classical, I thought I'd do the antique-paper route, which is very different than my usual. ;)

Sticks & Clouds (w/ Video)

I'm still not sure I'm thrilled with the result of this one but there you have it. :)

I did record the processing session, however:

Straight Out of the Camera.. Or Processed... ?

Original:

Processed:

I must confess, when I found the source image for this in my library, I thought. "Huh. I took that?"   I really liked the clarity of the original at the top.. My usual modus operandi is that if I like the original image, I'll like the processed, HDR-y one better.   So the result of that is here.  We loose some clarity by bringing those colors and highlights in.   Loose some sharpness by de-noising to account for the above..

It takes me about 30 minutes to do an image like this.  Sometimes a lot more..  Rarely a lot less.  Know your audience..  Time well spent?

   

Which do you gravitate to?  (Assuming you don't absolutely despise both of them!) hehe

Aside from this example -- do you find yourself to be more of a photography purist, straight-out-the-camera person or a "get it in post" person?   Obviously, I like post processed images.   It reflects my world view, in that see things.. differently than most.     Look, you won't hurt my feelings and I'm certainly not trying to start a HDR vs nonHDR debate.  Internet debates are stupid. :)  

There is no right or wrong in matters of what you like.  I'm just curious about you -- your taste, your typical modus operandi..

On The Rocks..

I'm torn on something and would love your feedback.

Frequency of Posts..

Conventional internet social-wisdom says that consistant, constant posts lead to a good following. If you care about that sort of thing.

I find myself editing images a lot. I sit in front of three computers pretty much all day and edit photos whenever they are busy uploading, compiling, refactoring and whatever else.  Conference calls.  Oh - yeah. Talk to me about amazing corporate synergy and I'll rigorously edit some photos to keep myself sane.

This coupled with the fact that I take so damned many photos leaves me with a lot of material to post.

I tend to post more frequently than I think is wise and it seems posting too frequently would commoditize your art or take away form the impact, somehow. It also reduces the amount of time you spend consuming the work of others..

Don't post frequently enough.. no one ever follows you and sees the work.

So, which do you think is better?

Miles for President!

Hi there.  My Name is Miles and I'd like to introduce myself and announce that I am running for President of the United States.  If you'll indulge me, I'll take this time to run through my platform.  Together, we can reshape America for a brighter future.

Obviously, I'm Pro-Life.

I come from a modest family.   Growing up in a middle-class household with loving parents who have instilled upon me virtues of faith, free thought and social responsibility.  My dad is a Software Engineer and my mother, a school librarian aide.    Mom was a great home maker.   Dad worked a lot but worked from home so he could give us appropriate attention.

You could say, I'm a heart-land bible-belt candidate from working class origins.

I am strong on defense both at home and abroad.  

If elected, I'll push for a mechanized standing army of Autobots, led by an engaging and wise battlefield leader named Optimus Prime.  Michael Bay will assume the role of Secretary of Defense.  We will install a grid of U.S. based radiation detectors in order to protect our cities from nuclear terrorism.

We will stop funding NASA but will reprovision appropriate engineering talent and resources to a new branch of Military, known as Starfleet.  The United States will no longer provide funding for the United Nations.  The current US based UN Headquarters will house a new, aspirational organization to be called The United Federation of Planets.

I am bullish on transportation.

All road construction projects will be immediately terminated.   Existing interstates will be minimally maintained but phased out by the end of my term.   The FAA will be abolished, replaced by "Federal All Things That Fly Association" FATTFA.   FATTFA all oversee mandatory standardization of flying vehicles and site-to-site energy-matter conversion technologies to be phased into the national transportation infrastructure by the end of my first term.

Political Reform

During my first term, we will send the House of Representatives and Senate home for good.  Both buildings will be used instead as a nationally-funded daycare for Virginia-Area families.  Similarly we will do the same with State Legislature and Governance.   

The representative Democracy implemented by our forefathers will be replaced with a more modern, actual-democracy.  

Each Citizen will be issued secure, tablet-like devices in which to vote on Bills.  These devices will be manufactured by Fisher Price, Apple, Playskool and Samsung.  

Bills can be drafted by any citizen and submitted for vote with minimal sponsorship of 10 other citizens.  A Bill becomes law whenever an actual majority passes the proposal by vote.  We vote quarterly.

Terms will no longer by limited or guaranteed.  The skeleton government's officials can be replaced at any time, given similar voting procedures.  Including my office.

If a state wishes to secede from the Union, they may do so.

Each citizen will be required to pass a minimum intelligence test to be granted citizenship.  Exceptions will be made on a case by case basis.  The borders will be open but toll-based.  As will trade.

The Marines and SEALS will immediately abduct the leaders of Toyota and Honda, placing them in charge of GM and Ford.

The IRS will be abolished, as will all personal and corporate income tax.  The U.S. Treasury, U.S. Customs & Federal Reserve will be combined into a single department, the U.S. Department of Monetary Policy.  It will be headed up by Apple's board of directors and Warren Buffett until such time the American people vote in new leadership.

Under the new Tax Code, the U.S. will become very desirable for businesses. Manufacturers all over the globe will clammer for the privilege to be stationed here.     There will be three sales tax rates.   A discounted U.S. Citizen sales tax, an elevated non-citizen sales tax and a highly-elevated foreign-entity sales tax.   

Once the country becomes profitable, as I'm sure these men can guarantee - US Citizens will be paid a nominal, reverse-tax from the Government.

The education system will be reformed.   School board members will be dismissed and replaced with parents in accordance with the voting policies above.   The Little Einsteins will be put over the Department of Education.

Nano-Brain-Control Technologies will be developed.   All inmates, currently convicted of capital offenses will be given such implants.   They will replace U.S. military stationed abroad.  Those soldiers will control the actions of inmate-drones via an MMO-type interface. This will provide a stop-gap measure as the Iron-man suits and Transformers are developed because capital crime will no longer be tolerated in our nation.

Disney Imagineers will build for our nation, a few floating, manufacturing centers away from the mainland.   All remaining inmates will be sent to provide a labor force for these manufacturing centers during the course of their sentences.

Cigarettes will be outlawed until such time as non-cancer inducing formulas can be developed.  Marijuana will be legalized so that those people will finally shut up.

Angry Birds will be granted national subsidies so that all levels will be free.

Finally, we will enact F.D.R's proposed 2nd Bill of Rights.

I believe together, we can achieve real change in America.  :)

Oh wait.  I'm only two and a half -- never mind - maybe later.

Beneath the GPlus Waters..

Within Google Plus, various Ecosystems have developed.    Technology Ecosystems, "I'm using-this-instead-of-The-Face-Space" Ecosystems, Celebrities and their Followers, etc..

In this post, I'm mostly referring to the Photography Ecosystem within Google Plus.

At the top of the Google Plus food chain, you have people, I will call them "emerging industry leaders."   These, are photographers, artists, bloggers who have earned large follower counts through hard work, innovation & constant contact within the community.     They all seem to know each other, which is kinda weird but whatever.  All are really super-accessible and most are more than happy to commune with others on ideas, techniques.

"Giving all my secrets away"… as the song goes..

Some of those folks have made for themselves sustainable businesses while others maybe not so much.   Most of these folks, in my experience, exhibit gentle-artist temperaments.   They are most-all outwardly very positive and not easily swayed to go negative.  They make up a VERY small percentage of the G+ photography populace but are regarded so highly that their opinions are often regarded as photography gospel, despite their own humble attempts to cool those impressions.

In the next level of the G+ food chain, I see as "new media personalities."  These are people that, perhaps, host shows or podcasts or even have blogs.    Some are opinionated blow-hards that look good on camera but know little of relevance while others are gentle reflections of the upper tier.  Still, others are genuine photo enthusiasts who have made it big through app sales or brand management and do contribute positively to the ecosystem but maybe lack the follower count or innovative-sharing of the top group.   

These people tend to attach themselves to the top group for publicity reasons.   That's annoying but understandable.  Sometimes doing so, they contribute to the living conversation, other times the content reads more like a commercial.

I like to follow some of these people..   I'd say, in a world full of made up percentages, probably 85% of them are "positive" posters.

There is a small, "middle-class" area of photographers who have 10,000-50,000 circlers.  These people often post, frequently-if-not-annoyingly so.   Many do daily themes, not to drive their own creativity but in the hopes of exposure.    Some, stalk the upper two tiers through comments in hopes of driving traffic back to their own digital warez.   Some are just mirrors of the upper two that fate never granted a large audience.

Some of these folks are positive but many more post negative stuff.  Long-editorial rants, and crap-starting comments on the upper tiers that aim to bring those people to their ..proverbial..  level.

Then, there is kind of .. everyone else.    In an economy weighed by views, we'd be viewed as the "poverty class."
Just like the growing poverty class in America, a great cross-section of ideals is represented here.   Some are hard-working, frequent posters of interesting content that just .. haven't been discovered yet.   

Some of these folks spend more time stalking the upper tiers in hopes that the photos they took two years ago will be discovered, eventually leading to a Gungan parade in their hometown where they will one day be presented with the glowing-orb-of-awesomeness, a tribute to their ascension into the higher eschelons of GooglePlusDom.

A small percentage of the visitor-impoverished are, themselves, gentle-artists, content to keep posting and sharing, learning and growing.   Hopeful to one day "arrive" but are nevertheless content in their station.  They genuinely enjoy what you post and engage you in real conversations.   These people, rock - by the way.

Some … are a little more like Welfare recipients.   Trolling comments, spreading negativity and leading conversations to arguments, sharing to critique.   

    -- I worry about this group's influence.   

It seems, lately.. like G+ has become a little more angsty, editorial and frustrated.

I'd really like to see it, instead… retain the "photo share" experience of interested, like-minded artists admiring one another's work, and not bitching about this and that piece of gear or technology trend or overuse of certain technique.

To the "upper classes".  Thank you for what you teach and for staying true to your art.   It is, after all, why most of us follow you.

Memorials

 I went to see the crypt where my dad's remained are interred, for the first time since the marker had been set - today.    I've always been struck by National Cemeteries, even before my own  - more personal losses.   

If you've never set foot on one, I'd recommend it.   This won't be an uplifting outing - mind you - but it will still inspire awe and appreciation. 

The Wharf @ Night

For Friday, I wanted to share a weird sort of shot I took at the Wharf in Orange Beach a few weeks back.

TGIF Friends..

The Shadow People

In the shadow world, the only people taking pictures are the Shadow Photographers..

Sorry.. didn't have anything too meaningful to write today.  Busy @ work :)  So here are some pretty pictures instead.

Disney's Safari Attraction

Speaking of vacations..   At Disney, have you ever wondered how they get the animals to hang around near the path of thei safari vehicles?      Disney Imagineering puts feeders inside of elements for the various types of animals in the area.   Such as thiis, half-tree trunk feeder.  

Always had mad respect for Disney Imagineering...

The Future is Here, Today: Some Assembly Required

With CES, this week, lots of eyes are on .. the near future.. of technology products and cameras.   Nikon showed us the D4 last week and may release another pro-level shooter in the coming month.  Canon, Sony, are all prepped to display their warez, coming off supply chain issues.  Heck, Fuji even surprised with a mirrorless potential game-changer of their own.

As I edited this post, I looked down at my desk and realized... sitting there, was the future of Photography.  Sitting  near one another on my desk, a Panasonic Micro Four Thirds Mirrorless, A Sony A77 "Transclucent Mirror" DSLR and a Light Field Camera. 

If the A77, the Lumix GF3 and Lytro could get a hotel room for the weekend and partake in some late-night-cable inspired, three-way nocturnal activities, I believe their offspring is what we will all be carrying in 5 years.  Bow-Chikka- Wow - Wow.

Trey Ratcliff editorialized, last week that DSLRs Are a Dying Breed and man, is he ever right.

The days of the flippy, clunky mirror mechanism must, inevitably be numbered.   I agree with assessments that mirror-less is the future but I take this whole notion to the next level. I think sensor technology can only improve in light sensitivity and resolution for so long.   Something new must come and maybe Light Field Imaging will be that "new thing."

I imagine a franken-device, with the sexy-sleek design of a Lytro but with interchangable lenses, mirrorless like a GF3 or V1/j1 or NEX, a very-high-resolution and light-sensitive light field sensor with a sleek OLED display like the A77.  RAW files will be more like Lytro's Living Pictures concept but your camera will post-auto-focus on what it imagines you wanted to focus on.   You can still change them, in-camera or in post.  It will generate normal images across varying apertures using the light field concept as a step in post processing.

Oh yes, I've been to the mountain and seen the future and it is a groovy-one lacking of mirror-flippy assemblies and clunking sounds.

The real question in my mind is what technology company will be the true innovator to usher in the next-big-thing in photography?  I'm wondering if the likes of my favorite camera companies are too close to the fire to see the smoke.   

Possibly, a young... up-and-coming start-up will rise to the challenge to remake photography.  It has to start somewhere and that somewhere... isn't in a professonal DSLR.  yet.

Or.. maybe we'll just all go back to Polaroid.  What do I know? 

Sunset Orange

Well, I wasn't going to do a post today.   But, I sit here at midnight babysitting a long-overdue SQL Database job - I thought "What the heck."

Speaking of Orange.  That is the color of the box Sony Alpha gear comes in...

I took a little time, this evening, to write a post on "The Verge" about my initial experiences with the Sony A77.  If you are Sony - Alpha Curious -- check it out, here:

http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/10/2695984/for-short-attention-spans-my-impressions-of-the-sony-alpha-a77

A long time from now, at a vacation destination, far-far away

 

During the first couple of weeks of the year, my wife and I have this unintentional, yet consistently timed habit of starting to make vacation plans for the following year.  It always starts very aspirational.   

"We're going to Europe this year!"

"We're going to California."  

"We're going to Niagara Falls.""We're going to Disney!"

.. 60% of the time, we don't end up going anywhere.   The other 40% of the time, we end up at Disney World.  So much so, that "Disney" has become a unit of measurement at our house.    

You can use "Disney" to describe how long it takes to get to Gatlinberg, from here.
  - "That trip is as long as Disney!"

or.. to describe how long it will take to get to my relatives in Indiana (whom I do love, dearly):

 - "Disney's closer."

This year, I used "Disney" as a unit of measurement for U.S. Currency.  My wife spec'd a trip for summertime and it was a full $1800 more than last year.   

  - "Geez, hon, for that much we could go to Hawaii!"

Turns out.  We actually can.   

Am I saying we're going to Hawaii this year?  Right now, we think we are. Based on available January-Family-Trip-Planning-And-Follow-Through metrics, there is roughly a 60% chance we'll stay home, drink Kona coffee and Pong Juice and watch Lilo & Stitch on the projector outside.

Still, it's fun to dream.  

Been to Hawaii?   What Island do you recommend and why?

Planning a trip this year?  Where to??

The Gulf State Pier, Panoramic

I've always been a little bit frustrated by my own shots of this pier, The Gulf State Pier.   

I think I finally have one, here, that I like.

Watching Flickr, G+, I see these beautiful shots of this and other piers.  People are just so much more talented than I am in composition, lighting,.. having "the eye."

My shots have always had the wrong light, shot mid-day, or at night with not enough light.   Too crowded, blue sky- no clouds.  Wrong Angle, wrong f-stop.   It's always something! :)

Not to mention that, architecturally, it is my opinion that the covered area at the foot of this pier, is kinda horrendous.   I mean, it probably isn't "that bad" but the surroundings are always so gorgeous that it strikes me as a bit of an eyesore, even compared to the rest of the pier, which is built quite well.   Alas, I know this covered area offers necessary amenities, a ticket office, restrooms, a place from which state park employees can tell at me from above "Get out of the water!!!"  (Standing in 1/2 inch surf, snapping shots)

I decided to try a few "different' things this go around.     

One, was to get a good ways back, frame the pier, as you would typically do, with the end near center, phi or a third.  Then, I shifted the camera up, wayyyyyy up.. so that the pier only inhabited the very bottom of the viewfinder.

The result looked really cool in preview but is kinda "meh" on my monitor.    I think with a wide angle, that should would have been better.  I'm still tweaking that image, maybe I can recover it for a post, later.  Not sure..  

It did give me an idea for a future experiment, though.   Shoot the pier, mostly sky, lone, small trail of pier at the bottom.   Then plop down in the sand and wait for the stars to come up.   Take the same shot with the starfield and mix the two shots.   Dunno -- I may try that when I have a little more time!

It occurred to me, on this trip, that maybe one issue, compositionally, was that I couldn't get "wide enough".   So, I went panoramic.    The geometric distortion is really obvious, even after I warped alot of it back into place, but I think it adds a sort of "mystique" to the image.

This thing is nearly 10,000 pixels wide.   Go large on the view :)

Of all my shots of this particular pier, I think this is the only one (of mine) that deserves to stand alongside the wonderful shots from other photographers before me that have captured it so very well!

I finally got one I thought looked pretty cool, yay!

A Nice Saturday Afternoon..

I started the day, thinking "darn, it's supposed to rain all day, no photos today."

Among my errands for the day was to take a dirtbike to Orange Beach R/C Hobbies and Powersports on Canal Road.    Their mechanic/owner, Matt is good people and does great work.

Since I was to be in Orange Beach, I took a canvas print, to Bravo Taco.  Really cool little upscale-taco place.  (Yep, there are such things).    The owners are great people and they have amazing food!   They were kind enough to display one of my canvases in their store, which I thought was super-cool.  They actually would like some more as, well..  I'll have to get those printed when I'm able..

Surprise, no rain so I made it to the Gulf State Pier in the last minute  for some sunset shots.   I'm pretty happy with a few.  Typical ratio, 3 or 4 out of 300 are keepers, I think :)

On the walk back to the car, after washing the wet sand out of my converse, this view caught my eye.   Clickity Clickity Click, as it were.

.. when they DO make them like they used to...... and.. the Nikon D4. I don't understand.

I suppose the exception to the "They don't make them like they used to" rule would be restorations.   I really admire the craftsmanship and detail that goes into restoring classic cars, antique pieces of americana, etc.   American Restoration has become one of my favorite shows.

Sidebar.  The D4.  Can someone 'splain something to me?

I'm going to show my ignorance on professional photography, camera science and many other things here, for a second.   So, the D4 was announced last night... everyone seems stoked about this $6k shooter.    <a href="http://nikonrumors.com" rel="nofollow">nikonrumors.com</a> has some great coverage on it.  As does, The Verge.

K, so I undersand the allure of speed.   And I'm sure it is an engineering feat to get the little mirror to flip up and down 11 times a second. bravo, smart guys at Nikon.    16.whatever megapixels is huge by wide and can print huge prints.   Full frame is awesome, though coupled with 16.whatever megapixels, I'd argue a "pixel density" issue but whatever.

The thing I don't get... is ISO.   Everyone seems thrilled about a camera that will shoot a 1 billion ISO or whatever.   I've never shot with a top-end Nikon, so maybe someone could drop the knowledge on me why ISO 16 bazillion is a good thing?   My frame of reference, is that I'm a guy that takes pictures of still things in good light or in bad light with a tripod and can't stand an ISO 6400 shot of my daughter because her eyes look like a drunk Picasso with all of the little jaggy noise fragments.   And noise reduction... helps.. but doesn't make it look much better.

I'd prefer to take a thousand pictures of her at the lowest ISO rating possible and pray they turned out okay.

So,... to the question... do the higher ISO images coming out of these super-expensive cameras look that much better than those coming from their Best Buy available Nikon cousins?

...or are people just paying through the nose for full frame, super-fast shutter, buffer..?

"They just don't make em' like they used to!"

 As I get a little older, I feel myself slipping, slowly, into that archetype of a crotchety, grumpy old man.    "Get Off My Lawn!", "When I was a kid...", "These kids these days and their ZZ-Top..."

K, so maybe not that last one.  

The "hardwiring of a person's habits", taught to me by the CFO of Standard Furniture, is one of the reasons I got back into photography.  I wanted to add some creativity to the nerv-y, grey-matter soup that makes up my brain.   

One of those hardwired ideals that has made its way into my thought patterns, is that they really don't make em' like they used to.

I became a homeowner at 18, kinda out of necessity.  The home situation with my parents wasn't quite ideal and
I needed a place to live, so we built a (small) house.    An 18 year old, should.. never.. be trusted to make decisions like that, by the way... But, I digress.   

 5 years into home ownership, the A/C unit started to die.   $1000 in maintenance and two years later, it died entirely.   $4,000 repair, cha-ching.  That (new) coil has been replaced, praise God - under warranty, 6 times now.

 7 years into home ownership, the grinder pump went.    I fixed and replace that myself, by the way. yuck.

At the 9 year mark, the good ol' trusty dishwasher blinks out and the parts are no longer available.  3 months later, the $600 Electrolux we bought to replace it went back in failure, we decided if these things are "disposable", get a cheap one, anyway. 

At the 11 year mark, washer and dryer.  I replaced with used ones.

I'd say we have a year before the Cycle starts over again.  Maybe less!

If I look at the debt that I've accumulated in my life, I would say that a strong 60% of it was in response to unexpected breakages that occurred at bad times.  (The other 40% is failed business attempts, "wouldn't it be cool", and gotta have that;  bad decisions.)

One of the reasons I tend to feel that "The Wal-mart Effect" is a problem for the World economic situation, is illustrated in this allegory.   How many people have debts associated with unexpected, big-item re-purchases of appliances that are shoddily built, yet considered necessary in today's society?    

What about cars?  Isn't this what got GM and Ford in trouble to begin with -- cars that died at 40k miles and the global recognition of Hondas and Toyotas still running the roads with 300k miles on them?

A CTO friend of mine confided in me yesterday that he felt like Apple products were a ripoff because of their high price.   I'm sure you could make the same claim about Nikons, Canons, Sonys...

Sure you pay a little bit of "name brand tax" and in the Apple example you pay for Jobs and Ive's design language but in the end, doesn't something that lasts longer and costs more up front, save you money over the alternative?

Companies building things with a focus on cutting costs means they make crappier gear, pay employees less, innovate less, all putting down pressure to reduce salaries and expendable income.

My personal opinion is that you can have your Wal-mart.   In my commercial utopian ideal, a refrigerator costs $4,000 and lasts your lifetime.  The guy who built it makes six figures, as does the guy who sold it, marketed it, delivered it.   

Yes- yes.. this would never work but a guy can dream, right?

In full disclosure I worked for wal-mart of several years. As an equal opportunity employer, they treated all employees equally, like crap. But, hey the prices are low.. so we keep shopping there, don't we?

I develop brand loyalty to companies that prove to me they can build quality products that last.   Right now, I love my iMac.  My 3 year Samsung notebook and televisions, my Nikon, my Canon AE-1, my foreign car with 120k miles on it that still drives like new, the 1980s Sears ColdSpot Freezer in my utility room -  have all earned my respect as a consumer.   

I really wish that "they" would start making them.. like they used to. 

Private Beach Somewhere..

 Wouldn't it be awesome for some mega celebrity to owe you a big favor and let you borrow their hookup for epic-secluded vacation destinations?    Notice, I went "the favor" route.  Because I think being a celebrity probably isn't worth the hassle, riches or not.

When I listen to Jimmy Buffet's song, Autour du Rocher, despite not quite fitting with the song-line, I often envision the servants, workers, groundskeepers and other help" of Necker Island partying in this secluded paradise when the celebrity guests and Richard Branson are no longer around.  

For me, Seclusion is an essential quality of what makes something paradisical. (That's not a real word.  I hereby INVENT it!! )  In fact, in my ideal fantasy beach, no one else is invited.   Not my family, not my friends, no mythical creatures, not Clark W. Griswold's hawaiian Pool/Lingerie counter babe.   No one!  No Soup for you!   It isn't that I don't like people, I often do find people whose company I enjoy to keep but the mental image of a tropical paradise sort of resonates with me as a comfy hut amidst a lush tropical surrounding with an open patio, mere steps away from the tide.    A couple of chairs to lounge in, catch a book or listen the ipod.

Endless fulfillment of drink and food orders without ever seeing another person. I'd like a Mojito.  WOW -- Lookie here, a Mojito.  As if Q from STTNG evacuated Oahu for a private stay with the twitch of his nose.  (Or was the Jeannie?)

But, I'm a resident of a small redneck town that lives in a small redneck house in a small redneck community.   These sorts of things aren't in my grasp... or... are they!?

I absolutely love our winters here.   After work on this day, I found my way to the public park at the foot of the Alabama-Florida state line.   iPod playing, it was just me, a tripod & camera with not a soul around.   In fact, I never saw another human being the entire walk.  

Standing by the Gulf, music playing, waves lapping in and not seeing another soul around... is a little creepy... and ... a lot of AWESOME.

I hope your return work week is going well! 

World Showcase Lagoon

 At Disney, Last year.  My son had fell asleep and my wife and daughter decided to shop for a bit.   I decided to geek out, so I wore a Go Pro on Time-Lapse mode, and walked around the World Showcase Lagoon for a "Speed Photo Walk".    I stopped a few times with a tripod and my Nikon for an HDR shot.  This was was on those stops.  

.. one of these days I'll cut together the helmet-cam footage into a video or something :)

The Sun Rises on a New Year

It is an exceedingly rare event for me to witness a sunrise.   I live about 20 miles from the Gulf and I am not a morning person :). However, this day I felt compelled to make my way to the Public Beach at Gulf Shores.    I envisioned this shot in my head on the way down but I was really surprised by the rays shooting up from the horizon.  I think it turned out much better than my "plan."  Though, I can take no credit for that..

I once heard it said that..

God is a master painter and the sky is His canvas.

..and I never really caught the meaning until I started this photography project and became a better observer of nature...

I suppose we all return to work, this week.    As such, my posts will be a bit more spaced, probably two or three days between posts for a week or so while I get back into the groove.