experiments

My wife always says she wants to experiment with painting on canvas and doing other artistic things. I always tell her to go for it.

So here's my experiment - I'm going to go back through the archives and see what photoshop magic I can do to bring some life and possibility to pictures that might just need a little "something" to make them cool.

Getting Ready

This is my wife, getting her room ready for a television show to film her doing her art. She's afraid, excited, and overwhelmed. More than anything, the possibilities of what this could bring is probably the most scary aspect of the whole thing.

After all - isn't it so much easier to just let things be? Dreams can be as big as the world - but mostly they are only dreams. We don't pursue them because we are too comfortable in our own lives... too afraid of all the bad things that might happen if we let our dreams lead us into the unkown.

Casey is an artist. It's that simple... and yet it's hard for her to declare that to the world. I can't wait for the day when Casey can respond to the question "what do you do for a living?" with the bold statement of "I'm an artist." This is her chance to tell the world and take another step toward her dream.

I have been tagged...

Even though I hate these things... here we go... 20 random things about me:

1. I love animals as much as I do people.
2. I am proud of the fact that I love animals so much.
3. I'm 30 - but I'm into comics and video games.
4. I can't believe that I'm actually a high school teacher. It's just weird.
5. My dog, Alabama, showed me what true love is.
6. My family is crazy and strange and fun and wild - and I can't imagine loving them more.
7. I broke my hand punching a wall in high school. My mother squirmed when they had to put my bones back in place.
8. Tonight is parent teacher conferences. Weird.
9. I never knew anything about photography until I was hired to teach it.
10. I did not vote for George Bush... so don't blame me.
11. I have a house, I'm married, and have a career. Cool weirdness all around.
12. My wife is capable of more love and goodness than I've ever imagined possible.
13. Our two cats are the greatest cats in the world. There are no arguments possible.
14. The older I get the less I care about football and the more I care about politics and the world. I never thought that would happen.
15. I like heavy metal music. Not the heavy metal you probably know - I'm talking the REALLY heavy stuff - with screaming and insane crushing guitars and machine gun drums.
16. I used to want to be a park ranger. Then I wanted to be an artist. Then I was in limbo... and now I'm a teacher (and an artist too, I think).
17. "I have love in my life, and it makes me stronger than anything you could ever imagine." - this is actually a quote from the movie Punch Drunk Love - and it's one of my favorite quotes from a movie.
18. I think the movie "Unbreakable" is one of the greatest of all time. Same with Aliens, Batman Begins, Big Trouble in Little China, and Fight Club.
19. My room is a mess. It's always a mess.
20. When my wife touches my hand, looks into my eyes, or puts her head on my shoulder - I know that, no matter what happens, I'll always have her by my side.

Looking

I used to freak out with many of my pictures - looking at them closely in Photoshop - checking for hints of noise or defects. I don't do that anymore.



I went through hell for months with my Canon 10D, thinking I had focus problems... and almost went through the same hell with the 20D when I thought I had excessive "vertical banding" in my high ISO photos. Many hours were wasted that could have been productive.

My wife and I do portraits, weddings, and other artistic adventures. We did two portrait sessions today, and I used the new Olympus cameras here and there to give them a workout. While I could probably zoom in and dissect every aspect of the photos and find some flaws (for instance, there is a bit more noise at low ISOs than my 20D) - I'm not going to waste my time doing that anymore. The photos look great - and, more than anything, while I used the Olympus cameras today I reached a bit of a "zone" - where I didn't worry about all the technical stuff, and I just shot freely, capturing the moments as they happened.



The new cameras reminded me how fun photography can be, if only we let it.

Pathway

In Between

On Guard

At a portrait session today, we saw this dog wandering the park. You'd never know he only had three legs. He ran around the park at full speed like he owned it, and barked up any tree with even the hint of a squirrel. It reminds me of my own dog - now old and blind - who still wags her tail like she was a puppy, still loving life and sharing her love.

What I miss most about home

Hints of winter

Clinging

A shadow

Faded

Scattered

History

Hangers

Abandoned Sky

Under the leaves

Stairway

Shot of the day

After getting some new cameras for school, I thought I'd spend the day testing them to figure them out for the kids. I drove 150 miles - and came up with a whole slew of shots worthy of a day out with a camera. This was the biggest surprise when I loaded it on the computer - a shot I almost drove past because it was too boring. I'm glad I didn't pass it by.

boo

Yesterday was Halloween.

My wife bought me a small (very cute) bat, some candy, and a sweet card.

She never misses a holiday - holidays to her are just another reason to celebrate the small things in life, and she sees them as an opportunity to make people smile.

We ate potato soup and watched Poltergeist while handing out candy at her sister's house. Most of the time she was next to me, in my arms. There was no place on Earth I'd rather be.