Cemetaries

Cemetaries are fascinating for me. I keep going back with my camera, finding some of the most amazing examples of statues and architecture around. It's a great practice exercise with my camera - to set everyting on the camera to manual, focus and all, and to take my time with each and every shot, making sure my metering is excellent and my composition careful.

Weddings and other kinds of photography require such a rapid-fire response to the scene in front of you. I do think about exposure and composition at these events, but it's second-place to capturing the emotion of the day.

At my visits to cemetaries, the fields of Nebraska, parks, and other places I find in my photographic trips, it's nice to let the world unfold before me, and to capture one or two shots worth keeping.

Big Blue Boy Scout

Just saw Superman Returns - it's after 1:00, and I can't even begin to think about sleeping. I'm too disappointed. I can't help but think that the movie, while visually stunning, was hollow at its core.

Since Superman is a comic book character, it stands to reason that we would expect a "comic book movie." It just didn't feel like one. Clocking in at over two and a half hours, I was waiting for something really really cool to happen - and it never did. Most of the time, all Superman did was lift really heavy stuff and fly really fast. That's about it. He used his "freeze" breath a few times, and his heat vision, but all passively - in reaction to the events played out around him. He looked amazing doing the things he did, and the airplane scene was awesome, but where was the Superman I was hoping for? Where was the action in the movie about the character that was introduced in Action Comics?

The plot stumbled and somewhere, someone forgot to tell the writers to imagine something new. Instead, they seemed perfectly content to use borrowed plotlines from the first two movies, and the only real surprise of the movie seemed almost like a late add-on. Like they were sitting around thinking... "OK... Superman is dead, or almost dead, and Louis Lane comes and whispers something in his ear, something that makes him stop being almost dead... what would that be?"

And Lex? At times he was good, but I didn't totally buy Stacey's version. He was humorous, but he wasn't diabolical, and he certainly wasn't a criminal genius. His "master plan" was more randomly stupid than I could have imagined, and his use of "superior alien technology" consisted entirely of throwing a crystal into water... and hoping for the best! This is a comic book movie - where was the imagination? Why couldn't Lex have used the technology for something cooler? Maybe something Superman could actually PUNCH?

At least Brandon Routh made an awesome Superman. He gives me hope that the next movie will be spectacular. He had the humanity, the physique, and the loneliness that makes Superman such a cool character... I just wish that the movie, if it was truly supposed to be a character movie, was more about the Superman character. What new did we learn about the man of steel? That he loves Louis? That he wants to be one of us, but never can? That he can lift really heavy things and fly really fast? We learned nothing really new and a good 45 minutes could have been edited out, at least, which would have at least streamlined the action and stopped me from being bored.

I'd even go so far to say that we learn much more about Louis Lane than we do about Superman. I mean - Superman goes searching for Krypton, galaxies away, and we never truly learn why, or what he learned from the experience... it's almost used as a gimmick to get Superman away for a long enough to let Louis have her baby and relationship with some other guy... and Superman's lines in the movie are so short, so shallow, I'm trying to think of one cool thing he said through the whole thing - something that defines him as a character - and I can't think of anything.

Maybe I'm too much of a kid at heart, or maybe I'm too old to be inspired, but I wanted Superman Returns to make me want to go out and change the world. I wanted to be inspired, but I wasn't... and without the ability to inspire, what else should a great Superman movie do?

Destination

I am currently going through a VERY long process of organizing my photos. I have hundreds of photos, for instance, of graveyards throughout two different hard drives and dozens of folders. I'm going through, like one of those organized people I've heard about, and putting them all into one folder, entitled "graveyards." Brilliant! It's a long process, but I think it's worthwhile. I'm finding some old photos, this one taken three years ago. Three years ago! The photo, for me, symbolizes how long I've been doing this photo thing (not too long, really), and how far both Casey and I have come in that short time.

An amazing friend of ours, Melissa, asked us tonight how close we are to begins full time into CandJ Art and Photography. You know what? We're pretty close. Probably closer than either of really know.

Right now we are just settling down from over a month of hard work with the business - art shows, weddings, portraits -all that stuff. We're "living" the dream a little right now, and it feels great to spend time doing something worthwhile instead of watching TV or playing games all night.

We could do this. We are doing it... and it's exciting, spectacular, and lots of scary. I mean... we could both quit our jobs, actually do some marketing and stuff, and DO CandJ Art and Photography. We could make it work.

Of course, I'm not leaving my job as a high school teacher - I love it far too much... but possibility fills my life. It feels good, at 31, to have more options and an amazing future ahead of me - sharing an adventure with my wife that will definitely lead us to destinations we could never have imagined.

Roads

Roads get us to our destinations, and also provide a way back home. At every art show we've exhibited our work, people come up and ask "Where is that road?" I can see their eyes imagining a place they've been, perhaps many times before, reliving some history in their mind I can only guess at. One woman told me a road I had on a presentation print looked like a road she remembers as a child, driving across the country. Another young girl told her mother the same road was the one to Grandma's, "because it goes on forever," she said, rolling her eyes. I tell them where the road is at, and invariably they shake their head, knowing it's not the same one, but I like the fact that, for a brief moment, my photography can take people back to a different time or place, their past coming alive again.

A perfect day for a wedding

The location - the sky - the couple. Mix them all together, and you've got a great day for a wedding, and some incredible wedding photos to show for it.

Angus

That's his name... meet the newest edition of the family, adopted by Kelly and Russ. Meeting new puppies is always nice for me, but meeting this one was a bit special. He's one of the sweetest puppies I've ever met - and I've made it a point to meet a lot. He is such a precious little guy, giving everyone around him tons of love. By the end of the night he fell asleep in my arms, and I knew I had made a new friend. Little Angus reminds me of how sweet my precious Alabama was, and just how much I miss her friendship. Congratulations to Kelly and Russ - you have brought home something special, and Angus will enhance your lives in ways you might not imagine.

Dinner

Zach - the top photo turned out much cooler than I thought it would. Thanks for the food, and have fun in Chicago.

Reserved Parking

One more from the Creighton trip. For some reason I dig it.

Good Light

Although I am a proponent of getting out there to take photos whenever possible, I'll have to say that the light you get in the morning and evening really is beautiful. It's worth it. These two shots, taken tonight at the University of Creighton, wouldn't have been nearly as dramatic if taken at noon, the park bench would have been pretty much impossible. But then again - maybe the photos would merely have been different... not worse.

Finds

I once read a photography book that told photographers to stay inside during days where there were no clouds between the hours of 10 am to 2pm due to the harsh, unflattering lighting. That always stuck with me, and I've always wondered, who in the hell would give that advice? Photographers need to take photos - making the best of whatever light they are presented with. Sometimes I need to just get out and shoot, and today was one of those days. Harsh light or not, I think I found a few cool shots I would likely never have taken if I wouldn't have ventured out during the forbidden hours, and with the horrible direct sun.

Left

This is the only shot I took of this - snapping it between poses during a recent engagement session.

Lilly and Charky

We should be judged not by the god we worship, but how we treat others, children, and animals. I truly believe that these animals deserve everything we give them - because they have no choices in this life. We welcome them into our lives, asking so much of them, and all they truly want in return is love and warmth. Charky and Lilly will get more than 99% of the animals on Earth, and I'm so happy to have them in our family.

Good things come in bunches

Yesterday my wife's side of the family adopted a needy animal. Today my sister adopted two beautiful kitties. These are great times to be a Zegelis and a Kurz.

A new member of the family

Meet Shadow. He's a beautiful animal my wife's parents adopted from the Humane Society, and he's a lucky guy.
His life is now destined to be filled with love, happiness, and safety from two of the greatest people I've ever met.

Unexpected

Caught this shot at the Botanical Gardens. I didn't expect it to turn out - but it turned out to be the shot of the day.

Truth

On days like this, when I'm out by myself shooting, a feeling sometimes comes over me that's difficult to describe.

There are fleeting moments of clarity, and I feel like the world is understandable.

The birds sing clearly into the blue above me, the wind whisks through the grass, and the sun's rays shine playfully through the clouds- illuminating and revealing this land's truth.

Watertowers

My wife's friend, Kelley came in from North Carolina this last weekend. It was a great visit, and I hope she had a good time. From now on, forever and ever, Kelley has opened up my vision to something I normally never give a second thought to in the small towns I visit (visit her blog here: http://watertowers.blogspot.com/.)

I now see how a watertower sometimes takes on the identity of a small town and its people, and it gives me just one more reason to find that next small town destination.

Photography's greatest gift to me has been opening my eyes to the beauty to be found in the everyday things I used to take for granted. Shadows and light take on special meaning. An average Nebraska day filled with endless clouds now becomes a reason to open my eyes and gaze at this amazing, sometimes breathtaking world we have around us.

I now see watertowers in a new way.

Surprise

Welcome to Surprise, NE. I found Surprise on the map one day and decided it would be a good place to go visit - about an hour away and near a part of Nebraska I hadn't explored much.

You wouldn't know it by driving through - there are absolutely no signs pronouncing the town. The only way I knew I was in the right place was a faded, spray-painted sign on the biggest building in town that read "Surprise Community Hall."

The abandoned house below was built in 1826 by a man named Fred, who gave it to his son, Red, who died years ago. All this according to Larry Svoboda, a local resident who told me a little of the town's history as I snapped some photos.

He smiled as he told me once there were big fairs and carnivals held at Surprise, and pointed toward a small mound of dirt in the middle of a fork in a stream. He said there were once elephants and carnival tents there every year or two to entertain the surrounding area.

Those days are long gone.

Blurred

Sometimes, this is what my memory is like, obscured as through an unfocused lens. I'm not sure why, because I can remember enormous amounts of information from books - about history - about politics. But my own personal history? It's fading more and more all the time.

Good thing I take lots of photos.

Tilden was quiet and empty that morning, but foreshadowed every small town we visited on our trip. What was once probably a thriving township has become something different - a melancholy place where there is more history than possibility.

The Road Ahead

This was the first long stretch of road we had ahead of us going North. The thick fog gave the land a surreal feel, and on a Sunday morning, we were mostly alone along the highway. Every once in a while we'd stop our car, get out, and take some shots. The only sound we could hear was the click of our shutter, and the land awed us with it's simple mystery.

HOOPER, NE. It was the first stop on the entire 2-day trip. This was shot number three at about 7:00 in the morning.

Spring Break

When I told my friend Jeremy that I was going to go on a trip with Zach across Nebraska for a few days, he immediately told me that we could probably stay with his grandma and grandpa, Ivan and Oretta in Burton, NE (a town of nine people). After calling them up and confirming, the plans were set.

We arrived around 4:00 p.m. on a rainy day - with a blanket white sky and some good downpour... not the best conditions for the type of photos we wanted to take, so we were a bit down about our photo trip.

























Ivan and Oretta changed all that. They were wonderful people who allowed two strangers to stay on their land for the night, and treated us like family. We were allowed to follow them on their nightly round of cattle feeding, and had just a glimmer - a small glimpse - of their daily lives. They talked to us all night, fed us an incredible dinner, and made us feel at home.

























I'm not sure why, but I never got a real "sit-down" portrait of them. I think that I was so out of my own realm that I didn't think to get the simplest of photos... but I'm not too worried - I now have a mission of returning and getting that portrait.

I can't thank them enough for their hospitality, and I can't wait to return for another photo.

Looking for the ordinary

I'm going on a "Nebraska" photo expedition soon for Spring Break. Some people might think I'm crazy for a staying here to take photos - there are, after all, only one or two "books of interesting places" about Nebraska. One is usually the Old Market, and the other "Carhenge." Maybe it's true - there isn't much extroardinary in Nebraska...

Yet Zach and I are going to go a different route - we're going to look for the ordinary. We're going to stay away from I-80 and take some smaller roads, visit some small towns, and get to know this state a little better.

I think it'll be good for me. I often go out on trips to take photos and come back with next to nothing... usually because I'll tell myself "there was nothing to take photos of."

This trip will help me focus, I think, on making the ordinary beautiful.

Below are some photos from a few "lost" trips - where I came back with next to nothing after hours looking.

This is what greets me when I walk into my office at school - my wife made this for me for Valentine's Day.

It reminds me of what she means to me, and how special she is in my life.

No matter what happens at school to get me in a bad mood, seeing this cheers me up.

New Toy

lost

Recently the humane society decided to put “to sleep” this animal that I wanted to adopt. “To sleep” is a nicer way of saying “killed.” I rescued the animal at my school and called the Nebraska Humane Society in the hope that its owner would claim her. In the hour it took them to pick her up, I was able to spend some time with her – she became comfortable in my warm lap and kneaded my legs with her sharp claws. She probably enjoyed the warmth, and I’m sure she felt safe.


She was friendly to everyone who entered. She purred and rubbed on all of us. When I left the room I could hear her cry, and when I returned she instantly was drawn to my lap, purring and looking up at me. I have a feeling that she was a special animal.

When the man came to get her, I gave them my name and number. If the owner didn’t claim her my wife and I would have adopted her, or find someone who would. After a week of hearing nothing, I went to the Humane Society to check on her, hoping my wife and I could come and visit her at some point and discuss adoption. That’s when I was told she was put to sleep. She never made it into the adoption stage, even though they told me she was perfectly healthy.

She was never given a chance to live. I was never given a chance to make a difference in her life.



I’m not unrealistic. I do know that in this city, animals are “put down” every day. “Put down” is yet another nice way to say “killed.” I know that not every animal can find a home, and shelters can only hold so many strays. I know sometimes it’s the right thing to do when starvation, disease, and over-population are the alternatives.

But this animal had a home waiting for her – mine.


She never even had a name, or the chance to slide along our wood floor, chasing her two feline friends we have at home now. Maybe I’m being naïve – it might have never worked out at home. Maybe the dream of her getting along with the other two cats would not have happened.

But I would have tried, and sometimes that's enough.

Snowing

There is finally snow on the ground again, after the mildest winter I can remember having. Last night it dipped below zero.

I have to remember to get out there and take lots of photos. This one is from two years ago. It's depressing to think that I haven't gone out and braved the cold this year at all!

I'll get out there soon, and hopefully post something new.