This photo was taken back in August of 2008, I had just dropped my girlfriend off at MSP International so she could go to visit her Grandmother in Phoenix, AZ. Afterward I decided to stop at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery. I will tell you this, never in your life, unless you have been to Arlington, have you ever seen so many headstones. It is just incredible. It is literally a sea of white, and you know that each dot in the distance represents a person that was once alive. It makes me wonder about all those people, what were they like, their aspirations, their goals, their weaknesses, their loved ones, all their mistakes, all the things they had ever been proud of, then it reminds me of how insignificant we are as people. All the wars, all the arguments, all of the hatred and anguish, and for what, a small plot of land on this tiny speck of a dot in space, we as a race, as a people, regardless of skin color, language, nationality, are so insignificant in the end. Having said that, why not cherish what we have, fight for love instead of land or oil or pride, do all that you can to remind the people you love that you do, in the tiny blip on an existence that we have, that is the world we should fight for, the people we care for and love.

So, the photo… It is made up of some ten photographs, having said that, ten equals thirty because each one has to be taken three times, so yeah, it took some time to stitch this together and map it correctly, it is still not up to my standards, but to get it where I want it I would need to go back and re-take the photographs…

Anyhow, I saw this parabolic mirror and was reminded of how everything (Specifically the sky) looks like it is HDR when it is compressed into the small space of these mirrors, I say, if your automobile has one of these mirrors, look at the clouds while driving, only briefly though, as it can be distracting and dangerous.

“So good to see you,
I’ve missed you so much,
So glad it’s over,
I’ve missed you so much…

I stick my hand into this shadow,
To pull the pieces from the sand,
Which I attempt to reassemble,
To see just who I might have been,
I do not recognize the vessel,
But the eyes seem so familiar,
Like phosphorescent desert buttons,
Singing one familiar song…”

It seems not only did I find a replacement for this person, I found that this person never really deserved to be in my life in the first place. I thought my life would be terrible and I would be lost without her, and he truth is, my life has been unfathomable leagues better since she lost me. I have been blessed not only with realization that I have had MEGA great friends the whole time, and  that I may have lost one person, but I have gained two great new friends and an amazing family that make it very clear that she always needed to be replaced. Much like a broken piece of office equipment, you do not dwell on the fact that it is broken and “gone”, you simply replace it, and forget it ever existed in the first place because the replacement unit functions better on it’s worst day than the previous unit did when it was brand new….

I have always heard the best revenge is living well, hehe, well, that I am doing, and not that I would ever wish ill upon Chandra (or most people for that matter) as I do still love her so very much, I reently heard she is doing worse since she lost me… If there is such a thing as karma I am confident some just got dished up, shaken, not stirred.

Having given that tidbit of “grandtastic” news, I want to inform everyone of my first purchases towards my new business as well as the basic premise behind my new venture.

My very first purchases towards the business were a new air compressor and a new brad nail gun. Essentially I intend to process my photographs as usual, and get them printed in varying sizes. The second step in my overall process is to construct my own unique frames that I will be able to design around the photograph that will be going inside the frame. Now that you can see why I would need an air compressor and a nail gun when working with photographs… hehe. My third purchase was my dream camera. I have been dissatisfied with my camera for shooting HDR photographs for some time now. Ultimately, I found a great deal for a Nikon D90 online, I purchased the D90 with a few lenses and some additional equipment that will help me transfer from my Canon to a Nikon as all the connections are different, as well as the threading of the lenses.

Now that everyone knows why I have a great level of confidence in my future I am ready to go out and sell my photographs and frames. I would like to involve my friends and family in the process of building this, and doing so from the beginning, so if you have an ideas that you think would be beneficial, please do let me know.

Sorry for the lack of a photo today.

“Real life is the hardest impression, it’s always moving so I let it come through.”

~Little Texas

And please, let’s keep the ratings based on photographic quality and not something like “Hot or Not”…

Thanks!

Steve and I were able to spend a little while together at Quarry Park in St. Cloud, MN and I feel that we both took some great photos that day, some of which I have already posted. This particular photo is a very rare photo I would say, though I may love taking photographs, I am not exactly fond of having my photo taken, so typically they end up being candid shots, as this one shows.

I will state that, in my defense, I do usually notice the faint clicking sound of the mechanics of the typical SLR firing away, and order the photo of me to be deleted, however, for some reason or another, Steve’s Nikon SLR and lens are the quietest combo I have ever heard, or not. Not sure if it is just a fluke that his is so quiet, as I have used them in stores, and a friend (Andrew) also has a Nikon and I have not heard one so magnificently silent as the one Steve owns. Regardless, I am confident that the next SLR I purchase will be the Nikon D90, as it has every feature I could dream of, and still uses a relatively small form factor, so when I have a spare $1,200 to spend on a camera, and a fairly good reason to do so, oh yes, it will be mine….

I was feeling a significant deal better today so I thought it was necessary to snap a quick few photos and really ended up liking this one. I am a big fan of the overall feel of this photo. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Unlike some photos of people that are a “pseudo-HDR”, this is not, she was able to stay still just long enough for me to snap the necessary photos. She should be given an award for her ability to stay still, considering her level of energy and apparent inability to stay still for longer that several seconds at a time.

A crazy volunteer firefighter that owned a local Ford dealership decided that not only was it a good idea to run up a $4 million dollar debt with a credit card company for the purchase of automobiles that went to a gambling habit, it was also a good idea to take his daughter out in the car (That had his volunteer firefighter plates on it) and light some fireworks while driving down the road. Fortunately someone that witnessed the event turned around and followed him, clearly seeing the plate. Anyhow, the result was him getting arrested while, YES, he was helping to put out the fire that he had caused!

My front yard was laden with firefighters, members of The Salvation Army, along with Police and EMT’s. At many points in time it was literally impossible for us to leave, as well as the fact that our restroom was used in an excessive abundance.

After having found that the porch was just not high enough to capture all the firefighters, I mounted the roof, tripod and camera in hand, and quite literally as soon as I took a photo, their little powow ended and they rapidly dispersed. Fortunately, I was able to capture this one quick shot before they were entirely gone. This photo is my most popular photo as of yet, and was printed on the front page of the local paper, and has been entered to be printed on the cover of a firefighters magazine. Though it is not my favorite, somehow everyone likes it…