The Kids Were Alright

I had plans to shoot an event tonight and do a post about it...but after spending the last hour digging out I've decided I am staying in. I didn't want to do a "look at all the snow" post either - I'm sure you had enough of seeing it on your way to or home from work(I hope everyone made their destinations safely).
Soooo....yesterday I baby-sat my brothers kids and they're really cute, and I had my camera - so here is a cute-kid-post....

If you really want to see what my yard/street look like covered in snow you can check out last year's blizzard photos here.

Tough Indeed

The other night when I got home from a funeral I took this photo of myself. I feel it fits pretty well with the above post by Kyle(read the Beacon's headline).
Since I've been spending the winter focusing on my photography and I have a "unique" rent situation I haven't even bothered trying to find a job in this climate. I'm just hoping I can get through until we get back to work on the farm in the spring.
I was glad the 60 minutes piece talked about "under-employment" - this is a huge problem that doesn't show up in the unemployment numbers...

PS - I'm going to force myself out into the cold to get some more interesting photos this week....I promise.

Plates We Can Believe In

What better way is there to celebrate the first day of the Barack Obama presidency than with Chinese-made dinnerware? One night I was passed out on my friend Josh's couch when he woke me up and asked for my address. He then told me that I was about to get the best Christmas present ever....well it arrived this week - my Barack Obama commemorative plate! All I need now are some Washington dollars with Obama's face painted over Washington's - Montel Williams is hocking those. Steven Colbert did a great piece on the exploitation of Obama's image - check it out here. My plate came with a sticker that said, "Not for food use - food consumed on this plate may be harmful" - but on the bright side it did come with a certificate of authenticity from the American Historic Society.....

Inauguration at The Civic

I went to the Civic Theater in downtown Akron to watch the Inauguration of Barack Obama. The event was sponsored by congress-people Betty Sutton and Tim Ryan(who were not present - they were in D.C.). They showed a brief DVD message thanking people for turning out and the Inauguration was then played on C-SPAN.
It was cool to watch the ceremonies with the energy of a crowd.
I look forward to hearing about Kyle's experience of actually being in Washington.

Mocha Mathem

Last night I went out to Mocha Maiden in downtown Akron to view an art opening for Julia Renee Bunn's Senior BFA Painting Exhibition. I don't consider myself an art critic, but I know what I like - and I was very impressed with Julia's work. If you've never been to Mocha Maiden now would be a good time to check it out. The place consists of the gallery, a coffee shop, a wine bar, botique, and the music venue Musica.
I went last night to view the art - and more or less brought my camera as an after thought. I didn't have a lot of gear with me, but I was able to use a table as a make-shift tripod and get these few decent longer exposure photos.


By the way, there was no real "mayhem" last night(except maybe in my head from the three large coffee drinks I had) the post title just came to me this morning and I had to use it.

This Could Be the Last Time

I'm moving! Well, kind of. My friend Kyle has invited me to start posting for his website The Chief Source. Kyle has been blogging about politics there for four years now and felt like it was time for a change.

He is also bringing Akron artist Brian Babb on board.

I plan to do similar style posts to what I've been doing here for the past few months - but doing it for The Chief Source will bring a much wider audience. I'm not sure yet what I plan to do with this site. I'll leave it up but I don't plan on posting here in the near future....I want to focus my energies on other site. Maybe in time I will turn this into something else, but for now I look forward to seeing you at my new home, The Chief Source.com.

New site drops Tuesday, yo.

Tim

Flash Dance

Last night I went up to the Cleveland Matinee to see the bands Ghostman & Sandman and Food Court. For some reason my Canon Speedlite 580exII quite on me - it was still flashing, but with no real power.

The above photo was taken with the flash at full power and the camera at an ISO of 1600, an aperture of 4.0, and 1/50th shutter speed. In other words it should be completely blown out....

....like this, which was taken with my 430ex at the same exact settings.

Thank god I had my 430ex with me or I wouldn't have gotten any shots of Ghostman & Sandman. Unfortunately my plan was to do a 2 flash strobist style set-up - the Cleveland Matinee isn't a good place for bounce flash(my preferred small club lighting style).

The only good news is that my 580exII is under warranty still(its newer than my 430ex)....

I'll have photos from the show up in the next few days. My trial version of Photoshop CS4 expired and it will be a few days before my new copy arrives.

Year In Review

Overall I found 2008 to be an average year at best....but since I have high hopes and some big plans for '09 I'll focus on some of the highlights of last year....

At the beginning of the year I was working third shift at Boston Mills. It was an interesting job - making snow from 11 at night until 7 in the morning. Towards the end of the season it started to wear on me, but i saved a decent amount of money and put it towards some new camera equipment and a little trip to Florida....

My trip started with a week long visit to family in the Central Florida area. I went boating on the St John's, sailing in a race, visited a few area beaches, and saw my grandma - among other things. I then rented a car and drove the length of the Florida Keys and lastly spent a few days around St. Augustine....

In the spring I spent most of my time learning how to use off-camera flash and improving my overall photographic skills. Not having to work yet I was also able to spend some time out hiking and biking...

My entire summer and fall were spent working at Szalay's Farm. I love it down there - its the only job I've ever had where I'll put in 80-90 hour weeks. It ends up consuming my whole life for that period but I saved a decent amount of money - which led to more gear upgrades.....

The last few months I've been able to use my new skills and gear to really improve my photography - and with the holidays I had the chance to try them out on friends and family. I've also started a few new photographic projects that I'll have more information about in the coming days...

I know that dates, and holidays like New Year's, really are just about arbitrary numbers - but it does make for a good time to reflect a little bit and prepare for what comes next...