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SunsetJuly 30, 2006 2:16 PM
I was walking in from the garage the other day as the haze from a hot day generated an amazing sunset. I couldn't get high enough to get a really good shot without climbing on the roof, which I neglected to do. Oh well.
Hope you enjoy what I did get.
Film Isn't Dead YetJuly 24, 2006 11:27 PM
I've been taking my camera with me literally everywhere I go the last several days. The results have been nice. The other day I decided to take out the old Ricoh. It's the first time I've shot a roll of film (literally...Actual FILM) in years. I forgot what having it developed was like.
Anyhoo, I walk past this statue every day, but have never taken a picture. I did the standard touristy thing the other day and snapped one. It was a rainy gray day, and it's probably overexposed.
My real mistake was taking it to Target to get developed. Outside of it taking every fiber of my being not to crawl over the counter and smack the douchebag working there, they did a horrible job with the film. That's what you get with one-hour photo I guess.
In other news, I realized the last several JPGs I've processed from Photoshop were compressed to 100% quality. That explains the slow image loading! My bad. Won't happen again.
Guess Who's Back?July 20, 2006 11:01 AM
I'm not sure if Nina believed that I was outside playing with Jack yesterday after work.
Visual proof.
Meet TomJuly 19, 2006 4:49 PM
Today has been a not-so-good day for Tom. So Far.
Rob and I are frantically working on some large issues we're having with some unbelievably complex code, and we've had to fall back to "Plan-B", which is less than desirable. Needless to say, it's been a busy day for myself and everyone else working on this project.
Tom is our Technical Project Manager. I've been working with Tom for just about a year now, and Rob has known him since he was working on his Doctorate in Aberdeen, Scotland YEARS ago. Tom is the most modest guy you'll meet. As a project manager, he doesn't really try to throw his opinion in on some fairly heady development and theoretical stuff Rob and I are knee deep in. Thing is this: Tom holds a Ph.D. in exactly the stuff we're working on and has done applied research within this field. He knows exactly what we're talking about, even when he says he doesn't.
Tom was working with Curt in the office next to our cube pen, and since I had my camera with me today, I caught him while he wasn't paying attention.
Sorry Tom.
I should do a photo-journal of this project. I really should. Shoot 'em all in black and white, crank up the contrast, that's a damn good idea.
RainJuly 19, 2006 12:47 PM
Today is the first day in a long time it has actually rained in the Twin Cities. It's been an unbearably dry and hot summer so far. This morning driving in to work the skies had that midwest greenish tint, an obvious sign of storms to come.
It started raining and as I started hitting stoplights in downtown St. Paul, I decided to snap an "artsy" shot of the rain on my windshield. Steady elbows on the steering wheel helped, but I should have shot it at a higher ISO. Anyhoo, hope y'all like it.
Random ThingsJuly 17, 2006 4:30 PM
Well, mission accomplished. It took a final putt-off to decide the winner, but my team came away victorious in last weekend's golf tournament. MAN it was hot. The relaxation part may have happened, but the rest part definitely did not. It was so F'ing hot I didn't get any sleep. I'm pretty tired today. Ugh.
Last night after doing some work, I completely rearranged my camera bag. The 80-200mm Pentax lens that has a broken outer lens group was where the hold-down strap for the 10D was. I'd have to take out that lens to undo the strap to get the 10D out, and vice versa to put it back in. Well, for those if you who actually have lenses with aperature rings (read: NOT Canon) I've managed now to break off entirely the aperature ring lock release. It's now stuck on "A", and since that lens stops down to f/45, guess what? It's stuck at f/45. I'll try to eBay it, otherwise it's as good as trash. But now that it's not taking up space in my bag, I can keep both cameras WITH lenses on them, and still have a little empty spot so the strap isn't in the way. It's much nicer (and lighter) I must say.
Tim sent me a hilarious link this morning. I'm assuming he read my World Cup post below. Enjoy:
Zidane Headbutt Animated GIFs
Other than that, I'm hella-busy at work today. It's Rod's birthday, so we treated him to lunch. Happy B-Day Hot Rod.
OK, back to work.
R & R - Finally?July 14, 2006 2:40 PM
This weekend I might finally get some rest and relaxation. I hope.
We're headed up North for the annual Berglund Golf Tourney. Nina's parents have hosted this event at Fortune Bay for the last couple of years, and last year was really fun. The picture above is of the 8th hole. It's a gentle dogleg right par 5, with nothing but water down the entire right side. It's also one helluva long hole. One time up North Nina and I played with her Dad and Brother. I was playing in tennis shoes with rental clubs, and it was POURING when we started. I could barely keep my footing with the smooth-bottomed shoes and the wet grass. We got called off the first hole twice for lightning. Anyhoo, I managed to kill a drive down the fairway and had about 220 left to the pin with nothing but water and the bear paw bunker to land the ball in if I was short. I was essentially standing on the far left side of the picture above, and the pin was on the far right of the green, about 10-12 paces on. I hit one of the best 3 irons I've ever hit with a slight draw, fighting the sprinkles and the wind, to about 8 feet. Drained the putt for eagle. I shot an 86 that round - with 9 penalty strokes. If I had my own clubs and spikes, I would have shot lights-out that day. I was on. Three holes later I hit a 3 wood 245 yards to a foot. Like I said - I was on. On like Donkey Kong.
Ever since that round, I'm considered one of the "good" golfers, so I captain a team in this golf tourney. Last year we didn't fare too well, but I'm confident this year we will be much better. I haven't hit that many golf balls this year, but the last round I played I had the ball flying right. We'll see how it goes tomorrow! After the round will be a pontoon cruise out to the island, followed by what I'm sure is a lot of drinking.
Golf. Booze. No kids. Lake Vermilion.
FORE!!!
230 YearsJuly 13, 2006 1:40 AM
I meant to publish this picture on the 4th Of July, but I had trouble finding it. I took it on the coldest day of the year in February, with a still air temperature of somewhere near 10 below. I was the only nut outside in downtown Stillwater, bundled to the hilt, trusting Tim when he told me the 10D was invincible in cold weather. Nina and her bridesmaids were dress shopping in a bridal boutique in Stillwater, and I was bored.
Tim was right about the 10D, and the cold, windy, stark air and the bright winter sun gave this flag the most saturated colors I've ever seen on Old Glory.
Nina and I stopped by my Dad's place on our way home from up North over the 4th. My Dad was the only one in his entire development who flew a flag. As a naval aviator in Vietnam, he's also one of the few veterans in his development. I realized then that I hadn't flown a flag either, and a part of me feels pretty guilty about that.
Regardless of what side of the fence you're on politically, people have and will continue to put their lives at stake for the well being of us all. As John F. Kennedy once said: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
Happy belated 230th U.S. of A.
A Big Sports DayJuly 10, 2006 5:49 PM
Yesterday was a big day for sports. Not only was the Wimbledon final played, but also the final game of the biggest sporting event in the world: The FIFA World Cup.
Zidane, one of France's most experienced and best players was one of the keys that got them into the final. With only 10 minutes of extra time left before a penalty kick shootout, he headbutted an Italian player square in the chest, knocking him flat on his ass. After losing Zidane (their best penalty kicker) to ejection they lost in a penalty kick shootout, 5-3. Zidane pretty much handed the Italians the trophy.
In Wimbledon news, Federer dispatched Nadal without too much trouble, giving Federer his 4th straight Wimbledon and his 8th overall Grand Slam title. Sampras holds the record at 13 slam titles, and I personally hope it stands.
In other news, my telephoto lens has to get sent back to Canon for a Service Notice. Sucks. Hopefully they can fix it, and quick.
A Single Moment In Time?July 7, 2006 2:02 PM
Most people think that a photo is a snapshot of a singular moment in time. Almost as if time stands still. That's why they call them stills.
I disagree.
When flipping through several of the images I took last weekend, a good deal of them were of Nina's nieces and cousins playing with sparklers. As you can clearly see above with Lily, it's anything BUT a singular moment in time. To be exact, it's 1/2 of a second that elapsed. It suddenly occured to me that no matter how fast that shutter is, time still ticks by. It may be just 1/60th of a second, or maybe 1/800th of a second like in the shot of Avi below on a slip-and-slide, but it still ticks by.
My brother works in the film industry in Tokyo, Japan. The differences from shooting "stills" (we've already established they aren't really still) and motion picture filming are completely different animals. The composition of a motion picture is ALWAYS changing, and the shutter is ALWAYS open.
But no matter how fast the shutter on my 10D, Tim's 5D, Bryan's d70, or anyone else's camera, we're all shooting motion pictures.
Food for thought.
A Busy SummerJuly 6, 2006 12:15 AM
It has been nothing but a BUSY summer. Last weekend Nina and I headed up North early Friday for her 10 year high school reunion as well as the 4th of July.
Nina was nervous about her reunion. It was a two day event, Friday night being an evening at the bar, and Saturday being a dinner event at a restaurant in Eveleth. I was the "hired" photographer for the event. It was fun meeting all her old friends, some of which I know because they live in "The Cities" now. Sunday morning after the two-day event we headed up to her parent's cabin, where things transitioned immediately to the 4th.
Now, if you haven't seen it, you won't quite understand, but the 4th of July is the biggest event of the year in the Tower/Soudan area of northern Minnesota. It's an all-weekend event that included a kid's day on the 3rd, followed by a parade and a full day of activities on the 4th.
So, the R & R that normally comes with being up North didn't quite materialize. This coming weekend we're going to lay low, although I have a ton of stuff around the house to do. The yard is on my list for tonight.
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ABOUT
This is the word barf of a guy named Bob (Ethics major turned Software Engineer) who lives in Minneapolis.
Email me. Buy some photo gallery prints. Do whatever.
Looking for foil pictures? They are here.
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