Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Alright...I'm Obsessed

I just can't get enough of this Adam's Point place in Durham.  It seems like every time I've gone out there to shoot, I've never walked away empty handed.  I was out there for only about a half hour last night and I managed to grab some really great shots.  The one posted here is probably my favorite.  A dog happened to walk into the frame at the last minute.  I was a little annoyed at first, but after looking at it I think he really makes the photograph.

The lady and I found a cool little trail that circles the point through the woods this past weekend.  I saw some cool locations on the walk so I decided to head back out there last evening to try and grab some cool sunset shots.  I was going to go tonight, but the clouds looked pretty great last night so I'm pretty happy I decided to go then.  Who knows?  Maybe I'll even go back tonight.

ISO 100, 18mm, f/18 at 1/40

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Victory!

I can finally rest easy. I got a call from the company I was applying to and they made me a job offer. Very very excited.

The past couple months have been absolute hell. I'm so glad that it's finally over and I'll have a pay check again. I really feel bad for anyone who has to go through what I went through. I wouldn't wish it upon anyone. It's very scary out there right now so do what you can to make sure you have enough cash to get yourself through a few months on your own without a job. It definitely helped me...along with the love and support of my family, friends and lady of course.

Hopefully we bottom out soon, because I honestly don't see us recovering from this recession for years. Maybe even a decade. Much like the "lost decade" Japan faced in the 90's. I wish I could say I had faith in my government right now, but I honestly don't think they're doing enough. I get the feeling that it's only enough to patch some of the holes, but not enough to fully rebuild the dike.

At least things are looking up for me again though. I think I'm going to do my patriotic duty and stimulate the economy by treating myself to a new tripod and wireless cable release. Get out there and spend spend spend if you got it! Something tells me not many people do though...

Cheers

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Sports Break

Had my fantasy draft last night and I must say I'm quite impressed with how my team looks this year.  Decided to go a bit more on pitching this year with some stable players in the rest of the line up.  Here's who I picked up..

Batters
C - Bengie Molina
1B - Justin Morneau
2B - Alexei Ramirez
3B - Aramis Ramirez
SS - Jimmy Rollins
LF - Johnny Damon
CF - Jayson Werth
RF - Magglio Ordomez
DH - Carlos Pena
Bench - Adrian Beltre
Bench - Milton Bradley
Bench - Kelly Johnson

Pitchers
SP - Johan Santana
SP - Roy Halladay
SP - Carlos Zambrano
SP - Ted Lilly
SP - Zack Greinke
RP - Brad Lidge
RP - Jose Valverde

I'm feeling it this year...

Look out...

Sunday, March 15, 2009

More Great Bay

I received a lot of good feedback from the last pic I had up so I decided to post another one from the same batch.  This one is almost the same scene, but shifted left slightly to include the trees.

Hopefully I find out about that job on monday or tuesday this week.  I heard they contacted my references so as long as they didn't screw me I should be good.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Great Bay Mist

I just took this shot a couple hours ago over at Adams Point in Durham. I've been there a few times to shoot before, but today was extra special. The fog in the late afternoon provided some cool atmosphere. I'm pretty pleased with how this came out.

ISO 100, 18mm, f/20 at 1 second

On the job front, I received a call back from one of the places I interviewed with. They were just asking me to upload some references because I had forgotten to earlier in the process, but this makes me think my chances are pretty good. Why would they have me complete the application if they weren't impressed by the interview? Right? It would be really nice to know I had a steady pay check coming in again. I feel like as soon as I got back into photography, my financial rug was ripped out from underneath me. There are so many little additions I'd like to add to my collection, like nice tri-pod of my own, a wireless shutter release, a Nikon SB-900 flash with a stand and umbrella for some portrait work, a host of other lenses, and maybe a D300 or the new 400 when it finally gets announced.

I'd love to do my patriotic duty and pump some money into the economy, but I just don't have it right now...along with the rest of the country.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Lil' HDR Fun

Got bored so I decided to mess around with a little HDR today.  This is a shot of my living room in a sort of "fantasy" style.  Looks kinda cool.  I need to eventually do one of these outside some day or in a more interesting location.  My living room is pretty lame.

Had a second job interview with a company yesterday that went pretty well I think.  Hopefully this works out or I'm gonna be toast.  Just found out that I wont be getting the position with my old company after all, which really sucks since that was supposed to be a safety for sure.  Oh well.

Gonna go read before class.  Lates.

Monday, March 9, 2009

New Gallery Soon

So I picked up the latest issue of Digital Photographer from B&N the other day.  Probably one of the coolest photo mags I've seen yet!  Lots of cool articles, tips, how-to, and user submitted photos that are critiqued by the staff.  It was a little pricy since it's imported from the UK, but I thought it was worth it.

Browsing through the pages, I came across an ad for free web galleries hosted by the magazine's website.  The site allows you to post your pictures and then others can rate them and leave comments.  Pretty cool when seeking input from other photographers on your work...or from random jerks and idiots.

Anyways...  Here's the link to my new gallery.  Feel free to check it out and leave comments and such.  As soon as I get my actual website up and running, I'll be able to create and host my own gallery without going through a third party.

Take care.

UPDATE: So apparently you have to be a member to comment and rate the photos.  Sorry for the inconvenience...not that anyone cares anyway.

Friday, March 6, 2009

"Stop Looking at Me Swan!"

So I decided to head over to Hilton Park late yesterday to try and grab some good sunset shots on the water. I went down to the shore line on the rocks and was setting up my tripod and such when I look over and there's this massive swan coming right for me. It scared the crap out of me! He definitely meant business because he was coming right towards me and he showed no intention of moving. I grabbed my gear and turned around to climb back up on the grass area and he turned around to head back out to where ever the hell it was he came from. However his leaving helped me grab this cool shot with him silhouetted against the water.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Shrooms

Wow it's been a while since I've posted anything.  Been a little busy lately...ah screw it.  There's really no excuse.  I'm unemployed remember?  How could I possibly be too busy to make a post?

I went to my parents house this past weekend to visit and to go to a doctors appointment.  While visiting, I took a walk with my dad at Moody Park and saw this cool mushroom growing out of a tree.

Not much else to a report on.  Guess now you see why I haven't posted in a while.

ISO 200, 170mm, f/5.6 at 1/100sec