Day 71 (3-12-11)

I packed a good deal of the master bedroom and bathroom as well as Liam's room today.  There is still a lot to do, but I think I made good progress.  I was supposed to get up early and head to Hell's Kitchen for the 5th annual 'Kegs & Eggs' celebration, which is nothing more than an excuse to drink green beer and eat green eggs first thing in the morning... and then see how long you last.  But alas, I didn't make it.  Oh well.  I can tell you this though: had I come home piss drunk at 2 in the afternoon, nothing would have gotten packed, lol.  So I had that going for me.

I've been wanting to play with Tiffen's DFX 2 gel light plugins for ever.  The problem is that I could never find an image that they worked well with.  (There are about 245 light gels to choose from, by the way).  So for giggles I experimented on the above crop of my acoustic - and to my surprise, the overall oval-ish shape of the light happened to size right up with the opening in the guitar.  I found it very difficult to settle on a design choice (the French doors, bay window, blinds and a peace sign were all in the running) but the above star burst seemed to work well.  I like how some of the light accents certain areas on the strings, which make them seem alive almost.  Hope you like it.

82mm
f/4
ISO 3200
1/15

Day 70 (3-11-11)

Happy 311 Day!

It was beautiful out today, with sunshine and a nice breeze.  Tomorrow is supposed to be even nicer, but I enjoyed today the way it was.  The above is a 3 image HDR composite of some pine trees.  I like shooting pine trees in HDR because it really makes the needles stick out, and gives the bark good texture.  That, along with a nice thick bed of pine straw, makes for some nice dynamic range.  I'm sure you'll see plenty more like this as the year goes on.

105mm
f/18
ISO 400
3/148

Day 69 (3-10-11)

I never noticed it before, but these little placards seem to be placed on the sidewalks outside all the bars and restaurants downtown that have outside dining.  Pretty cool, huh.  Crappy picture quality because I took it with my phone as I was leaving Hell's Kitchen the other night, but you get the idea.

Taken with my Droid X.

Day 68 (3-9-11)

This delicious package of Elk Jerky comes courtesy of Dan D'Aprile.  I mentioned to him how I had some when I was last at Rocky Mountain National Park and that it was delicious.  He made a road trip to Bass Pro Shops and brought me back a package.  Yum!

Taken with my Droid X.

Day 67 (3-8-11)

Ooh, something shiny and sparkly!  (Kristin should enjoy this one.  It's her dress, or shirt, or skirt, or whatever that thing is that has been folded up and sitting in the kitchen for like a month now...).  Oh yeah, happy Fat Tuesday!  We did this annoyingly mardi-gra-ish thing at work all day involving sparkly beads, so I'm keeping the theme going.  Now to publish, and sit back and finish a can of Gennee Cream Ale.

Yep.  I splurged and went with the $1.99 tall boy can.

80mm
f/4
ISO 800
1/60 (with flash)

Day 66 (3-7-11)

Came back from New York Friday night and everything everywhere was in bloom.  Thank the lord, because this winter seemed long, cold, wet and dreary.  (Sounds like a bad porno, hehe).  Of course along with the beauty of spring comes all the crap on the car, the itchy eyes, the sneezing and all that other good stuff.

This is the tree next to the driveway.  Most of the year it's just a tree.  Things (berries maybe?) fall out of it and onto my car, and stick there.  It has long branches that need to be trimmed back regularly lest they poke you in the face when you get out of the car.  Spiders make huge webs that span the tree to the car, making it perilous to walk underneath or around.  It's generally an annoying tree, but for a couple weeks out of the year it looks like this and I love it.  As soon as the next rain comes, however, if accompanied by strong wind, all these white petals will be gone.

And they'll be on my car.


105mm
f/14
ISO 400
1/249

Day 65 (3-6-11)

Happy Birthday Dad!!  Wish I was home and able to celebrate with you guys.  Liam said you had ice cream cake.  I'm jealous.  I had Girl Scout Cookies instead.  I think these are called Samoans.  Or they used to be called Samoans, and now they are something more politically correct?  Who the hell knows.  They're good.


65mm
f/5
ISO 1600
1/100

Day 64 (3-5-11)

I'm a little bit nervous, and confused, as to how I'm going to tackle the garage when the time comes.  The easiest solution would be to rent a 30-yard dumpster and just clean house.  Not going to happen though, so a garage sale is in order.  The only problem is I don't know how to get all this crap out of the garage and onto my driveway.  There has to be a way....

24mm
f/4
ISO 1600
1/20

Day 63 (3-4-11)

So I'm somewhere in Maryland, on my way back to NC from NY, and I see this RV up ahead with what looks like a woman painted on the rear.  It's a ways up, and moving fast, but I'm trying to catch up to it so I can see what it is.  There is a lot of traffic on the road, so overtaking it was a bit of a challenge, but I managed to get up behind it to discover it was indeed a "Hootermobile".

No, I didn't make up the name.  Hootermobile was actually written in bold, orange letters across the front cab window.  There was also a Hooters girl painted on the side of this thing, laying on her side.

Oh, and it was being driven by a man who looked to be in his 70's.  I'm assuming the 70-something looking woman riding shotgun was his wife.

Or maybe a retired Hooters girl.

Cell phone pic obviously.  And I have to say I'm a little bit impressed with the clarity of the shot, considering I took it while driving.  It's in focus AND level.  Props to both my steady arm and my Droid X.

Day 62 (3-3-11)

My last night in NY for a little while, so we had a nice family dinner.  Well, most of the family.  Kelley, Scott and Scott couldn't be there.  But mom, dad, Brian, Kris, Liam, Cate, Nana and Helen were.   It was delicious and I still feel like I'm in a food coma.  I grabbed this pic of Helen and Nana on their way out, and they insisted Liam get in the picture too.  Liam insisted on holding on to Nana's "stick", as he kept calling it, lol.  Good times, good times.. even though Catie knocked over my full Guinness.  Such a waste of good beer.

28mm
f/4
ISO 1600
1/60

Day 61 (3-2-11)

My brother Scott is the piano player in the family.  I took lessons for a brief period of time when I was younger, and I never practiced and never learned anything.  I know what the keys are, and I even know a few chords, but playing is not something I can do.  Tooling around is more like it.  I really like the piano and wish I had taken my lessons seriously.  It would have greatly helped my guitar playing.  Many really really great guitar players either started out on the piano or also play the piano.

Anyway, tonight I figured out the melody from "Win One for the Reaper", by Michael Giacchino.  If you are unfamiliar with the title, chances are you are at least familiar with the tune.  It's the sad music from "Lost", specifically from Season 1, although hints of it can be heard throughout songs from all six seasons. To me it is the quintessential piece from "Lost", and is one of my favorite tracks.

80mm
f/5.6
ISO 1600
1/10

Day 60 (3-1-11)

No energy or desire to do anything.  Camera phone + refrigerator magnets = boredom.

Taken with my Droid X.

Day 59 (2-28-11)

Rest in peace, GG.  You will be missed greatly.

So after the service I opted to drive Cate around so she could nap.. because she was starting to get bitchy.  So I pass the reservoir next to Blue Hill Golf Course, and the fog sitting on top of it is so intense, it looked like a lake of dry ice.  I pull over to  take some pics only to realize the battery to my camera is still sitting in the charger at my parents house.  This is, of course, typical.

So I race to PR to get the battery and by the time I get back to the reservoir, most of the fog has disappeared.  I got about a half dozen shots, with the above being the best one.  And it wasn't until I unloaded the memory card on my computer that I realized how dirty my sensor is.  The entire shot is covered with dust bunnies.  I cloned out about a dozen of them in Photoshop before giving up.  It's much easier to just drop the $25 and have it cleaned than spend an evening cloning that crap out. 

55mm

f/22

ISO 800

1/125

Day 58 (2-27-11)

Rockland Psychiatric Center is home to some of the creepiest buildings I've ever seen.  Abandoned, boarded up, vine and ivy covered run down buildings are spread out all over the 600 acres which make up the campus. Since childhood, this place has both intrigued and frightened me.  I hope one day to be able to photograph this place in detail, and be able to get inside some of the abandoned buildings because I'm sure it's twice as creepy as it is in my head.

32mm
f/11
ISO 400
1/249

Day 57 (2-26-11)

Saw lots of great people today.  Ended up at The Saloon for zuppa de clams and a Guinness or several.  Then to The Hotel for another Guinness.

105mm
f/4
ISO 1600
1/15

Day 56 (2-25-11)

On the road to NY, taken at about 60mph while going through the Washington/Baltimore tunnel.  Several times during the trip I balanced the camera on my left arm and just shot randomly as I was driving.  Most of the shots were pure crap but there were a few keepers.  Made the trip in about 11 hours with only a few incidents of traffic (all due to accidents).  I wish the trip was being made under happier circumstances, but it is what it is I guess

24mm
f/4
ISO 800
1/5

Day 55 (2-24-11)

Spicy Hawaiin pizza from dominos.  So delicious.

On a serious note, I learned some pretty sad news today.  Please take a moment and give thanks for life, and for what you have, and hug a loved one and tell them that you love them.  Thanks.


135mm
f/4
ISO 800
1/125

Day 54 (2-23-11)

There's a lot of interesting crap to photograph in my backyard.  The way the light was hitting the small Carolina Palm in our backyard had me glued to it for about 15 minutes.  The symmetry of the fronds and the leaves that grow out of them is fascinating if you get your face in there and look closely.


135mm
f/4.5
ISO 800
1/2500

Day 53 (2-22-11)

Movies played in Dolby Digital Surround Sound kick ASS.

105mm
f/4
ISO 3200
1/13

Day 52 (2-21-11)

Caught an evening movie tonight.  Unknown, with Liam Neeson.  It wasn't bad.  Cool concept.  Anyway, on my way home I stopped downtown for some night photos.  The above was taken by the river, across the street from the courthouse.  There are benches placed amongst the trees there, and the trees all have lights strung throughout them.  I just aimed into the center of all the trees, and zoomed back out as I shot, creating the streaked light effect.  You can still make out one of the benches in the lower center of the photo.  I captured a bunch of cool night shots from downtown, although I'm partial to the coolness of the above shot.

95mm
f/14
ISO 3200
1/10

Day 51 (2-20-11)

I still think Lost is probably one of the greatest television series to ever be made.  Top 5 without a doubt.  Its writing was creative, fresh, and took you on a journey in ways television had never done before.  I would always look forward to Wednesday night when the new episode was set to air... and then be so bummed when it was over because it would be another week before the story was continued.  Thursday at work was always Lost discussion and analysis day, and when the end of each season came around?  I practically went into mourning.

I'm happy the show ended, because I'd hate to have seen it lose its edge and turn into the garbage that long running series usually do.  Take Heroes for example.  That show was very very cool when it first came out.  The premise was interesting, the characters were pretty cool, and the show had so much potential.  Then by about the end of season 2, I kept asking my self WTF?!  I don't even know if the writers were the same by the time season three came around.  Is that show still on?  I don't know and I don't care.  It sucks.

But Lost to me was amazing.  Everything from the characters down to the soundtrack.  (I own the collector's edition box set of the show and the entire score for all 6 seasons by Michael Giacchino).  I liked the ending, even more so after watching it again.  The last season and the ending in particular are where most people changed their minds on Lost, but I happened to enjoy it - and found myself very satisfied with how it turned out.  To all the haters out there:  bite me.

The above picture is a rather lazy composition for me.  I took my box set, placed it on a shelf, and took a picture of it.  I duplicated the image and flipped it 180 degrees to place it on top of the original.  (If you look closely at the bottom of the image, you can see where I got sloppy and careless with making the selection).  Then it looked kind of weird and boring, so I through a layer of colorized difference clouds on top of the whole thing and lowered the opacity.  And for those of you who don't understand Photoshop lingo, it's basically one image duplicated on top of itself, with some shit thrown over it to make it not so boring, lol.

32mm
f/4
ISO 800
1/60

Day 50 (2-19-11)

Day #2 of gorgeous weather.  Sunny and about 72 or so.  Had a 9:24 tee time at Belvedere Country Club with Shorty, Ray and Joe.  Couldn't tell you what I shot, because we stopped keeping score by the 4th hole.  I can tell you it wasn't good, but it was good to get out and play.

Oh yeah, there was a massive wildfire in the area.  At one point, there was ash blowing on the course, and for about 2 hours straight, the sound of fire trucks and sirens never ceased.  Not sure where in Hampstead it was, but it was close.  I also saw another fire in the vicinity of my neighborhood when I got home.  Everything is dry and it was windy as hell today, so the conditions were ripe for fires.  It also helps that idiots around here burn their trash and yard waste despite the dryness and windy conditions.  Idiots.

50mm
f/20
ISO 400
1/200

Day 49 (2-18-11)

Got to sleep in today, but missed having everyone around the house.  Thankfully it was gorgeous out: sunny, breezy and in the low 70's.  Spent the afternoon at Airlie Gardens.  This is a 3 exposure HDR from the fountain area.

32mm
f/8
ISO 400
1/332 total

Day 48 (2-17-11)

The long dreaded day has finally come.  Kris, Liam, and Cate left Wilmington for New York.  And while it is what we long planned and have worked towards for a while, the parting was bittersweet.  This home is where our lives as a family began, and it will be missed.  Tonight I go to sleep in a quiet house, and won't be woken up tomorrow morning by the sound of Liam singing.  Or Cate crying.  :-(


24mm
f/14
ISO 400
1/200

Day 47 (2-16-11)

Little man came to visit me at work today.  All he wanted to do was sit at my desk and "talk" on the phone.  (I have 3 at my desk).  He would pick up the receiver and go "Hello?  Who is this?  This is Liam.  ok, hold on..." and then put it down and reach for the other phone and do the same thing.  We toyed with the idea of sending a heated escalation to my phone and letting Liam pick it up, but alas - none came in while he was there.

I got to introduce him to many people; we went and raided the "snack" room (aka the Kure Beach room) and he got some M&Ms and a granola bar; we took the elevator and went down into the cafeteria where he picked out an orange juice and bag of Sun Chips; we hung out in the lobby and he got to meet our H.R. rep, Robert.  It was a great day, and he had a blast.  It was a great last day in Wilmington for him.

This pic was taken with my phone.

Day 46 (2-15-11)

Didn't feel like it today.

105mm
f/4
ISO 1600
1/25

Day 45 (2-14-11)

Sunset tonight from the parking lot at work.  Not the best, but nice.  Happy Valentine's Day.

67mm
f/10
ISO 800
1/125

Day 44 (2-13-11)

This is Terrordactyl - one of two motorized and interactive dinosaurs Liam wanted for Christmas.  He played with them every time we went to Toys R Us.  Of course, when Christmas came and Santa had indeed brought these for him, he seemed to lose much of his interest in them.  Honestly, I think they scare him a little, thanks a little in part (I think) to me.  Terrordactyl's partner, Screecher, shoots water from his mouth.  It's very cool.  Liam did not know this, and thinking it would be funny, I filled it up and persuaded Liam to look in its mouth.  Stunned when the water hit, he didn't run away or turn his head.  Instead, he just stood there and got shot about 3 or 4 times right in the face.  This I believe is when the interest started to wane, lol.  He still does play with them, but not as much, and definitely not with water.  When he does play with them, he rarely turns them on.  They are cool, however, even if they make really loud high-pitched noise.

102mm
f/4
ISO 800
1/13

Day 43 (2-12-11)

  Today was the first sunny, nice day in what seems like forever.  It was probably in the mid 50's or so but it felt warmer (I wore pants and a t-shirt).  We spent the afternoon at Wrightsville Beach because a) it was nice out and my only day off in the last 6 days and b) it was probably our last beach outing as a family for a while -- at least down here.
  The surfers were out in droves, and there was a considerable number of people hanging out on the beach.  A group of guys near us ended up running into the water for a cool down after running sprints on the sand.  I told Kris I might jump in myself - she dared me to, and I did.  The water was a brisk 45 degrees (according to the national weather center), and for the first 3 seconds or so, bitterly painful.  After about 3 seconds my entire body went numb and it actually wasn't that bad.  I felt nothing on my arms and chest, and the only thing that I could really feel were my feet.  They actually hurt.  Also annoying was that the surf dropped to about knee level about 5 steps in or so - and then rose back up to like ankle level for another 10 steps.  I had to go out a good deal to get to a depth where I could dip under the water... although I was numb by this point so it didn't really matter.  Anyway, it was a great day.

135mm
f/6.3
ISO 100
1/800

Day 42 (2-11-11)

Frozen bush-thing next to my car.  Snapped it from inside the car as I waiting 15 minutes for it to thaw out. Yeah, I'm tired.

135mm
f/2.8
ISO 3200
1/20

Day 41 (2-10-11)

Worked 13 hours today.  The highlight of my day was open gym this morning.  Ahhh... good times, good times.
:)

102mm
f/4
ISO 1600
1/60

Day 40 (2-9-11)

Yes.  They're fake.

105mm
f/4
ISO 800
1/64

Day 39 (2-8-11)

Greenfield Lake Park today at lunch - rushed to get there as the sun was going down.  Took about 50 shots (mostly in groups of 3 for HDR) and just looked at them.  Most of them sucked, lol.  This one was ok.  Some of the HDR shots might be ok after I tweak them more, I was just too tired tonight to do it.  Tomorrow starts the 12-hour work day madness.

58mm
f/7.1
ISO 400
1/160

Day 38 (2-7-11)

Went on a wild goose chase to bumfuck nowhere tonight to pick up boxes from a house that ended up being in a gated community.  I say wild goose chase because I was not privy to the security code to get me in, and the security camera which is aimed at the gate is either not functional, or not monitored.  After several minutes of flashing my high beams at it and waving, I gave up and drove the 35 minutes back home.

On my way back, I passed the above building (not finished yet but well lit as you can see) in the relatively empty section of Brunswick Forest.  It is set a good distance off the road, and lit by what appears to be 1000 watt lights.  After driving around the empty lot a few times, I parked and got out.  I probably didn't make it 5 steps before security in a 4x4 came high tailing out of nowhere.  Literally nowhere.  This building is several hundred yards away from anything, and because it's not even finished, there were no roads that I could see except for the one I came in on, and the parking lot.  Yet from the other side of the building this dude shows up.  After exchanging pleasantries for a few minutes, and promising to be quick and leave, he allowed me to take a few pictures.  It's a pretty cool looking building.. at night at least.  Except I can't figure out why it's called New Hanover Regional Medical Center Health & Diagnostics, considering it's in Brunswick.

24mm
f/7.1
ISO 1600
1/8

Day 37 (2-6-11)

There's always next year.

Pic taken with my Droid X.

Day 36 (2-5-11)

Day number two of rainy, windy, crappy weather.  Since I actually got a break this weekend, we decided last minute to take a road trip to Myrtle Beach.  We spent the afternoon at Ripley's Aquiarium and then had some Friendly's ice cream for the ride home.  Good times!

24mm
f/4
ISO 1600
1/40

Day 35 (2-4-11)

Another fun adventure at "facility", although there's always an awkward moment or two before (and after) we hit the pool - Liam always stares at the other people in the locker room.  "Look - that guy is going pee pee!"  "Look, that guy is nudie!"

Yes Liam, he is.

28mm
f/3.5
ISO 640
1/160
(taken with an Olympus waterproof p&s)

Day 34 (2-3-11)

Every night around 11:45 or so I seem to be scrambling to get my shot of the day.  Hopefully tomorrow, when I'm off, I'll get one during the day, and not of something around the house - although I kind of like the shot above.  It is rather photoshop-y, but still looks cool in my opinion.  Maybe I'll try it again and put a little more effort into it.  (The above was lit by a flashlight from above, and the camera was resting on a wicker basket placed on a cardboard box.  Yes, I was too lazy to go to the car to get my tripod.)

With some careful lighting, my other lens, and my tripod, I might not have to resort to solarization.  But whatever.  It looks cool.

Oh yeah, the iPhone went on sale today at work.  Two million phones sold in just over 12 hours.

65mm
f/4
ISO 800
1/60

Day 33 (2-2-11)

I don't know - just random crap lying around the house.  Now I can call it a day and go to bed.  The iPhone goes on sale in 4 hours, and shortly after that my 80 hour unpaid work weeks begin.  Joy!!!

105mm
f/5.6
ISO 800
1/30

Day 32 (2-1-11)

Best damn burritos, period.  And don't forget the pineapple jalapeno salsa.

55mm
f/4
ISO 800
1/25

Day 31 (1-31-11)

Marvin the Martian.  My favorite martian.  Too tired to comment anything else.  Goodnight.

102mm
f/4
ISO 800
1/20

Day 30 (1-30-11)

Yes, I'm still at work.  Well, technically I left and came back around 10pm.. but whatever.  This is a taste of the month or so to come.  These damn PA's.. I hate them.  I looked at the clock and realized it was around 11:45 and I needed to take a picture of something, so I hoisted the camera above my office and shot west.  At least I think it's west.  I don't know.  It's left of me, which to me means west.  Anyway, I'm holding down the fort on the 2nd floor although I hope to be leaving soon.. but I'll be back here in the morning.  Alas.

3 shot HDR
24mm
f/9
ISO 400
16/83 (? no idea - exposure time varied obviously, and when converted to HDR it creates some weird time that I can't figure out)

Day 29 (1-29-11)

Saw "127 Hours" today.  Great feel-good movie about the power of the mind and the will to live, although it was incredibly disturbing at times.  Loved it though.  Did some more work in the garage & then took Liam to go get a car wash.  The birds apparently hate my car.  Waiting for the terror to fall asleep so we can go to Indochine for dinner.  There is a monstrous plate of Imperial Rice with my name on it waiting for me.

Oh, the above picture?  That is a sampling of the majority of the Cars characters.  Some are missing because they were too big (Liam has all the characters but some are really big and some are Matchbox car sized like the above).  Due to lighting and lens constraints, there was no way to get them all in sharp focus so I focused on McQueen.

135mm
f/5.6
ISO 1600
1/15

Day 28 (1-28-11)

After a hell of a night (thank you Catie) we went to Paddy's Hollow for some lunch.  More organizing of the garage followed by a couple hours of fun at Town Creek Park and then later in the evening - Little Dipper.  Yum!

Day 27 (1-27-11)

The day is finally over.  Very tired, and very looking forward to going to bed - despite the screaming 8 month old who has been an absolute terror this week for some reason.  Anyway - watched Black Swan tonight (my own copy thankyouverymuch).  Very interesting.. very dark.. and WTF?  Um, did she die at the end?  If you haven't seen it yet, don't worry.  I didn't really give anything away.

105mm
f/5
ISO 800
1/125

Day 26 (1-16-11)

Errands and jobs today.  Put the car in for an oil change and to have roof racks installed.  Went to the mall to get Liam new sneakers and purchase a car-top carrier.  Installed car-top carrier because it was too big to fit in the car to get it home.  Came home - took off the car-top carrier.  Organized more of the garage (still looks like a bomb went off in there).  Back to work tomorrow but then off for two more days after that.  This is the calm before the storm.  80 hour work weeks start soon.  Joy.

105mm
f/4
ISO 1600
1/60

Day 25 (1-25-11)

Rainy day... bleh.  Had a good day though.  Went on some errands with Kris, then lunch at Macaroni Grill, and then a movie.  Ok, so the movie wasn't that good (No Strings Attached) - but I LOVE movie theater popcorn.  So I had that going for me.  Plus Natalie Portman is hot, so the movie wasn't all that bad.  Although it wasn't that good either.  Again, I had to scramble around the house to find something to photograph.  This whole photo a day thing is hard!  Anywho, thanks to grandma for watching the kiddos while we got out of the house today.  It was a much needed break.

70mm
f/4
ISO 1600
1/40

Day 24 (1-24-11)

Busy busy busy.  Didn't get out on lunch today to take any photos.  After the evening whathaveyou we all sat down and relaxed by eating crap and watching one of our favorite movies.  Mazel mazel, good things.

And if you are wondering, yes... this photo was a last minute scramble before bed because I almost forgot.

105mm
f/4
ISO 1600
1/30

Day 23 (1-23-11)

The Steelers are going to the Superbowl again, baby!  They dominated the Jets for the first half - then let them back in to make it a game in the 2nd.  I'm sure there are a lot of bitter Jets fans out there, and some serious Pittsburgh haters, hehe.  Now if I only had cable I'd actually be able to watch the game.  Sigh.

105mm
f/6.3
ISO 400
1/250

Day 22 (1-22-11)

Yum.

60mm
f/4
ISO 1600
1/15