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.