doug stremel photography

my blog has moved

2009-04-07T12:16:00.004-05:00

Spring is here and it's time for a change. My new blog is at: blamit blog

Thanks for following me to my new blog home. If you have me linked on your site, I would appreciate a new link. Thanks, and hope you can visit soon.

stuff happens

2009-04-04T10:22:00.037-05:00

We finished up the first part of the spring broadcast campaign for Capitol Federal late last week.

As usual, there were some challenges along the way – but I'm very happy with the results. There are a lot of pieces that go into TV and radio production – so it's so great to have people who make my job a little easier. Jeff Carson and the crew at Gizmo Pictures once again made everything look great, and the Lucky Dog Audio Post guys, Charles Wyrick and Scott Minor, made it all sound fantastic. We decided to go with original music for this project, and Jason Weinheimer from Sellout Music composed some extra-tasty tunes (thanks for that introduction Charles). And check out Jason's band, The Boondogs, for a great addition to your iPod playlist.

You can check out the TV and radio spots by clicking on the icons below. I spent way too much time this morning trying to get my head around some javascript code to make the media pop-up like I wanted. Thank God for google searches and code-heads who are willing to share some coding love.

Videos not working? Might be time to update to Quicktime 7

… and something blue

2009-03-30T16:15:00.003-05:00

Spring is always an adventure when it comes to forecasting weather for TV shoots. Over the last 18+ years of working on TV spots - I have had a nearly perfect record of clear skies. Well, last week was not so kind. I'm working with the Gizmo guys on a new TV campaign for Capitol Federal that includes a newlywed storyline. The forecast called for partly sunny skies, and well, that was optimistic. It was completely cloudy, windy and cold. I felt bad for our bride actress (Linsey Grams from Exposure) in her beautiful sleeveless wedding dress. Stylist Sharon Sullivan not only made our bride look great - she helped keep her warm with a bright red blacket (see couple in car shot). The spot is coming together really nicely, and I'll post a quicktime once we have it finished up.

did you know?

2009-03-28T11:20:00.002-05:00

Found this mind-boggling video via my buddy Jeff Carson. It's one of those things that makes you really excited and depressed at the same time. We're in for a ride.

Flint Hills Friday

2009-03-15T17:21:00.005-05:00

My K4/Photodudes buddies and I took the day off on Friday and wandered around the Flint Hills. The weather wasn't especially cooperative for much of the day - but we got to stop and some good spots – including my fave Lone Tree location. Our last photo stop of the day was the Konza Prairie Preserve (last photo). I'm definitely going back there later this spring to explore all of the trails. The photos are a little more warm and colorful than our actual day - thanks to my good buddy Lightroom.

You can see more photos from the other photodudes here and here.

photodudes friday

2009-03-11T16:15:00.004-05:00

The Photodudes will be on the road again Friday. We're going to an opening at the Strecker-Nelson Gallery in Manhattan where photo friend Deb Stavin will be showing. Since the opening is in the early evening - we're heading out early for some wandering in the Flint Hills. Should be great fun, and I'll finally have some photos to post very soon.

I'm going to reveal my secret "lone tree" location to my fellow Photodudes. Maybe I'll get a free beer out of the deal.

back to school

2009-02-03T18:14:00.003-06:00

Last Friday, I finished up a photo shoot in Topeka a little early - so I headed over to one of my favorite spots at the Kansas History Museum. My super-duper keeper from this location ended up on the front of the Nikon Calendar a while back. At one point my hope was to visit this same location at different times of year with different weather conditions and create a group of images. This is the second in the series. The deep blue sky and bright white clouds screamed out for a BW conversion. I think it turned out pretty tasty. Now I just need snow, rain, tornado, and whatever else Kansas weather has to throw our way.

ideas

2009-01-21T22:35:00.003-06:00

It's been a busy couple months - so I've had my fair share of opportunities to come up with some creative ideas. My ratio of good to not-so-good is about 50/50. I think it gets harder as the years go by. Maybe my expectations are higher or perhaps I'm just more cynical. Who knows. The good news is that we live in a world full of inspiration. Technology gives us a front row seat to see and hear and experience gobs of creative stuff - old and new. So where do all of those tasty ideas come from? Do they drop out of thin air? Do they come from caffeine and nicotine and high fructose corn syrup? Long nights and early morning? Is there a creative fairy godmother? Or, do we all just borrow and steal and rip off ideas and find ways to make them our own?

I found this Jim Jarmusch quote on swiss miss. And then I "borrowed it." There you go.

meet pete

2009-01-20T08:54:00.005-06:00

I've been fortunate to meet a couple famous and sorta famous people over the years. One of them is Pete Souza who will soon be the official White House photographer for President-elect Barack Obama. In the fall of 1980 I got to hang out with Pete for a couple hours when he was a staff photographer for the Hutchinson News. I was an aspiring news photographer my first semester at Dodge City Community College, and I wanted to see how the pros did it. Back in those days, the Hutch News always had one of the best group of photographers in the midwest. The editor had a great knack for finding young, very talented photographers. Souza was one of those guys. I called to ask if I could hang out with the photographers for a day - and they said yes.

Unfortunately, I don't remember much about the meeting Pete or my tag-along assignment. But I do remember following Pete's quick rise to photo superstar. After leaving the Hutch News, Souza worked for the Chicago Sun-Times, then became a Washington correspondent for the Chicago Tribune. Then at age 28, he became Chief White House photographer for the late President Ronald Reagan. He has also freelanced for National Geographic and Life Magazine. Pete met and photographed Barack Obama when he was a newly elected U.S. senator from Illinois. And now, Pete is in the White House again.

Too bad I didn't get a quick photo of Pete and me back in 1980. You just never know who will become famous someday.

the most unwanted music

2009-01-17T11:25:00.008-06:00

I got a chance to catch up on some past episodes of This American Life recently. As usual, the new episodes were full of the best stuff on radio/podcast. Episode 88:Numbers was especially fun and entertaining. One of the acts included the "most unliked song in the world." Vitaly Komar, Alex Melamid and David Soldier went on a quest to create the most annoying song ever. Polling data showed what people hated most in music. Undesirable elements included holiday music, bagpipes, pipe organ, a children's chorus, Wal-Mart, cowboys, political jingoism, George Stephanopoulos, Coca Cola, bossanova synths, banjo ferocity, harp glissandos, oompah-ing tubas and more fun. It's over 20-minutes long, and I promise it will make you smile.

And, if you enjoy This American Life as much as I do - please consider making a donation so those good folks can continue offering the podcast for free. Donate here.

good stuff

2008-12-26T13:45:00.003-06:00

If you need to burn up some holiday gifts cards – I have a couple nifty suggestions for you.

• Flight of the Conchords / Season 1 (HBO)
The guys are the funniest thing going on TV and their music is all kinds of tasty. The video below is Bret and Jemaine performing one of my faves, Beautiful Girl on the David Letterman Show.

• Burn After Reading / a Coen Brothers film
Awesome cast. Razor sharp humor. And some Coen Brothers twists that will surprise you.

• Keyboard Skins / photojojo
Cool, rubber keyboard skins with shortcuts for photoshop, aperture, final cut, pro tools, after effects and more. And the photojojo store has all kinds of other cool gear for photographers.

• Ultra-cool t-shirts / threadless.com
If you can't find a cool t-shirt you like on this site - you're just not very cool.

• Plungerhead Wine
I bought 5 bottles as gifts this year. I don't know if it's any good, but how can you resist a wine with a goofball name like that. And it's closed with a Zork.

easy a cake

2008-12-23T09:39:00.009-06:00

Sunday dinner is a family affair at the Stremel house. My son Zak and I try out new recipes on the rest of the family (we all love to eat). I found a new cookbook called The Texas Cowboy Kitchen, and it's full of tasty and hearty Texas favorites. I chose beef short ribs braised in port, maple mashed sweet potatoes, fresh salad, and Grandma Spear's Dr. Pepper cake for dessert. The short ribs were fall-off-the-bone tasty and the sweet potatoes were good, too. The cake was the beginning of an adventure.

I love to cook, and I'll try anything new and fun, but I normally leave the baking to other family members. This Sunday was the day for me to improve my baking skills. How hard can it be, right? I watch a ton of Food Network. The mixing was easy - butter, Dr. Pepper, cocoa, buttermilk, baking soda, vanilla, eggs, flour and sugar. Pour it all in round cake pans, bake for 20 minutes, check the cakes, and you're done. Wrong. What I didn't know (and didn't bother to ask), is that you're supposed to take the cakes out of the pans when they're still warm. Damn, they were stuck badly. I did manage to get the stuck cakes out of the pans - but it wasn't pretty. I thought frosting and a little powered sugar might cover up the disaster. Wrong. It was still a very ugly cake. The good news – it tasted great, you just had to close your eyes when you ate it. Here's a photo comparison of how the cake is supposed to look and how my cake turned out. Mmmmmm! I need some more practice.

Ugly cake = good blog entry, right? Well, there's more. Much more. As I was laughing and shooting a photo of the ugly cake - I was quickly stopped by a scream from my wife Mickey. She was on the floor watering the Christmas tree when the piney monster decided to take a nose dive – bulbs breaking, Santas flying, ornaments rolling, cat scurrying, TV blaring, and wife screaming – you get the picture. If you have never attempted to "re-stand" a fully decorated tree with your wife and two teenage boys - don't even try. Just run out of the house as fast as you can. We did manage to stay relatively calm - in spite of even more tension caused by me knocking over a huge plant that fell down the carpeted stairwell spreading gallons of dirt and plant debris over the stairs and basement floor. Zak looked down the stairs and said "…that's a lot of dirt, dad." Talk about testing family togetherness - we had reached red on the Homeland Security scale. Once we got the tree standing and stable - my oldest son Alec said "I think I'll go back to my apartment now." Damn skippy - I'd leave, too, if I could.

Oh well - life is a long list of stories strung together. Our ugly cake and falling tree disaster are just a couple more tasty ones for our fun family history. I hope all you have some fun and frantic holiday stories to add to your family history, too.

squint into the light

2008-12-20T11:08:00.006-06:00

Who doesn't like holiday lights? When I was a kid I would squint my eyes to make the lights bigger and brighter and more sparkly. Actually, I still do that. I know, I'm the goof-ball walking down Massachusetts Street squinting and smiling. So, when I was shooting some Downtown pics for a client the other night - I squinted into the lights with my 70-200mm lens and shot away. Here's a little montage of my fun.

be like bruce

2008-12-17T13:56:00.008-06:00

My photo buddy Bruce is the king of high ISO. The higher the better, nothing scares him. For the 6A State Football Championship game in late November - I decided to "be like Bruce." It was a very cold, rainy, dark Saturday at Washburn University. I didn't find out I could shoot from the sidelines until minutes before the game. I ran back to my car, grabbed my gear, and headed to the field. Of course, all of the other photographers had rain gear for their cameras. Not Doug. It was just a slow drizzle, and I knew the D300 and D200 were sealed - so I threw caution to the wind. How often does your kid get to play in a State Championship game, right? A couple of hours of drizzle and then steady rain was a true test for the Nikons - but they held up like champs.

The game started at 3:00 PM - but it was already dark. My first shots were wide-open, 1/640 at 800 ISO. I never like to shoot football at less than 1/1000, but I was cheating to keep the ISO a low as possible (not "like Bruce" yet). But, it just kept getting darker. By the start of the second half I was up ISO 1600 (more like Bruce), and finally I had to go for broke at ISO 2500 (now, that's like Bruce). And the images held up pretty well. Thanks Bruce.

While we didn't win the game, the guys left it all on the field. My son Connor had his best games of the year. And the writer from the Lawrence Journal World noticed:

Unsung hero: A tip of the cap goes to Free State junior Connor Stremel, a seldom-used wide receiver who came up with two of the game’s biggest catches on Saturday. Stremel, whose only other memorable catch this season came on a 20-yard touchdown late during a 35-7 loss to Olathe North during the regular season, caught the first pass of the game for a first down on Free State’s opening drive and added an even bigger grab on a second-and-10 during the Firebirds’ first scoring drive. Stremel soared high into the air to rip down a Torneden bullet with two hands before falling flat on his back after another first down.

Here are several high, high ISO images. The one with #20 catching the ball is Connor. It was an incredible catch, but I missed the actual catch because I was behind the yard-marker-guy. I don't imagine Sports Illustrated will be calling anytime soon. See more photos here.

make up stuff

2008-12-16T16:35:00.004-06:00

It's snowing. It's cold. Both good excuses not to do real work. I feel fortunate to be so busy when the economy is swirling down the crapper, but my blog and photography got stuffed under the bed while I worked. I don't have any new photos to post today, so I gave the blog a facelift. I wanted something unique and quirky and doug-like. So I did what I do when I don't know what to do - make up stuff. Just another dougism. Sure, dougography won't make it into Websters anytime soon, but it gives a name to my little piece of the photographic world.

More doug stuff:

• hotdoug's (damn, somebody stole my idea)
• doug (the real funny doug)
• bankrupt doug (who woulda thunk it?)
• doug.org (accronyms suck)
• dougie? (girl, his dougie is fresh)
• dougie ride (huh?)
• the dougie (it's your style, your swag…)

are you ready for some football?

2008-11-17T12:02:00.004-06:00

For me, fall means football. An overload of football. High School football on Friday, KU football on Saturday, and the Chiefs on Sunday. But this year - the Chiefs suck and KU is in an ugly tailspin. So, thank goodness for the Free State Firebirds. After a disappointing 1-2 start - Free State rallied back and have made it to the 6A State Semifinals this Friday. Last Friday FSHS beat Kansas powerhouse Olathe North 10-6 (first time in school history) in a cold, blustery, defensive battle. It's so great to see a group of young men overcome adversity, get better each week, and then get it done against a bigger, faster, more athletic team. And what makes it even better is my son Connor is one of those young men. The semi-final game against Blue Valley should be a doozy. The game is this coming Friday at Blue Valley at 7:00 PM.

For whatever reason, I didn't shoot as many football games this year. But I did get some keepers from the games I shot. Here are a couple shots of Connor from several JV games (he plays Varsity + JV).

found music

2008-11-12T23:22:00.003-06:00

I've never really understood how or why you can fall in love with a song the first time you hear it. Music is magical that way. I dropped by a blog I helped the good folks at Saint Andrew Christian Church get started earlier this year - and Brandon Gilvin had posted a review of the new Old Crow Medicine Show album, Tennessee Pusher. I'd never heard of these guys, and I wouldn't exactly call myself a big bluegrass fan - but this is some tasty stuff. Brandon called them Bluegrass for hipsters. All of it was really good, but a song called Wagon Wheel became an instant favorite. You gotta love lyrics like:

Rock me mama like a wagon wheel. Rock me mama anyway you feel. Hey, mama rock me.
Rock me mama like the wind and rain. Rock me mama like a south bound train. Hey, mama rock me.

I'm not certain what "rock me mama like a wagon wheel" even means - but who really cares, right? Enjoy.

weekly round-up

2008-11-07T14:22:00.009-06:00

What a week. I was going to do a cool blog post after Barack rocked the vote - but I didn't think of anything cool to post. I just know we elected the right guy. I can't wait to see the new first family with their new puppy in the White House Rose Garden. Until then, you can see some terrific photo essays of the Obama campaign shot by Time Magazine's Callie Shell. She followed Obama for nearly two years. You can find the essays here and here.

I found out a while ago that several of my photos made the Winter edition of KANSAS! Magazine. And hey - I made the cover! They did a story on the Old Fashioned Christmas Parade that happens every year in Lawrence. It's always great to have your stuff in print - but it's doubly good when the editors pick one of your favorite photos. The shot of the kids watching the parade is one of my very favorite editorial shots I've ever taken (of course, it appeared in color in the magazine).

I just learned a buddy of mine is going to make his movie this December. Jon O'Neal is finalizing plans to shoot Au Pair, Kansas in December. It's a dramedy set in Lindsborg, Kansas. He's asked me to help with some photography, a poster, and possibly even producing a behind-the-scenes video. I'm hoping to free some time in December to be part of the fun.

And finally, it will be a weekend full of football. My son Connor plays in the first round of the 6A State Playoffs tonight. We're (Free State High School) playing a team that beat us earlier in the year, but I'm feeling good about our chances tonight. And then it will be a very early start to make it to Lincoln, Nebraska tomorrow morning for the KU vs. NU game. It's been a gazillion years since KU won in 'Husker land. Hopefully that streak ends tomorrow.

joe the voter

2008-11-04T12:18:00.005-06:00

Not that I needed an incentive to vote - but why not get a free cup of joe for voting? I took advantage of Starbucks vote-4-joe offer this morning. I also heard you can get a free Krispy Kreme donut and a free Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Cool. But it seems some folks are calling foul. According to the Christian Science Monitor:

Requiring someone to say they voted in order to receive a free coffee - that’s a felony. Here’s the Georgia state law:

“Any person who gives or receives, or offers to give or receive, or participates in the giving or receiving of money or gifts for the purpose of registering as a voter, voting, or voting for a particular candidate in any primary or election shall be guilty of a felony."

Hmmmm. So, Starbucks and Krispy Kreme modified their offers and anyone who asks for free stuff - gets it. It should be an interesting election day.

Go Vote! If you don't know where to cast your ballot, Google has a really simple website to help you find your local polling location. Then go treat yourself to a free coffee and donut.

on the road with gizmo

2008-11-03T13:28:00.010-06:00

October seems like a blur to me - so many projects and so little time to keep up with the blog posts. But November looks much better. I spent a couple days last week on the road with Gizmo Pictures working on a TV project for Kansas Travel & Tourism.

Our first day was spent at the very cool Flying W Ranch in the heart of the Flint Hills. This was our first shoot using the Red One Digital Cinema camera - a very cool new technology that makes amazing footage. However, the Red One didn't like the sub-freezing morning temperatures - so we had an "oh shit" moment right out of the shoot. But, with some quick thinking by our camera guys and a little luck we had a new Red One on set later that morning. We finished the day and headed off to Fort Scott for our second day shoot. We ran into a couple more hiccups on day two - but all-in-all it turned out to be a very good couple days of shooting.

One of the best parts of the shoot was meeting and working with some really great people. They included:
• Gizmo crew – Jeff Carson, Lindsay Howgill, David Kitchner, Ryan Bishop and Austin Snell
• Camera crew – Mark Stock, Shawn Wright and Heather Brown
• Lighting/Grip – Michael Stoecker
• Stylist/Make-up – Patricia Castillo
• Jib – Daryn Cashmark
• JNA Advertising – John Noe, Russ Pederson, Brent Scholz & Angie Williams
• Photography – David Moody + assistant (sorry, I forgot his name)
• KSTT – Richard Smalley & Becky Blake

I put together a quick little slideshow documenting some of the faces and places from the shoot. I put it together in iPhoto. And if you've ever worked with the "Ken Burns" effect - you'll know it has a mind of its own. Oh well, it's still a fun little show. It's a big, fat download - so be patient with download :)

Gizmo Road Slideshow

And finally, a couple of my fave shots from the shoot.

don't vote

2008-10-12T14:53:00.005-05:00

My youngest son Connor showed me this video yesterday. And he thought it was great stuff. How cool is that? It's aimed at young kids to get them to register (which is now passed). I so hope the young crowd stays engaged and excited and actually votes on Nov. 4. They deserve a much bigger voice. Be warned - there is some "colorful language" in the video.

lauren

2008-10-10T09:15:00.002-05:00

It seems like forever since I've actually had a photo assignment. Well, that changed this weekend. I had a terrific photo session with Lauren - a senior at Lawrence Free State High School. She is such a natural and she has a beautiful smile. It was fun to actually take some sports action shots for a senior photo session. Lauren had a great day on the tennis courts yesterday winning her way to the State Tournament. Congrats.

walkerman - day 5 - i win

2008-10-03T11:17:00.003-05:00

5 days. 5 walks to work. I win the bet. It's funny, the soreness didn't arrive until yesterday afternoon - so the walk this morning was slower (painfully slower). And, I screwed up syncing my iPhone correctly - meaning I was sans audio enjoyment. Damn. So, I spent some time thinking about some photography projects I'd like to get started or restarted soon.

One project is "leaf square 2." Last fall I chose one leaf and shot it on 16 different surfaces (mostly cars). It only took a couple hours, and it turned out really well. I think I'll give that project another stab with a different twist. And several years ago I did a "frozen leaves" experiment. It proved much harder to shoot that anticipated. This time I'd like to freeze other objects in a hunk of ice and photograph them. Below are the original versions of both projects.

walkerman - day 3

2008-10-01T16:10:00.003-05:00

Notes to self:

Walking down 6th Street sucks (too loud, too many cars)
Walking home is uphill (ouch)
Download more episodes of This American Life
Take some photos
Walking makes me happy

I found this link via my buddies at Lucky Dog. Very cool. Maybe someday I'll finally make a movie of some sort.

Fifty People, One Question: Restored from Benjamin Reece on Vimeo.

walkerman - day 2

2008-09-30T14:23:00.004-05:00

I've been spouting off for years that I plan to walk to work. Has it happened? Nope. Mostly because it's nearly 5 miles, and I can always find a good excuse to drive instead. That changed on Monday morning. Prompted by a bet from my wife and our friend Traci - I had no other choice. The bet is that I walk to work 5 days in a row. If I lose, they get a night of drinks and dancing. I like drinks as much as the next guy, but dancing just isn't my idea of a great evening. Combine that with the fear of losing to girls, and I finally have the motivation to walk.

After walking for two days now, I wonder why I didn't walk sooner. The fall weather is spectacular, I get some much needed exercise, and I start my day refreshed. Yesterday iPhone music kept me company, and today it was a podcast of This American Life (the single coolest, most interesting media anywhere on the planet). Tomorrow it's the audio book I ordered a year ago and haven't listened to yet. I'm actually looking forward to walking.

I'll have more reports (and maybe photos) as the days go by. Who knows it might turn into some kind of healthy habit.

Here's another iPhone photo montage from our shoot at Colbert Hills last week.

slacker activism

2008-09-24T00:05:00.001-05:00

Another week has gone by, and I haven't done any better with posting something interesting. I have watched some very good TV (did you see Boston Legal last night? wow, I love that show), worked on fixing my crab grass problem(s), watched a lot of football, and most importantly, I moved my slacker political activism closer to something that resembles real political activism.

I've been seeing the very nicely produced wecansolveit.org TV spots for a while now. It's a compelling and common sense message to press our elected officials to help clean up the mess we've created. I checked out the site, joined the cause, sent several emails to the Kansas Senators/Congressman in Washington, and hope to start doing a better job about reducing my personal carbon footprint.

I made a donation to the Barack Obama campaign. I've made campaign donations before, but this is my first to a Presidential campaign. It seems strange that I've been voting for nearly 30 years and this is my first donation of this kind. Better late than never, right? You might have noticed the new Obama widget on my blog. It's a first step in becoming less shy about my political personality.

Love him or hate him, Boone Pickens has some good ideas about energy. The PickensPlan will certainly make Boone a lot more money, but maybe it's the best energy plan on the table. I signed up for that one, too. Check it out, and see what you think.

I used to enjoy Michael Moore much more than I do now. He's become even more of a goof. His tactics are questionable, and his reasoning is usually over simplistic - but the guy never ever stops working for regular folks. You gotta admire his passion. He's offering a free download of his new documentary Michael Moore's Slacker Uprising. I haven't watched it yet - but my son Zak watched it and said it was pretty darned good.

And finally, check out Clergy4Obama. My good friend Holly McKissick came up with the idea a couple weeks ago, and she already has a small army of people joining her cause. Holly has the most contagious love of life and a passion for doing good that seems to come so naturally. I'm looking forward to helping her out any way I can.

Here's to a better world tomorrow than we have today.

slacker

2008-09-15T10:25:00.005-05:00

I've slid back into my no-blog-posting-slacker mode once again. It just seems like there are too many competing responsibilities and activities these past couple of weeks. I've come to accept that finding that perfect balance between work and fun will be a lifelong journey. Here's to arriving at that destination sooner than later.

On Saturday I went to the movies with my wife Mickey and son Zak to see "Burn After Reading." Another hilarious Coen brothers movie. If you haven't seen it - go see it. It's great fun. After the movie we got some dinner than headed to Hastings (for more movies). As we walked toward the store - we looked up to see the brightest rainbow I've ever seen. Then it emerged into a double rainbow. I didn't have my camera gear with me (I guess I'm not the luckiest guy in the world), but I did have my handy iPhone. The iPhone camera isn't all that special - but it did a good job of capturing this terrific moment in weather scenery.

Tagged – I'm it

2008-09-09T13:04:00.004-05:00

My favorite photo-buddy-brothers, Mike and Bruce Snell, tagged me in a recent blog post. As Bruce so aptly describes it, tagging is "the internet version of a chain letter." It's an invitation to share some of the cool and interesting blogs you frequent. Mike was initially tagged by super-duper illustrator and friend Christy Schneider. I didn't know Christy was blogging - but now I do. Tagging works. So, here's my list of fave blog reads:

Bruce Snell – I'm not tagging Bruce just 'cause he tagged me. He always has a permanent link as one of my fave photographers. He's a founding member of the photodudes - and we can always rely on Bruce to make us laugh. Bruce is one of the best people shooters around these parts (and every other kind of photography for that matter). Bruce's blog is always a fun read and full of tasty photography.

Mike Snell – I've know Mike for a long time. He's also a founding member of the photodudes. We worked together in the advertising world - he as an art director and me as a writer. I always wanted to "be like Mike" because his oh so cool designs and clever solutions seemed to come so effortlessly. Then I found out he was a photographer, too. Ditto on how he made great photography look effortless. He's terrific at pretty much everything. Mike alway has fun new ideas and projects going that he's eager to share with all of us. Check out his blog, and you'll see what I mean.

Lucky Dog Audio – My radio production buddies Charles and Scott always seem to find something strange and funny to share on their blog. And they invented the very cool "sleeve face photo technique." (well, maybe not invented - but certainly perfected).

Superficial Snapshots – I found Texas photography Allison Smith a while back on flickr. I love the way she shoots and her blog seems to reflect her attitude and style. Allison is always sharing the love for her photo and art friends - and that's pretty cool.

Chase Jarvis – Chase markets himself and what he does better than any photographer. He's got contagious energy and is very excited about sharing his photography passion with the world. If you love photography - you like what he has to say.

A Photo Editor – The best blogs for me are the ones who do all the web research to find the cool stuff (so I don't have to). Robert Haggart's blog is packed full of all things photographic. He always has something interesting and inspirational.

Swiss Miss – Tina Roth Eisenberg calls herself a "swiss designer gone nyc" and she's a steady poster of very cool design related stuff. Plus, her "recommended" section is loaded with other tasty sites.

another blam anniversary

2008-08-27T22:55:00.009-05:00

Most of the readers of this little blog know my real job is running blam creative - my one-person advertising/design company. This blog post was originally going to talk about giving blamcreative.com a much needed sprucing up. Then it just hit me. I missed the 10-year anniversary of staring the company (early August 1998). That's supposed to be kind of big deal, right? Then again, maybe not.

When I started the company - I thought it would be a great idea to name the company something unique and clever and simple. I succeeded with unique and simple. Clever - not so much. I remember calling my radio producer/director buddy Bill West to tell him about my new name. I don't know if we had a bad connection or if I had a bologna sandwich in my mouth, but Bill said "Why would you name your company Balm?" I laughed. Bill laughed. And that's been the reaction of most clients ever since. The original idea was rooted in the moment when, after much pain and agony, a beautifully simple and elegant idea just pops in your head. Out of nowhere. Blam! In the early years, I'd tell clients where the name came from - they'd nod and act like they understood what I was saying. I'm certain, now, they thought I was crazy. But I stuck with the silly name, and thankfully, I'm still around to tell the story. I'm not alone in the silly name category. UK banks include names like Egg, Smile and Cahoot. How about web faves Yahoo, GoDaddy, Google, Wikipedia, Skype, Bebo, Meebo, Odeo and Zoho? And then there's Apple. Maybe I should have gone with a fruit.

Okay, back to my original post idea. The blam web site looks refreshed again. Some new work and other new stuff will show up in the coming days (maybe). My favorite addition to the site is a quote from my fave funny man - George Carlin. "Always do whatever's next." That's my new company and life mantra. I'm not sure I've ever won over potential clients or attracted new business with my website. That's okay. For me, it's a fun reminder of clients and projects and friends along my 10-year journey. Happy Anniversary to blam.

dems in denver

2008-08-25T23:18:00.004-05:00

I tore myself away from Anthony Bourdain in Egypt to catch some of the Democratic National Convention coverage tonight. I've been watching political conventions since I was a little guy and can remember the 1968 Chicago disaster very well. Anyway, I really enjoyed Michelle Obama's speech tonight. The background video on her life was interesting and well produced - and they kept the smultchy (sp) music to a minimum. If I was the candidate (yes you can), I'd have the Coen brothers produce my life story. Now that would be cool. Back to Michelle - sure her speech was polished - but she was believable and sincere, and I think very likable. And seeing the cute little Obama girls talking to their dad via satellite (Barack was in Kansas City), was just pretty darned cool. After the last couple underwhelming presidential elections - this year is a breath of fresh air. Go Obama!

Hillary gets the podium Tuesday night. For me, Hillary is an acquired taste. I haven't acquired it yet. It will be interesting to see what she has to say. And Governor Sebelius also gets a couple minutes in the limelight. Go Kansas!

I don't intend to make this little blog a political soapbox - but things around the ol' USA (and the world) have made a unfortunate side trip right toward the crapper. Hopefully the next guy we all put in the White House has a really good TomTom or Garmin and can get us going the right direction again.

busker fest + fiddlers

2008-08-25T00:52:00.004-05:00

Downtown Lawrence was hoppin' with fun stuff on Sunday. The first annual Busker Fest featured quirky street performers at several locations. Fellow photodudes Ferry Keizer, Chris Ralston and I worked our way around the big crowds for some good views. Ferry and I also headed a couple blocks south for the Kansas Fiddlin' and Pickin' competition. The weather was terrific and the entertainment was even better.

doug's web distractions

2008-08-21T23:49:00.016-05:00

After a long week and too many evenings of work - tonight, I ventured to the web for pure amusement. I made most of my usual stops to familiar blogs, flickr, and one of my old favorites ted.com. Several of the highlights are listed below. I was thinking that "doug's web distractions" might be a nifty weekly blog post. Then again, maybe not. Enjoy.

Days with my father
I stumbled on this site from one of my flickr contacts, slight cutter. I've seen a lot of photo essays, but I don't think I've ever seen or will ever see one that is better. It's from photographer Phillip Toledano, and it's a beautiful story of humanity, compassion and love. I laughed. I cried.

Johnny Lee: Creating tech marvels out of a $40 Wii remote
I found this creative guy on ted.com. He invents cool gizmos on the cheap.

Anand Agarawala: Bump Top desktop is a beautiful mess
Another ted.com presentation. He's funny and his crazy desktop software rocks.

N.
If you like writer Stephen King (I do), and you like cool 2D animation (I do), you'll love this original video series site (I do).

Chase Jarvis
I have to include at least one photo site. This guy has a super-nifty website, and he can really shoot. I think he really loves seeing and hearing himself on camera - but he's an interesting guy. Check out his blog for some cool video tutorials and posts.

fountain of youth

2008-08-19T20:43:00.013-05:00

So, I sat down at the computer tonight with good intentions to do some real work. I made a short detour to my flickr page - and in two clicks I found something fun to distract me. How does that happen? I love/hate the web. This time it was yearbookyourself.com (clever advertising portal for trendy clothing + technology companies). Upload a BW pic of yourself, and wa-la, you can see what you'd look like in yearbook photos from 1952 to 2000. Throwing all self-respect aside - here's how I look in some of those years. I won't say which hair styles I actually had.

r and r

2008-08-18T22:45:00.005-05:00

I got to enjoy some much needed R&R this weekend. My twin brother Dan and I just happen to have the same birthday - so we celebrated with my parents in our hometown of Ellinwood, KS. It was fun spending time with just the four of us. We played golf with my dad on Ellinwood's unique, little 9-hole course (4-holes actually cross each other - no kidding), told old stories, had birthday dinner, and I taught my mom how to use iTunes for her iPod.

Today my folks and I headed out on a quick road trip to the cool, little Swedish town of Lindsborg, KS. I wanted to see Jim Richardson's photo gallery. He's a photographer for National Geographic and a contributing editor for National Geographic Traveler. Jim was in the gallery today, and he was kind enough to talk photography with me for 15-20 minutes. What a terrific and interesting guy who was eager to share so much. And seeing his photography displayed in the gallery was a real treat, too. Maybe someday I'll get to attend one of his workshops or seminars.

My weekend roadtrip included a lot of photo wandering to some of my favorite spots in Kansas - the Flint Hills and the Smoky Hills. If you've made a trip west on I-70 through Kansas lately - you've seen the new wind farm near Ellsworth, KS. It really is an amazing site. But it proved to be a real challenge to shoot. There are very few "drivable" roads with up close access to the gigantic wind turbines - but I still got a couple keepers. I also stopped by my favorite "lonely tree" spot in the Flint Hills. I've been to that same spot probably 7-8 times, always hoping to capture a good frame, and always failing. I stopped on my way west and struck out. So I stopped again today, and finally got a frame that captured the beauty of the view. I guess the 10th time is the charm. But I'm sure I'll go back many more times hoping for something even better.

hangin' around

2008-08-15T22:10:00.012-05:00

The K4 crew spent a good chunk of Thursday evening hanging for our first show at the Muchnic Gallery in Atchison, Kansas. It actually went faster than I expected, and all of the photos look really terrific in the gallery setting. The group portrait was taken by Mike Snell (the guy holding the camera in the front), then me on the left, Bruce Snell, and Ferry Keizer. The show opening is Friday, August 22. The kind folks at the gallery will be serving adult beverages - so even if you don't buy something, you can get a free drink. The reception is from 5-7 PM. Hope to see you there.

orange evening

2008-08-11T00:02:00.004-05:00

I was out shooting some images for the 2008-09 Lawrence Visitor Guide this evening. When the sky turned orange I just couldn't resist a couple ultra-warm sunset shots. It wasn't quite dusk when I shot the golfer - but I just chose a really warm white balance and shot straight into the sun. Turned out sort of nifty. The second photo is shot from the Eagle Bend Golf Course parking lot looking back at the Clinton Lake dam.

it's (a)live

2008-08-08T00:36:00.003-05:00

The doug stremel photography website is up and running. It's simple and clean and I hope represents me and my unique photographic vision. Of course, it will always be a work in process. Several of the galleries need more editing and others need more good work. That feeling will, I'm sure, never go away. But I am happy with the first draft.

As promised, the bio was the very last thing I did. It needed some quality incubation time. It's written in first person. Thanks to my buddy Bruce for the inspiration. I truly am a lucky guy.

The site includes a semi-dorky bit of music in this first draft (thanks Gizmo Jeff for the disc full of legal music). I'm not sure the music element will be a part of the final product. Then again a tasty little piece of music is always a good compliment to good pictures. Maybe I'll get my fave audio guys at Lucky Dog to help me out with that. 'Cause everything they do is extra tasty.

Take a look. And let me know what you think.

K4 gallery show

2008-08-06T23:27:00.011-05:00

When I first got back into photography, I always thought it would be cool to be part of a photo exhibition or show. Well, it's happening. Fellow Photodudes Ferry Keizer, Bruce Snell, Michael Snell and myself will have a collective show at the Muchnic Gallery in Atchison, KS. We call our group "K4 – Four Kansans view of the world." Ferry designed the nifty new logo and postcards.The show will feature 40+ photographs of our work.

Choosing photos and framing options was much harder than I thought it would be. Choose photos I really like? Or photos that might actually sell? Luckily, some of my final choices fell into both categories. Regardless of the financial success/failure of the show - it will be another terrific experience. Plans are to continue showing in Lawrence and Topeka. For our next show(s) we hope to include other Photodude friends with their unique view of the world, too.

We hope to see you there for the opening on August 22. (insert shameless promotion here) And if you make the trip, you might as well buy something, right? Here's a preview of photos I will be showing.

Get your own - Open publication

fairly good time

2008-07-31T23:14:00.005-05:00

County fairs are as Americana as you can get - demolition derby, a menagerie of livestock, funnel cakes, lemonaide and crappy carny rides. The thing I enjoy most is the amazing cross-section of people you see at the fair. Translation: there are some strange ducks hanging out at the fair. As a photographer I want to document this strangeness. When I first started shooting, I relied on the anonymity of a long lens to capture the weirdness of the world. Translation: I was a chicken shit. My photos lacked personality and a human touch. So, over time I've become a little more bold and now often introduce myself, gain some trust, and hopefully shoot something real.

So, tonight I ventured out with one camera and a 20mm lens. It was 90-degrees with 100% humidity. It was a sauna with thousands of people. Can you say sweaty strangeness? After shooting a load of crappy photos, I met Willie, a carny game guy. Yes, he was strange. And sweaty. Our conversation only lasted a couple minutes, but Willie was eager to tell me about his life. Way too much about his quirky life. Go figure. People like to talk about themselves. He posed for a couple portraits, I thanked him, and I was on my way. Mission accomplished.

I'll go back again next year for another slice of Americana. And hopefully Willie will back for a little more strangeness.

first person

2008-07-24T22:07:00.009-05:00

So, I'm finally working on a real photography website. After reviewing many, many options - I decided to go with clickbooq.com. It's a simple, flexible, feature-rich interface that will work with what I'd like to do. Done deal.

Now the hard part - choosing the photos, figuring out how to categorize photos, and writing a bio. As a writer, you'd think writing a bio would be easy for me. Not so much. Maybe that's why so many photographer bios are written in third person - they have someone else write it for them. For me, a third person bio written about me, by me - just isn't me. But, before I race to a speedy decision, I did what I always do when I'm confused - go to the web.

I have a gazillion cool photographer websites bookmarked - so checking out bios was quick work. Most of them are written in third person and take a pretty conservative, formal approach. This excerpt from a third person bio reads like, how can I say . . . self-indulgently crappy:

"(photographer name) creates compelling, vibrant, and evocative images. Innately curious and optimistic, he finds grace, warmth, and humor in the world around him. His photographs create the bridge between subject and viewer. Blah, blah, blah, blah and blah."

Actually, that unnamed photographer is very talented. Maybe he should fire his PR person.

One of my faves is from a talented guy named Felix Rust. I first met Felix in a lensbabies.com forum. At the time he was an advanced amateur, but now he has a booming little photography business. His first person bio seems to capture him:

"When I was five I once cut my own hair and the hair of my three year old brother. Jeez, what is the big deal? ... I think it would be pretty cool if there was a ventriloquist who had a dummy that was, like, five times his size. He would sit in the lap of the dummy and pretend HE was the dummy. He would somehow control the dummy from his lap but would make like the dummy was controlling him. I've got other ideas, too."

Felix is a clever and funny guy.

A super-fave pro photographer of mine is Erik Almas. In his first-person bio he wrote: "I shoot pictures and I'm too happy doing it, trying to make the ones today better than yesterday." Now that's tasty stuff. The grammar is a little challenged (he grew up in Norway), but it says a lot about his passion without using the word passion (or compelling or vibrant or evocative).

There are many more photographer sites with no bios - just contact info. Those guys probably couldn't bear to write something glowing about themselves or couldn't afford a PR person after spending a gob on a fancy Flash site.

I'll let you know when the site is up and going - hopefully soon. I'm making steady progress, but I'm saving the bio for the end. Maybe I'll just say "I love to take pictures, and sometimes they turn out pretty darned good."

bird not on a wire redux

2008-07-23T12:37:00.003-05:00

I was out location scouting this morning, and I noticed a bird on a highwire with the moon in the background. You gotta shoot it, right? Well, I did and then he flew off. I got one frame. It's another happy mistake like my previous bird not on a wire. Luck replaces skill once again.

the EyeDoctors

2008-07-09T22:32:00.008-05:00

Last Saturday was a full day of shooting for a new client – The EyeDoctors. They are a group of optometrists with offices around NE Kansas. They also run Peoples Optical.

My favorite office neighbor - Marilyn Horsch, a very talented painter and attorney - told her husband Brian Horsch, President/CEO of The EyeDoctors, about my photography. We had a meeting, and I got the photo gig. And their daughter Maddie was one of the models (along with two of her friends). They were amazing models and so much fun to work with. We shot in my office studio, in downtown Lawrence and several other spots. My fave stylist Patricia Castillo made the girls look fabulous all day long. I'm still wading through and processing photos - but here's a sneak peak at what we did during the day.

sadie + michael

2008-07-07T22:55:00.019-05:00

Whew! I made it through my first wedding. Sadie and Michael were such a pleasure to work with. They are fun and laid back and both of them made the entire day fantastic. Sadie found me in a round about way - I shot photos of her little brother Sam's football games (who plays on the same team as my son Connor). Even though I had never shot a wedding - Sadie and Michael gave me the gig. Their first day as a married couple. My first day as a wedding photographer. Turned out to be a wonderful match.

One funny story that turned out well. Sadie warned me that the service was going to be relatively short. I was thinking 10-15 minutes. The ceremony was outside at Stony Point Hall - a beautiful new event facility south of Lawrence. I got all of the shots from the back that I needed, so I worked my way toward the front. I got a couple nice shots, then I heard "you may now kiss the bride." Oh no! Already! I had to get back to the back to get shots of Sadie and Michael walking down the isle. I walked briskly at first, then moved into a full jog to get to the back. I probably looked pretty silly, but made it just in time. Next time I'll get a clearer picture of what "relatively short" really means.

After shooting all day, I now have even more respect for wedding photographers. It's a true photographic challenge. Thanks to my buddy and one of the best wedding photographers around - Bruce Snell - for all of his help with my questions and concerns. He gave me many invaluable tips and helpful advice. Thanks again Bruce.

Thanks again Sadie and Michael for letting me be a part of your big day.

kansas cowboys

2008-06-25T21:58:00.010-05:00

I was on the road last week for four days shooting a project for Kansas Farm Bureau. We made a big swath across a good part of the state for a TV project that features Kansas cattlemen. The photos I shot will be used for several TV commercials. We met some really terrific Kansas folks, had amazing weather luck, and got to see some of my favorite parts of the state. We made 7 stops, and I ended up with 4500+ shots. Ouch! I'm almost finished narrowing each shoot down to around 60 shots. We're not sure whether the final photos will be color or BW.

Here are some my early faves.

poi dog pondering

2008-06-14T01:01:00.017-05:00

Lawrence has always been a great town for live music - but live outdoor concerts downtown are a relatively new thing. My friends over at Lawrence CVB were one of the main sponsors of Lawrence Live – a free downtown concert this evening. I grabbed the cameras, had some dinner with the family, and headed over to the concert. Poi Dog Pondering - was the feature band. Wow, what a great sound.

Their website describes them as – "The little big band with the strong back and supple / stubborn heart, has been following it's intuition for 20 years now. From bohemian street buskers to impossible to market major label sacrificial lambs... Poi Dog Pondering have ripened into staunchly independent musical voyagers."

I got a Nikon D300 recently - so this was a perfect opportunity to test out shooting wide-open at ISO 1600. Sure, the photos had some noise - but a lot less than my noisy D200. The band has a woman fiddle player - and for whatever reason I can't resist that. I probably shot 200 shots of her. The stage lights were mostly red/purple - so I chose to tone the images with a toned, retro-grain look. I'm certainly no great concert photographer, but I'm really happy with what I got. And check out Poi Dog Pondering's website for some good tunes.

i want a boda bag

2008-06-13T13:25:00.002-05:00

Don't know if I can resist this little beauty. Get more info at Boda Lens Bag.

crazy weather

2008-06-12T22:59:00.003-05:00

We've had some crazy weather this spring. In addition to endless rain and wind - there has been a lot of severe thunderstorms and tornados around NE Kansas. I actually enjoy bad weather - as long as people don't get hurt. We had another bunch of storms come through this evening. After the bad stuff moved through I grabbed a couple pics in my neighborhood. I stood ankle deep in water for a good long time waiting for a lighting strike by the steeple. It was worth the wait. Too bad I had to crank up the ISO to get a decent exposure. Looking forward to some sunshine soon.

NHRA Nationals

2008-06-10T00:31:00.004-05:00

Recently I got the chance to shoot something new - the NHRA Nationals Drag Races at Heartland Park Topeka. I'm helping MB Piland Advertising with a new TV/Radio campaign for the track - so when the opportunity to shoot drag racing came up I volunteered. I had full media access, so I got to shoot from the line. When that first dragster raced by it felt like it would knock me to the ground. Damn! It's loud and fast and fun. I've learned that it's good idea to spend some time watching the shooters who actually know what they're doing - where they stand, what they shoot, lenses they use, etc. My Adidas golf hat probably gave me away as a "novice." But I got the hang of it quickly and got some good stuff. I'm looking forward to going back again soon.

The number of requests for shooting assignments has steadily increased this year. And, I've had several opportunities to shoot events and situations that are totally new to me. That's exciting and a little scary at the same time. I haven't bombed one yet - and hopefully that never happens. I have my first wedding this coming weekend. I'll let you which I enjoy more.

cool news

2008-05-30T10:11:00.008-05:00

Seems the folks at Nikon really like one of my photos. I got an email from a very nice woman in the Nikon USA communications department the other day. Nikon USA wants to display my Home Alone photo in their Corporate Headquarters in Melville, NY. Cool, huh? They offered a relatively generous usage fee, too. Of course, I agreed. This is the same photo that made the cover of the 2008 Nikon Photo Contest International Calendar. Thanks Nikon. You make really great cameras/lenses - and you have great taste in photography (hehehe).

My photo buddy Mike Snell got some really great news this week, too. Check it out here.

no parking

2008-05-21T11:48:00.003-05:00

I started working in Downtown Lawrence nine years ago. Too bad I didn't keep track of the number of yellow parking tickets put under my windshield wiper. It's a big number. It's been over a month since I got a ticket. Life is good.

home alone 2

2008-05-13T11:31:00.009-05:00

Seems like I'm running out of new places to go shoot photos these days. I need a roadrtip or maybe just more time to wander. Whatever the case, I was in western Topeka yesterday and decided to drop by a spot where I shot a fave photo called Home Alone . It's on the grounds of the Kansas History Museum. I shot several photos like the original - but they just weren't working. But, the little outhouse that is just south of the schoolhouse made for a simple composition - the kind I like. I hope to make to this spot during a summer storm. Big black storm clouds over the school or outhouse would make for a dandy photo.

friday wanderings

2008-05-10T01:14:00.007-05:00

It was a long week - so I wandered out for an evening shoot. Terrific clouds and pleasant temps made for some good photo relaxation.

tulips for Tami

2008-05-01T22:13:00.003-05:00

It's May Day. You don't hear much about that anymore. When I was a kid, my little sister Tami loved to hang May baskets on the neighbor's doors. The older brothers had to help (mom made us). As I remember, we always used lilacs. But now it seems like the lilacs are never in bloom on May 1. Go figure.

My sister died in her mid 30s. That makes me sad. But it's so easy to remember how much joy she got from the little things in life. That's pretty cool. Here's some tulips for Tami. I hope all of you had a terrific May Day.

spring sunday

2008-04-27T22:18:00.003-05:00

I got a chance to wander out for a shoot this evening. I really wanted to make some photos of the amazing display from our Red Bud trees. What I shot was less than amazing. I did get several interesting flora images (are dandelions flora?). Looking forward to wandering out again this week and give the Red Buds another shot.

oh crap!

2008-04-25T10:42:00.009-05:00

I had a little scare with an external hard drive failure yesterday. Check that, it was a big freakin' scare. My LaCie 160GB drive wouldn't power up. Oh crap! I made a call to my buddy Jeff at Gizmo and called the LaCie folks. They both thought it was a power issue. The LaCie guy told me to take out the drive and try it in a different enclosure.

Hey, that worked. I got the most important files off the drive. Then the drive disappeared from my desktop. Oh crap X2! So, I borrowed Data Rescue from another buddy Trent. It took a good part of the day - but I got all of the files off the damaged drive. Cool.

I'm embarrassed to say a good number of these files only existed on that drive. I know, I'm a dumb ass. A small number of these files were important photographs. I'm a double dumb ass. Now every file I have has a redundant back-up, and I have two more external hard drives arriving soon.

The moral of this bad-turned-good-story: don't be a back-up dumb ass.

BTW - have a terrific Arbor Day!

unostentatious

2008-04-23T10:32:00.004-05:00

I stumbled on to issuu.com the other day. What an amazingly cool web technology. You can publish anything. I've always loved the idea of designing magazines or books - but never really had the opportunity to do so. Now I have no excuses not to.

With that, I dove right in with a little photo publication. It was fun, but photo editing your own work is way harder that it should be. I'm mildy happy with how unostentatious turned out (so far). I'm anxious to go back to it in a week or two and make some revisions and additions. I'd love to hear what you think.

Next best thing to the Big Lebowski

2008-04-21T23:02:00.005-05:00

The web never ceases to amaze me. I stumbled onto JeffBridges.com today. He's a great actor, and he seems like a friendly enough guy - but who woulda thunk his website would be this cool. It's a marvel of low-tech navigation that is rich and full and wonderfully entertaining. Spend some time with Jeff - you won't regret it.

Sample of fun stuff from JeffBridges.com.

Discovery Channel: I Love the World

2008-04-21T11:27:00.000-05:00

Sometimes TV commercials are better than TV.

Whew!

2008-04-17T22:46:00.004-05:00

I looked at my blog today and realized it's been nearly three weeks since my last post. Damn it - I hate when the world passes me by like that. The last couple weeks have been a blur of too much work and too little fun. But, work is slowing down, the weather is getting warmer, and nature is alive again. Life is good.

The camera comes out of the bag tomorrow morning, and I hope to shoot through the weekend. Until then - one of my fave pics of my cat Tyler will have to do.

toy wars are back!

2008-03-28T11:30:00.009-05:00

I've had several fans wondering where this action-packed-blog-feature went. My apologies. We had to iron out some issues with the promoter and sponsors. Seems several of the sponsors weren't happy with the escalating violence. I told them to piss-off. This is Toy Wars, not Sesame Street.

Here are a couple comments from the fans.

Dan said: I’m guessing that my prediction was correct again and that you just didn’t want to publicly admit it, but maybe there’s another explanation. Who knows but you, the question is whether you’ll ever tell!!

Mike left an interesting comment with regards to my Seeing Pink post: "These are all fine and dandy but are they going to fight? What happened to my lunch-hour toy battles?!? You can't just leave us hangin'. I think either cowboy OR kong could take pinky the crayon..."

Okay, here's the update. In our last episode Robo broke the rules and used a pencil as a deadly weapon. As you can see - it wasn't pretty. Hopper lost a lot of blood and croaked before the paramedics could stop the bleeding. The bug team better "strap-it-on" before they step in the ring again.

Today's Toy War

Pinky Crayon is a lover - not a fighter - and refused to get in the ring. Pink Brushy has an abrasive personality, and he made some sort of "Brokeback Mountain" comment to Cowboy. Ouch! That's a pretty bold move coming from a PINK brush. Last I checked, Cowboy had Pink Brushy in a bad spot on top of the radiator, and they're both talkin' a lot of smack. We'll let you know how things turn out..

band-aid chucks

2008-03-25T22:56:00.004-05:00

I've been a Chuck Taylor fan forever. It might be the coolest shoe on the planet. I discovered this All Star Band Aid pair via Swissmiss who found it via Bemlegaus. I don't understand Portuguese - so I did a quick babelfish translation. I was still confused. But hey, the Chucks are super cool.

seeing pink

2008-03-24T23:21:00.002-05:00

Having some pink fun this afternoon (part of a project). More pink to come.

sucker hole

2008-03-22T09:12:00.003-05:00

I made a quick trip to Emporia and the Flint Hills several weeks ago to see my niece play in the State basketball tourney. It was a crappy day - but the sun poked through the clouds for a couple shots. I didn't notice the "hole" in the clouds until I looked at the image when I got back. Looking forward to Spring in the Flint Hills.

quick smells like french toast

2008-03-18T22:56:00.004-05:00

I love this Nike spot. It's nearly perfect. I wish my better was better than their better.

design + function

2008-03-17T08:55:00.002-05:00

My future retirement home.

the office

2008-03-11T14:45:00.007-05:00

My office was the location for our most recent Photodude get together. Bruce Snell, Michael Snell, Chris Ralston, Jeff Carson and myself spent the better part of the day shooting models. As usual it was great fun to watch, shoot and learn as each of us took on the challenge with different styles. I spent most of the day shooting different set-ups against my newly painted white corner. I love the stark simplicity of a white wall and a model. I processed each duo trying to compliment the model's look and personality. I'll post more soon.

robo v. hopper

2008-03-10T16:14:00.004-05:00

We took a short break from Toy Wars last week because I was preparing for a Saturday Photodudes shoot (more on that tomorrow). The Wars got nasty over lunch today. Robo Toy and Jumpy Grasshopper were whackin' on each other before the bell rang. Weapons aren't allowed, but trash-talkin'-bad-ass Robo Toy grabbed a killer pencil and made of mess of Hopper. It got ugly. The match is under review, so we'll have results soon.

Slinky v. PC Guys Results: Two of the PC Guys bit it - but the other two hung around for a come-from-behind win. Slinky got cute and tried a flying-reverse-scissor-kick. It was a beauty, but the move resulted in a painful slinky groin injury followed by a sheepish call for "uncle." Who woulda thunk it? Bruce called the winner. Dan was premature with his Clockmonster leap prediction.

slinky v. paper clip guys

2008-03-05T13:08:00.003-06:00

Fung Shui Kitty was a no-show (or should I say pussy), so PaperClip Guys tag-teamed for a death match with Slinky. They're still goin' at now, but it's not looking good for the PC-guys. Slinky is just too flexible. Stay tuned.

Yesterday's Results: Kong was kickin' Cowboy's skinny ass. Then Cowboy spat right in Kong's eye (cheater). The hairy guy suffered some equilibrium issues, fell off the window ledge, and splatted on the floor. Game over for Kong.

cowboy v. kong

2008-03-04T13:26:00.004-06:00

Cowboy and Kong had it out over lunch today. Fung Shui Kitty and Slinky do battle tomorrow. Stay tuned.

spring?

2008-02-28T08:41:00.003-06:00

I've heard the birds chirping the last two mornings. Oh yea! I'm so ready for spring.

tuba shoot

2008-02-26T12:40:00.005-06:00

A while back I got to shoot photos for a CD insert project my buddy and office mate Trent Flory was working on. I've done several photoshoots for Trent - but this was the first one with a tuba player. I have a funky, old elevator in my building, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to finally use it for a shoot. And they picked it for the cover shot. Cool. One of Trent's talented designers, Jason Boggs, helped out with the CD art design.

Scott Watson and Ellen Bottorff were terrific models, and yes, they're even better musicians. Can't wait for the next CD project. You can find out more about the Stepping Stones CD and much more from Pat Stuckemeyer here.

blog ponderings?

2008-02-24T09:31:00.012-06:00

Sometimes I ask myself why I blog and post to flickr and enter photo contests. Sure, I love the magic of photography - the ability to capture a moment in time and hold on to it. Photography feeds my creative side. It rocks. Anyway, I digress.

So does the online world feed my creative side or does it feed my ego? I think both. Yes, there is a good deal of learning and growth to be had from online activities. The sharing of ideas, techniques and criticisms can fuel creative growth. But I think the bigger part of online communities is about ego - and the fueling of ego. I'm not saying that's a good thing or a bad thing - it just is.

For example, when I first got into the flickr community, I was fascinated with getting comments and landing on the interestingness page. It felt good. There are many clever people in flckr-world who have figured out ways to get noticed – and noticed a lot (regardless of ability or skill). Over time I realized that the comments and attention didn't make me any happier (really). And they certainly didn't make me a better photographer. I'm still an active flickrite. It's a great place to see fun and funky photography and be inspired. If I'm lucky, my work will inspire others too (hey, that's my ego talking again).

Blogging is the same animal. All of us bloggers want to be noticed at some level, don't we? Why else would we post our thoughts and opinions for the whole world to see? For me, I hope someday I will better understand why I do what I do (no matter what it is). For some bloggers the motive is financial. Some desperately need attention. Some want to get strong reactions (positive and negative). And others just need an outlet for that voice in their head that just won't shut up. So they blog.

I haven't yet got my head around why I blog. It's a combination of many things. It changes almost daily. Sometimes it feels like a burden. More times it's great fun. Some days I learn something about myself. And sometimes, it's all just a load of meaningless crap.

So, is that a good thing or a bad thing? It just is.

i am simpleminded

2008-02-19T17:22:00.005-06:00

I spent a couple minutes looking through the mono website I mentioned in a previous post. In their About section they had a headline that said the future belongs to the simpleminded. They go on to explain (simply) that they believe simpler is better. I've always bought into that idea wholeheartedly. I love creative executions that are simple and clean and clever and . . . perfect. That's the way a approach photography. The more I can take away from a scene, the better. Maybe I'm just simpleminded.

I had to go back through the archives for a photo today and ran across these three simple photos. Nothing fancy. No spectacular light. Just a simple wall. That makes me photo happy.

weird + wild web

2008-02-18T22:34:00.002-06:00

By accident I wandered to Netdiver.com - a digital culture magazine + new media design portal - and found the Netdiver Best of the Year 2007. Wow. They featured some mind-boggling best of the best on the web. In their words – "these folks whatever their disciplines create memorable and dazzling projects, taking us to uncharted territories where imagination, skill, talent abide - inciting us to keep pushing forward." You can easily get lost for an hour or more.

I didn't make through the list of 100 - but one of my faves was Monoface Naughty New Year Wishes. It's weird and fun and amazing. Make sure you check out the Mono agency site, too. These guys are really good.

photo music

2008-02-12T22:30:00.016-06:00

My buds at Lucky Dog Audio Post showed once again their crazy creative side in a recent blog post. The post is titled Sleeve Faces. They took old album covers which featured faces of the singers, and photographed them in front of friends. It's crazy cool. Blog guru Charles Wyrick admitted they borrowed the idea from someone else - but the Lucky Dog versions were still rockin'. Check out their Sleeve Face art here.

While we're on the subject of music and sleeve art - you should check out the new Jack Johnson album - Sleep Through Static. Electric grooves replace his usual acoustic mellowness and his songwriting shows a more mature sensibility. Good stuff. And as an added bonus - the CD sleeve is full of some cool, BW, grainy, tri-x 400 looking photos. I don't pick my music by the sleeve art (like I do with wine labels) - but it's always great to have a double winner with music + art.

Add to the list of my fave music + sleeve art – JJ Grey & Mofro's album Country Ghetto. I found these guys on NPR's top music of 2007. This dark and melancholy swamp rock gets selected in my iTunes playlist almost daily. And simple and very cool throw-back, letterpress album art matches their tasty Southern sound.

I couldn't leave off one of my favorite album covers in recent memory. It's from Wilco and their Sky Blue Sky album. This album was also on many top lists for 2007. I never get tired of listening to these guys. The cover photo by Manuel Presti is titled Sky Chase. The photograph helped Presti win the 2005 BBC Wildlife Photographer of Year Competition.

fresh

2008-02-11T17:05:00.000-06:00

I got an email the other day from JPG Magazine announcing a new theme for an upcoming issue. If you're not familiar with the online site or the printed magazine - you should check it out. They highlight some interesting and cool work. Anyway, I submitted several images for a previous issue (haven't heard back if I made the cut yet), and thought I would keep trying.

The newest theme is titled FRESH. Here's the description for submissions: Fresh from the farm. Fresh as a daisy. Getting fresh. Fresh faced, fresh air, fresh start, fresh prince. So fresh and so clean, clean. Whatever it means to you, give us a fresh perspective on fresh. We'll follow your lead.

I found several images I thought might capture that theme, but I'm having a hard time picking. The photos are from the 2006 Wakarusa Fest here in Lawrence. I'm experiment with several new Lightroom presets I got from Matt Kloskowski at Lightroom Killer Tips. I'm interested in what all of you think might have some impact with the editors. Please drop me a quick note with your thoughts. Thanks.

what the hell am i doing?

2008-02-08T11:11:00.000-06:00

I was down with the flu last week - so I needed something other than sleep to pass the time. I decided to sign up for a one month online membership at Kelby Training. If you haven't been there in a while - they have a large offering of different photo-related and program-specific classes. And they have plans to continue adding many new courses.

Anyway, while watching Dan Margulis' seminar on LAB Color Frontier - my head started spinning. It was a double whammy of flu + color theory combined. Dan knows his stuff - but it's a lot to digest. It reminded me of when I got back into photography in 2005. I could compose a nice photo with my Nikon D70 - but I remember being clueless about the post-processing world. I didn't know anything about adjustment layers, color profiles, actions, presets, sharpening- and absolutely nothing about LAB color. But I muddled my way through trying to improve the not-so-terrific-looking images coming out of the D70. Jump forward three years. Now I not only know about all the aforementioned processing mysteries - I actually use all of them. But I still continue to be confused and feel like a post-processing dummy almost daily. Maybe that's the nature of everything, I don't know.

The real question is have my images improved over the last three years? I would say definitively - yes and no. Before I supposedly "knew what I was doing," I shot more images, muddled more, and failed much, much more. But I still made some exceptional photos. Now I have a better idea of what will work, what won't require hours of PS to "fix," and what truly makes a good photograph. Still it's always a challenge (and joy) every time I pick up my camera. And, I will always believe that sometimes it's just dumb luck that makes great photographs.

Here are several photos from my "what the hell am I doing?" era. Not very much Photoshop magic in any of them, but they still have a certain amount of charm for me. The "icy window" at the top of this post is my fave. An ice storm had blanketed my Jeep one afternoon. After starting the Jeep, I realized I didn't have a scraper. So, I had to wait patiently while the defroster melted away the ice. And, of course, shoot some icy photos.

caucus curiosities

2008-02-07T13:27:00.000-06:00

I had never attended a presidential caucus - so I didn't know what to expect. I think a majority of the 4,000+ Lawrence caucus goers were in the same boat. So many people showed up - organizers had to make last-minute changes to accommodate over-flow crowds. It was cold and snowy outside, but most people were patient and excited to participate in the process.

Since the vast majority of caucus goers supported Obama - there wasn't much drama. It was interesting to hear supporters of John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich speak in favor of candidates no longer in the race. My one big disappointment was with the woman who spoke on behalf of Obama. She was loud and off-subject - and frankly very annoying. The complete opposite of Obama. Go figure. I don't know who decided she should speak.

The other thing that surprised me was how few people I actually knew. I've lived in Lawrence since 1990, and I know a lot of people. But I only recognized around 10-15 people at a caucus that had nearly 1,000 people. Huh? I guess all my Democrat friends live on the other side of town.

My twin brother Dan lives in Dodge City, KS and he attended the caucus there. He called me after his caucus and said he'd been elected an Obama delegate. That's so cool. I'm happy for him, but completely jealous of the opportunity. Since Lawrence is a Blue Island in a sea of Red - my chances to be a delegate from here were slim to none. Maybe someday.

I took my little Panasonic LX1 along to get some photos - but Abe & Jakes is black hole of a location. I cranked up the ISO - but still didn't get any images worth posting. Since I didn't get any caucus images, I thought I'd post one of my faves from Super Tuesday. It was taken as Barack prepared for his speech on Tuesday evening. I love to hear him talk. See more Super-Duper Tuesday photos here.

yes we can

2008-02-05T16:53:00.000-06:00

I'm 46 years old, and tonight will be my first-ever presidential caucus. Early on in the primary season, I admit I was torn about which candidate to support. But when I heard Obama's speech after the New Hampshire primary - it was all so clear. Hillary won the primary, but Obama delivered the most inspiring and hopeful speech I've heard. From what I've read, it affected Black Eyed Peas' frontman - will.i.am - the very same way. He teamed up with director/filmmaker Jesse Dylan (son of bob) and a long list of celebrities and made "yes we can."

It's an amazing time to be an American. Go caucus. Go vote. Go change the world. Yes we can.

flint hills

2008-01-27T23:55:00.000-06:00

After my wind farm post I got a comment from William Smith. He's part of the Flint Hills Tourism Coalition, and they're promoting visits to the Kansas Flint Hills. Bill was hoping that I would add a link to my blog. Of course, I agreed. I love the Flint Hills. I've provided several other Flint Hills related links below.

Bill's note reminded me I had a bunch of Flint Hills photos that have never been posted anywhere. These are from a trip I made in November 2006. Can't wait to wander back some time soon.

> Kansas Flint Hills
> Bill's Flint Hill's of Kansas Blog
> National Geographic Article (Kansan Jim Richardson shot the photos)

prairie air

2008-01-25T11:55:00.000-06:00

I posted several wind farm images on flickr yesterday, and got an interesting comment from a Kansan who now lives in Texas. Sharlie Staab said:

"I don't know what to think of all the wind farms going up in Kansas. I think it ruins the landscape."

Frankly, I'm a little torn. I'd much rather see clean, green, design-pleasing wind turbines than nasty, poison-spitting, coal-fired power plants. Thank goodness Rod Bremby, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, recently put the brakes on a new coal-fired plant in Southwest Kansas. Rod has been a friend of mine for years, and he's always championed common sense and doing the "right" thing even if it was a difficult challenge. Hopefully his decision will withstand a group of wacko Kansas Legislators and any court challenges.

Back to Sharlie's comment. No, I don't think wind farms "ruin" our wide-open landscapes. In some ways, I think the elegant, slow-spinning giants compliment the landscape. Certainly, we could reach a point where we have too many wind farms. If all Kansans (and Kansans at heart) take an active role in our energy policies and protecting our environment - I believe we'll find a common sense balance.

I made these photos at a wind farm near Beaumont, KS in the Fall of 2007. A new wind farm is going up in the Smoky Hills near Ellsworth, KS. In my opinion the Smoky Hills are every bit as stunning as the Flint Hills. The new turbines dot the skyline as you travel down I-70. I look forward to a photo adventure there in the Spring.

a vision of students today

2008-01-24T14:12:00.000-06:00

I ran across another very interesting video from Michael Wesch - an Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University. I'm fascinated with the subject matter of his work - so I decided to find out more. Mr. Wesch has produced/directed three videos as part of his "Digital Ethnography Working Group." Wesch's description on YouTube says "My videos explore mediated culture, seeking to merge the ideas of Media Ecology and Cultural Anthropology." Huh? I'm sort of embarrassed to admit that I had to use the tools of our mediated culture to better understand his description. If you're confused too - I linked the words for you.

Anyway, Wesch's videos are much clearer than his academic description. All three are well worth seeing and discussing. I've watched "The Machine is Us/ing Us" more than five times, and I'm still fascinated by his thought-provoking, sometimes mind-boggling presentation. "The Machine . . ." has won many awards, and Wesch's students are producing some really good stuff, too.

If you're interested in seeing them in higher-than-YouTube-quality, you can download Quicktime or WMV files here. It's worth a couple minutes of download time. The links are just below the descriptions.

Videos on YouTube
Web 2.0 – The Machine is Us/ing Us
Information R/evolution
A Vision of Students Today

Digital Ethnography Blog

xyloshop

2008-01-23T11:40:00.000-06:00

I got the opportunity to do a photo shoot for my buddy John Hayden last week. He's one of the most talented and witty art directors I've ever worked with. John now works for a bank in Lincoln, NE - heading up their in-house design department. He's a 'Husker by birth - but he earned his Jayhawk stripes living in Lawrence for 5-6 years. He called and said he needed a shot of a xylophone for an arts ad he was working on. Of course, I said yes.

We've worked together so long - we don't need much explanation or tight shoot layouts. John sent an simple layout, we discussed it quickly - and we were off. Finding the xylophone proved harder than expected. But after a some pleading and bartering - I found a xylophone that didn't require a van to transport to my office/studio. Too bad I can't play because it was a really cool xylo.

I decided to go with natural light and reflectors. I wish I would have taken a shot of my set-up because it would have been amusing to see me using a rolling shelf, window sill and radiator to prop my tripod and stand on as I shot down on the xylophone (and hold the reflector). I managed to get some very different looks with minimal work (and not fall off my shooting perch).

I uploaded the selects for John, he did some nifty photoshop magic, and the ad was completed in several hours (start to finish). I look forward to many more photo shoots with John.

sunny florida

2008-01-21T17:03:00.000-06:00

I made a quick trip to Miami last week. My twin brother Dan had a board meeting there, and he invited me and my dad down to see Miami. While Dan was in meetings - we rented a car and explored everything in and around the city. Gotta say - I'm not much of a Miami fan. Sure, the beaches are nice - but the city itself is an architectural disaster. They have a gazillion condos and they're building a gazillion more - and they all look like crap. Just my opinion, but I don't think that style will stand the test of time.

We made a trip up the coast to see more beaches and other cities on Friday. They should rename Hollywood Beach - Geriatric Beach. You've never seen so many fat Canadian guys with their shirts off. And I mean really fat. Let's just say there were a lot of folks there that should not have gone in public with a bathing suit on. Ouch!

I think I left my photo-making skills back home too - I didn't find many keepers. Oh well, it was fun having some quality time with my brother and my dad.

small is good

2008-01-14T16:07:00.000-06:00

The good thing about owning a small agency is that you get to do everything. The bad thing is – you get to do everything. I left the big agency business in 1998 so I could explore other areas of the creative process. Now I've become a self-taught designer and photographer in addition to the other things I always did (write, produce, creative direct). I had a lot of help along the way from friendly art directors and photographers. Thanks everyone.

This ad is from a branding campaign we're working on for a terrific company called GTrust. The package includes a new logo, tagline, identity materials and ads. I got the shoes at Shark's Surf Shop in Downtown Lawrence, the model is our intern Orion, and I shot the photo in my big office with glorious northern, natural light. My office mate Trent Flory designed the logo and I designed the ad. Yes, small is good.

political photojournalism part2

2008-01-13T23:53:00.000-06:00

I was going through some old photos for a family project today and ran across this photo. It's me on the floor of the 1988 Republican National Convention. The Bush/Quayle ticket won the nomination several hours earlier. This was my editorial comment for our goofball VP candidate from Indiana. I still can't believe they picked Dan Q. I don't think this photo qualifies for outstanding political photojournalism - but it still makes me laugh 20 years later.

juno

2008-01-12T10:49:00.000-06:00

I'm a movie-a-holic, and I got the perfect fix last night with 92-minutes of near flawless storytelling. Juno, Jason Reitman's follow-up to Thank you for not smoking, is smart, hip and so very quirky. Ellen Page plays teenager, Juno MacGuff, who ends up pregnant after she and her geeky friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) discover sex on a basement recliner. Novice screenwriter Diablo Cody hit it out of the park with off-beat dialogue and great one-liners. And the Juno soundtrack is just as quirky and fun. It's a feel-good, laugh-out-loud, don't-miss-movie. Juno easily makes my Top 5 of 2007.

political photojournalism

2008-01-10T15:54:00.000-06:00

I'm a political junkie. And Tuesday night's New Hampshire election was a junkie's dream. My favorite part was watching the pollsters and pundits get it so very wrong in the Democratic race. Yes, there are many smart journalists and political people - but they all looked stupid after treating the polls like they were fact. We'll see if they have a little more restraint before the upcoming races. It's going to be great ride. Good candidates, close races, crazy pundits, over-zealous media - and the best part - no Bush on the ballot. Life is good.

I watched the coverage for more than four hours (I know, I need to get a life). I clicked between CNN, MSNBC and stopped occasionally to watch the wackos at Fox News. It's amazing to see how much the coverage has changed since I first started watching elections in the late 60s. I have a vague memory of watching the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. I was 7 years old, and I remember watching with my dad on our black-and-white TV. I didn't really understand what was going on, but I loved all the drama and I was hooked. Later in life I got a first hand look at a presidential race as a TV photojournalist. I worked for a Wichita TV station and spent 2 weeks on the road with presidential candidate Bob Dole. As you might remember, Dole won the Iowa caucus but was then beat by G. Bush 1 in New Hampshire. Dole lost his temper in a TV interview and was tagged as "mean-spirited." Bush went on to win the Republican nomination, and the rest is history. I got to cover the Republican National Convention in New Orleans that year. As a left-leaning Kansan - it was a little surreal to be on the convention floor surrounded by tens of thousands of screaming Republicans. But an experience I'll never forget. I left broadcast journalism in 1989 and don't miss anything about it. It's a circus that just keeps adding strange, new acts.

My favorite part of election coverage has always been the print photographers who cover the campaigns. They seem to capture the best moments of the whole, messy drama. Back when I was slugging my video camera and deck around - the TV and print guys didn't chum around together. They (print guys) thought we were a bunch of photo hacks, and we thought they were aloof prima donnas. I really liked my video gig - but I secretly wanted the job of a print photojournalist. Both jobs paid crap (and still do) - but we still worked long, hard hours to "get the shot." Good thing I was young and idealistic.

I've included several of my favorite shots from the New Hampshire primary. You can check out some more great essays and shots at Time and US News.

. . . stays in vegas

2008-01-08T16:51:00.000-06:00

As things turned out - I didn't end up shooting much in Las Vegas. I carried around my Panasonic Lumix point-and-shoot mostly for family photos. And since my teenage boys don't much like having their photo taken by "dad," I don't have that many photos anyway. Oh well, I'm sure I'll go back someday and shoot Vegas.

Las Vegas has changed a lot since I had been there last. It was a good time, but I don't think we'll go back as a family anytime soon. One of the high points was definitely Spamalot. It was drop-dead funny, and it was at the ultra-swanky Wynn Hotel. The food at Border Grill in our hotel - Mandalay Bay - was amazing, and I won $100 on the KU Orange Bowl game. It was my first, legal sports-book bet. I also won $50 on one pull at a slot machine - which I promptly lost on video poker.

I did have one photo I thought was worth posting - two of my sons, Zak and Alec, admiring a fine sculpture in our hotel. Gotta love boys.

leaving (for) las vegas

2007-12-31T14:13:00.000-06:00

It's time for a long-overdue vacation. My family and I are heading to Las Vegas for five days of fun. So, my blog will be resting while I'm away. Hope to come back refreshed and also have some good photo stuff. From a photo standpoint - I'm really looking forward to the neon graveyard, Hoover Dam, Valley of Fire State Park and Red Rock Canyon. Happy New Year!

good stuff

2007-12-30T21:04:00.000-06:00

I spent some time this morning wandering around flickr and checking out the photos at jpg magazine. Damn, there are so many good shooters spread around the globe. So many different perspectives and amazing moments captured and posted for the world to see. All the great work is, of course, inspiring - but it's also a little intimidating when I measure my work against the "good stuff." And some of the really good stuff comes from shooters who aren't pros. Just regular folks with a camera and a passion to capture a moment in time. I guess that's what makes photography so cool for me.

This afternoon, I took my bit of inspiration, grabbed my camera bag and iPod - and headed out to the back roads. It was a crisp, blue-sky afternoon with much of last week's snow still on the ground. I stopped at several of my old haunts and found a some new spots, too. I even pulled out my old buddy - my Lensbaby 2.0. It was a good time hunting for some good stuff.

ready or not

2007-12-27T09:42:00.000-06:00

The good folks at MB Piland Advertising called recently and said we won Best of Show at the 2007 Philly Awards for Excellence in Nonprofit Communications. The winning entry was our Ready or Not campaign we did for Kansas Action for Children. KAC does a lot of great advocacy work for Kansas kids - so it makes the award a little more special.

My ad/design shop - blam - has been fortunate enough to win a lot of awards over the years, but winning a Best of Show never gets old. The multi-media campaign included a calendar, direct mail, website, flash ads and billboards. The images below are from the 2007 calendar. My buddy Bruce Snell shot the photos for the campaign. See a Philly Awards winners list here.

new blog

2007-12-26T10:41:00.000-06:00

With the new year around the corner - why not get a new blog, right? Actually, I have several reasons for moving my blog to blogger. I started blogging with typepad because I liked the format flexibility they provided. But the slow load times and monthly fee got tiresome. So, after some research I decided to go with blogger. It's simple and clean and easy - which fits me very well. Blogger doesn't allow you to import posts from other sites, so I had to repost everything. It was a tedious task, but I wanted to keep my archive intact. The only bad thing is I couldn't bring along all of the old comments.

My new blog look will hopefully evolve over time. I wanted something that was graphic and said something about my style. We'll see if it sticks. I'm not much for New Year resolutions - but I hope to post more often and have more interesting things to show and say. Thanks to everyone who has visited my blog. I really do appreciate you dropping by. Here's to an adventurous and fun 2008.

white out

2007-12-22T23:39:00.000-06:00

When it started snowing and blowing this afternoon - I knew I'd end up in some place I probably shouldn't be. My wife had to run to KC - and she took the Jeep before I could call it. So I headed out in my Chrysler Pacifica. It's has all-wheel drive and gets around really well, but I was headed to the backroads. North of Lawrence along the scenic river road - it was almost a complete white out. I could barely see the road. I shot mostly from inside the car because the snow was blowing so hard it mucked up the front of my lens before I could get off a frame.

I didn't get very many keepers, but it was a great fun adventure. And luckily, I didn't get stuck or slide off the road. Next time I'll call the Jeep early - and see if I can really get stuck.

shadow project

2007-12-19T11:00:00.000-06:00

I was thinking the other day that I need an ongoing theme or photo project to work on during the winter. I came up with several ideas, but doing something with "shadows" seemed the most appealing and interesting. This morning I stumbled by an interesting shadow image - a parking garage sign in downtown Topeka. So, here's my first addition to the project. I liked the stark graphic feel of the duo composition. And I used Bruce Snell's lomo action to give it a little retro mojo.

mercy blue

2007-12-19T10:18:00.000-06:00

Not long ago a Singapore Liblogarian found one of my photos on flickr and was inspired to write a song. Now a Philadelphia band is naming their new album after one of my photos. The band is called Mercy Blue, and lead singer Josh Werblun emailed me late last week asking if he could use my photo for their album art. They had no money - so what's a photographer to do? Josh seemed like a nice guy and passionate about his band. So, I said yes. I'll get a photo credit, a free CD, and hey, maybe they'll make it big someday. Then again, maybe not. But it seemed like a good "pay-it-forward" sort of thing to do. Now if I could just get Sting or Joss Stone or Eddie Vedder to ask to use one of my photos - that would be somethin'.

i'm melting

2007-12-13T22:20:00.000-06:00

The sun almost melted all the ice before I could grab a couple shots. I found this scene on KU's west campus over lunchtime. Capturing the glistening ice as it appears to your eye is more difficult than I expected. I decided to try the split toning feature in Adobe Lightroom. I like the effect, but it produces some funky banding in dark areas of the sky. I finished it up in photoshop with a blurred layer set to multiply. That helped take some of the hard edges out of the icy branches. Forecast calls for snow this weekend. I'm not holding my breath.

netsicle

2007-12-12T23:54:00.000-06:00

I wandered. I shot. I got pretty much nothin'. The funny thing is I thought I had several keeper images from my early morning drive. But after reviewing them more closely tonight - most of them were crap. You win some, you lose some. Even though it's not all that exciting - I do like my frozen netsicle. I finally played around with the BW adjustment layers in CS3. I really like all the choices and flexibility. On this image I used the infrared setting on a 30% overlay. I'm anxious to play around more.

van go ice

2007-12-11T22:29:00.000-06:00

Still waiting on the spectacular ice storm the weather goofs are predicting. We got plenty of rain - but it was warmer than expected. All the schools cancelled classes - and there is no ice. Ha! I love it when mother nature dorks with the weather goofs.

I shot this image on my way to work. It's the same car that was in my previous post. The talented kids at VanGo Mobile Arts painted it. Standing by for some fantastic, icy shots.

false alarm

2007-12-09T23:57:00.000-06:00

Weather guys like putting everyone into a frenzy. Our supposed weather experts predicted a weekend full of freezing rain and ice. We got a little spit of sleet. Normally I would applaud this winter weather wiff - but I was all stoked up to go shoot some icy photos. I missed a chance to shoot the dandy snowfall the other day (I was working indoors). Now it's Sunday night, and I don't have squat for new winter shots. Damn the bad luck.

I mentioned in a previous post how much I hated winter. That's only half true. I like snow, ice and sleet. I don't like the cold. But, you can't have one without the other - damn the bad luck. The weather goofs are predicting more freezing rain/sleet. We'll see if they get it right. In the meantime, here's one of my fave winter shots. Stay warm.