Ok, Ok, Ok…I have been a slacker

I have, I have been a slacker, and it has been a while since I have updated this blog, blame it on laziness, blame it on the summer, blame it on whatever, it is time to fix that.  so this may be one huge post, but it should take care of the high points over the last two months or so.

First off this summer was the battle of Bost Grist Mill. I have been reenacting the American Civil War for a little over 5 years now and constantly we find ourselves too busy to really get to savor the images we see each time we go to an event. This year I decided i would fix that and during the month of June we headed to Bost Grist Mill near Concord, NC. I had already formulated the idea that I would sit out one day and take some photos and decided it would be the Sunday battle this time around. Thanks to a very cooperative battalion staff, I was allowed to actually head out on the field with camera in hand and shoot some shots from the vantage point of a soldier on the field.

Next up was Falcon Youth Camp in Falcon, NC. It is a multi-week camp and some friends and I were asked to come provide the praise and worship music for one of the weeks. Aside from playing 12 sets in 5 days, I got a chance to relax a small bit and shoot a few photos. Great times, great people and an awesome spirit really made the camp worth while.

I got home from Falcon on a thursday night and Friday night my niece and nephew Haley and Gradyn came into town to stay with us for a few days. Once again a lack of sleep paired with a slew of activities prevented me from taking as many photos as I wanted, but in the long run I am glad i got to spend the time with them I did. Luckily a few of the shots from our trip to Fort Fisher, NC turned out nicely.

Soon after the kids made their way back home we were gearing up for Vacation Bible School at the church. I am new to VBS at Highest Praise Church in Whiteville so this year my job was just to take photos. Well, that and act the fool each morning as the lovable Cousin Skeeter during the opening skit. These kids were really fun to shoot, each of them full of their own unique expressions and personalities.

And last but absolutely not least, I was honored to be asked to shot a few photos of my good friend/brother Michael Booth and his fiancee Wanda. Our goal was to have at least one photo to put in the paper to announce their engagement, though we really wanted to see if we could get a few shots for them to hang up in their new home. The weather wasn’t on our side and after only a few minutes of shooting we had to pack up and head on home, but a few good photos came out of it.

So all in all it was a very productive and busy summer. I will do my best not to have the same amount of time between this and the next post!!

Capital City Chaos

I guess it is only poetic I write this post while I am awake way too early. Sleep, or the lack thereof, seems to be the theme of our trip to Raleigh the other day. Me, Nathan, and Dudley headed out of town Monday night around midnight to take Aaron up to the airport. He had an early morning flight, full of lay overs and transfers, headed from the east coast to the left coast to spend the summer working.

After stopping for a late night meal at Denny’s in Lumberton we hit the road, spending most of our time comparing new music on our iPod’s and trying not to get too bored on an empty I-95 and I-40. Soon enough though, we arrived at the airport and, after navigating the labyrinth of roads around the parking deck, got everything ready for Aaron to catch his plane. That involved standing around in the parking lot while Aaron tried to finish the last chapter of his book before heading out. I kept trying to take a few shots of the parking deck, a few architectural shots. Nothing really seemed to turn out though. With a million or so light bulbs, all with the ugliest color orange tint, made it more difficult than you might think to get anything worth looking at.

Inside the terminal was a bit of a different story. After explaining to Aaron that it wasn’t against the law to take a photo in an airport, we headed in to see him off. Everyone was just floating around while he stood in line to check his bag and i noticed the interesting looking cieling. I haven’t been to too many airports in the past ten years, but from seeing photos here and there I have noticed that more and more these days they are being designed to be more and more appealing to the eye.  after trying a few different angles, I finally decided to stick with a straight on approach.

So we said our goodbyes, gave our hugs and headed out to the truck. Now I was assuming we might pick up a bite of breakfast and head on back to town, trying not to be up too much past sunrise. Boy was I wrong. We stopped to get something to drink right outside the airport and I swear Nathan found the largest energy drink the world has ever seen, a 32oz MONSTER. As I was sitting in the parking lot trying to catch the first rays of the rising sun, Dudley asked what we ought to do while in Raleigh. Mind you at this point it is barely 530 am. The only thing I could think of that would be available was to head on downtown and check out the State Capital Building and downtown Raleigh in general.

So that was our morning, pulling into downtown around 6, walking around trying to find a bite of food for breakfast, and taking in the scenery. Raleigh is one of those towns I have been too a few times but never really taken the time to explore. In fact I think the three of us had figured none of us had been downtown since the fifth grade or so. Needless to say it became an adventure for all of us. Just a note to those who might find themselves downtown Raleigh before the rest of the world is awake, take advntage of any bathroom you might find because you never know how many blocks you might have to walk to find the next one.

So after a morning full of exploring the city I think we all realized that after we the 24 hour mark of being awake things can get a little silly, but sometimes it is worth it. I speak for the three of us when I say we had a blast from the moment we headed out of Whiteville till we were checking out the Governer’s office, the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and our very own Carolina Parakeet. Sometimes the best adventures take place within the randomest circumstances, but I guess that is what makes them adventures.

A Bug’s Life

I have always heard a sloth was lazy, but its phonetic cousin the moth has got it made too. Just the other day I was sitting on the couch checking my email, processing a few photos and reading around some awesome blogs when I heard my mom call my name from the front door. She was leaving the house when a “little” friend greeted her at the door.

This moth, easily over 8 inches wide, was hanging out right under the lock plate on the screen door. We shut the door easily as not to scare him and headed out through another door to get a good look at him. I was actually pretty eager to get close to him and take a few shots, though I wanted to make sure I didn’t disturb him. After about 45 seconds though I realized I could have dropped a nuke beside him and he wouldn’t have budged. In fact, he stuck around for a good two days before we finally nudged him off the door. Talk about lazy.

Mind you I do not normally like to get too close to any insect larger than a dime, but he was too interesting to walk away from.

Tryin’ New Things

After our trek through the streets of Chadbourn Saturday for the Strawberry Festival, we decided to have a relaxing afternoon and evening, eventually heading down to Little River, NC to sit on a pier and eat some seafood. We arrived just in time to see the sun start making its way down behind the trees.

After shooting a few shots, trying to capture what was going on behind the clouds I realized that the light was just too low for me to really get a great exposure. Finally I decided the best thing to do was try my hand at some HDR photography. I have seen it done a few times and played with it enough to know that it is by no means easy. Still, the scene was too intriguing to let it go to waste.

HDR (High Dynamic Range) is a form of photography that involves taking multiple exposures and combining them after the fact. Basically you take a few shots ranging from light to dark and then combine the best parts together to get the right shot. It allows you capture a more appealing photograph, one that appears closer to what you see with your own eye.

Since I was sans tripod I sat my camera down on the railing of the pier and took out my wireless remote, hoping to cancel out an vibrations my hands might cause while pushing the shutter button. After shooting and re-framing only a few times I ended up with a few shots I wanted to work with. After dropping it on the computer, combining the different exposures and cleaning up a few bits with Photoshop, the end result was more than pleasing.

Mmmmmm ….. Scrawburries!!

It has been quite a while since I have made my way down to the lovely city of Chadbourn for the NC Strawberry Festival, at least 7 years or more, but this year I really had a hankering to head on down and join the festivities.

It was hot, only proving a common theory these days that Spring went missing and Winter jumped straight into Summer, but crowds still showed up in force to celebrate everyone’s favorite shortcake topping. I enjoyed the crowds myself mainly because there is always a chance to see interesting people in interesting situations. Crowds are easy to shoot the bigger they are. It’s easier to remain anonymous in a larger crowd, allowing you to catch moments unobserved.

Our first mission, and probably the most important, was to find something to eat. “Fair Food” as we called it. The greasier the better. After making a trek down Brown St, past the car show and into the outdoor food court one little stand stuck out. First off, I have never seen a traveling food vendor at any kinda fair or festival have display models of their menu items sitting right out for people to see. Secondly, I have never seen fair food look this good and looks were not deceiving at all. Myself and a few friends will all agree that shrimp taco was an unexpected delight.

After finding ourselves a few soft pretzels, a festival Tshirt and some strawberry lemonade it was time to make our way back down Brown St to find a spot to watch the parade. The sun was still shining, still slowly turning my skin a bright shade of burnt, and the heat was nothing to be messed with, so we sought out shade and a nice place to sit. Then there was the parade.

Beauty queens outnumbered marching bands, government officials waved in interesting ways, horns honked, sirens blared and a good time was had by all it seemed. I personally have never really taken the time to shoot photos at a parade and now I am hooked. Its like a buffet of opportunity really. Each minute brought a new subject, some faster than others, some more colorful, but none lacking an opportunity to really seek out a shot and seek it fast. Sometimes we get a chance to loo at our subject and think about it, poder an angle or framing and with an ever-moving model we find that time is lacking. You are left at the hands of the pure mystery of what is coming down the street next.

Too Few and Too Far Between

So Saturday was a good day. It has been years since we have had a family reunion for my grandmother’s side of the family and I really wasn’t sure what to expect. Sometimes after a few years off it is tough to get people back into the groove of getting together. Boy was I surprised.

It was great to get a chance to see family again. Sure, some of us see each other more than a few times a year and now with the wonders of facebook can keep tabs on each other the rest of the time. The real treat is getting to see the peope you barely get to see throughout the year. It seems the last few times I have seen some of them was a funeral or something and we just havent had a chance to really hang out and spend some time together.

One of the best ideas I have seen in years was to have a few tables full of old family photos. Sure we have all seen a few here and there and some of the more popular ones have made their rounds through the years, but more and more random treasures popped up this year. What was most interesting to me is seeing a few pictures i am familiar with and then seeing the rest of the ones taken at the time. Sure some were very similar but it is rather enlightening to see a few more glimpses into a rather specific period in our family history. Even as a photographer it was a blast to try and figure out how certain shots were achieved.

And one thing I can’t resist these days is a chance to hang the camera around my neck and see what kinda mayham I can capture for future generations to laugh at. My family can be rather calm and docile at times, and to an outsider we might even seem somewhat boring, but when you get to know everyone there, there is a real sense of family and a real sense of humor too. I mean that too, considering how many people seemed to carry a huge smile on their face from the second they walked in till the second they left for home. Kids were running around playing and laughing with each other, adults were sitting around laughing with each other and everyone seemed to act like we got together just the weekend before. I particularly enjoy that kinda atmosphere and can’t wait till we get to do it all over again.

Look all around you

So yesterday was a family reunion and I have to say, it was a blast. It had been a while since we had one and it really is a shame. More to come on that later, still picking through the pictures for that one.

On the way up there I was riding with the windows down, listening to some North Carolina born and bred bluegrass and just enjoying the sunny day, looking for things to photograph. I have traveled that road so many times I am almost familiar with every house and every field, but I stumbled across a spot only a few miles from my house that I knew I wanted to shoot on the way home. I have seen it before and never really paid much attention to it but yesterday it just felt like the day to pull off the side of the road and shoot a few photos.

I restrained myself a bit to be honest. The sky wasnt very interesting, the sun was a bit bright and I knew that I wouldn’t get the money shot by any means, so I didnt treck far enough to really take advantage of the landscape. Maybe it was the part of me that didn’t want to walk a half a mile in the 90 degree heat or maybe it was the fact I wanted to kinda take it easy the first time and approach it from a distance. I don’t know, but a big part of me wanted to just survey what I saw from a distance and next time head a little bit further off the road, and then further the next time and so on. One of these days I will get up super early and try and catch a sunrise.

This picture really helps to sum up what I see when I ride around in North Carolina and the south. It is getting more and more difficult to find places like this anymore. There are so many new housing developments or strip malls nowadays I have learned to cherish the last remnants of the way the entire county used to look. Simply beautiful.

What you see is what you get

So anyone that knows me knows I have a talent for never shutting up. It is what I do. Sue me.

So over the past few weeks I have been having the same conversation with a few different people. Some more general, some more specific, but all working around a general theme. If we love doing something, either we try to do more of it or we let it get stale. Sure, sometimes you just can’t get the time to go play golf, ride your bike, read a book, bake a cake or whatever else tickles your fancy, but that effort and desire has to be there.

Two nights ago I was having such a conversation with my friend Aaron. Both of us love to take pictures and both of us have very similar philosophies. Even though we may see a shot in two completely different ways, both of us still look for “the shot” anywhere we can. The problem with that is, sometimes we just can’t find anywhere we want to look.

Aaron is heading out soon to northern California to work for the summer. I will go ahead and get this out of the way and say I’m jealous. Not so much to be gone for the entire summer and not really because it is northern California. I am jealous because Aaron is going to get a chance to see a new part of the world and shoot it through fresh eyes.  As we were talking I was telling him to make sure and shoot as much as he could every day, shooting everything he could. Mind you I do not think he needed that advice at all, nor did he ask for it. Still I felt I needed to give it both for him and for myself. You see, sometimes we think too much about the opportunities we don’t have and we forget about the ones around us every day.

I have been living in the same town in the same neighborhood and the same house for practically 20 years now. This has its perks to be sure and a lot can be said about familiarity, but when it comes to shooting photos I have learned that this isn’t always the case. We look to find things we want to capture and show the world and for the most part, we want to show them things that are new, things they have not seen before. For a photographer, this means our first reaction is to find something that is new to us too.

We can spend each day of our lives taking the same route to work and never really know what we drive past or, as is in my case, we can wake up every morning in the same bed, step out the same door and never really see what is around us. There is a wealth of interesting subjects in every situation. Some prove to be harder than others to find, some not so much, but we can’t expect each day to be filled with perfect sunsets and optimal light. We have to search where we are, whether it is the house we grew up in or the Redwood Forest of California. We have to keep an eye open at all times to the things that are around us so we don’t miss one opportunity worrying about one that hasn’t even shown itself. Just like the other day as I was walking around the front yard I just decided to photograph a few of the azalea bushes around the house. For anyone who has ever been in the south in the springtime, they know that azaleas are almost as plentiful as mosquitoes if not more, but that doesn’t mean a good shot can’t pop up every now and then.

So to Aaron and those like him who have the chance to see new places and experience new things, shoot away, feverishly. To those who seem stuck in a rut, do the same. I have set myself a goal of shooting at least a few photos every day if I can and some days are tougher than others, but it is surely something I need to keep up. I have been keeping an eye out as I go about my daily routine, looking for the shot I have missed these past 20 years. Hopefully one day I will see it.

Easter

So we had our family easter in Wilmington this year as we have most years and to be honest, this year was just as fun if not more than I can remember. It was a gorgeous sunny day outside which leant to some great egg hunting and all around awesome family time. On top of that, some really great shots came out of it too.

When I first arrived my mom was trying to take a few photos of family in the living room of my aunts house. The shots were coming out ok, but it was too pretty outside to waste the light, so after an afternoon of egg hunting, egg throwing and devouring some really tastey Swedish Fish candy, we decided to take a few shots. As expected, certain horseplay ensued.

Clouds

I have been trying to find things to shoot in my everyday environment, mainly around the house. I guess sometimes familiarity does breed contempt cause more often than not I can’t find anything I want to shoot. Still, one day as I was outside checking the mail or something of the sort I decided to take a shot or two of some clouds. Living in a residential area it is tough to really get a wide enough shot without it being riddled with power-lines and telephone poles, so I decided to just lay in the drive way and shoot straight up. After a simple black and white conversion and a bit of tweaking on the contrast in Photoshop I got this shot.

*Special Note: As I was typing up  this post my phone rang and seeing as I have absolutely no signal inside the house i headed out the front door to talk. It was a wrong number, but I couldn’t help but notice the clouds once again. A decent bit of dark clouds were off to the southwest and moving in fast so I ran inside, grabbed the camera and headed out before the clouds had completely gone. I had to treck down the street a bit to get an unobstructed view, found it and started shooting just in time to feel the rain start to fall. This is what came straight out of the camera