Garden of Angels

11 September 2007
A day that changed so many lives and so many industries, forever. Flags flew at half-mast, prayers were said and songs were sung through the United States on this anniversary of a terrible thing. I chose as my subject for today the cemetary I drive by every day, The Garden of Angels. I've photographed it before, many times. But, I like this one a lot.

The people are gone, but their legacies, their families and memories of them remain. I'm not one to stand on ceremony, and I certainly don't wish to be placed in a box under 6 feet of dirt when I'm gone; but the amount of love and care that goes into keeping this little Garden clean and fresh is amazing. This dedication to the memories of those who have gone before is peaceful and happy. May those happy memories never fade.
Cheers.

~KR (11 September 2007)

Listening to:
Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley
on Grace

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 58 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: SEPTEMBER+11, CANON, PHOTOSHOP, PHOTOBLOG, PHOTO, CEMETARY, GARDEN+OF+ANGELS

Peanuts

10 September 2007
When I left for work on Monday morning, I'd been away from Marita Beth for 3 weeks, and she'd been out of town for 11 weeks. When I got home Monday evening, there she was. Home. Safe, sound & beautiful. Did I take a photo to commemorate that? No. I suck, I'm sorry. Instead, as we were preparing for bed, I took this photo:

I'd recently placed a restock order for East Wind Games and this was the packing material in the box. It harkens back to the Texture assignment rather than the Soft, Purple or Black & White assignments I currently have, but I like it anyway.
Cheers.

~KR (10 Septmber 2007)

Listening to:
Limbo Rock by the Champs
on Land of 1000 Dances

Camera:
Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.4 sec (2/5)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: PHOTOBLOG, PHOTO, PEANUTS, EAST+WIND+GAMES

The Storm Approaches

9 September 2007
I went to see a movie on the 9th. I saw Shoot 'em Up, a ridiculously improbable, but infectiously fun action flick. When I left the theatre, I was confronted with this:

The beginnings of a storm that the next day forced the cancellation of 40% of the flights into and out of DFW. Vicious.
Cheers.

~KR (9 September 2007)

Listening to:
Ain't Gone 'n' Give Up On Love by Eric Clapton
on Tribute To Stevie Ray Vaughan

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: ARLINGTON, WEATHER, MOVIE, SHOOT+'EM+UP, STORM, CANON, PHOTOBLOG, PHOTO

Purple Kleenex Box

8 September 2007
As I've mentioned before I pay attention to the photo "assignments" that come my way via blogs & forums I subscribe to. Two of the three assignments I get each week are assigned on Friday while the third comes to me on Monday. This week's Friday assignments were Purple & Soft. It is the Wednesday after those two assignments came out, but I'm posting for that Saturday photo. This is Purple.

I was driving through a parking lot in South Arlington and my eyes were drawn to the purple newspaper box and the purple lightposts just outside the Taco Bell. But, I wasn't overwhelmed with the composition opportunities. Then, but 30 feet way, someone had dropped an empty Kleenex box next to an abandoned Mexican restaurant. Aha. So, now we have a Purple Kleenex box as fulfillment for Assignment number one. I'm sure that I gathered many a look as I crawled around in the filthy parking lot looking for a good angle to shoot my Purple. I think I got it with this one. I like the overall arrangement and exectuion of the image, even though it is a photo of someone's refuse.
I threw the box in the trash. Couldn't have someone else taking a photo of a Purple Kleenex box, could I?
Cheers.

~KR (8 September 2007)

Listening to:
Lady Luck by Tesla
on The Great Radio Controversy

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1000)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 23.7 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

 

Tags: PHOTOBLOG, PHOTO, PHOTOGRAPHY, CANON, KLEENEX, TACO+BELL, REFUSE, TRASH, PURPLE

Figs

7 September 2007
It's amazing to me how I can be in a new place and still not take a photo. Much of it is, I'm sure, down to the fact that I keep my camera in my backpack and it's not always easily accessible. It's just large enough that I can't carry it in my pockets. And, although I really do like my camera, I think perhaps I need something a little less space-hogging for my travelogues. For day-to-day use at home it's fine and I won't abandon it, but supplement it I think I must. Friday, and again, no photos taken but this one:

This is a photo of the Figs metal meets window logo in Laguardia Airport. We arrived early enough that the exceptionally non-existent security line left us with time to kill. If there's one thing I know how to do well, it's kill time in an Airport (except XNA which closes at some ridiculously early hour). Thus, the Figs.
Cheers.

~KR (7 September 2007)

Listening to:
Johnny Jump Up by Amadan
on The Swallowtail

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 24.8 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

 

Tags: CANON, PHOTOBLOG, PHOTO, PHOTOGRAPHY, NEW+YORK, LAGUARDIA, FIGS, AIRPORT, TRAVEL, CAMERA

Coloured Lights

6 September 2007
What a day. What a very, very long - yet fulfilling - day. The four of us, Lou, Terrill, Eric & myself spent the entire day in work, debug, work some more mode. It was quite fulfilling and proved the validity of the trip. However, by the end of the day, I was completely knackered. Lou took us to a place called Carasello for fairly decent, if expensive, Italian food. Then it was back to the hotel for some late night comeraderie and expensive drinks. Then it was to bed for another early morning the next day. And nary a photo in the entire proceedings. So, we have this lovely photo of the parking lot lights through a filthy (!!) window.

Hooray.
Cheers.

~KR (6 September 2007)

Listening to:
Winner Take All by Styx
on Come Sail Away: The Styx Anthology

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.167 sec (1/6)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: CANON, PHOTOBLOG, PHOTOGRAPHY, LIGHTS, HOTEL, WINDOW, NEW+YORK, JAMAICA, STYX

Maggie May's

5 September 2007
The day started well enough, went rapidly downhill and then levelled out. It started raining in the morning then I got a call requiring an emergency side-trip before getting on my flight to LGA. No resolution was generated by my side trip, sadly, but there's a certain satisfaction in knowing that I've done everything right. Now, I just need to follow up and ensure that the parties that can fix the problem do fix the problem. The flight was uneventful, and after a quick seat-shuffle, not even too uncomfortable. We (Eric, Terrill & myself) arrived at La Guardia airport where Lou picked us up. We then high-tailed (actually not so much with the high-tailing, the traffic was horrendous!) it to Flushing for dinner & drinks.

This is Maggie May's. An unassuming, but lovely pub with one of the most delightful barmaids I've seen in quite some time. Dawn (that was her name) was very witty and very on-the-spot. She even knew how to draw a good pint of Guinness! Anyway, the four of us finished up some hardware tinkering we had to do while we had our drinks. Then off to Bourbon Street for dinner. Bourbon Street is a N'awlins influenced restaurant across from Margaritas. I could have spent hours and hours and hours up & down the streets here. It reminded me of Nob Hill in Portland. The business trip was just starting.
Cheers.

~KR (5 September 2007)

Listening to:
Man on the Moon by R.E.M.
on Automatic For The People

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 8.1 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: FLUSHING, MAGGIE+MAY'S, CANON, PHOTBLOG, PHOTOGRAPHY, PHOTO, R.E.M.

Abandoned Buggy

4 September 2007
It's Monday, September 10th and I'm just getting to photos taken on September 4th. The woes of a busy work schedule. The worst part about posting nearly a week after the photo was taken is that by that time I've lost the emotion that sparked the photo in the first place. I'm sure that this photo sparked some sort of righteous outrage in me. But, I can't recall exactly.

I would imagine that I felt appalled at the state of our society. That I was angry at the volume of trash caught in the wheels. That perhaps I was even covertly thinking about how to get that shopping cart out of the drainage ditch and into my smallish car. Really, who hasn't wanted a shopping cart at one point or another. But today, six days later, I can't tell you a thing about what I was thinking.
Cheers.

~KR (4 September 2007)

Listening to:
Hungry Eyes by Merle Haggard
on Down Every Road - Disk 2

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.1 sec (1/10)
Aperture: f/3.1
Focal Length: 19.1 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: CANON, PHOTOBLOG, PHOTO, SHOPPING+CART, MERLE+HAGGARD

Stacked

3 September 2007 Labor Day, despite it's name is a lazy day. So, lazy I was. I went to the movies (saw Death Sentence), I went to No Frill's Grill then I went back home. Between NFG and home, I pulled into a small construction zone (they're everywhere right now) and took a photo of a veritable mountain of metal things. I didn't really care for the composition on the first photo, so I took a close-up of the mountain:

I liked this one much better. I wish every day was Labor Day.
Cheers.

~KR (3 September 2007)

Listening to:
Long Day by Matchbox Twenty
on Real World

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.025 sec (1/40)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 34.7 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: METAL, MATCHBOX+TWENTY, STACK, PHOTOBLOG, CONSTRUCTION, CLOSE-UP, CANON

Up a Tree

2 September 2007 Sunday. More errands to run, this time to Office Depot and various other office/work-related places. In the parking lot of Office Depot, they have these really beautiful trees. I'm not an arborologist or botanist or anything that would even remotely resemble someone who studies or works with trees or plants of any kind. But, I sure can appreciate their beauty. I took several photos, from various angles, I like the way this one turned out best:

I have no idea what type of tree (tall bush) it is, but it shor-nuff is purty.
Cheers.

~KR (2 September 2007)

Listening to:
Stinkfist by Tool
on Ænima

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 29.9 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: TREE, CLOSE-UP, TOOL, OFFICE+DEPOT, ERRANDS, PHOTOBLOG, CANON, PHOTO

Insignificant (or not)

1 September 2007 Saturday. Despite the fact that Saturday's are made for football, I got precious little footy in myself. First, I was awoken at god:16 in the morning with an Operational issue. My boss was soon to be headed south for the University of Texas opening day game, so I certainly wasn't going to ask him to help. He needed his sleep for the drive. So, work it was. I put in nearly a full day, then took a nap before getting some necessary errand-running done. After my nap I did go run some errands, stopping on the way to take this photo of a (assignment time) rather insignificant object.

Insignificant and ignored by most, the porta-loo (porta-potty, privy, porta-john) is by no means insignificant when needed. I enjoyed the dichotomy, if not the subject. Finding photos of the insignificant is much more difficult than I first thought.
Cheers.

~KR (1 September 2007)

Listening to:
A Tribute to Peador O'Donnell by Alison Krauss & Union Station
on Live (Disc 2)

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 58 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: Alison+Krauss, Union+Station, Insignificant, Privy, Loo, Construction+Site, Photo, Photography, Photoblog, Canon

Shuffleboard

29 August 2007
A better day at work, if only a little. However, it did wrap up nicely. A batch of co-workers, as stressed as myself, and I went to Rob's Billiards for some pool & beer. That's always great fun, but this time was a bit special; my friend Joseph, down from Wisconsin for a useability seminar (or some such), joined us for beer. He didn't play pool with us, but when we switched to shuffleboard, the man stepped right up. He and I knocked our competition for a right loop.

Cheers.

~KR (29 August 2007)

Listening to:
As Long As It Matters by Gin Blossoms
on Congratulations I'm Sorry

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.25 sec (1/4)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: PHOTOBLOG, PHOTO, SHUFFLEBOARD, GIN+BLOSSOMS, GAMES, BILLIARDS, ROB'S

If Found Please Drop in any Mailbox

28 August 2007
Today is the day that everything went pear-shaped for me when it was instead supposed to be a lovely purple patch. The way it started and the way it progressed I figured I was in for a long day of living hell. It turns out that the pear-shape didn't last too long and returned to normal in the early afternoon. A little hiccough in the evening, but everything played out ok in the end. But, because it had started so weird and rocky, I took a photo early and never really went back to revisit it. So, although it's not terribly texturous, it is an interesting jumble.

Cheers.

~KR (28 August 2007)

Listening to:
Bully by Steve Winwood
on About Time

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.167 sec (1/6)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: BLACK+AND+WHITE, DEPTH+OF+FIELD, BOKEH, KEYS, DOF, PHOTOBLOG, PHOTOGRAPHY, PHOTO, STEVE+WINWOOD

Bungee with Garbage

27 August 2007
Still working on the Texture assignment, sort of. So, that's what this photo is:

This is a bungee cord attached to the side of a large trailer that was completely full of trash. Refuse. Garbage. Rubbish. It was an amazing, if disgusting, sight to see. I suppose I should just be glad that all that trash was constrained by this sequence of bungee cords and grates rather than scattered about the ground.
Cheers.

~KR (27 August 2007)

Listening to:
Panama by Van Halen
on 1984

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.033 sec (1/30)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 58 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: PHOTOBLOG, PHOTO, TRASH, VAN+HALEN, GARBAGE, BUNGEE

Up a Tree

23 August 2007
This day was done. I was done. Completely shattered and not wishing much in the way of company. I was nearly relieved when Terrill decided not to join me at the bar (that doens't happen very frequently). With no company, I decided to go home and spend a quiet evening at the house. I pulled into the driveway, got out of my little Mitshubishi and walked to this massive Black Oak that resides in my front yard. I placed the camera against the bark and shot upward not even bothering to compose. I took four shots that way, moving the camera a little each time to achieve a different view. I like this one:

It sort of composed itself with the ivy moving to a vanishing point that exists at about the spot that the overhead branches diverge. I might very well have even composed the shot that way. On the left hand side there is a fuzzy little blur. That is a web-worm, or tent-caterpillar, or whatever you call those vile little parasites. I killed it.
Cheers.

~KR (23 August 2007)

Listening to:
Coverville-051018 by Brian Ibbott

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.033 sec (1/30)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: PHOTOBLOG, OAK, TREE, NATURE, PHOTO, TEXAS, COVERVILLE