Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I have just finished the series, and I am off to a new book, "John Dies @ the End". Dragon Tattoo was an excellent series, a page turner to the very end. I will admit the first portion of the first book is a little slow, due to the author is trying to build a history for the characters, and it drags slightly, but once it takes off, it isn't till the third book before it slows again. And I will admit, I didn't see that end coming. I forgot all about that particular situation. I am not trying to say to much, as you can see, because inevitably someone will read it and blame me for giving something away.

I have heard a couple rumors that there is a fourth book that was written, that had not been printed out, sitting on his laptop when he died.

On to photo news.... all 5 of my glass photos were accepted. YEAH. And three of them are selling well.

On to entertainment news.... I have a Dancing with the Stars office pool you can join. It's free and it's fun.

Exit 101 is wrapping up, so I will be getting my lights back.

Met Bobby Bowden on Sunday. Going to meet Alton Brown and Rachel Ray later in the year. Darth Vader too.

Well, I'm off to clean a room or two before taking some shots.

5 New Ones... YIPPEE!!!

I know I don't write as often as I should, especially since this blog started out as a motivation to get 500 this year. Looking slim at this point. However, I will continue to post as I get ideas, that in turn help my 3 readers generate their own ideas.

Today I had 5 accepted by Shutterstock. All 5 were similar in nature. A wine glass with water and food coloring added, and then inverted. Inverting the photo gave the bland color of the dye a neon look, and of course reversing red gives green, blue to orange and so on. Here is a photo, I left half original and half inverted to kind of show how it was created.

As you can see, inverting the blue dyed water with white background, gives a kind of fire water look with a black background. This photo is one where I dropped an ice cube in while shooting high speed too.

On both sides, facing in, and angled slightly backwards is a couple close-up lights. On the camera is my speedlite with diffuser. Behind my, jumping on my back and yelling at each other, are my daughters. One trying to question me dropping an ice cube into the blue water, the other late for a nap and super irritable.

Anyways, got a book-signing with Bobby Bowden Sunday, as well as a Sunday church dinner, theme... cajun. Work in between. Ah well, at least I am 5 closer.

Nighty night

Old Alabama Town

Ok, we went to this little tourist attraction trap called Old Alabama Town. A bunch of old buildings with some historic value, and the occasional artifact. I was able to get a few decent shots, and I used the time practicing with the various angles of my speedlite. If we did a self guided tour, we would have been able to see the blacksmith, weavers, cobblers, and so-on, but the lady at the front desk called down to the first building and made sure we hit the "last guided tour of the day". So we thought fine. Turns out that guided tour was just for one building, so when we made it back around to the "working" district, everyone had gone home for the day.
All in all, if you're a history buff, it may be worth it if you go early enough. Photography wise, you may get a few good shots. Got kids, don't go.

I didn't get to go to the zoo here either, the rest of family went while I worked, however, I hear they are renovating and therefore not very many animals and the few they did have are caged up.

So anywhos. Gonna go and work a few photos, then head to work.

McWane Science Center

Went to the McWane Science Center in Birmingham today with the family. Really had a great time. 4 stories of fun and science. Shark petting, dino bones, aquariums, and a ton of science oriented fun for kids of all ages. You can lay on a bed of nails, stand in a hurricane wind tunnel, ride a bicycle across a wire 20 ft up, watch an iMax movie, play on all kinds of green screen video games, and so much more. Really worth it if you're in town, but save some time for it, there is a ton to do. Here is a link to some photos of us at the center.

Also, try Pita Loco for the best gyros you will ever eat.

Have a couple photos that came out decent enough to try to upload to Shutterstock. I did not carry anything in but the camera, and it was not brightly lit, so I didn't attempt many stock shots, but focused on the kids.

Also today is Jon and Michelle's 8th anniversary... Happy Anniversary. For those who don't remember, Jon is a Na'Vi.

Not much else to say right now. So I'll end it................. here

Latest Approval

This is my latest approved photo on Shutterstock. It was actually easier to do then I thought it would be. I filled a clear bowl with water, added a couple drops of blue food coloring. Added a few teaspoons of vegetable oil and stirred. I placed the bowl on a black mat and laid a light on the ground off to the left. I would have to keep the mix fairly newly stirred for the bubbles to show, otherwise they would glob up and not be seen in the photo. 

Where have I been?

It has been awhile, hasn't it? I am now in Alabama, and much to my surprise, I am enjoying it here. I have joined the Shades Valley Camera Club. I have created a bookfair to support the Children's Hospital of Alabama, which has a Star Wars theme, and will be centered around some members of the 501st Legion. I am enjoying my job at Books-a-Million. And I like the house we are living in.

I don't remember what I wrote in my last post, which was written while I was still in Georgia, I believe. I was going to write a tribute to my father on Father's Day, but I didn't, because I found it too difficult. I may try it later on.

I have read several books since I started at BAM. They have an associate check-out program, where you can check the books out of the store like a library, and return them when you're done. I have Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential (very interesting). I read Stephen King's Under the Dome (book excellent, ending horrible). I started Richard Castle's Heat Wave, but ended up stopping because it was basically an existing episode of the show with the names changed. I started the Stieg Larsson books, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and currently The Girl who played with Fire. Both are excellent, stay up late and keep reading type books. I can't wait for the American versions of the movie to come out. Daniel Craig is playing Mikael Blomvkist.

I have had one photo uploaded to Shutterstock. I have not been taking to many photos since I started helping with the movie Exit 101. I am hoping the camera club will help with that. So I have about 4 months and 271 photos to go. I really need to get on the ball. Being in a larger city will help when it comes to time-for photos, the model base here is quite large, and there are some amazing places to shoot. One is Sloss Furnace.

Anywho, I am not going to write a lot at this very moment. I am going to try to write more often, see maybe if I can get back on my daily routine.

I'm going to leave you with this little video about Angela and myself working extra jobs due to our kids...

Anthony Bourdain

I have recently been watching Anthony Bourdain's show "No Reservations" on Netflix. I am starting at the beginning and working my way to the most recent, but two episodes have caught my attention in Season 2. The first was when he took his production manager, Nari Kye, to Korea. Her cheerful disposition was a great contrast to his general demeanor. Some of his best moments on the show are when he is talking with people and this show is an hour long great moment. The other episode was the Beirut episode. They started it out like any other, talking to a local who explained the recent history of the war, and how the city was rebuilding from their civil war. They ate a lunch, and that is when everything changed, as machine guns started going off, and the city started being bombed. The airport was destroyed, they were evacuated to a hotel just outside the city. You get to see a lot more of the behind the scenes moments as the "fixer" for the show had to suddenly leave the country, basically abandoning them. Their local security escort held out, but he eventually left and they later found out his home had been destroyed. They had to stay for a week before the USS Nashville could come pick up the American citizens. It was a real unexpected moment for the show, definitely unplanned.

But anyways. I have struggled with my Shutterstock sales lately, of course not uploading doesn't help. But today I doubled my monthly sales with a surprisingly great day.

Moving day will be July 2nd. So my 'net connection will interrupted slightly. Hopefully I will love my new job.